Dark Bargains 3 Read online

  “You know my father has cancer. At first the treatments went well, and he went into remission. But then earlier this year it came back, worse than before. It didn’t respond to the standard treatments. We tried other avenues, but his insurance refused to pay for most of them because they were either experimental or considered to be ineffective in his case. My parents and I spent everything we had in savings to get him onto a new experimental set of drugs. They seemed to be working, but we couldn’t afford to keep paying for them.”

  “I’m sorry,” Lucas said. “If I can help...”

  “We got help. Through Cyndia. When she found out how much it cost, her boyfriend started sending money—enough to cover the treatments and the other medical bills. It was such a relief at the time that none of us thought to question it. Dad was getting better—slowly, but better was all that mattered. And then Marcus came to visit me.”

  As she drew a shuddering breath, Lucas’s hands tightened on hers, and she continued.

  “Cyndia’s boyfriend had been skimming from the casino in Shreveport. That was where the money came from. Marcus had the proofs, and I was able to validate enough of them for myself to know that it wasn’t a joke or a hoax. He told me that if he took this to the authorities, he’d get Cyndia nailed as an accomplice. I’d be fired and under the circumstances I’d likely never work as a CPA again. And not only would the money to my parents stop, he was going to get the company lawyers to seize any assets they had to recoup the stolen money.”

  “Jesus,” Lucas said.

  She went on, her voice toneless and numb. “So he offered me a choice. Death for my dad and ruin for my whole family, or become his mistress and do anything he told me. Anything. What choice did I have? He had all the proof, and no one would believe that Cyndia wasn’t involved. Maybe I should have done something else, stood on my principles and tried to fight him. But I was too afraid of what would happen to my sister and parents. So I agreed.”

  “Oh, Diane. Do any of them know?”

  “No. I couldn’t tell them. My parents wouldn’t have accepted another dime if they knew the money was stolen, but Cyndia and I would have been ruined anyway. For nothing.”

  “That son of a bitch.” Lucas followed that with a long stream of imprecations against his brother.

  “So now you know. And I understand if you despise me for it. I chose to allow Cyndia’s boyfriend to keep stealing from you, and for the money to keep going to my parents. So I’m a thief and a whore, too.”

  She looked away, afraid to see the expression on his face. When he released her hands, Diane’s heart stopped. She had lost him. Like his father who had disowned his own daughters, there would be no forgiveness from this St. Cyr. She made a movement to get up and move away from him, but Lucas moved first and knelt at her feet, his golden eyes burning with fury and passion.

  “Do not dare think for a moment that I blame you. Marcus is a sick bastard who lives to torture others. This was not your fault. You were trying to protect your family.”

  “But I let it continue.”

  He shook his head and took her hands again. “As if he left you any choice. But now you have one. Do you trust me?”

  She stared deep into his eyes, then slowly nodded. “Yes.”

  “He will not touch you again, and he isn’t going to hurt your family. I will answer for that. I’m going to my father with this.”

  “Lucas, no!”

  “Sweetheart, he’s not going to blame you any more than I do. Cyndia’s boyfriend will be in deep trouble, but my father isn’t blind. He knows quite well what blackmail looks like.”

  Hope swelled in her breast, although she was afraid to believe it. “Really, Lucas?”

  “Yes. You’re positive Cyndia doesn’t know anything about this?”

  “She thinks it’s money from a trust fund. She’s... Well, you’ve met her. You know. But she’s not a criminal, and she’s never dated criminals. If she thought he was dishonest, she would drop him.”

  “All right. Then trust me that I will make this right. You don’t have to be afraid of Marcus anymore. I swear to you that you and Cyndia and your parents will be safe, and I will personally see to it that your father continues to get his medication.”

  She stared at him, unable to speak as her throat tightened and fresh tears welled up in her eyes. Instead she lifted his hands and kissed them in gratitude.

  “Diane,” he breathed.

