Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 135536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
A dozen retorts danced on my tongue. Namely, where he could shove his suggestion.
But that would blow my cover. And my cover right now consisted of being an agreeable wife, who wanted nothing more than intercourse with her husband.
“Okay…” I cleared my throat. “I’ll…I’ll go buy one of those…”
Ugh, what did they call them?
I wasn’t that innocent. I knew what they were. Even spotted one on Amazon.
“Anal plugs,” Romeo provided.
“Yes, er…those.”
“No need. I have an electric toothbrush, an ideal starter kit for anal play. Perfect width and shape, and the vibrations will get you off.”
I couldn’t believe I was having this conversation with my husband.
I couldn’t believe he wanted to stick his toothbrush in my butt.
He studied me, waiting for a reaction.
When one failed to arrive, he pointed out, “Give me access to your ass, Shortbread, and I’ll make you come for days.”
A mountain of curses settled on my tongue, begging for release. What had I gotten myself into? Stupid girl with stupid plans.
Being thoughtless always came with a price tag I wasn’t willing to pay. Still, I knew he anticipated me backing out of this. No matter how much I dreaded it, I wouldn’t hand him this victory.
I looped an arm around his neck. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“You heard me. Getting cold feet, hubs?”
He called my bluff, stalking to the bathroom and returning with his toothbrush. I studied it through frantic eyes. It really didn’t look too big, but the prospect of shoving it into my most intimate hole induced hysteria.
I didn’t want this. Not because I thought there was anything wrong with it, but because I still hadn’t checked so many other stations on my route to discovering my sexuality.
This felt like a leap from two opposite cliffs.
Naked and shivering, I awaited Romeo’s instructions.
He flicked on the toothbrush. A symphony of buzzes and hums played between us before he switched it off. “There’s no shame in taking your pleasures through paths less traveled.”
I didn’t reply.
He toyed with the button again. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
I tried not to quiver. “Yes.”
“On the bed, then, Shortbread.”
I scooted onto the bed, watching his approach. With each step, my heart sank lower and lower until I could feel it thumping between my thighs.
“Turn around.”
I did, scrambling onto my knees. I felt the heat of him from behind. To my surprise, he didn’t push it inside. Rather, he snaked his arm around my midriff, drawing me back.
His lips traveled up my spine, pressing kisses from the base to my throat. He played with my tits from behind and tongued my jawline, forming a pool of heat between my thighs.
Though I loved his touch, his kisses, his attention, I couldn’t stay in the moment. Not with Madison’s blood stained on his fingers and the daunting knowledge of what he wanted to do to me.
All I could do was stay still and wait for the inevitable, swallowing down my bile.
His fingers reached between my thighs, withdrawing some of my sleek heat. He dragged the wetness from my front to my back, circling the rim at a lazy pace, teasing it.
I stiffened all over, shutting my eyes.
He stilled. “Shortbread?”
“Just do it already.”
Silence.
So much silence.
Too much silence.
That was how I knew I’d messed up.
He clutched my waist and rolled me onto my back. I fell onto a cloud of luxurious pillows, not daring to blink for fear I’d pop my tear cherry, too.
The stupid toothbrush was still in his hand.
I bit my tongue until I drew blood. “What are you looking at?”
“You’re crying.”
I wasn’t.
But I was darn close.
The closest I’d ever been, in fact.
I pursed my lips, saying nothing. I’d blown my plan. Shattered it to unsalvageable bits and pieces.
Stupid Chapel Falls and its stupid rules.
Would it have killed the town to give me some experience in seduction?
Romeo volleyed the toothbrush to the nightstand. “You’re shivering, too.”
I almost gasped when it flew by me, as if it had the power to enter me independently. “I’m just a little cold.”
In another twist of events, he gathered me in his arms, plastering me to his chest. I didn’t know what surprised me more. The humane response or the steady beat of his heart against my own.
All my anger at blowing my plan liquefied into relief. To my horror, I began trembling.
I knew he detested weakness. I also knew I’d never felt weaker in my entire life. Lying here, bare and naked, in the arms of a man I hated, leeching his comfort.
He cradled my head as though I were a precious, beautiful thing and stroked my hair, grazing his lips against my temple.
I expected his next words to be, don’t cry.
But Romeo refused to fit into the mold.
“You never asked for any of this, Dallas. I’m well aware. Every man in your life has failed you, including me.”
An epiphany slammed into me. My mind voyaged to his childhood room, sailing through the photos.