She nodded, but her hands were balled into tight little fists on her lap, and she was determined to keep them there. If she didn’t, they’d be all over him, and that wasn’t going to help her convince him that they had to end it. But she closed her eyes and inhaled his scent, letting the warmth of his body seep into hers as she tried to imprint both on her memory.
He pulled back to look into her face, and she lost the battle to keep from touching him. She skimmed the areas around his discolored flesh with her fingertips. Frowning, she asked, “Did Nigel do this?”
He nodded. “But if it makes you feel better, he looks and feels so much worse.”
A small snort escaped her. “Actually, that kind of does.”
“Then it should please you to know that he’s been remanded to custody while he awaits trial.”
“What?” She frantically scanned the rest of his body. “How badly did he hurt you?”
He stared at her blankly for a moment then laughed. “Not me.”
Angus explained about Kit, Sterling Manor and the other women Nigel had terrorized. Three of the four had decided to press criminal charges.
“The fourth chose not to?” she asked.
Angus’ eyes filled with tears as he shook his head, and she knew what had happened. In the beginning, when the nightmare seemed like it would never end, she’d considered ending it more than once.
“Her family is looking into the possibility of charges since his actions led directly to her death.”
She didn’t stop herself from touching him, this time. She threw her arms around him and clung to him so tightly her limbs shook.
“I’m so fucking grateful that didn’t happen to you.” His voice was rough with tears.
“I came close,” she whispered. “More than once.” Her laugh was watery, and she sniffled. “You’re the reason I didn’t.”
He pulled back to look at her. “What? I didn’t even know...” His words faded.
“After I was fired from another job because of him, I was so depressed. No one else would hire me. I couldn’t get an interview anywhere. Most days, I’d only get out of bed to go to the bathroom and maybe get something to eat.”
She hated the anguish in his eyes. But he needed to know how much of a difference he’d made in her life.
“I spent a lot of time on the internet—far, far more than was healthy, some days—and I saw an ad for Event Horizon. I remembered Stina and Audrey raving about the first three books when we were in school.” She shrugged. “And Terra made the kindle version of book one free when the fourth released.”
His lips quirked, but he still watched her through haunted eyes.
“Those books—those characters—let me lose myself in someone else’s life and escape my own.” She looked away for a moment, unable to bear the intensity of his gaze. “I can’t even tell you how many times I read them. I tried to read other stories, and I managed a few. But your books kept pulling me back in—comforting me when nothing else would.”
He breathed her name, resting his forehead against hers.
“I know it sounds melodramatic, but those books saved my life. Well, those books and a lot of therapy.”
He cupped her face in his hands. “I’ve never been more grateful for anything in my life.”
She rested her hands on top of his. “When you’re so far into the dark like that, you sometimes make deals with yourself. Like, I just need to get through the summer. Or I’ll hang on until the new Star Wars movie comes out. Or until I see the ocean. If I still need to end it after that, I will. For me, it was book five.”
The expression on his face was gut-wrenching.
“I kept telling myself that I’d hang on until I found out what happened. But the release date kept getting pushed back. And the farther back it got pushed, the more pissed at you I got. Somewhere in there, mixed in with the anger, I realized, I didn’t want to die.”
“So, you came to work here so you could eventually browbeat me into finishing?”
She laughed. “That was just a happy coincidence. For some reason, I didn’t put your books and Terra together until I showed up for an interview and saw the framed cover art in the reception area. Barbara was the first person willing to hire me after I’d changed my name.”
“Thank fuck for Barbara.” He lowered his hands to her lap. “Why Eliza Burrows, anyway?”
“My given name was Elizabeth Louise. Even though everyone else called me Libby, my gram always called me Eliza-Lou-Who. So, I shortened it to Eliza, ditched Perkins, and took her maiden name.”
“It suits you.” Angus shook he head, his eyes soft and adoring. “God, I love you.”
