Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 56628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
She stepped up to me, jabbing her finger against my chest as she glared up at me. Fuck, she really wasn’t scared of anything. “I am no one’s, Tristan. I can be a girlfriend, but I am not yours, and I am certainly not your old lady.”
I gripped her finger in my hand and yanked her against me, wrapping an arm around her waist as I dipped my head down, covering her lips with mine. She instantly kissed me back, her hands gripping my cut tightly in her fists as she tugged me closer to her, a low moan sliding from between those perfect fucking lips.
God, she was fucking addicting.
I pulled back enough to stop kissing her, but my lips still brushed against hers as I spoke. “You are mine, Adelaide, and to claim anything different will only get you fucked into submission, understand me?”
Her breath hitched in her throat at my words as she nodded her head. I released her, stepping back as she drew in a deep, shaky breath. Jesup barked out a laugh. I glared at him, but Jesup had known me for so long that he didn’t even heed my silent warning to shut the fuck up. “I swear, even though she’s obviously not the same girl that she was when she was eighteen, the effect you have on her is still the same.”
Addy scowled at him and bared her teeth, not amused by him in the slightest. “Watch yourself.”
He held his hands up in a surrendering gesture, but the smirk didn’t drop from his lips. She sneered at him before she turned her beautiful eyes back to me. “Want to go to the doctor?” I asked Addy.
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, and fear flashed through her eyes as the fight inside of her quickly disappeared, leaving behind a frightened, vulnerable woman. I stepped closer to her, resting my hands over her upper arms as I ran my hands up and down them, trying to soothe her. “You need to,” I told her quietly. She drew in a deep, shuddering breath. “I’ll be by your side the entire time. I swear,” I promised her.
She blew out a harsh breath, then nodded her head. I grabbed her hand in my own and laced my fingers through hers as I pulled my bike keys from my pocket. “Jesup, can you hold everything down here?” I asked him, though I knew he could without me having to ask.
He nodded, his eyes flickering to Addy for a split second before he returned them to me. “Got it, Grim.”
Chapter Twelve
Tristan
Addy nervously bounced her leg up and down as we waited for Dr. Howard to come into the little room that we had been placed in. I knew that nothing that I could say would calm down her nerves right then, so I just sat behind her on the little cot with her between my legs as I kept my arms wrapped tight around her, pressing light kisses to her neck and shoulder in a silent reminder that I was still with her, that she wasn’t alone.
A light knock sounded on the door, and Dr. Howard stepped in with a warm smile on his face. Judging by the way Adelaide tensed in my arms though, it did nothing to soothe her. “Good to see you again, Tristan. How’s your collarbone?” he asked me.
About a year ago, I’d had a motorcycle accident that had broken my collarbone. But after months of physical therapy, I was perfectly fine. I didn’t even have a scar from the accident.
I shrugged. “Never been better,” I told him. “Able to function perfectly again.”
Addy shot me a questioning look, but I just shook my head at her. She sighed and turned her attention back to Dr. Howard. He smiled at her and held out his hand for her to shake. She slowly took his hand in hers. I pressed another light kiss to her shoulder, wishing I could help calm her in some kind of way, but I knew nothing was going to work right then.
“I’m Dr. Howard, Tristan’s only trusted doctor within a two-hundred-mile radius.” I rolled my eyes, though it was true. I didn’t trust anyone else. “You’re Adelaide Berkeley, correct?”
She nodded in answer, only bouncing her leg faster as she did so. I pressed a gentle kiss to her neck as I momentarily tightened my arms around her. Dr. Howard sat on his stool and looked up at her. “Well, you are pregnant, Adelaide,” he confirmed, not beating around the bush.
Her body went rigid in my arms. I pressed another kiss to the side of her neck as I tightened my arms around her again. “Breathe, Addy,” I coaxed. “I’m right here. It’s okay, baby.”
She drew in a shaky breath, her hands coming up to grip my forearms in a death grip, her nails digging into my skin. I didn’t even flinch. If it would make her feel better, I’d flay the skin from my bones for her. “Is Tristan the father?” Dr. Howard asked her.