by Zara Cox
‘That’s not how this works. It’s my turn now.’
He took a deep breath. ‘Truth,’ he said for the first time.
Finally I dared to ask the question that had been burning inside me for longer than I could count. ‘Why are you here? Truly, Bryce?’
‘Because I went to Hong Kong for three days and I nearly went insane without you. Because the thought of three hours let alone three years without you in my life scares the crap out of me. Because seeing you up there on that catwalk proved to me that, while I’m a damned Mortimer through and through, I also wanted to be a better version of myself.’
‘Tell me about the letter,’ I asked softly. ‘What did you write to your mother?’
Anguish darkened his eyes. He took one deep breath. Then another. ‘It was a typical come-back-home-and-be-my-mum letter, written by a desperate child with nothing to bargain with but offering everything anyway, kind of letter.’
I reached for his hand, my heart breaking for him. ‘Oh, Bryce.’
He grasped my hand and kissed the back of it. ‘It took her months to reply. And when she did...’ his jaw tightened ‘...it was basically a list of all my shortcomings specifically and every Mortimer shortcoming in general. I think, in some way, she thought she was preparing me for life as a Mortimer. Or she was projecting about her own relationship with my father. They had a peculiar relationship. According to Aunt Flo, they couldn’t stand to be in the same room together for more than a few minutes and yet they followed each other all over the world. Anyway, she told me Mortimer men weren’t built for relationships and the sooner I accepted that I didn’t have what it takes to sustain one, the better off I’d be.’
‘God!’
‘She urged me to be thankful for my birthright and concentrate on making money for the family coffers and forget about everything else.’
I leaned forward and cradled his jaw, redirecting his gaze to mine. ‘She was wrong, Bryce. In every way. You know that, don’t you?’
‘I didn’t. Not at first. Then I met you. God, you blew my fucking mind. I wanted to be with you more than I’d ever wanted anything else in my life. When I thought you saw me as nothing more than a friend, I was terrified she was right. And then when you married Dan...’
‘You were convinced she was,’ I finished.
He gave a grave nod. ‘I didn’t take it well. It was partly why I stayed in Singapore. Putting half a world between us seemed like a good idea.’ He gave a twisted smile. ‘Surprisingly, Graciela helped too. She’s like a bulldog with a bone,’ he mused with a new sort of fondness that lifted my heart.
‘Things are better between you two?’
He shrugged. ‘We’re getting there. She grilled me about my letter but refused to tell me what was in hers,’ he griped, but again in a lighter tone that gave me hope for at least one member of his family.
‘I’m glad things are working out for you two. As for putting a world between us, it wasn’t far enough. It never will be. Bryce, I promise, from now on, I’ll always be there to remind you that you’re worth everything to me.’
His eyes darkened and a breath shuddered out. ‘God, rosebud. Please say that again,’ he begged.
I repeated it, slowly, and watched belief seep into his eyes. Into his body.
He shuttled closer and gripped my thighs. My breath caught at the size and smell of him. God, this man made me feel things. He made me want. And I wanted more. So much more.
‘Bryce—’
He yanked me close and fused his lips to mine. Soul soaring, I pushed him back on the lounger and went all in, deepening the kiss until we were breathless.
He caught my arms and edged me back, his gaze dropping to my thin sarong before rising again. ‘There’s a lot of shitty baggage to get through. But I’m not a saint. I need you too much. So you have two choices. Put some proper clothes on or we continue this in bed.’
My pulse jangled in response but this thing was too new, too fragile...
As if he heard my thoughts, his fingers tightened in my hair. ‘I promise you, Savvie, I’m done staying away. Whether you want one weekend, one year or one lifetime, I’ll be right here, taking whatever you give me. But be warned, I’m a Mortimer. I’ll negotiate for the very maximum.’
This time my heart jangled along with my pulse. The thought that everything I’d dreamed of could be within grasp...
‘Take me to bed.’
