by Gina Kincade
He blushed from the roots of his hair all the way down his neck.
"Thank you everyone." I stepped down from the podium, grabbed Cami and Lucy's hands, and moved toward the exit. Lights flashed and people crowded around us. I couldn't see, but I trusted Cami and Lucy to get me out of there before I passed out or punched someone. Equal chances.
A large man pushed through the crowd and I realized it was Ramone, my driver. He quickly enveloped us in his arms and literally propelled us through the throng. The reporters didn't seem to like the look on his face as he parted them like a butter knife.
Once we made it outside, with bruised elbows and arms, we were immediately whisked into the limo before the vultures came outside to accost us some more. I also didn't want to answer anything about Jeremy just yet.
I laid with my head in Cami's lap in the back of the limo as we drove along. Jeremy had been in my thoughts throughout the entire conference. I missed him more than I could ever say. I'd go to Korea again just to be with him.
"He'll come," Cami whispered as she stroked my hair.
Chapter Sixteen
The video feed ended and I closed the window. I didn't need to think about it. I didn't hesitate. I walked out of the building, caught a cab, and went straight to the airport. There was no other option, no other choice.
It had to be the longest flight of my life. All I could hear was Tony's voice on repeat, saying, 'forever.' I dipped my hand into my pocket and felt the weight of the ring box that had been there on and off for years. This time she'd take it and finally be mine.
It was early morning when I finally arrived in New York. I managed to get to her apartment quickly since the traffic was light.
Doubt started to set in as I waited for the elevator. What if she didn't want me? What if it was a ploy to save face for the company? What if she took it and then rejected me again? Years of frustrations and turn-downs flashed through my mind.
Well, there was only one way to find out. If she didn't take me this time, there was really nothing else I could do.
I knocked on the door hard, figuring she'd be asleep. Only moments later she opened the door. Pink silk pajamas covered her ankle to neck, and she'd never looked sexier. Her hair was in a braid but all mussed.
"Jer," she breathed.
We stood awkwardly in her doorway.
"Um...can I come in?"
She shook herself, face flaming red. "Of course, sorry."
There was a weight between us, things that needed to be said, unsaid, and forgiven. There were things that needed hashing out and worked through. We sat on the sofa, silent, the awkwardness of the moment growing. I don't know what I had imagined our reunion would be like, but this was definitely not it. She scared me when she jumped to her feet and started to pace in front of me, between the coffee table and my legs.
"Are you okay?"
She twisted her hands together, still pacing. "I just have one question."
Oh great. I travelled thousands of miles across a continent and an ocean to be rejected yet again. I kept my face blank, not showing how my guts felt like they might come out of my mouth.
"Why do you still want to be with me?" She stopped, staring at my face.
I wrinkled my forehead and stood up. Suddenly, I laughed. The relief in my chest pushed it out and I pulled her into my arms, trying to wrap myself completely around her.
"I love you."
"But..."
"Shh..."
"But...wait..."
"Will you shut up?"
Jerking herself out of my arms, she stood back and stared me down with one of those 'looks.' The ones women give us when they expect us to know what they are talking about or the correct answer to something they ask.
"What?" I spread my arms, opening myself to her.
"I've treated you like shit, used you, cost you a million dollars, not to mention embarrassing you on TV."
I waited until she was finished, my hands itching to touch her, hold her again. "It's true. You've treated me like crap."
She dropped her face in her hands and for a moment, I actually thought she might cry. I lifted her fingers from her eyes, making her look at me.
"I love you. That's something you don't seem to understand. I tried to fight it, trust me, the last time you stepped on my heart. I just don't want to be without you. You might be bad for me, but I don't want to live my life without you, so there is no reason not to."
"You shouldn't smoke, or drink, those things are bad for you, and people survive without them every..."
I stopped her from talking with my mouth, pressing my lips hard against hers. Apparently she wouldn't listen to anything I had to say, so maybe this would get through her thick head. Her mouth was warm, soft, and she tasted like wine and chocolate; always her go-to pick-me-ups.
In that moment, I was home. Her lips moved with mine, and I was absolutely, exactly where I belonged.
She broke away, but I didn't let her escape the circle of my arms this time. "But we can't just..."
"Just what? Get back together? Be together? What?"
She huffed, actually huffed.
"We can't just get back together and everything is perfect. I did some terrible things. We both said some terrible things."
Well, there were some things I felt the need to apologize for.
"Are you saying you think you deserve an apology?"
"NO. I just, I think you do..." She looked down at the slight space between our bodies.
"If I can forgive and forget, why can't you? Who says we have to live and love this way or that way? If it's what we want, together, why does someone else get to make the rules?"
For the first time in my life I put her at a loss for words. Any second now she was going to start flapping her lips like a fish. She just stared at me, with a not-quite confused look on her face.
