Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 63564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Because she was my happiness.
I walked across the room toward her, my hands shaking with anticipation. It’d been so long since I’d held her, so long since I’d touched her. I missed those lips against mine. I missed the way her fingers glided through my hair when I made love to her. I missed having my woman beside me in bed every single night.
I stopped in front of her and slid my hand under the fall of her hair. I felt her stiffen at my touch, felt her breathing quicken once we were connected again. She didn’t pull away, but I could still see the trepidation in her eyes. I’d hurt her so many times, and now she was afraid I would hurt her again. “I don’t want to love you. I don’t want to feel this way. I don’t want to sit around my house and think about our trip to Greece. I don’t want to touch myself to the memory of you when I want the real thing. I don’t want you to have this power over me, this hold over my happiness. If I could, I would forget about you and fill my bed with women I’ll never remember. But I can’t…because you’re a part of me now. Even when you’ve been on the other side of the world, I’ve been committed to you. I’ve worried about you. I’ve dreamed about you, wished you were mine again. So I can’t keep lying to myself anymore. I can’t keep lying to you—to the entire world.” Both of my palms cupped her cheeks, and I forced her gaze on me, our eyes connected in intensity. “I love you, Muse. I’ve loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you. You became my muse, my obsession, and then the love of my life. So please, tell me you still love me. Tell me I’m not too late.”
She closed her eyes for a brief moment, the corners of her mouth rising in a smile. When she opened her eyes again, the moisture had coated their surface, and now the tears dripped down her face. “It’s never too late, Conway. Not with you.”
My hands gripped her tighter, and the pain that had clutched my heart for months released at last. I pressed my forehead to hers and finally felt at peace. I felt my hands stop shaking. I felt the wounds in my heart turn to scar tissue. I’d dreaded this moment for so long, but now that it was finally here, it was euphoric.
It felt right.
“I love you too, Conway.”
I grabbed her t-shirt and pulled it over her head, revealing nothing but her skin. I tossed the shirt on the ground, wanting her to never have anything to do with that pretty boy ever again. She belonged to me, and if that asshole came anywhere near her, I’d kill him. “End it with him. And throw his shit out.”
Instead of flinching at my hostility, she smiled.
“What?”
“That’s your shirt, Conway. Not his.”
My eyes narrowed on hers, feeling a surge of relief run through me. “You’re still wearing my shirts to bed?”
“I’ve always worn your shirts to bed.”
I pulled her hips into me and kissed her, melting into her deep embrace. It was the affection I’d been missing, the affection I lived for. It made me feel alive, gave me more joy than all of my success. She was mine again, and I would make sure I never had to live without her.
Because I’d rather be dead than live without her again.
I lay beside her in bed. Stripped down to my boxers, I held her tightly against me. She had a queen-sized bed, and her master bedroom held the elegance of a queen. In shades of pink and white, it complemented her presence perfectly.
My fingers moved through her hair as I stared at her, examining the softness of her features. As much as I wanted to be buried between her legs, I knew that was off-limits for the night. “Break up with him in the morning.”
“It is morning.”
“Then break up with him now.”
Her fingers moved down my hard chest. “I’m not sure if I should tell you this or not…”
“What?” I whispered.
“Well…I was never dating Nox—”
“I don’t want to hear his name.”
Her smile widened. “So jealous…I like it.”
I hated it.
“I was never dating him. I haven’t even kissed him, Conway.”
My eyes narrowed, and my sense of relief was flooded with confusion. “What does that mean?”
“He asked me out a month ago, but I told him I wasn’t ready to date. So we’ve been hanging out as friends. He said he was willing to wait until I was over you.”
Because he knew she was a serious catch. Even if she was in love with another guy, she was still a goddess. I would have done the same thing. “So you’ve never slept with him?”