Elliott pondered and turned to Mary, watching her swim. In his younger years he was hesitant in his choices, but he wasn’t young anymore. He’d been married. He’d dated all types of women. He didn’t have a lifetime to wait to discover if things were happening at the right time. He knew what he wanted. His choices had never been so clear. “Yes, that is a problem, but there is one way to ensure she can’t say no.” He rose, moving to the bow of the boat.
Mary swam over to him, smiling from ear to ear. She grabbed on to the ladder and pulled herself up to rest her arms on the side. “Come in. The water is amazing.”
“Not just yet.” He knelt in front of her, reaching into the pocket of his shorts. Then he pulled out the small black velvet box. For a month now, he’d kept his mother’s wedding ring with him, waiting for the right time. When he placed the box in front of Mary’s face, her eyes widened.
With no hesitation in his mind, he said softly, “Marry me.”
She stared at the two-carat vintage ring before she lifted her head. She blinked. “It’s only been six months. It’s too soon.”
“Is it?” He paused, allowing her the time to process exactly what had been on his mind since he’d met her. “I’d say it’s been nearly five years for you, and even longer for me, to find what we both needed and wanted in our lives. Doesn’t seem too soon, does it?”
Searching her teary eyes that were overrun with raw emotion, he continued. “Happiness and love, time means nothing when something is meant to be. I know what I want, Mary, and that’s you.” He smiled at her, brushing away her falling tears. “This, between us, is right.”
He took the ring out of the box, hearing Mary’s daughter scream in joy, as were the other girls. Though he couldn’t take his eyes off Mary and off the love shining in her features. Nor could he look away from the second chance they both had.
Holding the ring to her, he said, “You haven’t answered me, Mary.”
A bright smile, radiating warmth, spread across her face. “Yes, Elliott. Of course I’ll marry you.”
He slid the ring onto her finger, fitting her perfectly. From a distance, Mary’s daughter and her friend were clapping wildly. Presley looked to be crying. Elliott jumped into the water and gathered Mary into his arms. Then he pulled her under the water with him and kissed her.
There, it was silent. Her lips against his were perfection. There was no noise. No one else but them.
Nothing else, but…
Hope.
Submission.
Love.
When they broke the water, Mary laughed, squeezing her arms around his neck. “I love you, Elliott.”
Overrun with emotion, he stared into her beautiful eyes. “You were mine from the second you first looked at me. I’ve loved you from the moment I put my hands on you.” Fate had finally led him in the right direction. To Mary. “This is our second chance, isn’t it?”
She wrapped her legs around his waist and shook her head. “Not a second chance. Our second journey.” She shifted against his hardened length pressed against her sex and wiggled her eyebrows.
He chuckled and kissed her cheek, then, keeping the conversation private, he whispered in her ear, “Tonight I’m going to flog you until that skin that belongs to me is dark red. I’m going to fuck you hard and make you come around my cock that belongs to you. Then I’m going to do it all over again.”
She shivered against him, and her gaze flared with the adoration he had longed to see. “Promise?”
Pulling his hand out of the water, he tapped her diamond necklace. “This was once Charles’s promise to you.” He reached for her hand and water dripped off her fingers as he kissed her ring. “Now, darlin’, this is mine.”
For my husband, who is the best inspiration for my book boyfriends.
Acknowledgments
To my readers, there are no words to explain how grateful I am for the support I’ve received for the Club Sin series. For all of your kind e-mails, posts on Facebook and Twitter, and everything in between, thank you. Your support means the world to me.
As always, big love to my fabulous editor, Sue Grimshaw. I’m certain I’d be lost without you, Sue. Thanks for all that you do!
To my agent, Jessica Alvarez, I cannot thank you enough for always having my back in this big, scary world of publishing!
Huge hugs to my critique partner, Lea Griffin. Thanks for just being you! And to Gina Gordon: Every gal needs a good writing buddy and friend, and I’m one lucky girl to have found both in you!
Last, to everyone at Random House, nothing beats your awesomeness!
BY STACEY KENNEDY
Club Sin
Claimed
Bared
Desired
Freed
PHOTO: PAIGE RICHARDSON
STACEY KENNEDY is the USA Today bestselling author of the Club Sin series. While Stacey was growing up, her mind wandered the path less traveled, and that path most often led to love. She has always broken rules, and she continues to feed off emotion—staying true to her heart. Those traits are now the bones of her stories. She lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, who puts any of the heroes in her books to shame, and their two young children. If she’s not on mom duty or plugging away at a new story, you’ll find Stacey camping in the summer, hibernating in the winter, and obsessing over Penny Dreadful, Game of Thrones, and Sons of Anarchy.
www.staceykennedy.com
@Stacey_Kennedy
Facebook.com/AuthorStaceyKennedy
The Editor’s Corner
As the hustle and bustle of the holidays, not to mention cold and flu season, approaches Loveswept’s prescription for your well-being is very simple, and reasonably priced too: Check out our new November releases, as low as $2.99. Just what the doctor ordered, right?
The courageous men of USA Today bestselling author Tina Wainscott’s Justiss Alliance series never give up and never make promises they can’t live up to—Wild Nights comes out this month and features Saxby Cole and Jennessy Shaw in Tina’s wildest story yet. USA Today bestselling author Stacey Kennedy’s Club Sin series continues with the wicked, sensuous novel from Freed. Ashlyn Macnamara’s historical romance What a Lady Demands introduces readers to a smoldering new love story threatened by past betrayals—fans of Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, and Sabrina Jeffries will adore it. USA Today bestselling author Maggie McGinnis has written a captivating novel spiced with holiday magic, featuring a rugged Montana man who mends a Northeast girl’s jaded heart—don’t miss, A Cowboy’s Christmas Promise. And the Weird Girls return in another edge-of-your-seat novel, A Curse Unbroken, from Cecy Robson! Just when Celia thinks the supernatural world can’t turn deadlier, a new rival emerges to prove just how dangerous a power-hungry Were can be, yum!
For the New Adult reader, check out our Flirt line featuring debut author Amber Hart as she pushes contemporary romance to its wildest limits in the heart-pounding novel Until You Find Me, the story of a girl who travels to Africa to protect the legacy of one man—and stays for the love of another. Regina Cole’s debut, Draw Me In, is a steamy novel of hot ink and delicious angst, where two tortured artists take a leap of faith despite the past that threatens to tear them apart.
Stay well and follow the prescription above—if you do you’re guaranteed a happy, healthy, romantic holiday season. Until next time…
~Happy Romance!
Gina Wachtel
Associate Publisher
Love stories you’ll never forget
By authors you’ll always remember
eOriginal Romance from Random House
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