by Piper Rayne
Except Reese didn’t follow it up with Royce’s statement of, ‘And now I’m going to go get drunk to forget I suggested you have any kind of sex with my sister.’
Well, they hadn’t had a chance to have angry sex yet. But she was looking forward to it. Hmm, maybe she should make up a fake reason to argue? She let out a giggle and reached into the box and took out her favorite coffee mug. The movement lifted her shirt and exposed her waist. She jumped when a set of cold but a familiar set of hands circled around to her front and cupped the underside of her breasts.
“Royce, there are kids out back.”
“Shh…most of them can’t talk or walk yet, so no worries. I need a moment with my new roomie. I haven’t been able to touch you for hours.”
Amber leaned into him and sighed. She arched her back and put her hands over his. And oh, did she love the way he desired her. But she wasn’t sure about the ‘roomie’ comment. She saw them as more than that, but she’d circle back around to that discussion—later.
When his hands fell to her waist, she let out a disappointed, “oh.”
Royce buried his face into her neck, where he placed an open-mouthed kiss, so she was momentarily mollified.
“We shouldn’t be doing this.” Her protest sounded weak to her own ears, and thankfully, he ignored her.
“Everyone’s staying outside for a while. Let me take the edge off for you, babe. You seem a little stressed.”
Amber wasn’t feeling any stress, but she’d keep that to herself. She wasn’t about to complain about having his hands on her, but there were over a dozen people outside. Any of them could walk in. “Maybe, but first how about I make a snack for—”
Royce dipped his hand into her waistband and slipped his fingers under her panties and stroked her. She jumped at the contact, the pleasure and the wickedness of the act. Lord, she loved how he worshipped her body.
“I was thinking more of a quick big-O for you and a promise of one for me later. Spread your legs for me, Amber. That’s it, now close your eyes and be still. I’ll do all the work.”
His whispered command created an instant liquid heat to pool in her core.
How did she get so lucky to find a man who was her match in every way? They may have started off their relationship with lust-filled nights, but it soon became apparent they shared so much more. They both loved to read thrillers, had similar political views, and binge-watched shows when he was off duty. And she was hoping the combo led to, well to forever. They had time to figure it all out.
Royce nipped her earlobe and drove two fingers inside her at the same time. She didn’t listen to him; she moved. She rocked her hips and rode his fingers. She couldn’t wait, she wanted her release, and he obliged her by pressing his thumb against her swollen clit. She broke apart and bit her lip to keep from crying out. The intensity of her orgasm bloomed within her and warmed every inch of her flesh.
She sagged against the man she loved and reveled in his ability to satisfy her. It did bring her a moment of guilt. “Oh, Royce. I want you to feel this good, let me—”
“Amber, your pleasure is mine too. You have to remember we’re going to have years to give each other what you’re feeling now.”
Years? Did Royce just say years? Her heart skipped a beat. At a loss for words, she turned around, tears gathering in her eyes, and lifted her arms around his neck. She pressed herself into him and was met with hard evidence of his promised years.
She almost missed his wicked grin as she pulled his head down for a kiss. When he pulled back before she could place her lips on his, she noticed he’d placed a hand between them; a small object was resting between his forefinger and thumb.
Her breath hitched as she let out a snort-laugh. Tears fell down her cheeks.
“Will you? You know I’m not a man of many words, but I love you, Amber Wyatt. I love your mind, your body, and your kindness. I want you by my side for as long as we both live.”
She lifted a hand to brush away the tears and covered her mouth as she looked deep into Royce’s eyes. Unshed tears filled his own.
He leaned his forehead into hers. “Baby, breathe. Don’t make me wait.”
She took a deep breath inhaling his scent, his love, and let him out of his misery.
“Oh, Royce. I love you so much. Yes!”
Then she got her kiss. Royce’s tongue dived deep, and she moaned and wound herself around him. “Wait, Oh my, lord. “We’re going to have to come up with a fake engagement story to tell our kids. There’s no way I’m telling them or anyone how it really happened.”
Royce lifted her up and swung her around, and kissed her again. Clapping erupted from the patio door as six sets of couples and a pack of kiddoes crowded into their kitchen.
“Hey, I think they beat the record. Who had two months in the engagement pool?” Connor’s voice boomed over the group of friends who were more like family.
“Me!” Caris’ laughter rang out. “And I call dibs on Matron of Honor.”
Oh my god, if their friends had shown up just a few minutes earlier, they would have given their G rated audience an NC-17 show. Amber felt her face flush. “How long have they been there?” she whispered into Royce’s neck.
Throwing his head back, Royce let out a deep laugh, set her down, and placed the ring on Amber’s finger. She loved it and him. She gave him another kiss and placed her palms on either side of his face, “Thank you for rescuing me, Royce.”
“Right back at you, sweetheart.” He captured her lips and bent her backward.
Their audience approved.
