Bad Boys Under the Mistletoe: A Begging for Bad Boys Collection Read online

  “N-no. Don’t stop.”

  I keep my thumb on her mound as I sink into her. Her pussy clenches tight around me, dragging me deeper into her. I unleash everything I’ve got and she shakes, crying out my name as she comes. If only she knew the effect she has on me by uttering my name from her pouty lips.

  I pull out of her, and she finds some hidden reserve of energy. Lily sits up, rotates her body so her legs are on the pillow, and floats forward to my groin. I could stop her, but her eyes look at my dick with reverence. She removes the condom effortlessly. After a momentary assessment, she licks her lips, opens her mouth, and takes my cock head deep into her throat.

  “Fuck,” I hiss.

  My eyes close on their own, and my head falls back. She alternates licking and sucking, cupping my balls, massaging and teasing them against my body. Pleasure bunches in me. I won’t last long now, not after being inside of her. Gripping Lily’s hair, I drive into her mouth for several more pumps. I can’t ignore what we do to each other. As I look down to gaze upon her, she tightens her hand around my balls, increasing the pressure to the point where I can’t hold back. I cum hard into her mouth, groaning as she greedily swallows it all down.

  I release her head and pull her into bed beside me. She relaxes for a few minutes, but soon, we’re back to where we were again.

  Chapter 8

  Lily

  “You’re not leaving again.” Nick climbs off the bed and stops me from getting dressed. “I’ll get you a robe. Feel like a drink?”

  I plant my feet on the floor and reach to pick up my shirt. He folds his arms across his chest, daring me to defy him. I think about arguing, about doing the same thing I did the last two times. Fuck and run. It’s simple.

  So why don’t I leave this time?

  “Fine,” I grumble.

  “That’s better… makes it easier.”

  “Makes what easier?”

  “Letting you suck me dry, again.”

  I pull at my hair. That’s on me.

  He leaves for the kitchen section of his suite, and on his return with a bottle of wine and an opener, he plunks down on the bed next to me. “How crazy would it sound if I told you I don’t believe we’re not really competitors for Tapped?

  Anger starts to flit across her face. “This again?”

  “Will you relax and listen for a second? Or do I have to have this conversation while I’m fucking your brains out? It can be arranged, just so you know.”

  “Go ahead.”

  He turns to look at me, working at the label on the bottle while he talks.

  “We should work together.”

  I sputter. My attempt at talking turning into a laugh. “Us?”

  He nods.

  I study Nick for a moment, trying to figure out if he’s being straight with me or not. “You and I?”

  “Yes.”

  I let out a breath. “Look, we’ve had a lot of fun today, but this wasn’t supposed to go beyond the first time at my front door. Whatever you’re thinking about from a project perspective, well, it’s already a bad idea…mostly because we don’t exactly get along.”

  “Yes, especially as you’re quick to judge and slow to listen.”

  I square my shoulders. “And you’re an arrogant ass who expects the world to just be handed to him! In fact, you had such a good time with me that you’re just trying to figure out a way to take me with you, like some trinket you’d pick up at the souvenir shop.”

  His nostrils flare. I’ve hit a sore spot. “I have my flaws. Maybe they include wanting to get to know you better, and possibly showing you a few things.”

  I grind my teeth and look away.

  “You act like you want to matter, but the truth is you’ve been selling yourself short since you left each of the big four consulting firms.”

  “Okay. Fine. We both have flaws.” I let my eyes slip back to his. “But what are you proposing, exactly?”

  “This.” He pops the champagne. White froth bursts from its lip, overflowing and headed for the carpet. Snatching up a wine glass from the counter, he catches the sweet bubbly liquid just in time. “Let’s put our meetings with Tapped on hold and design something together.”

  My brows knit together. “I don’t know.”

  It sounds too good to be true. Working with a top seed company like Nick’s can position me for bigger, better projects later on. Still, there are just too many questions.

  He fills up two cups and brings them back to the bed. “What do you need to know to be as decisive as when you invited me back to your room earlier?”

  “Please tell me you’re not seriously comparing sleeping with you one time with working with you for as long as a year. Are you?”

  “How is it any different from what you were expecting from Tapped today?”

  I slowly take the cup offered to me. “Us. Our dynamic. I mean, how are we supposed to get past it?”

  Nick takes a drink of champagne. “More touching and less talking.”

  I groan. “I’m being serious.”

  “So am I. You won’t work directly with me. I’m more hands-on in business development. Which is why you can help on the software development side.”

  “I think I get it, but honestly, it already sounds complicated.”

  “What part?”

  “Working for you by day and letting you rule me at night.”

  He grins. “We have a connection. A synergy.”

  I gnaw on my bottom lip. “True…in the bedroom. Tell me precisely why you believe that my working for you, benefits you at all. And I’m talking about your company.”

  Nick is quiet for a minute. Either he’s thinking really hard or he has no answer and is about to retract his offer altogether. I really hope it’s not the latter. “Easy,” he finally says. “You have fresh ideas and experience with project management in traditional firms. I have insider experience.”

