Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Say what to your face?”
She looks down. “That you don’t love me. That you don’t want to be with me.”
I grit my teeth. “You know that isn’t true. It’s because I want to be with you that I can’t be. Not until this business with my family is taken care of.”
She keeps her gaze down, kicking at a pebble. “Then maybe it’s best that we don’t sleep together tonight. Best to”—she looks up at me with those soulful doe eyes—“make a clean cut.”
“I call bullshit.” I grab her hands. “You want me to fuck you, Raven. And I want to fuck you just as badly. Probably more badly.”
“Vinnie…”
“I’m done talking, Raven.” I pull her into my arms, carrying her like a child. She’s no heavier than a feather in my arms, and I walk the rest of the way to the guesthouse.
I push in the code, disarming the security system to the guesthouse, and open the door.
The guesthouse is nearly as lavish as the main house, though it’s quite a bit smaller. A large living and dining room, a smaller kitchen and family area, and three bedrooms round out the one-story home.
With Raven still in my arms, I head down the hallway toward the master bedroom.
I open the door and look her in the eyes.
“Here’s your one chance, Raven. You can walk away now. Walk away and don’t come back. If you really want that clean cut, now’s your chance. Because if you don’t? I’m going to fuck you. I’m going to fuck you in this bed. I’m going to fuck you hard. It’s not going to be gentle. It’s not going to be nice. I’m going to take out all the frustrations of the last couple days on your body, Raven. Are you ready for that? Are you up for it?”
She swallows. “I can take anything you dish out, Vinnie.”
“You sure about that?” I narrow my gaze. “Because I can’t tell you what the last couple days have been like for me.”
She raises a trembling arm, cups my cheek. “You can. You can tell me anything.”
I look away, gaze out the window. “If only that were true…”
“But you can, Vinnie.” She returns her hand to my face and forces me to look at her. “I want you to. I want to help you. Let me be your strength, Vinnie. And I’ll let you be mine.”
I sigh and stand her on her own feet. “I wish I had strength left to give you, Raven. I’m doing everything I can to keep my own fucking head above water right now with my family. Things have gotten volatile. More volatile than you can even imagine.”
“You think I can’t imagine volatile?” She crosses her arms. “My attorney had his throat slit while I was with you. I found surveillance equipment in my home—my home. Maybe those two things are related to you and maybe they’re not. But I’ll tell you what doesn’t have anything to do with you. Falcon spent eight years in prison. There’s a drug lord buried under my father’s old barn. You want to talk about volatile? My whole family is volatile right now.”
She’s not wrong.
Perhaps I’ve underestimated her.
I grab her by the forearms, squeezing hard. I sear my gaze into her. “Then show me your volatility, Raven. Show me now. Take off those clothes and get on the fucking bed.”
15
RAVEN
I obey him without hesitation. I pull my T-shirt over my head, exposing my bra and breasts. He sucks in a breath, and I can’t help a small smile.
My nipples are hard and searching. I ache for his lips around them.
I kick off my flip-flops, and then I unsnap and unbuckle my jeans, sliding them over my hips and down my legs. I step out of them. Only my panties—red cotton—lie between me and total nudity.
I fling my thumbs underneath the waistband and slide them over my hips.
And I watch Vinnie as he looks at me.
Through his eyes I see my body for what it is. It’s not too thin, and it’s not hairless.
To him, it’s a bounty. Something he yearns for, just as much as I yearn for him.
“Raven,” he says, his voice dark.
I lift my eyebrows.
“I believe I told you to get on the fucking bed.”
I turn, walk toward the king-size bed that’s covered in what looks like burgundy silk. I sit down, and it’s soft and cool against my body.
“Spread your fucking legs.”
Again, I obey, baring my pussy to his view.
He kneels next to the bed, still fully clothed in his suit and tie. He moves his head between my legs, his stubble tickling my sensitive thighs.
He closes his eyes, inhales. “Damn, you smell good.” Then he slides his fingers over my pussy. “Wet, too. You’re wet for me, Raven.”
Am I supposed to respond? Of course I’m wet for him. I ache for him.