“And then what?”
Laurel smiled shyly. “And then… then I’m coming right back here. For a long while.”
“I think I might know someone who can show you around,” I said.
She kissed me again and didn’t stop until her phone was chiming, the call of an incoming message. Laurel pulled away from my mouth and looked at her phone with an annoyed grunt.
“Just one sec, it’s my partner from the magazine.” A few finger swipes later, she pulled up his message and let out a laugh with a shake of her head.
She held up the phone to me, and displayed a photo of a fit dude with short-cropped hair sitting in a cozy dark blue first class airline seat. In each hand, he held a full mimosa, and grinned at the camera behind sunglasses like he had won the lottery.
“I guess I missed my flight,” she said, stuffing the phone in her pocket. She looked up at me with lustful, curious eyes.
As I ran my hands up her thighs, I said, “Well, what’s to be done about that?”
~ EPILOGUE ~
Laurel
THREE MONTHS LATER
“Seriously, man, it’s still not centered!” I laughed, waving my hands from side to side. The workers on the scaffolding above the doorway to the Graveyard Club followed my directions with only a little frustration, until I hollered and put up the okay sign with both hands. “Perfect, there! Perfect. I’ll have beers waiting for you boys when you’re done.”
The workers made their notes about the location, and then carefully lowered the brand-new, but old school-looking, neon sign for the club that had just been delivered. I wiggled around the scaffolding with care and went back inside.
Things had moved fast after the story hit the presses. It became the best-selling issue of Slipstream in the past fifteen years, and generated a ton of new revenue for the magazine. Noah’s reputation had recovered—and then some. Shows and reporters had lined up the first few weeks, trying to get some face time with him, but he turned them all down. He had said everything he wanted to say in my story, and he only wanted to focus on the future.
Domino was upset, but she understood when I stepped down from the magazine. She called it going out on a high note, but the truth was just that I didn’t want to sneak around my scene anymore, trying to uncover its dirt—I wanted to get back to helping it thrive, supporting the local acts, and writing culture pieces. Deathshead, one of Seattle’s oldest underground magazines, was all too happy to hire me, and I intended to take over as editor one day.
I found a house in Thornwood only a short drive from Noah’s, which I only bought after I insisted it was the right thing to do for a lifelong commitment-phobe. He understood my need for freedom; it wasn’t like we were apart for long periods, anyway. Noah was spending his time on low-key things after the stress of the festival, and most of his days, he was working the Graveyard Club with Kevin, slowly edging him into the present one upgrade at a time.
Behind the bar, Kevin was drying glasses. “Get it all okay?”
“Yeah, it’s going to look fucking amazing,” I told him. “They should have it finished in an hour or so.”
“Don’t forget to ask them to hang up some of the bug zappers we got, too. That neon light is gonna pull all the skeeters to the smokers at night,” he said, gesturing to the lamps gathered under one of the tables.
“Will do,” I promised and took a drink of water from the glass on the bar.
“Babe,” came Noah’s muffled voice from the stage. “Are you busy? Can you help me out here?”
I hurried over to find him trying to hold up one of the overhead PA speakers while he simultaneously tried to maneuver a dolly that had tipped onto its side.
“Geez, tough guy, what gives!” I teased, picking up the dolly and rolling it right underneath him. Noah lowered the speaker carefully onto the platform and stood up with an exhale. He straightened his shirt and pulled me close for a kiss.
“Thanks for helping out today,” he said. “Are you sure the mag didn’t mind?”
“Nah,” I said. “This new place is way more low-key than Slipstream. Besides, that was the point, remember? That I don’t work my ass off all the time anymore?”
“So what do you call helping fix up the Graveyard Club—a vacation?” he laughed, slapping my ass playfully.
“Ooh,” I said. “We should probably take a real one of those soon. I’m getting a little travel thirsty.”
Noah’s eyes lit up. “You too, huh? I bitched about every tour, but man… it always gave me something to look forward to.”
“Well… maybe we should plan one,” I said.
“Maybe we should!” he said, hands on his hips.
“Why are you saying that all defiantly? I’m agreeing with you,” I laughed, poking him in the ribs.
“I don’t know. You get my blood all boiled up.” He pulled me close by the waist and kissed me deeply until Kevin began cat-calling us from behind the bar.
“Back to work, you fuckin’ horn dogs!” Kevin laughed. “If I don’t get any, neither do you!”
Noah and I laughed as we parted, and I hopped off the stage to go check on the sign workers. They were still on track, and the sign already improved the curb appeal of the club. I gave them a thumbs up and returned inside, but the room was empty.
“Hey, Noah, I had this idea,” I said as I came around the corner to the back room.
I found Noah and Kevin huddled up near the sink, looking down at something Noah was holding in his hand. Something small, and something glittery. It was only a split second before they realized I was in the room, and Noah scrambled to shove his hands in his pockets while Kevin made a surprised noise and waved his towel around.
They stared at me like deer caught in headlights, not even bothering to try and explain their strange behavior. I looked to one, and then the other, my smile growing as I waited and waited for one of them to try and cover.
“You guys are… really bad at this,” I laughed.
