by Lili Valente
We spend the rest of the day cruising around town, seeing all the good things Garrett has done for people who so desperately needed his help, and by the end of the day, I feel less worried than I have in a long time.
I thought I’d put Harry and its troubles behind me a long time ago, but as Garrett and I sit down to dinner at the bed and breakfast, surrounded by couples who can afford a meal out together for the first time in years, I finally feel truly at peace with the past. These people are my people, and they always will be, no matter how far I run or how many miles stretch out between us. I told myself I was okay with Harry circling the drain, but that was only because I couldn’t see how it could ever get better.
But Garrett did.
And I love him for it, though I don’t tell him so that night.
Or the next. Or even on New Year’s Eve, when he surprises me with a romantic evening spent christening the hotel’s newly completed movie theater with a midnight showing of The Wizard of Oz, my absolute favorite movie of all time.
I don’t tell him until much later, after spring has sprung and he’s settled into his new apartment in D.C., when I’m absolutely sure that nothing can shake us. And I don’t say “yes” until the following December twenty-third, at a simple ceremony attended by friends who are as close as family, in the penthouse where we spent the hottest Christmas Eve in memory.
As I promise to love and cherish him until death do us part, I can’t help thinking death will have to work pretty hard to destroy this perfect thing we’ve forged.
“Happy?” Garrett hugs me close as we separate from our first kiss as man and wife and our friends break into applause.
“The happiest,” I confirm, taking his hand to make the rounds among our guests, thanking everyone for coming before inviting them into the kitchen for cake.
“Are you sure you can’t stay?” Garrett asks his friend Tennyson, who seems determined to leave the party early. “I can get you a room. We’re not full until tomorrow night.”
“Thank you, but I have to run,” Ten says, his blue eyes brighter than I remember them. “I’ve got to work tomorrow.”
“You look happier about work than I usually am,” I say with a laugh. “And I love my job.”
“I love mine, too,” Ten says, his gaze lifting guiltily to the ceiling. “But I have other business tomorrow night.”
“Personal business?” Garrett asks at the same time I ask, “Girl business?”
We both laugh and Ten, who is usually the picture of tall, dark, and serious, smiles as he says, “Maybe. I hope so anyway. We’ll see if the Fates are with me.”
“I think they will be.” I hold Garrett’s hand a little tighter. “Christmas is a good time to fall in love, I hear.”
Garrett squeezes my fingers. “I hear that, too. Good luck, man. I highly recommend love. It’s made me ridiculously happy.”
Ten’s smile widens. “It has. And I’m happy for you. No one deserves it more than you and your lovely bride.”
Garrett glances my way, his eyes softening with the love I still can’t believe belongs to me every bit as much as I belong to him.
But it does, and I do, a fact he reminds me of late into our wedding night and every night after.
Love hot holiday reads?
Read Ten’s story in
Snowed in with the Boss
Available now!
And out soon, THE V CARD, a hot, hilarious rom com co-written with the amazing Lauren Blakely. Coming December 13th! Learn more and pre-order here:
http://www.lilivalente.com/the-v-card
Sneak Peek
Snowed in with the Boss (Ten’s Story)
Dear Jane,
If you’re reading this, it means you’ve decided to accept my offer to provide you with a proper education in all things Dominant and submissive.
I have to confess I’m surprised, Singleton. I didn’t think you had it in you.
But I didn’t think you would engage in an online flirtation with an alleged BDSM expert via our company email server, either, let alone make a date to meet up in real life with a man you haven’t bothered to do a background check on.
You’re full of surprises this week, aren’t you?
I’m beginning to think you need a keeper, Jane, someone to keep that pretty ass of yours out of trouble.
Yes, beautiful, I mentioned your ass. And if you’re still in my office by the time I get back, I’m going to do a lot more than mention it.
I meant what I said: as of seven o’clock tonight you are no longer my employee. You’re fired, and will remain so until eight o’clock on the morning of January fifth, when the rest of the staff returns to work. At that time, no matter what does or doesn’t happen tonight, your job will be reinstated—provided you promise to keep your personal and professional lives separate moving forward.
