Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 131651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 658(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 658(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
She kisses me until it hurts before she pulls back. “Convinced yet? Or will you just keep denying I know what I want?”
“I’m not going to question my luck, or you,” I say, claiming her lips again.
After today, I won’t dare question fate and its warped sense of humor.
27
TRULY PRICELESS (CLEO)
Istill don’t know how we make it back to the condo in one piece.
I can barely stop kissing Holden—and every time I think he’ll break away, tell me he’s changed his mind, ask me to cool it, whatever, he surprises me.
He just pulls me closer and kisses me more deeply, whenever he’s not pressing my head protectively under his chin.
God.
I swear we’re like high school kids in the Uber ride the whole way back. The driver must be ready to gag, but I don’t care.
Back at the condo, Holden carries me out of the car, never letting my feet touch the ground. Full caveman mode, and I love it.
“Fucking boner,” he mutters against my neck as he stumbles in the hall. “You’ve had me hard as diamond since we left the precinct station.”
I giggle, especially when an elderly couple passing by do a double take.
It just bubbles out of me, wild and free, and Holden grins.
I’m not the only one smiling with a ten-ton weight pulled off my shoulders. He’s wearing an expression I’ve rarely seen.
Tender and sweet and so full of good humor.
When we first met, I thought he had a chronic disease that made smiling impossible. The grumpiest man alive.
Now, I know so much better.
The instant we’re through the door of our unit, I slide down his torso so I’m perched right against his erection. He groans, squeezing my ass with both hands.
“You’re still a liability, Miss Blackthorn.”
“Shut up and break me,” I whisper.
We only pause to lock the door, then we’re kissing each other stupid, desperate hands tangled in hair.
He pins me against the wall and slams his hips into mine.
I gasp.
I’m already reaching to undo my bra.
I want him inside me right now.
“I missed you so much,” I tell him breathlessly.
“Fuck, Clee.” His eyes are amber, lit by lust. “I missed you to hell and back. You’re all I can fucking think about. Even when we had a million other problems, you were always front and center. You made me a regretful idiot, and I’m not sorry.”
No, not now. Later, later.
I bring his face back to mine, relishing his fingers tangling my hair in his fist.
Kiss me some more. We’ll have time for hard discussions after.
He swings me around and brings me to the kitchen table. The one we ate breakfast at this morning.
There, he sits me down and rips my blouse off.
“Those magnificent tits,” he growls. “Never thought I’d see them again.”
“I’ll make a poet out of you yet,” I tease.
His dark gaze deepens, and both hands squeeze my breasts possessively.
“Joke all you like. I’m marking you all over.”
I shudder at his promise.
My legs open automatically, an invitation he takes, hauling my pants and panties off in one quick lift. Then his hand shifts between my legs, fingers pushing where I need him, and I arch into his touch.
He pushes my shoulder, easing me back against the cold lacquered wood.
“Good girl,” he whispers, removing his belt. “Stay.”
Like I could ever do anything else.
And when he strips his shirt off over his head, revealing miles of muscles that torment me so beautifully, my mouth goes dry.
He says he missed me, but he doesn’t even know.
He can’t fathom how awful, how deprived I felt after our little breakup.
I missed his contrast more than my next breath. This human bear, capable of such violence, feels so gentle when he touches me.
Gentle when I need him to be.
But not today.
Not when it feels like forever and way too long.
“Holden,” I whimper.
His eyes capture mine as he pushes one finger inside me, then the next.
Meanwhile, he pulls his cock out, stroking it full and pulsing with one hand.
“Punishment. You’ve earned it for teasing me the whole way here,” he rumbles, his hand gripping his throbbing length, brandishing it like the weapon it is.
I eye it eagerly, wanting to taste him, wanting him to take what he wants and pound me to dust.
More than anything, I want his control.
I want his conquest.
“What will you do about it?” I whisper.
“I’m going to make you watch.” He leans down over me and sucks my nipple into his mouth, tongue swirling. “And I’m going to make you beg.”
That won’t take much. But I’ll give him the soft illusion of having to work for it.
“Won’t be fucking hard, Clee,” he says with a knowing glint in his eye.
Then he returns to my breast, sucking and pulling, making me insane.
A minute in and I’m a moaning, shifting mess.
My legs fall open, wider.
But his fingers work slowly, gradually, dragging me to madness.