by Lexi Blake
Praise for Lexi Blake and Masters and Mercenaries…
“I can always trust Lexi Blake's Dominants to leave me breathless...and in love. If you want sensual, exciting BDSM wrapped in an awesome love story, then look for a Lexi Blake book.”
~Cherise Sinclair USA Today Bestselling author
“Lexi Blake's MASTERS AND MERCENARIES series is beautifully written and deliciously hot. She's got a real way with both action and sex. I also love the way Blake writes her gorgeous Dom heroes--they make me want to do bad, bad things. Her heroines are intelligent and gutsy ladies whose taste for submission definitely does not make them dish rags. Can't wait for the next book!”
~Angela Knight, New York Times bestselling author
“A Dom is Forever is action packed, both in the bedroom and out. Expect agents, spies, guns, killing and lots of kink as Liam goes after the mysterious Mr. Black and finds his past and his future… The action and espionage keep this story moving along quickly while the sex and kink provides a totally different type of interest. Everything is very well balanced and flows together wonderfully.”
~A Night Owl “Top Pick”, Terri, Night Owl Erotica
“A Dom Is Forever is everything that is good in erotic romance. The story was fast-paced and suspenseful, the characters were flawed but made me root for them every step of the way, and the hotness factor was off the charts mostly due to a bad boy Dom with a penchant for dirty talk.”
~Rho, The Romance Reviews
“A good read that kept me on my toes, guessing until the big reveal, and thinking survival skills should be a must for all men.”
~Chris, Night Owl Reviews
“I can’t get enough of the Masters and Mercenaries Series! Love and Let Die is Lexi Blake at her best! She writes erotic romantic suspense like no other, and I am always extremely excited when she has something new for us! Intense, heart pounding, and erotically fulfilling, I could not put this book down.”
~ Shayna Renee, Shayna Renee's Spicy Reads
“Certain authors and series are on my auto-buy list. Lexi Blake and her Masters & Mercenaries series is at the top of that list... this book offered everything I love about a Masters & Mercenaries book – alpha men, hot sex and sweet loving… As long as Ms. Blake continues to offer such high quality books, I’ll be right there, ready to read.”
~ Robin, Sizzling Hot Books
“I have absolutely fallen in love with this series. Spies, espionage, and intrigue all packaged up in a hot dominant male package. All the men at McKay-Taggart are smoking hot and the women are amazingly strong sexy submissives.”
~Kelley, Smut Book Junkie Book Reviews
Just One Taste
Masters and Mercenaries~Topped, Book 2
Lexi Blake
Just One Taste
Masters and Mercenaries, Topped, Book 2
Lexi Blake
Published by DLZ Entertainment LLC
Copyright 2015 DLZ Entertainment LLC
Edited by Chloe Vale
eBook ISBN: 978-1-937608-47-7
McKay-Taggart logo design by Charity Hendry
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to everyone who makes the McKay-Taggart world run. Chloe Vale, the best assistant and editor a writer could ever want—and who always gets hungry when we’re working on books set in Top, my beta readers—Riane Holt and Stormy Pate. Thanks to my publicist, Danielle Sanchez—I loved working on this with you! To my friends and tireless cheerleaders, Liz Berry, Kris Cook, and Shayla Black. Special thanks to Valerie Tibbs. As always I thank my own personal Big Tag, Richard Blake. His sarcasm is always inspiring. And to the young man who formatted this book. I gave birth to him and he still charges me. I love you, Dylan. This one is for you.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
Author’s Note
An excerpt from Seduction in Session by Shayla Black and Lexi Blake, Coming January 5, 2016
An excerpt from From Sanctum with Love by Lexi Blake, Coming February 23, 2016
About Lexi Blake
Other Books by Lexi Blake
CHAPTER ONE
Eric Vail stared at his boss’s office. The door was closed but he knew what was going on. There was no doubt in his mind that Kyle Hawthorne was giving his stepdad the news. The question was whether Sean Taggart would think it was good news or bad news.
Maybe now wasn’t the time to ask his boss for a favor.
The door to the kitchen opened and the reason for his favor breezed through. Deena Holmes. She was already dressed for work, wearing the white shirt and black slacks all the servers wore. Her dark hair was up in a neat bun, her makeup understated. She didn’t need it. She was perfect the way she was. She would be perfect naked, with her hair flowing around her shoulders and no makeup on. Not that he’d seen her that way except in his dreams. And if he didn’t ask for his favor, he likely never would.
She’d recently gone back to her natural brunette color. He’d liked her blonde, but she was devastating with dark hair.
“Hi, Eric,” she said with a generous smile. “How are you today?”
So sweet. So polite. She’d been giving him that glowy smile for a year and for a year she’d been putting him off with polite excuses. He’d almost given up. Maybe she was simply polite and glowy to everyone. She was the girl who lit up a room and breezed through making everyone feel happy and at home. He’d almost decided she was the girl who would be kind to the grizzled-looking dude with all the scars but she would end up with the handsome lawyer.