This is your last chance, Jane…
If you’ve decided you’re not ready for this kind of education, or for me to be the one to teach you, go into the break room and close the door. I’ll leave blankets outside in the hall for you to collect at your convenience. With the storm raging and the subways shut down, neither of us is going anywhere until morning, but that doesn’t mean we have to spend the night together. You can have the break room, I can sleep on the couch in my office, and we’ll wake up tomorrow and pretend this offer was never on the table.
I can even help you find another sane, safe, experienced Dominant…if that’s what you want.
But as a friend, and someone who cares about your safety, I strongly encourage you to cut ties with Brock Damon. He’s not only a convicted sex offender—which you would have known if you’d done due diligence—but a generally shit person, to boot. He’s rough with his submissives in a way that has nothing to do with love, power exchange, or pleasure. And that’s just what I’ve seen in the clubs we both frequent. I can only imagine what a monster he must be in private.
And I don’t want anything monstrous to happen to you, Jane. You’re too good, and too sweet, to have your first experience in the lifestyle be with a man like that.
You’re probably too sweet to play well in this world at all—you’re certainly too stubborn—but since you seem determined to give it a go, I can at least make sure you receive a proper introduction to what it means to kneel at a master’s feet.
But I warn you, if you decide to stay and let me be your teacher, you should be aware of three very important things.
I will expect your obedience. You will do what I say, when I say it, or you’ll be punished. You want an education in the art of submission, and I intend to give it to you. I will be fair and generous, but I won’t always be kind.
“No” and “Stop” hold no meaning for me in situations like these. Once your education begins, these words will be rendered useless. If you’re in pain—physical, mental, or emotional—or unable to obey the commands you’ve been given, you will communicate that to me by using your safe word: blueberry muffin. All other calls for me to stop or otherwise modify my actions will be ignored.
If you stay here, with me, I intend to have all of you. You will be bared to me, naked in every sense of the word. First, I will strip you of your clothes, and then I will strip you of your defenses. I won’t fuck you unless you beg me for it—and I mean beg, Jane, ugly, shameless, desperate, brazen begging—but I will put my hands all over you. Every part of your beautiful body will be my playground, not a single, delectable inch off-limits.
Are you ready for that, sweetness? Ready to be possessed?
If so, get on your knees, beautiful. The game is about to begin.
Tonight, you’re mine,
Ten
Snowed in with the Boss is available now.
Learn more at Lili’s website:
http://www.lilivalente.com/snowed-in-with-the-boss
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About the Author
Lili Valente has slept under the stars in Greece, eaten dinner at midnight with French men who couldn’t be trusted to keep their mouths on their food, and walked alone through Munich’s red light district after dark and lived to tell the tale.
These days you can find her writing in a tent beside the sea, drinking coconut water and thinking delightfully dirty thoughts.
Lili loves to hear from her readers. You can find her on the web…
www.lilivalente.com
[email protected]
Also By Lili Valente
The Bad Motherpuckers Series
Hot as Puck
Sexy Motherpucker
Puck-a-Holic
Puck me Baby
Learn more here…
Sexy Flirty Dirty
Romantic Comedy:
Magnificent Bastard
Spectacular Rascal
Incredible You
Meant For You
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Master Me Series:
Snowbound with the Billionaire
Snowed in with the Boss
Masquerade with the Master
Learn more here…
Under His Command Series:
Controlling Her Pleasure (free)
Commanding Her Trust
Claiming Her Heart
Learn more here…
Bought by the Billionaire Series:
Dark Domination (free)
Deep Domination
Desperate Domination
Divine Domination
Learn more here…
Kidnapped by the Billionaire Series:
Filthy Wicked Love
Crazy Beautiful Love
One More Shameless Night
Learn more here…
To the Bone Series:
A Love so Dangerous
A Love so Deadly
A Love so Deep
Learn more here…