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did. She opened her eyes, looking at the man who was claiming her body; knowing that never again would a man conquer her so completely. Any other man and that thought would have scared her, but not this one. With this man she wanted to be conquered, wanted to submit to his demanding touch, wanted to give him just as good as he was giving her.
He pulled out and slid in, once, twice and then again and she came, long, hard, loud, and he followed behind her “London!” The brevity of his call for her made her thrust her hips up, taking him deeper and squeezing him tighter with her inner muscles, milking him for everything he had to give. And when they had climaxed they lay in each others arms, panting, trying to ease their raging heartbeats.
He finally released her arms, rolling on to his back and she flung herself onto his chest, letting her head rest against it, her legs entwined with his and her arm draped over his body while the other lay by his shoulder. Her fingers slowly caressing his skin. In that moment she knew; Gavin McGregor was worth the risk. She finally had an answer to the question that had been following her since his impromptu kiss—he was definitely phenomenal in bed.
“This was a mistake,” Gavin looked down into her eyes, but made no immediate move to untangle his body from hers.
“What? How can you say that?”
“We shouldn’t have done this. You’re the host…” Capri Montgomery
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“Gavin,” she placed a finger over his lips. “Trust me when I say that I have been trying to avoid getting involved with you too. Business and pleasure has never turned out well for me—I base this of course on one event in my life. Do you know why I took this job?” He didn’t, but he wanted to know. He needed to know, but he doubted she would give him the truth.
“I was a snake wrangler when I wasn’t off on an adventure with my parents. Seriously, even they still need their alone time together. So I went into business with a guy—a guy I thought loved me—and we were doing well. Our third partner didn’t have a controlling share, but it was enough. Robin and I started the business and we took on Kris as a partner for added income, at least that’s what Robin said.
“Kris was really good at getting raccoons, even bears, out of people’s homes. Yes,” she stopped to look at him thoughtfully, “we did get bear calls on occasion. But our biggest market was snakes. Robin taught me some of the things I hadn’t already taught myself. We went on our own adventures. He took me down to Central America, introduced me to new snakes, and showed me the best way to wrangle.
We always had a capture and release method down there. Up in the states it was capture and relocate.” He waited for her to continue, although he could see something about what happened was causing her measurable pain.
“We were friends first, business partners second. He convinced me we made a good team and should go for it. I thought the idea The McGregor Affair
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sounded good at the time. Then, we started dating—big mistake.” She exhaled slowly. “Anyway, long story short…too late right?” She chuckled, but it wasn’t a sincere laugh. He could tell by the way her voice trembled, by the glistening sheen in her eyes. Something had hurt her. Someone had hurt her.
“Robin and Kris decided to…how can I say this delicately?
They decided to bed each other. And of course I was in the dark. I was a complete idiot to my surroundings. I never saw it coming, never would have imagined in my wildest dreams.”
“What happened?”
“They decided to force a sale of the business. I was the hold out, but I didn’t have the money to really stop the sale. The two of them joined together against me. I had a great lawyer; I could fight it and keep it from going through. I was going to fight it because I was so angry that they’d do that to me. Kris…I didn’t know him that well—”
“Him?”
“Yeah; Kris is a guy. Anyway, I guess I didn’t expect anything from him more than what I got, but Robin…God I was so sure I was going to marry that man. We had perfection. We were both adventurous spirits. We were fairly good in bed—at least I thought we were at the time…I thought he loved me and the betrayal knocked me off my feet.
Then when they tried to force me out of my own company it just really hit me hard. I was determined to make them pay. I didn’t care that I would lose the company in the end anyway. I just wanted to keep their Capri Montgomery
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upcoming sell from going through. But eventually I gave up on that and I planned to leave. Then when Warren offered me this job I was afraid to take it, but I guess I was afraid not to as well.” She wiped away a tear that had inadvertently fallen onto her cheek. “Gavin, getting involved with somebody I’m working with seems like an incredibly bad idea, but not taking a chance because I’m afraid it might end badly seems even worse. So unless you’re dissatisfied with me, with what just happened between us, then let’s not throw us away before we see where this can go.” He studied her face, long and hard. She wasn’t lying to him. He was sure of that. Or maybe he needed to be sure of it, wanted to be sure of it, because he needed to believe she was one of the good ones. He needed to believe she wasn’t capable of deception.
“That’s it isn’t it? You’re…I wasn’t good enough for you either.” She nearly whispered the last words, but he heard her. He heard her pain as loudly as he could hear a raging thunderstorm.
“Like hell you weren’t,” he slid his hand into her hair and pulled her to him as his mouth conquered hers.
Once was not enough. He wanted more of her, needed more of her. And he planned to take more of her, all of her.
He kissed her, hotly, wantonly, letting his tongue sample every inch of her mouth. Devouring her as if his life depended on it, and she returned his desirous kiss, thrust for thrust, letting her tongue dance with his, igniting his passions once again.
