The Bad Boys of Eden

by Avery Aster

  I had an hour before my next class. An hour where I usually went and got something to eat at the little deli across the complex parking lot. So I figured I wasn’t really going out of my way to satisfy my curiosity. With my luck, the car would be gone, and with it, whoever sat inside behind the black windows.

  As I slung my purse over my shoulder and walked out of the studio, I couldn’t help thinking about Jakob. The second Valentina had mentioned the limo I thought about the movie Pretty Woman, which in turn got me thinking about him. It was ridiculous but it still didn’t stop me from thinking about it.

  While I crossed the parking lot, I looked around, but I didn’t see any limousine. Maybe Valentina had been mistaken, or maybe it had just been the limo driver stopping into the plaza to grab a shake and burger at the local fast food joint before he picked up someone at the airport, or had just finished dropping someone off. Either way, I shook my head at my foolishness then continued on to the deli.

  I was just about on the sidewalk when I heard a car horn behind me. I stopped and whirled around, intending to give the driver the middle finger, when I saw a limousine idling in my wake. The back black window lowered, and a hand clutching a bouquet of red roses popped out.

  I bit down on my lower lip to stop from squealing.

  I took a couple steps toward the car. The door opened, and Jakob slid out, still holding the flowers toward me. “Hello Ivy.”

  “What are you doing here?” I laughed.

  “I thought we could have dinner.”

  “Are you here on business?”

  He smiled. “No. I’m here to take you out for dinner, if you like.”

  “How did you know where I was?”

  “I may have asked your mother last time I spoke with her.”

  I gaped at him. “You talk to my mom?”

  “Yes, she contacted me a few months back about a few things she wanted to sell. Your parents actually had quite a few antiquities that I was able to fetch a good deal of money for.”

  I shook my head again. I had no idea. My mom wasn’t usually good at keeping secrets, but this one was a doozy.

  “So, you flew into San Diego just to ask me out on a date?” I couldn’t stop the flutters in my belly. I had to rub a hand over it to help me from jumping into the man’s arms and kissing the hell out of him.

  “Yes, and well, to open my new branch.”

  “You’re opening a business here?”

  He nodded. “I thought it was about time I opened a US base of operations. San Diego has always appealed to me.”

  I grinned. My heart was thumping so hard I was afraid he was going to hear it. But I couldn’t contain my surprise and excitement any longer. Jakob was here. Jakob came for me. I never thought I’d ever see him again, and here he was offering me…well I didn’t know exactly what, but I knew he was suggesting more than just dinner.

  “My office opens tonight, and I am having a big gala. I want you to be there by my side.”

  “I would love, oh shit, wait. I can’t go right now. I have another class to teach in forty five minutes.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll wait for you Ivy.”

  “You will?” I didn’t want to cry, but tears welled in my eyes. I’d never had anything happen to me as romantic as this.

  “Yes. I can do some work in the car.”

  I couldn’t contain myself any longer. I jumped on him. Literally. He had to fumble with the flowers to catch me. I smashed my mouth to his and kissed him until we were both gasping for air.

  “Hello Jakob. I’ve missed you.”

  He tossed the flowers onto the car seat and wrapped his arms around me properly. “You can show me how much later.” He cupped my face and kissed me again.

  I think I may have found the last piece of my happy.

  # # #

  If you enjoyed this story by Tawny Stokes/Vivi Anna, make sure to sign up for her newsletter http://bit.ly/1ywZH0H to hear about new releases, sales and other exciting events, or to keep in touch please refer to these links:

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  About Tawny Stokes/Vivi Anna

  Tawny Stokes aka Vivi Anna is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author in paranormal romance, urban fantasy, scifi, and young adult. Since 2003, she’s written and published over 40 books for New York publishers such as Harlequin, Kensington and Avon. She’s also independently published several projects on her own. Vivi is also a screenwriter and TV writer and is one of the co-founders of #TVwriterchat.

