Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 142818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
I was a mix between drunk and hungover. My head was throbbing. “I’m already freaking out by you telling me not to freak out.”
“Your Mom went into labor not long after you got off the phone with her,” he told me calmly.
“What!” I shrieked.
“Told you not to freak out,” he commented.
I scowled, fumbling for my phone which was buzzing with notifications. I had a bunch of missed calls from Mom, Swiss, Freya, Macy, Caroline … pretty much everyone at the club.
“Are they okay?” I demanded, thinking of all of the things that could’ve gone wrong. Thinking of Swiss losing his first little baby.
“They’re fine,” Elden replied firmly. “Both your mom and your brother.”
I sagged in relief. But that only lasted a moment.
“We’ve got to go,” I snapped. “Like, right now.”
Elden put his hands on my shoulders to stop me running off into the night. “No,” he said gently. “You’re gonna go back to your place. Have a shower. Some coffee. Sleep. Then we’ll take the first flight out in the morning.”
I gaped at him. “Are you crazy? I have to be there for my mom.”
He nodded. “First, you need to be there for yourself.”
I froze at his words, sat with the knowledge of what they meant. I was only half sober. Which meant I was half drunk. I’d barely slept eight hours in the past five days. I was a mess. And I did not want to meet my baby brother smelling like a dive bar and looking a mess.
Nor did I want my mom to be worrying about me on the day she gave birth and was likely exhausted and ecstatic. Surely, she was already worrying about me since no one had been able to get hold of me.
Shit.
“Okay,” I conceded.
Elden waited while I showered, waiting with a strong cup of coffee and some toast when I emerged, hair dripping on my shoulders while clutching the towel tight around me.
He was so large in my bedroom, sitting on my bed. Everything about the moment felt incredibly surreal, right down to the arrival of my baby brother and the departure of the man who was supposed to be my father.
I felt joy. Sadness. Anger. Resentment. Worry. All of those things came rushing at me with the hot shower, the coffee and the food. There was a reason that I’d decided to drink myself into oblivion, because oblivion was wonderful.
Now I had to deal with all of these feelings in addition to a hangover. And Elden seeing me like that…Not exactly what I’d wanted.
I also felt oddly self-conscious being naked around him. He’d seen me naked before. He’d seen the most intimate parts of me. Tasted them. The mere memory sent desire shooting to the base of my spine.
But that was a lifetime ago. When I was infatuated with him, held captive by nothing but need. Since then, he hadn’t touched me beyond a few kisses. There was more than infatuation between us now. The stakes were much higher.
“Are you staying here?” I asked meekly, still clutching the towel to my body.
Elden’s eyes stayed on mine. “You think I’d leave you?”
My knees knocked together as I shook my head slowly.
“Can sleep there.” He gestured his head to the armchair in the corner that was stacked with textbooks and vetoed outfits.
I raised a brow. “Do you want to sleep there?” I asked.
“Fuck no,” he replied instantly, eyes still not moving downward.
The air crackled between us.
Though I had previously been overcome by everything happening in my life, by everything that needed to be handled outside this room, it suddenly became very clear that it was just us in the room.
Until morning, at least.
And I did not intend to waste that time.
My towel dropped to the floor.
Elden let out a hiss.
I didn’t move. Nor did he.
He just stared at me, gaze skimming from my head to my toes.
“Come here, Violet.” he ordered, voice smooth and rich.
I didn’t hesitate to go to him.
He opened his legs, and I walked in between them, his hands landing on my hips, pulling me to him so his head rested on my naked belly.
My hands found his hair, running through it. Every nerve ending in my body was awake, aware, hungry.
But we stayed like that for a long time.
Until Elden lifted his head and looked up at me.
His gaze stole the air from my lungs.
“Get on your back, Violet.”
My spine tingled. My knees shook. I didn’t move. Because I couldn’t. Which was fine since I had a very capable, very powerful biker holding onto me.
I was on my back in seconds.
Elden stood there, staring down at me, cataloging every piece of my skin with hungry, wild eyes.
Then his hands found the backs of my legs and he, not gently, pulled me so I was at the edge of the bed, he was kneeling, and my legs were over his shoulders.