“I have a pretty good idea after placing a few calls after she left the office."Whoa, that was interesting. First, that Lisa was having financial issues and second, that Jace had been so quick to check into the matter. Not that it should have surprised her. Gabe, Jace and Ash were tight. And they had each other’s backs. Always.Jace and Ash had closed ranks around Gabe after the divorce and while it seemed ludicrous that Gabe would need any sort of support, she knew that an unbreakable bond existed among the men. She only hoped to hell it was unbreakable enough to survive the fallout if Jace ever found out about her relationship with Gabe.And then she remembered Caro’s plight.“Hey, speaking of,” Mia said, leaning up to stick her head between the front seats. “Can you do a background check on a guy named Brandon Sullivan? He’s a bouncer who works at a club called Vibe. Just general info. You know, like whether he’s married, shacked up with someone or has a criminal record.”Jace bra
The offices were empty and silent as he made his way down the hall to his own. Mia wouldn’t be in for another hour and a half, and already he was antsy with anticipation. He flexed his hands, curling them as he sat behind his desk. He should have just gone by her apartment on his way in. He should have just sent a car for her after she got finished with her dinner with Jace. But he’d been determined to prove to himself that he didn’t need her. That he didn’t think about her when she wasn’t with him. He needed this space between them, because she was fast becoming an addiction he had no hope of surviving.Yeah, that wasn’t working out so well for him so far.He picked up his phone and dialed his mother’s number, waiting as it rang.“Mom, it’s Gabe. Sorry I didn’t answer. You caught me on my way up to the office.”“You won’t believe this,” she said, distress clear in her voice. She wasted no time getting to the heart of why she’d called.He sighed and leaned back, already knowing what w
It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her what plans and to press her further. It was certainly within his right. But she looked so uncomfortable that he didn’t want to put her on the defensive, and he damn sure didn’t want her to lie to him. And she may well if he cornered her.“I assume it’s only Friday night then?” he said in a short tone.She nodded.“Okay then, be at my apartment Saturday morning. You’ll spend the weekend with me and then we’ll leave Monday afternoon for Paris.”Relief flashed in her eyes and she smiled that thousand-watt smile again.“I can’t wait,” she said. “Paris sounds so exciting! Will we have a chance to see anything?”He smiled at her enthusiasm. “Probably not, but we’ll see what happens.”His phone rang and he checked his watch. Time had slipped away from him and it was time for his conference call. He waved his hand for Mia to go back to what she was doing, and then he got comfortable in his chair before answering the call.**********“Tell Jace thank
The entire evening was somewhat of a blur to her. Dancing. Drinking. Dancing some more. Or maybe it had been drinking some more.“Want to brush my teeth,” she mumbled.“Are you sure you can stand up for that long?”She nodded.“I’ll go get your bed ready so you can lie down,” he said.Gabe left the bathroom, anger still a tight knot in his gut. More than anger, however, had been fear. A sensation that still gripped him right by the balls.If she weren’t so damn drunk, he’d tan her ass right here and now. Of all the irresponsible, idiotic things to pull.He pulled back her covers, fixed the pillows and then arranged the sheets so he could slide her into bed. If she wasn’t so sick, he’d haul her over to his apartment right now and she’d stay there until they left for Paris.He walked back toward the bathroom, frowning when he heard nothing but quiet.“Mia?” he asked as he stepped to the doorway.He shook his head at the sight that greeted him. Mia was sitting on the floor in front of th
His eyes gleamed devilishly. “I’d wait until later before you start saying how much I spoil you.”Her body did an instant clench as heat surged through her veins. Try as she might, she couldn’t muster any dread of the coming spanking he’d promised her. If anything, she was buzzing with anticipation.She caught his gaze and she sobered. “I really am sorry about last night. I had no idea you were so worried. If I would have checked my phone I would have called or texted you, Gabe. I wouldn’t have ignored you.”“I know you wouldn’t,” he said gruffly. “The thing I want you to be conscious of is being careful. You and your girlfriends going out alone and getting drunk only invites trouble. Any number of things could happen to a group of girls alone and vulnerable.”That he was so protective of her gave her immense satisfaction. He had to feel something for her beyond viewing her as a sexual object.“Now if you’re finished, there’s the matter of your punishment,” he said silkily.Holy hell.
