Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
He definitely shouldn’t start with a spanking. Should he? “Nine minutes.” After gathering the essentials from the picnic basket, he stalked to the lake, cleaned his teeth, and kept his gaze on—“Vee!” She was gone. Nowhere in the vicinity.
The little temptress had bolted again.
Should have started with the spanking. Muttering curses, he flittered to the blanket, scanned the area around it...there. A set of small footprints. He gave chase. Scanning again...
A twig snapped to the right. There. She raced ahead, weaving through a thick stretch of trees. Red hair streamed behind her.
Flitter. Snag. He captured her by the waist, stopping her in her tracks and yanking her against him. With his mouth poised above one of her pointed ears, he snarled, “You won’t get away from me. I told you this.”
A throaty chuckle left her, razing his control. “Your reflexes need work, don’t you think?”
He stomped back to camp, gathered their belongings and resumed their journey to the campground.
The stubborn beauty put him to the test for hours. No matter how many times or ways he secured her wrists, she always found a way to free herself. Again and again, he was forced to dart into action, pursue and tackle her. He lived in a torturous state, escalating hunger at war with iron determination. Kiss. Resist. Kiss! Resist!
KISS!
“I think you want me to escape,” she said, laughing up at him as he pinned her to the ground once more.
“You think wrong.” Move away. End this. But he didn’t end this. He clung. His blistering lust never had a chance to cool.
“If that’s true, you’ll keep a better watch on me next time.”
“There won’t be a next time.” Muscle jumping beneath his eye, he hauled them both to their feet and finally severed contact at last.
Less than five minutes later, he attempted to stop her from scaling a tree. “Enough, Vee.” The words echoed through the forest, birds taking flight from a vast number of branches. “You come down this instant.”
Laughing, she straddled a branch. “You come get me.”
“Just come down,” he grated, holding up his arms and waving his fingers.
“Why?” She maneuvered to a stand on the too-thin limb, lifting the hem of her dress to reveal her bare feet. “Is the big bad wolf afraid of heights?”
Micah popped his jaw. “All right. You brought this on yourself.” He flittered to the perch—but she had already leaped.
The limb snapped in half under his heavier weight. He toppled, landing in a heap at her feet, losing his breath.
Rather than dart off, she peered down at him, her hands on her hips. “I should bring this on myself more often.”
Digging his knuckles into his eye sockets, he muttered, “Let there be a truce between us.” He stood, flittered behind her, and shackled her body against his. “Give me one hour of peace, Red.” His lips hovered directly over her ear. “Sixty minutes. Please.”
She reached back to cup his elbows, thrusting out her breasts. Leaning her head upon his shoulder, she smiled, the embodiment of seduction. “What will I get in return?”
Do not lose your train of thought. Focus. “What do you want?”
Voice pure silk, she told him, “Remove your cloak and shirt. And keep them off.”
Putting his scars on constant display while trying to win her? A horror and a delight rolled into one. He didn’t know whether to howl with satisfaction or crumple with defeat. “Very well.” If he was correct and she relished looking at him as much as he relished having her gaze upon him, the delight would win. Only one way to find out... “The shirt goes, and you adhere yourself to my side. Deal?”
“For one hour?”
“One hour.” Could he trust her to hold up her end of the bargain? Probably not. Let this be a test of sorts.
“Then yes. Deal,” she purred. He loosened his hold, and she spun, facing him, gliding her palms up his arms. “But only because you jumped into the water before I inspected your body thoroughly. And Micah, darling? It should go without saying that you can’t complain when I take myself a little feel of you now and again. I mean, really. You shouldn’t grow your muscles like that if you don’t want my hands all over them.”
He cleared his throat, his heart thudding. The things this female said. “What is like that exactly?”
“So big and scarred.”
“You cannot admire the marks.” Could she? That leer...
“Why not? They reveal the trials you’ve survived. A show of your strength.”
He...didn’t know what to say. But he knew what he yearned to do right this second...
Her breath caught as if she’d read his thoughts.
Would she let him put his hands all over her?
Fighting a slight tremor, he reached out and palmed her backside through a slit in her gown. The softness!
Careful, careful.
“What do you think you’re doing, husband?” she rasped, not the least bit upset.