Rapture 2: a BWWM, Alpha Male Romance by Perri Forrest Read Free Book Online Page A

equation altogether.
    Stop with the selfish ass thoughts, Alika!
    I tried my best to shake the way I was feeling so that I could be there for Rush, but I was finding it so hard to do. My mind had reached a point of exhaustion in a short amount of time, and all I really wanted to do was fall asleep and wake up brand new. And maybe even in a world new enough where I didn’t have to wait for the reaction from the man I loved when he found his daughter and her mother . In a world where I didn’t have to watch them become a family without me.
    All of a sudden, I became angry—with myself. I was a girl who was dismissed when she could no longer be cared for by family, and who subsequently grew up in foster care because of it. I grew up without the love of a mother or a father, and yet there I was worried about how all this was going to affect me without worrying about the little girl in all of the drama. Her little life was about to change overnight to epic proportions. And it was in that very moment, having that epiphany, that my heart went out to her. She was a part of a family who wanted her gone so badly that they paid for her existence to remain top secret. Yeah, this was going to encompass a whole lot of tricky shit that nobody saw coming. Just that alone made me realize that now was the time I needed to be there for my man and not nursing my own non-existent wounds.
    I moved closer to Rush and placed my hands inside his. I held my head low momentarily before speaking so that I could choose my words carefully.
    “That’s a lot to take in baby,” I acknowledged, looking into his eyes. “I can only imagine what it feels like for you, and I’m so sorry. I’m here for you. For whatever part you want me here for, I’m there. We’ll deal with this together.”
    “Really?”
    “Really. You’re where I want to be. And so anything that comes with that is what I’m signing on for. I love you, Rush. With all my heart, I love you.”
    “And I love you with everything in me, Alika. Thank you,” he told me, pulling me to him in a tight embrace.
    “So…” I started, still holding onto my baby. “You said that you needed to see if Oscar had any news for you. When are you gonna do that? I think the sooner the better. You should probably go check emails and check your office for messages. We need to get you some resolve soon. Okay?”
    He nodded his head at me. I could see in his eyes that he was happy. But I could also tell that he was anxious and deeply concerned about how any of this would pan out for him.
    “You go do that, and I’m gonna go eat that delicious meal that Hazel cooked. If you’re done by the time I hop in the shower, then I can lather you up in the steam,” I flirted. “But if not, then I’ll bathe solo and hang out until you’re ready. That sound good?”
    “Sounds good,” he responded.
    “Okay. Kiss me,” I instructed, pulling his lips to mine.
    “Love those kisses,” he complimented, after our lips parted from our short kiss.
    “Me too,” I said, slightly blushing. “I’ll see you in a little bit,” I said, getting up from his lap, grabbing both of our glasses and heading back inside toward the kitchen for dinner.
     
    ~*~*~
     
    November 7, 2014
     
    By the time the weekend rolled around, I was beat. Rush had tried to tell me that it was jet lag and all the excitement of our trip and then finding out about his daughter. He reasoned that it was enough to knock anybody down for a few days and insisted that I stay in bed. The true workaholic that he is, though, he headed into the clubs to check on things. Instead of lounging around our bedroom flipping through channels on the big screen and finding nothing, I decided to head into the media room. Once there, I plopped down onto the oversized sofa, and elected The Wolf of Wall Street . I pulled the fleece cover across my lower half and dialed the number of someone I hadn’t talked to in forever.
     
    “It took you long enough to finally