I nodded, breathless and speechless. He caressed down my shoulders.
“So beautiful.”
I turned in his arms. He made quick work of the clasp and zipper at the back of my dress. The weighty fabric fell to the floor, pooling at my feet. Behind me, I heard Blake tossing his own garments to the floor. I turned and caught him staring, slack-jawed, hunger in his eyes. I stood before him, in the white lacy underthings I knew he’d love.
He traced the hem of my panties and thumbed over the scar emerging above it. Out of the dizzying happiness of the day, a small sadness floated over me. He caught my chin, lifting my gaze to meet his.
“No sad eyes tonight. This is the time for the man of the house to make passionate love to his beautiful bride. I may not stop for hours, because I’m starving for you.”
Then his hands were everywhere, unhooking the corset and slipping down the delicate white lace panties just the way I’d imagined he would. Lowering to his knees, he lingered, pressing delicate kisses over my belly and just above the patch of hair between my legs.
Slowing over the place on my abdomen where the wound had puckered the skin, he brushed his lips over the dark pink scar that had begun to form. I had tried to ignore the imperfection, averting my eyes whenever they were drawn to it as I was dressing or undressing.
“Don’t, Blake…” I covered myself, feeling self-conscious. I tugged at his shoulders, urging him to his feet.
He stood, only to coax me back onto the soft bed and return his attentions to my lower half, kissing, licking. I gasped when he dragged his tongue down the inside of my thigh and back up again. He moved up my body, claiming every expanse of skin with his amazing mouth until I was quivering and on edge.
He captured my face in his hand, all traces of humor having left his expression, our bodies warm with passion and champagne and the candles casting heat and a warm glow across our skin. “Erica…I love you…all of you. Even your scars.”
The deep, determined kiss that followed his words stole my breath. I wasn’t sure if I could have formed a word or taken a full breath anyway, the way he was holding me and touching me. I’d missed him so much.
“I told you I was going to kiss every inch of you one night. I’m almost done.”
He lifted my knees, hooking them over his shoulders. Then his mouth was over me, lavishing firm, deliberate licks over the hot ache between my thighs. His tongue teased my opening, taunting me with shallow dips into the place where I was already soaked for him.
I gripped his hair tightly. I lifted against him, desperate for more contact against that sensitive spot. My thighs trembled, brushing against his shaven face. With strong hands, he parted me again, baring me for him completely.
I gripped the comforter, bracing myself for the orgasm that loomed and threatened to take me under. I couldn’t believe we’d made it this long, but now that we had, I was helpless against the sensations rocketing through me. A few more seconds of dedicated attention under his mouth and I was at the edge. My heart beat wildly. I was starved for him, an exposed nerve, waiting for him to set me off with a spark. Then he did, tonguing me until I could scarcely breathe.
“Blake!”
I screamed his name, frozen around the pleasure he gave me. It had been too long. I shuddered, utterly blissed out, but knowing that we had the whole night.
He rose over me, his toned body warm and protective over mine. I caught my breath, letting him come into focus again. He smiled and kissed me sweetly.
“I missed that,” I hummed.
“Me too. You’re going to lose count of how many times I make you come tonight. I have to make up for lost time. ”
A delirious smile curled my lips, contentment washing over me. “I can’t wait.”
His arms rested on either side of my head as he stared down with a look that felt like wonder. “Erica, do you have any idea how much I love you?”
I swallowed hard. If he loved me a fraction of how much I loved him, I knew. Every sliver of wonder in his stare ricocheted into me, landing squarely on my heart. I feathered my fingertips over the hard lines of his features, awe and desire mingling inside of me.
“I think so. But I’d rather you show me.”
He closed his eyes a long moment. Gently he kneed my legs apart. I wrapped my legs around his hips, urging him to me.
Slowly, he slid inside of me, joining us together. I whimpered, growing tense around his body. I cried out softly, trembling with the pleasure of having him inside me again, filling me so perfectly after such an absence.
The first wave of pleasure overtook me. The sheer bliss of our bodies together again almost too much to bear. I came back down, only to feel my desire building again.
“Blake,” I whimpered, clinging to him as he took me there, again and again, with deep, steady thrusts.
I’d grown slick around him, my thoughts swirling from the passion in our touch, the energy that exploded between us every time we made love. We had all night like this. We had every night. We had forever.
Blake nuzzled into my hair, inhaling me, kissing me, loving me.
“My wife,” he whispered.
A tear fell, sliding down to my ear. Our breath mingled, ragged and in time with each other all at once. We couldn’t be any closer. We were one. Nothing could tear us apart.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Over the speakers, airport staff rattled off boarding instructions for the flights around us while we waited for our turn. By morning we’d be in Dublin, the first stop of the month long honeymoon that Blake had promised and planned for us. I sat beside him, focusing on some invisible point in the darkness that had fallen outside.
