Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 18326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 92(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 92(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
“Lust?” It comes out choked.
“From the moment I laid eyes on you, every part of me screamed for more. I might as well confess. Only reason I came out tonight was because I was thinking with the wrong head.” He snickers at his own comment. “And though it wasn’t pretty, I can’t help but feel I came out on top in the end.”
His words shouldn’t make me feel as good as they do, yet, I can’t stop swooning over the monster who found his instant infatuation with me. A man like him, with money and power, could have any woman in the world, but he’s changing everything about the way he lives for me?
Hell, the realization of what happened only just hits me. I turned my back on the only life I ever knew and took this massive leap with someone I didn’t know. It’s a huge reassurance to find out that I’m not the only one dripping with lust.
Harker leads me inside. The entry, unlike outside, is pristine but sparsely furnished.
“Too much?” he asks while we ascend the staircase. “I apologize if so.”
His concerns come from my speechlessness, no doubt.
“No, not at all.” Sure, it’s a lot more than I was expecting, but I’m not silent because of what he said. My mind’s racing at a thousand miles an hour, flicking through giddiness, nervous delight, and all sorts of excitement.
It’s not too much.
It’s perfect. I just don’t know how to convey it to him without sounding insane.
He leads me to the bedrooms. The only two open doors are his office and bedroom.
“You can have any room you like,” Harker says. “Even mine, if you choose it.” A naughty grin stretches across his face. “Preferably with me in it.” My teeth sink into my lower lip. His words have a direct link to the pleasure center in my brain, and he isn’t even trying. “But for now, how will this do?”
He opens the door to the bedroom he picked out for me and flicks on the light. It’s an enormous space, with an ornate bed on one end and a living room on the other.
“It’s perfect,” I say, dumbfounded at the sheer size of the room.
“Wonderful. Then I’ll let you get settled in.” He drops my things off on the bed and leaves without another word.
I still don’t know how I should feel about any of this. Scared is probably the right reaction, but how can I be afraid when Harker has shown me nothing but kindness throughout the whole experience? He’s given so much in so little time that I can’t help but feel something bad is looming around the corner.
But what if there isn’t?
What if it’s all just perfect?
4
HARKER
“Penelope?” Just saying her name sends a shiver down my spine. It’s a name I’ve known for so long, yet every time I utter it, I feel like a naughty boy taking the Lord’s name in vain for the first time.
I’m standing in her doorway. It’s open, but no response comes from her.
“Are you in there?” I peek my head through the door.
Empty.
I’ve been a terrible host. I ran during a moment of potential intimacy out of fear. I’m not ready to expose myself to her, and she deserves time to get comfortable in this new situation. Even so, I never saw a glimmer of fear in her eyes as I spoke my truth. As I professed my intrigue and interest in her. My wants and desires. Subtle, perhaps, but every word was sincere.
She smiled her white-toothed smile and her cheeks grew rosy, but never once was there any consternation.
At least, I hope not.
“I fear I’ve been a terrible host,” I speak to the emptiness. In my hasty escape, I never gave her a tour of my home. Perhaps that’s where she’s off to now, finding her way to the kitchen for a drink of water or a snack from the pantry.
A sound from the bathroom catches my attention. An angelic noise that tickles my eardrums. She’s humming a tune, and like a siren’s song, I’m lured closer to it. To the door that’s left ajar.
Closer to her.
As I near, I hear the sound of rushing water, and it makes blood roar in my ears.
Turn away, Harker. She’s busy, the logical voice inside my head demands.
But I’ve been making it a habit of throwing logic out the window with every action I’ve undertaken since I received the invitation to her birthday. What’s a few more bad decisions before the end of the night?
The sound of pouring water stops just before I make it to the crack in the door.
“Okay,” I hear her melodic and sing-song voice. It’s followed by a splash as she enters the bath.
Don’t do this. It’s not too late to turn away now.
But it is.
Reasoning with myself has never been a struggle before. My mind is a strongbox that understands the good from bad in every situation. But it’s not me fighting this time. It’s my heart, my cock, and my mind dueling in a standoff, and the thickness forming in my pants seems to be the winner.