* * *
BEFORE YOU GO
* * *
To read more in the RESCUED BY LOVE series and to discover other books by Debra Elise and her upcoming releases, please visit:
www.debraelise.com
* * *
Click to join Debra Elise’s newsletter:
http://bit.ly/DebraEliseNewsletter
About the Author
Debra Elise lives with her husband and their two sons in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. She is an Autism advocate, stay at home mom, full time writer, and always on the lookout for inspiration in all its forms. Oh, and she writes steamy romances where love always finds a way.
His Curvy Outcast
By Mary E. Thompson
His Curvy Outcast
Book Boyfriends Wanted, book 6
The last thing I needed was a cop on a power trip trying to make a name for himself. I knew I was an easy target. No one in town liked me. But did he have to give me a ticket?
And worse, did he have to buy me a drink? Yeah, because that was going to make it all better.
I shouldn’t have had the drink. I shouldn’t have talked to him. Or let him kiss me. Or let him walk me home. I knew I was playing with fire because he was gorgeous and snarky and the first person in far too long who acted like I mattered.
It was a mistake to let him in, to open myself up to him. But by the time I learned just how big of a mistake, it was far too late to keep myself from wanting something I’d never get from him. From wanting more.
Copyright © 2020 Mary E Thompson
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
To anyone who has ever felt like they don’t belong…
1
Willow
“No. No, no, no, no, no. You can’t do this!” I shouted as I raced to my car.
The cop turned and looked at me, then slid the ticket under my wiper. The bastard.
“I was only in there for a minute. Seriously. It was barely long enough for you to give me a ticket. Can’t you just tear that up or something?”
He shook his head, and I tried not to notice how his hair flopped over his forehead in that adorable puppy way. Maybe I should get a dog since I no
longer had any friends.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t tear it up. And we both know you weren’t in there for a minute.” He raised an eyebrow and dared me to argue.
Fine, I wasn’t, but I wasn’t about to admit that to him. I was good at making enemies, and if he wanted to be one, I’d happily take another. It seemed the only way anyone talked to me anymore was to tell me what a disappointment I was.
I glared at him for a long moment, and finally sighed and rolled my eyes. I didn’t have time for it. I was busy, too busy for a newbie cop who thought he could do anything in my town.
Yeah, I knew who he was, and I wasn’t impressed.
He turned on his heel and started to walk away, then stopped. “You should really watch where you park.”
I flipped him off and snatched the ticket from under my wiper. I looked at it and rolled my eyes again. He cited me for blocking a delivery zone. It didn’t matter that deliveries didn’t happen at that time. Like everything else in my life, I was wrong just for existing.
I got in my car and set my coffee in the cup holder. I would have rather not spent my morning getting coffee from one of my sister’s new best friends and getting a ticket from the cop from hell, but I was in a hurry and didn’t have time to take care of everything myself. I had an important meeting to get to. And I could not be late.
I sipped the coffee as I pulled out of the parking space I’d made for myself. As soon as I was gone, the delivery truck pulled in to make the daily delivery to Cracked, the best restaurant in town. I hadn’t been to Cracked in a long time because of my sister, but I broke down and decided to give myself a little extra luck for today. It was going to be a good day.
Stupid ticket and all.
The drive south was peaceful and quiet. A few cars were on the road, but living in a small town in an area of all small towns meant that there were never many people on the road. I followed the windy path as the sun lifted into the sky and reassured me it was going to be a great day. The kind of day that was made for a fresh start. A new beginning. A new job and a new place to live where no one knew me as Melody’s backstabbing little sister.
I could just be Willow Ferguson, a girl from MacKellar Cove who needed a change. No one needed to know anything else.
I finished my coffee and turned up the radio so I could sing along with the music. The sunshine glittered off the St. Lawrence River to my right. If it weren’t freezing outside, I’d definitely have the windows down, but January in upstate New York meant heavy winter coats and defrost blasting the windshield so I could see.
Once I made it to the building where my interview was, I smoothed a hand down my pants and over my brown hair and gave myself another pep talk. After a year of getting berated for everything I did, I needed a pep talk, even if it was only from myself.
“You are awesome,” I whispered into my scarf. “You are strong and smart and you can do anything. No one can tell you what you can’t do.”
I felt better by the time I reached the door and smiled brightly as I walked inside the studio. It was quiet and peaceful, the tans and grays making the small space feel calming. I’d always wanted to teach yoga, but I never let myself dream about it as a career. Too many times I let what others thought get in the way of that, but that was one good thing about not speaking to my sister or caring what she or anyone else thought of me. I was free to do the things I always wanted to do.
“Welcome to Islands Wellness,” a woman at the desk said. “Are you here for our next class? It starts in about twenty minutes.”
I shook my head and smiled at her. She was cute in a way I’d never been. She was the kind of woman who looked like a yoga instructor. Petite and thin. I started yoga with the hope it would make me look like her, but all it had done was tone my muscles and accentuate my generous curves.
“Actually, I’m here for an interview. Is Kathy available?”
The woman grinned broadly even as her gaze flickered down my curvy figure. “I’m so sorry, of course. She told me you would be coming in, but I didn’t think...Let me call her.”
