Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 142764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
I push my father to the back of my mind and pick up my pace toward the cabin, scanning the trees in case she is out here too. It’s obvious I’m alone. The quiet of nature greets me, and I love it. I enjoy the sound of the wind, the crunching of leaves beneath my boots.
I walk faster to try to burn some of the edge from seeing her at the library. From holding myself back from pulling her away from Seb and ensuring both of them know whom she belongs to. I told her to take the four-wheeler, but I walked the entire way to help curb some of this need in my blood. As I get close to the cabin, the rough wood structure gives way to a spacious clearing of grass that circles the cabin, butting up to a small river. The moonlight glints off it, but my attention is dragged from the beauty of nature and to someone who is just as beautiful.
On the stairs of the cabin, I finally spot her. My Flower.
She's sitting on the top step, a sweater wrapped tight around her slim frame, her sunshine-blond hair tied up in her usual messy knot. My gaze collides with hers, and I don’t even have to be a skilled predator to see how anxious she is. Lucky for her, the only time I want to see tears on her face again is when she’s choking on my cock. I hurt her once already. I’m not going to get another chance to fix this if I fuck up again.
"Been waiting long?" I ask as I check my watch. By my time, I'm early, so she got here extra early to beat me. Smart.
She shrugs one shoulder and tugs her sleeves over her knuckles, wrapping her arms around her middle as if she’s trying to hug herself.
"Hi," I whisper, hoping I put everything I'm feeling into that one tiny word.
“Hi,” she responds, her shoulders dropping.
I creep up the last couple of steps and pause on the porch. "It'll be warmer inside once I turn on the heat."
She nods, then pushes up from her spot, tucking her chin into her chest, almost like she’s trying to avoid looking at me. What the fuck is going on?
Why is she suddenly hiding from me? Not even when I stripped her naked in these woods did she hide from me... My temper rises, and I don’t know what to do with it, so I angrily jerk the screen door open and unlock the cabin using a key from my key ring. Then I shove the door open and beckon her inside.
I take a calming breath, breathing through my nose. I need to calm down and figure this out. Her steps are hesitant as she walks over the threshold, and I follow her, flicking on the light switch along the way. Soft illumination cuts through the darkness, and I hit the buttons on the digital thermostat to warm up the place.
I don't know how long we'll be here, but I don't want to risk her getting cold.
The gas fireplace roars to life with another flick of a switch. Bel startles at the soft swish of it igniting.
"Sit," I bite out, waving toward the large, comfortable armchair.
"I'm okay, thank you..."
I stalk around the room, circling her because she’s got me on edge, and I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to react.
Her emerald eyes track my movements until she has to shift to keep me in her line of sight. "What are you doing?"
I shrug. "Good question. What am I doing, Bel? You're the one who asked me to come here. And now you're acting like a scared rabbit I trapped here. You won’t even meet my gaze. So naturally, what am I supposed to think but that you want to be hunted?"
She turns enough to put the chair at her back so she can face me directly. "If I remember correctly, you’re the one who has been begging to see me for weeks."
I let out a sigh of defeat. She takes a step toward me and points at my chest, jabbing me hard with her finger. "If you're going to be a dick to me, then you can turn the hell around and leave.”
She shakes her head, disbelief pinching her beautiful features. “I can’t believe I thought you would actually be honest with me. That you would talk to me and not make this into some stupid game.”
I close my hand around her smaller one, completely engulfing it, barely keeping from sighing at the touch of her smooth skin, and lean in. "Honest? You haven't told me what you want so how can I lie to you when I haven’t been asked a question?”
In an instant, the disbelief I saw before turns into panic and dread. She looks up at me through thick lashes, her hands twisting in her sweater sleeves. And that’s when it hits me.