With satisfying urgency, he swept me off my feet and headed for the French doors that led to the bedroom.
Impatiently, he tugged off his clothes and kicked them away, then jerked his head at me. ‘Your turn.’
My sarong came off with a simple tug, arresting Bryce in place. My skin had gone even darker in the sun, a fact he seemed to love going by his feverish scrutiny and his reverent caresses when he reached for me.
‘God, Savvie. You’re so beautiful.’
With a broken whimper, I fell into his arms. We tumbled into bed, our movements frenzied and breathlessly uncoordinated. He seemed determined to kiss me everywhere, especially my pussy. I returned the favour until he groaned and pulled me up.
‘I need you,’ he pleaded again.
‘Where?’ I asked boldly, a cheeky little dare, made what felt like for ever ago, teasing me with possibilities.
He caught my meaning and swallowed. ‘Any bloody where you’ll have me, love.’
My heart lurched at the new endearment and, rightly or wrongly, I let it inside me, let it lift my hopes. ‘I want you to fuck me...there. Like you promised.’
Emotion and arousal shuddered through him. Renewed caresses flamed my body, his fingers wreaking havoc as he strummed my clit to fever point, making me soaking wet as his mouth devoured my lips. When he dragged my slickness to my puckered hole, I shivered in wild anticipation.
‘Christ, you’re so wet.’
He left me for a moment and returned with a condom and the pouch. Like before, he was gentle, taking his time to delight me with drugging, distracting kisses while I adjusted to his touch.
‘Relax, rosebud. Trust me,’ he crooned against my mouth.
‘I do. I trust you, Bryce.’ With my heart and soul.
His whole body shook in reaction to my words.
Slowing our kiss, his tongue lazily caressed mine as he intensified the pressure of his finger. Slowly, he eased inside and my breath strangled at the intense, weirdly wonderful sensation.
‘God...’
‘Look at me, Savvie,’ he urged.
I met his gaze, burned in the blaze of it. ‘How do you feel?’
‘Good. Great...oh, God.’ My nails dug into his shoulders as the peculiar sensation intensified with each deeper thrust of his finger.
Bryce’s breathing grew choppy and he leaned his forehead against mine. ‘Fuck, Savvie, I need to be inside you,’ he growled.
The depth of his need fuelled mine. Shifting away, I repositioned myself on my hands and knees, my intent clear. ‘Come here, Bryce.’
He didn’t need a second bidding. He rolled on the condom, applied the lube and positioned himself behind me. One hand caressed my spine down to my bottom. The other held on tight to my waist. My pulse thundered, my breath emerging in pants as I felt the probe of his broad head.
At first the pressure was almost searing in its intensity.
‘Breathe for me, love,’ Bryce said gruffly, his hand reverently caressing my back, spine, bottom, anywhere he could reach, while pushing inside me.
Then he was past the tight ring of muscles. And I was gasping at the endless stream of electricity gripping my body. When he pulled out and pushed back in, I screamed, the intensity like nothing I’d ever felt before. ‘Bryce!’
‘God, Savvie. You feel so bloody good.’ A wild shudder shook him and he stilled.
‘Don’t stop! God, don’t stop.’
&n
bsp; With another curse, he fell forward, braced himself over me. ‘Never,’ he breathed. ‘Anything you want is yours.’
Again my heart soared, the hope that this would extend beyond this act filling my chest. ‘I want you,’ I said simply.
Words cut off after that, the only sound in the room our groans as I discovered a whole new plane of pleasure piled upon pleasure I’d never dreamed possible. And when I reached the threshold of orgasm all it took to send me over the edge was Bryce’s fingers strumming my clit, the bite of his teeth on my shoulder and his hoarse pleading and I was soaring, stars exploding behind my eyelids.
He followed seconds later, his arms tightening around me as he shouted his release.
Afterwards, he laid us sideways again and gently eased out of me. A quick trip to the bathroom and he was back, tugging me into his arms.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
In the falling light, his eyes glinted, and he swallowed hard.