"Our entire relationship you've made me seem like the bad guy, the one smothering you with love, needy, and clingy. Why is that a bad thing? To be loved so much that someone can't be without you, to be needed so much even the thought of a moment alone upsets me?"
"You're not that bad."
I laughed again. "That's what I mean. When you want me near, I'm here and everything is perfect, but when you don't, I'm that clingy bastard.
I looked down into her eyes, glistening slightly–allergies, obviously.
"I will no longer apologize for loving you. This is the final chance. You take me as I am, or you walk away for good."
She gripped my jacket in her hands and pulled me down to her lips, barely touching mine with her own, then pulled away.
"I'm done running. You're stuck with me now. I won't stay with the past if you won't."
I could feel the heat of her body through her thin pajamas. Every nerve in my body, my heart, and my mind, screamed in satisfaction.
She'd finally said YES.
Chapter Seventeen
The blood in my veins was already singing, even before he picked me up and carried me to the bed. As he laid me down on the plush linens I stretched my legs out to capture him in their embrace, but he backed away just in time. He was out of my reach and started to unbutton his shirt.
"Why don't we take this to the shower?" he asked.
I was up and stripping off clothes before he even finished taking off his shirt. He swung around to grab me as I ran past him. Dodging his hands, I giggled as I ran straight into the shower, still in my panties. Before I could reach the levers his hot naked body slammed into the back of me and he flipped on the water. Cold spray beat down on us, I screeched, and tried to get away.
"Not so fast." He grabbed me around the waist and tugged me under the now warm stream. My hair hung down, lanky around my face. As I swiped it and water out of my eyes, he pulled down my panties. I stepped out of them and kicked them away, stepping into his arms. We were both still laughing as he slid his wet skin against mine, tilting my chin back for a kiss.
Those lips were mesmerizing, always had bee
n. Each tilt of pressure, every swipe of his tongue sent shivers through my body. I gripped the back of his neck hard, trying to get closer, press against him a little harder. He was all mine, forever, and I planned to take advantage of every second.
I separated from his lips and ran my hands down his slick chest; he exhaled hard as I scratched my nails across his nipples. I glanced up and met his eyes as I trailed my hand further down to grip his already hard shaft. It was intoxicating, having this much power over a man, over this man.
He slapped a hand against the tile with a wet smack as I began to pump him up and down in my palm. Each of his heavy exhales cranked my arousal higher and higher. He dropped his head back and let out a groan as I cupped his balls in my other hand.
"Please." He groaned the word: half plea, half exhale.
I released him and he instantly pressed me against the cold shower tile. The chill barely registered with the hard press of him against my belly. He was only there for a moment before slowly lowering himself to his knees before me. I swallowed a moan as he gently shifted my legs apart and placed his lips on my hot wet skin.
The first swipe of his tongue almost caused my knees to buckle. He reached up and gripped my hips as his tongue drove me high, fast.
Soon it was my plea that had him stopping. As he gained his footing he spun me around, my breasts now against the tile, warm in some places and cool in others. His hands skimmed down my arms, then my waist, to my hips again. He pressed his erection between the cheeks of my ass, his lips trailed down my ear lobe to my neck; each place more sensitive than the last. I loved when he did this, holding himself against me, marking me with his lips and teeth.
The water was off before I realized it, my body and brain in a haze as I registered the change. He dragged me out of the shower back into the bedroom. I climbed up on the bed and turned toward him, but he gripped my legs and flipped me over onto my belly. A condom wrapper crinkled behind me and I glanced back to see him slide it down before he came closer. Carefully he entered me, slowly sliding in, little by little.
I gripped the sheets and dropped my head down. His hands held me up at the hip and I enjoyed every thrust in and out. He started to pump harder, a slap sounding through the room each time our bodies met. I could tell he was getting closer, every thrust hit harder until he was slamming into me.
My orgasm crashed around me like a brilliant musical crescendo. I dropped down so my chest rested against the bedding as he pumped into me two more times and let out a groan, Holding himself against my ass with one hand on the small of my back, it felt like an eternity. After a few moments of silence broken only by our heavy breathing, he pulled out and cleaned himself up. I curled up on the coverlet for a moment before I sat up and arranged my hair for bed.
Once he came back out of the bathroom we stripped the bed, got new sheets, and curled under the fresh linens. He spooned me, naked, and lying in his arms I knew I had made the right decision. Everything was perfect between us. I wanted for nothing. I fell asleep with his warm body surrounding mine and his heart pounding against my back.
Epilogue
The alert sounded on my phone and I stared down at it in confusion. For some reason I was a million dollars richer.
I wandered into Tony's office and watched her from the doorway for a moment. She was hunkered down at her desk, paperwork, coffee cups, and random stacks of folders scattered around. Work had picked up with tax season and she spent many nights in the office.
