Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
I wouldn’t believe him if he tried. I can feel them just beneath my skin, waiting to show themselves through cruel words or sneers.
“Aren’t you going to tell me I’m wiser, more beautiful, and stronger for them? Or any of the platitudes people use to dismiss the pain of others?”
“No. You are all of those things, and it has nothing to do with your bitch-ass uncle. If anything, he did what he could to take them away from you, but it didn’t work. That’s why I’m going to kill him.”
“Khalil…you can’t say things like that.”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t mean it.”
“Don’t I?”
“You’d have to more than just care about me, Khalil. You’d have to—” I stop myself before I can make a fool of myself.
“Say it,” Khalil urges. There’s a burning in his eyes that scares the shit out of me, and if I’m not careful, it will catch. “I’d have to what?”
You’d have to love me.
Because I’m a coward, I don’t say it aloud. I drop my head with a shake so that I don’t have to watch that fire bank from my denial. Khalil, thankfully, doesn’t push further.
“You’re irreplaceable to me, Aurelia.” My head snaps up with a gasp. “That’s why I meant it.”
“You mean, if someone prettier, thinner, and more cooperative than me dropped out of the sky, you wouldn’t trade me in for a newer, less troublesome model?”
Khalil scoffs like the notion of wanting anyone other than me is preposterous. “Definitely not.”
“You sure? She might actually know how to cook.”
“You’re stuck with us, Goldilocks.”
“Lucky me.”
“Smart-ass.” Khalil pinches my butt and then massages the spot. “When you figure out what you want to do, let one of us know so we can get you whatever you need. Understand?”
When I nod, he steals a chaste kiss that feels anything but when I feel it between my thighs. I love Khalil’s kisses, even though they make me feel out of my depth. Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s why I love them. They make me feel so light on my feet, I fear I’ll float away, so I cling to him as hard as I can, like he’s my lifeline.
“Good. I can’t wait to taste your bread.” Why the fuck does that sound dirty as hell? I shiver and hope he doesn’t notice that mere words have me behaving like a bitch in heat. “Need help?”
“With what exactly?”
Oh, my God. Am I…flirting? It feels natural to do so, as natural as resisting this intense connection stirring.
Khalil’s eyes flare as he picks up the ball I just threw in his court. His hand drops to my waist, and I feel his thumb sweeping my belly through Seth’s T-shirt. “Whatever you need, Goldilocks. Did Seth not treat that precious pussy right?”
“What makes you think we did anything?”
“His face…and yours.”
Thorin appears in the kitchen, his sleepy gaze becoming sharper the moment he notices Khalil and I locked together. I know that if I sucked Khalil’s dick right now, I’ll want Thorin’s too, and then Seth will return from his shower and….
The bread will never get baked.
Deciding to turn off the horny switch, I spin back toward my ball of dough, but I can still feel Khalil hovering.
“I’m fine,” I tell him. “Go stick your hand down your boxers and do whatever useless boyfriends do while I take care of everything.”
“Boyfriend,” Khalil says in a kind of confusing growl-purr combination that makes my toes curl against the cold floor. “I like it, Aurelia.”
“Me too,” Thorin chimes in with an equally sexy rumble.
Me three.
I feel Khalil leave me a kiss on my neck, and Thorin takes his place a moment later. I don’t even have to think about it when I turn my head to meet his lips over my shoulder. Thorin’s hair is down, and I can’t help but reach up to run my fingers through the silk while he feeds me his tongue. He can’t help but touch me either, sneaking his hand under Seth’s shirt and palming my bare tit. The cabin is quiet again except for our heavy breaths as we make out and the birds chirping just outside the window.
Birds…
Holy shit.
Spring must truly be around the corner.
It means the snow will melt, and the mountain pass will open. But…how did Pete and his friends make it up here if it wasn’t already?
“How did you sleep, songbird?”
“Like a baby,” I lie breathlessly.
After a week of sleeping in either Thorin’s bed or Khalil’s with him and Seth, I’d insisted on sleeping in my loft last night once the three of them were done with me so that I could get up early without waking one of them.
“Yeah?” Thorin, unconvinced that I’d slept better in a sleeping bag on the floor than wrapped up in one of them, waits for a better answer.
“Okay, fine! It was cold.”