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About the Author
Copyright Page
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To my husband and my kids … I thank God for you. You mean the world to me. Thanks to the SMP and H&H teams and to my agent, Elaine.
Also … for all those out there who struggle to find their voice. Ella fought for years to find hers. I hope you enjoy her story.
Chapter 1
“I can’t do this.” Panic-stricken, I went to jerk back but warm, calloused hands covered mine.
“You can.” Sean Lachlan’s voice was a warm, sexy promise, a purring sort of rub that caressed me without even touching me. A sin of sins, and the man knew it. Of course, he should. He was a male prostitute, and anything that had to do with sexual arousal was sort of his forte. That voice of his was an aphrodisiac in its own right. “Come on, it’s not so bad. Let me show you…”
He guided me, showing me how to take the heavy, firm weight in my hands, how to balance it. “See…?”
He could make anything erotic. I bit my lip, a shiver of heat running through me.
“Now … bring your arm back. I’m going to let go…”
“No!” But he’d already done it. I let the ball go and closed my eyes.
The sound of his whooping a few seconds later made me almost jump out of my skin. But I’d been doing that almost since we’d come into the loud, boisterous bowling alley. People screamed, yelled, called out. Music blasted and children laughed. And Sean used every excuse he could to touch me.
“You did it, love.” A grin curled his mouth, and it made me forget a little bit of everything as I stared at him. He’d kissed me with that mouth. Kissed me as he used clever hands to bring me to climax.
And he hadn’t done it since. It had been over a week ago. We were now on our fifth date.
We had a contract, and there were twenty-five nights—or afternoons … encounters … whatever—left in said contract.
What was he waiting for?
As his hands settled on my hips, I tipped my head up and stared at him. Five days ago, it had made me incredibly nervous to have him standing so close, but it was easier now. Almost … natural. If anything in my life could be defined as natural. “Did I?” I asked, dazed.
“You did.” He brushed his lips over my brow.
“Yay, me.” Then I blinked, pushed against his chest. “What did I do?”
Sean gazed at me and then laughed. “Ella, you bowled a strike. That’s bloody fucking fantastic for a woman who’s claimed she’s never bowled.”
Turning my head, I looked down the alley, but all twelve pins were still standing there. “I thought I had to knock them down.”
“You did. They’ve already been set up for the next frame.” He pointed up at the screen where he’d plugged in our names. There was an X next to mine.
I frowned at it. “I’ve got an X.”
“That’s a strike.” He pressed his mouth to my neck and murmured, “Make you a bet. If you win, I’ll do something for you … or to you tonight. But if I win…”
Blood rushed to my face, and I backed away. Nervously, I glanced around. My hands were sweaty now, and I shoved them into my pockets. “I … um … what? If you win, I do something for you? To you?”
“That’s the plan.”
“You’ll win. You’re better. You’ve bowled. That was … that was beginner’s luck!” I flung out a hand.
“Maybe I’m terrible at bowling.” His lids drooped, making him look sleepy-eyed and incredibly beautiful. “And maybe you’re a natural.”
“I’m not a natural at anything … except being a terrified freak.”
His expression changed in a blink, and he closed the distance between us. Two hands cupped my face, his fingers plunging into my hair. “Stop that, Ella. Stop it now. You’re not a freak. And fear … well, who isn’t afraid of something in their life?” His mouth was a caress against mine, soft and soothing this time.
As he lifted away, I swayed toward him.
“Are you?” I asked, unconsciously gripping his waist with one hand. It wasn’t until I felt the heat of him against my palm that I realized I’d touched him. But I didn’t pull back. I’d spent so much of my life afraid of physical contact, but with him, it felt easy. Right. Natural.
“Like I said,” Sean murmured, rubbing his lips against mine. “Who isn’t afraid something?”
Then he broke away, flashing me that wide, wicked grin. “So … do we have a deal?”
I watched as he strode toward the lane and threw the ball, terribly off center. It was heading toward the gutter. I’d made sure to read up on bowling once he’d told me what he wanted to do today. Bowling. Of all things. Sure enough, it went into the gutter. Pursing my lips, I studied his face as he turned back around. “Fine. Deal.”
* * *
“You tricked me.”
“Tricked? You wound me.” Sean sat across from me as we took off our shoes. A wicked light glinted in his eyes. “I outright cheated. All’s fair in love and war.”
His gaze slid down, lingered on my lap. “And we’re certainly not at war, are we, Ella?”
My chest started to ache, and by now, I knew what caused it. Man, I wanted him. But at the same time, the idea of it terrified me. He seemed to realize just where my thoughts were going, because he did what he always did. He said something outrageous. “I know you’re disappointed, love. I’m sure you had some wicked idea in mind … You were going to have me dust that outrageous mansion of yours—stark naked, of course. Or perhaps you planned to have me serve you tea during one of your meetings, again, stark naked.”
