Total pages in book: 184
Estimated words: 188108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 941(@200wpm)___ 752(@250wpm)___ 627(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 188108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 941(@200wpm)___ 752(@250wpm)___ 627(@300wpm)
“You like it. You find it attractive, even if you like to protest that you don’t.”
“Arrogance is also not an attractive quality,” she informed him haughtily.
Damn him.
How did he know that she found him attractive even when he was being an impossible, cranky meanie?
It really made her wonder about the state of her mind.
He chuckled. “You sure about that? You wouldn’t be lying right now, would you, naughty girl?”
Urgh.
She crossed her arms over her chest as he placed two fingers over the pulse on her neck.
“I’m fine.”
“Stay still and quiet. I’m checking your pulse.”
She thought it unnecessary but did as she was told as he counted her pulse rate.
“Fast,” was all he said before he lifted her off her feet. She was now dangling in the air, her back pressed to his chest.
And she wasn’t at all happy about it.
Nope.
All right, maybe her body liked it. Just a small bit.
Then she remembered that she’d just been running for . . . oh heck. She gaped at the clock. Over an hour?
No wonder her legs felt like jelly.
“Can you put me down? Please?” she added grudgingly.
“Good job remembering those manners,” he said.
Oh, what she wouldn’t give to smack him one. Not too hard, she didn’t actually want to mess up his face.
But just to wipe away some of that arrogance.
Oh, who are you kidding? You love that arrogance.
Wait. Love? That was going a bit far.
“And no.” He started moving toward the mats with her still dangling in the air while pressed against him.
“No? Hey!” She was pretty certain she could get him to release her.
But not without hurting him.
And there was a small part of her that was concerned she wouldn’t be able to best him. Alexei was big. Muscular. Sure, she had skills.
But she knew he did too.
So she simply kicked her legs and pushed at his arm ineffectively.
“Calm down,” he grumbled. “I’m not letting you go yet.”
They grew closer to the large mirror that was mounted on the wall in front of the mats.
Holy moly.
She looked absolutely tiny against him. And her feet were a good foot off the floor. The guy was a giant.
“Alexei! You can’t just pick me up and take me wherever you want me to go,” she complained.
“I didn’t hear you saying that earlier when I was rushing you to the bathroom,” he told her.
“That was different.”
She watched in the mirror as he raised an eyebrow. “It was?”
“Yes, I was in Little headspace.”
“Hmm. I guess so. Although I don’t think you were fully in Little headspace, were you?”
Shit.
She tried not to tense up. He might look like he was just the muscle of the three guys. Roman’s brain was incredible, it was so obvious how smart he was. Light years ahead of the rest of them. And Salem was no slouch. There was a reason he led teams and investigations. He could think ahead and calculate an outcome.
But she bet people underestimated this man. He might not be able to analyze and plan like Salem or be as tech savvy as Roman. However, he had the ability to read people.
And like her, that ability had probably been forged in childhood, under moments of extreme stress. Where your ability to read someone’s mood could be the difference between you waking up the next day or not.
Alexei was actually the one she understood the most and she wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not. Or how he’d feel about that if he ever found out.
“I think you can go further. I think you were holding back. And that maybe you were doing what you thought we wanted.”
“I . . . I . . .” Shit. What did she do? Try to bluff her way out?
But she knew he’d know she was lying. So what was the point? She should try to stick to the truth as much as she could about the things she could talk about.
She had enough lies to keep track of without adding to them unnecessarily.
“I didn’t really mean to,” she whispered. “I just . . . I want to go fully into Little headspace. I was trying.”
“Shh,” he soothed as he sat on the weight bench with her on his lap. From here, he was able to reach behind him to the mini fridge they kept in here. He grabbed a bottle of water and drew off the top. Then he held it to her lips.
She, of course, tried to take it from him. But he wouldn’t let her, giving her a look.
So she simply started drinking. It wasn’t worth her expending energy to argue.
But really, these guys were getting predictable.
Right. And you’re going to complain about that?
Uh. She most certainly was not.
“I’m not accusing you of faking it. I’m guessing it’s not that easy to just let go. You’re guarded and you haven’t been in a relationship with a Daddy Dom before, let alone three.”