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He pulled his mouth from hers. Breathlessly panting as he looked into her eyes. “You taste so good, London. Like sugar and spice, and I want more.” He wanted it and he planned to get it. Once again his head dipped, his lips lowered and before she could catch her breath he once again conquered her mouth.
She pulled him closer, hanging on to his biceps as he expertly shifted her thighs and came to rest between them. “Gavin, please don’t stop now?” She panted as he started to ease into her and then stop. He wanted to savor this moment, savor her.
“”I’m going to take my time with you, London. I’m going to learn every inch of your body and what makes it sing with pleasure, and then…” he licked her lips, letting his tongue slide against her bottom lip and watched as the plump flesh parted for him. “Then, I’m going to do you hard.” And then he proceeded to do just that, tasting her, touching her, learning every inch of her and then pounding into her so hard she nearly shattered at first touch. He could feel her clenching him, taking him in deeper, and knowing her passion was blazing just as strong as his fueled his fire.
It was a long time before either one of them could move again, let alone speak again. But when he could do something other than come down off his sexual high he had a question he wanted an answer to. A question he’d had before they went for round two, or maybe it was three by now, of sex, and he planned to get an answer to it. He looked down at her angelic face. She was asleep, or at least she looked asleep.
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He brushed his fingers through her hair. She was smiling. Whether she was fully asleep or not, she wasn’t fully awake…but there was no mistaking the fact that he had put that smile on her face—and he planned to keep it there.
London rolled over into Gavin’s arms. When her eyes finally opened and looked up at him, she could tell he was watching her…not just watching her, studying her. He seemed deep in thought about something.
“What’
s wrong?” She stretched against him.
“Nothing,” he kissed her forehead again. “I have a question for you.”
“Okay,” she yawned and then tucked herself against him.
“What happened to make you change your mind about your partners and the business?”
She stroked her hand up and down his chest, playing with the soft patch of hair that covered it. “A job went bad…very bad. We were wrangling a boa. Pythons I can handle. I mean eighteen feet is eighteen feet, but for the most part a python seems less hostile to me than a boa.
We had a thirteen foot boa. It was much smaller than some of the pythons we wrangled, but not less deadly.” She looked up into his eyes and could tell he was getting ready to slip into protective mode—a little late given the fact that she had spent years wrangling before she met him, and had no thoughts of completely abandoning the venture. It The McGregor Affair
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might not be her job anymore, but she didn’t need a man to try to be protective of her now. Of course he was still waiting for an answer, so she might as well give it to him.
“Whenever we wrangled a boa it always took me and Robin to get it. Anyway, we were in a high school. Some idiot thought it would be a fun way to get back at the school by unleashing a hungry beast in the gymnasium during cheerleading practice. The police never figured out who did it. Honestly, I think it would have had to have been more than one person because there is no way one kid got that thing in there alone.” She felt her body tremble, felt him pull her closer to him. she could see the questioning look in his eyes. She billed herself as an adventurer who wasn’t afraid to take a chance. So far he had been the only one on the set to really know the details behind her fear of going beneath the water. Now he was finding out about something else that had scared her. She wanted to seem strong, because if she looked strong then people wouldn’t try to walk all over her. But somehow, with Gavin, she let that guard down; she stopped worrying about her weaknesses being her enemy’s way of taking her down. She trusted him.
“We almost had the boa. I had the tail, Robin had the head. Kris was along for the assist so he was waiting with the cage we had brought in. Things were going fine. We had asked people not to make a move and seeing as though they had been standing basically motionless for nearly a half hour before we got there, we didn’t think it would be a Capri Montgomery
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problem.” When they got the emergency call out they had been told the snake moved in a hostile manner anytime somebody tried to exit the gym. They thought it best if everybody stayed together, and made as few movements as possible. They had been right on that account. That boa had claimed the gym as its new home and the people as its meal just waiting to be had. Sudden movements would have only agitated it.
“One of the cheerleaders took that moment to run out of the gym, which scared the snake even more. Robin let go. I got knocked into the wall and then it wrapped around me. Two broken ribs later and I was free, gasping for air. But it wasn’t that event that pushed me away, so much as knowing…”
“Knowing what?”
“For a split second, when it counted, Robin was contemplating letting me die that way. I could see it in his eyes. He didn’t jump into action. He didn’t reach for the supplies. He hesitated. He thought first. I could see it. He was pondering whether or not letting me die there would be cheaper than letting me live. After that I realized I didn’t want to be like them. The vindictive fighting to keep control of something I’d pretty much already lost wasn’t worth who I would become. So I made up my mind to sign the papers. They lost the deal because of the incident at the school, so by the time I was out of the hospital I didn’t need to sign the papers. I had my lawyer draw up new papers, where they could buy me out if they wanted. I got the call for a The McGregor Affair
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snake in Warren’s office the same day and the rest is as they say…history in the making.”
