Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 128801 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 644(@200wpm)___ 515(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128801 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 644(@200wpm)___ 515(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
“Forget you, Dakota? That’s not possible.”
The smirk was back on his face, and he shifted so he was on his knees, the gorgeous man rising high, every inch of him on display.
He peeled away the sheet with a wicked grin pulling at his mouth.
A shiver rolled through me, and I could feel the flush cover my entire body.
Need consumed me in an instant.
“Cookie, what I’m going to do to you.”
Tingles spread, and my teeth raked my bottom lip. “I hope it’s good.”
He rumbled a low laugh before he shifted me onto my hands and knees, his mouth dropping kisses down my spine as he muttered, “Oh, it’s going to be.”
THIRTY-FIVE
RYDER
I sat up in bed just…staring down where she slept. Dakota’s soft breaths drifted into the wisping darkness of the room, and my fingers swirled in her hair as I struggled to process what had happened tonight.
Where I’d taken her to.
The promises I’d made, the confessions I’d given, even though they were shallow and obscured, and the belief and trust she’d turned around and placed in my hands.
My eyes traced every curve of her face. Her brow and her nose and her cheeks. Her jaw and those lush lips and that tiny dimple on the left of her chin that drove me to disorder.
Everything about her was a hook in my soul.
There was no not making good on that promise now. I’d known I was coming up to it. That I was finished with Dare. I had to find a way out of his snares, and there was no way I could continue cowering to his threats.
He’d manipulated me for years, and yeah, I might have been a dumb kid then, but I wasn’t close to being that same man now.
I had no idea what the consequences were going to be. If I was signing my own death certificate or where it was going to land me.
In jail, maybe.
Or maybe the reputation I’d carried like a false brand would be tainted, and I’d be shunned by Dakota and her family once and for all.
The only thing I knew was I was going to fight.
Ruin him, the same way as the bastard had ruined me.
Resolved, I eased off the bed, careful not to disturb Dakota, and I crept out into the hall with my cell in my hand. I dialed the number with my heart in my throat.
Ezra’s voice was groggy with sleep when he answered. “Ryder? Is everything okay?”
I blew out a sigh and pushed through. “Hey. Yeah. But I need to talk to you.”
THIRTY-SIX
DAKOTA
“Come back to bed.” The rumbly voice covered me from behind.
Redness flushed my skin in an instant rush of heat, and I shifted to look back at the man who was facedown, a single eye peeking at me just as I was starting to slide out of bed. He stretched his arm out over the mattress, hand reaching my direction.
I couldn’t do anything but shift around and get onto my hands and knees as I crawled to him. I had that sheet wrapped around me again, hugging it to my naked flesh.
At this rate, it was making a run for my favorite dress.
Ryder shifted and rolled onto his back as I came. The second I got close enough, his fingers dove into my hair, and I dipped down to press a soft kiss to his mouth.
He hummed against the connection, and I eased back, no stopping the tender smile that spread as I gazed down at him.
Reaching up, he caressed his thumb along my cheek. “Now this is exactly the way I want to wake up every morning for the rest of my life.”
Giddiness blazed through my veins, and my teeth clamped down on my bottom lip. “With my bed head and morning breath and mascara smeared on my face?” I teased.
A rough chuckle skated from his lips. “That’s right, Cookie. You think I’m scared of you raw? Uncovered and unmasked? Besides, you always smell like sugar and vanilla.”
He sent me a smirk.
That redness deepened, and my heart swelled so fierce and fast that I could feel it pressing at my ribs. “You think I smell like sugar and vanilla?”
“That’s right.” He angled up and pecked a kiss to my mouth. “Cookie.”
Oh.
“That’s what that means? I always thought it was because you liked my cookies.”
I could almost see the guttural sound roll up his throat. “Oh, I like your cookies, Dakota.”
Both his hands latched onto my hips, and he pressed himself against me.
Butterflies swarmed. I’d thought I was too old for them, but they fluttered and flapped, sending tingles rushing through my body. I sighed, and I leaned down to kiss him a little longer before I forced myself back before I got lost in him again. “I need to get Kayden up and ready. It’s Saturday…family breakfast at my mom’s.”