“Emma, I’m never letting you go again,” he whispered into her ear, the red strands of her hair tickling his nose. “I hope you’re ready for that.”
She lifted her head to look at him, hazel eyes bright, shining with satisfaction and adoration. He didn’t want to run from it anymore.
“I’m ready,” she said with a grin. “I just hope you are.”
Epilogue
Six months later
The bride was one of the most beautiful Emma had ever seen, and the groom looked dashing—and very big—in his tuxedo. Their love was so evident and so strong that there wasn’t a dry eye in the house as they said their vows and sealed their union with a kiss that was so long and passionate it drew whoops and whistles from the audience. Savannah was the one who finally broke it, laughing and blushing, the picture of beauty and happiness, while Mike went after her neck as if he planned to eat her up right there at the altar. Cameras snapped all over the place, and Emma thought those were going to be some adorable photos to cherish for years to come.
She’d been so surprised and flattered to be asked to stand with the wedding party as a bridesmaid, especially since the couple had opted for a more intimate ceremony with only family and very close friends. Rowan and Emma were the only two on Savannah’s side, with Damien and Zane on Mike’s. Across the aisle, Emma caught Damien’s eye and smiled. He was equally as gorgeous in a suit as he was in jeans or track pants, but good God, he was edible in a tuxedo.
Emma proudly took his arm for him to lead her back up the aisle once Mr. and Mrs. Michael Larson were presented to the jubilant audience. Damien pinched Emma’s ass on the way, laughing as she squeaked. She would be lucky if he didn’t do the same thing at their own wedding.
“Oh my God, dude, save it,” Zane said, who along with a beaming Rowan was just behind them. Damien tossed a grin over his shoulder at his brother. Everyone was so focused on the happy newlyweds that no one was paying attention to them.
At the reception, Emma was lucky enough to get to dance with all three of the Larson brothers, teasing Damien when it was his turn that it was too bad she hadn’t met the others before him. He grinned, leaned his mouth down to her ear and said, “I’m going to spank your ass cherry-red for that.”
Of course he was. That had been the point of saying it.
“Mmm. Can we go now?” The heat in his eyes threatened to incinerate her where she should, and his arms tightened possessively around her.
But she knew there wouldn’t be time for that even when they left, because they had other plans.
Airport. Plane ride. Vegas lights. She wasn’t sure how she was going to make it several hours before she could be alone with him.
But once they got there, she would have him all to herself. For days. No poker tournaments, and more important, nothing between them but a love so fierce and strong that it scared her.
They saw Mike and Savannah off with hugs and well wishes, then took Damien’s new Bentley directly to the airport. Emma had already dropped her own Bentley off with her parents. Her dad had thanked Damien profusely for his stock tips, which were steadily growing the IRA he’d set up for them. Benjamin was never, ever getting his hands on it. Damien’s cold, shaking fury when she’d told him what her brother had said to her had sealed the deal. He was likely to rip Ben’s head off if he ever saw him again.
So Emma hadn’t spoken to her brother since that conversation, but she’d tearfully come clean to her parents about everything that had been going on, and what he’d said to her when it all fell through. They were horrified, and had finally agreed with her to stop helping him. After they put their foot down with him, she didn’t think he’d spoken to them either.
It hurt to lose someone she’d grown up with. But he had been becoming a stranger to her for a long time, and she was far better off to cut those ties.
She’d known telling her parents about Damien had run the risk of them shunning him for putting her in that situation, but it had been important. And his devilish charm had worked even on them.
Emma watched Las Vegas rise up to welcome them again as the plane descended, Damien’s hand on her thigh a promise of things to come. In the limo, she straddled him, his fingertips biting into her hips as she kissed him feverishly, but he wouldn’t touch her, he said, until he could touch all of her. She would be a pile of ash before that happened. Even in the elevator on the way to their suite, all he would do was kiss her, not put his hands on any of the aching, needy places on her body that wanted him so badly.
Once the door closed behind them, though, all bets were off.
And so were her clothes, so fast she almost didn’t realize it.
“You know what you get for teasing me, don’t you,” he growled in her ear, lifting her naked against him and carrying her through the bedroom door.
Oh God, she did. For teasing him she was kept on the edge until it nearly drove her mad. He could do it for hours. Sometimes she thought he wasn’t ever going to let her come. Sometimes she cursed him and cried, and when she threatened to do it herself, he tied her up spread-eagle so she was open and aching with no way to touch herself, not even by rubbing her thighs together.
She whimpered his name, dizzy with need in the darkness, the only light in the room coming from the skyline outside. When he dumped her on the bed, she scrambled to unbuckle his belt and he let her, his breathing heavy as he watched her frantic, fumbling hands. His groan rent the air when his cock finally sprang into her grip, but he didn’t give her time to lick him like she wanted. He shoved her back, pushing her knees to her ears.
“I hope you’re fucking wet,” he rasped in her ear.
“I’ve been wet since the reception,” she told him. “Please, please . . .”
Holding her wrists down, he sank into her, both of them moaning in mutual bliss, her body never having quite become accustomed to the stretch of him. It curled her toes, made her pant, made every muscle in her body jump and shake. So, so good, and when she’d taken all of him and their hips met, he kissed her to calm the lust raging in her veins. They had a long night ahead; if she was losing her mind already, she wouldn’t survive. But his slow, wet kisses and the way his thrusting tongue mirrored his thrusting cock weren’t very conducive to her maintaining her sanity, either.
“Oh God, Damien,” she gasped, the thick slide of him consuming her. He made her feel every electric inch, in and out, while she clenched helplessly around him.
“Already, doll?” he asked, darkly sardonic as her pussy gripped him. He knew what he did to her; did he always have to point it out? “I love you so much,” he added, and was immediately forgiven.
“I love you more.”
“Never.”
Tonight he was more merciful than usual, and she was glad for it, having spent a long plane ride dreaming about him. Still she was coated in a fine sheen of sweat and so ravaged by the throes of her long-delayed climax that she shook uncontrollably in his arms after, while he soothed her and brought her slowly back down to earth.
“Tell me it will always be like this,” she said, snuggling into his warm, hard body, holding him tight.
“For the rest of our lives,” he murmured, smoothing the hair back from her forehead.
Emma looked deep into his eyes, where he no longer hid anything from her, and knew it was the truth.
About the Author
Author photograph by Rachel Campbell
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cherrie Lynn has been a CPS caseworker and a juvenile probation officer, but now she writes contemporary and paranormal romance on the steamy side. She’s also an unabashed rock music enthusiast, and she is fond of hitting the road with her husband to catch their favorite bands live. Cherrie lives in East Texas. She is the author of the Larson Brothers series, which includes Raw Deal and Raw Need.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Cherrie Lynn
Copyright Page
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
RAW HEAT. Copyright © 2017 by Cherrie Lynn. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover photograph: guy © Jasminko Ibrakovic/Shutterstock.com
ISBN 978-1-250-12638-2 (ebook)
First Edition: September 2017
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Cherrie Lynn, Raw Heat
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