▪️ Emily ▪️ Snuggled warm and deep under the comforter, Emily stretched and cracked one eye open to see it was only five a.m. she hummed with the satisfaction that she still had plenty of time before she had to get up, walk Ruth's dog, then get ready for work. A golden-haired, tanned arm held her close, and long legs tangled with hers. She smiled to himself and sighed. A soft kiss landed on her shoulder. “Are you awake?” Ace kissed her again. “Mmm. Barely. Who would be at this hour?” “Those of us who wake up and aren’t in their own bed.” Hearing the note of uncertainty in Ace's voice, Emily rolled over. The sight of a sleepy-eyed Ace, that glorious sun-streaked mane of his in full bedhead mode, set his pussy's to attention. “Are you having regrets now?” Emily asked. “About what happened?” A wistful smile teased Ace's lips. “Hell, no. I’m hoping you don’t. But I can’t wear the same clothes I wore yesterday to the office
▪️ Emily ▪️ “I’ve been washing myself since I was a girl. If you keep this up, the dog will have an accident, which I’ll make you clean up, plus we’ll both be late for work.” She turned off the water. “And I’d have to dock you for missed hours.” “Bastard.” Laughing, Ace swooped in for a kiss, his lips soft and wet. They clung to each other for a moment, stood there with the water dripping off their hair. “This is really nice.” Ace ducked his head and grabbed a towel, but not before Emily spotted the pink rising in his cheeks. Her heart did a swoony dip. They dressed, and Emily's nerves rose with each step toward Ruth's apartment. At six thirty in the morning, she wasn’t prepared for a barrage of questions she didn’t have answers for. She let herself in with her key. Foxy was already waiting by the door, and Ruth was walking out from the bedroom. At the sight of her with Ace at her shoulder, her morning smile brightened to supernova and her brows flew up.
▪️ Emily ▪️ They’d agreed to arrive at the office separately so as not to draw suspicion, but since they were usually the first two in the office anyway, it hardly mattered. Ace shut Emily's office door behind him and pushed her against it, his tongue sweeping inside Emily's mouth, their kiss so filthy and deep, Emily's head spun. He cupped Emily's breast and massaged her nipples m “This has to hold both of us all day,” Ace said. “Think of me all naked in bed. Every time I see you, know I’m hard as a rock in my pants, and all it would take is one touch for me to come.” Emily allowed herself another taste of Ace's lips before stepping away. “You’re a little shit, you know that?” “And you like it,” Ace responded with a cocky smile. Emily pulled at his tie and kissed Ace one last time. “Yeah, I do. Now get that ass to work.” She moved behind the safety of her desk and scrubbed her face. Ace opened the door. “We have a meeting with the new client, a
▪️Ace▪️ At six p.m., he yawned and closed his eyes to relieve the strain from staring at his computer all afternoon. Once he’d finished with Simone, which took up the entire morning, Emily had called him in to a video conference with the candy company executives to speak about his suggestions. The rest of the afternoon he followed Emily into meeting after meeting, taking notes on what was discussed, typing them up, and putting them into the shared drive for Emily to review. “Sleeping on the job?” He startled, and his eyes flew open to see Emily smiling, arms crossed and lounging in his doorway. Ace's shirt collar lay open, and his hair was mussed as if he’d been running his hands through it. “Not on your life.” All buttoned up, Emily oozed power and prestige, with a haughty, untouchable, almost dark facade. A woman of mystery. But Ace preferred this Emily—a bit rumpled and weary, unlaced and approachable.
