Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
It’s a natural segue into a real discussion. But it’s not the time or place for a real discussion so I reach down between her legs, grab my dick, and push it inside her.
Then I watch her face as all thoughts of talking are set aside for later and once again, her eyes close and her head tips back.
I start slow. Easing in and out of her with deliberate care. Allowing us both to savor all the new, emerging feelings as the minutes pass. But eventually, we’re worked up to the point where the time for savoring is over now too, and I go faster, pressing into her with more intention and force, until finally, she reaches the top of that hill and falls over it with a moan as her fingernails dig into my shoulders.
The look on her face is enough to send me over the edge too, and the next thing I know I’ve got my face buried in her neck and I’m biting the muscle just below her ear. It’s not a real bite—I don’t draw blood or anything—but it’s hard, and serious, and makes her back stiffen as I explode inside her.
We stand there for a few moments, enjoying the residual sparks of the climax, and then she lets out a long breath and drops her head onto my shoulder.
“You can bite me back if you want.”
She just chuckles.
“Sorry. I really didn’t mean to bite you, it’s just… something I like to do.”
Her arms are still around my neck, but she holds me tighter after I say this. “I hope it leaves a hickey.”
“A hickey.” I almost snort as I lower Clover down and her feet find the floor. She looks up at me and for the first time I think I see the real her. An easy, relaxed version of the tense, scared woman I kidnapped and locked in a basement several days ago.
There’s a thick clump of wet hair plastered to her cheek and instinctively, I slide it off her face so I can see her better. “Hi.”
She smiles. “Hello.”
“Would you like me to wash your hair?”
“Only if I can wash you back.”
“Deal.”
I turn and take her with me, pushing her back under the hot water. Then I pump out some shampoo from a container and start working it into her hair. She gets some soap and starts making suds on my chest. We don’t say anything as we wash each other. We just take our time—like we’ve got millions of years ahead of us instead of one day—and when we’re done, we wrap up in towels and go back into the bedroom.
I towel myself off as Clover finger-combs her hair in a mirror over the dresser, and then I walk up behind her—dry now, but still naked—and reach around to take her towel away. Our eyes lock in the mirror for a few moments. And even when I avert my gaze so I can towel her off too, she continues to watch me.
“You’re a very nice lover,” she says.
“Surprised?”
“Not really.”
“That’s a lie.”
“No. There is a very kind person inside of you.”
“Deep inside, you mean?”
“Not that deep.”
“I kidnapped you. I made all those threats. I’ve killed people.”
I know she knows this. Hell, I admitted it. But saying it so casually like this is something I’ve never done before. I don’t want to be a killer. I’d prefer to deny it, at least to myself. But at this point in my life, it’s just a fact.
Clover shrugs up one shoulder. “And yet here you are. Saving my life.”
It’s a consolation prize. We both know this. “I really did mean what I said.”
“Which part?”
“You’re really out of my league.”
Her eyes go all squinty. “Don’t say that.”
“Why? It’s the truth.”
“Because if you truly believe this, Riggs, you won’t come back for me.”
“Do you want me to come back for you?”
She pouts her lips a little, taking time to think. Which I appreciate, because the honest answer here is no. She doesn’t want me to come back for her. Life for us, if I do manage to get away again, would be hell. Clover has to know this.
Just as she opens her mouth to respond, I put up a hand, stopping her. Then I answer for her with the same words I was just thinking in my head. “You don’t, Clover. If I came back for you, we’d be on the run. And Hattie Miller would be our hunter. We’d never have a moment’s peace.”
“I know,” she says. “That’s why I didn’t answer right away. In another life, I’d date you, Riggs. But this is the only life I have and I can’t see a future where that ever happens.”
“Because there isn’t one.”
“Well.” She blows out a breath. “If this day is the only one we get, let’s enjoy it.”