I’d spent weeks having downtime. Emotionally and physically I had struggled to get back on my feet. But becoming Blake’s wife had lit a fire inside of me again. I was ready to start fresh. Jet setting around the world or even just a small part of it was a good start in a new direction.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, distracting me from my daydreaming. James’s name appeared and I answered quickly.
“James, hey.”
“Hey, I’m super sorry if I’m interrupting your honeymoon. I wasn’t sure if you’d left yet.”
“I’m at the airport actually. What’s up?”
He cleared his throat. “I was wondering if you might have any room for a front-end developer at the new office?”
I hesitated, a little blindsided by the request. “Why? Is everything okay?”
“Not really, no. Everything has gone to shit here. The site… It’s gone.”
“What?” I looked over at Blake and turned the volume up on the phone so he could hear James.
“Things were transitioning okay with their team. I mean, not great, but Isaac’s techies were figuring things out slow but sure. We were moving it to the Perry Media Group servers, and everything went down.” He sighed. “They accused me of sabotaging the switch. Obviously I didn’t, so I left.”
“Do you think we were hacked?” I shook my head. I still spoke about Clozpin as if I had some claim over it. I didn’t. I’d lost it.
“Definitely.”
“Really? Has anyone taken responsibility since you left?”
He paused, and my thoughts filled in the silence. Threats from the past lurked in the confines of my mind. But how…
“I think it’s Trevor.”
My heart stopped, Trevor’s name echoing in the silence. The ghost that I’d hoped would disappear along with Max when Blake had taken out their copycat site. He was still the one person I could always count on to viciously troll and attack our online assets. He’d been mercifully absent. Could he really be back to haunt us now? I glanced up to Blake, his eyes steely and cold.
“But why? Sophia and Isaac aren’t allies. Why would he attack their assets?”
“If this is Trevor’s handiwork, I’d be willing to bet he had no idea Isaac is on your bad side. For all he knows, it was a completely amicable sale, and that you’re still vested.”
<
br /> I released an exasperated sigh. “I’m surprised they haven’t reached out to me…”
“I think they’ve got their hands full trying to pick up the pieces right now. But with all the bad press and the downtime, it’s going to be hard for them. We were small, and when Trevor hit us, we recovered pretty easily. This is different. Everything they’ve done since the sale has been in the spotlight, because Isaac’s been putting this new venture in the limelight from the day you left.”
I closed my eyes. I wouldn’t have known. I’d been living in near isolation for weeks. Plus, if anyone had gotten wind of this, they likely wouldn’t have told me. “This is crazy.”
“There’s more.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “Oh?”
“Whoever hacked their site also hacked email accounts hosted on Perry’s server. They’ve been releasing things.”
“Like what?”
“Email transcripts and illicit photos.”
I thought I might be sick. Illicit photos?
“Photos of who?” I asked tentatively.
“Isaac with models, along with a hell of a lot of complaints. Did you know he’s got a handful of girls threatening him with sexual harassment lawsuits? Sophia basically blackmailed him into acquiring your site along with Alex’s business, because she had all this dirt on him. She promised to keep the girls at her agency quiet in exchange for a slice of the ownership of Clozpin.”
I ground my teeth. I knew it. I knew she had something on Isaac. I couldn’t possibly know what though. Diversify, my ass. She’d wanted revenge, and she’d gotten it.
“It’s turned into a complete PR shit storm for Perry Media,” James continued. “I don’t want anywhere near it. Chris put out feelers and got recruited to another tech lab here in the city. I was going to do the same, but figured I’d touch base with you first. I wanted to leave with the rest of you, but you know, we’re not all married to billionaires.”
I laughed softly, flashing a look to Blake. “No, I understand. And I don’t blame you. I just couldn’t… I couldn’t stay and work with her. It would have been hell.”
“Yeah, well, I can validate that. When it hasn’t been stressful, it’s been nothing short of hell.”
“Honestly, I’d love to have you back. We’re going to be working on some new projects as soon as Blake and I get back. Maybe we can meet up then.”
“Sounds like a plan. And sorry for dropping this on you right now. I didn’t mean to impose.”
“Not at all, James. I’m glad you called. I’ll talk to you soon.”
We hung up, and I stared at the phone a moment, letting the shock settle over me. I wasn’t sure if I was happy or not that Isaac and Sophia had managed to bulldoze my site to the ground. For the most part, I’d come to terms with losing it, but having their deceit and skeletons exposed in the process was undeniably satisfying.
What worried me more was the prospect that Trevor might be up to his old tricks. He’d been after Clozpin before. He was relentless, trying to meddle with Blake’s affairs, until I’d confronted him. What could he possibly want from us after all this time and destruction?
“I can’t believe it,” I finally said, turning to Blake.
“I told you Isaac couldn’t be trusted.”
“True. And I told you Sophia was a conniving bitch. So I think we’re both learning to trust each other’s instincts, finally. Do you think Trevor did this?”
Blake stared past me. He appeared cold and emotionless, the way he could become whenever someone like Trevor threatened one of us. “Probably,” he said finally.
