Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24688 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 99(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24688 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 99(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Think.
I can’t tell her I’m FBI. Too risky. She could easily report back to her guardian, and I’ll have blown my very first mission. One that should have been easy—on paper. Watch the house, write down what I see. At least, that’s what my superior expects of me. He has no idea this mission is doubling as a retrieval of the girl who is rightfully mine. But I need to keep this job, so I can earn a good living. An honest one. So I can give Magnolia the life she deserves.
But the closer she comes, the more difficult it becomes to remain focused, because son of a bitch, she is even more exquisite up close than she was at a distance. The world becomes a blur as she runs closer, wet forest branches slapping her bare thighs and leaving them dewy, the mist molding her tank top to her tits. I can’t seem to move. She needs help. She’s running away for a reason. This is your chance to help her.
Magnolia bursts into my mobile, makeshift campsite and sees me, her eyes widening as she stumbles, inhaling deeply to let out a scream—and I can’t have that, because they’ll hear it from the house and come looking. On instinct, I spring forward, haul her body up against mine and cup my palm over her mouth, trapping the sound of alarm.
Oh lord, to hold her again. It’s like a baptism. I’m renewed in a split second.
“Shhh.” Oh my God. I’m shaken at the feel of her. The sight. To this day, I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful in my entire life. She radiates sunshine and hope and vitality. “You’re going to scare away the birds.”
A wrinkle of confusion pops up between her brows.
“I’m on a bird watching hike,” I explain, jovially, though lying to my girl doesn’t feel right whatsoever. On some level, I think I was hoping she might recognize me, but that was a foolish thing to hope for. “Didn’t mean to startle you, ma’am. Can I take my hand away now?”
After a beat, she nods, wariness clouding her features.
Slowly, I remove my hand, letting out a slow exhale when she remains quiet.
One crisis has been averted, but there’s another one already forming. Her body up against mine is making my cock stiff. The rigid, uncomfortable, sweaty kind of hard-on that makes a man desperate to fuck or jack off. In an immediate sense. Truly, she has become a woman since we’ve been apart, and I’ve never laid eyes on, let alone touched, a female so perfectly formed, from the innocent wonder of her expression, down to her lithe, inviting thighs. It’s no wonder Pace can’t keep his hands off her, the bastard.
“You’re bird watching on private property,” she says, wetting her lips. “This land belongs to my guardian, Karson.”
I scratch my beard and look around. “Does it?” I chuckle. “Hell, I must have gotten turned around. I’m not from the area.”
“Well, I would suggest you pick another place to trespass. My guardian…”
“What?”
She swallows. “You don’t want to get caught out here.”
“Why not?”
Magnolia’s big, midnight eyes fill up with tears. “He’s not a nice man.”
Protectiveness growls so loudly in my chest, it’s a wonder she can’t hear it. This angel shouldn’t be anywhere near such a corrupt monster. She should be lying on a porch swing in the countryside with her head in my lap. “Does he hurt you, sweetheart?”
“No,” she whispers, snuggling closer to me as she glances back at the mansion. Does she know to trust me, even though she doesn’t recognize me? Maybe something deep inside of her remembers how I swore to always protect her? “Nothing like that. But he hurts other people, I think. And Pace, my…my…sort of brother, he really wouldn’t like you touching me right now. You should stop.”
I nod, but I don’t let go. I can’t. All her tidy curves lock into mine, her soft summer morning scent making my head swim with increasing need, my dick growing thick and inexcusably primed in my jeans. Maybe…on some messed up level, they were maintaining Magnolia’s safety by locking her away? Not simply exercising their power over her?
Because I can’t even imagine her going out in public without starting a war.
“You seem upset. Maybe you want to be held?” I gather her closer, careful to keep my hips angled back, so she doesn’t feel my erection. “I’m really only interested in what you want…” I trail off, as if I don’t know every detail about her.
“Magnolia,” she whispers into my chest. “That’s my name.”
“That’s such a beautiful name, sweetheart.”
“Thank you.” Her gaze traces the line of my jaw, her palm flattening and smoothing over my pectoral, as if curious. As if she can’t help but explore. That’s right, sweetheart. On some level, you remember that I’m your protector. “What’s yours?”