I’d never wanted anythin’ but vengeance before, but suddenly, I wanted to be the face of the pirate in her story. I wanted to be the face in all her books. The man she imagined while readin’. The king of her lives. Because there was no doubt.
This woman was the queen of mine.
“We can go back. I can—”
I stopped her by wrappin’ my hand around her arm. I shook my head and nodded my face forward.
A breath trembled out of her lips when my hand slid down her arm and barely touched her hand. She was sensitive to me. Just a touch and her pulse sped up. The one in her neck fluttered like the heartbeat of a doe just gainin’ its legs.
My hand refused to leave her arm. I kept my skin on hers as we ventured deeper into the property. Mountains created a backyard for the castle, and the closer we came to it, the more wooded the land became. I nodded to a sprawlin’ oak tree.
Her eyes grew wide. “My dad told me stories about oaks in Ireland! He said they were home to spirits—even fairies, elves, and other mystical beings. I feel like I need to readThe Lord of the Ringsnow. I’ve never read it before.”
My eyes mirrored hers, and she caught the look at the same time I caught her from going down. A fallen branch was hidden under what winter had left behind, and she almost fell. She’d been watchin’ me.
“Every reader knows that look!” She pointed to my face, completely ignorin’ the near fall. “It’s theI can’t believe you haven’t read—whichever title. You’ve read it? The Lord of the Rings?”
I nodded.
“How many times?” She adjusted her glasses.
My face hurt at how serious she was bein’, because somethin’ I hadn’t felt since I was ten years old came over me. The urge to smile. Her eyes narrowed, like she was tryin’ to figure out the new look I’d surprised her with. I’d stumped her. I’d fuckin’ stumped myself with the reaction. I shrugged.
“If you can’t remember how many times you’ve read them, then it must have been plenty.”
My Da had given me the entire series. They had been his. I’d read them before he died. He’d been impressed at how many times I’d read them for my age.
“Maybe we can read those next?” she suggested. “I’ll do all the reading. I don’t mind.”
Her hair was in its usual messy bun, and she was wearin’ some kind of band T-shirt, jeans that rolled at the ankles, and Converse sneakers. I never had to tame urges. I always acted on them. Because they always centered around Oran Craig. But I had to control the impulse to release her hair from the bun and watch as the thick, dark strands tumbled down her shoulders. I needed to bury my fingers in her hair and pull her mouth to mine, savagely takin’ what was mine.
Her.
I wanted to tease her soul out through that kiss and entangle it with mine.
Standin’ here with her, though, I wasn’t on steady ground. I’d never been here before. Instead of followin’ my instincts, damn the consequences as usual, I was hesitant with her. She seemed breakable. So small in comparison to me.
A growl idled in my throat for a second. I was frustrated. My still-buried voice left me fuckin’ frustrated.
“Okay, we don’t need to read them—”
I shook my head.
“You want to read them again?”
I pointed at her, and she looked down. I could have been pointin’ at her heart or at her jugs. They filled out the T-shirt perfectly. Two small mounds I wanted to touch, suckin’ the stiff peaks until she lost control. I knew she was goin’ to be sweet to taste. I licked my lips, my mouth waterin’.
“Are you sure you’re not hungry?” she whispered.
She gasped when I lifted her up and set her down on a sweepin’ lower branch. Sunlight filtered in through the top of the tree and brightened her face. Her eyes were such a vivid blue, even without the sun. Her dark hair pulled out the color. She stared at me for a second before she ran a hand over her head, tryin’ to tame the flyaway hairs around her forehead. They were frenzied from the humidity.
I pointed at her again, this time reachin’ out and touchin’ the area over her heart.
“Oh. You want to read the bookswithme?”
I nodded.
She moved her face to the side some, studyin’ me. She bit her lip, then released it. “When you think, does the voice in your head have an Irish accent?”
