Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 48412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 242(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 242(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
She interrupts me with a kiss. “You have to stop apologizing.” Her eyes shine over at me, her voice raspy. Of course it is. I was just down her throat. “Every time you let yourself go, you apologize, but…look at me. I keep coming back for more because I love it.” She ducks her head a little shyly, and I’m so charmed, I can’t fucking breathe. “I had no idea I would love the way you speak to me so much, but you’re so sweet the rest of the time, I think maybe it balances out.”
It all comes back.
How I encouraged her to be a slut. A whore.
Words I never say to anyone.
Words that flipped a dark switch in us both that led to satisfaction, as if they’d been whispered in my ear like a secret recipe to satisfy her needs. And mine. Ones I didn’t even know I had.
“And calling me Daddy?”
She giggles into my chest, her face flushed when she looks up at me. “At first I wasn’t sure, but…”
“But what?”
Her brows draw together as if she’s searching for the right words. When she reveals them, they’re hushed, like she’s sharing a secret. “When you say that word, it makes my tummy feel hot and my skin gets clammy. It makes me feel fragile and safe and…treasured.”
“You are. That’s exactly what I want.” I roll our foreheads together, thanking whatever fates blew this girl through my hotel room door. “Thank God you love what we do because I don’t think I can live without it, or you, anymore,” I say, kissing her forehead, her nose, her lips. “But if anything I ever do is too much, you’ll tell me?”
Her smile makes my pulse skip. “I think you know I will.”
“And then I’ll never do it again.”
“I think I know that, too,” she whispers, brushing my hair back with her soft fingertips. A few seconds of silence pass as we stare at each other. “I’ll come to your party tonight.”
My heart climbs up into my throat. “You will?”
She nods. “I don’t want to be away from you for a whole night. We have so little time.”
Okay. She still doesn’t get it.
I’m not letting her go. Obviously, she needs more time and reassurance to believe that this relationship doesn’t have an end date.
I’m happy to provide it.
“I don’t want to spend a night away from you, either, angel. I wouldn’t be able to stand it,” I say fervently. Thickly. Drawing her tight to my body, wishing I could absorb her into my very blood stream. “Everything is going to be all right. I won’t let it be anything but all right for you.”
TEN
Vida
I hang back behind one of the pilings on the dock, watching the party in progress on Tripp’s yacht. I thought I’d prepared myself for what awaited me tonight, but holy hell, I was not ready.
First of all, Tripp’s yacht is the granddaddy of all the yachts moored in the harbor. It’s at least 150 feet long, towering above every other boat parked nearby. It’s massive and sparkling and no doubt wildly expensive. It probably cost more money than I’ll ever earn in my lifetime.
But I expected that. I don’t have to Google the Sterlings’ net worth to know there are a lot of zeroes.
It’s the people partying on board that keep me hidden behind the thick post.
Young men in white linen shirts, left open. Leather dock shoes. Gold watches.
The girls are in dresses a pop star might wear to the Grammys. Every one of them looks like a perfectly styled influencer, not a hair out of place even in the night breeze. Diamonds encircle their throats and wrists. Champagne flutes in their elegant hands.
I am wearing jean shorts and a bikini top.
Flip flops.
My backpack.
If I walk onto that boat dressed like this, I am going to look like an idiot.
Worse, I think I’ll embarrass Tripp. That would kill me.
What am I going to do? Call him and explain that something came up and I can’t make it to the party? Or can I improvise? There are high-end stores in the resort, and I know the girls who work in them. Maybe I can borrow something for the night?
It’s worth a try.
Before I turn away from the spectacular sight of beautiful people dancing on a pristine yacht, I catch sight of Tripp. He walks to the railing of his boat and leans forward on his forearms, scanning the dock for me. When he doesn’t see me, he paces away and comes back, looking down at his phone, visibly stressed. A girl comes up to him and tugs on his sleeve, trying to get his attention, but he just shakes his head, ignoring her.
Not wanting him to think I’m standing him up, I take my phone out of my backpack and tap the screen a few times, listening to it ring in my ear. Tripp sees I’m calling and almost collapses with relief.