Gripping and seductive, The Deep End is the first book in a sensational new series from bestselling author Kristen Ashley.
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That done, she walked right to the center of the room.
She turned to him and saw him automatically duck, as if the top of the frame of the door could not always be assumed would be one he wouldn’t run right into.
It was a sight that made him even more alluring.
As he slowly closed the door behind him and moved his eyes to look through the room, taking it in, she watched them get wide.
They dropped to her and his amusement was clear. Not only radiating from his gaze but twitching at his lips.
Another unusual—and unacceptable—reaction.
He thought this was funny.
She hoped like fuck she had the opportunity to prove him wrong.
She crossed her arms on her chest and slightly put out a foot, like she was about to start tapping her toe. In the wrap dress she wore, she knew this opened the overlap, not exposing anything, but the promise for him was impossible to resist.
His attention dropped to her legs.
“In the playrooms,” she began with a snap, and his gaze cut up to hers, “I want eye contact. Unless otherwise instructed, you should not only feel free to look me directly in the eyes, if I’m in your line of sight or I’m not giving you something that your body’s natural reaction would make it difficult to meet my gaze, I require it.”
She stood there staring as he did nothing but dip his chin in acknowledgment.
Cheeky.
Exceptionally cheeky.
Fabulous.
“Unless I’ve asked for their silence or for them to ask for leave to speak, I also require my toys to respond when they’re spoken to. Even if it’s only a ‘yes, Mistress,’ or ‘no, Mistress.’”
His stance relaxed, like he was settling in at the beginning of a show he found vaguely intriguing, and his deep rumble of a voice bounced like boulders through the room. “Yes, Mistress.”
Christ, even his voice declared his challenge.
“Excellent,” she allowed. “Your name?”
“Olivier,” he answered.
French.
Also unusual, at least in this country. And interesting.
She liked it a great deal.
She studied him.
He let her, holding her eyes.
“I’m Mistress Amélie,” she eventually informed him.
“I know. You got a lotta fans out there . . . Mistress.”
The hesitation over him saying “Mistress” gave less of the impression he was testing her and more of the strange impression the word was unpracticed when, with any experienced sub, it would slip right off their tongue.
She made no comment to that.
“There are things we should go over,” she remarked.
“Right,” he stated, his big body adjusting again, now like he was settling in further, intent on giving her the same attention he would a flight attendant who gave the safety address.
That being no more than a courtesy.
She fought the shiver his actions created but allowed the irritation.
“Your safe word is kitten,” she stated.
“Yes, Mistress.”
“You’re open to any kind of play,” she went on.
“Yes, Mistress.”
“It’s important and now’s the time to share should there be anything you wish me to shy away from, Olivier. Especially as this is the first time I’ve played with you.”
Something in his eyes flashed. Blue eyes that were the color of nothing and everything. Not sky. Not sea. Not midnight. A pure blue that only existed in the unchartable depths of a rainbow.
She felt that flash snake up between her thighs, taking residence in her womb.
He wanted this conversation done so she would play with him. He wanted the preliminaries over so they’d get to the good stuff.
He wanted her.
She stared into those blue eyes and for a moment felt mesmerized.
For God’s sake, Leigh, she berated herself in an effort to pull it together. Rainbow?
“Olivier,” she prompted.
“I’m open to anything,” he confirmed.
She threw her hand out, indicating the padded vault, the displayed tack . . . the stall.
“Anything?” she pushed.
He held her gaze like a dare. “Anything.” Again his lips twitched. “Mistress.”
She quieted and took him in.
Aryas would not let a voyeur past the front door. Amélie fancied he’d paid secret spy guys like the gentleman in the Bond film who created all the devices that got James out of a bind to set up a force field that would instantly eject anyone who wished to use the Bee’s Honey as a curiosity or to get their rocks off observing and not participating (thus not embracing the lifestyle). Certainly not someone who found the whole thing amusing.
“Am I amusing you?” she whispered, the whisper holding a tremor that was not of fear but of anger.
His face set hard and his two words were so firm, the boulders again came tumbling.
“Absolutely not.”
“Then can you explain your humor?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Sure. You are un-fucking-believably beautiful. You’re also un-fucking-believably hot. But I wouldn’t guess with the acres that make all of you, every inch of it so damned sweet, you’re a walking wet dream, that when you get riled you’re also un-fucking-believably cute. And there is no way in fuck five minutes ago, you told me a gorgeous redhead was gonna lead me to a room and make me her pony, I would be cool with that. But standin’ here with you, I’m totally fuckin’ cool with that.”
It took a good deal, and she expended every bit of effort she needed to accomplish it, but at his final two points, Amélie didn’t blink.
Instead, she decided to finish this part up.
Immediately.
Adoring Ink
A Montgomery Ink Novella
By Carrie Ann Ryan
About Carrie Ann Ryan
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan never thought she’d be a writer. Not really. No, she loved math and science and even went on to graduate school in chemistry. Yes, she read as a kid and devoured teen fiction and Harry Potter, but it wasn’t until someone handed her a romance book in her late teens that she realized that there was something out there just for her. When another author suggested she use the voices in her head for good and not evil, The Redwood Pack and all her other stories were born.