He sighed. “I don’t really care what you believe. That’s not my problem. You and I are in the past and that’s where we are staying. Stop doing this to yourself—to me—Lisa. I have work to do and I can’t get it done with constant interruptions.” “So how does a club on sourdough sound?” Mia said as she entered his office, arms full of the takeout bags. She came to a screeching halt when she saw Lisa, and her eyes widened. “Oops. Sorry,” she said awkwardly. She hastily backed from his office and disappeared, bags in hand. He had to bite his lip to keep himself from commanding her back. Damn it, he wanted Lisa gone, not Mia. When his gaze returned to Lisa’s, her eyes were narrowed and recognition flashed. “It’s her isn’t it?” Lisa said softly. There was accusation in her stare. She rose to her feet, fists clenched at her sides. “It’s always been her. I saw the way you looked at her even when we were married. I played it off. She’s Jace’s little sister and so I thought you viewed her
“Strip.” She blinked at his tone. It wasn’t angry. It was more…determined. Unease drifted over her and she hesitated, which only made his eyes narrow. “I thought…” She swallowed hard. “I thought they were coming up for drinks.” Had the plans changed? He nodded. “They are.” Oh God. “Don’t make me tell you again, Mia,” he said in a soft, dangerous voice. Her hands shaking, she reached down and lifted the hem of her dress and pulled it over her head, letting it fall to the floor beside her. She kicked out of her heels, sending them skittering across the wood floor. There were a thousand things she wanted to say, a thousand questions burning in her mind, but he looked so…forbidding…that she clamped her lips shut and removed her bra and panties. “Go and kneel on the rug in the middle of the room,” he said. As she walked slowly to the rug, he began to pick up her clothing and her shoes and then he disappeared into the bedroom, leaving her to follow his command. She sank to her knees
He stroked his hands down her trembling back. She was shaking harder now and he was desperate to comfort her, to offer her what he hadn’t given her before.She clutched at his shoulders and tried to pull away, but he held her fiercely, afraid to let any space between them. He had to touch her, had to feel her in his arms. He was afraid if he let her go, he’d never get her back.“I want a shower,” she choked out. “Please, I need it. I just want to be clean. He…touched me.”Desolation swept through Gabe like a winter storm, cold and stark. Of course she felt violated. Not only by Charles, but also by him. He’d given her the ultimate betrayal in allowing this to happen. He’d not only allowed it, he’d encouraged it. How the hell could he ever get past something like this? How could she?“Let me go start it,” he said, wiping her hair from her face.Her cheeks were damp with tears, and her eyes were wounded as she stared back at him. Blood still oozed from the corner of her mouth. Then she
He growled at the visual feast before him. Ava bound, at his mercy.Chase rocked his hips faster, driving his cock against that pliant skin, pinching her nipples in time to his thrusts. When his balls lifted, his hands fell away and almost told her to open up and swallow him to the root. But he stopped.Too soon. Not about you. About her. She needs this.Ava whimpered at the loss of contact.He caressed her cheek as he leaned forward to grab his supplies off the nightstand. “You’re beautiful. Incredible. Christ, Ava, you undo me.”She twisted in her bonds. “I want—”He placed his fingers over her lips. “In time. Now hold still.” He scooted back until he straddled her pelvis. Holding open the old-fashioned, spring-loaded wooden clothespins, he simultaneously attached them to her nipples.When she arched and emitted a surprised cry, he murmured, “Seems you have some feeling there after all.” He hopped off the end of the bed. Tapped her ankles. “Spread your legs for me. Wider. Nope wider
“Thanks.” Ava sat up and drank all the water. “So I crashed for over twelve hours. Guess I missed the rodeo last night. How’d you do?”Chase wore a stoic expression.“What? Did you have like a ninety-nine point ride or something?”He snorted.“Seriously. What happened?” Her gaze swept over him. “Did you get hurt?”“Nothin’ happened, Ava. I didn’t compete last night.”“What? Why not?”“Do you really think I’d just leave you here alone when you were so goddamn sick?”She froze.Chase grabbed her hand and rubbed her knuckles against the razor stubble on his cheeks. “I was freaked out about you. I wasn’t exactly sure what to do. I’m not…well, I don’t have much experience taking care of sick people. My first response has always been to get the hell away, so I sort of winged it.” A sheepish smile curled the corners of his mouth. “You don’t look too worse for the wear.”“I can’t believe you didn’t compete last night.”“There are more important things in life than bull ridin’.”This tough man
“The camera showed you that?”“Ava. I don’t need to look through a viewfinder to see you’re upset.”Damn intuitive man.“The camera is off. Talk to me.”“My grandfather commissioned a necklace for my sixteenth birthday. A tiny beautiful Swarovski crystal rose with a gold stem artfully twisted into an ‘A’. The one time I didn’t take it off before I jumped into the ocean? I lost it. I don’t know if the chain broke or what, but I was devastated because it happened about a month after he died.”“Aw, sugar, I’m so sorry.”Evidently Chase had enough taping. He returned the camera to the case and faced forward, wiggling to get comfortable.“Before you nod off, tell me why we’re backtracking. You planned a route through Montana and now we’re back in Cornhusker territory.”He rolled his eyes. “South Dakota is not Cornhusker territory. The reason I’m not goin’ to the event in Billings is because Ryan told me a former PBR bull rider who switched to the PRCA circuit will be competing. I don’t wan