  I take a drink of champagne. Can partnering with him actually work? Business and pleasure together? It sounds messy.

  “Can I think about it? Say, over the holidays. But I’ll let you know right after New Years. You won’t have to wonder about my decision for too long.”

  He smiles. “Definitely. If you’d like, I’ll fly you out to our offices to meet some of my team before you decide.”

  “We’re going to have to keep things professional between us.”

  He shakes his head. “Not gonna happen.”

  Does this guy ever listen to reason? “You’re offering me a position that’s conditional on my sleeping with you.”

  Nick laughs. “No. I’m offering you a private contractor agreement, first of all. You’ll work for yourself, not as my employee. And yes, I’ll work hard to keep you…with perks I can only give you from my bed.”

  I tap my finger against my cup and think about it some more. It’s bound to fail. Never mind that he has made a memorable impression on my womb.

  My mouth twists. “Is Tapped your end game at all?”

  He nods. “That’s the question I was waiting for.”

  “Okay, is it, or isn’t it? All this roundabout cryptic-speak is making me dizzy.”

  “Here’s what I suggest. Fly back with me. Meet my team. We’ll flesh out the details after Christmas. You can decide then.”

  The offer sounds good. Excellent.

  Now I’m really excited. “You think we can do it? Get Tapped?”

  Nick raises his cup. “They’re the tip of the iceberg but yes.”

  I knock my plastic cup against his. “Deal. I’ll come check it out.”

  His grin lifts. “And here I thought you’d need to sleep on it.”

  “Sleep on a non-decision?” I slide up his leg and let it come to rest on his cock. “I thought you’d much prefer for me to sleep on this.”

  He’s on me again, dragging me down into the perfect push and pull, pleasure and pain mess that’s the two of us.

  Hard Candy

  Vivian Wood

  Chapter 1r />
  Shelby River most definitely was not pouting.

  Or at least that was what she had kept telling herself during her long, lonely car ride up to Tennessee. Shelby was simply taking some much-needed time to reconnect with herself, not hiding away in the mountains to avoid the River and Roman families.

  Shelby gave a resigned sigh as she parked outside the rustic cabin that was meant to be her private winter retreat, but had started to feel more and more like a safe house the farther away she got from Catahoula Creek.

  Okay, so maybe she hadn’t anticipated spending Christmas alone this year, but she didn’t see what other viable alternative there was for her. Not when the impromptu holiday trip to Cancun that Remy had talked everyone into going on meant Shelby being the only sad, single person amongst all the happy couples.

  “Stupid Walker,” Shelby grumbled to herself as she climbed out of her car. She may have slammed the door shut behind her a little harder than was absolutely necessary.

  Shelby sighed defeatedly again as she walked around to the back of her car and popped the trunk so she could unload it.

  She knew it wasn’t fair for her to be angry at Walker for going and getting himself hitched, but she couldn’t help it. He and Shelby had been the only two people left unattached amongst their two families. Though they had never acted upon anything with each other, somewhere in the back of Shelby’s mind she had always expected that they would eventually end up together one day.

  What she hadn’t counted on was for Walker to go and fall fast and hard in love with another woman. Before Shelby even realized what was happening, it was already too late. Walker was already too far gone.

  Not that I’m not happy for them, Shelby reasoned to herself as she hauled out all her groceries with one hand and her suitcase with the other. She closed the trunk awkwardly with her elbow before turning to make her way toward the cabin.

  It was true; seeing Walker dote over his new bride made Shelby smile, even if she sort of also felt like crying at the same time. She had never held any real claim over the middle Roman brother, but the loss of what could have been—given different circumstances—bummed Shelby out a little.

  Shelby unlocked the double-paned glass front door to the cabin, making sure to stomp her feet to knock off all the snow that clung to her boots before entering. She shivered from the frosty chill of the mountain air that stole in behind her before she could get the door shut again, her southern blood quick to resent the cold.

  But as she turned back around and really got to survey her hideaway for the first time, all her dislike for the climate instantly vanished when she got an eyeful of the breathtaking view of the Smoky Mountains that the large bay windows in the living room boasted. The beautiful scenery had been the main reason she’d chosen to sequester herself all the way out here in Tennessee, after all.

  Well, that, and the fact that her personal idol, Dolly Parton, had a lot to say about how getting away from the rest of the world for a little while had the power to soothe all things.

  Even heartache.

  Shelby dumped her suitcase on the couch before carrying her groceries over to the state-of-the-art kitchen off to the left of the living room, wanting to get them put away first before unpacking the rest of her stuff. Shelby had stopped at the grocery store on the way through Murfreesboro, and she hadn’t denied herself a single thing. Salty, sweet, and everything in between found a place in her shopping cart.

  Though the pickins had been pretty slim by the time she’d gotten there.

  When she had finally reached the limit of her ability to suppress her curiosity about the numerous barren shelves in the store, Shelby had approached an employee to find out what the hell was going on.

  Apparently there was a snowstorm looming in from the west and the townspeople had learned from past experiences to stock up on food goods while they could.

