Zara arrived at his door at ten o'clock sharp. Her heart was a frantic drum against her ribs. She had followed his final command from the afternoon, her body bare and aching beneath a simple black sundress. This was it. There was no more teasing from across the lawn, no more games. This was real.Before she could knock, the door opened. Richard stood there, a dark silhouette against the low light of his house. He was wearing nothing but a pair of low-slung gray sweatpants, his chest bare, his tattooed arms crossed. He looked like a predator who had been waiting patiently for his prey to walk willingly into his den.He didn't speak. His dark eyes swept over her, a slow, possessive appraisal that made her skin heat and her core clench with a familiar, needy ache. He stepped aside, a silent command for her to enter.The moment the heavy door clicked shut behind her, the world outside ceased to exist. He walked toward her, his movements fluid and confident. He didn't kiss her. He stopped
The sun was a hot, heavy weight on Zara’s skin. She lay on the cheap plastic lounge chair in her backyard, the floral-print bikini doing very little to combat the oppressive August heat. It was the summer after her high school graduation, a long, boring stretch of afternoons that she’d dedicated to a single, all-consuming project: Mr. Richard.He lived in the house next door, a quiet, stoic man in his early thirties whose life was a mystery. All Zara knew was that he worked from home, his office window offering a perfect view of her backyard, and that the sight of him mowing his lawn in a sweat-soaked t-shirt made her feel things that were hot and deliciously unfamiliar.What had started as a teenage crush had turned into something more serious. She felt her body growing gushy between her legs as she teased the older man. Last summer, when her body began changing, rounding out in all the right places, she had caught him peeking at her as she tanned in the backyard three or four times.
My heart was hammering against my ribs, but on the outside, I was the picture of calm, polished professionalism. I was in the final interview for the Vice President of Acquisitions role at Davenport Industries, a job I had been dreaming of for years. The office was a temple of glass and steel on the 75th floor, with a view of the entire city sprawling below.The only person left to impress was the god of this temple himself: Julian Davenport. He was younger than I expected, maybe late thirties, with sharp, intelligent dark eyes, black hair styled with a casual precision, and a custom-tailored suit that probably cost more than my car. He was ruthless, powerful, and so intimidatingly handsome it felt like a weapon.For twenty minutes, he’d grilled me on my resume, his questions sharp and insightful. I’d met every one of them with confidence. I knew I was nailing this.Then, he stopped. He leaned back in his massive leather chair, the picture of calm, predatory authority. He slid a singl
He held me there, bent over the arm of the sofa, until my broken sobs quieted into shuddering breaths. The fire on my skin was no longer a sharp sting but a deep, throbbing ache that seemed to radiate straight to my core. He hadn’t spoken a word since he started, and the silence was somehow more intimidating than any threat.Finally, his hand, now surprisingly gentle, smoothed over the hot, flushed skin of my ass. A shiver wracked my body at the possessive, almost tender, touch.“Turn around,” he said, his voice a low, calm rumble.I obeyed, my movements clumsy, my legs feeling like they might give out. I couldn’t meet his eyes. I just stared at the floor, my cheeks burning with a humiliation so profound it was dizzying.“On your knees, Sloane.”My head snapped up. He was standing before me, his expression unreadable, his stance powerful. It wasn’t a request. It was the next step in a lesson I hadn’t known I was enrolled in. I sank down, the cold concrete a shock against my bare knees
The speedometer of the black Escalade read one hundred and ten miles per hour, and the only sound in the car was the high-pitched whine of the engine and the sound of my bodyguard’s jaw clenching so hard I was surprised his teeth didn’t crack.Liam. His name was a boring, one-syllable thud, just like him. He was a mountain of quiet, coiled muscle and professional disapproval, and for the past six weeks, he’d been my shadow, my jailer, and the primary target of my very creative boredom.“You know, for a guy who’s supposed to be an expert driver, you’re surprisingly tense,” I said, kicking my stilettoed feet up onto his pristine dashboard. “You should relax. Have some fun for once in your miserable, duty-bound life.”His eyes, cold and grey as a storm-tossed sea, flickered from the road to my feet, then back again. Not a word. That was his whole thing. The strong, silent type. It was infuriating. I lived to make him crack.Tonight’s stunt had been a masterpiece. I’d ditched his two juni
The drive home from the gala was a silent war. Daniel’s hands were clenched on the steering wheel, his jaw a tight line of fury. My body was still thrumming from Lucian’s touch, my thighs slick under my dress, my lips swollen from his brutal kiss. I felt like a different person, a stranger sitting next to my husband, and I knew, with a terrifying certainty, that I could never go back.He didn't speak until we were back inside the cold, marble foyer of our house.“Where were you, Evelyn?” he asked, his voice dangerously quiet.“I told you, I needed some air,” I said, my voice steady. The fear I should have felt was gone, replaced by a strange, exhilarating calm.“For twenty minutes?” he shot back, finally turning to face me. His eyes were cold slits of rage. “I looked for you. I saw you leave the ballroom. You were walking like you were on a mission.”I didn’t answer. I just met his gaze. For the first time, I wasn’t intimidated.“This is because of him, isn’t it?” he snarled. “This th