‘Ask me, Savvie. Ask me,’ he implored, looking deep into my eyes.
I swallowed. ‘Truth or dare?’ I whispered.
His eyes darkened. ‘Truth,’ he said again.
I splayed a hand over his heart. ‘Tell me who this belongs to.’
‘You, my beloved rosebud. My heart belongs to you. It’s been yours from the moment I saw you.’
‘You’ve always been the beam of hope in my chaos, Bryce. Even when you weren’t there. Even when I suspected I was making a mistake, I had the thought of you to see me through. To bring me back to myself, whatever that is.’
He placed his hand over mine, imprinting his heartbeat into my skin. ‘That place is right here. For as long as I live, you will own my heart and my love.’
‘I love you, Bryce.’
A slow smile spread across his face. ‘About time. And I didn’t even have to dare it out of you.’
Tear-soaked laughter spilled out. He kissed my tears away and sealed his mouth against mine. When he raised his head, the emotion that filled his face took my breath away.
‘Truth or dare?’ he whispered.
‘Dare,’ I responded.
‘I dare you let me love and worship you, be your best friend, your husband and your lover, the father of your children, for as long as I have breath in my body.’
The tears fell harder. ‘I accept. Every path I take will always lead back to you. So with my heart and soul, I accept.’
A slow, sexy smile spread across his face, and the hazel eyes that I adored filled with love. ‘Game fucking on.’
* * *
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Double Dare You
by Cara Lockwood
PROLOGUE
HIS LIPS CLAIMED hers and, in that moment, her entire body came alive. The rumors about this sex god were true, beyond true, she realized as he pulled her into his arms, flat against his muscled chest, and the world outside faded away. Nothing existed but their bodies before the woodstove in this small lodge on the top of a remote peak in the Rocky Mountains. He tasted like pure animal magnetism, pure white-hot desire, everything she’d ever wanted and more she hadn’t dreamed of. Her clothes came off. Before she knew it, she was naked, and then it was electric skin against skin. She could almost feel the pulse of his need against her belly. She didn’t know where her heat began and his ended, and she didn’t care to draw boundaries. She wanted them all gone. God, how she’d fantasized about this moment, with this man, and how she’d never believed it could ever happen, not in a million years. He had his pick of women in Aspen, but now, finally—and at long last—it would be her turn.
The blizzard howled outside the wood lodge, a mournful call she felt in her chest, mirroring her own desperate need. She’d wanted him since she first laid eyes on him but had been so long denied. She’d pined in silence for months, even years. She’d yearned for this since she first fell in love with him, only she’d been in hell ever since. She’d been slowly chipping away at that friendship line, and now, finally, she’d gotten him to cross. She knew she was risking everything, his very friendship, and yet she didn’t care. Her need for him was just too great, her want burned in her hotter than the crackling wood in the stove. She couldn’t have stopped herself any more than she could stop the snow battering the windows outside. This might be her only chance, and she’d take it, her head buzzing with wine. She understood the dangers here, knew she was playing with fire. He didn’t do relationships, didn’t do love. He’d break her heart if she let him. This man wouldn’t settle down with anyone, wouldn’t be tamed, but that was why she wanted him so badly, she realized. She wanted to stand in the wind and howl, she wanted to consume some of his wildness and feel it run riot inside her. She wanted to be obliterated, completely, and then put back together again. She wanted him, the chaos he brought, and she wanted to ride it until she couldn’t ride anymore.
He laid her down on the bearskin rug, its fur surprisingly soft against her bare back. She soaked in all the details, because she’d want to remember this, now and always. She didn’t care about tomorrow. She only cared about right now, this man she’d stupidly fallen in love with. The man who might never love her back, but she didn’t care. She’d have his body even if she couldn’t have h
is heart.
Copyright © 2019 by Cara Lockwood
ISBN-13: 9781488048869
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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