Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 46695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Feeling Ethan’s huge, warm body as he holds me close to his, I somehow know that all other bets are off too.
I know I’ve fallen further than just a near faint for Ethan too.
The whole reason for me collapsing was pressing into my side. His thick, manly heat was pressing into my soft little body.
All I can manage are little sounds, but it’s those needful sounds again, and Ethan brushing my hair back from my face brings the world back into focus.
I’m in his world now. I know it.
I can feel it pressing into me, and I’m falling helplessly and hopelessly into something I might not understand. But I also know it’s the only good thing to ever happen to me.
I never knew anything could feel so good, and Ethan is this feeling.
He’s just perfect.
“I got you,” Ethan rasps. “I got you, lucky charm. And you’re not going anywhere.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Ethan
I’m expecting a reaction from Krissy once I catch on that she’s noticed just how good she’s making me feel.
But I don’t expect her to swoon in a faint, and the last thing I want is to see her hurt.
So when I watch her eyes roll in her head as she starts to topple, the body I have, all of it for her, lurches to catch her and set her someplace comfortable.
I feel a little giddy myself, with blood rushing from one head to the other in my pants. But I can’t help feeling I’ve somehow ruined any chance with Krissy.
It’s not who I am as a man to go flashing myself to anyone.
But like I said to her, it’s just what she’s doing to me. My lucky charm.
I can’t help it.
Being so close to her for a few hands of cards and then the roulette wheel without being truly alone? Torture.
I guess my need to show her how much she means to me has won out.
But in the moments that follow her near faint, it’s made clear to both of us that the party’s over.
Chad, the supervisor, and more security appear. My dealer gives a smug little grin as he slowly starts to pack up his table.
“I think a little break and a drink at the bar might be in order, Mr. Silverthorne,” Chad announces.
Telling, not asking me.
His frowning eyes scan Krissy and me before he settles them on the piles of chips I’ve won.
“We can deposit the funds into an account of your choosing. Or you can cash out...,” he adds cryptically.
The four-man security detail gives me a look that says nothing apart from how much they’re itching to kick someone’s ass.
Levenson was sore when I didn’t agree to invest in his plans at dinner, and he’s most likely heard I wanted Krissy as hostess and made myself at home in his casino.
In his Pearl Room.
But now I’ve tripled the money he gifted me to play with, and having caused the second major scene in an hour, it’s clear what the house rules are even to me.
Time for this high roller to be booted out the door.
But I didn’t come here to win money.
I’ve got what I want right here in my arms, and I don’t plan on moving an inch until I know Krissy’s alright.
As if he’s reading my thoughts, Chad, the supervisor, is quick to point out some home truths.
“Mr. Levenson won’t back you up either.” He smirks. “In fact, he told us to watch you like a hawk and make sure to alert him to any more trouble you might cause.”
I set my face hard as stone.
“No trouble here,” I say, trying not to raise my voice. “Just helping a young lady in need,” taking Krissy’s elbow in my hand.
Asking her if she was alright.
“I’ll be okay,” she squeaks. “I just got lightheaded, is all.”
“You can faint on your own time,” Chad snaps at her, pressing a finger to his earpiece and nodding with satisfaction. “Your replacement is on their way up anyway, so you can go,” he adds cuttingly.
“You’re welcome to enjoy another game, Mr. Silverthorne,” he says to me. Softening his tone, he’s still eyeing my stack of chips as he listens to his own orders barked at him through his earpiece.
“We have another table waiting for you, but perhaps a little break first is a good idea?” he suggests again.
Talking to me as if I’m a child, grooming me through habit towards the idea of gambling away all that money I’ve just won off his boss.
With a firm grip on Krissy, I help her up. My arousal shrunk down to a level of being almost unnoticeable.
“I’m sorry,” Krissy sniffs, giving me a look that sees all that fear and uncertainty I’ve promised myself to take away for her life to come flooding back.
Without a word, not even looking back at me, she makes her way out of the room, flanked by security. Chad’s hanging back just long enough to prove the point Levenson himself already made to me.