My face went blood red. Naturally, he hadn’t said this quietly, and the couple next to us glanced our way. “Would you keep your voice down?”
“What’s the fun in that?” Sean winked. His pale gray eyes sparkled with devilish humor. He stood up, shoes in one hand, the other outstretched.
Irritated, I shoved my shoes into his hand. “You’re an ass.”
As I sailed off, he trailed in my wake, laughing. “True, but do you really want me to be any other way?”
Honestly? No. I didn’t.
* * *
We were back at the brownstone in Old Town, in the library where I spent a great deal of my time. Sean was behind me and had me facing the large mirror across the room. It hung over an accent table on the northern wall. We stood in front of the couch, all the curtains drawn save for the ones on the eastern facing wall.
The waters of Lake Michigan glowed gold in the setting sun, and although it was incredibly private, I couldn’t help but glance nervously toward the panes of glass. Nobody could see inside the brownstone unless they were right there, on the elegant patio just beyond the window.
Yet it still felt terribly risqué.
It was stupid, but I was coming to think of this as our plac
e. I’d already cancelled or moved any meetings that had been scheduled here for the next couple of months and told my staff to send out a memo that I was using the place for personal matters, so it was off limits for any sort of corporate functions. To ensure my privacy, I’d had the locks and security system codes changed as well.
The only person who had the key and codes was the man standing behind me, slowly unbuttoning my blouse.
It was just another sign of my slowly eroding sanity that I’d given him the keys to what I’d come to think of as a personal haven. Sean had the keys—Sean and nobody else.
Sean’s fingers slowly moved along the placket of my button-down top. It was more businesslike than anything else, certainly not dating apparel. But I’d paired it with some jeans I’d recently picked up and even put on a necklace. I hadn’t really considered it suggestive, but in that moment, as I watched Sean’s hands slowly open each button, it looked sexy.
“I’m going to undress you.”
I met his gray eyes in the mirror. His hair had gotten a little longer over the past couple of weeks, just enough to show that it would curl if he let it grow out, and I wanted to push my fingers into it, feel the silk of it against my palm. “You’re already doing that.”
His teeth flashed as he smiled. “Indeed.” He continued with his task, his eyes holding mine. “Do you want to know what else I’m going to do?”
Nervous, I nodded.
“I was thinking about having you undress me. After all, we had a bet. I said you’d be doing something to me. What do you think about that idea, Your Highness?”
Blood started to roar in my ears at the very thought of it, and I had to squeeze my eyes shut just to think. My hands on him. Tugging away the tight T-shirt—he only seemed to own tight ones—dragging it up over his head, revealing the tattooed, muscled perfection of his body. Stroking my hands …
”Can I touch you?” I blurted out.
“I’d be a fucking fool to say no, now, wouldn’t I?” He bit my ear and whispered, “I’ve never considered myself a fool, Ella.”
He stripped my shirt away and then turned me around so that we faced each other.
My breath came harder and faster then, so hard and so fast, it almost hurt to breathe. Lifting my hands, I caught the hem of his shirt and slowly dragged it up, watching that instead of looking into Sean’s gray eyes. Somehow, I knew I’d lose my nerve if I stared at him while I did this. The ridged plane of his belly was bared, then his chest. He was about as physically perfect as he could get, long and lean and strong. “You work out,” I heard myself saying as I dragged the shirt away and tossed it aside.
“I run, swim. That’s about it. If I’m going to be exertin’ myself, I prefer to enjoy it.” He caught my hips and tugged me closer. “Look at me, Ella. Let me see those pretty brown eyes.”
I tipped my head back and darted a quick look.
Before I could look away, his lips captured mine, and I moaned. Light, soft kisses that teased and tempted even as they managed to coax me into relaxing. I was swaying closer before I knew it, and he whispered softly, “I’m going to take off your bra now.”
I nodded dumbly.
Then I whimpered, because the bra was gone and my naked breasts were against his chest.
“That feels about as good as anything I’ve felt in a long while,” Sean said, sliding his hands up my back to grip my shoulders. “I think it would feel even better if you kissed me.”
I lifted my mouth to his.
He crooked a brow at me. “I want you to kiss me, Your Highness. I want you to suck on my tongue, and I want you to bite me, and I want you to do what you want.”
My knees trembled. As my breath hitched, I moved in closer and pressed my lips to his, slowly, nervously. He just stood there, waiting. I slid my tongue across his lower lip, mimicking the way he often kissed me. When he opened, I slid my tongue inside. He met me, rubbing against me, and I groaned.
I was breathing heavy, hard, and had to break away when I grew lightheaded. He was breathing harder, too, his pale eyes glittering. He went to say something, but fell silent when I kissed him again.
He’d wanted me to do something else.
His tongue came out, slid against my lower lip.
I opened for him, and when his tongue came into my mouth, I bit lightly, then I sucked on him.
His chest shuddered, and a groan rolled out of him.
I pressed myself harder against him.