  Young Adult books as Tawny Stokes:

  STATIC

  ELECTRIC

  DEMONS OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS

  DATING AFTER DARK (WITH CLOWNS)

  CARNIVAL WORLD (written with Michael J Lee)

  New Adult Books as Tawny Stokes

  VIOLET IS BLUE

  IVY IN BLOOM

  DAHLIA BY DESIGN – coming soon

  Urban Fantasy Books as Vivi Anna

  Nina Decker series:

  GLIMMER

  DAWNING

  PORTAL

  New Adult Paranormal Romance as Vivi Anna

  Billionaires After Dark

  The Vampire Affair series

  THE VAMPIRE AFFAIR (part one)

  THE VAMPIRE AFFAIR (part two)

  THE VAMPIRE AFFAIR (part three)

  THE VAMPIRE AFFAIR (part four)

  The Vampire Design series

  THE VAMPIRE DESIGN (part one)

  THE VAMPIRE DESIGN (part two) – coming soon

  The Werewolf Liaison series

  THE WEREWOLF LIAISON (part one) – Bad to the Bone

  THE WEREWOLF LIAISON (part two) – Hungry Like the Wolf

  THE WEREWOLF LIAISON (part three) – Bad Moon Rising

  THE WEREWOLF LIAISON (part four) – Dark Side of the Moon – coming soon

  Valorian Chronicles (published with Harlequin Nocturne)

  BLOOD SECRETS

  DARK LIES

  VEILED TRUTH

  MAHINA’S STORM

  BEWITCHING HOUR

  THE VAMPIRE’S QUEST

  THE VAMPIRE’S KISS

  HER DARK HEART

  A WOLF’S HEART

  The Fallen series (published with Harlequin Nocturne)

  HEART OF THE HUNTER

  RELEASING THE HUNTER

  SEDUCING THE HUNTER – December 2014

  PROTECTING THE HUNTER – coming soon

  League of Illusion (published with Carina Press)

  LEGACY

  PROPHECY

  DESTINY

  ICE BOUND (published by Harlequin)

  Silver series (published by Avon)

  QUICK SILVER (Alluring Tales Volume 1)

  SILVER WATERS (Alluring Tales Volume 2)

  Excerpts from Tawny Stokes/Vivi Anna Other Books

  Here is a snippet from the next book in the Hothouse series, DAHLIA BY DESIGN:

  DAHLIA BY DESIGN

  Tawny Stokes

  Excerpt

  The music blasting from the speakers thumped over me. It brushed my skin looking for a way in. But it was already in. Deep. It was part of me now as I gyrated on the dance floor. There was no escaping the tendrils of bass and tempo. I was its prisoner. It had a hold of me and I never wanted to let go.

  This was where I lived. This was my house. Here and now. The dance floor. The club was my place of worship and I fucking prayed all night long. Give me an Amen sister!

  The night out was a welcome reprieve from the stress of ending a semester of school and starting a new one. I also had my first interview for an internship at a design firm. It was between me and two other candidates. I felt like I nailed it but it still wasn’t a for sure thing. My stress levels had skyrocketed and I needed a night out to just let it all go
. I planned on doing that and more.

  My friend Fiona nudged me in the side to get my attention. When I turned to acknowledge her she handed me another shot. I took it, downed it, not caring what it was. At this point in the night it didn’t really matter. One alcohol was the same as the next. It was just all fuel to me now. To keep me on the dance floor. To keep my body moving to the seductive rhythm coming from the speakers.

  I lifted my arms and closed my eyes as the next riff clicked into gear. My skin was sweat slicked and my clothes stuck to my body. I knew that my nipples were likely visible now through the thin material of my white cotton t-shirt. But I didn’t care. Men stared at me. I could feel their probing gazes on my body. I welcomed it. I was on display and that was fine by me.

  I turned in a circle and swayed my hips letting the sound wash over me. It was a religious experience. The DJ was my deity.

  Amen motherfucker.

  “Dahl.” My other friend Rachel tapped my shoulder.

  “I’m dancing.”