Her throat thickened, again. “I love you, too. So much. But that doesn’t change anything.”
He blew out a hard breath. “I need you to hear me. I. Don’t. Care. I’m gutted by everything you’ve gone through. Everything he did to you. I can’t—” For a moment, he seemed almost too overwhelmed to go on. “Life is too fucking short to worry about something that may or may not happen. And even if it did, it’s not going to ruin my life or my career.” He narrowed his eyes as he stared at her. “Do you want to know why?”
She nodded.
“Because I’ll have you.”
Her lower lip started to tremble, and she had to blink back tears in order to speak. “What if that’s not enough?”
He shook his head with a grin. “Don’t be such a numptie.” His smile faded slightly as he stared into her eyes. “You’re everything I need.”
Her breath caught as the light in his eyes grew fierce. He slid his hand around the nape of her neck and tugged her forward, capturing her mouth in a breathless kiss. Her lips parted beneath his, and she welcomed him inside, sliding her hands into his hair to tug him closer. It felt like they’d been apart for so much longer than a week.
When they finally broke the kiss, she looked up at him. “I’m done running. From you and everything else.”
“Good. Though, I’m planning to tie you up anyway.”
A shiver worked through her. “God, I hope so.” She kissed him softly. “I love you. And I promise I’ll stop trying to break up with you.”
His eyes glinted with humor and happiness. “It’s a start.” He climbed to his feet and pulled her into his arms. “Did you happen to notice that was a very special edition of Pride and Prejudice?”
Her brow furrowed. She leaned over and picked up the book and turned it over inspecting it. “It’s a used copy. Library binding...so not an early edition.”
He slid his hand down her back and over the curve of her ass. “Library binding gives me ideas...”
Snorting, she shook her head, trying not to be distracted by his wandering fingers and hardening cock. She opened the book, and read through the inscription again.
“Well, there is this beautiful inscription.”
“Keep going.” He slid his other hand over her hip, then slipped beneath her sweater to stroke her skin, his fingers warm against her body.
She started turning pages, though it was hard to focus as he kissed the side of her neck. At the beginning of chapter three, she spotted it and laughed. The more pages she flipped through, the harder she laughed.
“It seems,” she said when she’d caught her breath, “that someone has taken a black marker and crossed out every instance of the word ‘Darcy’.”
He dug his fingertips into the meat of her ass, and she couldn’t help the groan that escaped.
“I was thinking that you were probably in need of a good paddling.”
“God, yes,” she whispered as a shudder of need rolled through her.
A wicked smile curved his lips. “I just wanted to make sure that you wouldn’t accidentally safeword while you’re reading to me.” He sobered. “But, if you ever needed to... I don’t ever want you to feel like you can’t sa—”
She laid her fingers across his lips. “I know. You’ll always make sure I have what I need.”
Epilogue
/> Three Years Later...
Angus laced his fingers through Eliza’s and squeezed her hand while camera flashes burst around them like dying stars. She was smiling, but her nervousness rolled off her in waves. She was still uncomfortable having her picture taken.
He leaned toward her and murmured, “Thank you for coming with me tonight. I know this isn’t your idea of a good time.”
Ever since Game of Thrones had exploded on the small screen, television premieres had become almost as big as their film counterparts. And the studio had spared nothing when it came to the hype for Dark Nebula Rising.
A reporter approached, and Angus prepared to answer the same five or six questions he was always asked, but the man veered over to Eliza. “We’ve heard some rumors, and we were hoping you could shed some light on them.”
She stiffened slightly, but her smile remained in place. “Well, I suppose that depends on the rumor.”
The guy laughed that fake Hollywood laugh that Angus was beginning to loathe. “Of course. Of course. Well, I’d heard...okay, technically, my girlfriend heard, that you’re the mystery woman mentioned in the dedication of Escape Velocity. Is that true?”