Until he’d finally figured out that her handsome lawyer had turned out to be a shitbag who’d ruined her life and she needed a grizzled dude who would look out for her. He might not have some fancy degree, but he also wasn’t a dirtbag who would let his wife work her ass off to put him through school and then dump her for another lawyer at his firm.
He would treat her right. He would take care of her the way she needed.
“I’m good, sweetheart. How are you?” He wanted to reach out for her and drag her into his arms and welcome her properly, but it wasn’t time for that yet.
Her eyes widened at the endearment. He hadn’t used it before. She recovered nicely, her smile barely faltering. “I’m great, of course. I saw the menu for tonight. Can’t wait.”
They all sat down for dinner after service was done. It was one of the perks of working at Top. A gourmet meal every night.
Was it the only meal she got sometimes? He’d seen the kitchen in her neat but tiny apartment. There had been very little in it. She’d needed a ride to work because her car had broken down. Had she asked him? Of course not. She’d asked Tiffany. He’d managed to work it so he’d been
the one to show up on her doorstep and while she’d finished getting ready, he’d snooped.
He’d found out she either hated having groceries in her place or didn’t have the money to buy them. He’d also found out that apparently in her spare time, she enjoyed doodling his name. He’d found a notebook on her dining room table with some phone numbers and jotted down information and his name with hearts.
It made him feel less like a stalker.
He wasn’t. She didn’t know it yet, but he was the knight in slightly tarnished armor waiting for the princess to wake up. The fact that she was doing something like doodling his name was a good sign. From what he could tell, she’d been completely shut down since her divorce. She hadn’t dated, hadn’t had any crazy hookups, though that wouldn’t have bothered him. She could have played around with a whole football team and he wouldn’t care. She deserved to have some fun after what she’d gone through. Now it looked like she was ready, but that time had closed for her. Any fun that girl was going to have now would be with him.
“I’ll make sure to save you some of the brisket enchiladas. I know how much you love them.” Top served elevated comfort food. The brisket enchiladas were something he’d suggested and he loved watching how much she enjoyed them.
“Thanks.” Her eyes wouldn’t quite meet his.
“Are you going out with the group tonight?” He knew damn well she wasn’t. He kind of wanted to see if she would tell him what she was doing.
She gnawed on that full bottom lip of hers. “No. Not tonight. I’ve got some school stuff.”
Little liar. He gave her a nod. “Hope you do well on that. Let me know if there’s anything I can help you with.”
Her lips curved up. “Know a lot about accounting? Because I have a test coming up and it’s a killer.”
“I could snipe your professor,” he admitted. “That’s pretty much the extent of my help in that class.”
He’d been a Navy SEAL. College hadn’t been in the cards for him, but when he’d gotten out, cooking school had. He’d been the only six-foot-three-inch, two hundred pounds of muscle scarred vet in a class of people ten years younger and a thousand times less damaged than him.
Deena smiled that gorgeous, world-lighting grin of hers that made his dick tighten. “I think making him your enchiladas would go over better, but I’ll pass.” She looked up as Tiffany walked past her. “I should go help set up. Y’all rock the kitchen tonight.”
“Deena,” he said as she turned toward Tiffany. He used the same voice he would have used on his men or in the kitchen when he wanted to get someone’s attention, though he would admit he tried to add a silky edge that was only for her. He’d turned his military leader voice into his Dom voice.
It worked. She stopped in her tracks and turned back around, giving him her full attention. “Yes?”
“If that jerk comes back in, I want to know.” He gave her what he hoped was a stern glare so she understood this wasn’t a request. Though he technically wasn’t her boss, he was the number two at Top and he took the safety of everyone at the place seriously.
She flushed and rolled her eyes. “That was nothing.”
A customer had put his hand on her ass, causing her to drop a whole platter of drinks. He’d claimed it had all been an accident, but the guy was a regular and he always sat in Deena’s section and he always was alone. Yeah, he tried to keep an eye on that guy.
Tiffany shook her head as she stopped. “That guy’s weird and he’s totally got a thing for her. Not that having a thing for her is weird, but from that jerk, it is.”
Tiffany was infinitely more reasonable than Deena. He turned his attention to her. “Let whoever is the hostess tonight know that Deena’s section is full and will be all evening.”
“That isn’t necessary,” Deena said, her eyes widening.
“Will do.” Tiffany gave him a jaunty salute and a wink. “I’ll make sure that ass feels right at home.”
Tiffany turned and walked toward the front.
Deena shook her head. “I can handle Jerry.”
He cocked a brow. “I’m sure you can, but you don’t have to. I’m serious, sweetheart. I do not want to hear about you putting yourself in danger over a tip.”
“Fine. But only because he’s a shitty tipper.” She ran off behind her friend.
