Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 92702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
I shouldn’t, but there’s no helping it. My fingers fairly twitch with desire, especially now that the nightgown she’s wearing has worked its way up her thighs, thanks to her attempts to escape me.
I shouldn’t, but I have to. Her creamy skin demands to be touched. I run the backs of my fingers over her thigh, just above her knee, and her breath catches. “Now,” I murmur, staring down at her skin because I can’t bring myself to look her in the eye, “you are going to tell me everything I want to know. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she whispers.
“Good. I don’t think I need to tell you what will happen if you lie, and from now on, I will take nothing you say at face value. I will do my research. I will know if you are lying to me. Understood?”
I glance away from her thigh in time to see her nod, her gaze steady. “Yes.”
“Very well. You can’t say you weren’t warned.” I throw back the rest of the whiskey before speaking again. “Now. Tell me, exactly who are you, and how you ended up at that warehouse?” Meanwhile, my hand inches up her thigh, a silent warning. I’m giving her a chance to speak her peace, and the moment she displeases me, it’s over.
I will hurt her. I know exactly how to do it, and she knows I do.
“My name is Alicia, which I told you before. I’m just a normal person. Before I met you, I was an average college student, nothing special. Only I didn’t have enough money to stay enrolled. I would have had to wait another year to take the classes I needed, and I didn’t want to wait another year to finish my credits and graduate. The whole thing was hopeless. And a friend of mine…”
“Go on.”
“My friend told me about a way to make a lot of money in one night. She’s the one who sent me to the warehouse to pick up that package. I was supposed to deliver it to another location. And that was it. That was all I was supposed to do. I didn’t know anything about what I was picking up; she didn’t tell me a thing, I swear. I mean, I sort of figured it out, but I was desperate. And she promised all I had to do was pick it up and then drop it off. That’s it.”
A likely story. “Who is this friend of yours?”
Her cheeks darken, and for the first time, she averts her gaze. “Her name is Elena. I only know her through school. But she made it sound like this was a job she was doing for her family, and she had done it before lots of times. It’s how she makes her money.”
“So you knew you were doing something that could have been very dangerous, but you did it anyway.”
“I just told you. I had no money. And it’s not just tuition,” she continues when I scoff and click my tongue. “I’m not saying I was living on the streets, but I came close once or twice. This place?” She waves a hand, indicating the luxury in which she was peacefully sleeping only minutes ago. “I guess this is where you live when you’re not in a townhouse like the one back in Miami. My entire apartment could fit in this single room. I never had any extra money. I couldn’t afford to go out with friends. My clothes have to be literally falling to pieces before I replace them. So yes, I was willing to trade all of that for a little bit of comfort, even if it meant doing something that might have been dangerous. But Elena insisted it wasn’t, that she does it all the time and nobody ever has a problem with it, so I was desperate and stupid enough to go along with it.”
I hear her. I do.
But a great deal of my concentration is also focused on the feel of her. She is the ultimate escape, the ultimate release. That’s what I need most right now. Not explanations, not reflection, not even planning out what comes next. I need to forget. There’s not enough liquor in this entire house to make that happen, but it could happen so easily with her. Alicia. Aly. Whatever she calls herself.
Her breath hitches when I slide my hand over the silky fabric that looks as though it was poured over her curves. My fingertips skim her chest and the curve of her tit. “And it never once occurred to you to tell me the truth? That you only went there to make a little money because a friend told you about it?”
“Would you have believed me?”
“It doesn’t matter, does it? Because you weren’t willing to take the chance.”
“You were practically choking me to death. Even when I told you I had no idea what was in that package, you wouldn’t believe me. You were determined to think what you wanted to think. Now, tell me. Do I have any reason to believe you would suddenly be reasonable?”