by Eve Langlais
He stepped up to her and rubbed his hand down the length of her arm. Damn him! Why was he touching her? God, it felt so good. Her breath caught in an effort to stave off any crying she was about to do. He leaned in, his head resting on the side of her head, his lips by her ear.
“I love you,” he whispered.
She shook her head in denial and tried pushing him away. He grabbed both her arms and held her tightly against him.
“Don’t push me away, Cassie. Please just let me get this out. Then if you want me to leave, I will.”
He rubbed his head in her hair. She trembled. He was everywhere, pressed against her, breathing on her. She’d never forget any of this. She couldn’t believe he felt about her the way she felt about him. It wasn’t possible. He just felt guilty. His arms wrapped around her, one hand fisting in her hair as he groaned into her ear. Her knees buckled and his hold tightened.
“I’ve got you,” he said softly, meaning he’d stopped her from falling, but then he repeated it over and over again, the meaning clearly changing.
“Ian…” She didn’t know what to say. She shouldn’t let him touch her like this.
His lips found the sensitive spot below her ear, and she was a goner. The hurt he’d caused didn’t matter anymore. She’d been more intimate with this man than she’d ever been with any other. Without ever having touched him. She couldn’t fight the need boiling inside her now. This contact was all she’d ever dreamed about, and after everything that’d happened between them, she at least wanted this dream fulfilled.
She moaned as his lips caressed the column of her neck, and he took that as an invitation. His hands tangled in her hair, and his mouth crashed onto hers. Her surprised gasp gave him direct access to the wet heat he sought. His tongue plundered, exploring every crevice and dueling with hers. Ian was kissing her. She’d lain awake at night and visualized what this would be like.
She never dreamed it’d be this good.
She pulled away to breathe, and he kissed and nipped at her neck. When she buried her fingers in his hair and pulled him back to her lips, he groaned and kissed her again, squatting down and lifting her into his arms.
“Your room?” he asked between kisses while walking down the only hallway. She pointed aimlessly, but he found it. He kicked the door closed as he strode to the bed, setting her down beside it. He continued kissing her while they frantically toed off shoes and tugged and pulled at each other’s clothing, only breaking away to pull their shirts free. When they were both naked, he pulled away, caressing her face with his hands while he caressed her body with his gaze. “You’re so beautiful, baby.” He picked her up and laid her on the bed. “You don’t know how many times I dreamed about actually being in this room with you.”
Oh, she could only guess it was as many times as she’d envisioned being in his.
Ian crawled onto the bed above her. His tall, toned frame hovered over. He supported his weight with one arm, barely touching her, as his lips found her nipple. She cried out when he bit it lovingly and suckled it, drawing it to the roof of his mouth, his free hand finding the other one.
He alternated kissing, sucking one nipple and then the other. Back and forth, until she was writhing beneath him. She lifted her hips, making contact with his engorged cock. He growled around her nipple and thrust his cock against her. She clawed at his back, loving the feel of touching him, of him touching her. On a groan, he leaned away and reached for his jeans, pulling out a condom and rolling it on in record time. When he hovered over her again, she rubbed her pussy against his hard length, aligning him at her entrance. He flexed his hips on impulse, and she gasped as he breached her.
He pulled his mouth away from the breasts he was ravishing and stared down at her, his swollen lips inches from hers. Their gazes locked and he pushed in farther, thrusting slowly. The look in his eyes almost undid her. They were so full of emotion she almost believed he did love her. But she wouldn’t get her hopes up. She had to be smart about this, try to detach herself from her feelings.
He thrust hard, his eyes narrowing as he grabbed her hip and angled her for deeper penetration. “What are you thinking?” His next thrust was even harder than the last and she cried out at the pleasure. He kissed her ear. “Something sad crossed your eyes.”
She shook her head, not wanting to voice her thoughts. She slid her hands down his back and squeezed his ass as she shoved her hips up, grinding into him. He groaned, his question clearly forgotten, and drove into her with maddening force.
“Oh God, Ian!”
“You feel so good, baby.” His mouth was everywhere he could reach. Her throat, her breasts, her ears, her lips, kissing her urgently while she clutched him as tightly as she could. “Cassie, I love you.”
No. She didn’t want to think about that. She shook her head and held her breath, not even letting air in her lungs for fear his soul would find its way into her heart.
He slowed and looked at her, caressing her face. “You don’t believe me?” he asked, hurt crossing his eyes.
“I don’t want to think about that.”
He nodded, resolved. “I want a chance to prove it to you. I know I’ll have to earn your trust again, but baby, please know that I’ll never do anything to hurt you ever again.”
Her breath caught and tears formed, leaking over. Everything just seemed so hopeful, yet hopeless. Ian kissed them away as he gently started thrusting again. The frantic urgency subsiding, he made love to her slowly, reverently, whispering how beautiful she was and how sorry he felt for hurting her. They held each other tightly as they kissed and climbed toward that precipice together.
