Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
“What’s wrong?” She frowns up at me.
“Nothing.” I clear my throat, but that does nothing to clear the hard-on that’s threatening to bust a hole through my pants. “We should. . .” Was I having a thought, or was it just a fantasy of me eating her pussy as she licks icing from her fingers? I blink. Hard. “We should discuss the threat. The man that sent the assassin.”
“Kent Kingston’s a douche. He’s been after me for years. I’ve never given him the time of day, so then he tried to buy out my contract with my label. They didn’t play ball, thank God. But ever since, he’s been stalking me. Before we came out here, he’d spread several vicious rumors about me. Drugs, escorting, stupid crap like that. The press ate it up. And I just—” She sighs and puts the oven mitts back in their drawer. “I just had to get away from all of it, you know?” She shrugs and opens the fridge.
I think of all the ways I could kill Kent Kingston. There are so many to choose from. I make a mental note to research him sooner rather than later. I want to know where he is, what his next plan is, and whether he’s hired someone else to do the job.
She hums as she grabs another mixing bowl, then she starts singing in earnest as she drops two sticks of butter into the silver bowl.
I’ve never heard a voice like hers. It’s so clear. Like the notes are made of air, like the sound is just as natural as a bird. She does it effortlessly, but it affects me deeply. Soothing and strong, her voice almost makes me believe that my dream of her could come true. Almost.
Pushing the bowl away, she turns to me. “Now we’ll just wait for the cake to cool and the butter to melt, then we’ll ice.” With a sly smile, she looks over at me. “Oh, what could we possibly do to pass the time?”
I have a few ideas. Actually, I have a lot of ideas. All of them revolve around my teeth-marks on her ass and my cock deep in her pussy. But that’s not smart. Not when it comes to a woman like her. If I did that, if I just went fucking caveman on her and bent her over the counter—I run a hand down my face at the thought—I’d be lost. My heart would belong to this little songbird forevermore, but she’d leave. After all, I’m a scarred giant, not fit for someone like her.
No, she’ll be gone as soon as the snow clears and the roads thaw. And if I went as far as I want to with her, she’d take my heart with her. Or worse, I’d never, ever let her leave.
“You have the strangest look in your eyes.” She walks over and hops up on the counter in front of me. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“No.”
Her pink lips turn down in a cute pout. “Keep this up, and you’re not getting any cake. Not even a tiny slice.”
I wet my lips. “I want all of it, Aurora. The whole thing.”
Her eyes widen, and she reaches for me, grabbing my shirt and pulling me close to her. “What if I told you I want you have it? Icing and all? Every last crumb?”
I swallow hard, my hands shaking as I grip the counter next to her, caging her in. “That’s dangerous.”
“Oh?” She leans closer, her lips so close to mine. “How’s that?”
I reach up and grab her hair, the silky strands on my rough fingers. “Because if I get everything I want, I’ll never let you go. You’ll be my songbird, caged forever.”
She scoots her hips to the edge of the counter, and when I feel the heat between her thighs on my cock, I groan. “Is that supposed to be a threat?”
“Aurora, I’m warning you.” I grip her hair harder and crush my mouth to hers, fiercely claiming her innocent mouth with mine.
She clutches my shirt, her little fists against my chest as she pulls me closer, closer, closer. I can’t get enough of her, the way her tongue toys with mine, the scent of her, now with an added pinch of vanilla and chocolate from the cake. She’s irresistible. A sugary confection that could bring a man like me to his knees.
But my heart. My heart. What happens when she leaves, and she breaks it? What happens when I catch a headline about her seeing someone else?
I pull back, and she gasps in a breath and tries to pull me to her again.
“Aurora.” I shake my head, my mind at war with my heart. “We can’t.”
“Why not?” She wraps her legs around me.
Holy fuck, she’s holding on to me like she’s a panda and I’m her favorite tree.