Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 26224 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26224 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
My cheeks flame hot. “Excuse me?”
He moves closer to me, bringing us toe to toe, his big hands settling on my waist and lifting me onto the edge of his desk. I’m surprised to feel a tingle in my tummy over the raw skin of his palms. His casual strength. The fact that he smells like fresh lake water and fire smoke on the wind. “Coming into a stranger’s house and flashing your tits. Offering him up sex on a platter. And if you’re telling me the truth, nobody knows you’re here.” Fast as a rattlesnake strike, his hand closes around my throat. “I could do whatever I want to you right now, whether I accept your proposition or not.”
I have my switchblade out before he knows I’ve moved, the sharp edge pressed low to his gut where I could have his spleen carved out in three seconds flat. “I’d rather settle on terms before you do whatever you want to me.”
His eyelids weigh down, a muscle snapping in his cheek.
Against my inner thigh, something shifts and hardens. Is he getting an erection?
Lust? I-is this what lust looks like?
“Anything I want?” he asks, echoing my words.
“That’s the offer,” I whisper back. “You can do anything you want to me, if you cancel out the debt my parents owe on the ranch.”
“Who put you up to this?”
“Me.” I wet my lips, surprised when I find them trembling. Not with fear. With something else. The warmth of his body, the overwhelming heat, power and size of it, are having a strange effect on me. I’m starting to get flushed, a weight sinking low and fast in my tummy. “I heard my parents talking about declaring bankruptcy. I can’t let them do that. It would be devastating to my family. Not only to lose the respect of our town but lose the ranch where I’m supposed to live all my life…I can’t allow that.”
If I was expecting sympathy in the wake of my speech, I’d be sorely disappointed. “And you think a roll in the hay with you is worth forgiving thirty thousand in debt?”
It takes all my willpower not to blanch. “That’s how much they owe?”
“Give or take a thousand.” He rubs his thumb up and down in the notch of my throat, leaning back to peruse my body. “You’d have to be a downright life-changing fuck to pay that kind of debt.”
My blood simmers at the challenge. “Did I mention I’m a virgin?”
His thumb halts mid-stroke, something feral shifting in his gaze. That big chest shudders up and down. “A virgin sacrifice, are you?”
I nod choppily, unnerved by the tickle in my belly. Like a feather sweep.
The way my underwear seems to be…getting damp? Why? What does that mean?
“I’ll need to sample some of the goods first,” he says, sounding winded, his gaze zeroed in on my mouth. “Before I make a final decision.”
Holy cow. He’s considering it. “W-what does that mean?”
“It means I’m fucking crazy,” he mutters, crowding in closer between my thighs, my pulse spilling sideways when the proof of his hunger prods the seam of my jeans. It’s so thick. Steely. So much more abundant than I expected. “Let’s see if you can kiss.”
“I’ve never done that, either,” I whisper.
“Fuck,” he grits out, closing his eyes. But just as quickly, he gathers himself, those features hardening. “Do your best to keep up.”
I nod, my heart knocking against my ribcage. “Do you want me to put my shirt on, so you don’t have to look at my pathetic breasts?”
Double take. “What the hell are you talking about? Your tits are fucking perfect.”
I gasp with relief, a smile making my lips jump. I’m so thrilled with his compliment that I set my switchblade down on the desk. “Really?”
His expression is inscrutable. “Stop talking.”
“Okay.”
I’m yanked roughly by my knees to the very edge of the desk…and I can’t help it, I look down at the bulging ridge in his jeans, wondering how in tarnation his zipper is remaining closed under that kind of assault. He reminds me of the bull on our ranch. Enormous, surly. Packing.
His face dips to the curve of my neck and he inhales deeply, like he’s memorizing my scent. “Having second thoughts, little girl? It’s not a good size for beginners.”
What is this melting sensation in my middle? “I’ll do what I have to do.” I say, haltingly, my head tilting right so his mouth can skate up and down my neck.
Wow. Wow, that feels very nice.
Too nice?
I don’t have a chance to wonder for long, because his mouth slides over mine with a grunt of possession, pulling on me hard. And deep. His chest brushes my stiff nipples ever so slightly, and I whimper, my parted lips allowing his tongue to sweep in and claim me.
Claim me.