Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
“Your happiness is worth more than anything,” I tell her gently, stroking my thumb along her jaw. I feel her pulse jump, and her lips part in surprise at my words. “You can put yourself first, Talia. Nobody is going to be upset with you for it. Hell, my dad certainly won’t. He’s always been a big supporter of following your heart, and I imagine your mom is similar since she married him and all.”
Talia laughs a little, her skin hot beneath my touch with that persistent blush. Goddamn, she’s beautiful. There’s a speck of icing sugar on her lip and my mouth waters with the urge to lick it off.
“I don’t want all their support and help to go to waste,” she says softly.
I shake my head. “Supporting someone you love is never a waste.”
Her breath hitches, her eyes meeting mine. The deep green is captivating, even when her pupils are so wide that it threatens to engulf the color.
“What do you want, Talia? Regardless of what you think you’re supposed to want.”
Talia takes a deep breath, bracing her sugar-covered hands on the counter as though steadying herself. “I want … I want to bake,” she admits, her voice a little shaky but strong nonetheless. “I don’t want a marketing degree I’ll never use. I want to make cakes and cookies and treats that make people smile. I want to do what I love, and I want…” Talia pushes away from the counter and turns to me fully. She swallows before finishing, “I want you.”
Her words light me on fire. I’m so fucking proud of her for vocalizing what she actually wants, but also now very uncomfortable because of the way my cock is pressing against my zipper from her final declaration.
“You can have anything you want,” I vow to her. “Whatever you want, cupcake. I’ll make sure of it. I’ll take care of you and protect you and make sure your world is as sweet as you are.”
Talia leans into me, her eyes holding mine. She’s the entire world, and I’m the lucky bastard that gets to be in her orbit.
“Will you…will you teach me how to protect myself, too? With everything that happened with Daniel…” she trails off, and it’s clear that fear is adding to the fears she already has about her choices.
“You’ll never need to protect yourself. I’m never leaving your side, and I will never let anything hurt you again.”
“Please?”
There’s no way in hell I could ever deny her anything when she’s looking at me like that. If I can make any of that easier for her, there’s no question I’ll do it.
“Okay, cupcake, whatever you need.” I take her hand in mine to lead her out to the back garden.
There’s more space out here, and the grass provides a nicer landing than the wooden floors inside. It’ll still hurt if she goes down too hard, though, but I won’t let that happen.
“Alright, let’s go through some simple evasive maneuvers you can use to get away,” I say, rolling up my sleeves. “The goal isn’t to fight back, cupcake. The goal is to get the fuck away. So the second they release you, like how I’m gonna teach you now, you run and you don’t look back. Understood?”
She nods, planting her feet a shoulder’s width apart and rolling her shoulders back. I’ll never let anything happen to her, but if she wants to learn, then she needs to understand how and when to use these maneuvers. And, shit, the way she’s standing there watching me like a good little student waiting for instruction is going to be burned into my mind forever.
I explain to her the basics of the first move before I step forward to demonstrate. I’ve done this move a hundred times, but it’s never been so difficult. The second I touch her, have her pressed against me to manipulate her movements, walking her through each step, it sets my blood on fire. I’m sure she can feel how hard I am when she presses against me, but there’s no damn way my cock is going to calm down, not when I have my hands on her and she’s letting me teach her.
When she has a good handle on the first move, I decide to show her an easy take-down next. I immediately realize my mistake the first time I have her pinned to the grass beneath me, her breaths coming hard and fast from exertion and her blonde hair spread out around her. Fuckkkk.
I push through my desire, focusing on being a good instructor. The first time she gets the move right, I fall back onto the grass despite the fact she was nowhere near forceful enough to actually topple me. Still, she got the movements correct, just needs more power behind it.