Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 35974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
“Yeah,” I agreed, nodding my head but still gripping her hips so she couldn’t wiggle free. “You shoulda. Gunnar told me he made you promise immediately after he got there you wouldn’t say a word about what happened to anyone. He said he made you promise over and over and over when he knew you were most vulnerable, because he knew you would never break a promise to him. No matter what.”
“That was the one time I should have. Blind obedience is never a good thing.”
“You weren’t blindly obedient to your brother. You respected him enough to keep a promise, even though he’d extracted it under duress. He said you begged him several times to let you tell your parents or Mama and Pops, but he wouldn’t give his blessing.”
“Not even as they were leading him out of the courtroom to go to a juvenile detention center until he was eighteen. Then to a federal prison.” Her gaze was unfocused, obviously remembering the moment she was describing. “I knew he was scared, but he would never give in. For the first couple of years, every time I came to visit, I pleaded with him to let me tell someone. Then I just stopped. He was getting increasingly irritated when I’d bring it up, and I didn’t want him to hate me even more than he already did.”
“You know he never hated you. Right?” It hurt to think Hannah was unsure of her brother’s love. Gunnar adored his twin. If anything, he felt guilty for not going to their dad himself and saving Hannah the pain of him being in prison. But, live and learn. The sixteen-year-old Gunnar did what he thought was best and the thirty-two-year-old Gunnar had learned to live with his decision.
“He should have. He had every right to.”
“Past time you and Gunnar sat down and had a conversation.” I brushed a curl off her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. “While you’re havin’ that conversation, when you have him all high in his feels, I’ll let him know I’m claimin’ you. Maybe he’ll leave my balls intact.”
She gave me an exasperated look, which made me chuckle. “You’re not claiming me, Knuckles.”
“Tell yourself that all you want, but it’s happenin’.”
“We’ve kissed two times. One of those wasn’t even a real kiss. You were just trying to shut me up.” It seemed like her eyes were shooting daggers at me, but there was something else there…
Realization kicked me in the balls. I don’t think I would have been more surprised if she’d really had kicked me in the balls. “Oh, that sounded suspiciously like a challenge, baby girl. Is that it?”
She bit her lip nervously and I saw the pulse at her neck speed up, fluttering under her delicate skin. “I didn’t say that.” There was a hint of a smile on her face, but I saw the uncertainty also.
“Not sure you had to say it. Your meaning was pretty clear.” I leaned in closer, giving her plenty of time to push me away.
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
“Then what are you waiting for? If you want to count a second kiss, it’s gotta be a real one.”
“My fuckin’ pleasure.”
Chapter Eight
Hannah
What was I doing? This was the worst idea in the history of ideas! Why the hell had I basically dared Knuckles to kiss me with feeling? There was no way I could handle a man like Knuckles in a sexual situation. Not like this. Not when he had me tied up in knots just being near him.
He threaded his fingers through my hair, cradling the back of my head in his big hand. A low growl from him made me shiver. There was no fear or dread, or anything other than an intense lust so strong I needed to scream.
His lips moved over mine in an aggressive glide, his tongue slipping into my mouth with a hunger I knew all too well.
My body responded instantly, heat pooling between my thighs as I wrapped my legs around his waist, drawing him closer. I needed his massive body nearer to me. Imprinting on me. I wanted to feel his heavy weight pinning me down when that was never a position I’d assumed willingly. I wanted it with this man. And I had no Goddamned idea why he appealed to me so fucking much!
I melted against him, my body responding without my permission. His taste was intoxicating -- whiskey and sin and something uniquely Knuckles. He was overwhelming in the best way possible.
I’d given myself to men who weren’t nearly as big and aggressive as Knuckles. Men who were rotten to their core. For me, sex had never been about pleasure. Not since that first time, and that situation had turned from pleasant to terrifying in the space of a heartbeat. But this…