by Tessa Bailey
They were paid for their side work. And the proceeds went to filling the potholes in Austin’s past. Not a second passed during the day when Austin wasn’t in awe of Polly. The selflessness she continued to display. That she was fulfilled by making a difference in the people’s lives that had been wronged.
She saved him a little more each day.
Austin’s role in their side business had been vague in the beginning. It had taken quite some time to gain the same trust Polly had received from the officers Derek arranged for them to work with. His unique expertise had finally been put to use creating new identities for witnesses who were required to leave Chicago for good after testifying. After spending years transforming himself into different people, Austin had proven himself invaluable to those witnesses. And it felt damn good to be doing something positive. To be anything other than the villain of someone’s story.
Polly’s father hadn’t kept the money Austin returned. He’d donated it to the adoption agency that had brought him Polly. And maybe Austin still had a bit of villain left inside him after all, because he would steal the money all over again just to see the look on his girlfriend’s face when she learned of her father’s actions.
When the bathroom door creaked open outside the shower, Austin stopped breathing. His right hand lifted on his own to shut off the cold water, bathing the bathroom in silence, except for Polly’s footsteps. Through the power of distraction and freezing water, he’d managed to reduce the swelling at the juncture of his thighs, but knowing Polly was close, he immediately rose to full mast.
There was something about the drawn-out cadence of her steps, the way she didn’t call out to him. Polly wants to be in charge. Intuition sparked, telling him she’d been pretending to sleep. Making him wait on purpose. They might trust each other enough to exchange power, depending on the ebb and flow of their mutual needs, but when Polly took the lead, fuck did he benefit, especially knowing his chance to return the favor wouldn’t be long. Often it was only a matter of moments before he became the aggressor. And when that happened? Jesus, the screaming could echo in his head for days.
Austin’s eyes slid closed when she climbed into the shower behind him, his raspy inhales calling to mind the shake of a rattlesnake tail.
Leather ghosted over Austin’s hip, and his groan of anticipation echoed off the shower walls. It had taken some time to convince Polly that he didn’t consider the belt a punishment anymore, but a way to express the trust they’d built for each other. Nothing calmed the quiet in his head more than holding Polly, but there was sex in the snap of leather. It was honesty with a bite—and on occasion, his Polly needed to do some biting. Fulfilling that need for her was his ultimate fantasy, so he gladly allowed it.
God, he loved the woman. Loved her strengths, her vulnerabilities, and everything in between. By some twist of fate, she loved him, too. Every time she said it, he still asked her to repeat herself.
Now Polly placed her fingers lightly on his chest, trailing them down to his belly, where they lingered. “I missed you. I missed hearing you love me before I’m even fully awake. I miss you when you’re in the next room.”
A vise cranked tight around Austin’s throat. This woman. She made him feel secure and out of control at the same time. “I love you so much I can’t see straight. I’ll tell you a thousand times tomorrow morning to make up for it.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered, her breath drifting up his spine. “Endlessly.” By the time she wrapped his dick in a tightfisted grip, he was shaking with anticipation. “Did you touch it?”
“No, I didn’t touch,” he managed. “I saved it for you.”
She ran her thumb in circles across the thick head. “Thank you.”
They both groaned when Polly gave him his first full stroke of the day, a rough squeeze from root to tip. Austin’s breath shuddered out. “What does my little mistress need from me today?”
Her tongue licked moisture from his back. “I want you to take me back to bed and wake me up properly.” A tight jerk of his cock wrenched a growled curse from his throat. “After.”
His breath fogged the slick shower tiles. “After?”
She removed the perfection of her touch and a second later, the sound of leather slapping wet flesh, coupled with his groan, split the air.
The corner of Austin’s mouth edged up into a dangerous half smile.
“If it pleases you, Polly.”
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Acknowledgments
This was a hard book for me to write. Not because I don’t adore Austin and Polly and their story. I do. Muchly. I think because it was my first time writing a hero in a submissive position that I started doubting my decision to take the risk. And then I doubted it more…and hey, a little more. The ever-fabulous community of romance writers surrounding me on social media, at conferences and via email are what pushed me through on this one. So I would like to thank them. All of them, even the mean ones. (Kidding!) Just listening to you share common frustrations is enough motivation to push through a rough patch, because it’s a reminder that we’re ALL taking risks on a daily basis and making shit work, even when we’re scared it won’t.
Good hustle, ladies.
I would also like to thank my husband, Patrick, and daughter, Mackenzie, for being my foundation and the reason I get up in the morning. I love you guys.
I would like to thank my editor, Heather Howland, for loving this book right along with me and helping make it super shiny.
I would like to thank Aquila Editing (aka Eagle) for beta reading this book and convincing me it was fit for public consumption. (PS: Sending your meal tray down to the basement in twenty minutes…)
Thank you to Bailey’s Babes for being the bomb.com and so damn supportive. I want to gather you all to my bosom and rock to and fro.
Thank you to the bloggers and reviewers who continually pick up the books in the Crossing the Line series and devote their time to reading/reviewing my work. I never take it for granted that you will – and it means everything to me when you do.
About the Author
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Tessa Bailey lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and young daughter. When she isn’t writing or reading romance, she enjoys a good argument and thirty-minute recipes.
www.tessabailey.com
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Discover the Crossing the Line series…
His Risk to Take
Homicide cop Troy Bennett had a reputation with the Chicago PD for being fearless and in control—until the night his daredevil partner is killed during a raid. From that moment on, he swears he’ll never again be responsible for the loss of a loved one. So when he meets reckless and stubbornly independent, Ruby who embodies everything Troy swore to avoid Troy knows he has to have her—risks be damned. But there’s a connection between Ruby’s shadowed past and Troy’s case involving a notorious Brooklyn felon. Confronted with his biggest fear, Troy must push Ruby away to keep her safe…or risk both of their lives to keep her in his arms where she belongs.
Riskier Business
Risking It All
Up in Smoke
Also by Tessa Bailey
Protecting What’s His
Protecting What’s Theirs
Officer Off Limits
Asking for Trouble
Staking His Claim
Unfixable
Baiti
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Owned by Fate
Exposed by Fate
Driven by Fate
Crashed Out
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