Judging Books

by Shay Savage

  I felt the head of his cock between my legs. He stroked me up and down, and my thighs clenched as he rammed into me with a grunt.

  “Ahh!” I cried out as I nearly lost my balance. Ethan wrapped an arm around my waist and held me in place as he began to pound into me. He placed his other hand on the back of my neck again, holding my face to the cardboard.

  “You fucking love getting pounded, don’t you, baby?”

  “Yes!”

  He slowed his pace, and I moaned. I could already feel the pressure building between my legs with each penetration.

  “You want it slow, sweetheart,” he whispered, grinding deep inside of me, “or do you want it rough?”

  “Harder!” I screamed.

  “Fuck, yeah!”

  Ethan grunted and groaned with every stroke, nearly shoving me right off of the box, but he held tight to my waist, pulling me back against him.

  “You look so fucking hot bent over like that. I could just fuck you like this all day.”

  “God, Ethan!” I pressed back, still on my toes, pushing as hard as I could, reaching for that peak. I tightened my hands into fists and cried out again as waves of pleasure rushed through my core.

  “Oh, shit! Ashlyn!”

  Ethan stiffened and gripped my hips tightly. He shoved into me one last time as my body shook with his. I felt him empty inside of me right before he collapsed against my back. A second later, both my legs and the top of the box gave out, and we toppled to the floor, laughing.

  “That was fucking amazing,” Ethan said, still panting. “I might have to randomly box things up every few weeks just so we can do that again.”

  “That doesn’t seem like a great use of time.”

  “It would be worth it.” He hugged me close for a moment, then jumped up to get me a towel and some water.

  I headed to the bathroom to clean myself up. In the mirror, I looked at my red-splotched face and smiled. Living with Ethan was definitely going to have its perks. As soon as I walked out of the bathroom, Ethan was right there, still naked, to wrap his arms around me and kiss me deeply.

  “If we stay like this, we’re going to go at it again,” I said. “I’ll be living out of these boxes forever.”

  “Might as well get to it then,” Ethan said with a smile.

  Ethan released me, and we collected our clothing. I tried to ignore the wet spot on top of the box we had sex on and picked up one of the smaller boxes.

  “I’ve got it.” Ethan rushed over and took the box from my hands. He asked me what the label on the top said and then hauled it to the spare bedroom. “I didn’t realize how many clothes you have!”

  “I’ve got another box here,” I called from the hallway. “It’s just shoes. Should they go in the spare room, too?”

  “Maybe I should get rid of some of my mom’s things,” Ethan said as he came back out for another box. “It would make more room for yours in our bedroom.”

  “Only if you think you’re ready for that.”

  “I don’t know.” Ethan stared at the floor for a moment. “I might be though. I just hate throwing them out.”

  Ethan was silent for several moments and then smiled slightly.

  “You know what we could do with them?”

  “What?” I reached over and took his hands in mine.

  “Do you remember seeing a strip mall near CeeCee’s place? Josh and I were going to buy it and turn it into a grocery with a farmer’s market. We could take the clothes there and let the women’s shelter across the street send people over to pick some things out. They always need clothes for interviews to help the women find jobs. What do you think of that?”

  “I think that’s a great idea. That way, you know they’re going to good use.”

  “I think Mom would have approved.” Ethan took a deep breath and nodded once. “That’s what we’ll do.”

  I leaned over and kissed his cheek.

  We unpacked until we were both ready to pass out. Ethan ordered Chinese food, and we sat in the bean bag chairs to eat.

  “I told CeeCee,” Ethan said suddenly.

  “Told him what?”

  “I told him I bought their apartment building. I told him about what Josh and I have planned for the whole community. He knows how much money I have now.”

  “How did he feel about it?”

  “He seemed okay, but Andrea is pissed that I never told them before. We had it out a bit, but then I told them the reason for coming clean—I want to give them both jobs. Not just them, but Gwen and Faith, too.”