“What are we going to do?”
He took my hand, holding it tightly. “Not a damn thing right now. Sounds like he has his sights set on Perry, so let him wreak havoc on them for awhile.”
“He’s not going away, Blake. You have to know that.”
The speakers blared again with a new announcement. First class for our flight was boarding.
Blake stood to collect our bags. “Come on. Let’s go.”
I followed him, my thoughts heavy with the news James had left me with.
We took off out of Logan. The plane banked side to side gracefully, and the city lights came into view below us. For the moment, I convinced myself we were leaving all of our problems behind.
BLAKE AND ERICA’S STORY CONTINUES
IN THE HACKER SERIES SEQUEL #5,
To be released Spring/Summer 2015
Updates at: www.meredithwild.com/book/hard-love
More Books by Meredith Wild
On My Knees (Bridge Series #1)
Order: http://bit.ly/1rqMPam
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For years my mother asked me when I was going to write a novel. I would roll my eyes and say something about never possibly having time for that. Three kids, a business that demanded so much of my time and energy, not to mention whatever else life could throw at me made that dream seemingly impossible. Never in my wildest fantasies did I imagine that writing would become such an important part of my life one day. Now that it has, I’ve become dedicated to keeping it that way as long as I can.
Over the course of penning Hard Limit, I had to make some very hard, heart-wrenching decisions. The hardest one of all was the decision to sell my business. Days after completing the manuscript and with a heavy heart, I drove down to Boston to say goodbye to a team I’ve grown to love, an industry that has taught me so much, and a place at the head of the table that has given me so much purpose for the past ten years.
This book is dedicated to the talented team who’ve made the business what it is today and who, over the years, have become some of my most loyal friends. Susan, Luc, Kurt, Derek, Yvonne, and Chris, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your brilliance, for all the laughs, and for making me proud every single day.
This book is also dedicated, in a secondary way, to the people from my entrepreneurial travels who I would rather poke in the eye than look at but who’ve made lovely character profiles for my villains. And to all of the others who have crossed my path, however briefly, on this intense journey, thank you for whatever lessons and small moments you brought to my life. Every experience has helped make me who I am, and for that, I have no regrets.
While this milestone inspired a lot of emotions in the book, rest assured that I didn’t sell my company to a villain and there are no circling hackers waiting for a chance to strike at me and my billionaire boyfriend. I have great faith in the next chapter of my life and that of the business. As real-life Sid always says when something mind-blowing happens…I love the future.
Eternal gratitude goes out to my husband, Jonathan, for speed walking through this incredible life with me. I love our adventures, and I love that we always have each other to enjoy the triumphs and get through the tough stuff together. As always, this book could not have come to fruition without your support, motivation, and single parenting.
I would like to thank my mom, Colleen, for helping keep me grounded, listening to all my venting, and lifting me up when I needed it the most. No surprise really, but I’m super lucky that you’re my kind of crazy. We always have each other!
Mia Michelle…my Facebook bestie…my sweet! Thank you for always being there for me, for being real and cheering me on, and for vowing never to publish a tell-all novel based on our Facebook conversations. Seriously though, you are truly one of the most genuine people I know. You have a heart of gold, and I’m so blessed to have found you!
Many thanks to my editor, Helen Hardt. We’ve come a long way together in a year, and I can’t imagine having taken this journey without your help and guidance.
Thanks once more to Remi, for giving me so much to look forward to as life unfolds.
A big thank you goes out to my new get-things-done angel, Shayla Fereshetian. You have played no small part in saving my sanity these past few weeks. Ask anyone I know—they think your middle name is awesome. Be prepared to have your name listed here regularly!
Thanks to m
y rock star beta readers for your always thoughtful and amazingly prompt feedback. You cannot possibly know how important your input is to me in the process of putting a book into the world. Special thanks to the lovely Megan Cooke. Your twelve-page Word documents complete me!
Huge thanks to my proofers, Amy, Haidee, Liana, Jill, and Claire, for catching whatever I might have missed.
Last, but certainly not least, a big shout out to Team Wild and M89 Underground, my ever-dedicated street team crews, and to all of the beautiful fans and readers out there who have given me so much support and so many kind words. I write my books for you, and I can’t wait to share Hard Love and many more stories with all of you very soon!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Meredith Wild is a New York Times and international bestselling author of erotic romance. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. You can find her at:
Official Website: www.meredithwild.com
Official Facebook: www.facebook.com/meredithwild
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
How does stepping into Blake’s head for the first time affect how you understand his character? Does his point of view change anything for you with how you view Blake or Erica?
Erica has two men who take on a fatherly role in her life: Elliot and Daniel. Both of these relationships are complicated. How have these different fatherly relationships affected Erica and the decisions she’s made?
While they are in the club, Blake and Erica learn a lot about each other as they share a heated and honest moment together. Do you believe that Blake doesn’t really want what the club offers? Do you think there is a part of Erica that does?
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