Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 61872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
I dash to the left and around the corner, but it dead ends. Crap. Wrong way.
I whirl to go back the way I came, but Gabriel’s there, unflappably calm. Darkly beautiful. Clearly enjoying himself. He’s not threatening, but he is omnipresent.
I'm committed now.
I try the closest door and end up in a cold shaft that hosts a stone spiral staircase. Up, up, up the stone tower. I’m going in the wrong direction. I need to go down and find a door out of this place. I'm going to end up on the roof of this castle with nowhere to go.
I dash up the stone steps, my footsteps thudding in time to Gabriel’s vow. “You will not escape me again.”
Gabriel’s herding me somewhere. He planned this. I’m at the top of the tower; right where he wants me.
I reach the top step and stagger forward. There's a huge wooden door with a black keypad beside it.
Damn. This is the end. I could pound on the door, but there’s no one to answer. No one but me and my handsome kidnapper, stalking me up the stairs.
I sag against the polished wood, resigned to my fate. My forehead rests against the door, my heaving chest brushing it.
I don’t even hear Gabriel behind me before his huge body covers mine. “Got you,” he murmurs in my ear. His big hand splays across my midriff. At his touch, my heartbeat slows. The hair in the back of my neck raises, but somehow my body has translated all this fear and adrenaline into arousal.
“You're welcome to run anytime you like, Tabitha. I enjoy playing this game. You can run and make me chase, as long as in the end, you know you are mine.”
I jerk in his hold, but he's got me wedged between the wall and his large body.
“Still fighting me. Maybe you need some incentive to stay.” His lips brush the shell of my ear.
I whimper because it feels so sensual. So delicious.
His hand slips lower, slowly, as if he’s waiting to see how I’ll react. I should push him away. I consider it–I do. But everything in my body seems to want this. I’m melting back into him, drugged by his delicious scent, the sexy rumble of his voice, his intense focus all on me.
He cups my sex over the thin fabric of my peasant skirt. It’s a light touch, undemanding. More of an offer than a violation.
My nipples pebble up. My body relaxes more against his, my tension swirling into an agonized coil in my sex.
I should have stopped to put on a suit of armor if I didn't want him touching me like this. It's dangerous not because he's big and can overpower me with one hand but because his touch feels good, and I like it.
He lightly traces his fingertips over my outer lips, suggesting the pleasure he might give me.
I whimper as my hips lift into his touch.
“Is this what you need, Tabitha? A little reward?” He waits for my answer.
“M-maybe.”
“Tell me what pleases you.” He slides his hand under my skirt. His fingers play with a satin edge of my panties.
Then he breaches the boundary, dipping his hand between my panties to glide over bare skin until he’s cupping me again, the heel of his palm grinding lightly over my clit.
“Mmm,” I respond. I can’t help myself. I’m lost in sensation and the promise of pleasure.
“So wet.” His voice is sin in my ear. “Your body recognizes its master. I can give you what you need.”
A sudden pulse of pleasure between my legs almost brings me to my knees. I lean back into his embrace, needing him to keep me upright.
His fingers dip into my sex, making my breath catch. Everything in my being focuses on the swirl of his strong fingers as he strokes between my labial folds.
There it is! My body strains toward climax. I claw at his arm not to escape, but to make him give me what I want.
“Shhhhh, little one. You don't need to fight.” He shifts his weight, pinning me against the door. I’m helpless, unable to move as his finger teases my clit. “You can have what you want. I know what you need. Let me give it to you.”
I whimper and rock my hips, seeking more contact with the rough pad of his finger.
“There, that's it,” he rasps. I could come from his voice alone. “Take your pleasure. This is your right as my mate.”
At the word mate, the coil of arousal snaps. Pleasure whips through me. My core tightens, and shivers rush down my inner thighs, straight to the arches of my feet.
“Yes,” I gasp, shaking between Gabriel and the wall.
Before the aftershocks stop reverberating through me, he swings me up in his arms. Somehow he frees a hand to open the door. It swings open before him, and he strides into a round room.