Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“How do you feel about dancing on a pole?” he asked me.
Pausing, I gaped up at him. Had he really just asked me that?
“Are you suggesting I become a stripper?”
He chuckled. “Hell no. You’d be a terrible stripper. I was thinking more along the lines of you dancing on a pole here. For me only.”
“You have a pole here?” I asked incredulously.
“Yeah. Wanna go see it?” he asked with a wicked grin.
I shook my head. “No, and no thank you.”
His laugh followed me as I hurried inside, wondering what in the world I was doing and where my common sense had gone to. Because I was bothered by the fact that a man had told me I’d be a terrible stripper. I didn’t want to be a stripper, so why did I care?!
“Tell me why that got you all testy,” Hale said, coming up behind me.
“I’m not testy,” I replied, but my tone said quite the opposite.
“Yeah, you are.”
Spinning around, I stared up at him. “Stop trying to bait me.”
“Is that what I’m doing?”
I threw up both my hands. “I don’t know. One minute, you have your hand down my pants, and then the next, you are…are…”
“I’m what?”
“UGH!” I growled in frustration and started toward the stairs again. I was going to the attic bedroom and locking myself in. Maybe I could find my brain while I was at it because I had clearly lost it somewhere.
By the time I reached the second floor with no footsteps behind me, I knew I was in the clear. He wasn’t following me. Although there was a part of me that wished he had.
The fact that the hot water in this house never ran out was a magical thing. I wasn’t sure how long I had been in the shower, but it had been long enough that my fingertips were starting to get pruney. I took my time towel-drying my hair, then wrapped the same towel around my body and stepped back into the small area between the bathroom and bedroom. I was almost to the door before I realized the room wasn’t empty. When I stopped at the entrance, my eyes locked with Hale’s as he sat on the bed, his back against the headboard and his legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles.
“What are you doing in here?” I demanded.
He raised a single eyebrow. “I own the house.”
“Yes, but why are you up here? You never come up here.”
“You don’t know that,” he replied. “But to answer your question, I am up here because you are. I thought you were hiding again, but I found that you were taking the longest fucking shower in history.”
I gripped my towel around me, holding it tightly, as if it were a shield. “I felt dirty.”
“You should be squeaky clean now,” he drawled. “And you were dirty, but in a very good way.” He patted the mattress. “Come here.”
I shook my head. “I need to get dressed.”
“I prefer you like that.”
I blew out a frustrated breath, not sure if it was with him or me.
“Come here,” he repeated.
I stared at him, knowing exactly what would happen if I did. How it was a terrible idea, but one I wanted anyway. My body began to react to the memory of how he had made me feel, and it clearly was on board with me obeying.
“What…what are you going to do?” I asked.
His eyes seemed to dance with silent laughter. “We, Snow. It’s what we are going to do. Now, be the good girl I know you can be and come here.”
Perhaps if I had any self-control left, I could refuse and walk back into the bathroom and bolt the door. But I had none. Not where Hale was concerned. And the more time we were together, the less I wanted that control.
When I started walking toward him, he smiled a slow, seductive one that sent electric currents through me. God, that man was lethal.
He held out a hand, and I looked down at it, then back at him before placing mine in his.
“Let the towel go,” he said.
I only hesitated for a moment but the hunger in his eyes made me want to give him whatever he wanted. Releasing it, I let it fall, leaving me completely naked.
“Fuck, Snow,” he swore, then pulled me closer. “Straddle me.”
I climbed onto the bed and did as instructed. He gripped my hip with his one good hand and tugged me closer until the hard ridge of his erection pressed between my legs. He leaned forward, and his mouth latched on to my nipple, sending a spark of pleasure straight to my center.
“I’ve wanted to suck on these nipples since you stood naked in front of me on the plane.”
I buried my hands in his hair, holding him to me as I began to rock against him.