  Lucas rose and his lips covered hers, warm and gentle, a kiss of promises as much as of longing. She let go of his hands to place hers on his broad shoulders and tilted her head back. His tongue glided over her lips and she opened her mouth to him, and the kiss which had been sweet turned hungry. Lucas continued to hold back, though, apparently unsure how far to push, kissing her slowly and deeply. It poured his tenderness into her to cleanse her soul from the nightmare of Marcus. Her heart pounded, not with fear but with awakening desire, and she unleashed her own passion to encourage Lucas’s. She drew him closer and sent her tongue twisting against his. Reassured, Lucas slanted his mouth over hers and twined his fingers into her curls to taste as deeply of her as he could.

  Need exploded within her, a craving she had never felt so strongly before. She sank back onto the bed and pulled him with her so that he lay half on top of her. One of his hands slid under her t-shirt, scorching against the skin underneath while it explored the soft plane of her stomach before moving up to cover one aching breast.

  Diane gasped against his mouth when her nipples puckered to an almost painful hardness, and her back arched as though to offer more of herself to him. The slow motion of his palm against that stiff cherry sent ripples of pleasure spreading out through her center while prickling heat swelled inside her breasts to ignite the embers of desire which she had feared she might never experience again.

  She twisted on the bed as she grew moist from the quivering need between her legs. Against her thigh, the hard heat of Lucas’s manhood pulsed in proof that his desire was no less than her own.

  “Off,” she moaned. “Take it off.”

  The vague instructions were all she could manage. All she knew was that she needed to feel his skin against hers, needed him as close to her as possible. Lucas understood, though, and lifted up to pull off his pajamas while she wriggled out of her t-shirt. Nothing stood between them now except her panties, but Lucas proved they were only a small obstacle.

  His fingers traced the outline of her crease and came away damp from the juices already soaking through the satin. As he found the taut knot of her clit and stroked it lightly with one finger, a small cry broke from her throat. Before she could recover, his mouth fastened onto her breast. Flames licked across her skin, which felt as though she was standing under the noonday sun in the desert. She was barely aware when his questing fingers pushed beneath the elastic of her panties and crept down her mound to take possession of her eager sex.

  While his thumb circled her swollen clit, his fingers teased against her entrance. She gasped when he dipped one finger inside to explore her clinging tunnel and her walls fluttered in response. Teeth grazed against the sensitive flesh of her nipple, and a fresh wave of heat crashed through her core to drown her in pleasure. Her hips thrust up to grind against his hand, her body desperate for more sensation, more of his touch.

  “More, Lucas. Please,” she begged.

  Strong fingers dragged her panties down her hips and worked them free from her legs, and the breath of cool air against her moist skin made her tremble. She pressed her thighs together against the growing ache in her core, but Lucas pushed them apart again and slid between her legs.

  “Now,” she breathed. “I can’t wait any more.”

  The soft tip of his shaft pushed past the slipperiness of her lips and nestled against the softness of her soaking entrance. Slowly Lucas eased forward and pressed inside, her walls stretching to take him inch by sweet inch. As he sank deeper, stretching and filling her, Diane’s gave another cry. Her hands on his
back pulled him down onto her, and Lucas fell on her mouth. His tongue drove into her, thrust deep to tease and play while his hips moved his erection inside of her tunnel.

  Her walls trembled and flooded with liquid heat at the pleasure swelling within. She rocked her hips against him, desperate to have him deeper, to feel him stretching her and filling that hollow ache between her legs. With each thrust Lucas moaned against her tongue, and he closed his eyes in ecstasy.

  Waves of sensation threatened to overwhelm her even as they lifted her up on golden billows of bliss. Her nails dug into the flesh of his back, but neither of them noticed as the swept closer and closer to the edge with each thrust of his hips. Their breaths mingled, and Diane clung to him while the pressure inside of her swelled until it became unbearable. She was no longer in control of her own body, borne along on a flood of pleasure like a twig in a raging torrent.

  Brightness exploded in her core as the wave crested and broke, searing along every nerve all the way down to her toes. Diane slammed her head back against the bed with a hoarse cry that Lucas swiftly smothered with his lips. His arms tightened around her while he rammed his member deep within her again and again until finally he buried himself completely inside and squeezed her with a fierce passion that stole her breath.

