At the reminder, Ian finished his drink and placed the tumbler on a passing server’s tray. “I showed my face. I’m out of here.” He started for the exit.
“Ian, hold on,” his sister said, frustration in her tone.
“What? Do you want me to wait until they sing ‘Happy Birthday’? No thanks. I’m leaving.”
Before they could continue the discussion, their half brother Alex strode through the double entrance with a spectacular-looking woman holding tightly to his arm, and Ian’s plans changed.
Because of her.
Some people had presence; others merely wished they possessed that magic something. In her bold, red dress and fuck-me heels, she owned the room. And he wanted to own her. Petite and curvy, with long, chocolate-brown hair that fell down her back in wild curls, she was the antithesis of every too-thin female he’d dated and kept at arm’s length. But she was with his half brother, which meant he had to steer clear.
“I thought you were leaving,” Olivia said from beside him.
“I am.” He should. If he could tear his gaze away from her.
“If you wait for Tyler and Scott, you might just relax enough to have fun,” she said of their brothers. “Come on, please?” Olivia used the pleading tone he never could resist.
“Yeah, please, Ian? Come on,” his sister Avery said, joining them, looking equally mature in a silver gown that showed way too much cleavage. At twenty-two, she was similar in coloring and looks to Olivia, and he wasn’t any more ready to think of her as a grown-up—never mind letting other men ogle her—than he was with her sister.
Ian set his jaw, amazed these two hadn’t been the death of him yet.
“So what am I begging him to do?” Avery asked Olivia.
Olivia grinned. “I want him to stay and hang out for a while. Having fun is probably out of the question, but I’m trying to persuade him to let loose.”
“Brat,” he muttered, unable to hold back a smile at Olivia’s persistence.
He stole another glance at his lady in red. He could no more leave than he could approach her, he thought, frustrated because he was a man of action, and right now, he could do nothing but watch her.
“Well?” Olivia asked.
He forced his gaze to his sister and smiled. “Because you two asked so nicely, I’ll stay.” But his attention remained on the woman now dancing and laughing with his half brother.
Start Reading Dare to Love NOW!
The Awakening
Excerpt
by Erika Wilde
“Come on, Jill, you can do it. It’s not as though you’ve never seduced your husband before.”
Sitting in her parked car, Jillian Noble exhaled a deep breath and waited for her encouraging pep talk to take effect and ease her nerves. Biting absently on her bottom lip, she stared up at the glass and chrome building where her husband’s security consulting firm, Noble & Associates, resided on the twenty-eighth floor of the San Diego building. It was nearly two in the afternoon, and with Dean’s silver Aston Martin Vantage coupe tucked neatly into his reserved spot, she knew he was in his office.
Now, it was just a matter of her gathering up the courage to saunter into Dean’s domain and show her husband of nearly twenty years that she wanted to shake up their sex life.
At the age of thirty-eight, as well as being an ex-Navy SEAL who regularly trained with the men he hired to work for his security firm, Dean was still a gorgeous, virile man who enjoyed sex just as much as she did. But years of her focusing on raising their two sons along with being a wife and mother, and Dean working crazy long hours to ensure his security company was a success, well, the intimacy between them had become too predictable and routine. Somewhere along the way, they’d lost the intensity, the excitement and spontaneity, and she wanted all that back again… and much, much more.
Now that both boys were away—one in college and one enlisted in the Navy—and it was just her and Dean, she was ready to make the two of them a priority and revive their sex life in a major way, and take them both places they’d never dared to go before. Dark, erotic places she instinctively knew her husband had shied away from because he feared there was a part of his abusive father lurking deep inside him, and his biggest fear had always been that he’d go too far and hurt her.
With all her heart and soul, Jill knew her husband would never physically harm her, despite his own doubts. He’d never, ever, laid a hand on either of their two boys, not even when she, herself, wanted to strangle one of them for their idiotic teenage antics. Instead, Dean had taken the quiet and direct approach in disciplining their sons—starting with a strict discussion about right and wrong, and then he’d doled out their punishment, which usually included some kind of hard labor that gave them plenty of time to think about the stupidity of their actions.
Simple, but always effective.
A small smile curved the corner of her mouth. She’d be lying if she didn’t admit that Dean could absolutely be over-bearing, possessive, and a bit controlling at times, but in their nineteen years of marriage, he’d never given her a reason not to trust him, in all ways.
Today would be the defining factor in their marriage. In the past, just as things got interesting in the bedroom, he’d pull back and gentle his touch and soften his words. The romance of making love had its place, but she wanted the raw, primitive man she knew Dean could be. And if it took a bit of coaxing to get him to release that staunch control of his and let go of all those fears holding him back, well, she figured she might as well have fun giving it her best shot.
