Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
The kids cast Avery a very unfriendly look before each taking one of Riley’s hands and letting her guide them out of the room.
Once they were gone, Tao took the seat opposite Avery. “So, what brings you here?”
“I can’t come visit my own son without needing a reason to justify it?” she clipped.
“Stop being defensive because you feel bad.”
Avery’s shoulders slumped. “I didn’t know her mother was dead. How did it happen?”
“That’s Riley’s story to share.”
“I could tell the comment hit her hard. I feel awful.”
“You should.” Tao had no sympathy for his mother whatsoever. “You couldn’t have known her mom was dead, but you did know that you had no right to direct your anger at your own past on Riley.”
Avery sniffed, but she didn’t deny it. “She’s a steady one, isn’t she? I stood there ranting and she just looked at me like I was the most boring thing she’d ever come across in her life.”
Lennon smiled. “Made you feel stupid, did she?”
Tao shrugged. “I tried to warn you.”
“I thought you were protecting her,” said Avery. “It wasn’t funny, Lennon.”
Chuckling, Lennon took her hand. “Maybe not from where you were standing, but I thought it was.”
“The kids are very protective of her,” Avery noted.
Tao nodded. “They’d have gone for your throat if you tried to harm her.”
“The little viper bit me once,” said Greta. “Hurt something awful. But she’s a sweet kid.”
Makenna sighed at the old woman. “Then maybe you could stop whining about it to her.”
Greta waved a hand. “You lot spoil her. She needs someone to exercise that vicious streak on now and then. If she has an enemy to turn it on, she won’t use it on anyone else here.”
Taryn looked at Greta, stunned. “Either you really do mean well in a twisted way, or you’re just somehow able to justify to yourself anything that you do.”
Greta smirked. “I guess you’ll never know which it is.”
Avery snorted. “It’s probably a bit of both.” Turning to Tao, she smiled. “Well, tell me about your raven.”
Liking the sound of “your raven,” Tao returned the smile and told his parents all about Riley. By the end of the conversation, his mother had softened to the point that she’d apologized for “being a bitch.” Like him, she found it hard to apologize, so he knew it was sincere.
Two hours later, once his parents left, he sought Riley out. She wasn’t in the playroom. Grace had taken over with the kids so Riley could have a shower—apparently Kye had gotten milkshake in her hair. Tao went to their room and, sure enough, she was in the bathroom. But it seemed that she’d decided to take a bath instead of a shower.
He frowned. “Why is the water purple?”
“I used a blueberry bath bomb.”
“Smells good.” He crouched at the side of the bath. “I like your smell better. My parents left. My mom really does feel bad for jumping the gun and upsetting you.”
“She’s not the first person to have mentioned my mom, taking for granted that she’s alive. I’m not going to break down.” Honestly, it hadn’t been the mention of her mother that hurt; it had been the simple reminder that Riley would never know how her mom would have felt about any of the choices she’d made. She’d never know if her mom would have been proud of her, if she’d have liked Tao, if she’d have doted on Savannah and Dexter as Riley suspected.
Feeling Tao’s hand dip into the water to stroke her leg, she met his eyes and said, “I’m okay, really.”
“Give me your mouth.” As soon as she sat up, he slid his hand around her nape and took her mouth. Slowly. Lazily. Just enjoying her taste. “Thank you for not clawing my mom’s face off her skull.” She laughed. “I like making you laugh. Your eyes light up, your little dimples peek out, and that husky sound . . . I swear it makes my balls tingle every time.”
She found herself actually blushing. “Well, I like it when you make me laugh.”
“I had a dream last night.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
He chuckled. “Not that kind of dream. We were in the little clearing near the river. I was lying on my back on the grass. You were sort of snuggled against my side with your head on my chest and your hair all spread out. That’s it. That’s really as much as I can remember. But it was just so . . . peaceful. We haven’t had much peace lately. I was disappointed when I woke up and realized it was a dream.”
“Maybe we can reenact it when all this crap is over.”
He smiled. “Yeah. We’ll do that.” He kissed her again. Harder this time. Deeper. And said what he’d wanted to say all day. “I want to claim you, Riley.”