Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 14431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 72(@200wpm)___ 58(@250wpm)___ 48(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 14431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 72(@200wpm)___ 58(@250wpm)___ 48(@300wpm)
“Come here,” he growled.
Swallowing thickly and not daring to defy him, I closed the distance between us. He gripped my chin and tilted my head back to the point the angle hurt, straining my neck muscles.
“You are not quitting, nor are you leaving, until I give you express permission to do so. And as far as I’m concerned, that will be never, Lindsey. Understood?”
The idea of never being allowed to leave should have frightened me. It should have thrown up red flags everywhere. Alarms should have been blaring in my head. But instead, a sort of calmness washed over me. The idea of belonging somewhere, of someone wanting me enough to make me stay… fuck, it was like drinking a cup of hot chocolate with tiny little marshmallows on a really cold day in front of a warm fire.
“I understand,” I quietly told him.
He hummed and rubbed the pad of his thumb over my lower lip. My breath hitched in my throat. “Good girl,” he murmured. Ovaries? Gone. “And you’re moving in here so you can’t slip out on me or even attempt to. Clear?”
Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.
My little abandoned, longing-for-love soul was weeping with joy.
“Clear,” I rasped.
He slid his hand down so it wrapped around my neck, and he slowly backed me to the bed. I trembled. “Now, it’s only six-something in the morning, and you look like you haven’t slept a fuckin’ wink.” The back of my knees hit the mattress, and he gently pushed until I sat down. I swallowed thickly, my throat bobbing against his rough palm. “You’re going to sleep. And when you wake up, your things will already be in here. You’re to put them away in the drawers and closet space that will be cleared for you. Got it?”
I nodded my head. He walked over to his dresser and grabbed out a t-shirt before tossing it to me. “Change into that, then go to sleep.”
With that, he slipped into his bathroom, closing the door behind him. My hands trembled as I grabbed his shirt from my lap.
Blink had no idea how deep my insecurities and my abandonment issues ran. He had me—hook, line, and sinker. I wasn’t fucking going anywhere—not until he eventually tossed me out.
I was done for. And if he kept on, the day he let me go might kill me.
6
Blink
Lindsey was asleep when I got out of the shower, her lips slightly parted and her blonde hair splayed out over the pillow. She looked so damn beautiful, it almost brought me to my knees. I wasn’t affected by much of anything anymore. Most of the time, I kept my emotions locked away. But this woman brought them out of me so easily.
When she’d said she was quitting, something inside of me had snapped. I’d felt like I was going to lose my mind. The thought of her leaving and me never seeing her again? Shit, even now it felt like my chest was caving in. Like there was a gaping hole in my soul where she was supposed to reside.
Involving a woman in my life was dangerous and could only lead to potential problems, but I couldn’t let her go. I was selfish—sue me. I needed her. And I was never letting her go. She was trapped here, even if I had to eventually handcuff her to my bed for the rest of my life.
I wasn’t a good guy. I would never pretend to be. I just hoped that my obsession with her wouldn’t lead me to do crazy things.
After getting dressed, I walked over to the bed and leaned over it, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Then, I slipped from the room and headed down the stairs. Eric, the boy from last night, was eating a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon, and he was wearing clothes that actually fit him this time rather than mine.
Fuck, the boy was skinny as hell. I had no idea what he was going through, but I hoped shit got better for him soon. Lindsey had done the right thing by bringing him in and giving him a safe, warm place to rest his head. I’d been an asshole for yelling at her about it.
I’d just been blindsided by having a stranger in my clubhouse.
“I put the clothes I wore last night in the washer,” he told me. “I tried to wear mine from yesterday, but Carter threw them in the trash.” He frowned.
I chuckled. “Probably were no good then.”
“I bought him a few sets of clothes,” Carter announced as he came out of the kitchen, holding a mug of coffee. “I put them in the room he was staying in last night. Figured he could come here and have shit to wear if he ever finds himself on the street again.”