  “What will you have them do?”

  “Andrea is great with customer service,” Ethan said. “She’s done lots of jobs like that before. She really knows how to turn on the fake charm!” He laughed. “CeeCee has done a little construction before, and I want him to learn to be a construction foreman, so he’ll assist the other one Josh hired. I want Faith to be the head of human relations and make sure we get a plan together to provide health insurance people can afford, retirement plans, too.”

  “What about Gwen?”

  “Gwen likes getting dirty,” Ethan said with a laugh. “She also loves all those big constructions machines. I’m sending her to a trade school where she can learn how to operate them all.”

  “Is she okay with you paying for that?”

  “No.” Ethan shook his head. “The only way she would do it is if it were a loan, and I have to dock her checks until she’s paid it all back to me.”

  “Sounds like a decent compromise.”

  “I guess.” He grinned. “She never said how much I had to dock her checks, so I figure about a dollar a week should do it.”

  “And what does my father think about all of this? You never did tell me what he said during your meeting.”

  “I told you it went fine.” Ethan shrugged and smiled shyly.

  “Vague.” I poked him in the shoulder. “Spill it.”

  “He likes my idea,” Ethan said. “He even said he’d help us come up with the business plan and letter of intent for the real estate people and city planning commissioner.”

  “Ethan, that’s fabulous!”

  “He gave me a big lecture on appearance, though. Said I needed to ditch the piercings and start dressing like a businessman. I tried to explain the meaning behind it all, but I don’t think he gets it.”

  “I’m not sure he ever will,” I said. “I do think he appreciates your dressing up for meetings at his office though.”

  “He commented on my shoes.” Ethan laughed. “I told him Chucks were expensive as well as comfortable, but he just made a face like he was sucking a lemon.”

  “I know that look.”

  “Andrea said I looked like one of those models in the department store ads.”

  “You do.” I smiled. “So, your friends are still accepting you even though you have money?”

  “Yeah. I’m kinda surprised, but now that they know, I feel bad for not telling them before.”

  “You are a fabulous guy,” I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck. “They already knew that. Are you going to bring them here? Show them your place?”

  “Maybe after you get settled in.” Ethan looked around at the mayhem of boxes. “It’s kind of a mess right now.”

  He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me tight against him, placing soft kisses on the top of my head. It wasn’t going to be easy, and I wasn’t deluding myself into thinking that it would be. Even though Dad had reluctantly accepted Ethan, I was going to take continuous flack for being with him even when he did shave and put on a nice suit.

  Zoey had discontinued her jokes, and Presley had changed the tone of hers to light-hearted ribbing, but I still got a lot of grief about Ethan’s age. I wasn’t going to pretend that I didn’t care what they thought. I hadn’t come that far just yet, but Ethan meant more to me than they did, so whatever they were going to dish out, I was going to take—for him.

  His hands ran up into my hair, and he pulled my face to his, his
lips and tongue stroking my mouth, my chin, my throat. As my body began to respond to him again, I noticed something I had never felt before in my life—not with any man—a sense of deep, serene calm that came over me, held me, and caressed my mind as much as Ethan’s hands were caressing my body. I relaxed completely back against his chest and just felt.

  “Oh…Ethan…I love you.”

  My teeth sank into my lip, and I could feel my heart rate and breathing accelerate as the calm instantly disappeared, and the serene feeling was replaced with horror. My hands started to shake as I tried to figure out what in the hell I had just said. I mean, I knew the words. I knew what I meant, and I knew the implications of speaking them aloud, especially after only knowing each other such a short time. He could bolt. He could bolt right now. All of this…all of this could be for nothing if I had spoken too soon.

  “Ashlyn,” Ethan said, placing his hand on the side of my face and making me look at him. He trailed his fingers up and down my cheek and gave me that cocky, shy half smile. “Get that panicked look off your face, baby. I knew how I felt about you the moment I realized I wanted to make you French toast. I knew I didn’t want to just make it that morning—even that first night you were here. I knew I wanted to make you breakfast every day for the rest of forever.”

