Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
This man made me so weak.
He shut his laptop then set it on the cushion beside him.
“Work never sleeps, huh?”
“And neither do I.” His arm moved over the back of the couch, the warmth of his skin sliding behind my neck. His other hand went to my exposed knee in the dress, his callused fingertips a bit abrasive against my skin. They were hardened from the weights he lifted every morning. He looked out at the ocean for a while before he noticed my stare pierce the side of his face. He turned to look at me.
Yep…I was right back in that place. When I’d said I hated him, I meant it, but now, I didn’t feel a hint of it. My heart thudded in a pleasurable kind of pain, and my body was tight and relaxed all at the same time.
I grabbed his sunglasses and slid them up his face, revealing those magnetic eyes that sucked me right into his soul. They were brown and unremarkable to most people, but they expressed every emotion so effortlessly. They’d allowed me to see who he really was a long time ago, long before he showed me in other ways.
He watched me, waited for what I’d do next.
I moved in and kissed him, kissed that handsome mouth and made him mine. I wanted to erase every other woman who had been there, who’d had a piece of the man who belonged to me. He was the only man who could make my heart beat so fast and so slow at once.
His hand latched on to my hair, and he yanked the reins out of my hands so he could drive. His mouth took mine with full possession, kissing me like a man madly in love. He parted my lips, gave me some of his tongue, tilted his face the other way and paused for just a heartbeat to look at me before he kissed me again. It was his signature move that always made me melt.
His bedroom was located on the second level, with its own balcony that extended over the front of the ship. Like his bedroom at home, it was grand, with its own living room and a walk-in closet that was so big he didn’t even have enough clothes to fill it.
Clothes were dropped on the floor along the way, the two pieces of my bikini sprinkled in different spots around the bed. Smelling of sunscreen, we fell onto the sheets and brought the scent of sunbathing with us. He moved on top of me, folded me underneath him, and then sank inside.
It was like fresh air to my lungs, medicine rubbed onto my broken heart. When we were connected like this, there was no anger or pain. There was just the throb between our two hearts. I gave men the kind of sex they wanted without asking, but Cauldron was the first man I made love to. I knew that was reciprocated.
We rocked together along with the waves against the hull, creating our own heat now that the sun was gone. It happened not once, not even twice, but three times, our bodies were so desperate for each other.
Once we were finished, he lay there, his tired body slumped against the pillows, the sheets pulled to his waist. His eyes were already closed, exhausted from the heat of the afternoon and the unbridled passion in the darkness.
I wanted to lie there and drift off beside him, but if I didn’t leave now, I’d have to leave later, when I was even more tired. It took a surprising amount of strength to sit up and slide my feet over the edge.
His hand reached for my forearm. “Stay, baby.”
All the exhaustion I’d felt a moment ago had disappeared. An invitation I’d never received just landed in my lap, along with a nickname I’d never heard. No man had ever called me that. I occasionally heard it when I was out to dinner, a man trying to get the attention of his girlfriend from across the room, but I’d never been the recipient of such affection and possession. I shifted my position and looked back at him.
He tugged me to the bed then pulled back the sheets so I could slip in beside him.
I moved to the spot right next to him, feeling the flush of heat from his naked body. My head landed on his shoulder, and then the sheets were pulled up our bodies, sealing us with warmth. He seemed to drift off right away, as if he hadn’t really been awake in the first place. Maybe he didn’t realize what he’d said. Maybe it was just a slip of the tongue…and he would never call me by that name again.
I woke up with a jolt.
My body rolled to the left when a sudden force struck the boat.