Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 156392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 782(@200wpm)___ 626(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 782(@200wpm)___ 626(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
I slide my shoe up his leg beneath the table and caress his dick. A rush of blood saturates my ears as his erection thickens beneath my touch.
“You know,” I say in a sultry voice.
“Get on your knees and suck my cock, and I might agree.”
“Agree first.” I press my shoe against his erection. “And I’ll get on my knees and suck your cock.”
He suppresses a sound, whether a curse or a grunt, I’m not sure, but it’s enough to prompt me to drop my foot. No idea what I was doing in the first place, but I was obviously playing with fire in the devil’s lair, and I need to protect myself from a fire hazard.
As soon as my foot disappears from his vicinity, any sense of being affected vanishes and I’m greeted with the cold Roman statue I’ve known all my life.
So much for trying seduction.
“As tempting as that offer is.” He lifts a piece of meat to his mouth, then drops it back to the plate and squashes it with his knife. “I’ll have to pass.”
I lift a shoulder even as a thorny stem pricks my heart. “Your loss. Many other candidates are willing to take me up on my advances.”
I realize I’ve screwed up the moment Eli drops his utensils on the plate—calmly, I might add—and dabs his mouth with the napkin even though he ate nothing. He has the effortless talent of making every single action look sexually charged and dangerously attractive.
“It’s not terribly smart to ignore my warnings, you know.”
“Not sure what you’re talking about.”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Suggesting or, worse, threatening me with an affair is the most foolish thing you can do. I draw the line at other men touching my property. Are we clear, Mrs. King?”
“I’m not your property.”
“You are whatever the fuck I say you are. Let’s not go down that road, for I’d hate to make you cry. Again.”
“And here I thought you loved seeing me cry.”
“Think of me as you will, but your tears don’t bring me any form of joy whatsoever.”
“Could’ve fooled me.” I wipe my mouth and toss the napkin down as I stand and then round the table. “If you refuse to satisfy me, I’ll find a man who does.”
I’d planned to walk away with my head high, but the moment I’m beside him, Eli jerks up, grabs my arm and tugs me against his chest.
My body explodes in a volcano of violent emotions when my breasts glue to his hard muscles. A lick of heat penetrates my skin as his scent seeps into my bones.
He stares down at me with frosty coldness eclipsed by furious fire. The longer he looks at my face, the more astonished I am that I don’t melt into a puddle on the floor.
The feel of his touch and his attention is too much, and yet a part of me, a foolish suicidal one, yearns for more.
For something other than the rejection I’ve been swallowing like a bitter pill since I was seventeen.
For his loss of control.
For the Eli no one else knows.
And I figured the best way to do that is to threaten him with another man. It seems to be what makes him tick. Aside from OCD tendencies.
Yes, I’d never act on those threats—cheating, ew—but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t use the possibility to my benefit.
Keep him on his toes and all that.
“Do not ever bring another man in my presence if you know what’s good for you.”
“Marrying you proved that I do not, in fact, know what’s good for me.”
“Ava…”
“Yes, darling?”
I’m inexplicably thankful for our strict gun laws, because if Eli had one, he’d shoot me between the eyes.
“May I help with anything? Dessert, perhaps?” The waitress comes back with a plastic smile and heart eyes directed toward my prick of a husband.
I wonder if she would still jump his bones if she knew he’s not capable of love and collects broken hearts in a jar like Lan once warned me.
Pretty sure mine is the most smashed of them all.
Who am I kidding? She totally would. People like her and Gemma probably don’t care about the Tin Man as long as he fucks their brains out and provides them with power and prestige.
Since I’m well equipped with the last two, I have no interest in anything he offers me.
“No, thank you,” I say, shrugging free. “I’m leaving.”
“How about you, sir?” The waitress gets so close, she’s just short of rubbing herself all over him.
Professionalism has left the building.
I should walk away and leave him to his own devices, but then again, my mama didn’t carry me for nine months so I could be trifled with.
Plastering on a smile that matches her plastic one, I slide my arm into Eli’s. “Didn’t you hear the part where I said we’re leaving?”