  So Shelby followed suit, buying enough food and other necessities to last her the entire duration of her ten-day-long vacation, and then some. She hadn’t really planned on leaving the cabin much during her stay here, but the impending storm seemed to solidify her solitary fate.

  There was no going back from her solo Christmas adventure now.

  When she was done sorting away the food, Shelby walked back into the living room to grab her suitcase before venturing down the short hallway that lead to the cabin’s one bedroom and its adjoining bathroom.

  The room was small—being barely large enough to accommodate the four-poster king-size bed, matching dresser, and overstuffed armchair that it held.

  But Shelby barely noticed the lack of space, for the floor-to-ceiling windows that dominated the wall opposite the bed made the room feel as vast and endless as the surrounding wilderness.

  She plunked her luggage on the bed; nearly breathless with awe as she bore witness to the most beautiful sunset she could ever recall seeing. For the first time since deciding not to go with everyone to Cancun, Shelby felt her spirits begin to lift, if only a little.

  Shelby’s lips curled into the barest ghost of a smile; maybe this trip hadn’t been completely in vain after all.

  Chapter 2

  Shelby woke with a start from where she had fallen asleep watching TV on the couch some hours before.

  After she’d unpacked her clothes and put away her toiletries in the bathroom—her eyes lingering on the huge glass walls of the shower and yet another picturesque window—Shelby had quickly shucked her clothes in favor of her favorite oversized LSU sweatshirt and a soft pair of fleece leggings that she had bought specifically for this trip.

  She’d originally wandered out into the living room with the intent of curling up in one of the large armchairs beside the inviting warmth of the stone fireplace, deciding that this was the optimum spot for her to start reading one of the half-dozen trashy romance novels she had brought along with her.

  But after only twenty minutes or so of reading, Shelby had closed the book with a sigh.

  It was no use. Reading about somebody else getting some action—no matter how fictional—was doing nothing to help her forget about Walker. In fact, it seemed to only further worsen her mood, more than anything else.

  So she’d gotten up and padded over to the kitchen for a snack. She debated for a short moment on whether or not she should bake some of the cookies she’d bought earlier, right before ultimately deciding that just eating the cookie dough raw would suffice for the time being.

  With tube of cookie dough in hand, Shelby had plopped down on the couch and switched on the large TV that was mounted on the wall above the fireplace mantel. The TV was a luxury of sorts in itself, seeing as how Shelby didn’t even have one back home. So she saw no harm in indulging in it now, if only for a little while.

  After flipping through a couple channels, Shelby had eventually settled on a documentary about the wildlife of Maasai Mara. She’d reclined on the couch, content to eat more cookie dough than was advisable in one sitting as she watched lions rip apart gazelles and hippos charge from rivers, frothing at the mouth. It wasn’t exactly Christmasy, but it suited her current mentality quite nicely.

  Now, she groggily groped around on the couch until she found the remote, turning off the TV that she assumed had been the source of the sudden disturbance in her slumber.

  That was, until she heard the loud banging sound that was coming from outside the house.

  Shelby was wide awake now, her senses on high alert as her body instinctively kicked into fight-or-flight mode. She quickly rose from the couch as she stepped over to the hearth and pulled a fire poker from its holder, wielding it like a baseball bat.

  The banging started up again and Shelby spun to face the front door, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. It sounded like someone was trying to break in to the cabin, the door rattling angrily in its frame from the force of each blow.

  I should call the police, Shelby thought suddenly, feeling like an idiot for just standing there waiting for the door to burst open.

/>   She rushed to the bedroom to find her phone, makeshift weapon still in tow. She scooped the phone up off the bed and frantically dialed nine-one-one…

  Only to curse and throw it back down again when she understood with an impending sense of dread that she had no cell service way out here.

  Not being able to call for help was only part of her problem, Shelby realized as her eyes lit upon the mass of swirling whiteness that she could see through the bedroom windows. Even if she did manage to contact the police, there was no way they’d be able to reach her in time if someone was intent on robbing her, or worse.

  Not with the virtual blizzard that was raging outside, anyway.

  Shelby’s eyes widened as she stood still for a moment longer, completely transfixed by the snow, despite her current intruder predicament.

  In Louisiana, they might get a little snow, but it never stuck. Not like this.

  Now she could fully appreciate the locals’ desperation to gather supplies before the storm hit—going out in this sort of weather, for any reason, would be insane.

  Mentally shaking herself, Shelby’s hands tightened back around the fire poker as a new resolve presented itself to her.

  There was little choice in the matter; she would have to take care of this situation herself, through any means necessary.

  Slipping on her boots where she’d left them by the bedroom door earlier, Shelby slowly crept back down the hall and into the living room once more.

  The banging had stopped, but in its absence, Shelby was left feeling even more unnerved by the resulting silence. All she could hear was the sound of her own heightened breathing, too loud in her ears to be reassuring.

  Shelby gave an involuntary shiver that was completely unrelated to the cold.

  What if she had only imagined the knocking? What if she was only overreacting to some completely innocent sound that had been caused by the storm, just because she was on edge about being out here all alone?