▪️Ace▪️ Two hours later, juggling a pizza box, he rang the bell at Emily's apartment. Nerves rattled inside him. Ostensibly, this was their first official date, and he had no idea what to expect. The door opened, and Emily, looking mouthwateringly sexy in a dress of cool, gave her a smile that let her know he shared the same nerves. “Hi.” Emily arched a dark brow. “Pizza?” Ace breezed past Emily even though she was anything but lighthearted. “From Lombardi’s on Spring Street. What better way to start the evening of our first date than pizza and beer?” He set the box down on the kitchen island and sniffed the air. His stomach growled. “What’s that smell?” Emily ducked her head. “I figured if we started working, we’d be hungry, so on the way home I stopped and got a big box of appetizers. I don’t know how to cook well but I can heat things up like a pro.” How Ace managed to keep a straight face when his insides had turned all melty, he didn’t kn
▪️ Emily ▪️ Ace rolled over and on top of her. “Good morning. And happy two weeks.” As always when Ace touched her, Emily's body hardened and her heart pounded. “Two weeks?” Nuzzling close, Ace wriggled down, trailing a path of wet kisses, and Ace almost stopped breathing when that luscious mouth hovered over her opening . “Two weeks together in the office and in bed, and we haven’t killed each other.” About to make a sarcastic comment, Emily choked on her words as Ace ran the flat of his tongue from the top of her pussy to the bottom and then up again . He tightened his lips to create the perfect suction and sucked hard, keeping up the wickedly perfect flutter of his tongue. “Oh, God.” Her eyes fell shut, and she lost herself to Ace's increasingly addictive lovemaking. Threads of fire tingled under her oversensitized skin, and her hands clutched at the sheets. “Now, now.” Ace, that bastard, scraped his nails over her pussy and sank a finger insi
▪️ Emily ▪️ She washed her hands, brushed her teeth, and after putting on her pants, walked out, Ace trailing at her heels. The coffeemaker, set the previous night, was full, and Emily poured herself a cup. “Don’t worry, the bed is already there. It’s a platform bolted to the floor, and I got a new mattress. Extra firm.” Ace pinched her ass, and when Emily whirled around, he danced away, out of reach. “Just the way you like it. But I need a sofa and chairs. I’m not going to sit on the floor.” She set the mug down. “And you want me to come with you.” Clad only in his boxers, Ace hoisted himself up on the island. “Yeah. You did a great job in the office, so work your magic on my apartment. Then we can go have fun afterward. I have a plan.” “Do you now?” “Yup.” Ace swung his legs and held out his mug for coffee, which Emily poured, thinking Ace looked like an overgrown kid with his open, laughing face filled with anticipation and excitement. And fun. Weekends for Emily weren’t much
Trey Sunday, late morning, Trey was in his office for a couple minutes while Lucy was getting something to drink, and as his girl put it, “something to nibble on.” They’d had quite the emotional day on Saturday, and he thought back on it with a smile. He realized at that moment that he’d never in his life had more fun with someone, never laughed more in a twenty-four-hour period than he had with Lucy. After he’d surprised Lucy, catapulting them both into the pool, they’d each come up sputtering. Lucy, always one to run cold, had started shivering. They’d gone out to the jacuzzi and had stayed there for an hour, making out like teenagers. Later that afternoon, after much cajoling from Lucy, they’d made love in front of the huge fireplace in the library, and again hours later in their bed. There had been no role play and no kink, they’d been Trey and Lucy, and though they both admitted later they weren’t ones to enjoy vanilla sex, it had been exactly what was needed at the time to g
“Hey now,” Cole protested. “He offered me money and the apartment.” “Like you were going to take it. How long was he with you? Did he know you at all?” “We were kind of in the middle of an argument at the time.” “Right. But it’s been over a week.” It had. And Cole had told herself she wasn’t hoping for anything. Except she must have been. Because now she felt silly.Ellery kicked the tree moodily. “Stop feeling sorry for him. I expect he’s feeling sorry enough for himself. Or Lancaster’s found him a new whipping girl.” “Don’t.” “Sorry.” “Did you really come all the way to Kinlochbervie to say ‘I told you so’?” “No.” She pulled her hood up and disappeared into its shadows. “I came to ask if you want to live with me.”Cole nearly fell off the swing. “Live with you?”“Yeah. Thought I should move out. Do some shit with my life or something.” “What sort of shit did you have in mind?”She kicked the tree again. And then, apparently finding
Everything hurt. The hours seemed like wild horses. Dawn broke around Cole. She spent most of the day on the sofa, crying herself out of tears, watching the sky turn tauntingly through shades of silver and gold. She tried to be brave, to be strong, to be less pathetically embarrassing. But her inner Scarlett O’Hara was AWOL—tomorrow being another day seemed like scant consolation. And while she sometimes tormented herself with idle fantasies of Aiden coming back, of sweeping her into his arms, full of sorrow and declarations of eternal devotion, she knew it wasn’t going to happen. She wasn’t sure she could ever bear pain like this again. Later… later… later… Her phone bleeped. And, like a fool, she scrabbled for it, wrecked with hope and fear and hope. It was Harper: “I MOVED MY FOOT!!!!!” **** She slept and didn’t sleep, and the hours sped and sluggished by. And finally, she rang home. Hazel picked up. “What’s wrong?” she said before Cole even had a chance to speak.
