Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 123575 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 618(@200wpm)___ 494(@250wpm)___ 412(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123575 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 618(@200wpm)___ 494(@250wpm)___ 412(@300wpm)
What have you been up to?
As if he can hear my thoughts, he spins me abruptly before pulling me back against his chest. The impact makes me gasp, and I clutch onto his tuxedo lapel, afraid I might fall.
His lips brush my ear as he whispers, “Let them get the wrong idea. Who cares what they think anyway? Only you and I know the truth, and that’s all that matters.”
An involuntary shiver ripples through me as his thumb presses against my pulse point—right where my heart’s irregularity is most obvious. This is a different behavior than I’m used to. In the past, he never drew attention to my condition, at least not so deliberately. He’s always been so careful, borderline clinical, in his physical interactions with me, as if standing too closely or speaking too loudly might send me over the edge.
Eight years of watching Aries from the shadows has made me an expert in his mannerisms. The way he unconsciously touches his left cuff link when uncomfortable. The slight furrow between his brows when he’s thinking. The precise distance he maintains between us—always exactly one step too far for intimacy.
This man—-though he is Aries—isn’t him at the same time. He’s a perfect mirror image with all the details reversed, and there is no way to explain it. It feels like I don’t know him. Like he’s a different person.
“Tell me what you’re thinking?” he says, and even his voice is subtly wrong—slightly deeper, more commanding.
“About you, and how different you are acting. With me, and just everything. You disappeared and came back different. It’s like you aren’t even you anymore.”
He doesn’t hesitate. “You say that like it’s a bad thing?”
Is it? I can’t be sure. All I know is that the longer he touches me, the more I want to let him consume me.
“Change is always good, but…”
His hand slides down my spine, sending electric currents across my flesh. Feelings I tried to purge from my soul are suddenly amplified to dangerous levels.
“But what?”
“This feels different, not like change. Change is forming a new habit, giving something up for a good reason. You’re…like a different person.” And that sounds crazy because he’s not a different person. He’s still Aries, but somehow, he isn’t. “I can’t explain it.”
I can’t put my finger on it, but something is off. Not only in the essence of his interest in me, but his boldness, his reappearance like he never left. Like he never broke something inside me and it was nothing.
“Maybe you’re thinking too much into it. Sometimes you have to shed what you used to be to find your real purpose.” He grins down at me, and my stomach does this strange somersault.
I nod, understanding what he’s saying, but not fully convinced by it.
Even if he’s different, that doesn’t mean things between us are different. I doubt his stance on us being together has changed.
“You’re trembling,” he observes. “Is your heart acting up?”
“No. Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine,” I lie, allowing myself half a moment to lean into his touch. I’m consumed by his presence, every breath, every skim of his fingers against my skin.
I want him to want me like I want him.
It’s all I’ve wished for, for the past two years. More if I’m being honest with myself.
His hand cups my cheek, his touch gentle, and I’m unable to stop myself from leaning into his palm. Am I so weak for his touch that I will take whatever I can get? Any little bit of attention? I hate to think he might take this moment between us and use it against me, but I’m too desperate for his touch to stop it.
His thumb brushes my lower lip, and the muscles in my stomach tighten.
“You deserve better than to be paraded around like some show pony.” The genuine disgust in his voice catches me off guard. He knows this is my only objective, just as his is to become the heir to the family’s wealth and business.
“So do you…” I swallow. “Deserve better, I mean.” I’m tempted to flick my tongue against the tip of his thumb just to see what he’ll do.
There’s no way he can break my heart any more than he already has.
A strange, unreadable look flickers in his eyes at my remark.
“You look like you could use some fresh air.” The hard edge to his tone makes the words come out in a demand rather than a statement. There’s no room for argument, not when he’s already tugging me along with him.
The absence of his touch on my bare skin, only one hand anchored at my lower back, creates a hollow ache in my chest. I ignore the feeling and allow him to steer us away from the dance floor and toward the terrace doors.
The cool night air kisses my bare shoulders, and goose bumps rise like a warning across my skin. Aries notices and shrugs out of his jacket, draping it over me. His scent cocoons me, and I resist the urge to bury my nose in the lapels of the jacket.