Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
I don’t want her to sense my approval, though. I can’t help myself. “Anything green to go with this?”
Skye freezes. Her neck is a swirl of red blotches, and her hand travels to her cheek. Is she feeling the heat or buying herself some time?
“Um, I didn’t find anything in the pantry.”
Casting a look at Finn, she’s clearly hoping for some moral support. He says nothing and fixes his gaze on his plate.
I enjoy the slightly salty taste as the meat melts on my tongue. Hacking off another huge chunk, I focus on the juiciness and flavor before chewing and swallowing. Not much chewing required. Skye has done a damn good job, and it’s obvious from the appreciative moans from the other two that they feel the same.
We could get used to this.
I steal a look at Skye. Her delicate throat contracts as she swallows, the redness receding slightly. My cock stirs in my pants, even at this simple action of watching her eat. She catches my gaze, and we lock eyes as she reaches for her wine glass and takes a gulp, leaving a red stain on her lips that she doesn’t wipe away with her napkin. My pants start to feel tighter as my thickening cock takes up any available space. I cough to clear my throat and try to push away an increasing urge swelling inside me.
Food first.
Sexual gratification later.
The noises of enthusiastic chewing fill the cabin. No one says much tonight. It’s as if everyone is holding their breath, but the air is charged even without conversation.
There is now only a faint glow from the fire, which casts an almost celestial halo around Skye’s head. Her hair is tied into a loose ponytail, which sits on one side of her face and rests gently over her shoulder. The skin of her cheeks is luminescent.
My mind is foggy with all the things I want do to her.
What is going on in her pretty little head?
I squash the urge to compliment her on her cooking and instead watch her fingers gripping her cutlery. The juice from her steak drips onto her fingers somehow, and she’s trying to stop her knife and fork from slipping from her grasp. Sensing my eyes on her again, she puts her cutlery down and her words sound awkward in the already stilted atmosphere.
“I’m sorry about today. I shouldn’t have asked to come to the site with West and Finn. It caused a problem and…” She trails off as though she’s not sure what else to say. West’s cutlery smashes onto his plate. The mention of anything to do with Ethan is not welcome around this table. But I’m not in the mood to consider his feelings about the matter. He clutches his collar and loosens his shirt as if trying to release the tension bursting from behind the buttons.
“I don’t want to cause any problems while I’m here.” She’s trying too hard. She doesn’t realize that it wasn’t about her. She was just a pawn in Ethan’s game. “Can I run you a bath after dinner, Jack? I found some eucalyptus earlier in the bathroom cabinet. I wonder if you’d feel better soaking your muscles…you look like you’re in pain.”
Too much. She’s trying too hard. Her words sound as fake and bright as my mom’s used to after I crept out of my room, bruised, and battered after one of my stepfather’s rages. Like fixing me a shitty meal could make up for turning her eyes away from my pain.
I ignore Skye’s comment. I just want to eat my goddamn steak in peace.
Finn and West have cleared their plates of every scrap of food, and West wipes up the remnants with a chunk of bread like a vulture devouring roadkill.
Finn gets to his feet, leaning over to pick up Skye’s plate. “That was absolutely incredi-…”
I can’t help it. I erupt, even surprising myself. Banging my fist down hard on the table, I rise to my feet, my chair toppling backward and crashing down to the floor. A roar forms in the back of my throat. “For fuck’s sake, god damn it, Finn! How many times have I got to remind you that she’s not some girl you have taken around to impress your damn parents.” I’ve touched a nerve. Finn’s shoulders raise, and he slumps back down at the table, but, in a split second, he’s on his feet again, and this time, he’s leaning over in my direction, drawing back a huge, meaty fist.
Before it can make contact with my face, West is in between us fast. The ligament in his thick neck is tight, and beads of sweat gather at his temples. I sense the formidable power he must have relied upon during his time in the military.
“Way too much, Jack!” Finn speaks, but his words sound choked with emotion. It was not a good thing to say to an orphan, but helping Skye with house chores is directly calling our arrangement into question once again. He disregards my opinion over and over.