Cole swayed exhaustedly where she knelt. “Well, I'm not. And I don't How many times is you going to ignore me telling you that I love you? Because I do. I really do. And you can think all these awful things about yourself if you must. But nothing—nothing, do you hear me—will make me believe them.” “You can’t love me. You don’t know me.” “You mean, because I didn’t know about this? That’s only because you lied to me about it.” He paced restlessly, up and down that pristine room. This lost creature in Aiden Crux's skin. “I didn’t lie.” “I asked you outright. In Kinlochbervie.” “No. You asked if someone had hurt me. And they haven’t.” “Oh fucking hell.” She rubbed her hands against her burning eyes. “I could have hurt you. Don’t you realize how completely fucked it feels looking back at all the times I’ve pushed you on sex stuff with no clue about what happened to you?” “Well,” he drawled, “I did warn you that I’m a cruel
Cole glanced up. “I'm not. I mean, it wasn’t fun. But I trusts you. With the worst of me, as well as the best, and all the squishy ambiguous bits in between.” “Thank you,” he said, unexpectedly grave. “I hope to always honor that trust.” “As I will for you.” He didn’t respond. “So, y’know”—Cole nudged him gently—“your turn.” It took a long time, but he did eventually speak. The words coming slowly and painfully, like razor blades from his lips. “If I tell you, you’ll know what Eleanor said about me is right. That I’m sick and twisted and I ruin everything that’s good.” “She only said that because she was angry.” He shook his head. “No, she said it because it’s true. You see, she learned who she was when she was fourteen years old.” “What happened when—wait. When your father died?” “After that. When she seduced his business partner. His best friend.” Cole genuinely had no idea what to say. To
Cole pulled off a truly Ellery-worthy eye roll. “One cigarette a month is hardly going to kill him,” she said. “Is that what he told you? And you believed him?” Natasha asked. Now that she thought about it… he did tend to reach for his cigarettes once they’d sexed. And he’d smoked after dinner. And during Star Wars. And just now in the gCole. Oh fuck. Fuuuuuck.Natasha shook her head at her. “You poor, sweet girl. You don’t know him at all, do you?” “I… I’m in love with him,” she said, her voice barely audible. “I can see why you’d believe that. Aiden can be quite dazzling when he chooses. But you don’t understand anything about who he is. Or the damage you’re doing to him.” She tried to reply, to protest, to defend herself. Defend him. Defend them. But she had nothing. Aiden had de-clawed her with his secrets. Left her powerless and alone. “You deserve better,” Natasha went on softly. “He’s using you like his cigarettes. You
“I love it when you hurt me. I love everything you do. And everything you are,” Cole said. And that was when Aiden turned and drew her into his mouth. It was the teeniest bit awkward—he even nicked her slightly with the edge of his teeth, suggesting maybe he didn’t do this all that often. He certainly hadn’t with her before. Not that she’d minded. He made her come just fine. But…wow. He could have been actively terrible and she wouldn’t have cared: Aiden Crux was sucking her pussy. No teasing. Only his tongue sliding tight round her, his mouth soft and hot and perfect.Ohfuckohfuckohfuck. She was…Aiden was… Cole turned her head into her shoulder in an effort to muffle her noises. Which were at least as loud as when he’d been torturing her nipples, and probably even less dignified. Pain was one thing. She could take pain. But she was pleasure’s bitch. Hone
His fingers closed around her through her dress and squeezed until she bucked and moaned. Some of the anguish faded from her face, the tight lines of her brow and mouth yielding to desire, and something tender she might have called hope. “Don’t move,” he whispered, as he stepped away. “Okay.” Her heart thumped as eagerly as a puppy’s tail. She loved the anticipation that came with his commands. And she loved pleasing him. Of course, her nose started itching almost immediately. But she was determined and ignored it and held still as he had told her to. Aiden circled the pillar, leaving her standing there like Andromeda. Well, Andromeda if she had a massive erection. Then he drew her hands behind her and she felt the cool brush of silk against her skin.It encircled her wrists. Pulled taut. Oh my God. His bowtie. He was bondaging her with his own bowtie. She made a noise of surprise and exciteme
He didn’t quite flinch but he got that look: the closed down, I am a million miles away from you look I knew all too well. “I’ll leave you to enjoy it.” And, with that, he…went away. Again. Cole bit down on a gasp of frustration. She wanted to kick him in the shins. He couldn’t just fix what was probably years of hurt and misunderstanding with a single, and very small, gesture. Also, the fucker had barely spent five minutes with her. But she pushed all that aside and turned her very best and sparkliest smile on Ellery. “So what happens next? Do we all die of the plague?” Ellery sneered at the room. “Mm, here’s hoping.” “Wow, that’s the last time I RSVP to an invitation from you.” “I don’t mean it.” She sighed and with the air of a small child being forced to eat Brussels sprouts added, “Thank you for coming.” “I didn’t know you played the violin.” Ellery shrugged. “I’m brilliant. When I’m not rusty.” “
“What do you look for?” Cole asked. “The thing nobody else sees,” He replied, propping his hip casually against a piece of furniture she didn’t have a name for—something ornate and impressive, probably a credenza or vitrine or whatever. “Society photography comes down to one very simple principle. Anyone can take pictures of Kate Middleton and Lady Gaga. The trick is getting a picture of Kate Middleton with Lady Gaga.” “And have you?” “Not yet. But she’s a long way from dead, and hopefully so are they.” Cole laughed. In a strange way, the woman reminded her a little bit of Aiden. The same conviction, the same merciless drive, although focused and expressed very differently. She guessed it was becoming pretty apparent she had a type.But mainly Cole was grateful. Now, when she looked across the room, she met smiles. Flashes of recognition in other people’s eyes. She knew faces and names. She could have joined some of the conversations. Instead of drifting around pathetically. Stil