Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 36353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 182(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 182(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
I clenched my hands into fists so I wouldn’t strangle him. “You must really want to bleed today.”
Ignoring my warning, he grinned and quipped, “I give it a week before he’s moved her into his room and turned into one of those ‘can’t function without her’ types.”
My voice was threaded with steel, and my stare was deadly. “Keep testing me, Deviant. See how that ends.”
Fox smirked. “Two days. Tops.”
“Fuck both of you.”
That just made them laugh harder.
Maverick snorted. “Guess it’s your turn to go soft. Don’t worry, happens to the best of us.”
“Not me,” I muttered.
Liar.
“Right,” he deadpanned, calling me on my bullshit. “You’re just vibrating with bloodlust because you care so much about justice.”
I flipped them all off and stalked toward the back hall, already counting the minutes until I could see her again.
Planning how I was gonna make her mine.
And when I found the bastard who’d dared to touch her work, steal her photo, and make her live in fear…he was going to learn exactly what it felt like to be hunted by a man with nothing to lose when it came to the woman he’d just claimed.
5
GEMMA
Ichecked the mirror again. For the third time. Okay…the fifth.
I wasn’t even wearing anything fancy. Just the same tight pair of jeans that did amazing things for my butt and a cropped sweater in a shade of soft gray that matched my mood. I’d changed shirts twice already before settling on this one. It was comfortable and didn’t scream that I was trying too hard but still looked good on me. Maybe Callum would just assume I’d gotten cold and changed for that reason. April in Tennessee was known for having unpredictable weather.
I’d put my nervous energy to good use in the few hours since Lainie had dropped me off at my house so she could go visit her brother. My house was probably cleaner than it had ever been. I wiped down the kitchen counter again even though it didn’t need it, then adjusted a framed photo on the wall. It was one of the many nature shots I’d taken before I got into boudoir.
My house wasn’t much. Two bedrooms, one bath. But it was mine, and Callum was about to see it for the first time.
I wanted my home to make a good impression on him, and I’d done all that I could by the time he knocked on the door.
I wiped my hands on my jeans—a nervous habit I needed to break around him—and tried not to look like I was about to pass out as I crossed to the door. But when I opened it, all my carefully rehearsed calm evaporated.
He was taller than I remembered. And bigger, somehow. Maybe it was because he was dressed in all black, from his fitted T-shirt that clung to thick biceps to his dark jeans that hugged his thighs like a second skin.
That dark scruff still shadowed his jaw, and I wondered if he had to shave twice a day to keep it at bay.
The stray thought flew out of my head when his dark brown eyes locked onto mine.
Heat bloomed low in my belly, but it was the other feeling he sparked that rattled me more. Safety.
I barely knew Callum, but he made me feel like nothing could touch me as long as he stood there. And that scared me almost as much as the messed-up situation he was helping me with.
“Hey,” I managed, my voice too breathy for my liking.
He gave a short nod. “Gemma.”
“Come in.” I stepped back, hoping he couldn’t tell how nervous I was.
He moved past me with the grace of a stalking panther, his gaze sweeping the entryway and living room, lingering longest on the windows.
“You don’t have to do a full tactical sweep,” I joked, trying to break the tension. “I swear the plants haven’t turned against me yet.”
He didn’t even smile. “Where’s your breaker box?”
I blinked. “Um, in the garage. Which is my studio space now.”
He nodded once. “We’ll head out there after I do that tactical sweep, which is very much necessary.”
Pausing by the window, he tapped the trim. “No sensor. I’ll add magnetic contacts here and here. Glass break detectors, too.”
I blinked. “You’re planning to install stuff yourself?”
He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Absolutely.”
Butterflies swirled in my belly as he moved on, muttering about sightlines, exterior exposure, and interference shielding. I trailed him but did not understand at least half of what he said.
When we walked to the kitchen, he scanned the back door and the small window above the sink. “Deadbolt’s decent. I’ll upgrade the strike plate. Add a motion sensor on the exterior light. And a silent alarm pad behind the pantry door that only you and I will know about.”
My eyes kept getting wider. “Is this the part where you tell me I should sleep with a knife under my pillow?”