Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22991 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 115(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22991 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 115(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
But now…I’m already imagining what it would be like to have this man take its place.
I must be insane. I don’t even know his name, his history, why he’s up here or whether I can trust him. But at the same time, he’s brutally gorgeous, built like a sculpture, and he handles me like I already belong to him.
“Still cold?”
My breath catches, and I swallow hard as I snap out of my fantasies and back to reality.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re shivering, gorgeous,” he says, his voice low as he lowers his body onto mine. “Should I move you closer to the fire?”
I blink twice and shake my head. “Oh, no. I’m not…I’m fine.”
His muscled physique radiates warmth like an engine. There’s not an ounce of fat on this man. His biceps seem impossible, and I could wash my clothes—if I had any—on his abs. As he shifts his weight, I feel a bulge from between his thighs. It presses against my mound, sending a jolt through me like nothing I’ve felt before.
“Your thigh.”
I blink, returning to my senses.
“What?”
“Your thighs, princess.” He runs a finger up the inside of my thigh, dangerously close to my pussy. For such a strong man, he’s shockingly delicate. “You’re red from the cold. I need to put some ointment on it.”
“You…have something like that?”
He chuckles. “I live on a mountain, sweetheart.”
As he sits up, a force like gravity tugs at my eyes, and I feast on the chiseled lines of his abs. My breath catches, and I tingle all over.
“Wait,” I whisper. “What’s your name?”
His eyes narrow as he looks down at me. “My name?”
“It’s only fair. You know mine.” He just stares back at me. “Come on, you said you’re not letting me go. What’s it matter?”
He continues to stare, then slowly, his lips twist into a grin.
“Rourke,” he replies, the perfect tone of his virile voice sinking into my chest.
“Rourke.” I nod, testing the feel on my tongue.
“Affirmative.”
“See? I knew you were military.”
He stands, chuckling, but doesn’t respond. I watch from the hearth as he walks to the bathroom, the defined lines of his sculpted back moving with each step. My head starts to spin, and I’m almost thankful for the few seconds he’s gone. It’s like a brief respite from magnificence.
When he returns, he’s carrying a tube of ointment that he sets beside me. Kneeling, he squirts a little on his hand, then gently rubs it on the tender spot on my thigh.
“Can I…have my clothes now, please?”
He shakes his head, his biceps rippling. “Negative.”
“Why not?”
I’m blushing again. I don’t know why. I’ve been naked in front of this man for a while now. It’s not like he hasn’t seen all there is to see.
“Because, angel. They’re still wet. Like you.”
My stomach clenches. I have to fight hard to keep my jaw from dropping. It’s like this man just shined a spotlight on me.
“I–I am not,” I protest, but I know it’s pointless. I can’t hide from him. Still, I twist my hips and clasp my thighs together.
“I turn you on.”
I shake my head, looking up at his chiseled, mountain-man physique. “No. You scare me.”
“Don’t be afraid, beautiful,” he mutters, leaning closer. “Hurting you is the last thing on my mind.”
“And the first?”
His tongue drags slowly across his lower lip as his electric eyes send a surge through me.
Calm down, girl, I hiss inside.
“Protecting you.”
I sneer back. “Oh, right.”
“I wouldn’t lie to you, angel.”
My eyes roll involuntarily, but his gaze remains firmly on me. On my nakedness. This man has seen every inch of me, and despite my thighs clamped together, he’s right: I am wet.
“No? Then what’s the second thing on your mind?”
He takes a breath, causing his massive chest to expand to an even greater size. The muscles on either side of his sculpted jaw flex as his eyes narrow and his tempting lips twist into a smile.
“I think you know.”
The spot on my hip where he applied the ointment is buzzing pleasantly, as if I can feel myself healing. Such tenderness from such a brutish man. I fall into his eyes, feeling my cheeks tingle and my thighs blaze.
“I have no idea—”
Before I even realize what’s happening, Rourke has his lips on my thigh, kissing me just beside my frost burn. Then he’s moving up, kissing my belly on his way to my breasts. I gasp, but he moves past them and places his lips where he bandaged my shoulder.
A tiny squeal emerges from my throat.
“See? You know,” he growls, clearly pleased with himself. “And you didn’t stop me.”
My blush deepens, tingling so hard it’s painful. My eyes lock with his as my body blazes, and I feel that feeling—the one I’ve been waiting for—like a chain wrapping around us, growing tighter…
…tighter…tighter…
“You’ve made it pretty clear I couldn’t,” I whisper back. “Stop you, that is.”