Page 49 of Atlas
“It’s okay. I don’t think anything could distract me for long anyway.”
Atlas’ eyes fell to my lips, and it was almost as if I could read his thoughts. He knew a way to distract me.
I blinked my eyes in confusion when he took our empty bowls like nothing had happened.
Because nothing did happen!
You’re falling in love and having moments of wishful thinking. Maybe he looked at your lips because you have ice cream on them.
My hand wiped my mouth just in case.
“Thank you for keeping me up. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Atlas looked over. “No problem. You know, if it will make you feel more safe, I’m happy to hold your hand while we sleep.”
“You’d do that?”
“Sure. I have two sisters, and I wouldn’t want any of them to be scared.”
At that moment, my biggest fear wasn’t Niklavs hurting me. My biggest fear was misreading Atlas and making a pass on him that would screw up the beautiful friendship that was developing between us.
“It’s okay, but thank you for the offer.” I thought I saw a flash of disappointment on his face, but maybe I was just so overwhelmed by these last days that my sensor was out of whack.
CHAPTER 11
Attack
Atlas
The alluring scent of Jolene still hung in my nostrils long after she went to bed. I tried watching another movie, but the couch felt empty without her to cuddle with, and I missed her little comments about the silly plot.
I’d never met a woman who was so effortless to be around. Talking with her felt like I’d known her for years, and I was drawn to touch her.
I knew that I wasn’t the right man for Jolene, but fuck did I wish that I was. All her talk about marriage and kids. Those things were for regular people, not someone as dark and twisted as me.
It had been tempting to kiss her and make out on the couch, but with Jolene, I didn’t trust myself. I had fantasized about dominating her too often. What if I pinned her arms, pushed her around, spoke dirty to her, and spanked her as hard as I wanted to?
The worst part was that I saw curiosity in her eyes. She might not know it yet, but she was warming up to me, and if I weren’t careful, she’d fall in love.
How I wished, I was a decent human being who could create a life and a home with a woman as amazing as Jolene.
My head jerked up from the sound of a fire alarm.
It wasn’t coming from inside the apartment but from the hallway. This was a penthouse apartment, and there were only four tenants on this floor.
I ran to open the front door, and the volume of the alarm assaulted my hearing.
We were on the twenty-eighth floor, and everyone knew not to use the lifts in case of fire, which meant getting out would take time.
“Jolene. Wake up.” I ran to the guest room and stormed in to find her sitting up.
“What’s that noise?”
“It’s the fire alarm.” I pulled the comforter from her body.
She was wearing only panties and a t-shirt, so I turned to find something for her to wear.
The clothes she had worn before she went to bed lay in a neat pile on a chair.
