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There’s a reason I prefer solitude. Small talk requires far too much effort and diplomacy for my taste.
Because if there’s one lesson we learned from Seth Kane, it’s that love may come and go, but hate lasts forever.
I gave up the person I was for a man who couldn’t handle the woman I was meant to be.
Is that yearning in his gaze or intense dislike? Let’s hope for the first while expecting the latter.
No man in power should possess a body like that. It should be considered a corporate crime to look that good while wearing a suit.
It’s like she shits sprinkles and consumes rainbows for sustenance. I’m not sure what kind of fairy tale forest she was raised in, but no one can be this optimistic about everything.
What if jerks are my kink? Well, at least it explains your unhealthy obsession with Mr. Darcy.
“You better have a massive dick to back up that attitude or else people will be mighty disappointed.” “Care to bring out a ruler and test your theory?” “I left my magnifying glass at home, so maybe tomorrow.” I’m pretty sure the angel on my shoulder has left the building. Something shifts between us. His eyes darken as they assess me. I’m not sure if he wants to choke me, fire me, or fuck me into submission. “Are you always this impossible?” “I don’t know. Are you always this much of an asshole?” One second he’s scowling at me and the next his lips are slamming into mine.
He’s the Devil, Zahra. Well, that explains why Eve fell for his tricks. If the Devil looked half as good as Rowan, I’d eat the damn apple too. Screw the consequences.
“Take a breath. I’m not in the mood to call an ambulance when you pass out and crack your head open.” “How dare I consider for a second that you would catch me before that happens.” “That requires caring and I’m fresh out of fucks to give.”
Me: Because life isn’t always rainbows and sunshine. Zahra: Of course not. But how can we appreciate the sun every morning if we don’t live through the dark?
According to my mom, I have the subtlety of a lightning bolt and the personality of a firework. She told me it would take an equally strong man to appreciate that kind of force of nature.
“I tend to research my investments.” I know his intention wasn’t to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside but my heart leaps in my chest anyway. We aren’t an investment, my feminist brain calls out. But the big, grumpy man spends his time researching me, the hopeless romantic calls out in rebuttal.
People say home is where the heart is but I couldn’t disagree more. Home is wherever I’m unbothered. That’s true peace for me.
Zahra has this way of dreaming that I find intoxicating. It makes me want to create along with her and design something that brings her vision to life.
He walks with a sense of self-assuredness that screams I have a big dick and I know how to use it. Don’t think about his dick.
“I thought you didn’t care?” “Hmm. Maybe I found some fucks to give after all.”
“Why are you really spending so much time with me? Don’t you have other things to do and people to torment?” He offers a noncommittal shrug. “Maybe I enjoy hearing your screams.” “Freak.” I’m surprised Rowan doesn’t send me straight into cardiac arrest when he winks. My heart thuds in my chest, and my skin tingles in response.
“Seriously, what kind of idiot complains about a woman having curves? Off the record, your body is hot as fuck.”
So be a gentleman and shut up. Kay, thanks!” I chuckle under my breath as I lean over and talk into her ear. “Gentle is the last thing I want to be around you.”
Kissing Zahra is like reaching heaven after an eternity spent in purgatory. Like I’ve spent most of my life hopelessly ambling around, waiting for her to show me the way back to the light. She’s divine with enough wickedness to make a sinner like me want to pray in devotion.
“You don’t want me to help you with that problem?” “Take a man out to dinner first.” “Does my pussy count?” “Fuck.”
“Just to be clear, should I scream your name or Scott’s when you fuck me?”
“Do you still want that measuring tape? I can go find one now and settle the debate.” “All good. I’m pretty sure I can feel you in my throat.”
If this is what it feels like to be around someone who’s pure sunshine, I’ll willingly accept the burn. Every. Damn. Time.
“I found the secret to making you smile!” “What?” “Orgasms! Why didn’t I think of it sooner?!”
“A confirmation?” “Yes. I’m taking you out tomorrow night for a date.” I laugh under my breath. “Don’t you think you should ask me first?” “I don’t ask questions I know the answers to.”
