Total pages in book: 195
Estimated words: 185573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 928(@200wpm)___ 742(@250wpm)___ 619(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 185573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 928(@200wpm)___ 742(@250wpm)___ 619(@300wpm)
My head tips back, and I shudder as she sucks me with long, agonizing strokes, taking me to a place where I can forget everything else, at least for a little while.
“Bianca,” I rumble her name in warning as my cock begins to twitch.
She takes me deeper, making me forget why I was never supposed to touch her in the first place. It pushes me over the edge, and I explode in her mouth, grunting out my release as she swallows it down.
In the aftermath, I nearly collapse from the weight of my exhaustion as she tucks me back into my briefs and wipes her mouth, crawling up onto the bed. Not a word is spoken between us as she props herself against the headboard and pulls me back to settle my head in her lap. She slips one of her palms over my beating heart, her fingers drumming the rhythm against my skin.
My eyes grow too heavy to keep them open, and she hums the melody to a familiar song, one I can’t place in my delirium. It’s too close to a lullaby to be anything else, and when her fingertips kiss my face, her assurances are everything I need and nothing I want.
“Go to sleep,” she whispers. “I’ve got this watch.”
Chapter 55
Lyric
When I wake, I’m not sure what time it is, but it feels like early afternoon. Madden’s still behind me, his arm locked around my waist as if I might try to run again at any moment. I peek over my shoulder at him, observing the tension in his features even while he sleeps. I wonder what it is he dreams about, but when my subconscious supplies an answer, I try to ignore it.
He stirs, tugging me closer until the heat of his body envelops mine.
“What are you doing?” he murmurs against my hair.
“Just thinking about the life you’ve lived and all the things I still don’t know about you.”
He opens his eyes, and it’s hard to miss the disappointment in them. Bianca would know those things about him already, and it’s just another reminder that any progress we make will always be followed by a setback.
Ignoring the subject neither of us wants to breach right now, he reaches for my face and pulls it to his. He kisses me, and we do what we do best. He gropes at my breasts, and I turn halfway in his arms, slipping my hand into his briefs to stroke his shaft.
He’s in the middle of rolling me onto my back when the sound of the front door slamming echoes through the house. Before I even understand what’s happening, Madden is up and out of bed.
“What’s going on—”
The bedroom door crashes open, startling both of us, and a man I don’t recognize storms inside. But it’s apparent Madden knows who he is when he mutters a curse.
“Fucking Christ, Lucian. You know not to come in here like that.”
Lucian looks apologetic for all of a second before he notices me in Madden’s bed. His gaze bounces back and forth between us, taking in the details of the scene, and it doesn’t require a genius to figure out what’s going on here.
“Jesus,” Lucian mutters. “So it’s true.”
Madden glances back at me, and I don’t like the uncertainty in his expression.
“A word?” Lucian barks. “Now.”
“I’ll be out in a minute,” Madden tells him. “Let me put on some fucking clothes.”
Lucian retreats down the hall, and Madden walks to his dresser, yanking out a tee shirt and a pair of sweats. He slips them on and then turns to me.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he says.
I nod, and he leaves, shutting me into the room. Of course, the moment he’s gone, I’m at the door, trying to listen. At first, there are just a few low murmurs. The sound of a chair screeching across the floor. And then Lucian’s voice increases with his apparent frustration.
“What the fuck are you thinking?”
Madden replies, but I can’t hear what he says because his voice is quieter.
“Have you forgotten the past five years?” Lucian asks him. “Or are you just going to pretend she hasn’t completely fucked you over fifty different ways and destroyed your goddamn life?”
“Lower your voice,” Madden growls.
“I don’t care if she hears me,” Lucian bites out. “She needs to hear it from someone.”
Madden tells him they can have this discussion outside, and then there’s a short interval of silence before the front door shuts. When I glance out the window, I can see them in the driveway, but I can’t hear anything else they’re saying. Lucian doesn’t look any happier with the way the conversation’s going, but my attention falls on Madden. He’s pacing while he scrapes a hand through his hair and hangs his head in defeat.
I’m not going to lie. It feels pretty fucking terrible. Because I know what everyone wants him to do. He has a whole army of people who are fiercely loyal to him, and they can’t understand why he hasn’t turned me in yet. And if I’m being honest, I don’t understand it either. Why does he even want me here when it’s obvious this is doomed no matter what?