Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 29882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 149(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 149(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
For a second, because her brain was moving slower than normal, Danika thought she had literally run into the wall. She’d dropped her phone, and when she went to pick it up she saw the pair of big, black boots in her line of vision.
Slowly Danika started to stand, her head feeling light and dizzy as the blood suddenly rushed away. Then she was staring at her father’s friend, a lion shifting SEAL, big and tall, and looking pretty damn intimidating.
He inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring, his pupils dilating, and she swore the air around them became charged. The hair on her arms stood on end, and for some inexplicable reason she felt this protective pull come from this man.
She stared into his face, taking in the way his eyes were this strange amber color, and the fact his short blond hair was perfectly styled, almost severe in its perfection. He had one of those square, masculine faces, not beautiful or classically handsome, but sharp, all male in appearance, and lacking any kind of emotion.
But it was the low hum, almost a purring sound, that left his throat that had her taking a step back. He followed, advancing like an animal stalking his prey, and Danika felt like she was the meal he was about to devour.
She didn’t know what was happening, why she felt this weird tingle in the base of her spine, or
why this man was tracking her like this, but she couldn’t find her voice to try to stop it. And then the wall had her retreat coming to a halt.
Her heart thundered behind her ribs, and although she wouldn’t consider herself a shrinking violet, she felt very small compared to him. “You’re my father’s friend,” she said on a soft voice.
He made that weird purring sound again, a mixture of softness, but also having a hard edge to it.
She felt like it was a dangerous sound, like something he might make right before he slit someone’s throat, but despite feeling that she couldn’t find any fear inside of her. He had yet to respond, and this weird intensity slammed into her from him, like a hot poker moving through her belly.
It was a strange sensation, not unpleasant, but not exactly comforting either.
“You’re Danika,” Damien said with this growl in his voice. His pupils kept contracting and dilating, and when he looked down, closed his eyes, and shook his head, it was like he was trying to control himself. “You’re Tyler’s daughter.” Again he didn’t say it like a question, but almost like he was speaking to himself. He took a step back, breathed in and out heavily, and she saw the way he clenched his hands at his sides. “You’re Tyler’s daughter,” he said again, this time with a little more determination in his voice.
Danika had no clue what in the hell was going on. She was high, confused, and felt like she was standing on a tightrope, and beneath was a black abyss. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s going on.” Her lips were dry, her mouth feeling like it had a wad of cotton in it, and her pulse felt off the charts fast.
When her door opened and she looked over to see Hayden standing there, his expression kind of goofy and his eyes bloodshot, she wished she could be oblivious to the situation right now, too.
“Who are you talking to?” Hayden asked, and then glanced at Damien. His eyes widened as he took in the sight of the other man. “Um, Danika?”
Damien made this low growly noise again, but this time it was deeper, more threatening, and directed right at Hayden. Damien took a step toward Hayden, and it was like everything stalled. “She’s mine,” he said to Hayden in a deep voice that had Danika’s heart stopping.
“What?” Hayden said, knitted his brows, and looked at Danika. “Your what?” maybe it was because Hayden was so high, but
he wasn’t acting as though this beast of a man was staring him down. Before anyone else could say anything Damien looked at her once more, held her gaze with his own, and then turned to leave.
But his movements were tense, and it was like he was trying to force himself to walk away.
After he left she stood there, still pressed to the wall, and Hayden standing in her doorway.
Her father came in only a few minutes later, stopped at the end of the hallway when he saw the two of them, and pointed his spatula to the front of the house. “You know what happened to Damien?”
She shook her head and swallowed. “No, why?” It wasn’t a lie because she had no freaking clue what in the hell had gotten into him.
“He just said he wasn’t feeling right and had to leave.” Tyler shook his head when she shrugged, then turned and headed back outside.