Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 74220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
His mouth returned to mine, and he kissed me again, slowly rocking inside me, our bodies moving together with aching slowness, like we wanted to be together to feel each other, not get to the finish line.
I felt the hardness of his chest, felt the cords in his neck when my fingers grazed by, felt the hard bones in his jawline when I caressed him. With every breath, he breathed new life into me, made me feel secure in a relationship that was still in the early stages of blooming.
Before I’d discovered Adrien’s infidelity, everything had felt right. But my relationship with Bastien made me realize it’d never been what it was supposed to be. We had so much depth, so much honesty, so much foundation. The passion and the desire and the chemistry were what brought us together, but everything else was what kept us together. Even if Bastien was a notorious criminal who was sometimes a drug dealer and sometimes a grim reaper, he was still the best man I’d ever known.
He lay beside me in the dark, the rain loud like falling stones on the roof. He had me pulled close, my leg hiked over his hip, his hand on my ass while his straight arm was my pillow. His eyes were bright even in the dark, his soul the source of their illumination. “Did I wake you?”
“No,” I whispered. “I was just lying in the dark…thinking about you.”
“Wish I could have seen that.” A slight smirk tugged at his lips, like he wanted to walk in and see my fingers between my legs.
I felt a heat flush my cheeks. “Not like that. I was thinking about how much I missed you, even though I just saw you the other day.” I lightly touched his chest with my fingertips, following the line down the center of his chest.
His smile slowly faded. “I always miss you—even when I’m with you.”
My eyes flicked back up to his, fear and joy exploding inside my heart. Our car didn’t have brakes, and it seemed to have unlimited acceleration. Every time we reached a new top speed, we were stuck there. I looked at his chest again and continued my scribbles on his skin. “Me too.”
He didn’t seem like the kind of man to say anything romantic, so when he did, it hit differently. It was authentic and real and straight from his heart. “Live with me.” He hadn’t blinked in nearly a minute, and the intensity of his eyes indicated he was too focused on my answer to do so. “I don’t care if it’s only been a few months. You have no attachment to this apartment. It’s never been home to you, just a placeholder.”
Months ago, he’d said I could move in with him for all he cared, but I’d never been sure if that was just a spur-of-the-moment reaction or an actual invitation. Now, my heart was in my throat, full of excitement and joy and also absolute terror. “Is it too soon—”
“For other people, but not us.” His answer was so quick, it was like a bullet waiting in the chamber. “It’s been fast because it’s been right.”
It had felt right with Adrien, and then he turned into someone I didn’t know. I was an idiot to think it would be different with Bastien, but I believed it, nonetheless. Sometimes I told myself this was too good to be true, that this drop-dead sexy, committed man was playing a cruel trick—and I’d fallen for it. “You said you would take this slow—”
“I’ve been taking this slow.” His eyes throbbed with desperate intensity, pulling me deep into his soul. “If it were up to me, you would have moved in with me months ago. If it were up to me, a lot of things would be different right now. But I’ve been patient like a goddamn saint—and I can’t do it anymore. I want to come home to you every day. I want you in my bed every night. I want you soaking in the tub while I watch Manchester lose another fucking game on the couch. That’s what I want—and you want it too. So, don’t give me that shit that you aren’t technically divorced yet and it’s too soon and all that other nonsense, because what we have is fucking real.”
We’d been lying together in the peaceful quiet while listening to the rain on the rooftop, and now it was contentious. When he’d come to me in the middle of the night, I was so happy at the sight of him, at the touch of his skin and the kiss of his lips. Sleeping alone wasn’t hard after I left Adrien, but it was unbearable now that I was with Bastien.
His brilliant eyes continued to drill into my face. “It’s a safe neighborhood and a nice building, but I don’t want you here by yourself. I want to give you my palace and my security and everything you could possibly want—so let me do that.”