Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 114260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
“Cain.” I’m not one to let things fester and simmer. I want shit out in the open where I can deal with things.
“Yeah, baby?”
I don’t want to have a hard conversation. I don’t want to sound like I’m accusing him of anything.
I love this man.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him that. To profess my love and tell him I want to be his not just now… but forever. But I can’t distract myself from the truth. I can’t ignore the feelings that settle around me like murky water, hiding what lies in the depths.
“I went to use your phone just now.”
Is it my imagination, or did his body stiffen? He doesn’t stop the slow, gentle brushing of his hand down my back.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I wanted to look something up. And the password was changed. You remember what it was?”
“Of course. Sorry ‘bout that, babe. Henri told me it was safer change passwords every once in a while, but I forgot to tell you.”
“Oh, okay.” Something feels off, though. It’s unlike Cain to hide anything from me.
Isn’t it?
I haven’t known him that long, the logical side of my brain reasons. He could be hiding… a lot more than I suspected.
“So… what’s the password?”
He opens one eye and gives me his crooked smile. “Violet1.”
My heart warms. My name and his lucky number.
“Tell me again why number one’s your lucky number,” I say, smiling against his chest. I like this story. His hand comes to nestle at the nape of my neck.
“Number one is the alpha. Alpha as a Greek number represents the number one, so as both a symbol and a phrase, it refers to the first, the head.”
I don’t know anyone else whose favorite number is one. For Cain, it makes sense, though.
“Got it. May I use your phone, please?”
“Of course.”
I don’t move.
“Aren’t you going to go get it?”
“Actually, I’m quite comfortable.” It’s warm and cozy here by his side, his huge body enveloping me like a weighted blanket.
“Careful, baby,” he says with a groan, as he reaches for me and yanks me over his chest. My legs straddle either side of his, my body pressed to his.
“Yeah?”
“Morning wood,” he says, only one eye open. I bend down to him, frame his face with my hands, and kiss him. His lips are full and warm, and his hands come to rest on my hips while we kiss. My heart beats faster, my pulse racing, when he licks my tongue and rolls over. In seconds, I’m pinned beneath him and he’s very, very awake.
Without a word, he releases my mouth and drags his lips along my chin, then my neck, and as he kisses his way down my body, my legs part of their own accord. I groan when he glides his hard cock, silk-wrapped steel, against my throbbing clit.
“In me,” I beg. “I want to feel you in me. But you’re half-asleep,” I whisper.
“Doesn’t matter. Dreamt of this when I slept.”
I lose myself to our lovemaking. I push aside all thoughts of my mother… his passwords… us… and just enjoy what we have right here, right now.
We’re in the shower together, and I’m lathering up his back—one of my favorite parts of his body—reveling in the way his muscles turn me on, when his phone rings.
He leans out of the shower and hits a speaker that connects his phone to Bluetooth.
“Sir?” Henri.
“Yeah. I’m here with Violet.”
I freeze, my hand still covered in lather, staring at his back. Since when does he tell anyone he’s with me? They know who I am and why I’m here. I listen in on every conversation, especially as the details to our current investigation involve my parents.
“Sir, we found the owner of the car that followed you yesterday. You were correct, sir.”
“Armand?”
“Yessir.”
Cain curses, turns around, and I lather his chest and arms, half-distracted. The man’s an exquisite masterpiece of male perfection, and that’s hard not to notice when you’ve just made love and he’s covered in steam and lather. I kiss one perfect bicep.
“What else?”
“He hasn’t moved. Still living in an apartment in downtown Salem. Looks like he’s out of work, but that can’t be true because his bank account says otherwise.”
I don’t always like that Cain has such easy access to private details, but I’ve come to expect nothing short of a full investigation.
“Why was he following us?”
Henri doesn’t answer at first. Cain’s jaw is clenched, his eyes not meeting mine as he glares at the wall behind me.
“I’m not sure, sir.”
“Find out.”
“Yessir.”
I lather up his legs, enjoying the feel of the soap and water on our skin. He takes a fresh washcloth and squirts my light green body wash on it, then makes the swivel motion with his finger. His glare cuts like a laser. I know he’s not angry with me, but at whatever’s on his mind.