Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 151304 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 605(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151304 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 605(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
“No,” he spoke sincerely, “I’m serious.” When I glared at him, he mock-glared right back. “You want to argue? Let’s argue, baby.”
I don’t know what he was playing at, but when I tilted my chin up to look at him defiantly and saw him ready and willing to argue with me for the sake of sating my anxiety, I found I just didn’t want to. Not anymore. I didn’t need anything more than what I had right in front of me.
As reluctant as we’d both been, growing up was easier than we thought.
Turned out, it was all about growing up with the right person by your side.
And as Vik took my hips in his large hands and squeezed, I reached out to cup his cheeks, and when he ran his stubble along my palms, my expression turned dreamy. I’d never been more sincere than when I asked, “What would I do without you?”
He turned his face and pressed a long kiss to my palm before returning roughly, “Lucky for you, you’ll never have to find out.”
My heart skipped a beat, and when he smiled, it called to my own. I dipped my chin to hide the smile that would not be caged. It hit me so suddenly that the emotions swirling through me reached heights I’d never climbed. And when I burst into tears, Vik frowned, looking mildly alarmed.
I brushed my tears away, shrugged floppily, and whined out, “I’m just really happy.”
Vik chuckled silently. “Okay then.” His hands slid around my back, and he pulled me into his body, first kissing my mouth, then my cheek, before trailing his lips down my throat. “Now, I hope you’re ready, because I am gonna fill you out like an application.”
“Uh…”
What did he just say?
“Gonna do some—” He nipped my jaw. “—interior decorating.”
Oh my God. “Please stop.”
Vik kissed my lips slowly, speaking against them seductively, “Gonna slam the clam.”
Jesus Christ.
I could barely stop myself from laughing. “Ew. No.”
But he wasn’t swayed.
Another peck of a kiss. “Gonna dip the… crane… into the… old oil well.”
The snort that left me had his lips twitching.
“Gonna use my telescope—” Why did he have to pop the P the way he did? “—to explore your black hole.”
I put my hands flat on his chest and pushed, hollering as my lips twitched, “Vik, stop.”
But he tightened his hold on me, putting his lips to the shell of my ear and rumbling, “You get what I’m saying, baby?”
The very moment I cracked and laughed out, “We’re gonna have s—” he was already talking again.
“We’re gonna have sex,” he drew the last word out, and when I put my head to his shoulder, laughing out loud, I felt his own body shake with mirth. “What? Admit it. It was working for ya.”
I shook my head, trying to catch my breath. I quietly hoped we were still goofing around and laughing like this in fifty years. And when he placed his fingers under my chin and brought my face up to his, his smiling mouth kissed my own.
As per usual, it didn’t take him long to make me forget my doubts.
In fact, when we were done and he held me against his chest, slowly caressing my bare spine, I found I had no reservations.
None at all.
We fell into a routine rather quickly. We spent most of our mornings lazily making love before I would get up to shower, giving Vik a few more minutes to snooze. At the tail end of my shower, Vik would slip inside and take over where I left off. I would change, then head downstairs and retrieve the newspaper from my front porch. By the time Vik came down all fresh and clean and smelling so damn edible while looking like a treat, we worked around each other in a flawless dance we had both learned by heart.
He grabbed two mugs off the shelf. I waited for the toast to pop.
He poured the coffee. I handed him the milk as I got the butter.
He added two sugars and cream to my coffee while leaving his own black.
I put a healthy smear of butter on my twice-baked bread while slathering his in jelly.
We converged at the table without a word and exchanged our gatherings. It was only after we’d both eaten that conversation seemed to begin. It was almost too easy.
After Sasha approved my change in position, Lev spent a good chunk of his time walking me through what I needed to do to see the books balanced. Lucky for him, I was a quick study. When Lev was confident I had all the information I needed, he stopped observing me work and left me to it. Before long, I had that shit handled. I mean, sure, I still called him on the odd occasion with a quick question, but in the past week, I hadn’t needed to. So… winning.