She blinked, and it was clear that wasn’t the question she’d been expecting. But she recovered quickly and laughed. “Your girlfriend is right, so whatever you bet her, you’d better pay up.”
The guy laughed again, and Angus said, “This is my amazing wife, Eliza Burrows.”
They moved another couple of feet down the red carpet, but the reporter kept up with them. “Are you involved in the show’s production?”
She shook her head. “No. I just edit books.”
Angus slid his arm around her waist. “There’s no just. She’s a fantastic editor. To be honest, she’s the reason we’re all standing here, today.”
“That’s not tr—”
“And,” he added, “she’s also got a book of her own coming out next fall.”
She scowled at him. “This is the show’s night. Hush.”
He grinned unrepentantly. “I’m proud of you. Deal.”
“Sci-fi?” the reporter asked.
“No. But we can talk more about that later. I’d rather focus on the show, right now.” She waved at someone across the carpet. “Look! There’s Jessica! She plays Zarah. Have you met her yet? She’s spectacular.”
The reporter took the bait and approached Jessica.
“Nicely done,” Angus said.
She briefly leaned her head against his shoulder as they crept a little closer to the theater entrance. “Introvert survival tactics for too much people-ing.”
“You know, your book release is probably going to require even more survival tactics.”
“I know,” she groaned.
He pressed a kiss to her temple. “You’re still the strongest person I know.”
She shook her head. “I’m terrified...but I have to do it.”
Eliza and Angus had both testified at Nigel’s trial. As had his other victims and the family of the woman who’d taken her life. Kit’s legal team had served DMCA takedown notices to as many websites as they could find on behalf of the women Nigel had targeted, so they wouldn’t be re-victimized by the press.
Eliza and the other women had grown close during the trial—not only to each other, but also to the family of the fourth victim. And when her family had asked them if they’d consider telling their stories to help prevent something like this from happening to others, Eliza had surprised herself by volunteering to compile the stories and write the book.
But Angus hadn’t been surprised at all. They reached the end of the line, and as they waited their turn to go in, he gazed at the woman he loved more than he would have ever imagined possible. “I’ll be with you the whole way.”
She smiled up at him, eyes a little shiny. “I know you will.” Heedless of the cameras continuing to flash, she drew his head down to hers and kissed him. When it ended, she whispered, “And I’ll be with you, too.”
Excerpt from Bound: Executive Positions
They say not to mix business with pleasure. Unfortunately, her Friday night hook-up is now her Monday morning interview.
For the last two years, Beatrice Spencer has been dealing with more than an average amount of stress. When her best friend stepped down as CEO of Weaver Imports, the board of directors voted, albeit not unanimously, that she would take his place. Though the transition has gone well, a few of the old guard have been resistant to a woman leading the company. When her most vocal critic leaves, she has to scramble to find a new Chief Information Officer. Desperate to let off steam, Bea finally accepts a friend’s invitation to an exclusive kink club.
Cameron Decker needs a change. He’s not sure that change needs to be as big as moving from New York to London, but when the executive recruiter he’s working with finds what could be an ideal fit, he’s willing to consider it. Deciding to treat himself to a long overdue vacation, he combines the interview with a visit to an old friend. Eager to show Cameron all that London has to offer, his friend arranges for him to visit Sterling Manor—a private fetish club—where he meets a sweetly submissive sub. When he arrives for his interview the following Monday, he’s stunned to discover that the same woman he can’t stop thinking about—the same woman he’d had on her knees—is the CEO of the company he’s meeting with.
Bea forces herself not to react as the man who’d fulfilled more than one of her deepest darkest fantasies, and who’d spawned a plethora of new ones, walks into the room. She fervently hopes, he’s the worst candidate for the position. Because if he’s as skilled at information technology as he is at sexual dominance, she’ll be the worst kind of screwed.
Beatrice Spencer’s pulse drummed so loudly in her ears, she could barely make out Cameron’s words. Turning, she walked to the wall and ran her fingertips across the toys, trying to decide what she wanted this complete stranger to use on her before he fucked her.
