Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 199(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 199(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
I probably could have chosen a different field, one like home design. That wasn’t the right fit for me, though. The thought of changing home décor every season or with the latest trend seems ridiculous to me, and expensive. Not that I wouldn’t have donated old pieces like I do now; it just wasn’t the right fit. Fashion, on the other hand, that’s a whole other story, starting with thrifting pieces, finding small business-owned boutiques, and then, yes, a few splurge pieces that I like to share with my audience as well as items to save on, completely my jam, and it’s worked.
“Yeah, this can’t happen tonight.” One look, that’s all it takes for me to move to the center island, where I keep my tried and true sweatshirt, snag it up and pull over my head, situating it until I’m comfortable before walking back out of the room. “Tomorrow,” I promise myself. It’s so bad that there are shoes littering the floor, clothes half on the hanger, half off, plus boxes that need to be taken care of. If I start right now, I won’t finish until I’m passed out asleep on top of the donation pile. Something tells me drool wouldn’t be a great factor when donating clothes to the women’s shelter. Instead, I make beeline for my bathroom to wash off my makeup and brush my teeth. My bed is calling my name, but no way would I sleep in a full face, plus it would create even more cleaning to do if it smeared all the sheets. It doesn’t take me long to do the bare minimal in my skincare routine before I grab my toothbrush, shove it into my mouth, and go through the motions while my eyes get heavier. The only plus side to tonight was my brother making sure we all had a hired driver. My hair was out the second my butt hit the backseat; I promptly pulled out a hair tie from my small purse and threw my hair up in the messy bun it’s in now.
I leave the bathroom, making sure all of the lights are off as I make my way to my bed, then pull down the covers, throw the decorative pillows to the bench I keep at the foot of the mattress, and slide inside, wrapping myself in a cocoon of blankets and snuggling into the pillow beside me. Seconds later, I’m out like a light.
So much so that I don’t hear Nico use his key to open my door, or the sounds of fabric leaving his body knowing he sleeps naked. I don’t even stir when he jostles me slightly, rearranging me so my ear is on his chest. It’s when he says, “Sleep, la vita mia,” that I’m cognizant enough to know he’s here with me. You see, it’s not that Nico is my brother’s best friend as to why we’re sneaking around; it’s because what he and his family are involved with is dark and dangerous. And in Nico’s own way, he’s protecting me, just not my heart.
TWO
Nico
“Nico,” Journey mutters. Her body is pressed against mine. She’s glued to me like an octopus, skin against skin. The only way she’ll sleep this way is if I’m in bed with her, and the only way I sleep is if I kick her air conditioning down to seventy-two the second I walk through the door. Three hours tops, and I was reaching for her, divesting Journey of the oversized sweatshirt and fleece-lined pants, finding her deliciously naked beneath them. She knew what I wanted, stayed still like the perfect woman she is when my mouth descended on hers, fingers gliding through her wetness as she held on to the edge of the headboard beneath the pillow. I needed control, especially after a night of dealing with bullshit, then knowing how hard it was yesterday for the Hayes family as well as Journey. She was desperate, attempting not to move her fingers, knowing that on those rare occurrences when I let her take over, I’d be feeling her touching me everywhere. That wasn’t par for the course last night; she held still, head tipped back. When our kiss ended, I replaced my fingers with my cock, sinking inside her slowly, so slowly that her hips arched up. That’s when my hands cupped the cheeks of her peach of an ass as legs wrapped around me, ankles crossed at my lower back. I moved my hands, pressing down on her sweet and shapely hips. Heaven is the only way to describe how it felt, feeling her cunt ripple around me, holding still as it attempted to suck me in. My thumb slid over smooth flesh until it landed on her clit, and she came apart with just my length fully seated inside her while my thumb moved in all the right ways that had her going off hard and fast. After wringing that first orgasm from her body, I worked her up again. This time, she took me with her, sucking my cum straight from my balls and painting her depths. Fuck, I’m a bastard, coming here in the middle of the night, finally closing shit down with the family, telling my men to get gone so none would be the wiser of where I spend my nights wrapped in any and all things Journey. I should have been there with the whole Hayes family last night. That didn’t happen, though. When you’ve newly taken over the business, there’s no night off, no days off, and your phone doesn’t fucking stop ringing.