Three things happened all at once in the most unexpected way. The vibe kicked up to the final speed. The fullness she experienced morphed into hot pleasure flooding her. And she wasn’t sure if she screamed or bucked or jerked or even if he had climaxed with her, all she knew was she orgasmed…and orgasmed…and orgasmed…until suddenly she wasn’t orgasming anymore, she was lying in a heap on the cold bathroom floor.
Minutes passed in blur of confusion. She couldn’t remember when he’d withdrawn his cock or removed the vibe and dildo, all she recalled was being wiped down with a warm cloth before he removed the rope then took her in his arms.
Now, being carried from the bathroom into the bedroom, she rested her head against his warm, damp chest. At the bed, he lay her down in the middle, and the mattress dipped when he joined her.
On his side, he ran his fingers down her stomach, staring into her eyes. She lay there, watching him, too. Silent. Recovering. For many, many, long minutes. Only when her mind returned fully did she dare talk. “So, is this the kinda love I have to look forward to?”
He gave her his sexy half-grin. “Yes, and it’s the best kind of love there is.”
“Oh, yeah, what kind of love do we have?” she asked, snuggling into him, feeling sore in the best kind of way.
He gathered her in his arms, pulling her as close as she could get, and chuckled. “Filthy, dirty love, of course.”
“Filthy, dirty love?” She laughed. “Sounds promising.”
“Oh, sugar, but it is that.”
“And will it always be?”
He stared at her and promised, “Always. Forever.”
Epilogue
From inside his kitchen, Maddox glanced out at his backyard through the window above the sink, where things had begun again for him and Joss. Exactly one year after his last party for the new rookies and his fellow cops, the backyard looked different now, or maybe he simply saw the world through new eyes.
He grabbed the plate of burgers off the counter and then exited through the patio door. From her spot at the outdoor sitting area around the fire pit, Joss smiled at him before she focused on her mother again. How beautiful she looked there with her wedding ring sparkling off the string of lights wound around their pergola, lighting up the outdoor space.
So many changes had happened, that nothing quite looked the same anymore. But they were the best kinds of changes. Their whirlwind adventure into dating had only lasted three months before Maddox insisted that she move in with him, and three days after that, he put a ring on her finger. Now, Maddox and Joss had been married for four months, and he liked all the finishing touches she’d put on the house.
Though the changes weren’t only personal, they were professional, too. While Maddox was the captain in the east, Joss stayed in the west, where in another two years, she’d likely get the promotion to detective that she’d wished for. The truth was, as much as Maddox feared that his career would overshadow hers, her connection to the chief kept everyone’s lips tightly shut. Besides, in the year that she’d been a cop, her work ethic stood apart from any connection she had to any of her superiors.
The warm air brushed across him as he moved to the grill, finding Grey in an eerily similar spot as where he’d been last year when Joss had come back into Maddox’s life and changed everything.
“You know,” Grey said when Maddox reached him. “I still think you’re the luckiest bastard out there.” He motioned to the rookies, who stood off near the bar quietly mingling among themselves. “Every year, I think they actually get hotter.”
“And every year, they also get younger,” Maddox reminded him, placing the burgers on the hot grill.
Grey frowned, tipping his beer at Maddox. “Careful. You’re beginning to sound like my mother.”
Maddox barked a laugh. “Then kill me.”
“Seriously, though,” Grey added with a smile, glancing at Joss, who sat with her parents over on the patio couches. “Look at you two, you’ve become totally domesticated.”
“Even more than you know.” Maddox added the burgers to the grill, knowing what he said next would cause a ripple. “Soon there will be three of us.”
Grey’s head snapped around to Maddox, eyes wide. “She’s pregnant?”
Maddox smiled. “Just three months now.”
“Congrats, man.” Grey yanked Maddox into him, smacking his back in a rough man-hug. “You’re going to be a father.” He leaned away, giving Maddox another hard smack on the back, grinning from ear-to-ear. “My mother will be so pleased.”
“I’m sure she will.” Maddox laughed.
Grey looked at Joss again before leaning back against the post, folding his arms. “You know, a year ago I never would’ve believed this would be where you ended up.”
Maddox began flipping the burgers, one by one. “Doesn’t it make you wonder where you’ll be a year from now?”
Unusual softness filled Grey’s eyes. “I’ll probably be right back here, holding onto your sweet babe while you’re flipping burgers for your new rookies.”
“Or you’ll be holding onto your wife,” Maddox offered.
Grey snorted and shook his head. “Nah, buddy, the domesticated shit is for you, not me.”
Maddox smiled and glanced down at the burgers cooking on the grill. Once, he’d thought along those same lines, too, and now he knew all it took was one woman to blow that thought into a hundred pieces. He hoped Grey found what he had, but he also wasn’t planning to get all gushy and tell Grey that either.
When he’d flipped some of the new patties, he began taking off the cooked ones from earlier and placing them on a serving plate. He kept two off to the side, and called to the crowd, “Burgers up.”
