Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
And he could see that she meant it.
Blake's eyes widened when she saw the way Thornton's lips curved ever so faintly. "An almost-there smile," she blurted out, but even as his eyes gleamed with amusement, his lips didn't yield any further, and it was like having him silently tell her, Don't push it.
Thornton felt her body shaking with mirth, and he couldn't help thinking how this was another first that he only experienced with Blake. All the other women he had dated never felt the inclination to smile in his presence, much less laugh or giggle. They had genuinely wanted to fuck him, yes, and some he even had decent and occasionally interesting conversations with.
But he couldn't recall a single one of them laughing or, even rarer, have the ability to make him laugh in return.
It really was just Blake...
And that was why he could not, would not, and would never give her up to any other man.
He didn't know if that was how love worked, but what he did know was that he needed this woman and her alone in his life.
Chapter Fourteen
BLACK BOOK SHELVES. Wood plank floorings. A rusty clock hanging from a wall bracket, like those in old train stations. Blake could only snatch the barest impressions of Thornton's unit as they went further and further in. It was just so impossibly hard to think, with the way her heartbeat was pounding against her chest and the way her body couldn't stop tingling all over.
Once in a while, insecurities would manage to wriggle its way inside her brain - it's too soon, things are moving too fast, you're being too easy - but then she'd feel Thornton's own heart slamming against his chest, and she just knew.
Even without the words.
Even if it wasn't the same with him yet...
It would be.
One day.
He would love her, too.
But for now—-
Blake felt Thornton slowly lower her to his giant-sized bed, legs first, and then her bottom touching the black silk sheets.
Desire would make a very, very good start.
He started to reach for her, but Blake impulsively shook her head. "I can undress myself," she heard herself say even as she could feel her cheeks flaming with every word."But I'd also like to watch you..." Her voice awkwardly trailed off as shyness suddenly got the better of her, and Blake could only make a face when she saw Thornton's lips twitch.
"It's not funny," she protested.
"It is." His voice was its usual slow drawl. "But it's also cute." And this time, she did almost end up making him smile, with the way her whole face lit up. She was just so goddamn easy to please, it ironically left him feeling like he had no idea what was it he was supposed to do with her.
Fuck her brains out until she only knew to moan his name? Lock her up so she could only see him?
"Thorn." Her sweet voice was filled with longing, and Thornton sucked in his breath as he realized that was his answer.
What she would need from him in the future...was for another day for him to think of.
But for now.
What she needed now—-
To be claimed. Pleasured. Worshipped.
He could certainly fucking do that, all night long.
And so it started.
His gaze capturing hers, the way he knew she wanted, because her own eyes had always told him how much she loved losing herself in his. "Let's do it then," he rasped. "I want to see it, too. My girlfriend taking her clothes off—-" Her whimper punctuated his words just as his voice dipped into a low, rough growl. "—-because she wants me to fuck her."
Blake moaned.
"And you want to. Don't you, baby?"
"Yes." She practically sobbed her answer out, and after this, the need for words ceased, and it was all gazes and movements.
Thornton watching her with ravenous dark eyes as she reached for the hem of her shirt. Got rid of her thermals. Unclipped her bra so her already-swollen breasts with its pointed, pouting tips could fall free.
And at the same time, she had watched him as well, her yearning reaching a feverish peak as layer after layer of clothing was peeled off until all that was left was a smooth, golden expanse of skin stretched over taut muscles.
Oh God.
Their eyes didn't leave each other as they both reached for their jeans. Unbuttoning and unzipping. The denims going down inch after inch. And from there, a synchronous change of respiratory patterns and a simultaneous rise of tension, both of them breathing and panting hard as they divested themselves of that one last scrap of silk and cotton.
And at last...
At last...
His gaze devoured every naked inch of her, lingering at her bountiful breasts before descending to the pink-fleshed mound between her legs, and oh God, it was like having invisible fingers caress her.
But even so...