Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 47597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
I'm going to end up with a broken heart. I can see it coming. But I think I may already be too far gone to stop it. Because I want him so damn badly it's driving me crazy. I want him all over me again and again and again. It's a terrible idea. I know it's a terrible idea…but I want it anyway.
"Maybe you'll be trying on a wedding dress next," Miranda says, nudging me.
I blink over at her to see her eyeing me with a bright smile. "What?"
"I said, maybe you'll be trying on a wedding dress next. You and Connor?"
"Yeah, maybe," I lie, glancing down at my phone like I'm checking it. But I see my mom eyeing me, her expression full of empathy, like she's fully aware I've gotten myself into a situation I'm not entirely sure how to get out of. The web I've woven isn't tangled. It's in freaking knots right in the pit of my stomach.
Yet again, I've made a mess of things.
"Um, I need to go," I lie, bounding to my feet before Mom can say anything. I don't have the heart to lie to her again. But the truth? Well, I'm not sure I have the heart to tell her the truth, either. Not when I know how it ends for me.
Jareth and I are impossible.
And somehow, I want him just the same.
Iknow I'm playing with fire when I slip out of my room in the middle of the night, too restless to pretend I'm sleeping. I pause outside of Jareth's door, contemplating pushing it open and stepping inside. But I'm not nearly that brave.
Instead, I scurry down the stairs and out the front door. He told me that if he caught me out here alone again, he'd do the same thing he did this morning. I'm not sure if that's what I want him to do or if I'm trying to escape the thought of it.
But when I don't even make it halfway down the path between his house and the guesthouse, and I hear his footsteps behind me, I'm not surprised. A thrill of anticipation goes through me.
I am in so far over my head.
I keep walking, pretending I don't hear him. Right up until he grabs me around the waist, pulling me off the path next to a shed.
I gasp quietly, my heart racing.
"I warned you, princess," he groans, burying his face in my hair. He doesn't turn me to face him, though. He just wraps his arms around me from behind, cradling me against his chest like I'm something precious.
So I spin in his arms, crashing my lips against his, driven by desperation and the wild spinning of my mind. It's been in snarls all damn day because of him. Because I shouldn't want this nearly as much as I do, but I want it anyway.
"Fuck," he growls, thrusting one hand into my hair to crane my head back. He licks into my mouth, setting every inch of my body on fire with his brandy and mint taste.
He pushes me up against the wall of the shed, boosting me up into his arms. My legs circle his waist, my hands tangling in his hair to keep him right where he is.
"I missed this fucking mouth today, Zoya," he groans, kissing me deeply again.
"Then do something about it."
"Plan to," he grunts, squeezing my ass.
One hand slips between our bodies, delving into my shorts.
"Fucking hell." His eyes snap to mine, his hand stalling in its quest. "You aren't wearing panties."
"I can go put some on if you prefer," I retort.
"Oh, you feel like being a smartass tonight, huh?" He parts my slit with his thumb, pressing it to my clit. "Maybe I shouldn't let you come."
I whimper in protest, ready to strangle him if he means it. I need this. I need him. My body literally aches for his touch at this point.
"Greedy girl," he whispers, reading the need in that sound. His lips touch mine again, his kiss wrecking me. Or, hell, maybe it's him wrecking me. Maybe it's the fact that he's relentless, and I love that. "You going to let me taste you, Zoya?"
I meet his gaze in the moonlight, my eyes wide, startled. "I…I've never…"
"Me either." He jiggles his thumb on my clit. "But I've had your taste in the back of my throat all day. I want more."
"Yes," I whisper, believing him. He isn't who I thought he was. He's something else entirely.
Mine, a little voice whispers. He's mine.
I think it might be right.
He grins at me, a predatory, wicked smile that has my stomach turning flips, and then presses a hard kiss to my mouth and lowers me down his body. Once my feet are beneath me, he drops to his knees right in the dirt and grass, looking up at me.