Carrie Ann is a bestselling author of over twenty novels and novellas and has so much more on her mind (and on her spreadsheets *grins*) that she isn’t planning on giving up her dream anytime soon.
www.CarrieAnnRyan.com
Also from Carrie Ann Ryan
Click to purchase
Redwood Pack Series
Book 1: An Alpha’s Path
Book 2: A Taste for a Mate
Book 3: Trinity Bound
Redwood Pack Box Set (Contains Books 1-3)
Book 3.5: A Night Away
Book 4: Enforcer’s Redemption
Book 4.5: Blurred Expectations
Book 4.7: Forgiveness
Book 5: Shattered Emotions
Book 6: Hidden Destiny
Book 6.5: A Beta’s Haven
Book 7: Fighting Fate
Book 7.5: Loving the Omega
Book 7.7: The Hunted Heart
Book 8: Wicked Wolf
The Complete Redwood Pack Box Set (Contains Books 1-7.7)
The Talon Pack (Following the Redwood Pack)
Book 1: Tattered Loyalties
Book 2: An Alpha’s Choice
Book 3: Mated in Mist
Book 4: Wolf Betrayed
Book 5: Fractured Silence (Coming April 2017)
Book 6: Destiny Disgraced (Coming September 2017)
Montgomery Ink
Book 0.5: Ink Inspired
Book 0.6
: Ink Reunited
Book 1: Delicate Ink
The Montgomery Ink Box Set #1 (Contains Books 0.5, 0.6, 1)
Book 1.5: Forever Ink
Book 2: Tempting Boundaries
Book 4: Harder than Words
Book 4: Written in Ink
Book 4.5: Hidden Ink
Book 5: Ink Enduring
Book 6: Ink Exposed
Book 6.5: Adoring Ink (Coming January 2017)
Book 6.6 Love, Honor, and Ink (Coming Feb 2017)
Book 7: Inked Expressions (Coming June 2017)
The Gallagher Brothers Series:
A Montgomery Ink Spin Off Series
Book 1: Love Restored
Book 2: Passion Restored (Coming February 2017)
Book 3: Hope Restored (Coming July 2017)
Branded Packs (Written with Alexandra Ivy)
Book 1: Stolen and Forgiven
Book 2: Abandoned and Unseen
Book 3: Buried and Shadowed (Coming July 2016)
Dante’s Circle Series
Book 1: Dust of My Wings
Book 2: Her Warriors’ Three Wishes
Book 3: An Unlucky Moon
The Dante's Circle Box Set (Contains Books 1-3)
Book 3.5: His Choice
Book 4: Tangled Innocence
Book 5: Fierce Enchantment
Book 6: An Immortal's Song
Book 7: Prowled Darkness
The Complete Dante's Circle Series (Contains Books 1-7)
Holiday, Montana Series
Book 1: Charmed Spirits
Book 2: Santa’s Executive
Book 3: Finding Abigail
The Holiday Montana Box Set (Contains Books 1-3)
Book 4: Her Lucky Love
Book 5: Dreams of Ivory
The Complete Holiday, Montana Box Set (Contains Books 1-5)
The Happy Ever After Series:
Flame and Ink
Ink Ever After (Coming December 2016)
Single Title:
Finally Found You
Acknowledgments from the Author
I’m so lucky to be able to write in the 1001 Dark Nights world again. I love working with this group so much!
Thank you Liz, Jillian, my fellow authors, and everyone else within the 1001 Dark Nights crew for being so amazing!
As always, thank you Team Carrie Ann—Charity, Chelle, and Tara—for making this Team ROCK. I still say we need shirts.
Thank you dear readers for embracing the Montgomery Ink series and my writing. I adore each and every one of you.
And thank you for ALL of the emails wanting that sexy guy in the tattoo shop to have this story as well as Jake’s ex girlfriend. You have no idea how much it means to me that you guys want EVERYONE to have an HEA.
I love you guys!
Chapter One
Holly Rose needed to come.
Badly.
And hopefully she would. The man above her moved with such heat that she knew she was blushing, but she didn’t care. She just needed him to work his magic so she could finally crest that peak and end up a boneless pile of limbs.
She clutched at his tattooed shoulders before sliding her hands down his chest, raking her nails over his thick muscles and the ink that covered his skin. He thrust deeply inside her, and she arched her back, taking more of him in.
Her breath came in pants, and her body shook, sweat-slick from hours of lovemaking with no pause.
Then she looked up and froze.
Once again, her Dream Man was just a blur. A thickly muscled male with ink but no face, no features showing her who he was. No eyes giving her a glimpse of the man deep inside.
She reached out to cup his face, hoping she was wrong.
But she wasn’t.
The alarm pulled her out of sleep in that instant, leaving her right on the edge once again, and confused as hell about the recurring dream that never made sense.
