Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 120631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 603(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 603(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
Cordelia claimed the largest of the bunch, a stuffed snake with a ball-like head. When she yanked it from the pile, King watched with mesmerized curiosity.
“Your mongrel’s emasculating my thoroughbred.”
“She’s doing no such thing.” Jocelyn settled on the floor beside the leather sectional because that felt safer than sitting on the furniture with a beverage.
With the dogs occupied, Soren topped off her glass and settled in next to her. “Music?”
“Sure.”
He typed something into his phone, and guitar rippled from hidden speakers throughout the house, cocooning them in an alternative vibe as Matchbox Twenty crooned about pushing boundaries and taking trust for granted.
“I love this song.”
“I know.” His hand rested on her thigh. “I remember.”
She stared at his fingers for a long moment, playing a game in her head, wondering how long she could pretend this was normal. The longer it stayed there, tracing gentle whirls through her jeans, the more unnerved she became.
Chugging her Shrek-pagne, she said, “Can I have some more?”
“Sure.” He removed his hand to retrieve the bottle, and she took a moment to catch her breath.
Fucking she could handle. Fucking was fast and left no time to think. Intimacy, however, moved slow and left plenty of time for intrusive thoughts to slip in.
“Is it hot in here?”
“I can lower the temperature.” He did so with another entry into his phone.
“Quite the space house you have here.” She took another six hundred dollar gulp of bubbly. The alcohol was finally getting to her head.
“Do you want to—”
“Have sex? God, yes.”
He stilled then laughed. “I was going to say watch a movie.”
“Oh.” She tipped back her champagne, chugging down the last four-hundred-dollar swallow. “Sure. How about Goonies?” She held out her glass. “More please.”
“Okay, I can see this isn’t working.”
“I told you—Hey!” He took her empty glass and set it on the end table. No coaster.
Standing, he kicked the dog toys aside and tossed the fur blanket on the floor. Then, with the flick of a switch, he turned on the gas fireplace. Flames ignited, and the room transformed with a golden glow.
“Lie down. Clothes off.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m giving you a back rub to help you relax.”
“I don’t want a back rub.”
“Too bad.” He pointed to the blanket. “On your belly.”
She met his challenging stare, refusing to move, but eventually crumbled, letting him win this little standoff and promising she wouldn’t give in so easily next time.
“Fine. But my clothes are staying on.”
“We’ll see.”
She crawled onto the blanket and sat with her back to the fireplace, arms akimbo. “I don’t like massages.”
“That’s because you’ve never had one from me.” He shoved her back, catching the backs of her knees and yanking her closer. He pulled off her suede boot and held it up. “You can model these later for me—naked.”
He pulled off the other and tossed them aside. Then he reached for the zipper of her jeans, stripping her legs bare in seconds flat. Refusing to look at him, she rolled her eyes back as far as she could without giving herself a headache.
He peeled off her panties and pushed open her legs.
“Hey, what kind of massage is this?”
“The kind where you come.” Diving forward, he dragged his tongue through her slit, closing his lips around her clit.
Jocelyn’s back arched as her arms unlocked from her chest. Her hands balled into fists at her side when he did it again.
“You’re too in your head.”
True, but now her body was starting to pulse, and she welcomed the distraction.
He dragged the flat of his tongue over her sensitive flesh, slower this time, like he had all night and intended to savor every minute of it. No urgency like she usually felt when he took her. No race to the finish, they typically sprinted toward. Just that maddening, unhurried exploration, as if he were learning her this time, instead of conquering her again.
“Soren.” His name came out as a warning when she realized he was doing things differently on purpose.
“Hmm?” His response hummed against her clit, the vibration rolling through her core.
“Are you trying to—” Her breath hitched when he did something fancy with his tongue. “—torture me on purpose?”
“Keep talking. I like the way your voice shakes when you’re trying to sound annoyed.”
She wasn’t trying.
She was annoyed. And melting. So many sensations tangled into one until she felt trapped and over-sensitized.
When she squirmed, he caught her hips, refusing to let her escape the onslaught of pleasure. His hands smoothed along the outsides of her thighs, thumbs tracing slow circles into her clenched muscles she couldn’t seem to relax.
“Easy. Just let it happen.” Everywhere he caressed her, she softened against her own will, her own body betraying her mind in response to his drugging touch. “Relax,” he murmured against the inside of her thigh, pressing maddeningly soft kisses into her flesh. “I’ve got you.”