Total pages in book: 235
Estimated words: 224334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1122(@200wpm)___ 897(@250wpm)___ 748(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 224334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1122(@200wpm)___ 897(@250wpm)___ 748(@300wpm)
So I continue to play havoc with her senses, stroking her gently over her lace knickers, discreetly watching her battle her instinct to succumb to her desire. Stubborn woman. I leave my dessert untouched but down my coffee. I have a feeling I’m going to need some energy to keep my patience.
And I’m right. Ava pretty much ignores me for the rest of dinner, often trying to remove my hand from between her legs. I don’t let her. She laughs and talks, but never with me. She’s really making a point, and unreasonable as it might be, since the reason she’s behaving like a brat is because of me, I’m getting annoyed. But an argument isn’t going to help. Persevere. I look around the table, seeing everyone talking, but I’m not hearing them. Just observing. In the decades these parties have been held, marking the anniversary of The Manor, I have not once been sober. I was always the first in the bar. Always the first to leave the table after dinner. Always the first to venture upstairs, various eager, female members following me.
Which is why said female members are not pleased. They don’t appreciate the changes in me.
And neither in this moment does Ava. I look at her, still defiantly refusing to look at me.
All for you, baby.
Everything I do, every lie I tell, every word I speak, it’s all for her. And, selfishly, for me too. Because now, she’s a part of me.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” John says, winning my attention. He’s standing, his shades resting on his shiny black head. “If you could move into the bar area so the room can be cleared, ready for the band to start.”
“Fuck, yes, one minute closer to ten thirty,” Sam says, helping Kate up. “All right?” he asks her, putting her wine in her hand, like he thinks she might need a little more alcohol in her to take on the rest of the night. She absolutely does not.
I pull Ava up and move in to kiss her, knowing my mouth on hers will almost certainly snap her out of this mood. But I’m given the cold shoulder. She’s walking away?
“Oh, fuck this,” I mutter, reaching for her arm and stopping her. I am not spending the rest of the night being ignored. I spin her and pull her close. “Are you going to behave like a spoilt brat for the rest of the evening?” I ask as Kev Baxter passes, looking on with too much interest for my liking. “Or have I got to take you upstairs and fuck some sense into you?” I smile past Ava to Kev. It isn’t a friendly smile. It’s dark. It dares him to look again.
I cup Ava’s arse, flexing myself into her lower stomach, making sure she feels me. Every inch of her body locks. Resists. “Do you feel that?” I whisper in her ear, grinding hard. I hear a moan. It’s unrestrained, and it takes me back to the day I met her, when she whimpered at the feel of my lips on her cheek and my voice in her ear. She couldn’t hide her reaction to me then, and she can’t now, so why the fuck we’re wasting this time is beyond me. “Answer the question, Ava.”
Her hands bunch the material of my jacket at my shoulders, pinching my flesh too, as I nip at her ear. “I feel it,” she relents, her voice husky.
“Good,” I reply, short and firm. We’re getting somewhere. “It’s yours. All of it.” Every last piece of me. “So stop with the fucking sulks. Do you understand me?”
She swallows, nodding into me, surrendering.
That’s that sorted. Now, if we could get on with the rest of our night without any further interruptions or cross words, that would be fucking marvelous. I move back and let Ava gather herself, satisfied by the quivering wreck I can reduce her to with the whisper of a few commanding words and a roll of my hips into hers. She moves into me again with no prompting, taking me by surprise, and looks up at me. She doesn’t apologize. But I see it in her eyes. I’m grateful. I’ve wasted too much of my life already. I don’t want to waste more being at odds with her. I dip and kiss her lips gently. “That’s better.” I collect her and follow the other guests out of the summer room to the bar. “I’m struggling to deal with all of the admiring stares you’re attracting,” I say, seeing men at every turn admiring her.
“You’re attracting quite a bit of attention yourself.”
I see Natasha up ahead and see the impending poke coming a mile off. “Jesse,” she purrs as I pass with Ava. “You’re looking as delicious as ever.”
Ava coughs, I shake my head, and Natasha smiles. I won’t point out that she’s already told me I look delicious. I can sense Ava’s claws unsheathing. She doesn’t need the extra information that may cause her to actually swipe them.