Sean cupped my ass and pulled me in. I felt the length of his cock like a brand, while inside an empty ache spread and twisted and pulsed. I wanted him inside me.
“Please…,” I whispered.
Sean’s fingers brushed against my belly. “I think I’ll take your jeans off now, Your Highness.”
“Would you stop teasing?” The harsh demand in my voice caught me off guard, but he just laughed.
“Teasing is what makes it all good, though … Let me show you.”
Chapter 2
If somebody had told me that this would actually be happening, I would have either laughed or run away screaming.
But I was half naked, and the man pressed against me was completely naked.
We weren’t in bed.
The idea of being in a bed was strangely terrifying to me, a secret I’d confided to Sean during one of our dates, when he’d goaded me into a strange little game of Truth or Dare. I’d been slightly drunk, so it had been a bit easier to let the walls down.
Strangely enough, I’d trusted him enough to even let myself get in that state.
After I’d told him that, I’d tried to retreat, and in typical fashion, Sean had grabbed my hand and bitten my finger. “My turn … I’ll go with truth, too. Ella … I have a wicked secret. I like to watch.”
I’d gaped at him, trying to understand. Then he’d elaborated.
Now he was giving me proof of just what he enjoyed watching.
Sean had noncommittally mentioned the mirror in my library earlier, and now, my breath coming in hot, ragged pants, I stood in front of it while he cupped my breasts from behind.
“See … it’s fun to watch, isn’t it?” he murmured against my ear.
I made a noise that might have been a yes.
Sean seemed to understand, though, and he nipped my ear before sliding his hands down my torso and popping the button on my jeans. “I want you naked, Your Highness.”
My breath hitched. Slowly, I nodded.
Hands braced on the couch, I stood there as he dragged my jeans and panties down, sinking to his knees as he did so. There were soft kisses against my spine, the indentation at the small of my back, and my hip. When he kissed the swell of my left buttock, I shivered.
“I’m dying to kiss every fuckin’ inch of you, Ella,” he said, his voice pulsing with intensity.
The sensation of his mouth moving against my skin left me shuddering, and I closed my eyes, kneading the tough material of the couch with my fingers.
Finally, he had my jeans and panties down to my ankles, and he worked them off, tossing them aside. But he didn’t rise immediately. Instead, he placed his hands on my ankles, the delicate skin there far more sensitive than I would have expected. As he slid his palms upward, my torso sagged lower on the couch.
It felt like all the strength was slowly draining out of me.
When he reached the apex of my thighs, I gasped and instinctively tried to bring my legs together.
Sean rose and moved in closer, his hands going to my hips. “Stand up, Ella,” he ordered.
Behind me, I felt the hard, comforting warmth of his body, and the not so comforting hardness of his penis.
His cock. That was the word he’d used several time before. He’d told me he wanted to sink his cock inside me, and then he’d asked me if I wanted it, too. He hadn’t let me look away until I’d given him an answer.
“Look.”
That low, harshly uttered word had me dragging my eyes up to the mirror, and I whimpered as he pressed his hand
to my belly, bare now.
“Watch.”
Sean slid his hand lower, and I sucked in a desperate breath as his fingers parted the curls between my thighs. The tips touched my clitoris, and my knees threatened to buckle. I tightened my grip on the back of the couch, struggling to stay upright.
“Feel,” Sean growled. Then he thrust two fingers deep within. He twisted and curled them inside me, and I found myself moving on his hand, helpless against a pleasure that was unlike anything I’d ever known. I felt his cock against my bottom and shuddered.
Now all I could think about was having him inside me—that thicker, fuller length thrusting within like his fingers.
“You’re wet and sweet, so tight … tha’s it, girl,” he crooned against my ear as he worked me closer and closer to the edge.
“Sean, please!”
“I’ll give it to you.”
“No!” The sharp denial had him tensing.
He stopped, and our gazes collided in the mirror. But when he went to pull away, I caught his wrist. “Sean, I want…”
But I couldn’t say it. I didn’t know how. Even standing there now, without the relentless pleasure caused by his touch, the terror was moving too close. Half-panicked, I twisted around in his arms and grabbed at his cock.
I don’t know who was more surprised, me … or him.
I do know who recovered first.
Sean did, his hand covering mine as he started to move against me, guiding me until I was squeezing him tighter when I reached the swollen head, then letting go.
“Is this what you want?” he asked against my mouth as he slid his hand down to cup me.
I shook my head. “No. I want … more.”
“Tell me what it is, Ella. I don’t want any confusion here.”
“I want…” Brokenly, I forced the word out. “I want you.”
He stopped then. Completely.
His eyes held mine as he stepped back, and I swallowed, my gaze falling down to stare at him.
His cock bobbed against his belly, and I gasped as an echoing pang ripped through me.
Thirty Nights with a Dirty Boy: Part 2: A Heroes and Heartbreakers Serial Page 1
