Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 103008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
“You see that in me, but that’s the thing. I let you see it. I let you in on my true self. I have no idea who you are. Not deep down.”
“I’m an adrenaline junkie who’s quickly realizing there’s more to life than explosives and gunfire. Because of you. You’ve spent almost half your life being someone else, and I don’t think you know who the real Harley Valentine is anymore. But I see him. I see him in the way you’re still polite to your fans even when they’re pushy and invasive and could potentially give you the flu. I see him in the way you want to protect Evah with all your heart even though you were never truly together. You forgave your manager, no questions asked, when he crossed a massive line. You’re civil with your ex even though I can tell you were really hurt. You’re the man I love to make smile. The man who gives me a sense of home. Of somewhere to belong. You dim the need for action and adrenaline that buzzes in my veins. You make me believe there’s something out there for me besides working for Mike Bravo. I’ve never had that before.”
“Why not?”
Brix thinks about that for a long time.
“Why not?” I ask again.
He folds his arms. “You know why a lot of people join the military?”
“To serve their country?”
“We sign away our lives. They give us what we need in exchange for willingly sacrificing ourselves in the line of duty. I’m sure there are a lot of people who do it because of their patriotic hearts, but for the majority of us, we do it because we don’t have any other choice. We can’t afford college. We want to get out of a no-hope town. Some of us do it because military life is all we’ve known growing up as army brats. I signed up for a lot of those reasons but also because I had this constant need for an adrenaline high. I never once felt a sense of purpose … until I started working for you. This job, protecting you, it’s as if I’ve found my true place for the first time in my life. I’m not with you for what you can give me. I’m not with you because of your music.”
“Offensive.” I pretend that’s the reason my eyes are leaking.
Brix keeps going. “I’m not with you because you’re Harley-fucking-Valentine. I’m with you because I crave the real you. Your real smiles.”
Damn him. He’s basically saying he likes me for me, and how am I supposed to stay mad at that?
“Why’d you have to be so …”
“So …”
“You.” I can’t help it, I smile.
“There it is.” Brix grins triumphantly.
“Can you please come over here and kiss me after that?”
Brix reaches me in two steps. His large presence wraps warmth around me as he sinks to his knees, bringing us eye to eye where I sit on the bed. “Just so you know, the answer to that will always be yes.”
I lean forward and capture his mouth with mine.
What starts out soft escalates quickly. It always does with us. Zero to sixty in the blink of an eye. Brix climbs onto the bed and pushes me back until my head hits the fluffy hotel pillow.
He blankets my body, and we move as one. We make out, groping and exploring each other. My hands trail over his muscles, the hardness that represents not only his strength but his solidness and stability.
I want to feel him everywhere. Around me. On top of me. Inside me.
I want to revel in the safety he gives me—the reassurance his commanding confidence demands.
His mouth moves to my neck and then my shoulder.
Brix makes me breathless while bringing fresh air to my stifled life.
Want and need collide in a mix of emotion I don’t think I’m ready to address. But they’re there anyway, growing stronger with every second he ravishes me.
He kisses his way down my chest. His teeth scrape my skin, and the sound that escapes me is guttural.
“Brix?” I breathe.
“Mmm?” His voice hums against my skin.
“I want you to fuck me.”
He stops suddenly and stares up at me. “You sure?”
I nod.
“All right.” Brix stands and pulls me up.
“Umm, what are we doing? Sex excursion?”
Brix smiles. “I’m gonna open you up the best way I know how.”
He leads me to the bathroom and turns on the shower.
“Water is not adequate lube,” I inform him. “Neither is soap.”
Brix laughs. “Thanks for the sex ed class, but I know what I’m doing.”
“Do you?”
“Trust me.”
The weird part about that is I absolutely do. He may be keeping stuff from me, but I trust deep down that if it remotely affected me in any way, he wouldn’t lie to me.
I don’t know why I have blind faith in him the way I do, but if I waited for someone to give me a reason to trust them, I wouldn’t trust anyone.