“For a dead man, you sure kiss good.” Her voice was husky with a combination of unshed tears and desire.
“I don’t know whether to explain, or make you come.”
“Do both.”
I took her hand, drawing her away from the water and into the shelter of a group of trees. Turning her so she was facing one of the trunks, I lifted her hands above her head. Holding them at the wrists with one of my own hands, I used my body to keep her in place.
I moved the fingers of my other hand to the button of her jeans. “When I walked away from here ten years ago, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to stay and fight for you. It was because your father swore he would kill you rather than see you become the whore of a mob boss.”
I spread my hand over her abdomen, enjoying the way her muscles fluttered beneath my touch. I pulled her zipper down slowly, separating the material in its wake and sliding my hand into the opening.
“Even if I didn’t believe he would kill you, I knew Oliver was capable of telling you everything about me. You were eighteen years old, Christie. You were getting ready to start university. I didn’t want you to hear that the man you thought you loved was a drug smuggler and a murderer.”
I edged my hand inside the elastic of her underwear, tracing the curve of her neck with my lips as my fingertips brushed against her soft curls.
“Every person on that boat wanted me dead, including my own mother. It had reached a point where it was only a matter of time before one of them killed me. Or I did something about it. When you turned up on The Dark Side, the timing couldn’t have been worse.”
My middle finger found her clit as I spoke, rubbing it until the tiny bud swelled beneath my touch. Sliding my fingers lower, I held her swollen flesh apart, pushing a finger inside her with a single, hard stroke. Her snug flesh gripped me, clenching tight around the impalement. Christie cried out, tilting her head back against my shoulder and grinding her hips wildly.
“You could have told me.” She panted the words wildly.
I wanted to tug her jeans off, throw her down on the ground and bury my cock inside her. Wanted to lose myself in her, and forget everything except the sensation of her hot, tight muscles rippling around me. But I was determined to see this through and do what she’d asked. Tell her what happened and make her come. Twin instructions I’d been waiting a week in my hiding place to carry out.
“Not when I didn’t know why you were there. I didn’t know who was paying you. You could have been working for one of them, or for another of my enemies.”
I added a second finger, thrusting harder while using my thumb to circle the sensitized bundle of nerve endings. She was already close. I could hear it in the agonized moans that spilled from her lips at each push of my fingers. I wasn’t the only one who had been hurting during the time we’d spent apart.
“So you faked your own death?” She could barely speak as her internal muscles clenched around my fingers.
“I’d been planning it for almost a year. My businesses have already been wound up. My money is in offshore accounts. I was ready for the instant when Theo Ward didn’t exist anymore.” I drove my fingers deeper into her. “Then you walked back into my life.”
I felt her tip over the edge. She threw back her head, calling out my name as her whole body juddered wildly. I held her upright, preventing her from collapsing by keeping an arm around her waist.
“You walked back in and made me love you all over again.” I turned her to face me, kissing her as she clung to me. “I had to get you off that boat. I had to make sure what I said would hurt you so much you wouldn’t stick around and argue.”
“You sure knew which words to pick.” Her face clouded at the memory
“I’m sorry. But I was always coming back for you.” And I was going to spend the rest of my life making it up to her.
“You were very certain I’d come here.” Her expression was puzzled. “How did you even know I still had this house?”
“Because I gave it to you.” I smiled at the shock on her face. “When Oliver’s assets were sold, I bought it, but I made it over to you as if it had come from him.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “I wasted a lot of time hating you, Theo.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll think of a way you can make it up to me.”
She blushed. After everything that had passed between us, she blushed.
There was a frown in her eyes as she looked up at me. “How did you get away from The Dark Side?”
“Paolo arranged for a speedboat to be brought alongside just before he detonated the bomb. I left on that.”
“Paolo knew? He was the one who detonated the bomb?” She pulled away from me slightly. “When I was on the launch with him, asking him why we’d come back to Miami, he was pressing the button that would blow up the yacht?”
“Don’t blame Paolo. He just follows my orders. Just like he’s been following them ever since by sticking to your side.”
“What about your mother? Did she get away too?” Christie asked.
“No, I killed her the night before the bomb blast. Finally did the world a huge favor and broke her evil fucking neck. Right about the time you were breaking into Ferran Garcia’s cabin.” Her eyes widened in surprise. “When it came to a list of my enemies, Cora was always at the top. Her latest trick to spook me was sending anonymous letters with graphic details of how she was going to kill me. Cora always did enjoy sending out a warning to her victims. It was her trademark and her downfall. It worked out well because the police found them and took them to be proof of a gangland vendetta. Mommy dearest did something good for me for the first time in her fucked-up life.”
Christie shook her head, her expression dazed. “And Ferran Garcia? Why did you kill him? Was it just to prove you were better than me?”
“No.” I reached into the pocket of my pants and drew out a small, square box. “It was because I don’t want my wife to be part of the Seduction Squad. Any hits you carry out from now on, you do them on my orders.”
Tears sparkled on the ends of her lashes as I slid the ring on her finger. “I have a condition.”
I raised a brow. “What is it? We have to live a secluded life from now on, although we do have an obscene amount of money.”
She laughed. “It will be just you and me on the honeymoon. Paolo is not welcome.”
“Agreed.”
We turned and walked back toward the house.
“You want me to be your personal assassin, but you also said you’ve wound up your businesses. Are you planning a new gangland empire?”
“Would you object to a partnership?” I smiled down at her. “My father managed to keep his business and remain anonymous. Your prim and proper grandmother never knew she was married to a gang boss. Whatever we do next, I like the idea of you as my deadly insurance policy. Although I’m hiding the knuckle-duster in case we ever get into a fight.”
Christie tucked her hand into the crook of my arm. “Will you buy another yacht?”
“Possibly. I hadn’t thought about it.”
“What will you call it? It can’t be The Dark Side. People will guess that it’s yours.” Her brow furrowed as she thought about it. “How about the The Lighter Side? Or maybe The Phoenix, because you came back from the flames?”
We reached the house and crossed the threshold. It had taken us ten years, but we had found our happy ending at last. “Untainted. That’s what we’ll call it. That’s what we’ve got. A fresh start.”
“Untainted.” She murmured the word against my lips. “I like it. But that was my safe word. I’ll need a new one.”
“You didn’t tell me the truth about why you were on my boat, Christie. You’re in big trouble and you need to be punished. We need to have a discussion about that
new safe word.” She quivered as I swung her up into my arms. “Right now.”
* * * * *
Also available from Amanda Stewart
and Carina Press
Seduction Squad: Captured
About the Author
Amanda Stewart writes the stories she wants to read...dark and erotic with damaged, but memorable, characters.
Amanda lives in Cheshire, England. She is married to a lovely man and is mum to two grown-up children. Her hobbies include reading and traveling to romantic European cities that are steeped in history and drama.
Amanda also writes paranormal romance and romantic suspense as Jane Godman.
Website: romancecom.org
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PRINCESS BRAT by Brianna Hale
Throwing tantrums may be childish behavior, but it’s the only way Adrienne Westley feels she can be heard. Bodyguard Dieter Vanderbroeck doesn’t give in to her bratty attitude, try as she might to defy him. With a commanding voice and a firm hand, Dieter’s authoritative tone calls to a part of Adrienne that she’s long kept hidden—and as Dieter begins to unravel her submissive nature, it becomes harder and harder to keep things professional.
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ISBN-13: 9781488028250
Seduction Squad: Tainted
Copyright © 2017 by Amanda Anders
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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