Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 132498 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132498 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
I turn a corner, and a hand grabs mine, pulling me into a side corridor.
“Jesus,” I gasp, slamming into the wall of his chest.
He’s in black. No tie. Hair slightly messy, but it’s his eyes that make me gasp. They burn like he’s Orpheus, and he’s walked through hell to reach me.
“Hi.” His hands still hold my arms to steady me.
“What are you doing here?” I whisper, breath hitching.
“You really thought I wouldn’t show up on your birthday?” He brushes his thumb over my wrist like he’s soothing sparks under my skin.
I want to cry.
Instead, I pull him down and kiss him like drowning people grab air.
He grins against my mouth. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?” I let him tug me along the hallway.
“Away from here.”
We sneak through the kitchen, then make our way through the staff doors. The next hallway we walk through is dim and narrow, but it’s not long before we are outside. We dash across the garden, then across the lawn. My dress whips around my ankles, but I don’t care. I’m desperate to be far away from that damn party.
The tightness in my chest doesn’t dissipate until we reach the boathouse.
Lorenzo flings the door open, then walks over to the corner, grabbing the blanket I stored there, and lays it down.
I stride over to him and don’t wait for permission, no. I throw my arms around him, and he holds me like he’s never letting go.
We sink to the floor, bodies pressed together, breaths tangled.
Then his lips brush my temple. “You looked like you were suffocating in there.”
“I was,” I breathe.
He presses his mouth against my skin. “You’re not alone, Little Bird. Not anymore.”
I kiss him again. Like this is the one place I still belong.
For a second, I forget how to breathe.
The moonlight streaming in through the dirty window casts a glow across his handsome face.
I shift closer to him, needing there to be no distance between us.
Lorenzo’s eyes seem darker than usual, intense and bottomless.
Something shifts in the air between us.
“Little Bird, you can’t look at me like that.”
“Why not?” I whisper.
“Because I’m not sure I won’t die if I can’t touch you.”
“Who says I won’t let you touch me?”
“Will you let me touch you, Victoria?”
My body shivers at his words. “Yes.”
His lip tips up into a sexy smirk. “Good to know . . . ”
I lean in, closing the space between us slowly, telling him with my body that I’m serious. I want this. I want him.
He leans in, too.
“You sure?”
“Yes.” And before he can ask again, I brush my lips against his, it’s soft at first—tentative. But then he presses closer. Sealing his mouth to mine.
I open to him, and he takes the moment to slip his tongue into my mouth.
Lifting my hands, I grab onto his shirt.
He kisses me like I’m everything, and when I’m in his arms I feel like I am.
He cups my face in his hands, deepening the kiss.
I swear the world around us fades away.
There is no party.
No parents.
No Grant.
It’s just us.
With each passing second, the kiss grows hungrier.
More frantic.
Until we are all tongue and teeth.
I tug his shirt up, pulling away from his mouth for a brief second.
“Your turn,” Lorenzo practically growls.
His hands find the back of my dress and pull the string.
“You can’t do it like that.”
“Show me.”
I stand, and then once I’m standing, he follows suit, turning me around and loosening the strings.
The dress falls away from my frame. I’m left standing in front of him in only a small pair of white panties.
“Turn around.” His voice is rough and gravelly.
I follow his order, turning to face him, hands now covering my breasts.
He shakes his head. “Lower your hands.”
I do.
My nipples pebble instantly.
His gaze meets mine, and he breaks eye contact to look at me.
Down my face, over my collarbone, and then it drifts down farther.
“You’re perfect.” He moves closer, hands reaching out, trailing across by jaw, down my neck, until his palms cup my breasts. “So perfect.”
I feel needy, my body tingling with built-up tension.
“I need you,” I admit, making his eyes darken.
“Where do you need me?”
I lick my lips. “Everywhere.”
Lorenzo nods, drops his hands, and strips off his own clothes. Then he takes my hand in his and helps me down to the ground and lies beside me.
Only a second passes before we’re crashing back together.
Kissing.
Biting.
Claiming each other with our mouths.
His hands roam all over me.
Fingers caressing. Touching. When his hands find my breasts again, he pulls and teases my nipples.
It’s like there is a line that runs straight down to my core. I squirm against him, and he must notice because his hands leave my breasts and trail lower.
“Is this what you need?” His hands part my thighs. Then I feel him, one finger finding my clit.
I’m hot and wet. And desperate for more.