Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 116708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
“But you did,” she repeated. “You wrecked me. I didn’t think I would ever recover. I spent years asking myself what I could have done differently. Wondering if you ever even cared about me. I was trapped in a purgatory where life moved forward yet stood still.”
I flexed the arm that was still wrapped tightly around her waist and dropped my face so that our eyes met. “Well, that’s where we differ. My life never moved forward from you. Not a single day has passed that you haven’t been on my mind. I’ve spent countless hours replaying the sound of your laughter, remembering the weight of your head on my shoulder, the way your eyes would light up when you talked about a funny story you heard at work. Every morning has been nothing short of agony when I wake up without you curled into my side. The nights are sometimes worse as I collapsed into our bed, wanting nothing more than to steal a kiss in the dark and hear your whispered declarations of love before we drifted off to sleep tangled in each other’s arms.”
Our faces were inches apart, her breaths short and ragged, matching my own.
“Truett,” she said in a pained whisper.
She was going to either kick me out or kiss me. I couldn’t tell which, but I wasn’t leaving until I could make her understand.
Slowly, as if I could spook her at any minute, I dipped low, and brushed my lips over hers.
She tipped her chin, trying to catch my mouth, but I kept my lips a fraction out of her reach. “I deserve every bit of hate and anger and resentment you feel for me. But make no mistake, I have never, not ever, not for one fucking second of my entire god-forsaken life, stopped loving you.”
Her body stiffened against me, but before I had the chance to overthink it, her mouth collided with mine in a frenzy of need. Her tongue warred with mine in a duel of longing and desperation.
“Please, Truett.” She tugged at the hem of my shirt. Those words had once haunted me, but now they ignited my system with feral desire.
With a growl, I cupped her ass, the firm swells filling my palms as I lifted her off her feet. Without hesitance, her legs wrapped around my waist and I feared my cock would break free of my zipper when her core hit me.
Our tongues continued their battle, her hands in my hair, frantic to find an angle that would give her more of my mouth—more of me.
More of us.
I carried her the short distance to her desk. Paperwork littered the surface and with the slice of my hand, I blindly swept it to the floor before setting her down on the edge.
My hands roamed down her sides, exploring her unfamiliar curves. There had been a time when I’d known her body better than my own. It pained me to think of what I’d missed, the subtle changes throughout the years, but I was all too eager for the journey of rediscovery.
“Yes,” she hissed into my mouth as I glided my thumb over her nipple, entirely too much fabric dividing us.
We broke our frenzied kiss, peeling each other’s shirt off. I didn’t bother unhooking her bra, and just stripped it over her head. It followed our shirts to the floor.
And then I froze.
Just.
Stopped.
My hands were buzzing at my sides as I drank her in. Dear God, how was she even more stunning than I remembered. From her peaked nipples to the curve of her breasts, she was fucking perfect.
It was Gwen.
It was my Gwen. What the hell did I expect?
Our labored breaths filled the silence of the otherwise quiet room.
“True,” she whispered, catching my attention, reminding me that I was standing there ogling her body like a teenage boy seeing a naked woman for the first time. And quite honestly, she wasn’t all that wrong.
When my gaze flicked up to hers, a gentle smile played on her lips. “Come back to me.”
Those four words hit me like a surge of electricity, jolting my deadened heart back into rhythm.
I wasn’t too delusional to recognize that she was simply asking for me to escape my thoughts and rejoin her in a blaze of fiery passion.
And I would do that, no question about it.
But what she couldn’t possibly know was that those four words would forever mark the beginning of my quest to reclaim my life—starting with her.
Come back to me.
Come back to me.
Come back to me.
I had never wanted anything more.
Palming the back of her head, I pulled her mouth to mine with a white-hot urgency.
Her nails raked down my back as I moved my assault to her neck, nipping and sucking my way down to her chest. I found her nipple, flicking it with my tongue before sucking it into my mouth. Her gasps and moans guided me lower, until I reached the waistband of her shorts.