by Lili Valente
She lifted her shoulder and let it fall. “It’s just hard when my gut is screaming that the best thing I can do for you is not tell you things that are going to upset you for no reason. I mean, what’s the point when there’s absolutely nothing you can do to make them better?”
“In this situation, I have to disagree with your assessment,” he said, pressing on before she could argue with him. “But I did have a lot on my plate. Knowing Stewart was threatening Jasper might have been enough to tip me over into an…unhealthy frame of mind.”
Harley searched his face, nodding slowly when she saw the scary truth he didn’t bother to hide. “I understand. I would have felt the same way if I knew he’d tried to have you killed. So maybe it was best that we shared the load. Even if we didn’t know we were sharing it.”
Clay’s lips curved. “So basically, you’re saying the honesty project is doomed before it even starts?”
“No, I’m saying that we’re good together and we need to trust that. Even if we don’t do marriage the way most people do it.” Her arms slid up to link behind his neck as she smiled. “But I was serious when I said I would give it a try and I’ll start right now. While I was hanging out in the lobby waiting for you, I arranged to have the swing dismantled, boxed up, and sent via airmail. It will be waiting for us when we get home.”
“You didn’t have to do that. I know you weren’t thrilled about it.”
“But I will be.” She leaned closer, her breasts flattening against his chest, reminding him that they hadn’t gotten a chance for round two, let alone three or four. “Tonight I was reminded that life is too short not to let yourself get strapped into a bondage swing. Even if you do look a little gremlin-ish under your clothes.”
He laughed. “You are not the least bit gremlin-ish.”
“I know. I’m irresistible,” she said with a wink. “Or, at least, this one guy said I was. This one time.”
“I think I remember that time,” he said, beginning to bunch her skirt up in his hands. “But I might need a little something to refresh my memory.”
“Right now?” she asked, a wicked gleam sparkling to life in her eyes. “On the beach?”
“Why do you think I led you all the way down here to the water,” he said, slipping his hand beneath the elastic band of her panties to cup her ass, “where they can’t see us from the house?”
“But we’ll get sand in uncomfortable places,” she said, even as she let him slide her panties down her thighs and stepped out of them. Taking her back into his arms, he lay down on the cool ground and pulled her on top.
“I love sand in uncomfortable places.” He lifted his hips, granting her easier access as she went to work on his belt buckle. “It gets me hot.”
“You’re a strange man, Mr. Hart.” She finished with his zipper, biting her lip as she freed his already rock hard cock from his boxer briefs. “But clearly you tell the truth. Sand in your ass does get you hot.”
“Or it could be knowing you’re not wearing any panties,” he said, “and that I’m going to be inside you soon.”
“Very soon,” she said, summoning a groan from deep in his throat as she lifted her skirt, holding it in the air while he fit himself to her opening. And then, inch by agonizing, beautiful inch she dropped her hips, encasing him in her heat.
“Is it still crazy beautiful?” She held his gaze as they rocked together, slow and deep, the way they both liked it best when she was on top. “One year later?”
“Always.” He cupped her face, pulling her down for a kiss before promising against her lips, “Always and forever, and then a little bit extra because you’re too good to let go after just one lifetime.”
“Ditto, my love,” she whispered.
And as the moon slipped behind the mountain and the first hint of the coming sun began to lighten the horizon, they welcomed the start of their second year as a family, knowing it would be as crazy beautiful as the first.
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And keep reading for a sneak peek of Lili’s first standalone contemporary romance, MAGNIFICENT BASTARD! Out April 25, 2016.
Sneak Peek of MAGNIFICENT BASTARD
Picture this: it’s a rainy spring day in the city. The streets are covered in a fine layer of mud and soggy garbage, the sun is a distant memory from another, brighter time, when you were still stupid enough to believe in happy endings, and you’ve just been dumped so hard your heart looks like it’s gone three rounds with Mike Tyson.
You’re ugly crying in a corner with a box of wine and a chocolate bar the size of your forearm, wishing Prince Charming would come scoop you up on his white horse and carry you far away from all those nasty memories of Mr. Wrong, but I’m here to tell you, ladies—
You need to stop that shit.
Stop it.
Right now.
Why? Because Prince Charming is a crock of shit. He doesn’t exist and even if he did, he’s a fucking wimp.
When you’re down and out and your heart has been ripped to shreds by an asshole with a dickish-side a mile wide, you don’t need Prince Charming. You need a man who’s not afraid to get his hands dirty, a man who can teach Mr. Wrong a thing or two about what it feels like to be deceived, betrayed, and laid low by the one person in the world you thought you could trust. What you need is a Magnificent Bastard, your very own one-man vengeance machine.
