Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Meg marched around the counter and into the kitchen. She grabbed the glass out of Theo’s hand and downed the remainder of his whiskey. It wasn’t enough to drown out the words circling, pecking, pecking, pecking. They mixed with older, harsher, words from her past. Whore. Good for nothing. Waste of space. Failure. She reached for the bottle blindly and nearly knocked it off the counter.
Theo caught it before she cost him even more money. Concern flickered across his face. “What’s wrong?”
“What could be wrong? I’m a whore who’s not even being paid her full worth.” She grabbed the bottle from him and poured a double. Meg didn’t drink much these days, but the current situation called for it.
Theo covered the top of the glass with one of his big hands. “Whore is a derogatory term, princess. I didn’t put that word in your mouth.”
“How very woke of you.” She tried to slide the glass toward her, but he kept it trapped. “Theo, I am so angry, I am in danger of throwing something expensive that I can’t afford to replace.” Which accounted for everything in the damn apartment. “Let me drink.”
“Throw something if it’ll make you feel better.”
His dismissive tone rubbed against her skin like sandpaper. Of course he wouldn’t care if she destroyed everything in this place because he could afford to replace it without blinking or worrying about where his next meal would come from. The sheer privilege he displayed staggered her. She glared. “Put the money back, Theo. That’s what I came here to say, and now that I’ve said it, I’m leaving.”
Meg made it a grand total of one step before his voice stopped her. “No.” The word fell between them, an almost physical thing that sank any chance she had of getting out of there without making a further fool of herself.
She turned. Theo wasn’t leaning against the counter any longer. He’d halved the distance between them and there was a look in his blue eyes…
Something akin to possession.
Meg licked her lips, roots growing from the soles of her feet and binding her in place beneath the heat of his gaze. “You don’t own me.”
“I don’t want to own you, princess.” He took another step toward her and, this close, it was impossible to ignore the differences in their size. Meg wasn’t short. Theo was just that tall. He tangled his fingers in her hair and gave it a light tug she felt all the way to her toes. “Stay.”
“Oh, fuck right off.” She pushed his chest, but he didn’t even bother to pretend she was strong enough to move him. “You can’t just lay on the smolder and expect me to drop my panties and jump on your cock. You… You…” She ran out of words to convey her fury and screeching at him like a banshee might feel good but would accomplish nothing.
Meg did the next best thing.
She kissed him.
3
Meg had every intention of ending the contact before it began. She was proving a point, damn it. But Theo dug those big hands into her hair and tugged her close, his big body enfolding her own.
When Meg was twelve or thirteen, she’d adopted a stray cat. It was during one of the good years with her mom, and every day when she’d come home from school, no matter how shitty her day had gone or how many times she’d been humiliated by the other kids, that cat was waiting for her when she walked through the door, purring up a storm and wanting a cuddle.
Being wrapped in Theo’s arms felt a whole lot like that.
It didn’t make a bit of sense. He wasn’t hers in any sense of the word. He was the exact opposite of hers. But the truth had no place here, especially the ugly truth.
Theo turned them and lifted her onto the kitchen counter. He stepped between her thighs, pressing them wide enough that her skirt fought the movement. It only made everything hotter. He used his hold on her hair to tilt her head so he could kiss down her neck. Meg arched her back, needing his mouth all over her, needing him to rip her out of the goddamn clothes that had the audacity to create a barrier between them.
Somewhere in the back of her mind a voice whispered, the words emerging from her lips. “We shouldn’t.”
“I know.” He nuzzled her tank top lower and nipped the curve of her breast. “Galen will kill me.”
Galen.
His name in Theo’s rumbling voice sent a bolt of pleasure straight to her core. Last time, Galen had watched them for some time before he’d finally waded in to take the pleasure he considered his due. But Galen wasn’t here tonight.
Theo skated his hands up her thighs, pushing her skirt higher until she had to lift her hips to allow it to bunch around her waist. His thumbs feathered along the edges of her panties. “Black lace.” He cursed low enough that she had to strain to hear him.