“If you tell anyone, I’ll have to—” “Yeah, yeah. Fire me. I got it already.” “I’ll have to fuck you. But if you’re interested in role-playing the other scenario, I’m more than happy to oblige.”
“Actions speak louder than words.” “And what do my actions say?” I lean in and grab the end of her hair, pulling her toward me, so our mouths are only a few inches apart. “That you care more than you’re letting on.” I close the gap between us and kiss her. “Don’t go wishing for things that can’t happen.” The corners of her eyes soften, reflecting an emotion I haven’t seen from her yet. “That’s okay. I’ll dream big enough for the two of us.” The strange warmth surging through my veins is quickly doused by a chill. That’s my biggest worry in one single sentence.
“I think you like the idea of other people hearing me fuck you until your voice is hoarse.” He withdraws his hand. I mourn the loss, and the buzz in my body turns into nothing but a dull hum. “Maybe I like them hearing me fuck you.”
He’s my dark storm cloud in the middle of a drought—an underappreciated beauty that makes me feel equally alive as the sun or the stars.
“If I had a heart to give, it would be all yours. Free of cost.” My spine tingles, and it has nothing to do with his hand running down my back. I want to tell him he has a heart, but the words get stuck in my throat. So instead, I soak in whatever kind of affection Rowan is willing to share.
“I wanted to let you know we’re going on a date tomorrow.” “Okay…” I play it cool, but inside I’m swooning. Rowan is definitely making his intentions obvious, and I’m so here for it. It’s refreshing to not chase him down for a date. “After we have dinner with your family,” he speaks with finality. “Come again?!” “Maybe later.” He winks.
I grab onto his fist and spread his fingers out before locking ours together. “You don’t have to be nervous,” I whisper under my breath. “I’m bad at small talk,” he whispers back.
“It was a price to pay for peace. I didn’t think I would draw again—” “Until you saw my atrocious drawings.” I nod with a small smile. “Because I didn’t know it at the time, but I wanted you to see me.”
His heart pounds faster against my chest, the beat becoming alarmingly fast. “Because I like you. It’s scary as hell because you make me feel everything. And I know I’ll disappoint you. That I can’t promise much, but sometimes I think maybe I could. If I tried hard enough. If I found a way to make things right.”
“Do you plan on staring at me all night or are you going to get on with the show?” His gaze remains focused on my chest. “I like the view.” “I’d like mine better if your face was between my legs.”
“Patience is a virtue.” “Yeah, so is chastity, but you don’t see me practicing it.”
The tips of his fingers caress my cheek. “I’m not sure what I love more. The way you smile at me with abandon or the way you look with your swollen lips wrapped around my cock.”
“You weren’t supposed to make me smile or laugh.” He nips at the edge of my ear before tracing my earrings with his finger. “You weren’t supposed to work your way under my skin like venom with no kind of antidote.” He slides only the tip into me. I push back, but he moves too, holding me hostage. “And you were never supposed to make me want more.”
“But now it’s too late.” He smooths out my hair before wrapping it around his hand like a rope. He tugs. “You’re mine.”
“You’ll learn that the best rewards come with the biggest consequences. Because nothing that great comes without making any sacrifices.”
“Truth is, I’m terrified of falling in love. But I’d rather trust you with my heart and risk you breaking it than live another day without you in my life. I want to be the kind of man that deserves a woman as beautiful, selfless, and kind as you. It might take my entire life to achieve that kind of goal, but as long as you’re by my side, I’d consider it a life worth living.”
Zahra’s it for me. I know it with everything in me, and my intuition has never been wrong before. There’s nothing in the world I’ll find more beautiful than her. Not the sun. Not the moon. Not even the entire galaxy compares to the light she radiates wherever she goes.
“I thought I knew what it meant to be selfish, but then I met you. I want to own you in every way that matters. Your time. Your smiles. Your heart.”
“Now that I have you, I’ll never let you go.”
