Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 129980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
His hands once again cupped her face, forcing her head up.
“Look at me.” There was steel in his voice.
He waited until she raised her lashes and met his slashing silver eyes. Instantly, there was that same roller coaster wreaking havoc in her stomach.
“I want an explanation of what you mean. Exactly, Azelie. Men like me? Women like you? What does that mean?”
He never called her Azelie. Never. Right from the first meeting he had called her Zelie. He wasn’t happy with her. She fought to overcome the rush of fear that she’d displeased him. She kept her chin tilted.
“You want me to tell you the truth, don’t you?” she challenged. “That’s what I’m doing. I don’t have to like it and neither do you, but nevertheless it’s the truth.”
His thumb slid along her chin, featherlight. Sensual. A hint of power. Azelie had no idea how he could convey so much in a simple touch.
“You haven’t explained, and I have no idea what you mean.”
She lowered her lashes, unable to meet the building desire in his eyes. “You’re gorgeous. You walk into a room and women throw themselves at you. Clearly, you have a lot of experience. You’re dominant, overwhelming and you know how to use your voice to get what you want.”
A faint smile came and went so quickly she wasn’t certain she really saw it, but for that brief second, her heart stammered.
“That’s a beautiful thing to say about me, Solnyshkuh. Thank you.”
He would steal her heart easily if she wasn’t careful. That was the one thing she couldn’t afford. She knew herself very well. She was doing her best to get a tough exterior, but since the deaths of her sister and the children, she felt disoriented, alone, and far too fragile emotionally. She didn’t have anyone to lean on, although the merry widows treated her like a long-lost relative.
“I mean it too, Andrii. Everything about you is appealing. I can’t imagine any woman not being drawn to you. But you’re way out of my league.” There was regret in her voice. She couldn’t keep that out, regardless of how hard she tried to sound indifferent.
His thumb slid over her bottom lip, his silver gaze holding hers captive. “What do you mean by that? I don’t understand why you think I’m out of your league.”
Her heart was stuttering just being under his blazing, sensual gaze. How could he not see the difference in them? He looked at her with such puzzlement she was certain he really didn’t know what she was saying, although he seemed to see inside her. He appeared to know things about her natural instincts and character no one else saw.
“Look at me. I’m nothing special. I’m not in your league because men as gorgeous as you might go slumming and find someone like me to be with, but you don’t stay.”
His face darkened and the color of his eyes lightened even more. She powered on, determined to get it over with so he’d leave.
“You’d get bored and move on. I’d be left with a shattered heart because I don’t know how to cope with that.”
He was silent for a long time. Too long. The disappointment in his eyes gutted her. She despised the displeasure and unhappiness he conveyed.
“That’s how you see me, Azelie? As a man who would break your heart? Not treat you with the care and consideration a treasure like you deserves? Because I know what a treasure you are.”
She shook her head, not believing him despite him sounding perfectly sincere. Did he honestly believe he would stay?
“Do you see me this way because of my temper? Because I hurt you when I left so abruptly? That wasn’t treating you with tenderness and care. You have no idea what I’d do to fix what I broke between us. I know I was in the wrong, and worse, I also know that there will be times when I lose my temper. I would never hurt you physically, but I can’t promise I won’t inadvertently say or do something that hurts you emotionally. If that happens, Zelie, call me on it. Don’t let my temper, which I promise I will do my best to overcome, keep us from a relationship.”
He still wasn’t seeing the whole picture. She was going to have to spell it out for him and really embarrass herself. Again, she tilted her chin at him, trying to give herself courage. “My reluctance isn’t about your temper, which is atrocious by the way. It’s about your looks versus mine. Your experience versus mine. My personality, which will wear on you after a while, right along with the differences I just stated.”
Andrii’s eyes went that slashing silver color. He was seriously displeased. “Right there, what you just said to me, would earn you a punishment. I’d put you over my knees so fast your head would spin.”