Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 53965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Life is not just good or bad. People are not pure or evil. It’s all a spectrum, and I know in my heart, or at least I’m hoping that I know and that it’s not a misstep, that what’s happened with Gabriel isn’t purely a sin. It might not be good, but when I feel… well, the way I feel about him, that can’t all be sin, can it?
With one more shaky breath, I start walking across the field, my heart racing.
The tent is dark except for a neon blue sign above the pulpit that says “SAVED.” Past it, I hear a bubbling sound from behind the back wall, and I grin through the nervousness as I step around the corner. And there, sitting in his tub with his arms outstretched on the side, a bottle of whiskey in one hand, and his head lolled back, looking sinfully gorgeous, is Gabriel.
“Am I too late for the baptisms tonight?”
His head jerks up, and his brow arches. A small smile curls at the corners of his mouth, and I shiver at the fire that sparks over his face.
“Well,” he growls. “That all depends.”
“On?”
“On if there’s a posse of townsfolk behind you ready to string me up by the balls from the nearest tree.”
I grin. “Not tonight.”
He shrugs. “Well then, the church of Gabriel Marsden is open and ready to cleanse your mortal soul.”
I roll my eyes and smile before I glance at the bottle in his hands. “Are you drunk?”
He arches a brow. “I’m not not drunk,” he says in a way that makes me giggle. “But no, I’m not blasted if that’s what you’re asking. I’m trying out this new thing called restraint.”
“Oh, is that what yesterday was?”
No sooner have the words fallen from my lips than my cheeks burn hot and my lip catches between my teeth, shocked that I actually said it out loud.
He just smirks at me, though. “No, Delilah,” he purrs. “I’m pretty damn sure I wouldn’t call that restraint.”
I swallow thickly, and we eye each other—his sliding slowly over me as if just realizing what I’m wearing.
“What can I do for you?” he growls quietly.
“I—”
I rehearsed what I was going to say to him as I drove over here, but it all sounded lame and practiced. And none of it was really why I was coming here. The truth is, I don’t really know why I’m here, I just know that “here,” with him, is where I wanted to be. And if that alone is a sin, I believe I’ve made peace with that.
“I was hoping we could…” I frown. “I mean, I was hoping you would be able to…” I stammer and look down at my hands.
“Take a breath,” he says quietly. And I do, closing my eyes and breathing deep. And when I speak, my eyes are still closed.
“We spoke yesterday,” I say haltingly. “About one day me going someplace that isn’t Canaan, and being around, uh, things that I’m not used to.”
“We were,” he growls.
“And you said that maybe you could, uh, guide me?”
I look up and blush when I see his eyes burning into me.
“You’re dancing around the question,” he growls lowly. “What exactly do you mean?”
I take a long, shaky breath, every nerve in my body buzzing before I steel myself and grip my hands into fists.
“I mean this.”
Before my brain can catch up with me, I reach down, pop the button on my shorts, and push them down to my feet. I step out of my flip flops and the shorts, and then for the first time, I’m standing in front of a man in just a thin, bra-less tank top and a pair of red panties with white polka dots—nothing special, but they’re arguable the sexiest underwear I own.
Gabriel growls. I mean he literally growls deeply, like an animal, and I gasp as his eyes blaze over me.
“What are you doing, Delilah?”
“This,” I whisper. I march right over to the tub, climb the stairs and swing a leg over the edge into the bubbling water. The backstage area is dark except for the single light over the door to his Winnebago outside, and the dim blue glow of the “SAVED” sign on the other side of the wall, glowing up over the edge of it. I gasp at the heat of the water as I step all the way in and settle into the bubble tub. There’s a seat on my side, and I settle into it, the water burbling around my chin as my pulse races.
I smirk at Gabriel’s amused expression.
“Surprised?”
“A little,” he nods. He raises the bottle. “Drink?”
I shake my head. I might be a little crazy tonight, but I’m not that crazy.
He grins. “Didn’t think so. There’s Pepsi in the mini-fridge over there.” He nods at the small fridge plugged in to an extension cord under his table desk. I arch a brow and glance back at him.