Exhaling a deep breath, she stepped out of her Chevy Suburban and headed toward the building, her four inch black stilettos clicking on the paved walkway, then the marbled floors inside the lobby. Reaching the elevators, she stepped inside and punched the button for the twenty-eight floor.
On the flight up, she battled the nerves fluttering in her belly, the ones that made her question her sanity for going through with her outrageous plan. But then the double doors whooshed opened and Gail, the firm’s long-time secretary, glanced up and greeted her with a genuine smile.
Now that Jill had been seen and recognized, there was no backing out now, so she walked into the plush reception area and stopped at the older woman’s desk.
“Good afternoon, Jill,” the other woman said, as warm and welcoming as always.
Jill smiled and tried to act casual, even though she was feeling anything but calm inside. “Hi, Gail. I’m here to see Dean. Is he available?”
“Absolutely. He’s in his office.” Gail reached for the phone on her desk. “Would you like for me to let him know you’re here?”
“No, I’d rather surprise him,” Jill said, stopping Gail before she could announce her presence and she lost the element of throwing her husband a little off kilter. Gaining the upper hand in any situation didn’t happen often with Dean, and this was one time it would definitely work to her advantage.
“I’m sure he’d like that.” Gail waved a hand toward the back offices, giving Jill the silent go-ahead.
She walked past Gail’s desk, belatedly realizing just how close the secretary was to the other offices. Just behind the reception area was a large conference room, and she recognized the deep male voice talking as Dean’s partner, Brent “Mac” MacMillan.
She glanced surreptitiously inside as she passed and saw the back of Mac’s broad shoulders, and three other big, buff, good-looking men who worked security detail for the company. They were standing straight in a row with their feet braced apart and hands clasped behind their backs in a stance she recognized as military trained.
Because Mac commanded their attention as he issued instructions for their next security detail, none of the three men acknowledged her, though their intuitive gazes definitely tracked her progress as she strolled by. The men Dean and Mac hired were all ex-military—tough, bad-ass, alpha men like her husband. Silent, always aware, and incredibly intense. Only the absolute best of the best for Noble and Associates.
She continued on her way. To the right was Mac’s currently empty office, and to the left was her husband’s. His door was halfway closed, and she knocked on the wooden surface before slipping inside and making an appearance.
He glanced up from the paperwork he’d been perusing, his dark, sable brows still furrowed in concentration. As soon as he saw her, his gray eyes flickered with surprise, then quickly shifted to concern. Because she knew him so well, she caught the subtle tensing of his body, that vigilant awareness that something was off.
“Hey, baby,” he said, his calm tone belying just how alert he was. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is just fine,” she rushed to reassure him, before his over-protective demeanor took over and derailed her plans. She understood his worry—she didn’t stop by the office often, and never without calling him first. Of course he’d think the worst.
She closed the door and pressed in the lock to assure them privacy, which didn’t escape his notice. Knowing the rest of her plan succeeding now relied on Dean’s response to what she did next, she bolstered her confidence one last time and slowly strolled toward him.
She put an extra sway in her hips, and tugged loose the tie on her wrap-around dress. She allowed the fabric to flutter open in front, just enough to tantalize him with a smooth expanse of thigh as she walked. Predictably, his gaze immediately dropped to the flash of skin, and the last of her nerves gave way to anticipation.
“I want to get your opinion on something I bought today,” she said huskily.
He never cared about what she purchased for herself, but then again, she rarely spent frivolously or excessively, even when he encouraged her to spoil herself. They were well-off now, his company worth millions, but when they’d first married right out of high school with a baby on the way, saving and budgeting had become a habit for her—one she was just learning to break every once in a while. After today, she hoped to have a reason to continue to splurge.
“I went to Sugar and Spice today to visit Raina, and I found something I thought you might like, but I wanted to be absolutely sure.” One of her good friends, Raina Beck, owned Sugar and Spice, an adult boutique that carried gorgeous lingerie, high end sex toys, and other erotic novelty items.
Dean was well aware of that, too.
THE AWAKENING (The Marriage Diaries, Volume 1)
About the Authors
Carly Phillips
Carly Phillips is the N.Y. Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of over 50 sexy contemporary romance novels featuring hot men, strong women and the emotionally compelling stories her readers have come to expect and love. Carly is happily married to her college sweetheart, the mother of two nearly adult daughters and three crazy dogs (two wheaten terriers and one mutant Havanese) who star on her Facebook Fan Page and website. Carly loves social media and is always around to interact with her readers. You can find out more about Carly at www.carlyphillips.com.
Erika Wilde
Erika Wilde is the author of the sexy Marriage Diaries series and The Players Club series. She lives in Oregon with her husband and two daughters, and when she’s not writing you can find her exploring the beautiful Pacific Northwest. For more information on her upcoming releases, please visit website at www.erikawilde.com.
Dirty Sexy Saint (Dirty Sexy #1) Page 20