“Thank you,” I said, taking a step back to look around while the woman made her call. There was a studio visible through the glass to the right, and another one to the left. Behind the desk appeared to be offices and a third studio that was smaller and had blinds on the windows.
The entire space made me feel like I was meant to be there, like it was made for me. Just over an hour from home, getting a job there would mean moving, and moving would mean getting that fresh start I’d been looking for.
I was staring into the first studio, imagining a class in progress, when a voice behind me made every hair on my body stand up.
“Willow Ferguson. I wondered if that was really you. I never in a million years thought you would be coming to me for something.”
I turned and nearly ran out the door. Kathy Rogers was standing in front of me looking perfect in her pink tank top and black leggings. She had a perfect figure and perfect hair and perfect everything, right down to a massive perfect ring on her left hand.
“Kathy Rogers? I didn’t realize you were…I thought I was supposed to meet a Kathy Davis.”
She walked right over to me and hugged me, her perfect fake smile in place the entire time. “I got married right out of college. My husband is crazy rich and bought me this studio a few years ago. He knew I wanted to help people learn to be healthy.” Her gaze slid down my oversized body. Her perfect smile faltered at my not-perfect chubby waist and thick thighs.
I was toned, but I wasn’t thin. My mom always said I was big-boned, which I took to mean I was fat. Maybe that wasn’t fair, but standing next to the woman who made high school a living hell for me, I felt like I was the failed joke of a star on one of those weight loss shows on TV.
“Anyway, when I saw your name on the resume, I just had to have you come down so we could catch up,” Kathy said.
I forced a smile and saw my dreams of working there vanish before my eyes. I wanted nothing more than to tell her to go to hell and walk out the door, but I was trying to be a better person.
It sucked.
I followed Kathy to her office and took a seat opposite her glass desk. The placard on the edge read Kathy Davis, owner. Her walls were a soft green color with serene pictures artfully displayed. Everything in her office screamed money and class, two words I never would have used to describe her when we were growing up.
“So, your resume says you don’t have any experience teaching yoga. Is that the case?”
All of my perfectly reasonable explanations went out the window. All my rehearsed answers sounded flat and dumb sitting there. The only thing I wanted to do was cry because I had so many dreams that hinged on me getting this job. But I knew it wasn’t going to happen. There was no way.
I went through the interview and tried to make myself sound like I was worth a gamble, but every question out of Kathy’s mouth said she just brought me there for a laugh. She never had any intention of giving me a shot.
And why would she? I had no training or experience. I had no plans for how I would do it. I was winging it, like I’d done everything else in my life, something my mother reminded me of constantly.
I was no Melody. I wasn’t the one with the husband and the kid and the organized life. I was the screw up. The one who’d almost ruined my sister’s life because I wanted what she had.
I walked out of the interview numb. When Kathy said she’d let me know soon, I couldn’t handle anymore. I turned on her and said, “You know what, don’t bother. We both know you aren’t going to hire me. You only brought me down here to show me how much better your life is than mine. You win. I give up. I’m not interested in the job anymore. I don’t want it.”
She scoffed and crossed her arms. A smirk curled her lips. “You aren’t qualified. You have no training. You’ve never taught a class. Why would I hire you, even if I wanted to? You’re the same person you were in high school. You think you can do whatever you want, b
ut we’re adults. I have responsibilities to my clients. They’re not going to come here to take yoga from…” Her scornful gaze slid down my body and I felt like I weighed a thousand pounds. “…you. They want to be healthy and fit. This isn’t a joke for them, or for me. But thanks for coming in.”
I sucked back the emotion in my throat and swallowed roughly. I didn’t bother to say anything else. I wanted to cry, to tell her how horrible she was, to get revenge on her. But she was right. No one would want to take yoga from me. No one would want to hire me. I was working the same job I had in high school. I was still the same person. I hadn’t changed a bit.
And I had no one to blame but myself.
I was still sulking the next day when I got off work. My shift at Kerri’s Boutique was a long one, and I was tired. I needed a drink, and even though I was sure I would regret it, when my coworkers invited me out with them, I said yes.
“Seriously?” Brittany asked me. She and I had been casual friends for years. We had gone out more than a few times to pick up guys and get crazy, but since my fallout with Melody, I hadn’t gone out at all.
I shrugged. “I need to stop hiding. Especially since it appears as though I’m going to die in this town.”
“You didn’t get the job?” she asked.
I shook my head. Brittany was the only person who knew I had an interview. I didn’t tell her when it was, but she knew it was soon.
“We need drinks. Lots of them. Because I’m happy you’re staying, and you should be, too. There are plenty of hot men here, and there’s no reason to be upset when we live in a beautiful place.”
I laughed with Brittany and tried to feel some of her excitement. I loved my hometown, but I hadn’t felt like it was really home since Melody and I stopped talking. Maybe getting back to the things I did before would help. Especially since I wasn’t going anywhere. The job with Kathy was the only potential one I had, and that wasn’t happening.