When Cassie went over, screaming his name, Ian kissed her hard, his hand sliding down to gently collar her throat. It was a mark of possession, and she found it extremely erotic, dragging out her orgasm as he thrust harder into her, shouting his own release.
As they both came down, he stroked her hair, kissed her lips, and she clung to him, not wanting to let him go.
“I do love you, Cassie. I want you to be mine again. Forever.”
She was overwhelmed by the emotions rushing through her. But in a good way. She no longer wanted to hold back. “I-I love you too, Ian. That’s why this has been so hard.”
She felt his muscles relax at her admission, and he nodded his head against hers. “Never again. I’ll never hurt you again. I’ll show you I can deserve your love, baby.”
He kissed her before rolling over and pulling her against him, stroking her hair. She sat quietly, wondering what would happen now. They loved each other but lived in different states. She guessed they could go back to their digital romance and get together on weekends, but that didn’t sound very appealing after having felt his touch.
“They fired Mac,” Ian murmured, playing with her locks.
“Oh yeah?” She wondered how many more would be on the chopping block during this restructuring.
“Mm-hmm. After he threatened to fire me if I said anything to the executive staff about what happened, I decided I could play just as dirty as him. I went to Mr. Winthrop and told him that your help was instrumental in the changes to the application and that Mac didn’t tell me he was going to keep that from them. I reiterated my idea that we keep several positions from the southern office open, and he agreed it was a good idea.”
Cassie’s brain was churning. “Y-You asked to keep some of the people onboard?”
“Yeah, baby. I did the plan according to how Mac wanted me to, and I agree that it makes financial sense to close your office, but I felt it was necessary to keep some personnel. Mac shot that idea down. But when I explained to Mr. Winthrop my plan, he was impressed. So impressed, in fact, that they fired Mac and offered me his job. Well, part of it anyway. They’re splitting it up, separating the business management and project management duties into two positions.”
She gasped and turned to face him. “Wow. Congratulations.”
He leaned up and kissed her quickly. “Well, it wasn’t as
clean as that,” he said, chuckling. “I pulled up all of Mac’s mistakes and showed Mr. Winthrop how many jobs were botched by him where I had to come in and clean up.”
She laughed. “Nice. I’d have just uprooted his plants.”
“What?” He chuckled.
“Nothing.” She shook her head. “So what happens now?”
“Well.” He pulled her back down to his chest. “I want you to come work with me,” he whispered. “They want me to handle the business aspects of the operation, so I’d like you to be in the project management position that was split off from Mac’s old duties.”
“What?” Cassie asked incredulously, looking at him.
He swallowed nervously. “I love you, baby. I know you have a life here, but I want you to make a life with me. We can take this as slowly as you want, but I already know I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“You’re giving me a job?” Okay, so he just poured his heart out and she jumped to the part about her not being unemployed anymore. A girl has gotta eat.
He nodded. “It’s yours if you want it. I’ve already cleared it with the executive staff. And if you agree, you get to select the positions we keep from your office.” His lips twitched, fighting a smile. “Except for Sasha. She’s not staying in her old position. I’ve already asked that she be promoted to my old job.”
Cassie gasped, covering her gaping mouth. Ian had gone to all this trouble to make things right while she was busy moping around her house. He did this for her because he wanted to be with her. She smiled. She really wanted to be with him too, and now it seemed she’d get to do that. Then she laughed, thinking about being able to keep working with Sasha.
“What’s so funny?”
“Let’s tell Sasha this was my idea. I owe her for making her spank me that night. This should clear that debt.”
He nuzzled her neck. “Hmm, I can’t wait for you to do something bad so I can tan that ass myself.”
She giggled, squirming in his embrace. “Well, apparently I kissed a guy a couple of times last night. Does that count?” she asked playfully.
He pulled away, staring her down, a look of mock anger crossing his face. “You’ve been making out with some guy while I’ve been pining away for you?”
“In my defense, I was really drunk. And Sasha was the one who wanted me to fuck him, and oh my God, I’m going to shut up now,” she said as she saw the playfulness leave his expression.
He grabbed her lightning fast and slung her over his knees. “I’m going to spank you until you remember who you belong to, baby.”
She laughed as he started swatting her, which quickly turned into moans, which quickly turned into an afternoon of her surrendering herself to his possession.
There really was no doubt who she belonged to.
Books by Mandy
Woods Family Series (Paranormal)
Blue Balls Series (Contemporary)
Love Against Odds Series (Contemporary)
Beau’s Backdoor Series (Gay Romance)
Goddess Series (Young Adult/New Adult as M.W. Muse)
About the Author
Mandy Harbin is an award-winning, bestselling author of several books across multiple romance genres ranging from contemporary to paranormal erotic romance. She is also the number one bestselling author in teen romance under the pen name M.W. Muse with her popular Goddess Series. She is a Superstar Award recipient, Reader’s Crown and RWA Passionate Plume finalist, and has received Night Owl Reviews Top Pick distinction many times. She studied writing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, earned several degrees, and even pursued an MBA until she realized becoming an author did not have to remain an unfulfilled dream. Mandy is a PAN member of the RWA and lives in a small Arkansas town with her non-traditional family, and although she is a direct descendant of British royalty, they refuse to call her princess. When she’s not penning her latest book, you can find her hanging out online where she loves to connect with fellow readers or stalking Mickey Mouse at Disney World.
www.mandyharbin.com
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And cake. Cake matters, too.
