Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
He climbed back on the bed and stroked a few strands from my forehead that had gotten stuck there before his lips found mine. I tasted myself on him. When my gaze found Alec’s crotch, I saw how much he’d enjoyed giving me pleasure. I sat up and reached for his waistband. He was only in sweatpants, so I didn’t have to worry about a zipper or buttons, which was good considering how much my hands shook, but I wanted to return the favor no matter how much of a fool I’d probably make of myself.
Alec reclined against the pillows, watching me intently. Swallowing my nerves, I leaned forward for a kiss and pressed my hand against his erection. Alec met the kiss with unbridled enthusiasm. I massaged him, uncertainly at first, but more confident when his kisses heated up even more and his breath quickened. I slipped my hand inside his waistband and then into his boxer shorts, holding my breath as I felt him. I closed my hands around his base and began to pump up and down slowly. Alec soon met my movements with his own small thrusts, so I tightened my hold and sped up. I risked a glance at his face but he was watching me, and so I closed my eyes and focused on the feel of him.
Alec raked his hands through my hair, panting, his hips thrusting into my grip faster and harder as our lips met for an uncoordinated kiss. He jerked away from my mouth. Our eyes met and the fire in his gaze sent a rush of desire through me, but I knew I wasn’t ready for the next step yet.
“You have to undress me or I’ll make a mess,” he murmured.
It took me a moment to realize what he meant, then I flushed. He lifted his hips so I could shove down his sweatpants and boxers. I’d seen naked male bodies before, in the morgue and on the internet, but this was very different.
I’d never felt drawn to this part of the male physique, but with Alec, I wanted to touch and taste, but I wasn’t brave enough for the latter yet. I stroked him, listened to his pants, trying to mimic his thrusts and tune myself with his body. It felt marvelous. Alec’s lips crashed against mine moments before his body tensed. My breathing quickened with his, and then eventually we both relaxed against the pillows.
Alec’s eyes peeled open with a lazy smile. I grinned in turn. He pressed a kiss against my temple. “Now I can sleep.”
Fog pulsated around me. It had a heartbeat. Thud. Thud. Foggy claws snatched at me, tightened around my throat. Thud, thud.
Blood on the floor, on my hands.
Faces twisted in and out of the fog. Distorted. Sneering. Someone screamed. Green eyes in the fog turning white. Ryan. His laughter sounded as the fog tightened around me. I couldn’t breathe.
Dead eyes. Empty eyes. Accusing eyes. They stared and judged.
Hands shook me.
Francesca’s eyes. Hollow.
I couldn’t breathe. A wave of calm hit me, but the panic didn’t subside.
Tessa.
Someone called my name. Tessa, not Madison.
Tessa.
With a scream, I tore from sleep, blinking against the glow of the bedside lamp. Slowly, Alec’s face came into focus. He touched my cheek with his fingertips, worry crinkling his eyes.
“Bad dream?”
I still felt like something or someone was cutting off my air. I gasped for breath as I nodded.
“About the mission?”
“Yeah,” I whispered. “About Ryan and how he choked me with his fog. And about Francesca.”
She’d been Ryan’s fifth victim and he’d killed her at a party—a party Alec and I had attended. We should have prevented that from happening. I didn’t think I’d ever stop feeling guilty for her death.
Alec pulled me against his chest and kissed my forehead. “I can’t stand the thought of you being in danger.”
Our future missions would be about counter terrorism and espionage; nothing about them would be safe. And now that Abel’s Army had been kidnapping more and more agents, we weren’t even safe around here anymore. With Alec’s warmth surrounding me, I drifted off to sleep.
I woke with a start. Someone was trying to beat the door down. I sat up, brushing back a few unruly brown locks of hair that had fallen into my face. Straining, I blinked against the light. It was then that I realized I wasn’t in my room. I didn’t own bed linens with Chucky on them, or a Freddy Krueger figurine. My eyes found Alec, already on his feet, sliding his jeans over black boxers. My skin flushed with heat and I hastily stared down at myself. I was still dressed in my T-shirt and the shorts I’d been wearing last night.
He gave me a quick smile. “You look adorable with your hair all over the place.”