  “Dahl. Open your damn eyes.”

  I did. And that’s when I saw him.

  It was kind of hard not to see him since he was standing directly in front of me with a lop-sided sexy grin and piercing blue eyes.

  He had on a button down dress shirt that had the top two buttons undone. Jeans that fit him real nice and a red tie draped around his neck. My fingers itched to reach up and tug on it. His golden blond hair was a little shaggy, a little messy but all kinds of sexy. I wanted to stroke my fingers over it to see if it was a silky as it looked.

  “Hi,” I said. Not the most eloquent thing to say but it was all I could muster. My tongue felt thick in my mouth just from looking at him.

  He just smiled and his gaze traveled my face and down my body, then back up again.

  My heart thumped just a little bit harder and faster. I swore my nipples got real hard.

  “You have got to be the sexiest damn woman I have ever seen.”

  His words were a punch to my gut. Muscles tightened in all kinds of interesting places. My thighs actually tingled. And all the man had done was speak a few words.

  Stunned, I just stood there and gaped at him. We were still on the dance floor and people were dancing around us, giving us room as if something monumental was transpiring. Maybe it was.

  I’d been hit on before, plenty of times. Any half decent looking girl out with her ladies drinking and dancing was going to get hit on. It was a universal mating ritual of all twenty something, especially those in college. Over the years I’d heard all kinds of lurid come ons and cheesy pickup lines. One of my favorites had been “My dick just died, can I bury it in your vagina?” another good one was “I'm a zombie, can I eat you out?” Needless to say I didn’t go home with either of those witty men.

  “So, are you going to buy me a drink?” I asked.

  “No.”

  Disappointment flooded me.

  “Why not?”

  “Because that’s what every guy in this bar would do.”

  “Oh yeah,” I arched an eyebrow, “And you’re different?”

  He just smiled again and I could feel it deep inside. I nearly groaned out loud. I was nervous now. I usually never got nervous around guys. I knew what made them tick. I knew exactly what to do and what to say to get what I wanted. In high school I had every dude around me eating out of the palm of my hand. My girlfriends, Ivy and Violet, always called me on it. But this man standing confidently in front of me was an enigma.

  “I’m not going home with you,” I blurted, because I couldn’t think of anything else to say, he had me so flustered.

  “I didn’t ask.”

  I chewed on my hangnail on the side of my thumb. “Then what do you want?”

  “This.”

  He took a step forward, and wrapped his big hands around my waist. He lifted me up and settled me onto his hips, and I immediately grabbed onto his shoulders so I didn’t fall. He was strong. His muscles quivered under the palms of my hands. I couldn’t believe how easily he picked me up, as if I weighed next to nothing. And believe me, I had some weight on me. I had big boobs and an ample sized derriere. I was no Barbie to be sure.

  Then he kissed me.

  It was a tasting at first, as if he was sampling my lips, then he deepened it. I moaned into his mouth. I couldn’t help it. The man was so fucking hot he had liquefied my insides. As our lips met, I forgot about everything around us. All I could concentrate on was him.

  I don’t know how long the kiss lasted, maybe a minute, maybe more, but it felt like an eternity had passed when he set me back down onto the floor. My lips tingled, and so did the rest of my body.

  Stunned, I brought a hand up to my mouth and touched my lips. He took a step back, and then smiled. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes sparkled in the dance floor lights. He’d definitely been drinking but it was desire that made his pupils dilate.

  “Thank you,” he said, then turned and walked away. He met up with his friends, other guys with ties and suits and they left the club. He didn’t ask for my name or my number. For the first time in my life, a guy didn’t want something from me. Well, except for that kiss. And what a fucking kiss. My knees still felt like wobbly rubber.

  Both Rachel and Fiona grabbed my arms, giddy with excitement. “What the fuck Dahl?” they said in unison.

  “Who was that?” Fiona asked.

  “Do you know him?” Rachel asked.

  I shook my head, still in shock of what just happened.

  Rachel laughed. “Jesus Christ that was hot. And he didn’t even kiss me.”

