Page 151 of The Price of Scandal

Together, we wrestled her pants off. They landed over the lampshade. Probably a fire hazard, but she was gripping my shaft and freeing it from my sweatpants. And I didn’t care if we burnt down Miami.

I held my breath and her hips as she guided the crown to the apex of her thighs. Wet. Heat. Love.

The sky was getting lighter through the windows. A new day was dawning. Full of possibilities. And then Emily was taking me inside her on a low moan. I held her to me, my mouth fastening on one pert, pink nipple. This was right. This was terrifying. This was real.

“Show me, Emily. Show me how you feel. What you want.” My voice was broken glass. “Show me while I tell you.”

“Derek,” she gasped as she began to move.

“I love you,” I said. “I love you.”

I told her over and over again as she rode me fast, hard, until we were both lost. Until she came and dragged me over the edge with her. I erupted, my release hollowing me out even as it filled her.

All our broken pieces. They melded together, forming something new. Something unbreakable.

“I love you, Emily,” I whispered again against her breast, damp with sweat.

She was quiet for a long moment. Still trembling with aftershocks from her release. “I know.”

I growled, squeezing her hips hard, and she laughed.

“I love you, Derek.”

48

Derek

Every director seated at the table was exhibiting their current dental health. The mouths of all twelve members were wide open.

“I beg your pardon, Ms. Stanton,” said the eighty-three-year-old financier in Hugo Boss. He was the first to break the silence. “What do you mean you’re declining our offer to resign?”

“Exactly that, Warren,” Emily announced. “Flawless is my company. I am the majority owner, and unfortunately for you, you can’t just turn me out, I’m afraid. I would always have a say in company policy.”

“The SEC won’t approve the IPO if you are at the helm,” the carefully coiffed app developer executive said, tapping her manicured nail on the conference table in a staccato beat.

“I am aware,” Emily said with a humorless smile.

“There’s no need to make this ugly, slugger,” Byron boomed over the rumble of confusion.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Emily said. “That’s why I’m making a counteroffer.”

I stood with Jane, each of us flanking the conference room door, and watched badass Emily Stanton eviscerate the board of directors that had turned against her.

“This is how it’s going to go…”

She laid it out for them, and I had the pleasure of watching pasty complexions go ruddy. She had them by the balls, and I couldn’t be prouder.

“That is a very big ask,” one of the directors said, mopping his forehead and the back of his neck with a handkerchief.

“I’m not asking,” Emily said.

“I’m straight, but she’s never been more attractive to me than she is right now,” Jane whispered.

“Same boat,” I agreed under my breath.

She was magnificent, and I couldn’t wait to get her home and say just that as I kissed every inch of her body.

“If you want that IPO, and I know you do, this is the only way you’ll get it.”