Holly let out a sigh and rolled over to press the button on her phone. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to hit snooze and go back to sleep, so she forced herself to sit up. Hitting snooze was one of her favorite pastimes since she had the most comfortable bed ever, but she had to be an adult and forego that. She was the kind of person that, once she sat up, she was awake and slightly functional, but it was the sitting up part that was the hardest. She loved sleeping in but couldn’t do it most days because of her job. Heck, she couldn’t even slumber on weekends most times thanks to the piles of grading she had. She might only teach first grade, but her kids had books and binders full of state-mandated homework and classwork to complete.
Holly’s head hurt just thinking about it.
She let out a breath and rocked herself to a standing position. Her bed was a little tall for her, so getting out was actually a bit of a chore, but she wasn’t about to get a new bed or even one of those little stools to help her get in and out. She wasn’t that short… Sort of.
As she zombie-walked toward the bathroom to take care of business, she blew out a breath, thinking of the dream that had made her all sweaty with no resolution. This had been the fourth time this week she’d had virtual sex with Dream Man, and yet she still had no clue who he was. All she knew was that he was sexy and inked—her taste, apparently.
The one thing she did know was that Dream Man was not her ex, Jake. The ink and body type were all wrong, and she was so freaking grateful her subconscious didn’t carry a torch for him. She’d be beyond embarrassed to see him and his husband and wife after dreaming of all the hot, sexy things she’d been doing in her dreams, things she hadn’t been able to do for real in so long.
Yes, her last serious boyfriend was now in a committed triad with not only his former best friend, Border, but also his other best friend, Maya. And they even had the most adorable baby ever, Noah. She would have been jealous of that if she weren’t the one who’d broken it off because she knew they weren’t right for each other. They hadn’t been in the right kind of love, and she’d seen the spark between Maya and Jake. It might have hurt her a little—okay, a lot—to do what she did, but she’d made sure her heart was wrapped as tightly as it could be when she’d walked out the door that last time.
Now, Jake wasn’t only a Gallagher, the family of big, bearded men he’d grown up with, he was also a Montgomery, the large family that had taken Holly into their fold.
And Holly was once again on the outside looking in. She was fine with that, though. Things hadn’t been any different before her relationship with Jake.
She was just nice and pleasant Holly Rose, and there was nothing wrong with that.
With a sigh, she slipped into the shower and started her morning routine, her mind still a fog and her brain craving caffeine. She’d had to force herself to wait for coffee on weekends because if she didn’t shower first and drink second, she’d end up in her loungewear or leggings all day and not accomplish a single thing.
Though, honestly, that kind of day sounded amazing.
Because that was just an example of who Holly was—a dreamer who loved comfy clothes and not leaving the house.
Not exactly the wanton woman who got the sexy, inked man from her dreams.
God, she could remember the looks on other people’s faces when they’d first caught sight of her on Jake’s arm. He was all rugged sexiness, and she was…the nice girl they glanced over.
She wore cardigans because she loved them, and even pearls on special occasions. She liked her hair one color and cut in one layer because it was easier to work with at school. She liked her shoes plain and her clothes plainer because standing out at school could bring her issues with the principal, who she had a feeling didn’t like women outside the home.
There was nothing wrong with her, and she actually liked herself despite what her thoughts kept alluding to. However, one day, it might be nice to throw caution to the wind and surprise everyone.
Even herself.
Shaking those thoughts from her mind because they weren’t doing any good, she
got out of the shower and ran a towel through her hair. Thankfully, she was one of those blessed people who only had to brush their hair a bit with some product, and it would dry the way she wanted. A unicorn, the Internet called her, and she’d take it because that meant she could sleep an extra thirty minutes most days, and even sneak in a second cup of coffee.
Speaking of coffee, it was high time she had her first cup. She’d been awake for over twenty minutes and hadn’t had a sip of the fuel that kept her alive and functioning.
Humming to herself for some reason, she slid on a pair of black leggings and a peach-colored flowy tank with a knit shrug over it. She didn’t have to work today and was in the mood to be a little freer with her choice of wardrobe.
As soon as she entered the kitchen, she started her single-cup maker and slid two pieces of wheat-germ bread into the toaster. She missed normal bread, but she hated working out, and since she wasn’t even having sex anymore to burn calories, she was careful with what she ate. When everything was ready, she poured some vanilla creamer into her coffee and stood at her counter while making plans for the day in her head. She would have sat down, but she figured standing was better for her, and since she really didn’t want to work out later, she’d take any activity she could get.
Since it was summer vacation for her school, the students were out, and she had time off as well. Well…not really time off since she still had packets of things to go over for the next year, as well as a few continuing education classes to take to keep certified and updated. She just didn’t get paid for those hours since teachers had “summers off.” She snorted before taking a sip of her coffee. What a lie that was. Students were spending longer in the classroom nowadays because of snow days and delays throughout the year, and teachers even longer. Between the classes she had to take, the paperwork and notebooks she had to go through, and getting her classroom ready for the next year, she was lucky to get a full week off to actually vacation during her unpaid summer.
1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Fourteen Page 19
