Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 25205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
I am shaking as I force myself to look up at him. His eyes are fierce and hungry, and I suddenly feel cold. “You scare me, Nash.”
“Because I’m not a prince fit for you?” he asks, pressing me up against the tree.
I shake my head. If only he knew just how wrong he was. “No, that’s not it–I need to go.”
“You say that one more time, princess,” he growls, “and I’ll throw you over my shoulder and lock you in the garage until you admit the truth. The truth we both know.”
My mouth goes dry.
He’s so close he must know how hard my heart is pounding. If he can’t hear it, he can feel it.
His lips part again like he’s going to kiss me, and that’s when I feel the surge of adrenaline zip through me. I slip out from under his arm and race away through the woods, no idea what I’m doing.
“You’re mine, Grace!” he calls after me. “The sooner you accept that, the easier this will be. For both of us!”
I run. Not to Emily. Not to the bonfire. But into the darkness, away from the one man whose arms I want to throw myself into, while my body screams for his touch.
All because he’s right; I am scared.
I’m terrified.
Because I can already feel myself falling in love with a man I hardly know.
3
NASH
I can’t see straight.
I lean against my truck, my fists clenched as I grind my teeth, trying like hell to take a solid breath as a fire rages in my chest. My blood is rushing south to my center, and my cock is so hard I’m surprised it hasn’t torn through my denim. Images of her continue to flash through my mind.
Grace…
That little delicate white skirt just clinging to her curves…the rest of her legs bare…her lips parted like she was about to cry out. Or beg. Beg for my kiss. A kiss she knows she desperately wants.
She has no idea what she’s doing to me.
Or maybe she does. Just thinking about it’s driving me fucking crazy.
I watch her vanish into the darkness, racing away like a frightened rabbit. But I know what I saw in those big, innocent eyes.
Heat. Desire. Want.
She wants me, but there’s something holding her back. Could it be her lack of experience? Most girls her age have already been run through by the smooth-talkers in their class, but not Grace. I don’t get that impression from her.
No, she’s untouched. Unclaimed. Just the threat of me moving in on her caused her entire body to quiver. She’s timid, but once I make her see that we’re meant for each other, then I’ll be the first one to have her.
The first and only.
I’ll slide into those virgin walls and feel her stretch around my cock–watch her face as she experiences the sensation for the first time. Christ, just thinking about it now nearly has me firing off in my pants.
I need to put my foot down. Show her who’s boss. Who makes the rules. And rule number one? Grace never runs away from me again.
I drive my knuckles into the tree beside me, then stalk off into the woods where she disappeared, following the hint of her perfume that still lingers in the air. My boots crush the dry grass and twigs below, and the blue moonlight filters through the trees.
After a while, I see her up ahead. She’s walking fast, her arms wrapped around her chest like she’s cold. But it’s a warm night, and I know better.
She’s not cold.
She’s burning up.
“Grace!” I call out. She stops like she’s been tased, but she doesn’t turn. It doesn’t even look like she’s breathing.
I walk up behind her and take her by the arm, not giving her another chance to run. I slip one hand around her waist and the other on the back of her neck and spin her to me.
“You think you can just walk away from me again?” I growl, inhaling her sweet scent. “Like you weren’t just begging me with your eyes to claim every inch of your body?”
She’s delicious. Her body is radiating warmth against mine. The halter top she’s wearing is showing off her ample cleavage, causing dirty thoughts to rush through my mind. She’s changed out of her skirt and into a pair of denim shorts like a real American sweetheart.
“Nash, I wasn’t–”
“Don’t lie to me, princess.” Her body quivers in my hands. “I’ve been patient. I’ve been good. I’ve held back. But you’re standing there shaking, and my cock’s so fucking hard I can’t even think. You want the truth?”
Still trembling, she nods slowly.
“I want to push you up against the nearest tree, tug down those shorts, pull your panties aside and fuck you until you forget your own damn name.”
She lets a tiny little whimper out through her adorable lips. Her whole body shakes in my arms. She looks down, but I lift her chin with a finger, forcing her to look me in the eyes. Her cheeks are red again, and her pupils are wide.