by Audra North
He groaned and stroked up her body, cupping her breast and giving it a gentle squeeze. She felt his erection jump against her thigh.
“Beatrice. I need you. Now, please.” For him, that was practically begging, even though she’d denied him nothing.
But she could tell what he was really asking for. Permission. A command to just do it, to not have to be gentle or considerate.
“Yes. Fuck me, Warren,” she commanded, and he didn’t wait another second. He pulled her to the edge of the couch, wrapping her legs around his waist and placing the head of his cock at her entrance before starting to thrust his way inside. She gasped at the feel of him pushing into her swollen channel, so hard and so fast, and her body shrank away for a moment.
“Oh, shit, baby. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He froze there, his fingers digging into her thighs, flexing over her skin and muscle.
Her heart thrilled at hearing those words from him, and her body opened up then, inspiring her to tip her hips forward and slide off the couch, pressing him against the floor until he was sitting on his heels as she straddled him.
She slid all the way down on a long exhale, forcing a loud groan from him, long black eyelashes fluttering over his cheeks when he momentarily shut his eyes and tipped his head back, as though uttering a silent prayer to heaven. When he opened his eyes again, they were dark and hot with arousal, and he immediately kissed her hard, pushing his hips up, lodging himself that much deeper.
Beatrice moaned with pleasure at the contact, then let her body sink even farther onto him even as he grabbed and pulled her against him. “Warren,” she whispered.
“I’m here,” he bit out, echoing her words from all those nights ago before he began to thrust in earnest as she rose and fell above him. “I’m here.”
Epilogue
Five months later
“I can’t believe I sold all of them.”
Beatrice stood in the middle of Tenny’s gallery, looking around at the walls where her work hung, every placard marked with a red sticker that meant sold. And all at the prices Tenny had recommended. It was more than she’d dreamed of.
“I can. You’re an incredible photographer, baby.” Warren walked over, taking her in his arms and kissing her. “Not to mention half of them were sold by the end of opening night. I feel bad for all those buyers, having to wait several months to get their one-of-a-kind Beatrice Lawrence works.” He smiled down at her and she laughed. These days, Warren’s smiles were much more frequent than his scowls. In fact, those dark looks had almost completely disappeared.
“Well, I wish Michelle hadn’t bought one. I would have happily given her one for free. I feel bad about that. I told her not to do it.”
He snorted. “Like Michelle takes orders from anyone.”
She giggled. “Okay, you have a point there.” Michelle had become one of her closest friends, and although Warren always felt a little uncomfortable that the Domme knew how he and Beatrice had gotten together at the beginning—not that she would ever tell a soul—he got along with her and respected her a great deal.
Beatrice didn’t help out there anymore, though. She had found her sessions at Queen Dommes interesting, and they had helped her to realize so many things about owning her life and the power of control. But in the end there was only one man she wanted to be in charge of.
Although recently, she had been considering asking Kelly about it. Warren’s sister was still struggling with work and life and—Beatrice suspected, anyway—the onset of depression. Queen Dommes might provide exactly the support Kelly needed.
She dropped her voice and murmured, “Speaking of giving orders, as soon as Tenny comes back with the check, I’m going to take you home and get very bossy.”
Warren groaned. “Damn, I wish he’d hurry up.”
At that moment, Tenny walked out of his office, holding an envelope, and presented it to Beatrice with a smile. “For you, Miss Famous Photographer.”
She laughed and took the envelope from him, sliding it into her bag. “I bet you say that to all the artists.”
Tenny shook his head and walked with them as she and Warren headed to the door. “Really, I don’t. I got a couple of calls from folks begging me to sell them some of your pieces that were already spoken for. They actually proposed to pay more than the asking price. You’re hot, Beatrice. Don’t doubt it.”
She blushed and thanked him again with a hug, then left, heading to Warren’s car.
“You are definitely hot,” he growled, slipping an arm down to caress her waist and pull her against him as they walked. “I don’t think I’ll be able to drive home fast enough.”
She wriggled away. “Don’t go getting us killed. My plans definitely require you to be very alive and very energetic.” She took the envelope out of her purse and opened it as they walked. They’d nearly reached the car when she pulled out the check inside, freezing in place on a gasp when she saw the number.
“What’s wrong?” He reached out to steady her, but when he looked down and saw the amount, he gave a surprised shout.
“Damn, baby. You really are a famous photographer.”
Even with Tenny’s cut of the sales, she was still walking away with enough money to put a down payment on a starter house…whenever she and Warren were ready for that next step. Tenny must have taken some of those offers to pay more than the asking price. Significantly more, judging from the number on the check.
Warren was the first to recover. “Well, congratulations. I am not surprised you went above and beyond, but I am very proud of you. And proud to be with you.” He kissed her, then asked with a grin, “So what else are you going to do, go to Disneyland?”
She shook her head. “No.” She slid the check back into her bag, took a deep breath and turned to look up at him. “We’re going to go to Italy.”
She looked at him meaningfully, hoping he would remember that conversation during one of their earliest sessions. He’d always wanted to see the world, and she wanted to give him the world.
He looked stunned. “Beatrice. I can’t—you can’t—”
“Can’t what? Take us on a trip together? Spend time with the man I love more than anyone? I wouldn’t have this money if it weren’t for you. I want to use it on the people who helped me realize how much I was capable of. That means we’re going, Warren. And we’re going to have so much fun.”
He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling. “Is that an order?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, loving the way he automatically drew her close. “No. It’s a promise.” She played with the hair at the nape of his neck, rubbing at the sensitive skin there. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” He brought his forehead to hers. “Thank you for taking on my crazy life.”
“Thank you for giving it up.”
And then she kissed him, with all the love she had.
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Acknowledgments
It truly takes a village to produce a book, and I consider myself extremely fortunate to have such a fantastic group of people in mine.
I want to thank my husband and my children for being my constant supporters and most enthusiastic cheerleaders. You will always come first in my life, even when it seems like my fingers might be glued to the keyboard.
To my editor, Christa Desir, I cannot begin to offer enough gratitude for the hard work you put into this book that made it exponentially better. Your thoughtful and detailed guidance was so much appreciated. You are exceptionally talented and I am forever in awe of your amazing brain.
Thank you to my agent, Courtney Miller-Callihan, for whipping this book into shape and having faith in it
s success. You are the greatest agent an author could ask for, and I am lucky to have you.
To all of my readers, including my beta readers, thank you for putting your valuable time into these words. I appreciate every one of you.
About the Author
Audra North fell in love with romance at age thirteen and spent the next twenty years reading as many romance novels as she could. Even now, after having read over one thousand of them, Audra still can’t resist the lure of a happily ever after, and her collection continues to grow. She lives near Boston with her husband, three young children, and a lot of books. To receive information on Audra’s upcoming releases, visit www.AudraNorth.com, or find her on Twitter @AudraNorth and Facebook at AudraNorthAuthor.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
Cincinnati OH 45249
Giving It Up
Copyright © 2016 by Audra North
ISBN: 978-1-61923-252-5
Edited by Christa Soule
Cover by Syneca
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: January 2016
www.samhainpublishing.com