“I’d better grab one before they’re gone. These people are like vultures,” Grey said, rushing forward and making himself a plate.
Maddox laughed to himself and added a couple of buns to the two burgers he’d kept aside and then approached Joss and her parents. She was laughing at something her mother had said, but when she caught sight of him, she smiled as he set one burger on Joss’s plate and another on her mother’s. “Dinner’s up, ladies,” he told them.
Joss’s father snorted. “Better stop it, Maddox. You’re starting to make me look bad.”
“Well, sir.” Maddox straightened and shoved his hands into his pockets. “You’ve got quite the head start on impressing your ladies. I need to catch up.”
Her father chuckled softly as he rose from his seat. He squeezed Maddox’s shoulder in a familiar embrace Maddox had grown to enjoy this past year before heading off to fetch his dinner.
“Oh, I’d better get another drink, too,” her mother said, rising from her chair. When Maddox reached for her wineglass, she added, “You don’t need to spoil me all the time, Maddox. I’ve got this.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He smiled, letting her take the glass from his hand.
Once she’d headed off to fetch her drink, Maddox took her seat, pulling it closer to Joss. “Doing okay, sugar?” he asked, stroking her cheek.
Her nose scrunched, and she frowned at her burger. “I think you’d better take that away from me.” Her concerned eyes came to his, mouth pinched tightly.
Swiftly, he grabbed the plate and moved it behind him, not in the direction of the wind. “Burgers are on the list of what you can’t eat?”
“Apparently,” she said with a sigh, placing a hand on her lower belly. “Honestly, at this rate, our kid is going to be a vegetarian.”
“That will never happen,” Maddox said seriously with a firm shake of his head, placing his hand on her belly. “My son will like eating meat as much as he enjoys hunting for it.”
Joss gave him a sweet smile, placing her hand on top of his. “And how do you know we’re having a boy?”
“I don’t, of course, but I have a feeling.”
“A feeling, hmm?” She stroked her fingers across his hand, looking up at him through her lashes. “But what if it’s a girl, will you be di
sappointed?”
He chuckled softly, rubbing her belly. “Of course, not. That just means I’ll need my shotgun for other reasons than hunting.”
“You’re not going to threaten our child’s crushes.” Joss frowned at him.
He smiled. “Wanna bet?”
Joss barked a laugh, and he loved that laugh. So happy. So free. So perfect. So his. “You’ll never change, will you? Always the broody, alpha guy?”
“No,” he said, “And you forgot something on my title, didn’t you?”
She hesitated. Then chuckled again. “Sex God.”
“That’s it, sugar. And you know why I won’t change?”
“Why?” She smiled.
He cupped her nape, pulling her close, and before he sealed his mouth across hers, he murmured, “Because you like it.”
And he’d make sure she always liked the adventure and loved him. Today. Tomorrow. And Always.
Acknowledgments
Much love to my family; my readers; my editor, Christa; my copy editor, Chelle; my assistant, Michelle; the kick-ass authors in my sprint group; and my cover designer, Sara. This book couldn’t have happened without all of you!
By Stacey Kennedy
Filthy Dirty Love
Heartbreaker
Skirt Chaser (coming soon)
Dirty Little Secrets
Bound Beneath His Pain
Tied to His Betrayal
Restrained Under His Duty (coming soon)
Club Sin
Claimed
Bared
Desired
Freed
Tamed
Commanded
Mine
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STACEY KENNEDY is the USA Today bestselling author of the Dirty Little Secrets and Club Sin series. She writes deeply emotional romances about powerful men and the wild women who tame them. When she’s not writing sensual stories, she spends her time in southwestern Ontario with her real life hero, her husband, their two young children, and her other babies: a mini labradoodle named Jax and a chocolate labrador named Murphy. Stacey is a proud chocolate, television show, Urban Barn, and wine addict. She likes her heroes in her books like she likes her coffee… strong and hot!
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Read on for an excerpt from Stacey Kennedy’s Dirty Little Secret series:
BOUND BENEATH HIS PAIN
Bound Beneath His Pain is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A Loveswept eBook Original
Copyright © 2016 by Stacey Kennedy
Excerpt from Tied to His Betrayal by Stacey Kennedy copyright © 2016 by Stacey Kennedy
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Loveswept, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
Loveswept is a registered trademark and the Loveswept colophon is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.
ebook ISBN 9781101882566
Cover design: Okay Creations
Cover photograph: © FXQuadro/Shutterstock
randomhousebooks.com
Chapter 1
Allie
“Get here. Pronto. Shit is going down!”
There are only three reasons my real estate assistant, Liv Sloan, sent me the vague text on Monday morning.
One, the deal for my last clients, who fled the lively Haight-Ashbury area to raise their family in the quiet and quaint Cole Valley district, fell apart.
Two, our boss is in a mood.
Three, a pair of Liv’s beloved high-heel shoes suffered a wretched death.
Stuffed inside the elevator, a block away from Union Square, with rank perfume smells tickling my nose, I wonder over Liv’s message. All three reasons are totally up her alley. She’s dramatic, but in a cute, funny way that I love.
