Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
He almost shrugged. “Starts to feel like prison walls when you get no rest behind it.”
He said it bluntly. As if it were a normal piece of who he was.
“Because you don’t sleep well?” I remembered him mentioning it before.
“Yeah. The little bit I do, I only toss in nightmares.”
Sorrow palpitated my spirit. I wished with everything I had that I could reach out and erase the pain that shone in his eyes.
Then he squeezed me a little closer and his voice dropped in the admission. “Until the night I spent with you, Pipes. Best sleep I had in years.”
My chest clutched, and I scratched my fingers through his short beard. I lifted my face to him so he could see me clearly. “I like that. I like that I can be a little bit of a comfort to you, the way you’ve been to me.”
“It’s us together, baby,” he murmured at my temple, then he shifted me around and set me on my feet. I was snuggled in the fluffy, oversized brown blanket while Theo was completely bare.
The designs etched on his flesh were shrouded in the shadows that began to fill his room. The man the darkest night, and still, I felt like I was standing in the brightest light.
“Need to handle this.” With a grin, he gestured at his cock before he turned and strolled for the big double doors that sat open to a large bathroom as if he hadn’t left me completely quaking, knees weak as he gave me a glorious view of his backside.
Sinewy muscle bunched and strained with hinged strength as he moved.
The globes of his ass were perfectly round and flexed with each step that he took.
Redness flushed my cheeks, and I bit down on my bottom lip.
How could one man be so beautiful?
Glee flapped in my belly, joy pressed at my lips, and my heart…
It fisted in the most significant way as I watched him peer back at me as he entered the bathroom, like that unrelenting gaze needed to confirm that I was there.
That this was real.
Elation running through my veins, I eased over to the picture windows. The lake was sprawled out below, hedged by towering trees laden with snow. I realized the fireplace was double-sided, and the glass that contained the hearth was open to the patio.
Cozy outdoor furniture was arranged around it.
I stared at the beauty. Truly taking it in as if it could be mine for the first time.
Water ran from the bathroom, and a minute later, Theo came back out. He went to his dresser and pulled out a pair of sweats and dragged them on, then he was striding for me, looping his arms around my waist and burrowing his face in my neck. “Nothin’ better than the sight of you standing in the middle of my room.”
“I thought you would have liked the sight of me naked better.” It was a soggy tease. Filled with the emotion that could no longer be contained.
I felt Theo’s smile ride along the rim of my jaw, and his palms splayed out over my bottom. “Naked and standing in the middle of my room?”
“That can be arranged.”
His grin widened, then I turned around in his hold and leaned against his chest as I looked out on the last vestiges of the light. “It’s so beautiful here, Theo.”
“I want it to be your safe place.”
“That’s what I feel when I’m with you. Safe.”
“Go out and sit with me?” he suggested.
“Isn’t it a little cold for that?”
He untangled himself from me and moved for the door. He flicked a switch next to it and the fire jumped to life. He stretched out his hand. “Nah. I’ll keep you warm.”
I fumbled over to him on my bare feet, and he swept me back into his arms, bride style as he slid open the door and carried me to the outdoor couch that faced the fire.
He sat down with me bundled on his lap.
Cold seeped in from the fringes, but the heat of the flames radiating from the fireplace and the warmth of his body was enough to keep me comfortable.
He shifted and put his feet up on the table so they would be closer to the fire.
I giggled. “See, it is cold.”
He ran his hand over the top of my head. “Sit out here a lot at night. Only me and the fire.”
“And your ghosts.” I whispered it into his chest.
He barely nodded. “I guess so. I spend a lot of time walking the property, especially when we have someone here that we’re watching over.”
My stomach tightened as he brought up Sovereign Sanctum.
I understood so little of it, but somehow, I felt like I got it. I might not know the details of what and how they managed what they did, but I was sure of what they stood for.