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Seduce the Playboy 34
I’d asked Reeve once if he was still close to his former lovers. He’d dodged the question. Now I saw the answer firsthand, and whether he was like this with all of them or just Amber didn’t matter. That he was like this with her was bad enough. In fact, it was the worst.“Before you get ahead on your revenge scheming, Sallis, let’s get the girl well.” Jeb’s arrival was like a token sent from heaven. It broke the trance that Reeve and Amber had me in.I stepped backward, into the shadows, barely aware of the conversation that continued.“Please tell me it’s time for more painkillers,” Amber said, almost begging.“We’ll talk about that.” Jeb scanned his audience. “Can we maybe have the room cleared so the patient and I can have some privacy?”Thank God. Because I couldn’t be there a moment longer.Unfortunately, Reeve was escorted out with us, and in the hallway he stopped me before I could escape into my own room. “Jeb got ahold of some methadone. He’s going to start a treatment plan t
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Joe surprised me with his next words. “Where I need to go for that is nowhere.” He paused at the gate, not saying anything while the guard was at the window clearing us for entrance.When we were in, I turned to him. “You don’t think Reeve is still connected to that slave ring, do you?”“I don’t have a strong reason to believe he is, no. Especially not if that’s why he thinks you need protection. But he and Amber know more about Vilanakis than anyone else I’ve come in contact with. I don’t think I can get a better lead than through them.”I chewed another finger as he parked the car, trying to decide if I wanted to share what I knew with Joe, and if so, how much. I didn’t want to betray Reeve but Joe had rescued Amber. I owed him, didn’t I?Grabbing his arm, I stopped him before he got out of the car. “I’ll tell you this, Joe – there are cameras in every room of that ranch. So be careful what you say or do.”“I’ve seen them. But thanks for the heads-up.”“Also” – I took a deep breath,
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Even the reminder of the cruel way he’d treated me after I’d been with Chris didn’t cause him to flinch. “You’d like that too much. Answer the question.”“No.” I raised my chin defiantly. “I won’t give you anything else until you give me something.”He let out a patronizing chuckle. “That’s not how this works, Emily.”“Maybe it’s not how it worked before, but it’s how it’s working now.” Somewhat stunned by my own bravado, I barreled on before I had a chance to second-guess myself. “How long did you know that I knew Amber?”He ticked his head dismissively. “It doesn’t matter. Did you fuck Joe Cook?”Exasperated, I dropped my hands to my side. “It doesn’t matter to you, but it matters a whole hell of a lot to me. And, frankly, my question is much more relevant than whether or not I’ve gotten naked with Joe.”“It’s relevant if I say it’s relevant.”I rolled my eyes and started to stand, but Reeve sprang forward and stopped me. His hands gripped on both arms of the chair, he caged me in.
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“I did spoon you. You hated that.”“I did not. I liked it.”She shrugged her shoulder as though she knew full well that I’d liked it and had just wanted to hear me say it. “You liked it until I’d throw my leg over you, and then you’d bitch about feeling crowded, and somehow you’d always end up on the floor.”Actually, I’d liked it when she’d done that too. Liked how it had made me feel owned. I’d only ever moved out of the bed for her – because she was a restless sleeper, and I’d always ended up feeling like I was in her way.Those weren’t things I needed to admit though. Not now. “So, I’ll take the couch.”She laughed. “When I’m better though,” she said, her expression suddenly serious, “I’d really like to talk to you. When I’m sure I won’t fall asleep halfway through the conversation.”“I’d really like that too.”I slept fitfully on the love seat, and when Brent came to relieve me at a quarter to four, I didn’t feel the least bit ready for bed. My head was too buzzed and my emotions
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“But you still didn’t trust me.”But I loved you.I still loved him.And I still couldn’t say it. So I said the next best thing instead. “I trust you more than I’ve trusted almost anyone.”“I guess that’s something.”It was so much more than just something. It was everything to me. The only other person I’d ever trusted had been Amber, and, in the end, even she’d betrayed my trust.Maybe my statement had been wrong. Maybe I trusted Reeve more than everyone.But I didn’t correct myself because it didn’t matter. What he really wanted to hear were the other words, the words I couldn’t give. He’d danced around it, too, though. He’d suggested he loved me, but he’d never told me outright. Those words stood so prominently that they’d become a barrier between us. Either they’d been a lie, a cruel response to my scheming, or they’d been truthful – a possible doorway leading to something else. Something more.Damn, how I wanted the more. Wanted it enough to brave broaching the subject. “You sai
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I fell back against his chest and succumbed to the onslaught of sensation. Every nerve in my body was alight. The blanket had been abandoned in the shift of positions and the cold air felt sharp against my hot skin. My nipples burned, goose bumps covered every square inch of my exposed limbs, and the sweat on my forehead felt like melted ice.Reeve was lost to his own lust. With a hand over my mouth and another on my hip, he pounded into me with a relentless drive. I felt his mouth on my neck, felt his thighs tighten under mine, felt the tip of his cock reach so deep inside me that I thought he’d tear me apart.And then he did – he hit me in a spot that sent the second orgasm ripping through me, shredding me into so many pieces that I was sure there were parts of me I’d never recover.“You feel me,” he said while my cunt clenched around him like a vice-grip. “Right now you feel me, Emily. That’s where I am – inside you. All the time, I’m there. No matter whose bed you sleep in.”I let
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I scanned through the rather uninformative article that claimed Chris and I had been seeing each other on the sly. Rumors about Hollywood figures were common enough, and I was just about ready to dismiss the whole thing when my eyes landed on the final image of the post – a blurry photo that showed the two of us in an embrace outside his apartment. That picture had been taken only a couple of weeks prior. It was from the day that I’d seen him for information about Reeve and Missy. The day that Reeve had shown up at my house upset about the perception I was giving the public by being alone with Chris when I was in a relationship with him.Suddenly I had a headache.“Where did they even get this picture?” It wasn’t something that I thought Joe could answer. “And why is it only showing up now?”He shrugged. “But if Vilanakis is connected to Missy’s death in any way,” Joe said, “and if he knows you’re connected to Reeve, well, he might finger you as the leak to Chris because of this.”Ree
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“Nothing’s wrong,” I said, slowly. “Exactly. Just, if both of you are going to be looking into Chris and me, then there’s something I should tell you.” I took a deep breath and forced my eyes to meet Reeve’s. “We’ve been friends for several years, and, in the past, the friendship did have a… uh, physical nature.”A shadow fell over Reeve’s face, but he disciplined his features.Joe was smart enough to recognize the tension. “How long ago in the past?” he asked cautiously.“Before I was ever on NextGen. Before he got engaged.” Before you, I added silently, my gaze never leaving my lover. “He’s made comments that have implied he’d be willing to have more now, but I’ve refused him.”Reeve’s brow rose slightly.“Then this might be coming from Blakely directly,” Joe suggested. “A sort of attempt at wish fulfillment or a way to get back at you for turning him down.”I let go of Reeve’s stare and looked to Joe. “I hadn’t considered that. But no, I don’t think so. Even though Chris wouldn’t m
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