  His body shook as he emptied himself deep inside of her, and his back arched and he groaned hoarsely through gritted teeth. His chest was heaving as he gradually sank down onto her once more, bodies damp with sweat gliding slickly together.

  When she returned to herself, those amber hawk’s eyes were watching her with possessive fascination that sent another shiver deep through her core. She was his, now. Voluntarily, but she knew that he would be every bit as implacable as Marcus in his desire to hold onto her. He would never let her go, and she was perfectly okay with that.

  They lay tangled together while their bodies and passions slowly cooled, sharing long, sweet kisses that she knew she would never tire of. At length Lucas sat up and gazed down at her naked body with half-rekindled desire mingled with regret.

  “I should get back to my room before we fall asleep. If Cyndia found me here...”

  She wanted to stop him, wanted to keep him at her side and fall asleep in his arms, but he was right.

  “That’s probably best,” she sighed.

  He dressed, and with one last kiss that left her burning all over again he slipped out the door and left her alone once more. She fell asleep wrapped in sheets that smelled of him, her body relaxed and glowing from the effects of their lovemaking, and didn’t wake up until the brilliant morning sunlight flooded the room.

  A quick shower washed away the smell of sex, and then she went downstairs to get coffee. To her surprise, Cyndia was already in the kitchen.

  “You’re up awfully early,” she remarked as she poured a cup of coffee and joined her sister at the breakfast bar.

  “I didn’t sleep well. How about you?”

  “I slept great.”

  Cyndia’s eyes bored into hers.

  “I’ll just bet you did. I don’t freakin’ believe this. You’re sleeping with them both.”

  To be continued…

  Keep an eye out for Dark Bargains 4.

  Thank you for reading Dark Bargains 3. If you enjoyed it would you please leave a review? Reviews help out a lot to convince other readers that a book is worth reading, so I’d really appreciate it. Also, if you would like to be notified whenever I have a new release or sale, sign up for my newsletter.

  Dark Bargains

  The Winter Billionaires

  Winter’s Heat

  How had her life gotten so complicated?

  As if grad school wasn’t hard enough, Celeste had caught her boyfriend cheating on her and kicked him out of their apartment. Now she’s on the hook for all the bills, and she needs a job that will pay her more than a teaching assistant’s meager salary. In desperation she finds herself at a party on the yacht of Andrew Winter, a playboy oil billionaire, hoping to land a job as his personal assistant. But the gorgeous stranger she ends up talking to isn’t Andrew Winter.

  In the dim light she couldn’t make out the color of his eyes, but it really didn’t matter. They were riveted on her, and that was all she cared about at the moment.

  What she can see is that he’s smoking hot, oozing testosterone, and interested in her. After the hit her ego has taken with her ex, the attention is nice. It isn’t going to get him anywhere, but that doesn’t mean she can’t have fun with it. Who wouldn’t take advantage of a little moonlight on a yacht with good company? But no one had bothered to tell Stephen he couldn’t have a taste, and now his soft lips are setting her on fire.

  Why couldn’t she enjoy it for just a little while? It wouldn’t hurt anything, would it?

  Winter’s Fall

  Most fairy tales start with a wicked stepmother...

  Nicole’s life in Key West was paradise until her father died. Then her stepmother stole his dive company, fired her, and kicked her out of her apartment. To add insult to injury, Nicole’s boyfriend dumped her for her stepsister. Now she’s alone, practically broke, working in a job she hates, and living in a squalid apartment with two roommates she wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy. Well, maybe on her stepsister.

  Then she runs into bad boy billionaire Andrew Winter. Literally runs into him, because the lunatic decided to drive his Mercedes through the worst traffic snarl on the island. When she loses her bartending job—thanks to her ex and her stepbrother—Andrew steps in to save the day. He’ll pay her to be his tour guide while he’s vacationing in the Keys. Why not? The money is good and the company is better, but it’s the kisses that keep her coming back. There’s just one problem—what’s she going to do when he leaves?

  With One Word

  Have you ever fallen in love with someone you shouldn’t have?

