Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21045 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 105(@200wpm)___ 84(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21045 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 105(@200wpm)___ 84(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
“What would you use?” She cocks her head to the side, her dark hair falling over her shoulder. She cut a few inches off of it last year. I’d always loved her long hair, but when she cut it, she wore it down more. It highlighted her heart-shaped face. I realized that all that hair hid too much. I wanted to see every inch of her face. To read the expressions. I wanted to see her.
“I don’t think there is a word. As you’re aware, I’m not a man of many words.” Her face softens.
“You call me angel.”
“I do.”
“You know people in town think I’m pretty tough. Badass at times.” Her chin rises.
“An angel can be many different things to many people.” No one said an angel can’t be badass, as she would call it. No, I don’t think Eve is bad in any sense of the word. When she pushes back, it’s in the protection of others.
“Okay then. What is an angel to you?” What she really wants to know is how I see her. That’s what she’s digging for.
“Many people might not think you’re introverted, but you are.”
“How can I be introverted?” She’s puzzled not because she thinks I’m wrong but because now she’s contemplating the idea. “And what’s that got to do with being an angel?” Her nose scrunches again, and the strange thought of wanting to kiss it fills me.
“Being introverted does not mean you aren't social. You just don’t crave the spotlight, but you will take it if you need to. In fact, it’s your loyalty to the people around you that thrust you back into the world. Your joy is in helping others. To serve what you believe is a better good. You’ll always be the first to show up, and you somehow always know what the people around you need.”
“Wow.” Her eyes water. Well, fuck. That is not what I meant to do.
“And you are breathtakingly beautiful, but that’s a drop in the bucket of who you are.” She’s more than I’ve ever deserved. I should keep my hands off her, but I can’t. Not any longer. The more I’m around her, the more I crave her. I thought I had it bad before. I’m beyond fucked now.
She licks her lips. “I don’t know what you need.”
“I need you, Eve.”
“You need me?”
“More than you’ll ever know,” I admit. She stares at me for a long moment.
“Maybe I need you too Marco. You have this way of making me feel cared for.” Yes, I know that is something that she craves and needs. A mark left by her parents that I would give my dying breath to heal.
She pushes back from her chair at the kitchen island, getting up. Did I go too far? Normally, I’m good at reading people, but Eve throws me off. I try to catch everything, but she can be very distracting, and I could miss something. If anyone could make me do that, it would be her.
Eve walks around the kitchen island where I’ve been standing to hide my hard-on. She comes right to me. Her hand comes down on my chest as her body comes flush with mine. I fight a groan. She drops her head back. I fist my hands at my side so that I don’t grab her. Because once I do, there is no going back.
“I don’t chase.” She licks her lips as she parts them. The invitation is clear. I want to pounce.
“After a man.” She grips my shirt, her fingers tightening in it.
“Don’t be a smartass.” She fights a smirk.
“Angel, I understand what you’re saying. I would never make you chase me,” I tell her. If anything, I’m trying to make sure she doesn’t run from me. God only knows what I’d do when I caught her. “But you need to be very clear if you let me over that line. I can’t come back. I’m no angel.”
“You know, Marco, I’ve gotten more than a few things wrong about you over the years, but I get the sense I’m not wrong about one thing. Nobody makes you do anything.” True, except she’s the exception. She could wrap me around her finger and get me to do anything to have her.
“You were wrong.”
“I, ah—”
I cut her off. “You do know what I need.”
I let go. I plow right over that line. My hands sink into her hair as I claim her mouth in a kiss. My angel parts her lips, and the gates of heaven swing open, allowing me access.
I don’t belong here, but I dare someone to try and pull me from it. I’d drag them right to hell with me.
8
Eve
Marco’s hand in my hair tightens as he pulls my head back to deepen the kiss. I don’t know why for a second I thought him gripping my hair would be painful. That it could have a bite to it that I know I’ve read about in romance books.