"I seem to have found a million dollars today."
She looked up at me, a wrinkle in her brow that always made me smile. "Huh?"
"I got a text from the bank. A million dollars somehow found its way into my account today."
She looked down at her paperwork and back up at me. "Could it..."
She picked up her phone and dialed, leaning back in the chair and crossing one arm under the other holding the phone.
"Daddy was he..." I held my breath, knowing there could only be one reason for the mysterious money.
She smiled wide.
"Thanks Daddy." She was still smiling as she hung up the phone.
"So?"
"He was caught trying to blackmail some Countess or something in England. Any and all deposits made in the last year were returned."
A weight lifted from my shoulders. I took a deep cleansing breath, so happy to be finished with it. A small sob caught me off guard and I instantly focused on Tony. She was crying – or laughing – or both. I stepped close to do something, anything. Her laughter burst from her, bouncing off the walls. She was laughing so hard tears poured down her face in small streams. After everything Tony had been through she deserved the closure. I walked around the desk and pulled her into my arms.
"It's finally over," she whispered into my jacket once she composed herself.
I petted her hair, hanging down her back, loose and free. Every single second we were together since she agreed to marry me was perfect. She still had all the hard edges I loved, but she had this new, softer side, the side that was okay with me loving her.
"It's only beginning."
About the Author
Monica Corwin is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author. She is an outspoken writer attempting to make romance accessible to everyone, no matter their preferences. As a Northern Ohioian, Monica enjoys snow drifts, three seasons of weather, and a dislike of Michigan football. Monica owns more books about King Arthur than should be strictly necessary. Also typewriters...lots and lots of typewriters.
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The Thrill of the Chase
©Elvira Bathory 07/31/2017
This piece includes a few threesome sexual scenes in the Male/Female/Male Pairing
Edited by Kristina Lichtenwald
Cover by Rachel A Olsen
Dedications
This is dedicated to all of my fans because without you I wouldn’t be the author that I am today
There are some shout outs that I have to do:
One goes out to my awesome editor Kristina Lichtenwald who makes sure that my books are the best they can be.
The next shout out needs to go out to Chelsea Crumbaugh who pushes me to finish what I start when I need it (which is often lol)
And last but certainly not least, Gina Kincade who continues to take a chance on me even when I feel that I don’t deserve it.
Declan Fairfax has been fascinated by the animals of Madagascar all his life, so when his animal science professor picks him for the zoological expedition there he’s thrilled. He’ll finally have the chance to study the mysterious Cryptoprocta Ferox.
Declan thought he was ready, but a scant two days into the expedition he suddenly realizes how wrong he was. In just one night, his world is upended. With a single bite, his life as a common, garden-variety human is over. And as a consequence, so is his expedition.
Once home, he struggles to hide his condition from his fiancée, Tamara, fearing she’ll think him a freak; but when his animal side comes growling through, she surprises him with her understanding and acceptance.
In an effort to manage Declan’s shifter side, the couple brings in his best friend, Christian, who just happens to be a were-lynx. As the trio work closely together, their friendship grows closer and hotter.
Unable to fight their mutual attraction, the trio's relationship moves to the next level. But will the heat singe some fur?
Chapter One
Declan Fairfax lifted his head and took in a deep breath, testing the air. Catching the scent he was searching for, he took off in the general direction of his prey. He loved hunting; the thrill of the chase and the feeling of exhilaration that ran thr
ough his veins causing his blood to sing. Declan wasn’t sure how his animal cousin felt when they hunted but when he was in his Fossa form he couldn’t get enough of stalking his prey. Though the current hunt wasn’t for food or survival, he couldn’t help himself from enjoying the chase nonetheless.
Tamara Bones heard Declan moving in the trees and looked up. It never failed to amaze her how well he could climb when he was in his animal form. Though she had asked him numerous times, almost begging, he would never let her see him as a Fossa. It didn’t deter her from playing the cat and mouse game he loved so much every time they were at his cabin together, in spite of not being able to see that one side of him. Tamara knew that Declan could smell her desire but there was nothing she could do about it; so she tried to blend in with the bush she was hiding behind. She tried to keep out of the glow of light shining down from the full moon above, and hoped that she might be able to win the game this time around.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Declan called out softly so he didn’t disturb the nocturnal creatures that were also hunting.
Tamara held her breath as she heard how close her mate was. She should have known that she wasn’t going to be able to win a game of hide and seek against a Were. But that didn’t mean she had to give him the satisfaction of coming out of her hiding place and conceding defeat. The rustling of leaves overhead let Tamara know that Declan was in the tree above her giving her no choice but to hide elsewhere so she moved quickly, making sure not to trip over the roots that had broken free of the earth.
“You’ll not find me that easily, my love. Not this time,” Tamara shouted as she ran through the brush.