  He brushed my lips softly with his, back and forth, the cool metal from the rings starting to feel like home as much as his arms did when he wrapped them around my waist and held me tight.

  “I love you, Ashlyn.”

  Tilting my head a little, I looked up into Ethan’s eyes, and he gave me the full-fledged, double-barrel smile that lit up my existence. Inside my body, it felt like my heart was swelling up, like his gaze was enough to complete me. As I brought my lips back to his, I knew whatever we faced in the future, we were going to face it together. I had been so closed for so long, it felt good to finally let someone completely and totally inside again. Maybe it wouldn’t be perfect, and maybe some things were going to be tough, but for once in my life, I wasn’t going to do what everyone else expected. I wasn’t going to do what other people thought I should. For once, I was going to do what was right for me—for both of us.

  Carpe diem.

  ~~The End~~

  More Books by Shay Savage

  Evan Arden Series:

  Otherwise Alone

  Former Marine Lieutenant Evan Arden sits in a shack in the middle of nowhere, waiting for orders that will send him back home—if he ever gets them. Other than his loyal Great Pyrenees, there's no one around to break up the monotony. The heat is unbearable, but he makes do with the little he has. He’s accustomed to harsh conditions and simply exists as best he can. The tedium is excruciating, but it is suddenly interrupted when a young woman stumbles up his path.

  She’s lost; she’s cute, and he can’t resist the temptation of luring her into his bed. Why not? It’s been ages, and he is Otherwise Alone.

  Otherwise Occupied

  Evan Arden is a hit man for a Chicago mob boss and moves through life with darkness in his soul and a gun in his hand. Those who know him for what he is fear him, and those who find out the hard way never get a chance to tell anyone else. The few people who get a glimpse inside his head wish they never had. A merciless killer, his only loyalty resides with his employer, the man who calls the shots that rain from Evan’s weapon.

  As a POW of the Gulf War, Evan spent months in captivity, and the memories of his confinement combine with thoughts of the woman he left in Arizona. He lives his life day-to-day with little more than the company of his dog, Odin. As insomnia overtakes him, he seeks comfort from an unlikely source, but will confiding in her be his undoing?

  He’s struggling to forget his past and to keep himself Otherwise Occupied.

  Otherwise Unharmed

  After Evan Arden was imprisoned by the enemy for a year and a half, he returned from the desert as a military hero. He’d suffered some minor injuries during his captivity, was discharged from the Marines with a touch of shellshock, but was considered otherwise unharmed. Now he wonders how he ended up where he is—incarcerated in Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center for using his sharpshooting expertise to take out the neighborhood park with a high-powered sniper rifle and multiple rounds of ammunition.

  Lia Antonio, the woman he rescued from the desert heat the previous year, is the only person who can bring him out of his sleep-deprived psychosis and mounting PTSD. When she does, Evan knows he can’t just let her go again. He’s never considered leaving the business before—who retires from the mafia?—but he’s determined to get both Lia and himself out of harm’s way.

  Evan faces overwhelming forces from multiple directions as a deal to get him out of jail turns more dangerous than he imagined. With a mob war on the horizon and the feds holding evidence over his head, Evan has no choice but to throw himself into the middle of another warzone.

  In his efforts to make things right, Evan crosses the wrong man and finds himself on the business end of the crosshairs. With his acute perception and intelligence, he tries to stay a step ahead of his former co-workers, but this time, it isn’t just his own life on the line—he’s got to protect Lia from the man who once called him son.

  Isolated

  Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome. The mantra is good enough for the Marines; it’s good enough for me. Improvise . . . Near the top of the world, I fight for my life against my opponent, Sebastian Stark. He has the upper hand in strength, but I have the cunning to turn the tables on him. I battle the elements, my demons, and him until Stark and I manage to strike a deal to ensure freedom for us both—and the women we love.

