Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26698 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26698 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
So, instead of saying anything, I shake my head once more. He releases me with a nod, and I can’t help the breath that whooshes from my lungs. I push off the stool. But Sully is fast. His hand shoots out, grips my arm, and tugs me back against him. My back flush against his chest.
His lips whisper along the shell of my ear, “Don’t go runnin’ from me now.”
I don’t know if it’s a threat or not, but there’s something dark in his voice. A warning.
Thankfully, I’m not looking at him. His chest heaves against my back.
“I only know how to run.” The confession stings my eyes and burns like poison on my tongue.
But then his grip on my arm tightens, and he pulls me even closer. There’s no longer space between us.
“One night.” The two words are a plea. “Let’s get lost in each other for tonight, and tomorrow,” he says, “I’ll walk out and ye forget about me.”
I don’t know why I’m not shaking my head. I should be. He’s not the person I need in my bed, because it will bring pain and heartache. But I can’t fight the attraction to him. It’s an addiction I’ve had for far too long.
And I know it may be the biggest mistake of my life when I nod.
NINE
SULLY
I don’t know what it is about this wee woman who’s pressed against me, but I can’t release her from my hold. When she nods, I spin her around and pull her against me once again. She’s breathtaking. Her sparklin’ green eyes shine as if there’s a light behind them. The soft green meeting my dark stare.
When she didn’t call me from the rehab, I thought she’d chosen to forget about me. It was only a few days we’d known each other. I didn’t recognise her at first, but now that I’m holdin’ her, I can see it. It’s the wee thing from the time I went in undercover to steal information. She’s changed. Her long white dreadlocks hang to the middle of her back, and there’s ink on her neck now, a wee clover, just like herself.
My memory is shot, not just from the alcohol I’ve consumed, but the past few months have been a nightmare tryin’ta find Bragan. He’s goin’ta make his move, and we just can’t figure out where it’s goin’ta be.
I bring my focus back to the wee thing in front of me. I shouldn’t taint her with my shadows. Instead of fuckin’ her, I should walk out the door to her pub and never come back. I’ve never been in here before because anywhere outside the club or my flat in the city is bad news. I may have lived here all my life, but my past still haunts me.
So long ago, I had a choice to make, and I chose wrong. As I look into her eyes, they remind me of the past. They remind me of the day I saw the same colour eyes shimmerin’ with tears.
“There’s somethin’ about ye,” I whisper, my voice so low, it’s barely audible, but she hears me. I know she does because she sighs. I wonder if she’s about ta tell me a secret she’s been hidin’.
And I’m about to ask her more when she replies, “I don’t know if I’m ready for this, Sully.”
I can’t help but smile.
“Then I’ll walk away. I’m not goin’ta force ye to do anythin’ ye’re not ready fer,” I remark, remindin’ myself that only two months ago she was so broken.
She didn’t need me, and it’s all right. I don’t have to be wanted, but I thought she’d at least call to tell me she’s found somethin’ else. Need turns to frustration, and I step back. I can’t do this to her. She came to escape her past. I shouldn’t be makin’ her do something she doesn’t want to.
“I should go,” I finally say as I swallow back the last of my drink.
“You should stay,” Clover tells me as she reaches for my arm. “You should know why I didn’t contact you. I wanted to. I really did. But when I got out, well, my uncle helped me with this,” she tells me. There’s a softness to her that wasn’t there when we first met. “And I needed to find myself before I could ever call on someone else.”
Her safety comes first. I can’t argue with that. But seein’ her here, out of that place, has me shocked.
She smiles up at me, and I take a step towards her. Reachin’ for her face, I run my thumb over her cheek, down to her full lips which are plump and glistening. I can’t stop myself from leanin’ in and stealing her mouth with mine.
She tastes of whiskey and secrets.
Ignorin’ my gut instinct to stop this, I run my hands down her arms before grippin’ her hips and tuggin’ her against me. Her soft, slightly curved body presses against mine.