Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 46132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Whatever happens, we can’t let them hurt an innocent dog who’s never done anything to anybody his whole freaking life.
“Damian,” I cry.
“I know,” he snarls. “But remember? This one’s special. Brace, Dakota.”
Brace?
The car surges forward and the men unload their weapons, ear-splitting bang noises rising into the air as bullets slam over and over into the car.
But the glass doesn’t shatter.
No bullets thump into my body.
“Bulletproof glass,” I whisper in wonder, sitting up just in time to see the men leap aside, their guns flying from their grips and landing in the snow.
“No, Dakota,” Damian says, grinning like a mad alpha wolf. “Bulletproof everything.”
I let out a long shaky breath as we drive through the forest, finally joining the road and screeching away.
I glance at the clock, laughing in disbelief, my chest feeling hollow and my general being swathed in a sense of the surreal.
“Damian, it’s only been two hours since we arrived at the cottage.”
“I know,” Damian murmurs, glancing at me with twin volcanoes for eyes, erupting, always. “Like I said, Popstar, time moves damn differently with you.”
Chapter Seventeen
Damian
“I’m not making that mistake again,” I tell Dakota as we drive down the highway, the night sky telling me that, goddamn yes, it’s only been one day since I met this woman.
One day and yet I feel like a new-made man.
One day and yet my world will never be the same.
“What do you mean?” she asks, smiling down at Sparky sleeping in her lap.
“Staying out in the middle of nowhere,” I say. “It just lets them roll up and make a whole lot of noise and fuss. I’m taking you to the finest hotel in Indianapolis and we’re staying on the top floor.”
“Won’t that put other people in danger?” she says quietly.
“No,” I tell her. “The Bratva are savages, but they’re not completely unhinged. They understand that there’s a difference between fighting in the forest and in rundown neighborhoods then fighting where rich people live and eat. The second they do that, Uncle Sam gets involved, and their whole operation comes under fire. But …”
“It’s just a temporary thing,” Dakota murmurs. “We can’t stay in hotels forever.”
I nod reaching over and giving her thigh a squeeze, feeling the sinful neediness of her flesh beneath the jeans.
“Yeah, screw sharing walls and floors and ceilings with other people. I need a good detached property in the middle of nowhere so that you can really scream.”
She shivers, pressing down on my hand, as though wanting there to be as little space between my hand and her skin as possible.
“You’re an animal,” she whispers. “And thank you, Damian.”
“For what?”
“For what?” she laughs. “How about for saving my life a second time? How about for not laughing at me when I sang for you? How about for everything?”
“Don’t worry,” I smirk. “You’ll find a way to repay me.”
I pause and then add, “Not that you need to repay me. I’d never let anything happen to you.”
I pause again—and then add, again, “But you are going repay me.”
She giggles. “Somebody can’t make their mind up. That’s weird. You’re normally so decisive.”
“I can make my damn mind up about you,” I snarl, “that’s for sure.”
“So what is the fanciest hotel in Indianapolis?” she says, a slight teasing note in her voice.
I glance across at her, my lips twitching as though I’m going to flat-out smile, not smirk. And I never smile.
“You know what, Popstar? I’ve got no idea. But I’m excited to find out … with you.”
My seed burns inside of me, roaring that soon I won’t be able to wait any longer. I’ll need to tear off those imprisoning clothes and ride her until she’s raw and her flesh is lust-red all over, and my seed is gushing like a waterfall out of her gaping pink claimed hole.
My seed, the savage part of me, the beast, the hunter, the killer, all of it roars that she’s rightfully mine and I should take her like a fucking monster.
I have to beat it down and listen hard to the civilized side of me – if there’s such a thing – and remind myself that what she wants matters just as much.
She’s my queen.
And I’ll always respect that.
“I can’t believe they let you bring a dog in here,” Dakota laughs as we ride the executive elevator up to the penthouse suite, cradling Sparky to her chest.
Sparky’s head is perked up, his nose puckering frantically as he tries to inhale all the scents of the different floors we pass on our way up, up, up.
“Well, they didn’t want to at first,” I say. “But I just pointed a gun at the guy and after that, it was pretty simple.”
She gasps. “Damian …”
“I’m kidding,” I laugh grimly. “I did something much more civilized. I bribed him.”
She laughs and throws me one of those hot-as-fire looks, the looks that go straight to my manhood and flood it with tension. But then that’s not saying anything special, considering that every gesture, every minor tic of this walking sex goddess does the same.