  Adapt . . . Being alone comes naturally to me. I’ve spent most of my life alone. Sharing my experiences, opening up to another human being, developing a relationship—all these things are foreign to me. Sometimes I wonder if it’s even meant to be.

  Overcome . . . I’ve been away from Lia for far too long, yet I still have commitments I must keep. When I make my way home, I will tell her I have decided to end the life I have led and move on to become the man she needs. I can overcome my demons; I must. But will Lia be willing to wait?

  Irrevocable

  Have you ever made a mistake?

  A big one?

  I’m back in Chicago and back in business with my boss, Rinaldo Moretti. So much for my run at a normal life. There are some new faces in the organization, and someone’s been cooking the books. Personally? I think they’re after more than a just little cash. If I have any hopes of flushing out the traitor, I’m going to need to find a good hooker to help me sleep at night.

  As the bodies pile up, I find solace in Alina. There’s something about her, something different. She understands me without asking a lot of questions. It’s as if she’s known me for years, yet we’ve only just met. If I weren’t so distracted by business, I’d try to figure out her story. She’s the only one keeping me grounded as my world spins out of control.

  I’m going to lose the one man who has ever meant anything to me – the only man to ever call me son. I want to deny his request, but there is no avoiding what awaits me. I never wanted any of this, but I’m out of options, and time is running out.

  Some choices have unforeseen consequences, and some choices are simply irrevocable.

  Uncockblockable

  Nick Wolfe is famous in Chicago—or is that infamous? He’s not only known as the illegitimate son of Mafia boss Rinaldo Moretti, but also as an unstoppable ladies’ man. He always seems to get the girl in the end, even when everyone around tries to plot against him. He’s a party guy, doesn’t work, and spends all his time picking up women and making notches on his headboard. He's the ultimate ladies’ man...or is that man-whore? However, his days of infamy come to a startling halt when he meets her, and she turns the tables on him.

  Surviving the Storm Series:

  Surviving Raine

  As the captain of a schooner catering to the elite on the Caribbean Seas, Sebastian Stark does
his best to avoid any human encounters. Interacting with people isn’t his thing, and he prefers the company of a bottle of vodka, a shot glass, and maybe a whore. There’s no doubt he’s hiding from a checkered past, but he does well keeping everything to himself…

  …until the night his schooner capsizes, and he’s stuck on a life raft with one of the passengers.

  Raine’s young, she’s cute, and Bastian would probably be into her if he wasn’t suffering from alcohol withdrawal. As the days pass, DTs, starvation, and dehydration become the norm. Even the most closed person starts to open up when he thinks he’s going to die, but when she realizes their traumatic pasts are connected, it’s no longer the elements that have Bastian concerned.

  He has no idea how he’s going to Survive Raine.

  Bastian’s Storm

  Sebastian Stark just isn’t cut out for normal life with a girlfriend in the hot and humid city of Miami. All in all, he’d rather be back on the island where it was just the two of them, and he could keep everything in balance. The bar down the street tempts him daily, but he’s determined to remain strong. Adjusting to normal life is difficult, but Bastian is doing his best to keep himself together and the nightmares away. Raine’s happy, and that’s what matters to him the most.

  But not all nightmares can be driven away.

  When Bastian’s former mentor comes into the picture and presents him with an ultimatum, Bastian slips into old habits. Though he wants to shield Raine from the truth, the shady circumstances of his past form into a hurricane he can’t control. In an effort to protect her, Bastian has no choice but to throw himself back into his old job—death match tournaments—just one last time.

  Dropped into the arctic wilderness with weapons loaded, Bastian has to compete against representatives of major crime lords from all over the States. He’s studied his competition; he knows their weaknesses, and he’s ready to battle for the woman he loves. There’s only one opponent in the mix that causes him any concern. In order to guarantee Raine’s safety, Bastian will be pitted against the key hit man for Chicago’s largest mob family—a guy who’s known as one hell of a shot.