  Ever since my dad walked out eight years ago, my life has been Hell. My mother is an alcoholic whose “boyfriends” enjoy using me as a punching bag. Everything nice I’ve ever owned has ended up in the pawn shop so Mom could buy booze and cigarettes. Thanks to her reputation every guy I’ve ever gone out with has only been interested in one thing, so I’ve never had a real boyfriend. The only reason I didn’t skip town the moment I turned eighteen is my little sister, Willow. She needs me, and I won’t leave her behind. Now my best friend has moved across the country to go to college and I’ve got no one at all—except Grant. Grant is my knight in shining armor. He’s the only man who has ever treated me like a person instead of trash, and he’s always been there when I needed him. And now I’m afraid I’m falling in love with him. There’s just one little problem.

  Grant is my best friend’s dad.

  When my wife and son died in a plane crash nine years ago, Holly was the one who dragged my daughter and then me back to the world of the living. Her sweet, outgoing personality won us both over, and the girls have been inseparable ever since. It kills me to see what she’s had to endure since her father abandoned their family and her mother went to pieces, but Holly refuses to give up. Every single day she continues to struggle, both to keep going herself and to hold her little sister’s head above water. She’s the bravest person I’ve ever met. Yet sometime when I wasn’t paying attention, the girl grew up into a woman. I know she’s my daughter’s best friend and only half my age. She trusts me. I’m supposed to keep her safe. But while I’m fighting it as hard as I can, it doesn’t seem to matter.

  I can’t help wanting what I can never have.

  Warning: This novel contains strong themes of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse (though *not* between the main characters). If these topics and situations disturb you, this book is probably not for you.

  Lessons in Love

  Lessons in Love is a new adult romance series about going away to college and falling in love for the very first time. While there is character overlap, each story in the series is a standalone with its own happily ever after ending and no cliffhangers.

/>   First to Fall

  It took only one day at college for life to throw a wrench in Alyssa’s plans. When she walks into the quirky used bookstore just off campus she expects to find a few old paperbacks, not to lose her head over the store’s sexy owner—and Kyle is way out of her league, the kind of sex-on-a-stick bad boy who would never give a girl like her a second thought. Or would he? There’s nothing Alyssa loves more than a good challenge, and this one promises to be a lot more exciting than running for class president. She just wants to make Kyle notice her, that’s all - to see her as a woman. How hard can that be? She’ll stop before she gets in over her head. But she can’t get those smoldering brown eyes and sinful smile out of her mind, and she keeps imagining his full, soft lips hovering a breath away from her own.

  Would kissing him really be so dangerous?

  First to Burn

  Falling flat on your butt in the mud in front of the groom’s older brother is not the best way to make a first impression at a wedding. Kimberly expects the weekend to go downhill from there, but Colin turns a horrible experience into something she can laugh about, and before long she’s spending far more time with him than is good for her. While the sexy fireman puts out burning buildings during the day, he’s notorious for setting the sheets on fire at night with any woman who catches his eye, and Kimberly has no intention of being another notch on his bedpost. But is there really anything wrong with flirting a little with the blue-eyed fireman? After all, she hardly knows him and she’s really not interested in him that way. And it might be fun to see if he makes a move. Not that she really wants him to or anything. She just wants to see if he will.

  Lusting over his scrumptious body a little and enjoying his teasing wouldn’t hurt anything, right?

  First to Heal

  For as long as Paige can remember she has wanted to be a librarian—unfortunately she’s pretty sure she’s going to end up a blue-haired spinster one with a house full of cats. All of that changes in an instant when Rhys comes within a breath of kissing her in the Special Collections department. The sexy ex-Army captain has been wounded in body and soul, but Paige believes she can heal him if he’ll only give her a chance. Getting him to give her that chance is the tricky part, though, since Rhys is convinced he’s all wrong for her and is doing his best to keep her at arm’s length. And what if he’s right? Is she really ready for this? How can you want someone so much that you ache from it, but be so afraid of it at the same time? But she decided the first day that she met him and felt that first stab of wanting that she would not allow fear to govern her where he was concerned. This is what she wants.