Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 98134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
She whacks my shoulder, laughing. “Jesse Prince! And I complimented you for being a gentleman.”
“Secret’s out,” I say, voice growing heavy as I lean closer to her. “I’m an asshole who doesn’t like to share. I don’t even want to share you with the night. Every breath. Every whisper. Every moan that’s about to spill out of you? They’re all mine.”
I finally kiss her and the entire room seems to contract around me the moment our lips touch. Our mouths move softly and carefully for a few seconds–each of us simply exploring the new sensations.
Her tongue slips into my mouth and the heat triggers something in me.
My kiss grows hard and wild. She meets my intensity, her small hands digging into my skin and my hair, tugging at my clothes as if they’re a sudden nuisance she wants gone.
I’m straddling her and pulling off my shirt. She’s beneath me, blouse and jeans unbuttoned, eyes heavy and lips parted.
That’s when the door groans and creaks open.
I hear a little yawn and look to see Meemee, who is covering her mouth with one hand and lugging a giant, floppy pink teddy bear with the other. “Y'all quit wrastlin’ an’ make room,” she says in her tiny voice, as if it’s the most normal thing in the world.
All I can do is stare as the small girl climbs up on the bed, crawls right next to us, and lays on her side, cuddling the bear.
Andi bulges her eyes at me and looks like she’s on the verge of laughing or crying.
I hang my head. Fuck.
“Uh,” I say. “Meemee, you can’t sleep in here.”
Meemee ignores me.
“Hold on,” I say to Andi.
I start to scoop up the little girl to carry her back to her bed, but the moment I touch her, she screams and starts whacking me with the teddy bear. “I’m not going back! There’s a monster in my room!”
“There’s not–ow,” I say, laughing despite my irritation at being interrupted. “There’s no such thing as monsters.”
“Go tell that to him,” Meemee complains.
“Come on,” I say. I get off the bed–and Andi, regrettably. I pull my shirt back down and adjust myself in my jeans a little. I was so ready to be inside Andi that my cock physically hurts right now. Every pulse of my heartbeat is just pain.
Meemee eyes me over her shoulder. “You go,” she says.
“Nope. Come on. We’re getting rid of this monster together.”
She hesitates, but slides out of bed and rubs her eyes. She snatches the bear from the bed and follows after me.
I quickly yank open her closet, lay down and look under her bed, check the window, and gesture. “See? Nothing here.”
“You ain’t checked the drawers.”
“What? Monsters would be big. Why would one be in your drawers.”
“I ain’t scared of big ones. I’m scared of little ones. This big,” she says, holding up her thumb and forefinger.
I sigh and start opening drawers. “Nothing,” I say after a few minutes. I’m picturing Andi on the bed waiting for me. It’s all I can do to not just sprint back there, lock the door, and let this kid figure it all out on her own. But Caroline was scared of the dark when she was little, and I still vividly remember how much she needed me to help her grow past her fear.
Meemee chews her lip. “Can you stay ‘til I fall asleep?”
I open my mouth to say “hell no,” but catch myself and clench my fists. I sigh and unclench them. “Uh, yeah, sure, kid. Just hurry up about it.”
Meemee scurries to her bed, climbs in and lays there, watching me expectantly.
“What?” I ask, barely keeping exasperation from my voice.
“You gotta take off my shoes.”
I see she has on big bunny slippers with floppy ears. I go to her and peel them off as she stifles another big yawn.
“Alright?” I ask, holding the small slippers together in one hand.
“Now tuck me in.”
I set the slippers down and pull up her blanket, tucking it under her tightly so she’s wrapped like a little cock-blocking burrito. Maybe that will make her think twice about getting up again and interrupting us.
She watches me. “A story?”
“Another one? Didn’t Miss Andi tell you a story?”
“Mhm. Now you.”
“Um,” I sigh, walking and looking around the room. “Where are your books?”
“Make one up.”
I search the ceiling for strength, but decide it’s easier to just go along with her terroristic demands. “Okay. Once upon a time there was a little hobbit. You know what a hobbit is?”
She shakes her head.
“They’re small and annoying with hairy feet.” I nod to her slippers, which I’ve set on her dresser.
She giggles, and I have to admit my annoyance fades just a touch at the sound.
“So, this hobbit left the safety of her village one day. She made a long journey, and for some reason, she went knocking on the door of a big scary dragon’s cave.”