  It was hot. It was the single more erotic moment of my life and I knew it would haunt me for the rest of my life.

  # # #

  Delicious and Deadly

  CC MacKenzie

  Falling in love can be lethal.

  Copyright 2015 CC MacKenzie

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  About The Author

  Go to next book

  Go to previous book

  Go to Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  "No way in hell, Nico. No way."

  Nico Ferranti studied the uncompromising jaw of his head chef. In the frenetic universe of world-class haute cuisine, Oscar Zamani was the equivalent of solid gold. At the moment the award-winning chef was on secondment from the Ferranti Spa in Lake Como to bring his unique brand of originality and discipline to the kitchens of the five star Ferranti Hotel & Spa at Ludlow Hall. A sprawling seventeenth century English mansion with over two hundred and eighty rooms.

  The girls who manned reception always gave Oscar a wide-eyed second look. Behind his back they called him The Rock, due to his massive frame. Nico himself was a big man, but Oscar was built like an armoured vehicle, he could give a line backer for the New Orleans Saints a run for his money.

  Oscar's carved features were hawk-like, his dark eyes intense. And according to the love of Nico's life, his wife Bronte, Oscar's face was a 'Fab composition of sharp cheekbones, all plains and angles'. She adored his, 'Chocolate-brown come-to-bed eyes.'

  Feeling itchy for even thinking about Oscar's bedroom eyes, Nico ran his tongue over his top teeth. He was Italian. He didn't analyse a man's attraction the way a woman did, but he had to admit that Oscar was one good-looking son-of-a-bitch.

  The tattooed sleeve on the chef's left arm only added to the intimidating, bad boy impression. But as Nico well knew, looks could be deceptive. Oscar had attended one of the best schools in the country, Harrow, and had a clipped accent that spoke of the hunting, shooting and fishing set, the landed-gentry into which he'd been born. And from which h
e'd walked away. After university, where he'd read economics, the whisper was Oscar had devastated his father by turning his back on the family's international finance house to join the regular army, where he'd been snapped up by the intelligence corp. The catalyst for Oscar's career change had been the terror attack on London on 7/7. In the carnage, he'd lost a childhood friend who had been as close to him as a brother.

  Oscar was ex-special forces. A very handy guy to have around in the backstreets of Rome, where muggers and pickpockets ruled dark and dingy streets. Nico couldn't help but fondly remember the good old days when he and Oscar had bumped bloody knuckles after beating the shit out of three knife-wielding bastards. But that was a story for another time.

  These days Oscar ran his kitchens for the Ferranti Group with military precision. Every person in his hand-picked team knew their role as they worked together to create some of the best fusion cooking in the world.

  Top chefs were notoriously pernickety, some of them temper-tantrum-divas. But Oscar was different, there were no drama-queen moments for him. Actually, Oscar's creativity had its roots in science. He was always experimenting, either in his kitchens or outdoors in the specially built ovens he used for bread. Oscar's kitchens ran like well-oiled machines. In a sea of calm, where every single person knew his or her place. Yep, Oscar was the conductor of his particular orchestra. Every morning the staff met to tweak the system. Everyone from the trainees to the sous chef was encouraged to have an opinion on how to improve a technique.

  The only time Oscar became... irritable... was when a customer did not enjoy his food. As far as Oscar was concerned, the customer was king. However, success, as Nico well knew, brought with it its own pitfalls. In Oscar's case, it brought an unwanted celebrity status. And that status was the reason why Oscar was standing in front of Nico with muscled legs spread apart, huge arms folded and a face like, as Nico's good pal Alexander would say, a slapped arse.

  "Six episodes, prime time every Sunday night. It is a huge opportunity for you, Oscar. At least think about it."

  "Nope."

  Nico tried again. "Big money."

  "Nope."

  Nico shook his head and gave up. Stubborn bastard. He'd never in his life met a man so indifferent to making a buck. As long as Oscar had a roof over his head and was able to create he was content.