White Collar Cowboy: A Shadow Maverick Ranch Novella
Parker Kincade
Copyright © 2014, Parker Kincade
ISBN: 978-0-989440-72-1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
Editor: Lacey Thacker
Cover Artist: Hot Damn Designs
Formatted by: JTLW Design
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, places, brands and dialogues in this book are a product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.
This book contains content that is not suitable for readers who are 17 and under.
Chapter One
Lauren Delgado stared at the blank walls, the barren landscape of her life settling as a heavy weight in her gut.
“Ms. Delgado?”
Lauren turned to find Janice standing in the doorway, face stricken, an empty box dangling from her fingers.
“Come on in, Janice.” Then, more to herself, “Let’s get this done.”
Janice skittered into the room, moving with the quiet efficiency Lauren recognized as one walking about on eggshells.
Lauren placed a gentle hand on her assistant’s arm. “Are you okay?”
Janice shook her head, eyes brimming with tears. “I’m so sorry.”
Yeah. She was too.
Twelve years.
Lauren had given everything to Clearwater International. Her time, her energy, hell, she’d given her whole life.
A life reduced to a cardboard box too big for the personal items she had scattered about—her framed degrees from Columbia and Yale, a trinket given to her by her boss at year ten, and a photo of her with her best girlfriends on a rare adventure right out of college.
No doubt Taralee and Faith would throw a party once they heard the news. Taralee thought she worked too hard and Faith would see her situation as some kind of crazy universal sign. They’d always hounded her about her lack of extracurricular activities, most notably her nonexistent love life. She met the two of them in the East Village once a week for drinks. Maybe not a love life, but that still counted for something, right?
Her empty office said no.
Lauren took the box and forced a soothing tone. “It’s going to be all right. They’ve assured me your position is safe. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Janice swiped at her tears. “What are you going to do?”
Lauren had no idea. She was still trying to wrap her head around being downsized. A “strategic move toward the future,” they’d said. Whatever the hell that meant.
“You needn’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Now, why don’t you go get yourself some tea and let me finish up in here.”
Lauren didn’t know how much longer she could keep up the facade.
“You won’t leave without saying goodbye, will you?” Janice eyed her with suspicion.
“Of course not.” She hoped her smile was believable because inside, she was numb.
“I’ll be at my desk.”
Lauren let the box drop to the floor as Janice made her exit.
As a professional, she understood the decision to let her go. The economy shifts. Things change.
But, as a woman, she felt hurt, betrayed, and—if she were being honest—more than a little embarrassed. She’d never lost a job before. She felt as though she’d failed.
Ah, god.
Her stomach flipped and Lauren bolted across the thick carpet to her private bathroom.
Her gut contracted as her knees hit the tile. A surge of metallic-tasting saliva flooded her mouth and she swallowed hard, dropped her head to rest on her forearm.
Breathe in. Breathe out. She could do this.
She’d been smart with her money. Breathe in. She couldn’t retire, but she could take some time to figure out her next move. Breathe out. Analyze her options. In. Take a vacation. Out. Wear the bikini she owned but had never worn.
Minutes passed before she pushed herself from the floor. She filled a glass with cool water and drank slowly, methodically, still fighting her rebellious stomach, hoping to keep her lunch in place.
The soft fluorescent lighting accentuated her paled complexion, but she didn’t gawk. She wanted to collect her purse and get the hell out of here before people caught wind and stopped to offer sympathy, as if someone had died or something. Janice had been enough.
She would really miss this place.
She was done with the corporate bullshit. Oh sure, she’d made a respectable amount of money, but this … she gripped the edge of the sink and fought back tears … this sucked.
Good lord, how did she get here? Thirty-five, single, and unemployed.
Now what? didn’t seem to cover it.
“Lauren?”
She straightened as a deep, male voice sounded from the other room. Her skin broke out in goosebumps, nipples peaked, her body instantly responding to the rich timbre of a voice she’d know anywhere.
“I tried to stop him, Ms. Delgado,” came Janice’s urgent whisper through the door. “You know how he is,” she hissed.
He being Gavin Mathis.
The man in charge of deal negotiations out of Clearwater’s London office, and the sexiest man Lauren knew. Well over six feet tall, his black hair and dark eyes gave him an aura of danger only softened by the laugh lines around his mouth—a delectable mouth perched above a strong jaw and broad shoulders. And, oh lord, could Gavin fill out a business suit.
