by Leisa Rayven
He stares at me as he waits for my reaction, and it’s clear how nervous he is. I don’t know why, because surely he knows I thought he was brilliant before all of this. Now, I’m convinced he’s an actual genius.
I walk over and put my arms around his neck. “Max, this is ... unbelievable.”
He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me close. “So, you approve?”
I stretch up on my toes and kiss him gently, beyond grateful he found a way for us both to get what we want.
When I pull back, he lets out a shaky breath. “Okay ... I’m going to take that as a yes.” He slides his hand along my neck as he kisses me again, more intense this time. It’s so thrilling, it feels as if it’s the first time all over again, and in a way, it is. This is us with nothing to hide. No secrets, or agendas, or characters. Just the relentless need to be together.
“So, we’re alone here?” I ask as I push his jacket off his shoulders.
He tugs his tie free and throws it on the floor. “Totally alone.”
“Was this by design?”
“Maybe. This is a beautiful table. It would be a shame not to christen it and celebrate this new chapter in our lives.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
We both moan when he kisses me hard and lifts me to sit on the edge of the table. Then, he cups my cheek and kisses down my neck, and I lean back, pushing up to meet him.
“So,” I say, my voice tight as my body explodes with sensation. “Your official title will be, what? Mister Boss-Man? Big Daddy Romance?”
“I don’t really care, but feel free to call me sir any time.” He finds the tie of my wrap-dress and tugs at it. “The main thing is that the only woman I’ll be dating will be you.” He pulls open the dress and makes an animalistic noise as he stares at my body. “Dammit, you’re too gorgeous to be real.” He kisses down my neck, nipping and sucking as he goes.
“One more very important question,” I say, barely able to breathe as he kisses my breasts, then down to my stomach. “Will you have free and easy access to the costumes?”
He stops and looks up at me. “Do you have something particular in mind?”
I shrug. “Well, we could start with the Officer and a Gentleman uniform and work our way through the rack.”
“I knew I should have used that on one of our dates.”
I urge him to straighten up, then start on the buttons of his shirt. He watches me with barely restrained energy, like a panther waiting to pounce.
“Just out of interest,” he says. “Which of my characters was you favor –”
“Kieran.” I pull his shirt open and run my fingers over his broad chest, then trail down to the ridges of his abs. God, he feels amazing.
“Wait a second.” He grabs my hands and stops me. “Don’t you want think about that for more than half a second?”
“Okay.” I pause and pretend to think. “Kieran.”
He glares, and it’s sexy as hell. “You’re supposed to say that you found me sexiest when I was being myself. C’mon, Eden.”
“Oh. Well, sure. But the accent, Max. That freaking, goddamn sexy accent.”
His face darkens, and he advances on me until I’m scooting my butt back on the table. Then he’s climbing up, crawling after me with an expression that screams of all the things he’s about to do. I’m certain there could be spanking involved.
“Oh, yeh like the accent, do yeh, lass?”
“God, yes. Keep talking.”
He kneels between my legs and unbuckles his belt, and my gaze falls to where his long erection is straining the fabric of his suit pants. “Oh, I’ll keep talkin’ alright. Top ‘o the mornin’ to yeh, Miss Tate. Now, get yer feckin’ panties off.”
There’s a rush of activity as we get clothing off and out of the way, and when there’s only skin pressing against skin, we both groan in relief as he pushes into me.
He looks down at me in awe, and cradles my head as his hips connect with mine. He fills me so completely, I don’t want him to move.
“Max ... I love you.”
He leans his forehead against mine. “I love you, too.” His voice is soft. “God, Eden, how I love you.”
As he starts to thrust, slow and deep, all of a sudden, nothing else exists for me outside the circle of his arms. For so many years I thought I knew about pleasure. I thought it was defined by the empty, soulless encounters I engaged in after I’d had enough alcohol to dull my expectations. But this ... having a man who looks at me like I’m the reason the sun rises is a powerful reminder that I knew nothing, and I’m more than happy for Max to educate me as he slides home, time and again, proving without a doubt that pleasure with him is in a whole other universe compared with other men.
As a testament to that pleasure, the warehouse echoes with muttered curses and strained moans as we give the conference table the most mind-blowing christening possible. Twice.
In fact, we christen a lot of the new offices over the next several hours. Romance Central well and truly earns its name.
When our bodies are heavy and satisfied, and we’re wrapped in a rug on Max’s oversized leather couch, he leans down and kisses me, and I think it’s the sweetest, most loving kiss I’ve ever experienced. It tells me how happy he is. How grateful. And I kiss him back, doing my best to tell him I feel exactly the same way.
