Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 70955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Knox must have misinterpreted my silence because he added, “I get that he’s family, and you’re worried about him. But they’ll make sure he gets medical attention for his injuries, even if the little bastard doesn’t deserve it.”
“I know,” I whispered as my gaze shifted to Saint. As freaking inappropriate as it was since he’d been up against my brother, watching him fight had turned me on. The six-pack abs, bunching biceps when he punched, powerful legs, animal magnetism...he was lethal grace in motion. I’d never seen anything like it before.
I stared at Saint as he did his interviews, expecting it to take longer than the few minutes he gave the throng of media. Before I knew it, he was stalking toward where I stood with Knox. Without saying a word, he hefted me over his shoulder. The crowd surrounding us cheered his name while Knox chuckled. “You’re welcome,” he called out as Saint strode away with me.
Saint lifted his free arm and gave Knox a quick wave as we moved through the crush of people. Everyone wanted to talk to him, but he didn’t stop. He kept moving until we hit the locker room with his name on the door. He slammed it shut behind us, set me on my feet, and twisted around to flip the lock. When Saint turned back to me, his nostrils flared, and his chest rose and fell as he took several deep breaths. “Explain.”
Although he still looked angry, I somehow knew it wasn’t aimed at me. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t intimidating. Because he was.
Taking a small step back, I stilled when a growl rumbled up his chest. My gaze locked with his and saw his eyes soften. “You’re safe with me. I would never hurt you, angel eyes.”
“Angelique,” I corrected when it dawned on me that he hadn’t been there when his friends asked for my name.
His lips kicked up in a grin. “It sounds like the nickname I picked for you was more perfect than I thought.”
My curiosity got the better of me, and I asked, “Why do you call me angel eyes?”
“Because the last thing I want to see before I go out of this world are those gorgeous eyes of yours.”
He put it out there so matter-of-factly, as though his admission wouldn’t rock my world. But it did. This incredible man seemed one hundred percent sincere as he claimed to want me in his life...forever. After spending less than five minutes with me. The whole thing should’ve had me trying to get past him to the door, but his declaration settled something inside me. The part that was already braced for the other shoe to drop. For the people in my life to disappoint me. Like my brother, the person responsible for me being in this mess—that just might turn into the best thing in my life—in the first place.
Swiveling on my heel, I crossed the small room and dropped onto the low bench against the wall. After patting the spot next to my right, I waited for Saint to join me before I said, “You might want to get comfortable. This could take a while.”
He untaped his hands, got up to grab a towel to rub over his sweat-dampened hair, took some pain relievers, and downed a sports drink. Once he was done, he returned to my side, lifted me up, and settled me on his lap so I was straddling him. One of his arms was wrapped around my lower back to anchor me in place, and he lifted the other to tuck a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “There. Now I’m ready to hear whatever you need to tell me.”
“Right here? Like this?” I gasped, wiggling on his lap until I felt his cock harden beneath my butt.
“Exactly like this.” His arm tightened around me. “I’m not letting you go now that I’ve gotten my hands on you.”
The tiny bottoms of my ring girl uniform grew damp, and I wondered if he’d be able to feel it. My cheeks reddened as I whispered, “It’s not your hands that I was talking about.”
He brushed a kiss against my forehead and lifted his hips to press more firmly against me. “Me getting hard around you is something you’re going to have to get used to, angel eyes. It’s going to happen often. As in, all the time.”
“Alrighty then.” I cleared my throat and did my best to ignore the incredibly hard and large bulge beneath me. “I guess this is the part where I explain how I ended up here, huh?”
He cupped my cheek with his hand. “Please.”
I nodded, and the calluses on his palm rubbed against my skin, sending a little shiver down my spine. “My childhood wasn’t all that great, and Vince used to be the only person I could really depend on. But all that changed three or four years ago. It was like my brother turned into someone I didn’t know, into someone I didn’t even want to know, even after everything he did for me when we were kids.”