Total pages in book: 191
Estimated words: 188966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 945(@200wpm)___ 756(@250wpm)___ 630(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 188966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 945(@200wpm)___ 756(@250wpm)___ 630(@300wpm)
My fingers dug into her shoulders, I struggled to speak in English and not slip into Turkish. “Fine. I admit you’re not twelve anymore. Believe me, I’m highly aware of that after watching you drink and walk around half-naked—”
“I’m wearing the same exact bikini I wear onboard The Fluke.”
“That’s different.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Believe me, it is.”
Her eyes heated. “And there you go again, making my heart trip and my belly clench and those damn butterflies fly like maniacs inside me.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you, you idiot! Me and you. This. Whatever this is. It’s been there since we first met and it’s only getting worse.”
“You saved my life, Neri. Of course, there’s going to be a connection—”
“And you saved mine. That makes us even. You said it so yourself. So why hasn’t this—whatever it is—faded? Why does it keep getting stronger? Why do I catch you watching me as if you feel the same exact way, only for you to hide it the moment I—”
“You’re underage. You’re Jack and Anna’s daughter. You’re—”
“Going out of my mind.” She groaned.
I sucked in a breath, my fingers burning where I held her. “Look, let’s just forget about this and—”
“Joel kissed me tonight. My first official kiss that wasn’t CPR.” Her lips stretched into a sarcastic smile. “He’s older than me. He’s seventeen, yet had no qualms at all about—”
“Enough.” My grip tightened as fresh rage poured through me. “I’ve heard all I want to know about that bastard sticking his tongue down your throat.”
“Why?” Her eyes glittered dangerously. “Jealous, Aslan? Is that why you’re angry? You’re not pissed off I went for a midnight swim, but because I kissed him?”
My jaw clenched. My teeth ached. I struggled to control my temper.
She made it worse by saying, “Want to know why I went for that swim in the first place?” She wedged the gift I’d bought her against her heart. “Seeing her kiss you? Seeing the way she touched you? It made every part of me feel as if I’d explode.”
Fuck, I know the feeling.
“At least someone wants to kiss me,” she murmured. “At least I can try to move on with someone if you’re not strong enough to touch me yourself.”
Fury roared.
I tripped well and truly over my limit. “O sadece seni öpmek istemiyor. Seni sikecek ve sonra seni tamamen unutacak.”
Her crystal-blue eyes narrowed, glowing in the moonlight. “What did you say?”
“I said he doesn’t just want to kiss you. He’ll fuck you and forget all about you.”
“Maybe that’s what you should do so you could forget all about me,” she snapped. “Go on. No one will know. We’re alone. The government won’t know. My parents won’t know. You could fuck me, Aslan, and—”
I threw her away, tripping backward, my hands burning and heart smoking as if she’d burned me alive.
“Dur.” I choked. “Fuck’s sake, Neri. Dur.”
“What does—”
“It means stop.”
Raking both hands over my face, I growled into my palms, “It’s late, and you’ve been drinking.”
“I’m not drunk.” She planted her feet into the golden-silver sand and raised her jaw.
I caught her stare as she sniffed. “I’m so sick of this. I’m sick of you thinking you have to take care of me. I’m sick of you looking at me as if you don’t see me. I’m sick of—”
“If you’re so sick of me, Nerida, why are you so determined to give me a goddamn heart attack?”
“Because it’s the only way you pay attention to me!” she cried, shooting forward and making me stumble in the sand. “You know as well as I do that there’s something between us. Just admit that you feel it and—”
“I can’t admit something that doesn’t exist.”
For a moment, the world froze.
No air. No waves. No insects chirping.
Just a stagnant pause where we stood glowering at each other, drowning beneath the stinging, electrifying connection I couldn’t stop.
Finally, she nodded.
Her lips twisted. “Doesn’t exist, huh?”
I grunted in shock as she threw herself against me, dove her hands into my unruly sun-bronzed hair, and jerked my head down.
Her lips crashed hotly to mine.
Her breasts crushed firmly against my wet t-shirt.
Her hands yanked at my strands, sending bolts of pain and indescribable need.
It happened so fast, I just stood there.
Stood there as she plastered every part of her to every part of me and dove her tongue deliciously into my mouth.
I convulsed.
A full-body shudder that had nothing to do with the kiss but the girl fucking kissing me.
She was the sea all over again, pulling me under, ripping me from everything I knew.
I drowned in her.
I lost myself in her.
I wanted and wanted and...couldn’t.
I choked on a groan as her tongue licked me again.
And it broke every fucking bone in my desperate fucking body to plant my trembling hands on her ocean-damp shoulders and gently, firmly, excruciatingly push her away from me.