Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 51038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
There’s no way I’m asking Quaid for help, that’s for sure. And Aric is following behind us like he’s about to get the show of a lifetime.
The lights flick on as we enter and then Declan pauses, grinning down at me like he’s a teenage boy about to hit a home run with a girl for the very first time. “You ready?”
“No!” I say. “I don’t even understand what’s happening.” Then I shoot Aric a look. “And if he’s gonna watch, then you’re just not allowed to touch me at all.” I cross my arms here, to make sure they understand that I am very firm on this matter.
“Figures,” Quaid mutters.
“You, shut up!” I say, pointing my finger at him. “I’m not talking to you. And you’re not allowed to watch, either!”
Declan turns towards the others and beams them a charming smile. “Listen guys, I know you think this is funny, but give her a break. You can’t watch, OK? This is serious business. She’s got secrets that need to be unlocked and the key to unlocking them is pleasuring her.” He chuckles those last few words out and then I catch him waggling his eyebrows, like this whole thing is a joke.
“You don’t know that!” I protest. “You don’t know if any of that is true! This is just some… fantasy of yours. And that goes for you too!” I point at Quaid and Aric.
“A fantasy?” Quaid says, sneering at me. “You broke my glasses.”
“Which is another fantasy! I didn’t do anything!”
“That’s enough, you guys,” Declan interrupts. He stretches out his arm, putting a barrier between me and the other two. “The whole point of this is to make her feel good.”
“Wrong,” Quaid says. “The whole point is to work her up. There are many ways to do that.”
“I’m gonna go on record here,” I say. And I’m looking straight at Declan, not them, when I say this. Because he’s the only one who seems to care about what I think. “You’re not gonna touch me if they’re watching. If you do…” I narrow my eyes. “It will be against my consent.
Quaid huffs out his objection. But to my surprise, Aric gives in. “She’s right.”
“What?” Quaid can’t believe his ears. “You were the one who came up with this idea.”
“I know,” Aric says, “but… we’re not do anything against her will. And while watching Declan wind her up would be fun, I just want out of here. As soon as possible. I don’t give a fuck how we get it done. So fine.” He turns back to me. “You win. We’ll go all the way to the edge of the room. But we’re not gonna plug our ears, so I hope for your sake you’re not a screamer.” Then he shoots me a wink and walks off, leaving Quaid to fight his own battle.
I put my hands on my hips and give my toe a tap. “Well. Are you going to leave, or not?”
Quaid rolls his eyes. “The entire point of this is to power up my sunglasses. How will you do that if I’m not even here?”
“Just move around the corner, at least,” I growl.
“It’s not gonna work,” he says. “You have no idea how it works.”
“Neither do you, so let me worry about that.” I say this with a confidence I don’t feel, but he does move out of my line of sight, and I guess that’s the best I can hope for at the moment.
“Well done,” Declan says, slipping his hands around my waist and pulling me towards him and leaning in to kiss me. “Now, let’s get started.”
I put a stop to that with a very firm hand on his chest. “Are you sure this is the only way?”
“Who cares if it’s the only way?” Aric calls from the other room. “It’s the quickest way, and that’s the only thing that matters.”
Declan looks down at me sympathetically. “We know it’ll work, Star. Somehow, your emotional state is affecting our powers. How that happened, I don’t know. But there’s a connection here. You know it’s true. And Aric’s right. Who cares about the details right now?”
Then Declan lowers his voice to a whisper. “If Aric is afraid of this place, he’s got good reasons for it. Does he look like a guy is who is afraid of anything?”
“I’m not afraid!” Aric yells. “I just… don’t want to be here.”
Declan rolls his eyes, but he’s actually very serious. “Think about it, Star. We need to restore our powers and get somewhere safe. Then we can ask the questions. And anyway, it’s not gonna be horrible. You and I? We’re gonna make out a little, feel each other up, get all acquainted and shit. It was gonna happen anyway, right? I mean… look at me?” I smile, despite my unease and all the strange things that seem to be happening. “Right?” He prods. “If you’ve got to be wound up by someone, I’m not a bad choice.”