Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 81083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Slowly, I moved on him, rolling my hips and relishing the way his eyes churned every time I did it. I kissed him just as slowly, knowing this time was different. It wasn’t a desperate and starving need to clash against the other. No, this was about him. About me showing him how much I’d fallen for him, despite all my best efforts not to.
I rocked against him in a show of absolute appreciation and devotion. I lifted myself until he was almost out, only to sink back down in a wave of need that I was sure he could see and feel and taste in the air. I kissed his lips as I rode him, my arms wrapped around his neck as I clung to him, as we clung to each other in a moment of pure, uninterrupted bliss.
“Alexandra,” he groaned against my lips. “I…Fuck, baby.”
My pleasure built and tangled beneath my skin as I rocked against him, rolling my hips and taking him inside me repeatedly, kissing every inch of him I could reach while working us both up, all he had to do was hold on, all he had to do was trust me with his heart, with his pleasure.
And he did, his hands roaming over my bare back as he kissed me back just as intently.
“Ethan,” I sighed against his mouth as my orgasm built to a precipice between my thighs. “God, Ethan, yes,” I moaned when his hands gripped my hips and helped guide me, pulling on me and urging me harder toward my release.
“Alex,” he groaned, kissing his way down my neck as our speed increased, driving us both toward the edge.
I felt him harden inside me another degree, my entire body clenching around him as my orgasm tore through me, making me flutter around him until he spilled inside me.
“I love you,” I gasped, my head dropping over his shoulder as my body went limp above him, all pleasure-wrung and satisfied.
Ethan ran his fingers through my hair as we caught our breath, only shifting us apart when he moved to clean us both up before tucking us under the covers. He held me, the silence heavy and thick but in a comforting way.
“I’m guessing this means you’ve extended my thirty-day contract?” he asked in a teasing voice.
I laughed, shifting against his chest to look up at him. “Yeah,” I said, grinning. “You’ve definitely earned yourself another thirty.”
CHAPTER 13
Ethan
“I can’t believe you have a dog,” Crossland said as I tossed a now well-loved tennis ball in my backyard, chucking the thing as far as I could and marveling at how fast Sherlock ran after it.
“I can’t either,” I said, warmth radiating through my chest as the silly hound galloped back toward me with the ball firmly between his teeth. He dropped it at my feet, his massive tail wagging back and forth. I scooped up the wet ball and threw it again. “But he’s not really mine.”
Cross cocked a brow at me. “He lives in your house, sleeps on your couch, eats your food. Looks like yours.”
“He tolerates me,” I said. “But he’s fully committed to Alex.”
“He’s not the only one,” Cross said, flashing me a knowing look.
I love you.
Alex’s words whispered through my mind, the sound on repeat since she said them a few days ago. Since she saved me without even knowing, helping me face my ex without putting myself in more trouble.
“Your silence only further proves my point,” Cross continued as I threw the ball for Sherlock again.
“I can’t deny it,” I finally said. “I’m wild about her.”
Then why didn’t I say it back?
She’d told me not to, which only made me love her more, but it was more than that.
I was terrified.
“Holy shit,” Cross said, shaking his head. “I never thought I’d hear that.”
I nodded. “Me either.”
Cross patted Sherlock’s side as he came up to lean against him, already accepting my best friend into the pack. “Has she told you she loves you yet?”
I swallowed hard, then nodded.
“And did you say it back?” he asked, and I appreciated that he didn’t immediately reference the ongoing bet I had with Gareth.
“No,” I said. “She told me not to, but…”
“Would you have said it back?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “You know my history with Aubrey. You know I’ve had no intention of loving anyone ever again.”
“Well, from the way Asher and Wes tell it, you can’t really control that. Not that I’d know,” he added. “And I’m more than happy about that. I love the way my life is. But you, you love her, don’t you?”
I studied the ball in my hand before letting it drop, Sherlock panting happily as he stretched out in the grass at our feet.
“Fuck,” Cross said.
“Yeah,” I said, finally looking at him. “But I don’t like opening myself up to the kind of shit that happened in my past.”