Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 166103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 831(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 166103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 831(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
“Let me up,” she demanded. “You’re acting like a bully! Bossing me around, holding me down, scolding me. What right do you have?”
Oh, didn’t she sound all high and mighty? But it just made him grin. He had a feeling that the cool, icy persona was just an act. That this was the real Chloe. Fiery and passionate.
And he liked it.
“And you’re acting like a brat.”
Her gasp was so loud that they’d probably heard it back at the palace.
“A . . . a brat?”
“Yep, darlin’. A brat. I just stopped you from getting seriously hurt and here you are giving me sass.”
“Sass? I’m giving you sass?”
“Yep, you’re throwing out so much sass, I’m going to need an umbrella to protect myself.”
“You are unbelievable. I’m a brat because I don’t want you to boss me around and hold me down? I could have you arrested!”
“Arrested for keeping you safe? Darlin’, I’d like to see that happen.” He leaned in close to her. “Any judge would side with me. What’s more . . . they’d probably tell me to spank your ass for being such a sassy brat.”
She sucked in a breath, then started coughing.
Shit. What was he doing? He shouldn’t be scolding or teasing her when she wasn’t feeling that great. And why wasn’t anyone stopping him? He’d thought by now that Beck or Judd would have stepped in.
“Whoa, darlin’. Easy. You’re all right.” He helped her sit up and lightly patted her back.
Shit. She was thin. He frowned. She felt fragile. When she’d been glaring up at him with fire in her eyes, it had been easy to forget that she was tiny and delicate.
That she could easily be hurt.
He rubbed her back and glanced over at whichever of his brothers had come in the ATV.
Shit.
No wonder Judd or Beck wasn’t stepping in to stop him from acting like a dick. Or to help take care of her.
Because it was Owen standing there, staring down at him. There was nothing on his face. He was blank.
Owen didn’t let people know what he was really feeling or thinking.
And he didn’t much care for anyone outside of the three of them. Oh, he could pretend. He was a pretty good actor. Not many people saw how . . . different he was.
But anyone else would have stepped in to help by now.
“Owen, got some water?”
“Yep.” He still didn’t move. He was frowning slightly.
Fuck.
“Could you bring me some?”
“Why don’t you come get it?” Owen said quietly.
What the heck? What was his problem? Sure, he could be a cold, aloof bastard but he wasn’t usually contrary for the sake of it.
“Because I don’t want to leave her sitting on her own,” he countered.
“I’m fine,” she said. But she was slumped against him and he didn’t think she was okay. At all.
“Owen,” he said warningly. “Give me the water. She’s probably dehydrated and exhausted. She needs water and shade.”
The other man studied her for a long moment. Owen was the most suspicious of all of them. Even more than Judd. Judd was just louder in his disbelief.
Judd had a very thin social filter. Owen had more than a filter. He had a shield that was almost impenetrable.
“Don’t worry. I can get it myself.” She shot Owen a look over her shoulder that had the other man’s dark eyebrows rising.
Whatever had been on her face had roused Owen’s interest. That might not be a good thing.
“You’re not moving,” Hux snapped.
As both Owen and Chloe turned to look at him, he realized he was losing his grip on his control.
Actually, he thought he’d lost it as soon as she’d stepped up next to that cliff edge and he’d seen how vulnerable she was.
Why do you care?
She’s a job. If she wants to get up, let her.
But Owen seemed to come to some sort of conclusion as he reached into the back of the ATV and drew out two bottles of water from the cooler that sat back there.
He walked over and handed one to Hux before giving her the other one. Hux had to hold himself back. He wanted to snatch up the bottle of water, undo it, then feed her sips. He wanted to ensure that she got everything she needed.
He stood up, distancing himself from her before the need overrode him.
Shit. He’d never felt this interested or been so driven to see to someone’s health. He hadn’t even felt like this with Ester. He’d let Beck and Judd take the lead on being her Doms. Her Daddies. He’d been more of a companion. The friend who was a lover. He’d made her laugh with his self-deprecating jokes and pranks. Although sometimes he’d annoyed her by taking things too far.
That was kind of what he did.
And Owen . . . well, now that he thought about it he wasn’t entirely sure whether Ester had liked Owen . . . or been scared of him.