by Kendall Ryan
“What?” I ask defensively. “It’s a nice place.”
I expect him to tease me—to say something like I thought your head was going to fall off or Were you looking for the tofu? But he simply replies, “You’re beautiful.”
My cheeks heat up with sudden shyness. Love shines from his eyes, so naked and tender that I swallow hard, fighting back happy tears. Before I can figure out how to reply, the waiter chooses that moment to deliver the menus. Hayden orders his customary Scotch, I order an appletini, and the waiter flits away to let us decide on our entrees.
“You know . . . I actually have something else to celebrate,” I say between sips. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you before.”
“More good news? Jeez, leave some for the rest of us.” His grin is bursting with pride. “So? What is it?”
“I’ve been promoted. Well, technically hired, but same diff. Walker, Price, and Pratt made me a junior associate yesterday.”
Hayden blinks at me. Then he stands up, pushes aside the table’s centerpiece, and leans over the table to press a fiery kiss to my mouth, lipstick be damned. My hands flutter at his shoulders, wanting to pull him closer, but too aware of how many people can see us. I finally muster the willpower to push him away when an old couple at a nearby table start clapping.
“Oh my God, sit down.” I bury my burning face in my hands. “They probably think you just proposed or something.”
“Screw them. Let them think whatever they want . . . this is great news, baby.” But he does sit back down when the waiter reappears.
After we’ve given our orders, Hayden picks up where he left off. “So now that you’re a card-carrying lawyer, is that asshole finally going to give you some respect?”
“You mean Mr. Pratt? I doubt it . . . creepers gonna creep,” I say with a shrug. “But I’ve got things under control. Whenever I need to cool his jets, I just casually mention my boyfriend. That works pretty well.”
“Ah, yes. Your overprotective boyfriend who might just punch him so hard, his bad hair plugs fall out.” Hayden rubs his chin. “I wonder if he lives in a building I own . . .”
I giggle despite myself. “Easy there, Rambo. I handled him just fine before we started dating. And if I perform well enough to get a good letter of recommendation, Trina might be able to hook me up at her new job next year. So I don’t need you stirring shit. Okay?”
He holds up his hands in surrender. “Fair enough. Shit will be shaken, not stirred.”
“Ew, gross.” I make a face. “I’m trying to eat here.”
“No, you’re not. You’re drinking that . . . neon-green thing. Christ, just looking at it makes me feel like less of a man.”
Sticking my tongue out at him, I toe off one high heel under the table. He sucks in his breath when I slide my foot up his thigh. “Does this help? I think I feel your masculinity coming back . . .”
“Oh, you are going to get it later,” he growls with a wicked smirk.
Heat boils in my belly as I flash my own faux-sweet smile. “I’ll hold you to that.”
Our veal marsala and eggplant parmesan land in front of us, and we dig in eagerly. I don’t know about Hayden, but I’m starved. I worked through my usual dinner break so I could come home early and primp for our date. For a few minutes, we just enjoy the gourmet Italian cuisine in blissful silence.
“I didn’t tell you the best part yet,” I say after I’ve shut up my stomach. “As a junior associate, my salary will be almost twice as much as I made when I was an intern. And that’ll only go up with seniority. Mom should be able to retire within three years . . . five at the outside.”
“Five freaking years? Isn’t she already sixty-three?” His mouth twists in uncertainty. “You know, I can still start an account for her. Under both your names, so I can’t touch it after I make the initial deposit.”
I shake my head, smiling at him. “Thanks, sweetie, but I’m never going to change my answer. I can do this standing on my own two feet.” No matter how many times he offers money, all I want from Hayden is his love—and he’s made it clear that I have it in spades. “Besides, I still have to convince Mom to retire. She’ll probably say something like”—I lower my voice in imitation of her—“I’ll go stir-crazy doing nothing all day! I won’t sponge off my own daughter just so I can sit on my heinie.”
He lets out a bark of laughter. “That sounds like Val, all right. She’s a real—”
“Stubborn battle-ax?”
“I was going to say ‘a real independent lady.’ But you know, I think she’d take ‘stubborn battle-ax’ as a compliment.”
“She probably would.” I chuckle affectionately.
“So now that you’ve got the perfect degree, the perfect job, and the perfect boyfriend . . .” He bounces his eyebrows until I snort at him. “What’s next on the world-domination agenda?”
“If I have the perfect boyfriend, then you tell me?” I ask. “I still wonder how I could ever compete with Roxy. Being sexy is literally her job.”
My tone is joking, but Hayden fixes me with a solemn look. “You don’t have to. Naomi and I had a good run, but it ended years ago. She’s enjoying the single life now . . . and I’ve found what I was looking for all along.” He takes my hand, his expression softening into adoration. “I love you, Emery. So much.”
Emotion knots in my throat. “I . . . I love you too,” I stammer, smiling and blinking back tears for the second time tonight. I’m still so new to those three little words—both hearing and saying them—that they touch my heart every time. But the mood has become way too serious for what’s supposed to be a celebration. So I rub his knuckles with my thumb and purr, “Still, I’m sure she must have taught you a few things. Why don’t we go back to your place and practice?”
