Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 95326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Jase eyes me curiously and then says, “You don’t need to do anything to make you beautiful. You already are.” We’ve only just met, yet it’s as if he has the ability to read the words I’m not saying. Say the things I long for someone to say. Tears sting my eyes, and I force them away.
“What about you?” I ask, my throat clogged with emotion. “What do you want to be?”
“I want to open my own tattoo shop.” His answer should be the equivalent of ice being thrown onto my overheated body. A tattoo shop. That’s hardly a fortune 500 company. He’s nothing like the wealthy husband I envisioned for myself. But for some reason, I don’t care. Instead, his answer makes me smile. I can totally see it. The drawings all over his walls, the gorgeous ink covering his body. The dark aura that surrounds him. It all fits.
“Is that why you majored in business?”
He nods. “Yeah, Jax and I both have our licenses to tattoo, but he wasn’t able to go to college. We didn’t have the money.” He frowns, appearing to be embarrassed. “I got a football scholarship to attend NCU and figured it would do us good for me to learn how to run a business.” He grants me a soft smile. “Now we just have to save up.”
“Didn’t you go to Piermont Academy with Nick?” I ask, confused. He’s clearly not from a family with money and that school is over fifty thousand a year alone just for the tuition.
“Yeah, another scholarship.” He shrugs one shoulder. “My brother went to Piermont Public.”
“Your sister?” She’s only a year ahead of me, but I’ve never seen her at school.
“Piermont Academy on an academic scholarship. She’s now attending The Art Institute. Between her financial aid, and Jax and me helping her, we’re handling it okay.” He flinches at his own words, telling me there’s more to it than him and his brother handling it. Is it possible he comes from a home like mine? One where your parent doesn’t handle shit? I want to open up to him, but if I do, he’ll find out I’m not in college and that I’m younger than I led him to believe, and there’s no way he won’t push me away.
“Does she want to do tattoos like you and your brother?” Absentmindedly, my hand finds its way to Jase’s scalp, and I thread my fingers through his thick hair. It’s like I need to touch him in some way at all times. He must feel the same, because as we talk, his hand, the one that isn’t trapped under me and gripping my hip, roams over my body.
“No, she’s more about the traditional type of art. She loves photography, graphic design, sculpting.” The way he speaks about his sister, it’s obvious he’s proud of her.
Jase’s gaze drops to my mouth, and he dips his head down to snag my lower lip, pulling it roughly and sucking on my flesh. “We should get some sleep. I’m on the verge of wanting to take you again, and I imagine you’re sore.” Before I can respond, his lips find mine, deliciously contradicting his words. This kiss is soft and sweet, and when it ends, I sigh in need. Jase chuckles under his breath before rolling onto his back and pulling me into his side. No words are spoken. No promises of tomorrow. Instead, we remain in the present, falling asleep in each other’s arms.
Three
Celeste
The Past
I wake up to the feeling of… well, I’m not quite sure what it is. Something is tickling my back. My eyes open, and it only takes a second to remember where I am. At Jase’s place in his bed. I’m lying on my belly, only Jase is no longer my human pillow—albeit a firm one. The light glaring in through the blind slats have my eyes closing. My hand reaches out blindly for Jase, but his side of the bed is empty. That’s when I feel it again. The tickling on my back. Oh, God, please don’t let it be a bug or an animal… I’m about to turn over to see what it is, but a strong hand weighing down on my butt prevents me from moving.
“Don’t move,” Jase’s husky voice says. “I’m almost done.” Twisting my head without moving the rest of my body, I peek behind me and see the tickling is Jase drawing on my skin.
“Are you drawing on me?”
“I couldn’t help it. Your body is flawless…” The hand that was on my butt, cups my cheek and then slides down the back of my thigh. “Like a blank canvas, just waiting for its story.” Goosebumps prickle my skin at his words as I wonder if my story will include him.
“You were sleeping so soundly, and when I woke up to take a piss, I noticed my shirt had risen, exposing this sexy ass” —he trails his hand back up my thigh and gives my backside a playful slap— “and these perfect dimples.” My head falls forward onto the pillow. His cool lips graze my lower back as he gives the two dimples located just above my ass a kiss.