Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 52384 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 262(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52384 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 262(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
He cupped her breasts this time, squeezing them hard, and she didn’t stop him. He sucked on one nipple, devouring it with his mouth, and she moaned, pushing her nipple deeper into his mouth even as she continued riding him.
When he released her nipple, their mouths fused automatically. At the same time, he reached between their bodies, stroking her clit---
She gasped, but he didn’t let go, didn’t stop---
They came at the same time, Alyx gasping his name while he growled hers out.
When he finally got them back to bed, he still wanted her like hell but Nathan managed to keep his passion in check, knowing how much Alyx’s body would be hurting the next day. Pulling her close to him under the covers, her back against his chest, he kissed her hair, murmuring, “Thank you, sweetheart.”
Several beats passed before Alyx said in a low, grudging voice, “Thanks, too.”
Militant as ever, Nathan thought in amusement, and he had a feeling she would always be so between them.
Moments later, he heard her murmur his name, startling him. “I thought you were asleep, sweetheart.”
She turned to him in the circle of his arms. “I can’t sleep.”
Ah. He smiled down at her, murmuring soothingly, “It’s okay. That’s normal.”
“It is?”
“You just had sex with me. I’ve heard it’s a mind-blowing experience---”
“Jerk!” She punched his shoulder, and as always, it was more than hard enough to have him grunting.
“Tell me about your day,” she whispered.
“Nothing much happened.” He didn’t even have to think about it, the lie slipping past his lips without a moment’s hesitation.
She made a face. “Is this another one of your ploys to stay mysterious?”
“Ah, sweetheart. I knew you weren’t just a beautiful, dumb bimbo---” She tried punching him in the face this time, and he laughed, managing to catch her fist before it could break his nose.
“Are you hiding something from me?” she demanded. “Is that why you’re insisting on all this ‘Mr. Mysterious’ crap?”
“I’m neither married nor divorced, and I don’t have a mistress hidden in any part of the world.” He paused then asked wickedly, “That is what you’re worried about, aren’t you?”
“Fuck you.”
Nathan only chuckled, but when she tried leaving the bed, he hauled her back to him, saying, “Forgive me, sweetheart. It’s just been so long since I last saw you mad.” He kissed her hair, murmuring, “You know how much it turns me on.”
“Ha.” But she wasn’t trying to move away now.
Hoping to keep her in a good mood this time, he changed the subject and asked her about her day.
“Ah. Well.”
His brows pleated. Alyx at a loss for words was unusual, and he made her face him, murmuring, “Perhaps you’re the one trying to hide something, sweetheart.”
“Huh? No!”
He raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not,” she insisted. “I’m just not breaking my neck to tell you stuff either.”
He simply stayed silent, knowing she would get to it sooner or later.
“I went to Nik,” she blurted out.
Nathan stiffened.
“Say something,” she urged at the face of his continued silence.
He would…if he could figure out what to say. Right now, the only thing Nathan was certain of was that he despised the sound of the other man’s name on her lips. Even knowing that the man had done nothing to deserve his wrath, even knowing that the man was happily married to someone else and hadn’t done anything to seduce Alyx---
Nathan didn’t give a damn about any of those.
All he knew was that he only wanted Alyx to say one man’s name, and that was his.
“Nathan?”
“Why did you go to him?” he finally made himself ask.
“Because…I wanted to say sorry.” Her voice was jerky. “I wanted to let him know it’s okay now.”
Nathan stilled.
“And he forgave me. He didn’t even make it hard, and if he had chosen not to forgive me, I would’ve understood because---” Alyx swallowed. “He never asked for it. He never wanted me to feel that way about him.”
She looked up at him. “Before I left, I saw them together. I saw Nik and Daria together, Nathan and---” Her voice caught. “It didn’t hurt.”
Ah.
“It didn’t hurt, Nathan.”
He pulled her to him without answering.
It didn’t hurt.
And he remembered what she had asked of him---
I just want the pain to go away, okay? So you either fuck me or make me fall for you.
But she had stopped hurting before he had even made love to her.
Alyx
“Where the hell are you,” I yelled as soon as I jabbed the loudspeaker button on the screen of my iPhone. Two weeks had passed since the night I had lost my virginity to Nathan Fucking-Nowhere-to-be-Found Callis, and I was sad to report that I had transformed into what I had sworn never to become: a clingy, demanding, and totally irrational girlfriend who didn’t seem to know what to do with herself the moment her boyfriend was out of sight.