Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
“Sonya.” The word came out barely audible, as if caught in his throat. “What happened between us… it can’t happen again.”
I’d known he was going to say something like this. He wasn’t wrong. Hearing him voice it, though, was a punch to my gut. I stood slowly and moved to the window in front of the counter running along half the back wall. I braced my hands on the flat surface and took a deep breath. I was very much afraid I might cry if I didn’t get a grip on myself. I wasn’t sure what hurt more, his words or the fact he was right.
After a moment, I felt Archangel move in behind me. His body caged me in, his hands on either side of me where I stood with my back against the counter, which surprised me. He was telling me that us having sex had been wrong, but now he was all up in my space? I gritted my teeth against the urge to lean back against him. I still had some pride.
“Sonya.” His voice was rich with emotion when he finally spoke again. He pressed his body against me. I sucked in a breath. I could feel the heat coming off of him. How was I supposed to resist this attraction when he was clearly baiting me?
“I don’t mean to hurt you.” His voice faded away like a summer breeze before he could finish, leaving behind an emptiness that echoed the hollow feeling inside me.
I turned to face him then, preparing to meet those gray eyes of his with an unconcerned look. “You didn’t.” I smiled up at him. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have touched you without your permission.”
“Honey, I don’t care about that.” He was looking at me intently now. His brows drew together as he continued to stare at me. Then Archangel shivered slightly, his eyes narrowing. His jaw clenched. Very slowly, he leaned back away from me. He didn’t take his hands from the counter or his gaze away from mine. “Fuck me,” he whispered. The next thing I knew, Archangel was kissing me like his life depended on it. And I surrendered to him.
The feel of his lips against mine was like nothing I’d ever known. They were firm and demanding, yet tempered. There was something far more intimate in Archangel’s kisses that left me with no room to think about anything else but the taste of him and the way he made me feel. His hand slid up my spine and into my hair, holding me still as he plundered my mouth like he was starving for me. I knew I was starving for him. I’d had a taste before and wanted so much more.
He pulled away abruptly. Breathing heavily, he stared down at me. “I can’t do this. Not with you.” He shoved away and walked out of the cabin, leaving me standing there, shaking and lost. OK, that comment hurt. Not with me?
I followed him out the door, fully expecting to have to hurry to catch him before he got inside his own cabin. Surprisingly, he stood just outside on the tiny porch, bracing himself against the railing with his hands. He was obviously struggling with something, but I had my own thoughts to worry about. Like I’d let this man take me to unmanageable heights and wasn’t willing to never experience sex with him again.
“What does that mean?” I demanded, moving around to see as much of his face as I could. I needed to see his expression clearly. “Not with me.”
“It means I’m not fucking you. Not again.” If I were guessing -- and I totally was because Archangel was good at covering his emotions -- I’d say he totally wanted to fuck me again.
“Well, that’s unfortunate.” I tried to sound light and airy, like none of this actually mattered to me. “I was hoping to find out more about your path of philosophy. But if you’re giving up already, I must be more than you’re used to handling.” It was a calculated risk, baiting Archangel, but I threw out my line and waited to see if I’d made a fool out of myself or hooked me a whale. Or a shark.
“Don’t do that.” He growled. “Don’t use your fucking wit to try and manipulate me.”
I held my hands up in surrender. “Fine. So, who’s up for a movie and some popcorn?” I grinned, needing to back off and come at him from a different angle. This was a very bad idea. A very bad idea. But I had this sickness. Once I started something, I had to finish. Call it morbid curiosity. I wasn’t sure where this road was going to lead, but I was hauling ass down it as hard as I could go.
Archangel gave me a threatening look, actually going so far as to point a finger at me. He opened his mouth to say something but promptly closed it again. His gaze swept me from head to toe, his nostrils flaring. “Did you put on underwear?”