Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
Somehow, I knew that was exactly what it was for me.
Respite.
Bliss.
Motherfucking heaven.
I kissed her deeper, and she opened to me, and her tongue stroked out to meet with mine.
Strawberries and cream.
I pulled her so close that I lifted her off her feet as I kissed and kissed her, my other hand yanking harder at her braid as I devoured her mouth.
Lips and tongue and teeth.
Greed and lust and something else that hovered around us like the utterings of a lost dream.
So fucking intimate, so damned close, that I thought this girl might become an intrinsic part of me.
I drank down the whimper she exhaled, and I nearly got knocked to my knees when she wound her delicate arms around my neck and pressed her tits to my chest.
Then she had to go and whisper my name against my lips. “Cody.”
No one had ever once said my name like that. Or maybe it was the first time I was listening.
Possession wound me in a fist, ribs clenching around my heart as the single word thundered through my mind.
Mine.
He couldn’t have her.
I wouldn’t let him.
Fuck, what was happening to me?
I forced myself to slow because I knew I was cracking, one mistake from splintering, from completely losing control.
Setting my hands on her waist, I peeled my mouth away and dropped my forehead to hers, knowing we needed space but there wasn’t one goddamn molecule in my body that could fully let her go.
Both of us were panting for the air that’d gone missing, and Hailey gulped as she tried to orient herself. At least thirty seconds must have passed before she finally asked, “Is he still there?”
Rage blustered through me when I forced myself to look over my shoulder, ready to take on anything that was to come, only the bastard was gone.
“Nah, we got rid of him.”
If only it were permanent. I doubted much that he was going to get the message so easy.
Pulling back an inch, she blinked as she tried to process what the hell had just happened. Her fingertips were still nailed into my shoulders, confusion and need whipping her into a puddle.
“What are we doing, Cody?” The words were haggard.
“We’re showing your ex that he can’t have you.” It scraped up my raw throat.
Her teeth raked her bottom lip that was still plump and glistening from the kiss. “I’m afraid we might only be making it worse.”
“We’ll figure it out. Together,” I promised.
I couldn’t help but think she was likely right.
The fucker was going to be pissed, his ego ripped to shreds.
And I was the asshole who thought it might be worth it because I didn’t think I’d ever felt anything better than this.
TWENTY-FOUR
HAILEY
EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD
Hailey ran the brush down the mare’s back.
Rhythmically.
Methodically.
The horse was due in a couple weeks, and Hailey had taken to giving her company each day, soothing her, letting her know she was safe.
Besides, the stables were her favorite place in the world.
She didn’t want to be anywhere else, and she knew this was the way she would spend her life.
She settled into the calm of it, the cadenced sound of the brush whispering over the mare’s dark black coat, a silence all around, her thoughts drifting into the solace.
“There you are.”
She nearly jumped out of her skin when the voice hit her from behind, and she whirled around to find her best friend poking her head over the top of the gate.
“What is wrong with you, Brooke? You scared the crap out of me.”
Brooke’s brow shot so high it was a wonder it didn’t touch the arched, soaring ceiling. “I scared the crap out of you? I’m the one who had to wander down here to the stables to find you, and you know how I feel about that.”
Brooke overexaggerated a shiver.
Hailey giggled. “These horses are harmless.”
It was a little ironic Hailey’s best friend was terrified of horses, and Brooke never let her forget it since she was spending the summer here with Hailey before she would leave to attend college in South Carolina.
They were always glued to each other’s sides, and they wanted to spend as much time together before Brooke left.
Wistfulness dampened Hailey’s mood, though she kept it concealed.
It was going to be rough, being separated from Brooke that way.
She was her person.
The one she was constantly with.
Her confidant.
The one person who she was ever truly open and honest with, especially after Hailey’s Lolly had gotten remarried again and moved two hours away, and Hailey had again found herself living alone in a mansion with her father.
Hailey and Brooke were basically opposites. Hailey was verging on shy and unquestionably plain, hoiden through and through, jeans and tees and messy braids, and Brooke looked like she should be gracing the cover of a fashion magazine.
“Are you kidding me? I just saw a beast over there in a pen that clearly was gunning for me. Rearing back then pawing at the earth.”