Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 108044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Then Trees did something no man had ever done. He lowered his head, laid his mouth over hers, and he kissed her.
Laila froze. Despite being a giant of a man, he brushed his lips over hers softly. Shock and heat flared inside her. He lingered, his warm breath on her face…then he was gone before she was ready for the kiss to end.
Trees cupped her face, skimming his thumb over her lips. “You okay?”
Why did he ask? Why did he care? “Yes.”
“Good. I’m going to kiss you again. Breathe. Relax.”
How, when her lips burned? When she was naked and acutely aware of the damp crush of his bare skin against hers?
“Laila, did you hear me?”
“Y-yes.” She didn’t trust herself to say more.
“Close your eyes,” he instructed in that velvety voice that compelled her to comply. “Good. Now breathe in deep.” When she did, he glided a gentle thumb over her cheek in silent approval. “Let it out.”
As she exhaled, tension began to leave her body.
“Again,” he prompted. “Do it slowly. Focus on my voice.”
She did, feeling even more at ease. Then she blinked up at him. For approval, she realized the moment he smiled her way.
“Beautiful. Now I’m going to kiss you. And this time, I’m going to kiss you right.”
He’d done it wrong before? Too bad. She’d liked it. His lips against hers had been…sweet.
As a girl, she’d known school friends who had crushes on boys. They had all giggled and whispered about their first kisses the summer she’d turned fourteen. She had been fascinated, even a little jealous, not to have captured any boy’s notice. She’d been so curious to know what kissing felt like. Not long after that, she’d become horribly aware of men’s desires, thanks to life in her brother-in-law’s compound. Then she’d no longer cared that she had never been kissed.
But as with everything else, Trees seemed different.
“Is that all right?”
He was asking permission to touch her? Laila frowned. As if she could stop him.
Still, if real kissing—whatever that was—would excite him enough to demand a blow job, then her purpose would be served. She could escape afterward.
“Fine.”
“I won’t hurt you,” he assured. “If anything I do scares or upsets you, just say red.”
“You will stop touching me if I say that word?”
“Absolutely. Immediately.”
He was lying. There was no way she could utter a simple word and he would cease taking his pleasure. That would be giving her all the power, all the choice. No man would ever do that. After all, what would be in it for him?
“Why?” she asked skeptically.
“Because we’ll need to talk so I can understand what upset you.”
So he could do it again? So he could do it harder? More painfully? More degradingly? Was that his game?
The tenderness in his eyes made her wonder if she was wrong. But her head—and her experience—said otherwise. Laila didn’t dare show weakness. The word red could never cross her lips. “Okay. Kiss me.”
As he settled his weight onto her, his stare never wavered, seemingly penetrating all the way down to her thoughts. Laila’s breath caught. Her heart thudded. She felt shaky…and it wasn’t fear. A nervous excitement she didn’t understand made her tremble.
As he drew closer, Trees’s approaching heat and his warm breath against her lips had her eyes sliding shut. Instantly, the dark made her feel too vulnerable. She squirmed, eyes flaring wide again.
“It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.”
If he did, he wouldn’t be the first. She would be fine once she reached Valeria and Jorge. But to get there, she had to give in and let Trees take over.
Laila closed her eyes again.
“Good girl.” His mouth settled over hers, perching there as if gauging her reaction.
She held her breath. Tension gripped her. Would he stay here until her thundering heart beat out of her chest? Or attack her when her guard was down?
Trees did neither. He cupped her face and nudged her mouth open, drawing her bottom lip between his for a soft, shocking moment. Her skin sizzled as he sank deeper, stealing her thoughts, her breath, and her reluctance. She got lost in the dizzying sensation.
Before she realized it, she fell into his rhythm, opening beneath him to invite him inside.
Clearly, he knew what he was doing. She was panting when he pulled away to search her face.
“Laila?”
She couldn’t look away. The moment felt terribly intimate. She was stunned to realize how much she liked his kiss. What was he doing to her? “Yes?”
The question was lost when he covered her lips again, this time urging them even wider. His tongue slipped inside and caressed hers. She recoiled against the new sensation, but he stayed patient and firm, cupping her nape and plunging in again. She couldn’t avoid him, so she yielded, giving him free rein of her mouth until lightning—unlike anything she’d ever felt or imagined—flared through her veins.