Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69610 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69610 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
I reach for Amalie’s face, making her look at me.
“Goin’ to walk you into the shower, you good with that, darlin’?”
She nods.
“Won’t look. Just want to make sure you don’t trip.”
She nods again.
I help her up and take her weight as we move toward the shower. Scarlett calls out to me on the way past. “She can stay here tonight. I’ll make the spare room up, okay?”
I nod and take Amalie into the bathroom, carefully closing the door behind us and leaning her against the sink so I can step back. “You goin’ to be able to get in there?” I ask her.
She stares at me for so long I wonder if she’s heard me at all. I’m about to repeat myself when she slowly, hesitantly, raises her arms. It takes me a moment to realize what she’s asking, but when I do, fuck, my dick hardens in response and my heart makes me feel fucking strange.
It’s an unfamiliar combination.
“Want me to get your clothes off, angel?” I murmur, holding her eyes, before dropping to her lips.
“Yes,” she whispers.
I step forward, putting my hands at the base of her shirt, and then slowly I pull it up and over her head. I toss it to the side and then stare, for a moment, I’m a little fucking blindsided. Because across her abdomen, is, without a doubt, a scar from a serious burn. Her skin is raised and damaged, purplish almost.
I look back up at her, and she looks terrified. Her eyes are on mine, and I know what she’s thinking. She’s thinking I’ll be disgusted. She’d be fucking wrong. The most beautiful things in this world are created from the ugliest pieces that are molded together until they become something that will take your breath away.
Amalie is one of those beautiful things.
“Nothin’ could make me think you weren’t the most beautiful fuckin’ woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. Nothin’.”
Her bottom lip trembles, and I catch one lone tear that slides down her cheek with my thumb.
“If someone fuckin’ hurt you, Amalie, rest assured, I will make them wish they were never born.”
She shakes her head. “No,” she whispers. “No one hurt me.”
I study her, and she bites her bottom lip, and fuck if my cock doesn’t lurch in my pants. She’s the most beautiful, mysterious fucking woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, and I want to know every inch of her. Inside and out. I reach for her jeans and unbutton them, sliding the zipper down slowly, glancing up at her once to see her watching me with a nervous but lusty expression.
Lust looks fucking breathtaking on her.
I peel her jeans down her legs, going down with them. As I go past her soft, white panties, my cock strains so hard I’m afraid it’ll break out of my jeans. She lifts her leg and I slide one foot out, then carefully, the other. It takes a bit of shuffling, and wincing from her, because of the swelling, but I get them off. I toss them aside too and reach for her panties. I hear her take in a quick burst of air, and I hesitate, thumbs hooked into the side.
I look up at her.
“Tell me you don’t want me to do this, baby, and I’ll walk out of here. But know this, I fuckin’ want it, more than I’ve wanted anything’ in my life.”
She leans forward, and I swear, I fucking swear, my heart stops beating. “Keep going.”
Her voice is barely a whisper, but I hear her words clearly. I lower her panties. I take her in once I’ve tossed them to the side, and my breath freezes in my lungs. Fucking. Perfection. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve seen. Not because of her body, I’ve seen nicer bodies, but because of the heart that matches her body. I stare at it with appreciation, with awe, with lust, with need.
I want her, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to have her.
Whatever it takes.
-8-
AMALIE – NOW
My heart is slamming against my rib cage as I stare down at him. He’s looking at me with an intensity I’ve not felt in my life. He’s staring at me like I’ve stopped his entire world, and the only thing penetrating his vacant thoughts are me. Just me. Slowly, his head tips back and he looks at me, eyes blazing.
“You’re fuckin’ incredible,” he tells me, the words slow, dragged out.
For the first time, I wish I could hear his voice. I wish I could hear the way it sounds. Is it husky? Raspy? Thick? Deep? Instead, I feel it. I reach down, and touch his chest, whispering, “Say more.”
“Can’t take my eyes off of you.”
I feel the rumble of his deep voice through my hand, and my heart starts pounding harder. Yes. Utter perfection.