When the elevator doors chime open, I ease my way out, entering Richardson Real Estate, and frown. While I love my job, the offices are a whole other thing. They’re in need of a major upgrade, which is the very reason I’m late today. I’d never meet clients in this run-down horror show.
I pass the empty waiting room, scrunching my nose against the stale smell hanging in the air, then pick up my pace, turning the corner down the main hallway, finding Liv standing by the watercooler near our cubicles.
“You’re not going to believe what’s happened,” she says, practically bursting with energy.
“Aliens have invaded Earth?” I offer.
“What?” She gives her head a slight shake, her brown curls bouncing on her shoulders. “Guess again.”
“Santa came early and brought you new Louboutin shoes?”
She gives me a playful nudge, her big, round brown eyes squinting. “Ha, I can only wish! Holt has bought out Richardson.”
I pause, waiting for her to say she’s joking. “You’re serious?”
She nods. “Very serious.”
A knot of worry tightens in my belly then I force myself to go numb. I’m a top-selling agent at Richardson. My job can’t be in jeopardy. This has to be good news, right? Still, I can’t wrap my head around it. Holt has made billions of dollars dealing in commercial properties. Richardson’s sales are only in the multi-millions, with a handful of agents selling middle-income homes. Sure, that’s Richardson’s strength in the San Francisco market, but why would Holt want to add it to their portfolio? Isn’t the middle-class market messy pocket change to them? “What in the world does Holt want with Richardson?” I voice my thoughts.
Liv gets herself a drink from the watercooler and then faces me. “From what I gathered, Holt wants to gobble up the entire real estate market. Businesses, high-class homes, middle-class homes; they want it all. Including taking the top agents at Richardson into Holt.”
Greedy pricks. They can’t be satisfied having a corner of the market to make their billions, they need to suck the whole damn thing dry. I lean against the cubicle next to us, my back straight as a pencil. “So, their plan is to swallow Richardson up?”
“To be honest, I don’t really know what the plan is.” She leans closer to me and tells me quietly, “They offered me a job at Holt. Which I guess means they’re taking you, too.”
“Indeed, that is the plan,” says a strong male voice.
Oh, shit!
I hesitantly glance sideways and unfamiliar sparkling blue eyes hold mine. “I take it you’re Allison Parker?” the stranger asks.
“That’s right,” I reply. “But you can call me Allie.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Allie.” He offers a handshake. “I’m Anderson West, COO at Holt.”
I admire his blue suit while shaking his hand, thinking not only does this forty-something-year-old man have some serious style, but the Holt staff is very professional. Our own CEO, Henry, is typically found wearing loose-fitting khakis and sweaters to cover an aging midsection.
Anderson releases my hand and adds, “I take it Liv has filled you in on what you missed at the meeting.”
I smile. “Yes. I’m all caught up.”
“Excellent, saves me from repeating myself.” He shoves one hand into his pant pocket, straightening his spine. “As with Liv, we’d like to offer you a position at Holt.” He hands me a sealed white envelope with my name on the front. “Please know that the terms are negotiable. If you want we can discuss—”
“Ah, the straggler h
as finally decided to grace us with her presence.” Another unknown voice booms, from a man who appears to my other side. This one with even a more raspy, gravelly tone.
I gulp, realizing who the smooth silky voice must belong to, Micah Holt. His bluish-gray eyes narrow on me and my breath is gone, as the air whooshes out of the room. Everyone in San Francisco knows the famous billionaire, the tabloids make sure of that. This hot playboy is a weekly feature, not that I read the rags that often, but you can’t miss his face plastered on them as you wait in the grocery store lines.
Confronted by the real man, I understand why the tabloids are obsessed with him. The power he exudes is magnetizing, raising the hairs on my arms. He owns the space around him, making everyone else disappear. All I know is his sexy-as-hell eyes on me and how that act alone warms me from the inside out. I raise my hand and smile. “Hello, that’s me, I’m Allie, the straggler.”
By the arch of his brow, I assume the first impression I’m putting forward surprises him. Which it does me too, as I’m not usually a smart-ass, but he’s rattling me. I’m drawn to him, no matter that I don’t want to be, because I know this guy is a bad idea.
And I know that so definitely because I know his type. My half-brother is cut from the same cloth as Micah. I bet he’s a man who works from eight in the morning until eleven at night. He’s probably a guy who only has relationships to financially or sexually benefit him.
Regardless of what I know, the instant attraction is rich with velvety promise.
One side of his mouth slowly arches in the beginning of a smile and he finally murmurs, “Allie.”
A shifting feeling happens near my heart, a pang of sorts, leaving me aware of the delicious burn he’s stirring inside me. Oh, this guy is smooth. He doesn’t say someone’s name; instead, he rolls it off his tongue, savoring the syllables. Micah’s got game, no question, and I realize I’m going to have to be on my toes around him.
Heartbreaker (Filthy Dirty Love #1) Page 18