Copyright © 2014 by E.M. Abel
All rights reserved.
Cover Designer: Angela Fields,
i love it design studio
Editor and Interior Designer: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing,
www.unforeseenediting.com
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except
for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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To my sisters,
No matter what life has thrown your way
You’ve always persevered
And never lost hope.
Your strength inspires me every day.
I love you.
Please, God, no. This can’t be happening. What did I do to deserve this? He’s cute. Look at him. He’s got nice hair and pretty eyes, and he even has a sexy body. So, please tell me, why? Why is he pounding into me like a fucking jackrabbit on speed? Why?
I slowly peeled my eyes open to look back up at the man hovering above me. His eyes were squeezed shut, and his face was sweaty. His arms were flexed and pulled so tight that it almost looked painful. And he was slamming himself into me as if the harder and faster he went, the better.
So. Not. True.
Didn’t anyone teach him the value of foreplay?
He had to be at least twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, so there was no excuse. If he didn’t seem like such a nice person, I would just push him off me and leave as fast as my feet could take me, but now, I felt obligated to at least let him finish. By the looks of things, it wouldn’t take long.
This was all
his
fault. I didn’t know his name, but his crystal green eyes, perfectly bowed lips, and rumbling low voice were branded into my brain. He was burned there.
“You’re not wearing panties,” a raspy, deep voice whispered into my ear.
I was sitting at the small makeshift bar in the gallery, sipping my glass of wine. My back straightened, and my breath hitched as my cheeks grew warm. I narrowed my eyes and turned to face the man next to me.
I first noticed his piercing green eyes. I’d never seen anything like them. They were the lightest green and surrounded by the darkest black eyelashes. As those eyes stared directly into mine, I felt so exposed that I moved my elbow off the bar to drape my arm across my lap. It wasn’t much, but it made me feel less vulnerable, less open.
Those eyes were slightly narrowed because of the smug grin playing on his rosy pink lips. His bottom lip was glistening like he had just licked it. I could barely make out one small dimple on his left cheek. My heart was racing. I didn’t know how this man’s presence had engulfed me, but I was surrounded. He obviously didn’t have a shy bone in his body, and it was clear he would say whatever he felt like saying, whenever he felt like saying it.
“Excuse me?” I asked, being sure to sound agitated.
He leaned toward me, and this time, I could smell him. He smelled like the ocean.
“I said, you’re not wearing any panties,” he whispered again.
My hair moved with his breath, and the strands tickled my ear.
Tilting away from him, I twisted my neck, so I could look at him while putting distance between us. “And you felt the need to tell me this…why? You do realize that I’m aware of what I have on, right?”
His lips curled into a full smile, and my hand tightened around my wine glass.
Holy crap!
He was gorgeous before, but when he smiled…
oh my God
. I caught myself staring at his mouth, and then he tilted his chin down and looked at his feet as he chuckled. His laughter sounded incredibly sexy. When he peered up at me through those thick lashes, my heart thumped even faster.
“Yes, I just wanted you to know that I’m aware of what you have on and what you don’t have on.”
No matter how much I wanted him, there was no way I would sleep with this man.
No way.
From the instant I’d heard his voice, I’d known he was in control. He knew what he was doing, and I would not get caught up in that.
“Well, it’s been noted, but I’m not interested.” I turned away on the stool, so my back was to him, and I took a sip of my merlot.
That was when I felt the front of his shirt against my back. His heat was seeping through the fabric, and it sank right into my core. My back straightened as my nipples instantly hardened, and I sucked in a deep breath.
“Too bad. I was really looking forward to lifting that red dress up around your hips and testing how wet I could get you before you begged me to fuck you,” he murmured beside my ear.
Then, he walked right past me, the shoulder of his suit jacket grazing my back as he went. I watched while he approached the artist, but then I swiftly turned back around, resting my elbows on the bar again, as I tried to control my breathing.
That man’s aura was spellbinding, intoxicating, and completely dangerous.