Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“I did interfere,” he said harshly. “Are you going to take it?”
“Yes.”
A hint of surprise moved in his gaze.
“I don’t deserve it, but I’d like to have a steady paycheck for the first time in eight years. And I’d love to do something else besides waiting on assholes and working late hours and walking home in the cold. I’m not upset that you worked your magic. I just wanted to know if you did, and I’m not mad at you for doing so. Thank you for telling me the truth.” In that moment, I could tell he was incapable of lying, and not just because he said that was the case. He didn’t have charm or diplomacy. What you saw was what you got with Luca Fournier. And I loved that.
The silence passed, slowly becoming less tense as the minutes ticked by.
“Have you been in a long-term relationship before?” he asked.
“Yes, kinda. But also, not really.” I grabbed the bottle of wine on the table and refilled my glass.
“Elaborate.” He sat there with his fingers around his glass, relaxed in the chair now that the tension had dissipated.
“A couple years ago, I was seeing this guy for a couple months. It was moving fast and he wanted forever, but I couldn’t give that to him, so I walked.”
He was one hell of a listener, studied the movements of my lips when I spoke. “Why couldn’t you give that to him?”
“It was only a matter of time before the Oath found me and came for me again. And he’d be another body to add to the list.”
“So, you didn’t want the relationship to end?”
“Technically, no. But what choice did I have?”
“You never told him?”
I shook my head. “He either wouldn’t have believed me or would have felt paranoid for the rest of his life.”
“Did you love him?”
“No,” I said honestly.
He didn’t challenge me, but I saw a slight change in his eyes like he wanted to.
“I knew we would never have a future, so I didn’t fall the way he did. My heart was never open. My walls were never down. We argued about that a lot. When he left, he assumed I was some coldhearted bitch.”
“He called you that?” he asked, slightly incredulous.
“No. I could just tell.”
He looked at his glass, nothing but ice cubes at the bottom. “You’re free now. You could tell him the truth. Get the chance you didn’t have before.”
“Why would I do that when I have you?” I blurted.
His eyes stayed on the glass for a second before he looked at me again.
“I found the man I want.” It was a dumb thing to say so early in a new relationship, but I decided to go for it. Luca didn’t play games, so why would I? If what you saw was what you got with him, the same would be true for me. My heart was open. My walls were down. There was a welcome mat right at my feet.
He held my stare with his signature confidence, not the least bit provoked by my honesty.
I had never looked for a husband. Never looked for forever. Men were just tools to complete a job. But Luca Fournier was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of man, and like hell was I going to let that slip through my fingers without a fight. With nails like claws, I’d dig deep and keep him close.
With his massive body on top of mine and his strong muscles doing all the work, I lay there and came around his cock over and over, taking his dick like a fist against a punching bag, hard and fast again and again.
Like a stallion in a race around the track, he never lost speed, his powerful body working without depletion. When I tried to change positions, he kept me pinned toward the headboard like he wanted me there all night. Sweat was on his chest. His arms were thicker when they were flexed. Sometimes he caught my lips with his in the heat of the moment—and he could kiss so well.
When there was no fuel left in our tanks, we lay together in his large bed, the lamp on his nightstand the only illumination in the room. The fire had died out in the living room where our plates had been abandoned. Andre always came to retrieve my food an hour after he delivered it, but he didn’t come tonight, like he understood to stay away when Luca had company for the night.
He lay on his back with me close into his side, my leg between his knees, my arm draped over his hard stomach. He was warm to the touch, like a rock in the desert sun. His phone on the nightstand lit up from time to time, texts constantly coming through even though he had no intention of leaving me tonight.