Understanding dawns on his face and he grins, suddenly all mischief again. “Excuse me,” Hayden calls out. “Can we get the check?”
The waiter hustles over. “No dessert this evening, sir?”
“We’ll be having dessert at home,” I interrupt smoothly.
The waiter nods and leaves, and Hayden winks at me. I roll my eyes with a chuckle.
• • •
We barely get through Hayden’s door before we’re glued to each other, making out like teenagers. I nip his lower lip, then draw back when he makes a brief, husky noise. “Go sit down,” I order. “There’s something I want to do.”
“Well, well. Someone’s feeling bossy tonight.” Despite his back talk, he’s already walking over to the couch.
I raise one eyebrow. “Will that be a problem?”
He grins. “Not at all, ma’am.”
Letting my hips sway, I stroll to a spot just out of his reach. Under his appreciative eyes, I reach back and undo my zipper, pulling it down slowly. I slide the gown’s straps over my shoulders to reveal first my cleavage, then my lacy black bra. He watches with a wolfish smile and tented pants as I finally let the silky material pool around my feet.
“Damn . . . I didn’t know you’d be wearing a thong,” he purrs.
“If I told you, we never would have made it to the restaurant.” I step out of the gown, now standing in only my lingerie, jewelry, and shoes. “Should I leave my heels on?”
He leans forward to caress me, watching his hands slide down over the curve from waist to hip to thigh. The tip of his tongue flickers over his lips, as if imagining how I taste, and I shiver at the sight as much as his touch.
“Damn, woman, you’re asking me to make a decision right now? There’s no blood left in my brain.”
“I didn’t know you ever had blood in your brain.”
With a playful growl, he lunges forward to squeeze my ass. Startled, I squeak . . . then moan when he seals his mouth around my nipple. His gentle teeth and nimble tongue tease the pebbled nub right through the lace, sparking pleasure straight through me, as if his mouth were on my clit instead.
“Cheater.” I sigh, swaying on my feet. “You were supposed to wait until the end of
the strip show.”
“I’ve been waiting all night.” He sucks hard and I almost whimper. “Hell, I’ve been waiting all week. I want to make you come.”
“Not yet, big boy,” I tease. That little declaration takes every ounce of restraint I have. Because Hayden knows how to dole out the O’s like nobody’s business.
I ease down onto my knees in front of him, blinking up at him innocently through my eyelashes as I slowly tug down his zipper and reach inside his boxers to free the heavy weight of his cock. He feels so good in my palm, thick and hot and hard. But I know he’ll feel even better in my mouth. This is something I haven’t gotten the chance to do yet.
Over the last couple of days, we both had the chance to get tested and sort out birth control, so now, tonight will be the first time we make love bare. I can hardly wait, but I want to take him with my mouth first. Holding the base of him steady with both hands, I lower my head to his lap.
“Emery, you don’t have to . . . Fuuuuuuck.” Hayden curses when my tongue makes contact, licking up the length of him like he’s my own personal lollipop.
“Don’t have to what?” I purr, my tongue teasing the top of him.
“Shit. Do that again.”
He pushes my hair back from my face and lightly cups my jaw in his large palms. I feel the love, adoration, and desire rolling off of him in waves. It only makes me want him more.
I open wide and take in as much of him as I can. Hayden’s hips rock up in gentle thrusts as my mouth moves over him. My hand slides over him as I suck. Up and down. Up and down.
“Baby,” he says on a grunt, his hand tightening at the back of my neck. “Come here.”
I let him pull me up off the floor to straddle his lap. His erection strains against me, hot and eager. I pull my panties aside—I’ve been soaking wet for hours—and rock my hips, feeling how much he wants me back.
“Emery . . .” He pants, grinding back up into me. “Jesus, you’re so . . .” At a loss for words, he pulls me into a hungry kiss and rocks his cock against my folds.
No more waiting. I need him now. I sink down onto his cock inch by inch, as fast as I can take it. The hot fullness as he pushes inside me—almost pain, but definitely not—takes my breath away. He’s so thick and long, stretching me, rubbing against every sensitive spot. We’ve barely moved and I’m already panting.
Then he snaps his hips up hard, pounding right into the best spot of all, and I damn near scream. “Fuck!”
“That is, in fact, what we’re doing,” he says with a chuckle.
How can the man wisecrack at a time like this? I guess that’s one of the many reasons I love Hayden . . . which all too often overlap with reasons I want to slap him.
“Then stop talking about it and do it,” I gasp.
When he starts thrusting in earnest, another cry tears itself from my throat. I brace myself on his shoulders, slamming my hips up and down, still barely able to keep up. He groans into my mouth and I can feel his adoring smile against my lips. He’s just as swept up as I am, just as overwhelmed by love and lust.
When I first arrived in this new life, I was warned that this silly, cute, cocky, infuriating man was my enemy. I became his friend instead. And now . . . he’s just plain mine.
