Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 123672 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 618(@200wpm)___ 495(@250wpm)___ 412(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123672 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 618(@200wpm)___ 495(@250wpm)___ 412(@300wpm)
My tongue rolls over my lips at the thought of Alex becoming unhinged while inside of me. “I don’t know how I feel about the idea of you cutting me, but I don’t want to say no just yet.”
“It’s okay, Mace. We’ll explore your limits and figure out what you like.” A soft smile spreads across my lips as he pulls me in closer, that deep tone rumbling through the room again. “Baby, where the fuck did you think you were going?”
I swallow hard, a strange nervousness pulsing through my veins, and while I feel I can trust him not to hurt me, I’m not quite sure if that trust expands to my friends. “I, umm . . . I wanted to go and see Nat,” I admit, choosing my words carefully. “When I showed up to her apartment the other night, I was a mess, and then she woke up to find me gone, and it’s not in my nature to just disappear like that. It’s already been a few days, and at some point, she’s going to call the cops. Same goes for Big Jim. It’s not like me to fall off the face of the earth. They’re going to be looking for me, and knowing Nat, she’s probably a wreck right now.”
Alex reaches over to his bedside table and grabs one of the phones. “You don’t need to worry about them,” he tells me.
“Uhhh . . . I don’t know how much recon you’ve done on my friends, but you’re dead wrong.”
He rolls his eyes and hands me the phone. “I’ve messaged both of them and said you were sick. Big Jim knows not to expect you at work for a few days and Nat has been sending you ridiculous memes to make you feel better.”
“Ummm . . . what?” I mutter. “What do you mean you’ve been messaging them? How? I left my phone at Nat’s apartment.”
“Yeah . . .” he says slowly. “No, you didn’t. I went back and got all your shit so it was believable that you’d gone home during the night.”
“Wait,” I say, pushing up onto my elbow and gaping at him. “Does that mean you went back into her apartment while she was sleeping?”
“Well, yeah,” he says slowly, clearly not understanding just how fucking crazy that is. “How else was I supposed to get your shit?”
“Jesus Christ, Alex. You can’t be sneaking into women’s apartments in the middle of the night anymore. It’s messed up.”
A cocky grin stretches across his lips, and I know what’s coming out of his mouth before he’s said a single word. “You seem to like it.”
“Yeah, well apparently, I’m not a regular woman,” I mutter. “Now, where are these messages? I need to see the damage for myself.”
He indicates the phone in my hand, and I unlock it before my brows start to furrow. It has the same setup as my phone. All the apps are in the same position, not to mention, the same wallpaper image of me and Nat is staring right back at me. Only it’s not my phone, not even close. “What the fuck is this?” I ask, glancing up at Alex. I know crossing boundaries gets him off, but having a copy of my phone is messed up.
He shrugs his shoulders, not even a hint of guilt in his eyes. “How else was I supposed to know what was going on with you?”
Realizing I’m not going to get far by scolding him about the phone, I open my texts and scan over the messages Alex has so thoughtfully sent on my behalf. “Yeah, I give it another twenty-four hours before she calls the cops and demands a welfare check,” I tell him, shaking my head. “I mean, you didn’t even respond with a laughing face emoji when she sent those memes. She definitely thinks I’m dead in a gutter somewhere.”
Alex scoffs. “I’m sure she’ll be fine for one more night.”
“One more night?” I ask. “Does that mean I’m going home?”
“Yeah, Mace. I think it’s time to go home.”
A smile pulls at my lips, and I scramble back to my knees and straddle his hips once again. “Does that mean you trust me not to run?”
Alex laughs. “Not even a little bit,” he admits. “But I trust that if you do, you’ll come back. And if you don’t—”
“You’ll be right there to find me,” I finish for him. He nods and I grin. “You know, just in case it’s slipped your mind today, you realize how fucked up all of this is?”
“Trust me, it’s not lost on me,” he says, those strong blood-stained hands gripping my thighs.
I press my lips into a hard line, my gaze shifting to the window above the headboard, trying not to think about just how fucked up it really is, but I can’t help but wonder just how much he still hasn’t told me. “Can I ask you a question?” I murmur, my gaze shifting back to his, watching as he nods. “The night I heard you in my apartment and ran across the hall in nothing but a towel to knock on your door, how’d you get back into your apartment so fast?”