Love isn’t a fairy tale, sweetheart; it’s war, and now you’ve got a soldier with an anti-asshole missile on your side.
Want to ruin your ex’s reputation? No problem. Every true asshole has a few skeletons in his closet and I specialize in making skeletons dance out of the darkness and into the light. Want to send that fucker to jail? A little harder, but often still possible. I only accept cases involving the very worst examples of mankind, the most miserable liars and cheats and scoundrels. Those types tend to be good at covering their tracks, but I’ve delivered exes locked in police cuffs before.
Want to make your former lover green with envy? Make him wish he’d never kicked you off the love wagon, spat in your face, and walked away? Well, that, cupcake…that’s what I’m best at.
I’ve been blessed with a face that turns heads, worked hard for a body that inspires shudders of lust at twenty paces, and honed my envy-inspiring skills into a razor sharp weapon I wield with ruthless efficiency. I will make you feel like a queen and ensure your ex doesn’t miss a minute of it. You’ll be treated like an irreplaceable treasure, pampered like a princess, and kissed like a slut who can’t get enough of my magnificent dick.
In reality, of course, things between us will never go further than a kiss, but your ex won’t know that. He’ll see your flushed cheeks, lust-glazed eyes, and wobbly legs and think I’m giving it to you hard every night.
He’ll imagine my hands on your ass, my fingers slipping between your legs, and your pussy slick and dripping just for me. He’ll imagine you screaming my name while you ride my cock and remember all the times he was lucky enough to be balls deep in your incomparable snatch. Before long, he’ll have a jealousy hard-on so bad he’ll come crawling back to you on his belly, begging for a second chance.
But you won’t give it to him.
Did you hear that?
Even so, it bears repeating—
You. Will not. Give that fucking loser a second chance.
By the time I’m through with you, you will know deep down in the marrow of your bones that you’re better than that. You’ll understand that you deserve a man whose eyes won’t wander, whose hands won’t hurt, and whose heart belongs to you and only you. By the end of our time together, you will be able to look down at the sniveling, pathetic, limp-dicked excuse for a man you used to love and tell him that he has no power over you.
Not anymore. You will be free to move on with your life without any of the ugly, bad breakup, psychic baggage.
And that, gorgeous
, is the most important of the services I deliver. I give you back to you, the only person who can be trusted to steer your course as you ride off into the sunset.
But if for some reason, you break this all-important rule. If you sour the gift you’ve been given by going back to Major Dickweed, don’t bother contacting me again. No amount of money will convince me to pick up the phone.
A Magnificent Bastard intervention is a once in a lifetime opportunity. One and done, no exceptions.
None.
Not even for her, the woman who made me break all my other rules, the woman who made me think—for one amazing week—that even magnificent bastards can live happily ever after.
Magnificent Bastard is out April 25th.
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Acknowledgments
First and foremost, thank you to my readers. Every email and post on my Facebook page have meant so much. I can’t express how deeply grateful I am for the chance to entertain you.
More big thanks to my Street Team, who I am convinced are the sweetest, funniest, kindest group of people around. You inspire me and keep me going and I’m not sure I’d be one-third as productive without you. Big tackle hugs to all.
More thanks to Kara H. for organizational excellence and helping me get the word out. (No one would have heard of the books without you!) Thanks to the Facebook groups who have welcomed me in, to the bloggers who have taken a chance on a newbie, and to everyone who has taken time out of their day to write and post a review.
And of course, many thanks to my husband, who not only loves me well but also supports me in everything I do. I don’t know how I got so lucky, man, but I am hanging on tight to you.
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About the Author
Lili Valente has slept under the stars in Greece, eaten dinner at midnight with French men who couldn’t be trusted to keep their mouths on their food, and walked alone through Munich’s red light district after dark and lived to tell the tale.
These days you can find her writing in a tent beside the sea, drinking coconut water and thinking delightfully dirty thoughts.
Find Lili on the web…
@lili_valente_ro
AuthorLiliValente
www.lilivalente.com
[email protected]
Also By Lili Valente
Lili’s first sexy standalone contemporary romance, Magnificent Bastard, releases April 25, 2016.
The complete Under His Command Series is
Available Now:
Controlling Her Pleasure—Download for FREE here!
Commanding Her Trust
Claiming Her Heart
The complete Bought by the Billionaire Series
is Available Now:
Dark Domination
Deep Domination
Desperate Domination
Divine Domination
The Dirty Twisted Love Series:
Dirty Twisted Love
Filthy Wicked Games
Crazy Beautiful Forever
One More Shameless Night
