Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 128(@200wpm)___ 102(@250wpm)___ 85(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 128(@200wpm)___ 102(@250wpm)___ 85(@300wpm)
He released my fingers from his grasp, and I started to walk away, but he wasn’t having it. He took my hand in his, pulling me gently back to his broad chest. I didn’t resist, even though my brain was screaming for me to run. My nose brushed against his expensive suit and I breathed him in. The man smelled so incredible up close. Even at a party filled with expensive colognes and perfumes, his scent engulfed me in the best of ways.
He leaned down and pressed his lips against the shell of my ear. “Don’t leave, little treasure.”
I twisted my head and smiled up at the magnetic man in front of me and tried to ignore the way my pulse shot up from his touch. “Staying could be dangerous.” The words that had been in my head fell effortlessly and truthfully from my lips.
“I’ll protect you,” he insisted. From the show that I witnessed, he was telling the truth. I was physically safe from this man, but would I be emotionally safe?
He pulled me toward the dance floor as the music moved to a soft rhythmic beat. Perfect for slow movement with firm bodies pressed up against each other and that’s what he did. His large palm lay flat against the small of my back and pulled me right up against every plane of his taut body.
“Who is going to protect me from you?” I challenged, tossing a red-lipped smirk at him as I peered up at him through my dark mascara-rimmed lashes.
“You don’t need protection from me.”
I arched my brow and gave a light, sardonic laugh. The way he held me close, a part of me believed it and another knew he could crush me.
“I wouldn’t harm a single hair on your pretty head.”
“There are more ways to wound than physical, sir.”
He slid his huge hand under my chin, demonstrating the massive size difference between us. He could easily take me away, and I bet no one in this place would stop him. Hell, I wouldn’t even stop him. “Again, you don’t have to worry about that.”
I smiled at his handsome face and brushed my hand quickly against his chiseled jaw. “You’re right, because we only have tonight.”
His brow arched as his lips twisted in a questioning smirk. He gripped the back of my neck, tipping my head as he leaned in. “Why is that? Are you leaving the country?”
“No. Because one night is all I want and all I’m willing to give.” That had been the truth before he put his hands on me.
“You won’t be saying that in the morning.”
“Yes, I will,” I stated. This man was everything I wasn’t, and I couldn’t handle that. My brain screamed at me to run, but tonight I wasn’t operating with all my faculties. Maybe it was the few drinks I’d already consumed, or perhaps it was the titan of a man I was clinging to. “Tell me who you are, gorgeous.”
I shook my head and bit my lip. “No. No names. I’ve spent my life playing safe. Now I just want to let everything be. No names, just fun and free for one night.”
He slid his hand along my jaw and to the back of my head, cradling my skull. His fingers laced into my hair, and then he gave it a tug. “Fine. If you’re not sharing names, then we need to leave because everyone knows my name. Tit for tat.”
“You’re the host?” I asked with a concerned gasp. This man was more powerful than I’d imagined and that meant he was Magnus Masterson, the oil tycoon out of Texas.
“No, my sweet nothing. I am just extremely well known.” He brushed his finger under my chin and lifted my lips up to meet his. “Happy New Year.” Cheers erupted in the room, and his mouth came down on mine. How had time slipped by me?
“You taste so good,” he whispered against my lips as he gently pulled back. “It’s time to go.” I nodded in agreement, lost in his kiss.
“Yes, before someone blurts out your name and ruins the night.” He swooped me into his arms and carried me right out of the party, barely gathering my things from the clerk by the exit, and to the elevator. Several men were standing by who looked like security, but they hadn’t said a word.
We entered the elevators and the second the shiny steel doors closed, he was on me, pinning me to the back wall, mouth on mine, kissing me hard and thoroughly. His hard, firm mouth dominated mine in a way that told me I’d made the right choice. The man I’d walked out with tonight would make sure I was satisfied.
“Wait—what are you planning on doing to me?” My confidence had been a front and I hoped I didn’t disappoint him.