“Do you still think that happy endings are a myth?” he asks, running his fingertips up and down my arm.
I stroke his beautiful face, more content than I’ve ever been. “I may not believe in happy endings, but happy beginnings are another story.”
He smiles, and as we adjust to a more comfortable position, I snuggle into his chest and close my eyes.
Even though I teased him about finding Kieran the most attractive, the truth is, I fell in love with every single one of his characters, because they were all different versions of him. Each was sexy, and sweet, and intelligent as hell. Each mesmerized and aroused me. But the real Max, the man he is every day, when no one but me is looking, is my one true love. He took a distrustful cynic and turned her into a woman who totally believes in the healing power of love. He opened my eyes to the reality that a kind touch and loving glance can make people feel more special than all the money in the world. And even if he never goes near another costume for the rest of his life, I’ll always think of him as a superhero and a rock star, all wrapped up in one.
But perhaps his most impressive achievement is helping me to finally understand that romance rules, and anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is fooling themselves.
The greatest thing you’ll ever learn
Is just to love
And be loved in return.
NAT KING COLE
ALSO BY LEISA RAYVEN
THE STARCROSSED SERIES
BAD ROMEO
BROKEN JULIET
WICKED HEART
BAD ROMEO CHRISTMAS
Coming in September 2017
Book 2 in the Masters of Love series
PROFESSOR FEELGOOD
For more information, please visit
WWW.LEISARAYVEN.COM
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Whenever I finish a book, I feel a strange sense of loss, and that’s especially true with this one. I’ve had Max and Eden’s story rolling around in my brain for a while now, and for the four months that I’ve been writing it, I’ve lived them, breathed them, and thought about their journey for most of my waking hours, especially in the shower. (This is an author thing. Don’t ask me why, but we all do it.)
So, now that I’ve typed ‘the end’ on their story, I feel like I’m saying goodbye to close friends; ones I won’t get to spend time with in quite the same way ever again. However, whatever sadness I feel is lightened by the knowledge that I’m only saying goodbye so I can send them to you, and I have no doubt you’ll take good care of them.
I couldn’t have completed this journey without some truly spectacular people in my life.
Firstly, my age
nt Christina, who is always incredibly supportive and lends me her brilliance whenever I need it – I’ll never forget that time one of your editorial notes was just a shouty-caps expletive with several exclamation marks after it. That will forever make me smile. I’m so grateful you and the whole team at the Jane Rotrosen Agency always have my back.
To my rock of a husband, who holds everything together when I’m late on a deadline and falling apart – Jason, I couldn’t do any of this without you. Thank you for listening to my frantic brainstorming, for reading the same scenes over and over again and convincing me they’re not trash, and for constantly telling me how proud you are, even when I’m cranky and stressed and absolutely don’t deserve it. You’re the best person I’ve ever known, and if our sons grow up to be half the man you are, I’ll be the proudest mum ever.
To my amazing editor, Caryn – Catty-Wan, you complete me. I can always rely on you to hold my hand and kick my ass in equal measure, as well as leave hilarious notes in the margins about all the support groups I need to join for grammar abuse. Thank you for being the yin to my yang.
To my best friend, Andrea, who always reads the first draft of everything I write, and is so damn enthusiastic and supportive she gives me the energy to slog through the second, third, and fourth drafts. You’re my sunshine, sweetie, and the sister I choose for myself. I love you.
To my PR Goddess, the gorgeous Nina Bocci – lady, you are a freaking rock star. Thank you for forcing me and my books onto people. Working with you is always a total pleasure, and not just because you have an awesome rack. You’re also pretty. And kickass.
To Regina Wamba, who brought Max to life with her gorgeous cover design – you’re a true artist, lovely lady. Thank you for your talent.
To my wonderful proofreaders, Celine and Anne – you guys save my life when I can’t stand to look at my own words anymore to root out the inevitable typos. Thank you so much for your time and eagle eyes.
To all my beautiful Babes in Romeo’s Dressing Room – *waves* Hi, lovelies! Thank you so much for enabling my craziness and brightening my life. I adore all of you.
To all of the unbelievably supportive bloggers and readers who go above-and-beyond to promote authors they love – you guys are the bedrock of the whole industry. Without you, authors would just be crazy people acting out scenes in their showers and writing books no one will ever read.
Finally, I’d like to say something to all the romantics out there; those of you who spend your lives dreaming and living out thousands of lives through books; those who find wonder in the mundane and magic in the everyday – to you I say thank you. Thank you for your passion and imagination, and most of all, thank you for your love. You’re more precious than you’ll ever know, and the world is a better place for having you in it.
Much love to you all,
Leisa x