Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100493 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100493 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Four drinks in, Khloe’s head is thrown back laughing at her own story.
I find the dance floor because I need to burn this alcohol off before we have to go back. If I don’t, I’ll either shoot someone else, or end up on Asher’s dick.
The music is loud, a messy throb that eats up the space inside my head. Hands find my waist, but I already knew they were coming. I felt his eyes on me five minutes before he finally built the courage. He’s not bad looking. Dark eyes, broad through the shoulders.
My eyes close as the crowd press in around us, music filling every corner of my skull where Asher’s voice lives. I move because movement stops thinking, and I need to stop thinking.
The man’s hands tighten on my hips.
I step away, peeling his fingers off me one at a time. He does that dramatic pleading thing men do when they think it’ll help them get what they want, and I roll my eyes, making my way back to the bar.
Pathetic. Truly.
Khloe slides a fresh drink toward me.
“You okay?” she asks, yelling over 50 Cent.
I glare at her like hell no, and we both burst out laughing because why the fuck did I let a stranger dance with me?
Her laughter dies as she pulls me in close, wrapping her long arms around my neck. “He’s an idiot, you know.”
I take a long sip.
She leans back in. “For what it’s worth, he’s always been very good at what he does.”
My grip tightens around the glass.
Is that so? Well same.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
IVY
“Had fun?”
I pause in the entrance, door hanging open and keys in hand, then kick it shut behind me.
“Mhmm.” I drag my gaze across every plane of his chest without an ounce of shame. “Loads.”
Why does he have to look fuck-able? All the time.
Also, why did I come home this drunk.
Khloe hiccups, swaying sideways. “Ivy danced with a guy...”
“Bed.” Asher cuts her off without looking away from me. “Now.”
“But...”
“Khloe.”
I swallow a laugh, because when did he get so serious about everything.
Khloe snorts, catching the railing as she stumbles up the stairs. “Fine.”
And then it’s just us, the way it always ends up.
I shrug my coat off one shoulder, lamplight catching the dark silk of the dress Khloe forced me into when all I wanted was to drink in my sweatpants and cardigan.
“Why are you still up?” My eyes grow heavy.
“Somebody had to make sure you didn’t do something stupid.” He leans back against the counter as I kick off my heels. “Again.”
“Maybe I like stupid.” It drops lower than I mean it to, but the green fairy dissolved whatever filter I had left.
I move closer. I need more of him, simple as that.
He searches my face, mouth twitching. “You’re drunk.”
My finger almost finds his chest. “And you’re shirtless.”
Another step. “You know, you’re making this rather hard to...”
His palm slams over my mouth, his nose dragging along the curve of my jaw. “If you don’t keep this mouth shut, pretty soon I’m gonna throw out all the fucking rules.”
He leans back enough to give me room, and I’m too drunk to want it.
“Maybe it’s time we throw them out anyway?” Lifting my brows, I keep my voice low.
He catches my wrist before I can touch him, locking it above my head. The seconds stretch, and I’m fucking tired. Tired of the games, the back and forth, all of it.
I flatten my free palm over his chest. “Oh well. Guess we keep playing, and maybe tomorrow I’ll bring one home to fuck...”
His hand closes around my throat and he shoves me into the wall, his mouth crashing down on mine and swallowing my laugh.
Shit.
Reality splits into some manic nightmare where I’d live and die for him.
Because I would.
Oh God...
He’s kissing me and I should pull away, I know I should, but he groans and my mouth opens on a broken sound, and I lose whatever shred of self-respect I had left as I fall straight into him.
His thigh drives between mine, forcing me open, his tongue exploring my mouth.
Forcing himself to stop, he rests his forehead on mine.
“Asher...” I warn, ignoring my heart thudding like it’s trying to crack my ribs.
“Fuck.” He bites on a groan. “I know.”
I search his eyes. Mine. Every single part of him is mine.
“Couldn’t help it,” he whispers over my lips. “I’m fucking done, Venom.”
He kisses me again, slower this time, and every lick of his tongue drops me deeper. With a smirk against my mouth, he flips his middle finger toward the corner of the room.
That familiar heat comes roaring back, burning me from the inside, and suddenly this isn’t enough, I need his hands, his weight, him.
His palm slides down the wall and lands on my ass.
“Is this what you wanted?” The words are hot against my pulse before his mouth softens into a feather-light kiss. “To push me until I snapped? Until I threw everything out for you?”