He’d known the second he touched her he was done for. Ava needed him in a way no other woman ever had. He was a different man when he was with her, regardless if they were naked. So maybe that’s why he couldn’t freakin’ wait to get naked with her again, day after day after day.Seemed to take forever to check-in. He ditched the bags in the corner of the room. In the mirror above the sink, he saw Ava flop on the bed and heave a huge sigh.“Before you get too comfy, maybe you oughta see if you got the door shut.”She popped to her feet and resituated her skirt as she crossed the room, those fucking sexy little pleats teasing the back of her legs.When he’d gotten a look at her outfit this morning—short plaid skirt, plain white blouse, black ballet shoes—his cock had been hard all day as his head conjured up bad-schoolgirl-needing-a-spanking scenarios.Ava tested the door by pushing on it. “I don’t know why you were worried it wasn’t shut—”“Lock it.” He put his mouth below her ear and p
He stirred, moaning as his cock hardened. Lengthened.When Ava started sliding his shaft over her tongue, his hand landed on her head.Immediately it snapped back and Chase scrambled upright. “Ava? What the devil are you doin’?” He inhaled a sharp breath through his teeth when she tongued the tip. “Hell. I thought it was a dream.”She pulled off his shaft long enough to say, “Nope. I want to make this buff body to squirm.” She licked him like a lollipop.“Oh, I’ve no doubt you can make me squirm. You probably could get me to beg.” He brushed her hair back from where it’d fallen in her face. “But—”Again, Ava eased off and met his gaze in the near darkness. “But nothing. You don’t get to direct this.”If she thought he’d lovingly pet her, agree, and murmur encouragement, she was mistaken. Chase’s big hands were on her face, gripping her jaw. “Yes, I do.”His answer turned her panties damp. As did his explicit command, “On the floor. On your knees.”As Ava moved, so did Chase. He perche
She loved his reaction to the scrape of her teeth, the sucking kisses, the feather light placement of her lips in random spots on his neck. Goose bumps spread across his arms and up his nape. He shifted on the bed, not thrashing, but wiggling enough she knew he liked what she was doing to him. She reveled in this immense power of worshipping rather than being worshipped.Ava immersed herself in him. The scent of his skin. The tangy taste of his sweat. The way his muscles strained beneath her tongue. She kissed, licked and nibbled her way down the center of his throat, from his square jaw to his breastbone. And could she get a halleluiah that he had chest hair? Talk about manly, masculine goodness. She rubbed her face over the dark patch of hair, breathing him in, listening to the pounding of his heart, warmed by the heat from his skin, and knowing his body’s response to her was echoed in her body.Bracing herself on all fours above him, she watched his face as she tongued his nipple.
She pushed her hips back, meeting his every hard thrust with a soft grunt. The fringe on his chaps swung forward, the leather connecting with her skin.Even as his cock plunged into her fully, even as his balls drew up, aching for release, even as his legs shook and sweat coated his skin, he planned for the next time he fucked her. The next hundred times.Chase closed his eyes; his hands yanking her body back to meet his escalating thrusts. Faster, harder, deeper, the only words echoed in his head as primal need roared. Impossible to hold off his orgasm, no matter how much he wanted to prolong the sensation of sinking into her soft, wet, flesh.He threw back his head, groaning as his cock emptied in hot pulses. Groaning louder when he felt Ava’s pussy contracting around his dick as she came again.Heart thumping, mouth dry, lungs lacking air, Chase fell forward onto Ava’s back, bracing himself on his hands. Although this rendezvous was supposed to’ve been a dare, a fun, wild slap and
“Who are you?” Douchebag demanded.“The guy tellin’ you to get the hell outta my room.”The douchebag looked at Ava. “I thought you said this was your room.”“Hey, fuckface, eyes on me, not her.” When douchebag turned, Chase stabbed his finger at the clothes by the bed. “You’re done. Grab your shit and get gone.”“Nuh-uh.” Douchebag gestured to Ava. “I get gone when she tells me to, not you, little man.”Ava said not one word.Chase’s anger hit the boiling point. Instead of yelling, his voice dropped lethally low. “Get. The. Fuck. Out.”“Or what? You gonna throw me out?” Douchebag sneered. “You’ll have to eat your spinach and grow some first.”Faking calmness he didn’t feel, Chase scooped up the man’s belongings, opened the door and dumped the pile onto the walkway.“What is wrong with you?” Douchebag loomed over Chase.“You have fifteen seconds to get out of my room and out of my face or I will beat you bloody. You’re not the first asshole who’s tried to take me on, believing a short
That vague comment got his back up. Was she trying to get rid of him? Just to be ornery, he said, “I hadn’t planned on goin’ anywhere today. Thought I’d stick around the room and rest up. Hang out with you, my friend.”Panic darted through her eyes. “Oh. Obviously since you’re paying for half the room that’s your prerogative. But I was hoping…”“Hoping for what?”“To have a few hours of quiet time so I can get your rides separated from the other footage.”Quiet time his ass. She wanted nookie time. And he’d be goddamned if he’d just fucking walk away and make it easy on her to bang a total stranger in his hotel room. “I’m not exactly loud, Ava.”“I know, Chase, but I need quiet. Complete silence. No TV. No talking. No cell phone conversations. No fighting.”The sneaky-ass woman knew that lying on his bed, counting the flaws in the ceiling tile for hours would drive him bonkers. But the idea of any man, in here—the private space Chase shared with Ava—touching her, kissing her, fucking