“That bastard tried to kill you?”
“It’s in the past, Gavin. I’m fine.”
“They shouldn’t get away with what they did to you.” She could tell he was angry, very angry. “True. But I landed where I needed to land I guess. And I met you. That wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t completely betrayed me, basically tried to rip my heart out and steal my business from me.” She laughed. Not to mention the fact that they had to buy her out so she ended up with a nice little sum of money to add to her fairly impressive savings. A millionaire she was not, but she’d have a nice little nest egg to keep her going if ever she found herself unemployed.
“All is well that ends well,” she giggled.
“I have to admit that meeting you has been a plus to this assignment.”
“Assignment?”
She noticed how he tensed up. As if he had said something he hadn’t meant to say. “You know what I mean. I’m pretty much assigned to protect the safety here.” She nodded. “Oh,” although she wasn’t at all sure that’s what he meant by his words. She didn’t know why it did, but something in his voice, in his body language, told her he was trying to hide something Capri Montgomery
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from her. She dismissed the thought. It was silly really. What could he possibly be hiding? Unless…
“You’re not married or engaged are you?” Now was a fine time to ask.
“No!” He eased up onto his elbow and looked at her. A deep scowl on his face.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I just asked you that.”
“No,” he eased back down onto the bed. “I’m sorry for yelling at you. It’s just that my father cheated on my mother, left her and married the bimbo he left her for. Trust me; being like him is the last thing I want.”
“I’m sorry. That must have been hard for her. At least she has you. You’re a good man and I’m sure you helped her survive.” He nodded. “We all did.”
“Siblings…” her eyes lit up. “How many?” Now she was getting to the heart of the man. She knew he was a good guy. She knew he had compassion and kindness within him. She also knew he liked adventure, but at the same time he knew how to be safe…safety was key. She liked him—a lot, and for the first time ever, she thought maybe she had gotten as lucky as her mother. Maybe, just maybe, this was her mate for life. Of course she couldn’t be sure about that. She had to get to know him better. Plus she needed to know if he was interested in her in the same way. There was a chance he might be, and The McGregor Affair
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she would take that chance. She would invest her heart into this relationship.
She was thirty years old and she wanted now, more than before, the love that her mother and father had been sharing with each other all those years. She wanted that unconditional, fully committed, love, trust and respect. They could be so great together. And if he changed his mind about being on camera then maybe they could even do a show together. International travels, scaling mountains or digging for ancient treasures…now that would be fun. She could teach him all he needed to know.
“A younger brother and two younger sisters.”
“Ooh, you are the oldest. Very nice. I’ve always wanted brothers and sisters.”
“Only child; I wouldn’t have pegged you for one.” She laughed. Maybe he expected an only child to be a spoiled brat. “Yes,” she confirmed. “But you know it’s not that bad. I think if my parents had more children I would have had to split their attention with their adventures and the other children. Being an only child had its advantages.” Still, she wondered what having siblings would have been like. Then again, she had hears horror stories from some of her friends about how horrible their sisters were, or even their brothers. Maybe she was better off without siblings.
“Tell me about your family.” She ran her hand over his stomach.
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“
My brother lives in Boston. My youngest sister is finishing up college. She’s doing her Masters now, but she already has a job lined up in Florida. She gives us the most cause for concern…more so than my other sister. Good Lord, between the two of them they keep us busy.”
She noticed he hadn’t said their names. Didn’t people who talked about their family generally give their names? “Why is your sister giving you so much concern?”
“She’s finishing her MFA in photography and journalism. She has been working as a photojournalist throughout her college career.
But she takes the dangerous assignments. Ireland, the uprising in Egypt. I thought we were going to have to fly in their and extract her.” She noticed his terminology. He was definitely military at some point. She wanted to know more about him, but right now she was intrigued by his family. “She’s a big girl. I’m sure she was fine…and who is we? You said I thought we were going to have to fly in…” He laughed. “Sharp,” he winked, but he didn’t answer her question in full. “She’s young. Eve did her first two years of college while she was in high school. They had a program that allowed early entry. She graduated high school a year early.”
“High achiever,” she nodded. It took a lot of work and dedication to pull that course load and succeed with high enough remarks to keep going through her Masters degree.
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“Yeah. She graduated with honors every time. Anyway, she went the duo major track, finished her undergraduate degree six months early and went straight into her MFA. She only took a couple summers to devote to full time externships; otherwise she’d be finished with the MFA by now. She’ll still finish a semester early.”
“So there’s you, now there’s Eve…are you going to give me more names or what?” She laughed.
“Or what,” he said before pulling her on top of him and kissing her fiercely. When he pulled back and looked into her eyes he smiled and said. “Enough talking. I’d rather see what else you can do with that mouth of yours.”
She smiled deviously. “I bet you would.” She kissed his neck.
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