The Claiming of Sadie Graves

by Angela Price

  I climax again, from the wetness and friction, and it just comes out. I truly have no filter. Why can’t I just be quiet?

  “Oh, Lucas. I love you.” It’s a whisper, but he hears me.

  His eyes fly open wide and he grabs my hips with a possessive grip, leaning down to touch his chest to my back. He says my name with a sigh. “Sadie.” He gasps out “I. Love.” And the last word, “you”, is a cry of orgasm.

  I don’t leave Lucas’ bed for two days.

  And I only do then because we have a lingerie line to produce. I mean, c’mon. I have to make other people’s sexual dreams come true.

  But only after I figure out what they are. And that means research.

  Lots of research.

  Epilogue

  “Take a Picture”

  Filter, Title of Record

  Sometime between New Year’s Eve and January second, Dusty Kennon breaks into my apartment.

  Again.

  That night I came home from the ‘Secret Society of Sex’ party to an open door? He had been inside. I just didn't realize it at the time, and of course now I’m glad I didn’t because I might have had what my mom calls a ‘come-apart’.

  I don’t know how he found me, but he did.

  This time, in true form, he leaves me something to remember him by.

  That’s so Dusty.

  It is.

  Liner Notes

  If you’re a woman of any years, you’ll know what that means. (smiles)

  My most precious sensory ability is my hearing. Conversations, music, my mother’s voice: these are all invaluable to me. So, I added a song to every chapter of this book, and I’ll do the same to the next. I hope you listen, only because I thought long and hard about the magical ability of music to expand on the story line. If you play each song along with the chapter, as you read, you’ll see where I’m headed. They’re meant to go together, these two things.

  Honest confession:

  The first time I fell in love, I wasn’t confident or articulate enough to tell that person that he was important to me; that, at that time, he meant everything. I lost spectacularly in that moment, only to be redeemed in a real love later. I didn’t want my heroine to be so standoffish. I wanted her to take risks, even in shyness.

  I hope you’re taking calculated risks, too.

  Because that’s there the reward is, you know.

  Angela