Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
“It’s a square of ice cream with chocolate—”
“I know what it is.” She gritted her teeth. “Are you making fun of me?”
“Depends on your answer.”
“God, you’re so…” Unpredictable. Gorgeous. Perplexing. She sniffed, trying to hold onto her annoyance. “Strange.”
“What would you do for one? Would you lick that tree?” He nodded at the barky, moss-covered trunk a few feet away.
“I don’t know. Maybe?” She couldn’t remember the last time she tasted ice cream.
“Would you finish our jog without clothes on?”
“No.” Not willingly.
“Would you sing?”
“That would be awful for everyone.” She made a face. “But I can rap.”
“Right now.”
“What?” She sat up, forcing him to lean back.
“Rap me a song, and I’ll get you a Klondike. Hell, I’ll get you a whole box.”
“Three.”
“Three boxes?”
“The variety packs. All different flavors.”
He rolled his lips to hide a smile. “You drive a hard bargain.”
“Do we have a deal?”
“Absolutely.”
This rich boy wouldn’t know a good rap song if it smacked him in his white ass. So she opted for something satirical with a little cheese and a lot of groove.
Closing her eyes, she loosened her shoulders, rocked her head, and hummed the opening rhythm of “Welcome to Chili’s” by Yung Gravy.
Only the intro was in Spanish, which she sang embarrassingly off-tune. But when she jumped into the rap, she was fire, popping the P’s, rolling the R’s, and hitting every word with a kick in her hips.
After a few lines, she leaped to her feet, catching the beat with her whole body. He rose in her periphery, and she turned away, focusing on the lyrics.
Until his masculine heat covered her back. Bold hands glided over her shoulders, down her arms, moving with her. He moved with her.
She shivered and rapped out the next verse. By the time she reached the chorus, his voice was in her ear, saying the words with her, nailing the beat perfectly.
Holy shit, he knew this song? Why was she surprised? It was popular in America. But still…
She turned, facing him without losing the tempo. But she was no longer dancing, her body restrained in the intensity of his stare. He faltered over some of the words but knew the rest. They didn’t bounce or sway, didn’t blink or break eye contact for a single second.
The moment held them in a peculiar other world where a woman and her rapist rapped in a trance.
When had he drifted closer? Was she leaning into him? No, they weren’t touching. But she felt him all over, against her skin, in her song, humming through her blood.
When had they stopped singing?
The canopy rustled above them. She couldn’t think.
A locust buzzed in the grass. She couldn’t look away.
His fingers floated through her hair. She couldn’t breathe.
He touched her face, the bruised skin around her eyes, her cheek, her lips.
Push him away.
Her hands landed on his bare chest. Solid bedrock encased in hot skin. Beautifully built. Flawless definition. Carved and sanded with divine precision.
His palm cupped her jaw. So gentle. So goddamn nice.
Get rid of him.
Her head tipped, slanting into the touch as if compelled by a magnet.
Jesus, his eyes were right there, shining vividly. His mouth slightly parted and waiting.
This was too heavy. Too cozy. This… Feeling? It was gravity. Chemistry. Deranged attraction. Why couldn’t she fight it?
“Baby,” he murmured against her mouth. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
Dazed, she couldn’t feel her tongue. “Mm?
“There’s a snake behind you.”
“No, he’s…” Her chest filled with air. “He’s in front of me.”
“I’m serious.”
“What kind of snake?”
“Black and white with red rings. Three feet long.”
“Oh. That’s a king—” Her feet left the ground as he swung her up and away. “Wait!”
He spun toward the creature, crouching to attack it as she yelled, “It’s a kingsnake! Nonvenomous! Don’t kill it!”
“What?” He lunged, catching the squirming body. “I want to help it. Look.”
She darted toward him, craning her neck, and gasped.
The poor thing was tangled in a piece of plastic netting, with the webbing cinching it so tightly it couldn’t move properly.
“Here.” He trapped it against the ground, controlling the whip of its head. “Hold the tail.”
She didn’t hesitate, and within seconds he managed to break the plastic enough for the snake to work itself free.
He pocketed the trash and watched the animal slither away while she watched him, baffled and conflicted.
“Why did you do that?” Her mind churned to reconcile everything she knew about men with the one standing before her. “What are you trying to prove? That you’re not cruel? That you’re different from the others?”
His gaze cut to her, his eyes blazing with so much anger it snipped her breath. “There are plenty of snakes that deserve to die. Dozens that are eating, fucking, and indulging in evil right inside those walls.” He stabbed a finger in the direction of the estate. “Despite what you saw last night in the basement, I’m not in the business of taking innocent lives.”