She could run but after tonight, he wasn’t letting her hide anymore. He would have watched over her, waiting until the time was right, but thank god she’d moved the damn clock up. He was dying. He couldn’t date because he didn’t want anyone other than her. And he was too old to hook up with women for sex.
He wanted more and he wanted it with Deena.
The door came open and Sean walked out first, Kyle second. Kyle stopped and shook his stepfather’s hand, his jaw squared.
Taggart nodded and said something to Kyle before Kyle turned.
Sean glanced around and then gestured for Eric to join him. His boss had a stern look on his face and Eric winced inwardly. Sean Taggart had been a Green Beret, but the man would have made a damn fine drill sergeant. Eric had to wonder if he was about to get a dressing down. He strode forward because he preferred to get the bad shit over as quickly as possible.
What the hell was he going to do if Sean wouldn’t help him? Could he go through with tonight’s class knowing he might have to watch the woman of his dreams with another man?
He walked into Sean’s office and waited for his boss to take a seat before settling himself into the big chair across from the desk.
Sean stared at him, those blue eyes of his steady in a way that would likely make most men look away.
Eric had been stared down by the best. He simply waited. Patience in all things. It was a motto of his.
“Do you know what my stepson just told me?”
Yes. He definitely knew the answer to that question. “Not the exact words, of course, but I suspect he informed you that he signed his enlistment papers yesterday.”
Sean sat back. “What gave you the right to talk him into joining the Navy, Eric?”
Damn. He hated disappointing his boss. Sean had given him a job when no one else wanted an almost forty-year-old, just-out-of-school chef who looked more like a mobster than a man who could cook. Sean had moved him quickly to the role of sous chef, training Eric in his own techniques and being one of the most sincerely helpful men Eric had ever met. Still, he wasn’t ashamed of what he’d done. Kyle had worked at Top for several months and they’d become friendly. “He asked my opinion. I gave it.”
Sean shook his head and then groaned. “If only I could explain it to my wife in such simple terms. She’s going to flip out.”
Eric softened a bit. “He needs it. He’s got no idea what he wants to do with his life. It certainly isn’t working in a kitchen.”
Sean’s eyes closed briefly. “I know. I also know he showed up drunk two weeks ago and you covered for him.”
Not a lot got past the boss. “I didn’t think that was something his mother should see. She was coming in for dinner that night.”
“Were there episodes I didn’t know about?”
He wasn’t going to lie to the man. He might be willing to cover for the kid, but not directly lie to Sean. “Yes. He’s struggling with something though he didn’t want to talk about it.”
“His best friend from childhood died last year. He’s been out of control ever since,” Sean explained. “He dropped out of grad school and we’ve been trying to help him find his way. He’s been drinking. I’m worried he’ll slide into something worse. I believe the military could help him in this case. He’s undisciplined, unfocused. Thank god you said it because Grace really had a problem when I brought it up.”
“Not that we should tell her I said it.” Grace could be formidable all on her own.
Sean chuckled. “Oh, this was all your idea, buddy.” He sobered. “Seriously, thank you for being kind to him. I’m very glad he signed those papers before telling his mother.”
; “It’s a sign that he’s ready. He didn’t want her to talk him out of it.” Having spent time with the kid he knew Kyle wasn’t bad, he was struggling and now he had a plan to get his life back on track. “If it helps Grace any, I don’t believe he’ll make a career of it. I think he’ll eventually want to go back to school. It’s something he needs right now. He needs to feel like his life has purpose.”
“I agree with you, and you’re going to need a stiff drink after my wife finds out you’re the one who convinced her baby boy to join the Navy. Grace has certain fears when it comes to losing her loved ones. Not that we don’t all have them, but she went through the death of her first husband so she’s more sensitive than a lot of people. She doesn’t always understand that the risk is worth the reward. See, I’ve been coming up with all this stuff to tell her because I was dreading the moment I had to take a stand. Now I don’t have to.” Sean seemed to be warming to the idea. “I can honestly say I had nothing to do with it, but of course I support the decision since we can’t get him out of it now. It’s the best of both worlds for me.”
Thank god. He saw his in. “You know, boss, I was hoping you could do me a favor.”
“Absolutely. What do you need?”
This was one of the things he admired about his boss. Sean simply said yes without being told what he needed. Of course Sean was also very careful about the people he hired and let into his small circle. He wouldn’t bring anyone in he didn’t trust. Though they were roughly the same age, he looked up to Sean as a mentor in not only business but life. “I need you to talk to your brother.”
Sean’s face went tight for a moment. “Which one?”
Eric wished he hadn’t phrased it like that. Saying “brother” likely reminded Sean that he’d recently lost one. Theo Taggart had died on a mission for the firm the oldest Taggart brother ran, and no one had recovered from it. They might never recover. “I’m sorry. I meant Ian. I need you to ask Ian for a favor tonight. I’m in the training class at Sanctum.”
