Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 98121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
“I’d marry you myself before I let that happen. Before I allow any man to lay a fucking finger on you.”
“Christ.” I up the incline and the speed, sweat dripping from me as my feet stomp on the belt. When the song is over, I play it again and again.
Those words came out before I consciously thought of them, but they’re true. I feel the certainty like nothing else. It makes no fucking sense but there it is.
And hell, her asking me to fuck her, no, her asking me to make love to her, is not the same as what I said. Marriage. She’s twenty-two. She shouldn’t be getting married. She should be out having fun, living her life. Being carefree. Dating.
Except when I think about her dating, when I even start to consider another man’s eyes on her or hands on her, I make fists of my own because I think I’d kill them.
I know I would.
I crank the volume, the lyrics crowding out my thoughts as I exhaust my body. Half an hour later, twenty pull ups later, I’m at the weight machines lifting more than my usual, my body pushed to the max and still she slips into my thoughts, this lost little virgin.
My lost little virgin.
“Fuck me.”
Amal and Daniel fly back to Florida today. Once they’re safely on their flight, I’ll talk to Cassian. Figure out exactly where his head’s at regarding Amal. And I’ll fix it, whatever it is. I will keep my promise to her.
When the sun breaks the horizon and my body cannot take any more, I climb the stairs back up to the main floor, the muscles of my thighs on fire. I down another bottle of water and make a cup of coffee for her. I’m not sure how she takes it but since I don’t have milk or sugar in the house, it’s going to be black.
I don’t check my phone, not even when I hear the buzz of a text coming in. I make my way to my bedroom and pause at the door to knock once. Although I admit it’s a soft knock, when there’s no answer, I open it and peer inside to find Amal still asleep on my side of the bed, burrowed beneath the covers.
I should clear my throat. Give some signal that I’m here. But I don’t. Instead, I cross the room to the bed, footsteps silent. It’s wrong and creepy to watch her sleep but I do it anyway. She has one arm over her head, the other on top of the blankets. Wild curly hair is splayed out over my pillow, and her face is so soft in sleep, she looks even younger than she is and utterly innocent.
The shirt I had given her to wear is on the floor alongside her panties and the realization that she’s naked strikes me. I grit my teeth. The thought of it, of her naked in my bed, has my breathing tighten, my muscles tensing.
Fuck. Me.
When she mutters something and shifts a little, I quickly snatch up the panties from the floor and tuck them into my pocket before clearing my throat. This time, Amal blinks, draws in a luxurious breath before stretching, her body twisting like a cat. There’s a satisfied smile on her lips and a soft moan of pleasure escapes her pretty lips. That sound makes my dick ache.
“Morning,” I say, and she gasps, eyelids flying open.
“What the…” She bolts upright, eyes wide, hands over her heart and staring up at me in a panic.
I grin. “Sleeping Beauty,” I say casually.
“Holy shit, Jet! You almost gave me a heart attack! What the hell—”
“I knocked.”
“Knock louder. What are you doing? Watching me sleep?”
“Bringing coffee,” I lie, very aware her panties are literally in my pocket. I hold up the cup as if that proves my innocence.
When I drop my gaze to her exposed breasts, she glances down, then, startled, she grabs the duvet and clutches it to her chest, glancing at the discarded shirt before looking up at me.
My eyebrows lift just a little and I can’t help my grin.
“I got hot,” she says, a blush creeping into her cheeks.
“I bet.”
“Not like that,” she says, but the furious red her face turns tells me exactly like that and I like the idea of it. Of her getting off in my bed even if it is alone. I’d love to watch her sometime.
I forced the image out of my head before my dick gets the wrong idea.
She swings her legs out and takes the coffee I hand her, clutching the duvet to herself with her other.
“You don’t look like you got much sleep,” she says finally.
“I got hot too,” I say with a wink.
She flushes bright red and her gaze drops to my chest before she looks me over. I’m shirtless, in my sweats and barefoot. It takes a beat as her blush fades and her eyes grow… confused.