Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80572 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80572 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
I mutter under my breath, “Not yet.”
His attention has absolutely been caught by Starla, and he's pissed that anyone would hurt her. But she’s a minor, and he has years before anything else will change.
We're not good people, we've never pretended to be anything else, but there's no way Timeo is coming anywhere near her.
"All the more reason for us to be her legal guardians."
Eden grins at me. "Now, sir. I didn't just come here so that we could talk about business."
I wrap my arms around her. I hold her to my chest, savoring the way she fits there, safe and secure. It’s an intimacy I didn't know I needed until I had it.
"And I have no intention of sitting here all night chatting." I told her that I had a whole world to show her. And I meant every single word.
“Heart check, Eden."
She lets out a breath and smiles to herself. "My heart has never been better. I don't know what else to say, except that I didn't know this kind of happiness could exist."
I thread my fingers through her hair and draw her closer to me, inhaling the faintest scent of wisteria. And when my lips meet hers, it feels like coming home.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Eden
Sergio sends me to wait for him.
At first, I'm a little surprised. Everywhere I turn, he’s there, watching over me.
He doesn’t know that I know he’s also part of the guard that keeps an eye on me and Starla, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from him.
I don’t blame him, either. After all that we’ve been through, I like the certainty of his presence, too.
So I do what he says. I go in the private room he’s reserved as ours and wait for him.
It isn't until I'm kneeling on the lush, carpeted floor alone, my butt resting on the bottoms of my feet, my hands in my lap, that I realize… This night is monumental for us.
We haven't been together—truly, intimately, together—since before we rescued Starla.
Sergio told me that there was an entire world he wanted to show me, and it was just waiting for us. I don't know what's going to happen next.
But I know that I trust him.
I know that I love him.
I know that we won't let anyone or anything pull us apart, ever again.
My pulse begins to slow while I wait for him, my nerves settling.
I breathe in deeply, acutely aware that I can’t hear anything outside these soundproofed walls, nothing at all save my steady breaths.
Trust.
Trust.
I trust him.
It's so easy to say, "I trust you."
It's a lot harder to actually let go.
And maybe that was one of my lessons in all this – to learn that if I trust him, it’s because he values me and loves me. That he has nothing but my very best interests in mind. I trust that he’s reliable and honest, that he’s truthful and open. That as a man of integrity, he safeguards me when I’m at my most vulnerable.
The door opens. Muffled footsteps precede the silent clink of the door being shut and locked.
"Beautiful."
Obediently, submissively, I keep my head down.
"Thank you, sir."
I love submitting to him. There’s a deep, abiding thread of eroticism in submitting to him. It feels so good to call him sir.
With Sergio, I become my true self, completely vulnerable and at his mercy. It's the most intimate experience of my life.
"Take your clothes off, sweetheart."
A gentle but certain command.
I take my time, releasing the everyday. Stepping from the ordinary into the erotic.
I smile, inhaling deeply. Reaching for my top, I slide it off slowly, carefully, living in the moment. The rush of fabric against my ear. The cool air caressing my nakedness. His low hum of approval. The erotic tension between us, hot and electric.
I unclasp my bra. It slides off and the sway of my full breasts feels so freeing. With gentle, deliberate motions, I fold my clothes and place them to the side, then kneel again.
I spent a great deal of time preparing to meet him. I knew that if we were alone at the club, we would be able to do whatever we wanted.
I shaved myself, then slathered on lotion Marialena gave me, until my skin glowed and I smelled faintly of wisteria.
Starla had watched in wonder as I fixed my hair and applied the faintest touches of makeup—a blush of color to my cheeks, a sheer gloss on my lips, the slightest wave of a mascara wand to lengthen my lashes.
I finished it all off with a spray of perfume.
“Eden, you smell like heaven,” Starla said, her eyes shining.
Heaven.
That’s where I am now…knowing my sister’s safe. That the people that hurt me can’t touch me anymore. That Sergio loves me, and I love him.
He kneels beside me. Lifts my hands. Places them around his neck.
Holds me.