Temptation, The Complete Serial Series 1-4 (The Temptation Serial Series) (24 page)

Sigh.

He crossed the room and enveloped me in a hug. “You look beautiful, B.”

“And you look delicious.”

A wicked gleam shone in his eyes when he raised up. “You hungry, babe?”

“Starved.”

I couldn’t breathe. “You really didn’t think I’d come see your artwork in a gallery?”

Shaking my head, I followed his eyes as he looked behind him. Willy stepped out from behind him, also in a suit. It was the most clothing I’d ever seen the man wear and though he looked good, I preferred him shirtless, barefooted, and in jean shorts.

Willy’s hug and sweet words made me cry. I chatted with them and drank a glass of champagne until Morgan pecked me on the shoulder.

“You are not going to believe this!” She was squealing. This had to be good. “All of your paintings sold.” She took a deep breath and continued, “And all of the portraits are sold. The gallery has already asked me to produce an exhibit for the spring!”

I squealed with her and we jumped like little girls, holding hands and spinning around.

Laughter came from those around us.

Colt nodded toward the door with a sly grin. I nodded back. “Hey, Morg. I’m going to head out with them.”

She hugged me tightly. “Love you, Brooklyn.”

“Love you, Sin.”

“When will you come back to visit?”

I promised her I would be back soon and told Shane to take care of her. Okay, so I threatened him a little. He was used to it.

Colt and I walked out of the gallery hand in hand. C on my left and Willy on my right. All was right in the world.

***

“You coming, babe?”

“God, yes!” I screamed.

He pumped into me from behind, pulling my hair and biting my neck. And I came. Hard. The man was insatiable, and so was I. We were happy.

***

We’d just finished lugging all of the crap from my condo to his and collapsed onto his enormous California King bed. I loved those, by the way.

“So what’s the story about Chrissy or Christy or Christine or whomever Dalton let the cat out of the bag on, Colt?”

He sighed. I’d told him everything about me—EVERYTHING—so it was his turn. “I dated her when I first started with the department. We were hot and heavy and things happened so fast, I thought I loved her. She didn’t feel the same. Started going out with my partner behind my back. They tried to keep quiet about it, keep it low key, but word got back to me. I broke it off, obviously, but it was hard seeing her with him everywhere.”

“I get that, but I’m glad.”

He clutched his chest, acting all hurt. “You’re glad she shattered my heart?”

I knew she really did, so treading lightly was the way to go, right? Meh. Lightly was for losers. “I get to pick up the pieces.”

His husky laugh against my ear had me clenching my thighs. “What piece is your favorite?”

“Lay back and let me show you.”

He growled, kissed me, and laid back like I told him. I took my sweet time torturing him, making sure he knew that every inch of him was mine. He may have been an alpha male, but I was an alpha female and I was marking my damn territory and erasing that bitch from his memory.

“I love you, B.”

Looking up at him, I smiled. “Love you more.”

He shook his head. “Not possible.”

I pulled my hair at the root. “Why won’t you let me send her the letters?”

My attorney, a smug-looking asshole, sprawled in the chair across from me. “The judge said no, my friend.”

“I am not your friend.”

“And Brooklyn Harris is not your girlfriend.” He snapped his briefcase shut and threw the letters back at me, scattering them all over the floor. I would have snapped his neck if it weren’t for the handcuffs and the giant guard hovering over me.

“I’ll let you know when they set a trial date,” he said, throwing a smirk back toward me. I hated him. My chest stung, a hollow void where Brooklyn shot me. I wondered if she would ever be able to fill it.

No, I told myself, she just needed time. She was stressed. Colt Stone had confused her. She was still mine.

The guard hauled me upright and shoved me out of the small room.

Acknowledgements

A huge thanks to my hubby and our girls. Not only do they put up with my obsession with writing, they support me along the way and I couldn’t be more grateful for them. I’m blessed beyond belief. God is so very good to me.

A huge hug to my Mom and Dad whose love story is better than anything I’ve written or read.

Thanks to my beta-fabulous ladies: Wendy Martin, Cristie Alleman, Marnie Warren, Brenda Kness, Rachael Brownell and Jessica Watts. Your support and insight is so amazing to me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Thanks to Stacy Sanford for her amazing editing super-power and Allyson Gottlieb for the superb formatting of both the paperback and e-books of this series! You ladies blow my mind.

Hugs to everyone involved with Utopia Con, thank you for showing me what friendship and the mantra, “Lift as you climb,” truly means.

Love to everyone who voted for Sin in the Utopia Awards (2015) for Best Serial Series…you freaking rock! Thank you so much!

Finally, a huge thanks to the amazing people to take time out of their busy lives to read what I write: I can’t tell you how much it means to me. It’s overwhelming and I’m truly humbled by your support and love. Thank you for adopting my characters and making the boys in my books your own! LOL! Enjoy Officer Stone! This one’s for you.

About the Author

Casey L. Bond can be found on social media on virtually every site, but here are a couple:

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