Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79747 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79747 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
He sighs. “I agree it makes a fuck ton of money with the right clients. Mine was bought for one hundred dollars, and it was a fifty-year-old woman.”
I bring my hand up to my mouth in shock.
He tucks my hair back behind my ear. “I don’t want you feeling sorry for me, Honey. It’s made me the person I am today. It’s the reason why I protect my staff and have built a lucrative business. Contracts and all. But no, I never wanted to touch a virgin because of that. It was… unappealing to me.”
I furrow my brows and can feel the tears spilling down my cheeks. “So why did you take mine?” I feel bad.
Had it been painful for him?
Did he regret it?
Did it make him uncomfortable?
“I couldn’t let any other man touch you, and that’s the goddamn truth. Turns out I’m a selfish bastard. But I wanted your experience to be—”
“It was,” I’m quick to say, interrupting him. And there’s an understanding that passes between us. “I’m glad I lost it to you, Dawson. I’m honestly so glad I met you. Thank you. You’ve given me a beautiful gift.”
His thumb rolls over my cheek. “Likewise. Even when you give me hell.”
A chuckle rises from my throat as I wipe away my tears, and I feel the tension leave his body and leave the room.
“I’ve never told anyone that,” he admits. And my heart fills with warmth, sadness, and the want and need to protect a teenage Dawson. “Did you know Dawson isn’t even my birth name?”
I prop my head on my hand and look at him. “Really?”
He shakes his head. “Another reason to hate my mother. A lot of days doing drugs, and she gave me a god-awful name because she couldn’t think straight when I was born.”
He says it with a hint of laughter, and I can’t help but play into it.
“Now I’m curious.”
“You’re always curious, Honey.” He laughs as he turns my back to him and scoops me into a hug from behind. I rest my head on his arm, stroking his other hand that hangs over my waist.
“What’s your birth name?”
“If you tell anyone, I might have to kill you.”
I laugh. “Please. You like my pasta too much.”
He laughs and then sighs, defeated. “Bear.”
I bite my lip and grimace. He’s right. That is a shitty name.
“Your silence says it all, Honey.”
I laugh. “Well, I guess you are like a rugged bear now.”
“Shut up.” He chuckles as he squeezes me from behind.
I nestle into him, my mind reeling with everything he’s just told me. All the mystery and the masks. I realize now they have been Dawson’s way of survival. He’s never really had a home except for the one he built for himself.
“Thank you for telling me your story.”
Silence.
Dawson rummages around the bed and then throws a blanket over the both of us. He kisses my cheek. “Goodnight, Honey.”
CHAPTER 46
Dawson
Her hair is fanned across my bed as she sleeps, a light snore passing through her lips. I let her sleep after we showered and played again.
Why didn’t I think to bring her here before now?
That would be because no one comes to my place. More precisely, no one is ever invited.
Honey says something in her sleep, and I pull her closer to me. She’s still naked. Neither of us bothered to put on any clothes after what we did all night.
What’s the point? I can’t keep my hands off her.
And it’s not just the sex, it’s her. I could listen to her speak for hours on end, asking me the most random questions.
And I would answer every single one.
Because it makes her happy.
I brush my thumb down her cheek. Precious. Beautiful. Stern but fair.
She is the only person I’ve ever told about my past. The ugliness that I’ve tried to hide all these years. Why I needed to hone such a polished mask so no one would be the wiser? I built this empire on that, and yet I realize now that besides all the money, power, and recognition, it now feels like it has a purpose if I can share that with her. A surprising thought and harsh realization. I’m too selfish to let her go now.
Who knew that months ago, in a supply closet, I would fall into a pot of Honey?
Fallen, hook, line and sinker.
I'm not sure I want to come up to be resuscitated, either.
Her eyes slowly open and she offers me the softest smile.
“Morning. Your bed is comfy,” she says and turns so her back is to my chest. Her ass pushes against my cock, which is already hard. “I can feel you’re happy this morning.” She giggles.
“Waking up with you does that,” I tell her, my hand slipping under the sheet and finding her side before I drag it down and to her hip. I pull her back so her ass cradles my cock, and she wiggles.