Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 60711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
A woman behind the circulation desk looked up as he entered, her eyes widening in recognition, but Paul simply walked past her.
The other patrons also turned to stare, their whispered speculations following him like a wake as he moved deeper into the stacks.
But he ignored them as well.
Only one person mattered, and his steps only slowed to a halt when he found her examing a shelf stocked full of special-editions titles. Even with her back was to him, he could feel her reverence as she stared at the books and occasionally cradled them in her hands like a newborn baby.
Her fingers hovered over a particularly ornate spine—something in deep burgundy with gold lettering—and even from behind, he could see the longing in her posture. The way she touched the book without quite taking it from the shelf, like she was afraid to want something she couldn’t have.
The more he watched her, the more he realized one thing.
“I’m starting to dislike the way you keep surprising me.”
Andromeda spun around, her expression cycling through shock, recognition, and something that looked almost like...
No.
Don’t go there, Mitropoulos.
She might be different...but not that different.
And it was critical he never allowed himself to forget that.
His gaze swung back to her, and his jaw clenched at how innocent she looked in her jeans and cream-colored sweater. Nothing expensive by the looks of them, and not even new. And yet...why did the sight of her always hit him like a ton of bricks?
Why, dammit?
Why did just one look at this girl have his entire body rigid with need, and his heart feeling like it was about to twist itself into pieces?
She stared at him, her face an open book, and in her eyes he saw everything that was good in this world.
And that was why...
Instead of walking away like a good man would do—
A devil like him chose to take great pleasure in taunting her.
Discomfiting her.
He said and did whatever it would take...just to make sure that he was all she would think about.
It was his only choice.
The writing was on the wall, the truth in all its excruciating glory shining in her bright blue eyes.
This girl would be impossible to corrupt with fame or fortune.
And so...
If there was no way to deceive her into thinking good things about him—
Paul was fine with her hating him instead. And it was very, very easy to have her play right into his hands. He could feel her annoyance growing. But it wasn’t enough.
“You’re still like all other women where it matters.”
He wanted her to hurt to the point that her heart would break.
To wound her heart so damn badly...that she would never forget him in her pain.
But this plan of his completely backfired when they got to the car, and she immediately turned to him, blue eyes flashing and chest heaving in defiance.
“Don’t think you’ve won this round!”
It was her first time to talk to him like this, and it didn’t turn him on.
Because frankly, he had been hard for her from the moment her gaze had clashed with his in the library.
What this did instead...was break his control.
Unleash his hunger.
To the point that the distance between them was unbearable.
And so he had her on his lap in a blink.
His mouth on hers in another.
All he wanted was a taste, but instead he found himself wanting more, his need for her turning insatiable, and fuck, fuck, fuck!
What should’ve just been a kiss deepened into something else. Something uncontrollable. For both of them.
Every unconscious move of her hips drove him out of his mind, and the look on her face...
Such sweet innocence.
Such purity.
All of it, he wanted to defile. Devour. Ruin.
Even if it meant destroying himself in the process.
Her whimpers had him gritting his teeth against the urge to rip her clothes off and sink his length inside of her.
Even without her saying a word, he knew that everything he was doing to her was completely new to her.
And that was how it would stay.
All of her firsts...would be his.
All of her.
Mine.
He would never let her go.
Never.
And that was why—
“Whatever Joyce promised you...”
Paul found himself breaking all of his rules as he made his offer.
“I’ll pay ten times more.”
Just this once, he would let himself take a risk.
“But in return...”
His heart pounded against his chest.
“For as long as she’s away—”
Every instinct he possessed told him he was setting himself up for defeat—
“I want you to be with me like you’re in love with me.”
But it was just too late.
The words were out, the chink in his armor exposed, and he might as well have given her the keys to hurt him for good.
What the hell did I just do?
Paul could feel her staring at him still, and a muscle started ticking in his jaw.
Should he take it back?
Tell her that it was just a joke even though they both knew it wasn’t?