Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 117379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
But for reasons I didn’t care to consider, I wanted to make her feel better.
“I don’t want anything bad to happen to you,” I finally said, compromising. “I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
“What about Sophie?”
“I got nothing against her, either. All I want is my brother back. Alive.”
Silence fell again. I could almost hear her thinking.
“What would you do for Kit?” I asked her abruptly.
“What do you mean?”
“How far would you go to save her life?”
Would she make the connection? Understand why I had to fight for my brother?
“I’d do anything I had to,” she replied softly, and I heard a hint of despair in her voice. Yup, she was starting to get it. Somehow that was even worse. “I’d steal. I’d lie … I’d kill. Anything.”
Silence fell again, heavy between us. Shit. I pushed up suddenly, rolling off the bed. Her eyes followed me as I walked across the room to the closet, opening it to find my bag and pull out a clean pair of briefs. I thought she gave a little gasp as I slid down my pants and kicked them off, but that could’ve been wishful thinking. I pulled up the fresh ones, then tugged my shirt over my head.
Her eyes went wide as she watched me come back toward her. I wanted to believe my body impressed her, but hell—she was probably just looking over my tats to decide which one she hated most. I didn’t have a back patch with my full club colors on it, but there were a few DJMC symbols here and there.
“You should put on some clothes,” she said.
“Need some fuckin’ sleep. Might as well get comfortable,” I told her, and that part was the truth. Apparently I’d shot all my adrenaline out through my dick, and while a second round would finish things off nicely, I didn’t think she was up to it. I leaned down over the bed and swung her up, setting her on her feet. Then I reached for the snap of her jeans, figuring she’d be more comfortable without them, but also pretty sure she wouldn’t take them off herself.
That’s when she punched me in the stomach, and it wasn’t a girly punch, either.
Christ.
It fucking hurt.
Em glared at me, backing away slowly. She had her fists up and was balanced lightly on her toes, clearly ready to defend herself. Cute. But if she was a martial arts specialist of some kind, I hadn’t seen any evidence over the past six months.
Jesus, you sound like a fucking stalker, asshole.
I suppose I was.
“Glad you didn’t go for my nuts,” I commented, taking in the sight of her. Boobs out, pink nipples all hard, teasing me. Shit. Maybe a second round wasn’t out of the question?
“Next time I’ll rip your dick off,” she muttered, eyes narrowing. Okay, so round two was definitely out for now. Noted. Still, fearsome Em was fuckin’ adorable. Kind of like a really angry baby mouse.
“What were you trying to do, anyway?” she demanded.
“I want to sleep,” I told her. “You need sleep, too, and it’s more comfortable without jeans. That’s it, babe, no big, evil plan to get you out of your clothes. It’s gonna be a long haul, you should rest while you can. God knows what’ll happen tomorrow.”
“My dad’s killing you tomorrow,” she muttered, but she didn’t sound entirely happy about it. Interesting.
“You sound almost sad,” I said. “Don’t tell me you’ve decided I should live after all?”
“Fuck you.”
“That an invitation?”
She turned away from me and started doing up her corset-thingy, which was a damned shame. Then I caught a glimpse of the bandage and sobered.
“You in any pain?”
“It’s fine,” she muttered. “You aren’t sleeping in here, are you?”
“Yeah,” I told her. “Don’t worry, I’ll share the covers with you.”
Em cocked her head at me.
“Why don’t you put me in with Sophie?” she asked. “I’ll bet she’s scared.”
“Are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Scared?”
“That’s a dick question, under the circumstances,” she muttered. “I guess it was all a lie between us, but please don’t think that because I was stupid enough to fall for your shit once means I’m actually stupid, okay? I’m not going to talk this out with you and give you more information, or let you play with me for your own entertainment.”
Now that was a shame. My cock liked the idea of playing with her quite a bit … But she was right—this wasn’t a game, we weren’t friends, and I shouldn’t fuck with her head any more than I had to.
Had to respect her for that.
“Okay, lie down,” I told her bluntly. “I’m going to cuff your wrist to the bed. Then I’m going to sleep and so are you. Don’t fight with me and I won’t play games. This isn’t a negotiation.”
I saw something cross her face … Disappointment? Maybe. Or resignation.