The Winner Takes It All (Love in L.A. Book 3) (20 page)
As they continued to taste and explore each other’s mouths, they began to pull at each other’s clothes, fumbling with buttons and zippers until they were finally standing naked in front of each other. Gabe gazed down at her with lust-filled eyes, drinking in the sight of her naked body which was quivering with her need for him.
“I have something to ask you, Annie,” he said as he reached down to fumble in the pocket of his jeans. As she glanced down, expecting to see him opening a condom, instead what she saw made her gasp out loud. Gabe was holding a beautiful diamond engagement ring. He then got carefully down on his knee and reached out for her hand. Tears ran streaming down her face as he began to speak again, his voice cracking a little.
“Annie Chang, I lost you once, and it was the biggest mistake of my life. I love you more than anyone or anything in this world, and I want to spend the rest of my life by your side. I already own a house here, and it’s not a problem for me to make Las Vegas my home base. I want to have children, but I know your career comes first right now, so I’m willing to wait until you’re ready for that. We have plenty of time for starting a family anyway, but what is most important to me is that I never lose you again. Please say you’ll make me the happiest man alive by saying yes. Will you marry me?”
A few tears leaked from Gabe’s eyes as he scanned her face for her answer to the biggest question he’d ever asked anyone in his life. Annie couldn’t believe that this was finally happening. It wasn’t what she had expected at all. It was better.
“Yes,” Annie said finally once she could speak again. “Yes, of course, I’ll marry you.”
A huge smile threatened to crack Gabe’s face in two as she consented to marry him. He quickly slid the ring on her finger, then kissed her hand before getting to his feet again. Before she knew what was happening next, Annie was being lifted and carried to the canopied bed.
Then Gabe’s head was between her legs and his tongue was licking the folds of her pussy, making her gasp from the sensations. He lavished love and affection upon her until her toes curled and she groaned with the pleasure that he brought. When he finally moved to cover her body with his and positioned himself to thrust into her for the first time in over a year, Annie was more than ready for him.
He pushed slowly into her, making her gasp as her tight pussy stretched around his large, swollen shaft. And the piercings! How could she have forgotten how amazing those little balls of metal could make her feel? As her gorgeous, attentive lover and new fiancé pumped in and out of her, Annie moaned with delight, ecstatic that she would get to continue having the best sex of her life until they were old and grey. They moved together in perfect unison, pushing each other closer and closer to the brink. Then Gabe tensed, groaning her name and whispering “I love you” in her ear as he came. His orgasm triggered hers, and a tear trickled down her cheek as she came, her hands clutching his arms as she looked up into his eyes that were so full of love for her.
In the aftermath of their lovemaking, Annie cuddled close to Gabe. Her life was complete, and her heart was full. She had finally learned how to put herself first, and success had quickly followed. Now she was back together with the love of her life, and everything was as close to perfect as it could get. She had everything she could possibly want and more. Not only had Annie won
The Next American Superstar
, she had won the man of her dreams.
I wouldn’t be where I am today, self-publishing my third book, without the help of some pretty fabulous people.
To Kimberly Knight, I know I’ve thanked you many times before for introducing me to self-publishing and helping me get started in this crazy business, but I really wouldn’t be here without you. Thank you for remaining my friend for so many years. I’m thankful I get to share this amazing journey with you. Now I need to go back to Burke Williams ASAP as I don’t think I can feel my ass anymore after sitting here for so long without moving, trying to finish this book!
To Christopher Neil, my talented cover artist and friend, thank you for creating another beautiful cover for me. Your work ethic and creativity always astound me. I look forward to creating many more original covers with you.
To Angela Cook McLaurin of Fictional Formats, thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me an extension and still making magic happen by my deadline. It has been a pleasure working with you on this entire series. I will always sing your praises.
To my girls at More Words PR, thank you so much for all your hard work setting up my blog tour! I look forward to working with you again in the future. Both of you ladies are incredible, and I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done for me.
To Joey Luckay, my roommate and friend, thank you for being there for me and helping me on a path to a better, healthier me. Thank you for pushing me to write when I needed to finish this book! And I’m sorry I’ve been so busy with the day job and with trying to get this puppy published in time. I promise we’ll get to hang out more soon!
To Ellie McLove of Love N. Books and JL Brooks, thank you for taking a chance on this little indie author and letting her sign at the Love N. Vegas signing this year! I am indebted to you both. Thank you for planning what I am sure is to be a fabulous event that I’ve been looking forward to ever since I heard about it.
To my street team, The HarteBreakers, thank you for your loyalty and all your pimpage, even if I haven’t been able to be as active in our group as I had hoped. I am always grateful for the time you donate to helping me spread the word about my books.
To all the many authors I have had the pleasure of meeting and becoming friends with, whether we’ve gotten the chance to meet face to face in person yet or not, thank you for your friendship and thank you for inspiring me to keep writing. We share a common love for literature… and Fireball whisky, it seems! :) Keep being awesome and never lose sight of the fact that we are all in this together. I am always here for you, my lovely, talented book friends.
Audrey Harte was born and raised on the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii until she and her family moved to Nebraska where she attended junior high, high school and college. During her time in Nebraska, she pursued her love of the arts, acting and singing in several local theater productions as well as writing poems, plays and musicals in her spare time.
In 1998, she moved to Los Angeles, California, where she has lived ever since. Her main interests are reading (primarily romance, erotica and fantasy, although she has been known to read the occasional thriller), writing (obviously), karaoke, finger crocheting blankets and hangers for friends and family (she doesn’t use a hook), watching her favorite TV shows (doesn’t have time to watch as many as she used to these days) and hanging out with friends. She is a serious reality TV show addict. Really, she may need an intervention at some point. Before writing started consuming all of her time, she used to play
World of Warcraft
with Kimberly Knight, who is one of her best friends.
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Thank you for taking the time to read
The Winner Takes it All,
the conclusion to my Love in L.A. series. I hope Annie now holds a special place in your heart just as she holds a special place in mine.
Please take a moment to leave a review on the website of purchase and on Goodreads. Reviews help other readers decide whether to try a book, so they are invaluable to authors.
I’m excited to finish writing
Say Anything
, the first book in my crossover series, Love in N.Y.C.
Say Anything
, which is about Erin, a character introduced in
The Winner Takes it All
, is currently scheduled to be released in late January 2015.
Keep an eye on my Facebook fan page for more news on upcoming books, and you can always check the Events tab on my website to see what book signings I will be at. I love to meet my fans, so please don’t be shy. Come say hi to me at any signing! I look forward to meeting you.
Some of these songs are specifically mentioned in the book, and some are just songs that inspired certain parts of the book. My playlist is available on Spotify. I hope you enjoy!
http://bit.ly/WinnerTakesItAllSoundtrack
Impossible
by Shontelle
You Make Me Wanna
by Usher
Love Song
by 311
The Home We Made Pt 2
by Crywolf
Beautiful Things (Gabriel and Dresden Mix)
by Andain
Sweet Nothing (Diplo Mix)
by Calvin Harris, featuring Florence Welch
Georgia
by Ray Charles
Fuckin’ Perfect
by P!nk