Noah’s face twisted in a playful glare. Kevin started huffing and walked past me, slapping me a few times with the towel. “Hey, why don’t you mind your own business?”
Noah followed him, walking up close to me. He leaned down and in heated whisper said, “Yeah, why don’t you mind your own business, babe?”
“Why don’t you make me?”
Noah smiled and gave an evil little laugh before he dropped a kiss on my forehead and moved past me into the bar.
As I watched him go with a smile, I wondered if he realized it didn’t take an investigative journalist to figure out what a ring box in the pocket of a pair of jeans looks like.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bestselling author Sienna Valentine grew up in Canada and still lives there, spending her time reading and writing. Steamy romance has always been her favorite genre, and now finds that the only thing more satisfying than dreaming up her fantasies in the first place, is writing them down and being able to share them with others.
You can find Sienna on facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSiennaValentine
Don’t forget, if you want to be the first to know about her upcoming projects or join her ARC team, be sure to sign up on her mailing list right here: http://hyperurl.co/iuvfcv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would to thank all of my wonderful readers who have given me a chance to live my dream of writing for a living. I hope that each book I write is better than the last so that I never disappoint you.
I would also like to thank my ARC and Beta readers that were very helpful in pointing out issues that my own eyes passed over after multiple edits. It’s so helpful having a group of wonderful women that are eager to read my sometimes unfinished and unpolished work and give me constructive feedback. You are all very patient and I appreciate every one of you!
Finally, I want to give a shout out to my newly created Street Team – Sienna’s Sexy Valentines. I’m so blessed to have fans dedicated to helping me get the word out about my boo
ks. You ladies ROCK!
ALSO BY SIENNA
Slade: A Stepbrother Romance
Kellan: A Bad Boy Military MMA Romance
Desperados
Sanctum (Black Dogs MC Book 1) – Included Below as a special Bonus!
Retribution (Black Dogs MC Book 2)
Black Dogs MC Book 3 – Coming Soon
With Aubrey St. Clair
Fighting for Salvation
Trust
Silver and Chrome (coming in Christmas 2015)
And now, as a bonus gift for buying Unplugged, here is the complete copy of Sanctum!
SANCTUM
~ PROLOGUE ~
Maggie moaned and giggled in the dark as she felt Jase’s tongue sliding between her legs. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, fingers tangling in his hair, feeling the motion of his head moving around her center. The coolness of the sheets and the low summer breeze from the open window countered the heat of his body against hers. She could only stand a few minutes of his sweet torture before she grasped at his shoulders, trying to pull him on top of her.
Jase moaned a few times as he lingered, his tongue flicking over her clit one last time before he obliged her silent orders. He traced a trail with his mouth up over her stomach and breasts. When she kissed him, she felt her own wetness on the 5 o’clock scruff on his chin. Jase slid his hips between her legs, his aching hardness pressing onto her sensitive lips. She gasped in his mouth and he laughed a low, sexy laugh that made her stomach shiver.
Jase seemed to tease her a few more moments, sliding his cock against her without entering, until she whimpered and squirmed beneath him. He dropped a hard, passionate kiss on her lips when he finally relented and pushed inside of her. She inhaled the moan he let out when he felt her warmth around his cock. He began to thrust into her desperately, pulling her body for leverage to get as deeply inside of her as he could. Maggie grasped at him, digging nails into his back with every powerful meeting of his hips on hers.
It was only a few minutes before they were both crying out in sweet release. Maggie bit into Jase’s shoulder, holding him close as she came. She felt him shudder against her, and deep inside her.
Maggie collapsed against the sheets, and Jase, on top of her. The sounds of their heavy breathing filled the bedroom.
Jase lifted his head up to look at her and planted a kiss on her lips. “That’s five—record broken.”
“Record broken hard,” said Maggie with a chuckle. “Good show, Campbell.”
“And to you, ma’am,” said Jase. He playfully bit around her stomach where he knew she was ticklish, and Maggie collapsed into giggles until she finally got him to stop.
Rolling off to lie next to her on the bed, Jase played with her curly hair as she lay on the pillow. “I feel like it’s been too long since we got to do this - at least this many times in a row.”
“Yeah, well, who’s to blame for that, mister?” said Maggie with a quirk of her eyebrow.
“I know, I know,” said Jase. “Things have been busy with the club, I know. Henry’s finally giving me better jobs than just bartending.”
“Ugh,” said Maggie immediately. She twisted around dramatically. “Don’t even want to hear his name.”
Jase laughed and tweaked her nose. “Maggie, we’re fucking in the man’s house.”
“Yeah, well, not for long,” she said.
“Oh?” said Jase. He laid his head down on the pillow next to her and gave her a hopeful grin. “Finally going to move in with me?”
Maggie grinned back at him and scooted a little closer. She had practiced broaching this conversation for hours in the mirror before her father had finally left the house, allowing Jase time to come over. “Maybe… “
“Seriously?” said Jase. He perched on his elbow and looked at her.
“When you put a goddamn ring on it,” she said with a laugh. Jase mussed up her hair. It was the response she always gave him when he asked about moving in. She waited just a beat before she tacked on the new part. “And if we’re moving into some place that’s not in LeBeau.”
