Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
His breathing starts to deepen, his fingers on my spine slowing down until his hand eventually comes to a stop, resting at the curve of my hip. When the hand that’s still latched to my thigh twitches, I know he’s asleep. After a minute or two, I lift my head from his shoulder, looking down at his face. His eyebrows are pulled together, the space between them creased. I smooth it out with my thumb, then trace his eyebrows with tentative fingers. He really is beautiful when he isn’t running his mouth.
Speaking of…
His mouth is my favorite feature. Even before he demonstrated his—ahem—abilities on New Year’s and again tonight, I’ve found it hard to look away from his lips. They’re full, almost to the point of pouty, the top one slightly bigger than the bottom. It should be illegal for one person to have this face, this hair, and this body. No wonder he isn’t used to not getting his way. I don’t think he’s been told no a day in his life.
Which is exactly how I ended up in his bed. And the sad part? I’m not even mad about it. I can’t let myself stay the night, though. It feels too much like crossing some arbitrary line. Shayne also leaves tomorrow, and I want to be there before she does. Not to mention the fact that I’d have to explain to her where I disappeared to in the middle of the night if she woke up and I wasn’t there.
I lie here for another hour or so before I try to disentangle myself slowly and quietly, peeling my leg from where it has practically melded to his stomach. I feel sticky with sweat—mostly his—and wet between my legs. I’m going to need another shower already. Holden stirs a little, rolling onto his side when I finally free myself of his cocoon, but he doesn’t wake. I quickly find my clothes and throw them on before making my way across the hall and back to my dorm.
I tiptoe into my room and slide into bed before checking the time on my phone I left forgotten on my nightstand. It’s 1:45 A.M. Huh. It didn’t feel like I was gone that long. Maybe I did doze off for a few. Right on time, my mind starts to race like it does every night before bed, reminding me of every stupid thing I’ve ever said or done. Tonight, I vacillate between replaying the scene with my dad and his family in the restaurant and feeling like the worst friend for lying by omission about sleeping with Holden. Eventually, my brain quiets enough for me to drift to sleep.
I don’t know how much time has passed when I wake to being lifted from my bed. A scream works its way up my throat, but a warm palm is slapped over my mouth, muffling the sound. It’s too dark to see anything, but his scent gives him away before panic can take hold. Holden.
“What the hell are you doing?” I whisper-yell.
He throws me over his shoulder and marches out of my room, making his way through the living room area and out into the hall.
“Holden, put me down!” Is he asleep? Maybe he’s sleepwalking. Am I asleep? Maybe I’m dreaming.
He doesn’t say a word. He simply carries me across the hall and to his bed before dumping me into it. “Stay,” he sleepily orders before climbing in with me. This time, I’m on my back and Holden wraps his arm around my middle, using my stomach as his pillow.
“I’m not a dog, Holden.”
“No, you’re not,” he agrees. “Dogs are much more obedient.”
“Asshole.” I try to free myself from his clutches, but he only tightens his hold on me, making it hard to breathe. I sigh and he relaxes his hold, sensing my surrender. I’m too tired to put up a real fight, so I reluctantly accept my fate as Holden’s personal teddy bear for the night. He kisses my stomach where my shirt has ridden up, then mumbles something that sounds like thank you before promptly passing back out.
Insomnia, my ass.
Holden
I wake up feeling like I’ve just hibernated for an entire winter, well rested and hungry as fuck. I came hard and slept even harder. That is, until I woke up from a shit dream to find Valen was gone. Luckily, I managed to wake up before it got too bad. Then I marched my ass over to her room and carried her back to my bed where she belongs.
Sometime between then and now, I must have loosened my death grip on Valen because she’s now curled up on her left side, facing me with knees tucked to her chest, her head lying on my bicep. That explains the dead arm. I lift a piece of dark hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. She frowns in her sleep, her lips pushing out into a pout as she makes an annoyed sound and wiggles in closer to me, wedging her knee between my legs. I’ll take that as a good sign, conscious or not.