Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
“I would be very sad indeed. I will wrap everything up and place it in the fridge for later,” he assured her without moving from the table. He watched her intently.
“I may never eat again,” she asserted dramatically as she swirled the red wine in her sparkling glass.
She kept her eyes on him as she took one last sip of the ruby red beverage. Sweeping the flavor from her lips with her tongue, Aurora enjoyed seeing the heat of his desire rekindling in his eyes. She reached over to trace the dragon pattern on his hand, marking him as she was. His hand wrapped around hers and tugged her closer.
No one had ever wanted her as Drake did. There was no faking his reaction to her glances, her teasing, her touches. He released her hand to cup the back of her head and draw her lips to his. When that wasn’t enough, he scooped her out of her chair and onto his lap.
“Happy anniversary, Little one.”
“Happy anniversary, Daddy.”
“I’d like it to be your bedtime, but I think you need some time to digest your meal before I take you.”
“You have plans, do you?” she teased, thoroughly on board with being seduced.
“Come with me, Little one. I have something special to show you.”
Drake stood and tugged her to her feet. “Let’s go…”
“Don’t we need to clean all this up?” she asked.
“Most of it will wait until tomorrow, but you are right. Come sit at the counter here. You can color, Aurora, while I put a few things in the refrigerator for tomorrow.”
“I could help,” she offered. When he just looked at her sternly, Aurora sighed and went to sit on a high stool. He never let her do things around the house. It was his job, he’d remind her.
“Here, Little one.” He handed her a magazine that she remembered from her childhood. It had all sorts of activities and fun things to read—even some jokes.
Any argument she could offer about why he should allow her to help flew out the window as she opened the cover. “Look! There’s even a word search!”
“What’s the first word?”
“Blueberry.”
“I bet that one is diagonal and backward,” he guessed.
“No way. Those are the hardest ones. They wouldn’t start with that.”
She nabbed a pencil from a container on the counter and started searching, looking for the first three letters in a row. Nothing popped out at her immediately, so she trailed the pencil along the letters, row by row.
“Did you cheat? It is going backward on a diagonal.”
“Dragons never cheat. We simply use our superior talents,” Drake assured her. “I’m betting the next one is horizontal.”
Poring over the puzzle, Aurora found it on the last line going straight across. “It’s here! You were right!”
The banter continued until he had the perishables in the refrigerator and the dishes stacked in the dishwasher. When he plucked the pencil out of her hand, she looked around the room in amazement. Aurora had no idea how he finished everything so fast.
“Wow!”
“Now, it’s time for your surprise.”
Drake helped her out of her chair and took her hand to lead her down the hallway. “This used to be a storage area. It now has a new purpose.”
Aurora peeked in as he opened the door. The room was bright and colorful. It seemed to welcome her. Loving it already, she walked to the center of the space and turned around in a circle. Her eyes skipped over the enclosed bed. It made her feel wonky—excited, but afraid. Instead of dwelling on that, she focused on a bookshelf filled with paperbacks and smaller books that looked like they were for children. A big rocking chair sat on one side. There was a smaller chair next to it.
“Who’s that for?” she asked, pointing at the miniature one.
“Firefly. Go get him and we’ll read a story.”
“What is this place?” she asked, hesitating.
“This is a space for you to relax, enjoy time by yourself and with your Daddy. We can read here. There’s a table for board games, coloring, or puzzles. You can look in the toy chest for fun activities.”
Immediately, she raced over to lift the lid and look in. Aurora couldn’t wait to do everything. She looked back at Drake. “Are you going to play with me?”
“Of course. What would you like to do first?”
“Read,” she whispered.
“I thought you might like that.” He took off his jacket and laid it over the table. “Do you want to get more comfortable?”
Nodding, she darted to him and whirled around so he could unzip her dress. Drake took care of that and then brushed the fabric over her shoulders, allowing it to tumble to the floor. Before she could protest, he unfastened her silky bra and draped it over his suit jacket.
When he hooked his fingers into the top of her panties, she blurted, “I can’t read naked.”