When he didn’t answer right away, she looked up at his eyes. Some part of her knew he might be resistant, but truth be told, the bigger part of her heart which held his love had no fear until she saw that worried sternness in his jade-colored eyes.
Jase took a deep breath. “You’re still on about this?”
“About moving away? Yeah, I’m still ‘on about it’,” said Maggie. “Did you think I wasn’t serious when I brought it up before?”
Jase sighed and rolled over onto his back. Maggie felt her heart start to ache when he threw his legs off the side of the bed and checked his phone.
“Jase, don’t ignore me,” she said.
Jase turned half around. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to ignore you. I’ve just heard this before. Every time you and Henry have a fight, you talk about getting out of here.”
His words stung. He made her sound so reactionary and emotional. “That’s not what this is.”
“Then what is it? Why do you want to get away from here so bad, Maggie? I don’t get it.”
“Yes you do, you just don’t agree with it.”
“You’re right, I don’t. Henry has only ever made my life better, and you’re asking me to feel exactly the opposite about him—and break my commitment to the club by leaving,” said Jase. He stood up and put on his boxers.
Maggie sat up. “I’m not asking you to feel differently about Henry. How could I? I just… don’t you get it, Jase, that the Henry you know and the Henry I know are not the same man? He gives you the world, and every opportunity, but he can’t push me away from all of it fast enough. He acts like I didn’t grow up in that fucking clubhouse right alongside you.”
“You’re his daughter, of course he’s going to treat you differently from some stray kid he picked up.” Maggie could hear the tone in his voice had gone to a bitter place. “But he’s never let you want for anything. Hell, he’d probably let you live here until you’re a senior citizen.”
“That’s not the same thing as love,” said Maggie, shifting up onto her knees. “Giving me an easy place to live only makes sure I owe him obedience to his rules. He doesn’t care what I want—only what he wants. And he wants me to be with some normal person with an office job, a boring husband, and a weekend hobby.”
Jase stood at the end of the bed, clearly frustrated, but unable to find the words for it. He put his hands on his thin waist and shook his head. Maggie crawled up to him and leaned against his chest. He put one arm around her back with a light touch.
“He’s not going to let this keep on, Jase,” she said in a quiet voice. “You’re becoming his golden boy at the MC, but he wants me as far away from it as he can get me. You can’t honestly tell me you haven’t noticed what’s been going on since we got together…”
“We’ve been together a long time,” said Jase. He wouldn’t look at her.
“As friends, yes. And he was fine with that. But the second we crossed that line…”
Jase shook his head but said nothing.
“He’s kept you as busy as possible with club stuff. He’s kept me here as much as he can, and when you’re not here, he makes very clear that he isn’t happy about us. Haven’t you noticed that every time you stop by when he’s here, he finds some way to get you out of the house quickly? I mean, why are you even here right now, Jase? You have work in less than six hours.”
“It was the only time we…” he trailed off.
“It was the only time we could find where Henry wouldn’t be around,” said Maggie for him. “Where we knew he would be busy and we could steal a few hours. Is that how you want this to be—us forever sneaking around my dad?”
“If you moved in with me, this wouldn’t be happening,” said Jase. “He couldn’t stop us then.”
“He’s your president, Jase. He’s my dad. And he practically owns this town. Moving in together isn’t going to make those relationships magicall
y disappear.”
Jase sighed. “What are you trying to say, Maggie? What do you want?”
“I want you to move away with me,” she said. “Let’s go find a new start somewhere else, away from all of this. Let’s have our own lives.” She ran her hands up his chest and looked up at his face with hopeful eyes.
Instead, she saw only pain on his face. “Maggie…” Jase took her hands in his. “My whole life is here. My friends are here. My mom wouldn’t have anyone else if I left.”
In all her imagining of this moment, Maggie had not prepared herself for this. She thought she had, but she discovered a level of pain for which she had no name “Don’t you love me?” said Maggie, unable to stop the tears surfacing in her eyes.
“Of course I do,” said Jase. He kissed her hands with fervor and looked into her eyes. “Of course. I love you. That’s why I want you to stay and make a life with me here.”
“Jase, what if I can’t? What if Henry won’t let us?” she said.
“He will. We’ll make—“ Jase was interrupted by the sound of a motorcycle rumbling down the neighborhood street. Both he and Maggie froze and looked at each other. “What is he doing coming back this early?” said Jase.
Maggie saw the look on his face, and gave him a sarcastic one of her own. “I thought we didn’t have anything to worry about from him?”
Jase frowned and made a soft, grumpy noise at her. He walked over to the window and stuck his fingers between the blinds to get a look outside. Maggie stood behind him with her arms crossed and listened to the bike pull into the driveway and park.
“Oh,” said Jase as he let out a breath. “It’s not your dad, it’s just Will.”
“Like that’s any better,” said Maggie as she moved to put some clothes on. Jase was right behind her, stepping into his jeans and fumbling his white shirt over his head. By the time he had his cut on, they could hear Will’s soft knocking on the front door. “What’s he doing here?”
Unplugged: A Bad Boy Rockstar Romance Page 16