Epilogue
Hayden
Emery and I are seated across the dining room table from Beth and David. Gracie sits beside me. The kids have been put to bed, and the dinner dishes sit undone on the kitchen island.
It was an amazing sight to watch Beth and Emery cook together in the kitchen, preparing two versions of the paella we had tonight—one vegetarian and one regular. Gracie even joined Emery in eating the vegetarian option. A move of solidarity or something. It’s cool both of my sisters are accepting her. But why wouldn’t they? She’s smart, funny, and all around a cool person.
My hand finds Emery’s under the table, and I give it a squeeze. She looks over at me with a healthy glow on her cheeks and love radiating from her eyes. I’ve told both my sisters privately, as well as Hudson, that I was in love with Emery, and after the initial shock, they were thrilled for me. For us.
Gracie leans forward, putting her elbows on the table. “You guys are so cute together.” She’s always been a romantic, my little sister, even though she’s never had a serious boyfriend. “Hayden, when did you first know you were in love with Emery?” she asks.
Emery’s gaze snaps to mine and her smile fades. “Don’t you dare answer that.”
A smile quirks up my lips. “It was in our hotel room in Omaha.”
A sharp jab to my ribs steals my breath. “Seriously, I’m warning you,” she says.
“Emery did this really cute thing in the morning, and I knew right then.” I grin at her.
She rolls her eyes, but her expression is playful. “And then your jackass brother got scared and ran.”
Beth and Gracie both make grunting noises of disgust. But they know this story; they know I groveled my way back into her good graces. I’m done running.
“Are you mad?” I lean over and whisper to Emery.
She leans close to my ear, so only I can hear, and whispers. “You have a nine-inch cock, and you know where the G-spot is. I love the fuck out of you, flaws and all.”
And just like that, my heart soars. Her love feels so good. Like putting on your favorite T-shirt and lying in bed all day watching funny movies good.
“I love you too,” I whisper back, kissing her forehead. I am so in love, and so fucking proud of my sexy, kick-ass girlfriend.
I lean in close again and tease her by making a quiet farting sound into her ear. She punches me in the arm, but we’re both grinning like love-struck fools.
“You’re screwed later,” she teases right back, narrowing her eyes.
“Promise?” I ask, giving her a flirty wink.
A deep, throaty laugh tumbles from her mouth, and Emery slaps a hand over it. I squeeze her knee under the table, unable to keep my greedy hands to myself.
It’s weird how easily she fits into my life. Hudson loves her. She and Roxy are still good friends, and now it’s obvious that my sisters love her too. There’s no way I’m letting her go . . . after all, I’ll never find another girl with cuter farts.
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Coming Soon
Monster Prick
A Screwed spin-off novella
Over my dead body.
That’s what I told Gracie when she informed me of her plan to pick some random guy she met online to get rid of her pesky virginity.
If anyone is touching her, it’s going to be me.
I shouldn’t even be considering it, but I can’t get it out of my head—her under me, begging me.
• • •
Arrogant. Cocky. Prick.
Those are the words I’d use to describe my older brother’s dangerously handsome best friend.
When he learned of my plan to kick off my white cotton briefs, ditching my good-girl persona once and for all by losing my virginity to the first eligible bachelor I could find, he flipped out. Said over his dead body.
He says if anyone’s going to do it, it’s going to be him.
I hate that I’m even considering his offer. But I am . . . I sooo am.
Ever since he suggested it, all I can think about is his cocky smile on those full lips as he’s driving into me.
But if we cross that line . . . will I ever be able to go back?
Link to Amazon: http://goo.gl/Z3J0zj
Acknowledgments
A hearty thank-you to Pam Berehulke, Danielle Sanchez, Angela Smith, and Rachel Brookes. You each play a significant role in helping me on my writing journey. Each novel is different, some more difficult than others, so thank you for being there to support me.
To all of the bloggers, fans, and readers who have shared my books with others, who’ve
left reviews and made beautiful graphic teasers, my heart is filled with bookish love for you. I hope you know how critical you are to this community. I’m grateful for every tweet, review, and mention. My readers mean everything to me, and I’m blessed to have your support.
To my little family. You’re everything to me.
About the Author
A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today best-selling author of more than eighteen titles, Kendall Ryan has sold more than a million e-books, and her books have been translated into several languages in countries around the world. She’s a traditionally published author with Simon & Schuster and Harper Collins UK, as well as enjoying success as an independently published author. Since she first began self-publishing in 2012, she’s appeared at #1 on Barnes & Noble and iBooks charts around the world. Her books have also appeared on the New York Times and USA Today best-seller list twenty-three times.
Website: www.kendallryanbooks.com
Facebook: Kendall Ryan Books
Twitter: @kendallryan1
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Other Books by Kendall Ryan
Unravel Me Series:
Unravel Me
Make Me Yours
Love by Design Series:
Working It
Craving Him
All or Nothing
When I Break Series:
When I Break
When I Surrender
When We Fall
When I Break (complete series)
Filthy Beautiful Lies Series:
Filthy Beautiful Lies
Filthy Beautiful Love