Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 45284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
“That’s really nice of you,” I say.
Hello, understatement of the century.
“You don’t have to commit to anything.”
“I’ve spent my whole life not committing,” Kayden says passionately. “I’m ready to commit to this.”
He’s only talking about the business, I remind myself, not the marriage, the children, the never-ending heat.
“What about you?” I ask. “Where do you want your business to go?”
“I love my work,” Kayden says. “It’s a privilege to train dogs, to know I’m making a difference in their lives. I’m happy to keep doing what I’m doing. Maybe one day, I’ll expand the business from a one-man team, but right now, I’m good. It’s not like I need the money.”
He smirks, chuckling. “There I go again, bragging.”
Yeah, bragging, or letting me know that when we build our life together, I’ll never want for anything. Our kids will never wonder if they’re going to have enough.
“Why don’t you have your own dog?” I ask. “You’re so great with them.”
His hand pauses from cutting his steak. I recognize the darkness in his features, the tightening of them. It’s the same darkness that touched him in the bedroom when I hinted at his suffering. He averts his gaze, letting me see the tension in his neck, the sinewed muscle in his chest tensing.
Then it hits me. It’s too painful for him. He doesn’t want to lose another.
“I find it easier to focus on other people’s dogs,” he says gruffly.
Part of me wants to push, but I back off, stuffing a big ball of spaghetti into my mouth.
“That makes sense,” I say after a sip of water, as if I’m doing everything possible to extend the awkwardness.
“Hmm.”
“Hmm,” I say, teasing.
His laughter feels like a reward. “I guess I make that noise more than I realized, eh?”
“All the time,” I say, relieved to be back in banter territory, but I can’t help but wonder and wish…
Wish that he felt comfortable opening up to me, sharing the darkness, so that I could carry a piece of it for him.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
Kayden
I manage to stay somewhat of a gentleman until we’re in the car again, alone in the underground parking lot. When I look across at her, I can’t placate the savage in me anymore. It howls, my seed feeling as if it expands in my balls, every muscle bulging. It’s like I’ve been wandering the wilderness for far too long, and now I finally have my prize.
I lean across, letting out my passion as I kiss her, snarling when she opens her mouth, and her tongue instantly searches for mine. My hand goes to her thigh, squeezing through her tights to feel the heat of her skin.
She presses her hands down on my chest, digging her fingernails in as I push firmer against her. Her moaning noises break down my resolve to take this slow, shattering my ability to think clearly. I somehow break off the kiss. Otherwise, I’ll maul her right here, let the passion in me fuel a complete devouring of her perfect body.
“My place isn’t far,” I say, keeping my lips close to hers, tasting her breath.
She bites down on her lip, nodding. “Just don’t be mad if I can’t…”
“Don’t worry, my perfect virgin,” I say, kissing the edge of her mouth, as close as I can get without my control crumbling again. “I’ll be patient.”
As patient as I can when I strip her curvy body naked, but I don’t add that part.
My cock pushes against my trousers, as if telling me to tear off these civilized clothes and let the animal take over.
***
I press my hand down on her back as we ride the elevator up to my apartment. Her physical heat is enough to send me into overdrive, my manhood leaking precome as I feel the passion burning through her, the same passion scorching me. She moans when I slide my hand even lower, indulging in her ass.
“I love when you moan like that,” I growl, kissing her neck as I massage her ass cheek, squeezing her fullness.
“I can’t help it,” she whimpers, voice shivering. “You make me crazy.”
“You make me insane.”
The elevator door opens, meaning I have to remove my hand as we walk down the hallway. I can’t stand the idea of one of our neighbors seeing us like this, getting even a glimpse of my woman in this lust-filled mood. It will trigger the protective impulse in me, make me do something drastic. Nobody else gets to see her like this. Ever.
The second my apartment door closes, I spin on her, claiming her lips as I wrap my arms around her curvy, young virgin body. My hands glide down her sides to her hips. I squeeze her wide hips, my mind flitting to the future, to how perfect her body is for giving me a child… and for making babies together. She squeezes onto my shoulders, her nails clawing.