Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 93203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
“You believed her.”
“I didn’t know what to believe.”
He rested his chin on his steepled fingers. “Believe this. I fought against loving you because I was sure I had no idea how to love. Not the kind of love you deserved. But last night when I was rushing here, when I thought you were hurt, I knew I was exactly the man you deserved because no one could possibly love you more. I will protect you with my last breath. I want to spoil you. Laugh with you. Love you.” He drew in a long breath. “I want to build a life with you, Effie. Tell me what you need me to do, and I will do it. But don’t ask me to stay away from you. That is one thing I cannot do any longer.”
I blinked at his words. They were heartfelt. Real. I felt his love as he gazed at me.
“I don’t want you to stay away from me.”
He relaxed. “Good.”
“I just want to be normal. I need a little time, Roman. Just a little time.”
He studied me, then nodded. “Fine. I’ll go today, but I will be home tonight. Aldo and I are trying to stay away a few nights in a row and see how our managers step up.”
He wiped his mouth and stood, then surprised me and bent low, pulling my head to his and kissing me. “You love me, I know it,” he murmured. “You’ve shown it in a thousand ways, and now I’m going to show you.”
He left me with the feel of his mouth on mine and his touch on my skin.
It was early when I woke up, once again surrounded by Roman. It was that way every day waking up with him, but the past couple of nights, he’d been extra close to me. I shifted, rolling over so we were facing each other. He was still asleep, his face relaxed and the tension gone from around his mouth and eyes. I traced the contours of his face, ran my finger down the bridge of his straight nose and lightly ran my fingertip over his full lips. I glanced up, stopping when I saw his green eyes open, sleepy and warm. An indulgent smile pulled on his lips.
“Don’t stop, Effie. I love it when you touch me.”
“You do?” I asked.
He propped his head on his hand, his elbow pressing into the mattress. “Yes. I should have known immediately how different you were. I liked your touch. Now I crave it. I hate being away from you.”
“Oh,” I whispered.
“I think about you when we’re not together. I wonder what you’re doing. If you’re thinking about me.”
“I do.”
He smiled, tracing his finger along my jaw. “My Effie,” he murmured. “However we started, I am so grateful to have you.”
He slowly bent his head, giving me a chance to say no. But I didn’t want to say no. I wanted to feel his mouth on mine. To taste him. We needed to reconnect. To move as one, locked in an intimacy as old as time. To feel that link.
I needed him.
His mouth covered my lips, his body shifting so he was over me, pressing me into the plush fabric, claiming me. His heat branded me. His warmth soaked into my skin. His tongue mated with mine, and he groaned low in his throat.
“Every time,” he rasped. “Every time with you is so fucking erotic. You make me crazy.”
“Make love to me, Roman. Show me.”
Seconds later, I was under him, his large body blanketing my smaller one. His mouth worked me, teasing, exploring, his tongue mating with mine in long, sensuous passes. He slid his fingers up my arms, entwining our clasped hands over my head as he deepened the kiss, this one somehow different from any other kiss we’d shared before. I felt his emotion, his love and need in the caress. It was intimate, hot, and intense.
He moved over me, kissing and tasting me everywhere. The crooks of my elbows, my wrists, and shoulders. Across my collarbone and down to my navel as he played with my nipples, his fingers plucking and teasing. He kissed the arch of my foot, tracing lazy pathways up my leg to my inner thigh, only to start again with the other leg.
I was a mass of quivering limbs, shaking moans, and pleading whispers by the time he finished his explorations and settled between my legs. When his mouth closed around my clit, I arched high off the bed, keening his name. My orgasm was fast and hard, and he licked me through it, groaning and praising me in his low, raspy voice. I had barely come down when he notched himself inside me and began to move. His mouth covered mine, and I tasted myself on him, whimpering as he filled me. We moved like the ocean early in the morning when the tide leisurely drifted in. Easy, deep, and slow, our bodies in perfect synchronization. He whispered my name, his mouth against my ear, his arms holding me close.