Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Chapter 4
Astrid
I waited for Theo to come home that night, but when one in the morning rolled around, I realized he might be gone all night. I knew I wasn’t alone in the house. His butler was here, and he had security on the grounds behind the large iron door that looked like it belonged to a castle. But no amount of security could make me feel safe the way Theo could.
Not that I really felt unsafe. I just missed him.
He’d just told me he would really try, so I didn’t want to be clingy right off the bat, but I was anxious and desperate. I’m sorry to bother you, but do you think you’ll be home tonight? I sent off the message then reread it as I cringed. The last thing I should do was smother him right now, but I missed him so much that I couldn’t help it.
His three dots popped up immediately. You never bother me.
I read those words again and again, feeling my heart become so full. He was busier than Bolton had ever been, but Theo never made me feel like an afterthought. He made me feel like his woman, like I had the right to access him whenever I felt like it—a luxury that no one else had.
His three dots popped up again. I have a lot of shit to do tonight. I won’t be home before morning unless you need me.
He would drop all of his obligations if I asked him to? Bolton had never once said that to me. Never made me privy to his work at all.
Do you need me, sweetheart?
I wanted him beside me in bed every night, but his prompt responses and attention were more than enough. Whenever he called me sweetheart, I felt my body start to float as I became another cloud in the sky. Maybe it was a term he threw out to all women, but it made me feel so damn special. No. I’ll see you when you get home.
Are you sure?
Yes. Just miss you, is all.
His three dots didn’t return.
I was asleep when I felt the bed shift beside me. I’d been up on and off, waiting for Theo to come home, so I didn’t get a deep sleep until later in the evening. It was one of those sleeps that felt so heavy, like I couldn’t wake up even if someone shook me.
Then I felt a massive arm circle me and draw me close. The heat from his body was like sitting in front of a roaring fireplace. My face felt the hardness of his chest, and knowing exactly who was next to me was the only thing strong enough to stir me from slumber.
I cracked my eyes and waited for him to come into focus. It took a couple seconds to see him, to see his dark hair and dark eyes, his sharp jawline. But once his portrait was before me, I felt my body relax in his embrace. I came closer, hooked my thigh over his hip, and hugged his torso. My face burrowed into his neck as I rested on the pillow and smelled his soap and sweat. “What time is it?”
“Eight.”
“You were gone a long time.” I squeezed him, appreciating that he was there with me instead of on the streets with a target on his back.
“It happens.”
I kissed his neck then his chest, feeling the heat sear my lips like a hot pan did to meat. He was shirtless and pantless, completely naked, when he slid into my bed. This was what I’d wanted all night. “I missed you.” He’d said he would try to make this relationship work, so I should be patient and slow, but that was impossible with Theo. All my feelings bubbled from the bottom of the sea to the surface. I couldn’t contain it anymore, couldn’t pretend he wasn’t the man of my goddamn dreams, the man I should have been with in the first place.
I kissed his chest again and again, not expecting him to say it back as I gave him more of my affection. In a sleepy haze, I wasn’t fully aware of my words or my actions. I just did what felt right.
I felt him roll me to my back as he moved on top of me.
A jolt of excitement spiked through me. There was a pull at my heart. A tightness in my stomach. I felt like a teenage girl with her first love. I’d never been this excited to have any other man between my legs, even though I’d already had him before.
He grabbed my panties and pulled them down before he fit himself between my thighs. He moved over me, smothering me with the warmth that radiated from his physique like a living furnace.
My body immediately opened to him, my thighs squeezing his torso, my hips tilted to take him. My arms hooked behind his shoulders and pulled him into me because I wanted this man balls deep inside me, no matter how much it hurt. I wanted to feel our bodies touch and our souls dance.