Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
“Thank you for telling me. I promise, he won’t touch you again, Palmer.” His thumbs brush over my knuckles. “Not while I’m breathing.”
A shiver runs through me. I should tell him not to get involved. That this isn’t his problem. But I can’t. Because right now, with his hands on mine, his promise curling around me like something solid and real—I believe him. And I need to believe him. I don’t realize I’m leaning toward him until his breath is on my lips. He feels like safety, like home, like everything I’ve ever wanted but didn’t think was possible.
His grip tightens. “Tell me to stop, Palmer.”
His voice is a rasp, thick with restraint. But I don’t want him to stop. I shake my head, my breath uneven.
“Tell me this is a mistake,” he demands, his forehead pressing against mine, his fingers lacing with mine. “Tell me you don’t want this.”
I let out a shaky exhale. I can’t. I don’t.
Instead, I whisper, “I want you to kiss me, Hudson.”
A rough sound escapes his throat—a curse, a plea, I don’t know. Then his mouth crashes onto mine. The kiss is fire.
It’s desperate and messy, all teeth and tongues and days of unspoken tension snapping in two.
Hudson lifts me, carrying me effortlessly toward the bed, his lips never leaving mine. He lays me down gently, his big body caging me in. His hands move slowly, reverently, tracing the outline of my hips, my ribs, the curve of my waist. I arch into his touch, needing more, needing him.
“You’re mine,” he growls against my skin, his mouth traveling down my neck. I don’t argue. I don’t want to. Because here, in this moment, I am his. And he is mine.
“I’m never letting you go.” And I don’t want him to. “I’m trying like hell to take things slowly with you, Palmer, but it’s damn hard. The hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
“Then don’t take things slow anymore.”
He grunts, his hands stilling and tightening against my hips. He growls, nipping at my ear. “I need to, Palmer, for me and for you. You’re special, and we have plenty of time to enjoy each other–but I need to do right by you.” His lips suck at my neck softly, sending shivers through my system and causing my nipples to pebble painfully. “But soon, Palmer, I’m going to claim this sweet body soon and I promise you when that happens, I’ll never let you out of my sight again.”
“Promise?” I husk, arousal coursing through me.
“Abso-fucking-lutely, babe.”
Chapter Seven
Hudson
“You really surprise me, ya know that?” She smiles up at me the next evening.
I grin, taking her bait. “Yeah, how’s that, Treasure?”
Her eyes slide from the starry night surrounding us down to my worn leather boots.
“A night at the carnival–it’s sweet.” She looks me up and down again. “You look all rugged and out-of-place–like you just walked off the mountain.”
“I did.” I chuckle. I hadn’t even thought about what I was wearing before we left the house; the idea to hit the traveling carnival in town was a last-minute one. Now, we sit side by side in an old ferris wheel, wobbling in the breeze. “Forgive me—I’m distracted by a beauty with pouty lips and a sassy mouth.”
Her grin splits. “Truth is, I think your work boots are hot. I love what an adventurous, hard workin’ man you are.”
My cock throbs at her words. “Good.”
The little heartbeat at her throat quickens and every part of me wants to lick her creamy exposed flesh. Then, the ferris wheel shifts forward again, causing our cage to jerk gently.
I cast my eyes out to the twinkling golden lights that dot the carnival grounds—tiny specks of people shuffling around below us.
“How crazy would you think I am if I said I’ve never been on a ferris wheel before?” She pops a cloud of pink cotton candy into her mouth and smiles.
“I’d say you’re bat-shit.” I brush against her thigh as our bodies press close, suspended high above the carnival. “And I’d say what kind of childhood did you have if you’ve never hung in a metal basket above a crowd at deadly heights?”
I grin, thinking that despite everything, it feels so damn fun to see laughter sparkle in her eyes again. I grew up with a pretty stable childhood in every way, but there’s something a little darker that clouds Palmer’s eyes sometimes. “There wasn’t a lot of time on the schedule for things like cotton candy, carnivals, and,” she says, her eyes drifting to the nighttime crowd below, “laughter.”
“It’s a good thing you found me then,” I say, intertwining my fingers with hers on instinct.
“I think you found me,” she replies with a bright smile. “This big fluffy elephant you won me thanks you too.” She pets the soft gray stuffed animal in her lap. “I’ve had so much fun tonight.”