What the hell was the matter with her? It wasn’t as though she’d never had a one-night stand before. But those had been drunken, or at least, tipsy fumbles back in her uni days. It was nothing like being utterly sober and dragging a guy she’d literally just met into a room and demanding that he immobilize and punish her.
Her fingertips caught on the cool, metal beads knotted onto a flogger’s fronds. This was all Peyton’s fault. She’d insisted Beatrice needed to check out the club. When she hadn’t gotten around to it fast enough for Peyton’s liking, she’d filled out an application for Bea and paid the fee as a Christmas gift. She’d been apprehensive about setting foot in the club—worried that she’d run into an employee, but Peyton had promised her that everyone who enters signs a confidentiality agreement. And Bea had. Happily, she hadn’t seen anyone she knew.
She glanced over her shoulder at Cameron. She couldn’t be too upset at Peyton’s gift—after all it led her straight to possibly the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen. He watched her through blue eyes so bright, they reminded her of the blue of a candle’s flame—or arcing electricity. One of his thick, sandy-colored eyebrows raised as he waited. As far as one-offs went, he was perfect—hot, dominant, and American, which meant she was unlikely to ever see him again. And his background had been thoroughly checked by the club. This was far better than anything she might have accomplished on her own.
She wrapped her hand around the handle and lifted the flogger from the wall. Turning, she walked back to him. He glanced at the floor, and she knelt, offering him the tool on her upturned palms. She dropped her gaze to his shoes, but it climbed a bit when he didn’t take the flogger and instead unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants.
His cock was a hard, thick ridge in his underwear, and she was dying to get it in her mouth. She kept her hands at chest level, and lifting her gaze to his, opened her mouth.
Grinding the heel of his hand into his erection, he groaned—the rough sound of his voice causing her stomach to flip. “Christ,” he muttered as he bared his prick. H
e wrapped his long fingers around his shaft and stroked, making her mouth water as he brushed his thumb across the shiny, swollen head.
She stayed where she was—on her knees, mouth open—waiting and growing wetter by the second. She couldn’t help it, she wiggled back and forth trying get some relief for aching cunt.
He raised his eyebrow at her, and she stopped moving. He dragged the wide head across her lower lip. “This what you want?”
She made what she hoped was an affirmative noise, but it sounded more like a whimper to her.
Reaching out, he grabbed a handful of her hair at her nape and held her head still as he shoved his cock into her mouth, so far it hit the back of her throat. She groaned and swirled her tongue around his shaft, wordlessly begging for more.
Cameron pumped his hips, giving her exactly what she wanted—his thick heat sliding roughly past her lips and leaking across her tongue. She kept her eyes on his face the entire time. She didn’t want to miss a moment of her time with him. She had a feeling that anything she’d previously experienced would be nothing compared to this.
As abruptly as he’d begun, he pulled out of her mouth, leaving her panting and even needier than she’d been before. He backed up half a step, and she couldn’t tear her gaze away from his cock, slick with her saliva, bobbing just a few agonizing inches from her face.
He finally lifted the flogger from her palms, and she slowly lowered her hands to her lap.
“Stand up.”
Excerpt from Bound: Safeword Protected
Exploring her kinks and desires was supposed to satisfy her curiosity, not make her yearn for more.
Clara Turner loves her life—her career as a travel writer takes her to places most people only dream of. But with the birth of her cousin’s first child quickly approaching, Clara happily trades her fast-paced adventures for the quiet Irish village to be there for the new arrival.
When Clara’s laptop acts up, her cousin decides to do Clara a favor and takes it to Niall Walsh, the village’s unofficial tech support. Clara panics at the thought of Niall—sexy, sets-her-lady-bits-tingling-from-afar Niall—discovering her secret stash of filthy kinkery living on her hard drive.
Rewritten (The Bound Series Book 7) Page 26
