Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28488 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28488 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
I gently grab her chin, caressing it. “The only thing that makes someone my queen is that I decide she is. And I’m seriously considering making you my queen, lovely.”
The tending to my wounds is done and she wraps her arms around me. “So I’m going to be your queen, huh?”
“Do I need to treat you like royalty even more to make you believe it?”
“The best way you treat me is when we do something everyone enjoys, not just royalty. It’s free, and we can do it naked.”
I chuckle. “Doing it otherwise just makes it awkward.”
I hoist her up out the stool she’s been sitting on. Suddenly my back and neck don’t hurt so much anymore. Funny how that works.
Our lips meet briefly. Exquisite as always, I want her now and I don’t want her on the bathroom floor.
I need her to understand how I feel. How I view her as more than an outlet for my rougher tastes. I used the word considering earlier, but really?
I think that’s just me coping with how I feel about her. Am I ready for something more than raw lust?
Am I deserving of her? I’m still a murderer. I’m still a fool. A monster.
Does all of that disqualify me from love?
I have no idea.
13
CLARA
Hand in hand, we head downstairs toward the living room. He gets a fire going, and I go into the kitchen to prepare some hot cocoa for the two of us. The rain is coming down hard outside, and we both like the idea of staying inside tonight and being cozy together.
Sebastian made a mighty fine mess of himself, but I’m not surprised that he did what he did. I can’t say I’m going to miss my father being in my life. The more time I’m away from him the more I realize that our relationship wasn’t what a father and daughter’s should be. He used me and exploited me in so many ways, it’s a surprise he didn’t sour me on men all together.
Setting the mugs on a tray, I carry them out to him. The fire in the hearth is roaring and he lounges on the sofa, as handsome as ever. The bandages don’t detract from this at all, instead making him seem like a battle-hardened warrior, ready to take pain and broken bones for the woman he loves.
And it’s strange to think that the woman he loves is me.
This was supposed to be a job. A really fancy way of prostituting myself out of absolute desperation. He said that was what he wanted. I didn’t know what I wanted outside of a paycheck.
As I sit down next to him and offer him his mug, he smiles my way and wraps a hand around my shoulder, pulling me close. Side by side, we sip our cocoa. Rich and lovely, we relish the moment together and I slide deeper into his grasp.
We barely say anything. Just exchange giggles and knowing smiles. We both know what the other wants, but there’s no rush. We can just enjoy this moment. Let it linger. These are the things we’re going to remember for the rest of our lives.
Not that we’re going to say no as it turns into something more. My face turns to him, our lips gently meeting. Our kiss is tight, and a bit chocolate-flavored.
As if his embrace could get any better.
His touch goes down my cheek and I know that we can’t hold ourselves back any longer. We set our mugs down and I throw myself fully into him on the sofa. He purrs in anticipation, my hands on his bare chest, clawing that shirt down and taking it off him. He winces in pain a bit, and I just giggle. “Guess I’m going to avoid touching you there.”
“You spoil me, Clara. You really do.”
“Should we take it slow for a change? I know you like it fast and rough, but I don’t think you’re going to have very much fun if you keep irritating your bruised ribs and whatever else you got going on.”
“Usually I would find such things boring, my lovely. But with you? I think I could endure it.”
I lick my lips. I grab the hem of my dress and pull it up and over my head, letting my tits fall free. Before he walked in all wet and bloody, I was already in the process of winding down for the night, and had switched to one of the lovely silk nightgowns he had gotten me as a present.
His hands immediately run up my body and take hold of my newly exposed breasts. Squeezing them, massaging them, his touch is always more than enough to get my engine roaring. Straddling him, I pull at his belt, loosening his pants and getting us one step closer to where we both want to be.