I wasn’t lying either. Not even a little bit. It wasn’t about my scheme to ruin him. The Game was the furthest thing from my mind.
“Please do it to me again,” I went on. “Not right this second, maybe, but, you know. When my ass doesn’t feel like it’s just been shredded.”
He continued to stare out into the night and let out a harsh laugh. “You just don’t know when to stop, do you?”
“And you don’t know when someone is laying it all out on the line. I’m being one-hundred percent genuine. I am into this. That was incredible. I want more of it. Please, please, please, bring it on.”
A beat passed.
Then he shook his head. “It won’t work, Celia. I know about you. I knew what kind of woman you were when I married you.”
I felt that rush of panic I always had when he said cryptic things like that. That punch of dread that made me jump to conclusions and think that he knew something about my games when there was no way he could.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, breathing my way through the alarm.
He turned to face me, his expression stone. “I mean, my dear wife, that I know about your ruse. How you plan to get me to rough you up in the bedroom then go cry abuse to the authorities.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Or maybe that’s not exactly the scheme, but something along those lines. Am I warm?”
He didn’t know. He couldn’t. He was fishing. He was making a guess.
I clung to my best line of defense. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about, Edward. That you would think me capable of—”
“Shut up.” He sneered at me. “You’re a pathetic liar.”
Now I was mad. Because, sure, fine, I’d planned those things, but he couldn’t know that, and I was abandoning that plot, and I was not lying about wanting more sex like that, and being called a liar the one time I wasn’t lying was just fucked up.
“You’re crazy, you know that?” I seethed. “You’re making shit up. If that were really true, and if you really knew that before we got married, why would you even marry me?”
“Because I want those Werner media shares.”
That hurt. More than the spanking, somehow. I knew we weren’t married for love, but his greed hadn’t been so evident before. I hadn’t felt like such a prop.
Layered over the hurt was indignant anger. He’d only said he wanted to helm my father’s company. Now he expected to get his shares? What the fuck was the guy smoking?
“You’re not getting anything from my father. You aren’t getting anything from me, either, for that matter.”
“I’ll have those shares,” he said adamantly.
“Over my dead body.”
I knew then what was coming. Somehow, I knew, even though I couldn’t possibly know, couldn’t possibly even guess, and this inky black foreboding crawled up through me, spreading up my spine and traveling through my limbs in exactly the same way my climax had stretched through me moments before.
And before the words came out of his lips, I already felt their impact, already felt the air slam out of my lungs, and my knees crumple, unable to hold my weight. Felt the snaking cry of terror lodge in my throat before the smirk settled on his mouth.
And in that way I was almost prepared—almost—when he said the words that would later haunt me in my nightmares and brought the dream I’d had earlier crashing to the forefront of my mind. “That is precisely why, my little bird, I intend to kill you.”
* * *
Edward and Celia’s story continues in
Slay Two: Ruin.
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With her heart literally in his hands, Celia will have to try and bargain with a devil.
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Preorder now.
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Order signed copies of this book and merchandise related to Slay on my website or read to it again on audio, narrated by
Elena Wolfe.
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Keep reading for a timeline of events related to the Fixed series.
Also by Laurelin Paige
Visit my website for a more detailed reading order.
* * *
The Dirty Universe
Dirty Filthy Rich Boys - READ FREE
Dirty Duet: Dirty Filthy Rich Men | Dirty Filthy Rich Love
Dirty Sexy Bastard - READ FREE
Dirty Games Duet: Dirty Sexy Player | Dirty Sexy Games
Dirty Sweet Duet: Sweet Liar | Sweet Fate
Dirty Filthy Fix (a spinoff novella)
Dirty Wild Trilogy: Coming 2020
The Fixed Universe
Fixed Series: Fixed on You | Found in You | Forever with You | Hudson | Fixed Forever
Found Duet: Free Me | Find Me
Chandler (a spinoff novel)
Falling Under You (a spinoff novella)
Dirty Filthy Fix (a spinoff novella)
Slay Series: Slay One: Rivalry | Slay Two: Ruin
Slay Three: Revenge | Slay Four: Rising
The Open Door (a spinoff novella)
First and Last
First Touch | Last Kiss
Hollywood Standalones
One More Time
Close
Sex Symbol
Star Struck
Written with Sierra Simone
Porn Star | Hot Cop
Written with Kayti McGee under the name Laurelin McGee
Miss Match | Love Struck | MisTaken | Holiday for Hire
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About Laurelin Paige
With millions of books sold worldwide, Laurelin Paige is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling Author. Her international success started with her very first series, the Fixed Trilogy, which, alone, has sold over 1 million copies, and earned her the coveted #1 spot on Amazon’s bestseller list in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, simultaneously. This title also was named in People magazine as one of the top 10 most downloaded books of 2014. She’s also been #1 over all books at the Apple Book Store with more than one title in more than one country. She’s published both independently and with MacMillan’s St. Martin’s Press and Griffin imprints as well as many other publishers around the world including Harper Collins in Germany and Hachette/Little Brown in the U.K. With her edgy, trope-flipped stories of smart women and strong men, she’s managed to secure herself among today’s romance royalty.
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Paige has a Bachelor’s degree in Musical Theater and a Masters of Business Administration with a Marketing emphasis, and she credits her writing success to what she learned from both programs, though she’s also an avid learner, constantly trying to challenge her mind with new and exciting ideas and concepts. While she loves psychological thrillers and witty philosophical books and entertainment, she is a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there’s kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn’t seem to complain, however. When she isn’t reading or writing sexy stories, she’s probably singing, watching shows like Game of Thrones, Letterkenny and Discovery of Witches, or dreaming of Michael Fassbender. She's also a proud member of Mensa International though she doesn't do anything with the organization except use it as material for her bio. She
currently lives outside Austin, Texas and is represented by Rebecca Friedman.
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www.laurelinpaige.com
[email protected]
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