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)
“What’d he get into?” Saint asked after I paused to pull myself together so I didn’t end up bawling in his arms.
“He fell in with a bad crowd and wasn’t around as often. Started to drink a lot and dabbled with some drugs here or there. But it wasn’t the drugs or alcohol that got him into trouble.” I dropped my forehead against Saint’s shoulder. “It was the gambling that turned out to be his real vice. He doesn’t think straight when he’s at the tables, and he risks way more than he can afford. He’s always been able to figure out a way to pay off his gambling debts in the past, but this time is different. I don’t know how much he owes, but it has to be a lot—like enough to beat the shit out of him if he didn’t get the chance to fight you tonight—a lot. Enough for him to tell me the five grand I’d earn by being a ring girl during the match would barely put a dent in his debt but might be enough so his bookie wouldn’t come after me, too.”
“That fucking motherfucker,” Saint growled. “He deserves a hell of a lot more than the beatdown I gave him in the ring for putting your safety at risk.”
Shrugging my shoulders, I lifted my head to offer him a small smile. “I don’t think he ever thought about what might happen to me in this whole mess. Not until his bookie took notice of me.”
“Who’s his bookie?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I never asked because it didn’t really matter since I didn’t have the money to pay off his debt. I was going to give Vince what I earned tonight so he could hand it over.”
“It’s got to be Jimmy Benton,” Saint rumbled.
“I’ve never heard of him.”
“Forget I mentioned his name,” Saint commanded. “He isn’t someone you need to worry about anymore.”
I felt exhausted after everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, and I was starting to freak out because Saint looked angrier than he had when he’d been fighting my brother. Squeezing my eyes shut, I voiced my biggest fear, “Does that mean you haven’t changed your mind about what you said before? How I’ll always be safe with you and don’t need to worry about money again?”
5
Saint
Angelique’s question was uttered in a tiny, hesitant voice, and it killed me that she didn’t believe I meant what I said. I couldn’t blame her, though. It sounded like everyone in her life had let her down, and we’d only met a few hours ago. I could tell her over and over, but I knew it was actions that would finally convince her to trust me.
“Angel eyes, there is nothing you could say or do that would change my mind about you.” I tucked another wayward strand of hair behind her ear and leaned my forehead against hers.
“Despite who my brother is?”
I lifted my head to stare into her turquoise pools. “I don’t care about anyone but you, Angelique.” My mouth twisted as my thoughts darkened from the mention of her brother. “I only wish I’d killed the son of a bitch when I had the chance.” She looked a little shell-shocked, so I gentled my tone when I continued. “I won’t kill him,” I promised on a sigh. “That would only take me away from you. But you’re done with him.” Her face softened and hope lit her eyes. “I’ll handle everything. I will always protect you, angel eyes.” I made sure our gazes were locked and let her see the emotions and need I felt for her. “You’re mine.”
She sucked in a breath, and we were so close that her nipples brushed my naked chest. The tiny pieces of fabric shielding them would be so easy to rip away so I could suck on those peaks like a Jolly Rancher, my favorite candy.
I held myself back, though, afraid to go any faster and spook her. We were already taking things at warp speed, and I had no intention of slowing down. But then she licked her lips and looked up at me through her long lashes. Her cheeks bloomed with color, and in the next instant, she pressed her mouth against mine.
From the innocent air surrounding her, plus her shy reaction to the feel of my rock-hard cock beneath her ass, I was confident that Vince hadn’t been fucking with me when he mentioned Angelique’s cherry—my girl was a virgin. Which led me to assume that instigating intimacy was new to her. I struggled to allow her to take the lead, but I wanted her to break out of her shell with me and feel confident and sexy.
However, her light, exploring touches eventually became too much for me. I used my thumb to gently pull down her jaw, opening her mouth so that I could plunge my tongue inside. I groaned at the first taste of her flavor and shifted in my seat because my cock became so thick, the skin around it was painfully stretched. It stood at attention, poking out of the waistband of my shorts. It didn’t help that I could feel the heat of her pussy bathing my dick through the thin cloth. The urge to rip her tiny bottoms off and sink inside her hot pussy was incredibly difficult to ignore.