Savage Hearts (39 page)

It had been way too easy to trick him into moving in with her. Well, Cate maintained that she’d tricked him into moving in by accident;
Soren
claimed that he’d tricked her into letting him move in on purpose. Either way,
Desi
was happy with all the room to run around, and Cate and
Soren
were happy with the privacy.

However it had happened—and it did feel like it just kind of happened, naturally—the end result was that
Soren
had made some very permanent, very functional alterations to the bedroom. The place was now definitely “theirs.” He’d only shown her the newest addition—rings and pulleys in the ceiling—right before they’d left for the party. It meant Cate’s mind wasn’t fully on the festivities. It was on
Soren
.

When she found him, standing on the other side of a huge ice sculpture, he was watching her.

That
look
.

Cate shivered. She’d been working a lot lately, and so they hadn’t had as much time together. She’d meant to take some time off to fade out of the spotlight, but then a near perfect case had fallen right in her lap—a medical provider accused of adulterating prescription medications—and she’d pounced on it with delight. The fact that she couldn’t stay away had made her realize that what
Soren
said when they first met was true: this was who she was. She was a sexual submissive and a badass lawyer, all at the same time.

No. She was
his
submissive.

Cate smiled.

He’d ordered her not to wear underwear tonight, and told her to be prepared. She liked knowing she was available to him. She liked knowing she was his.

And he was hers, too—her knight in tarnished armor. Cate couldn’t take credit for that line; she’d seen it in a headline and immediately had it framed. After
Daniella
Collins had gone on live television and told the whole truth, and after it had come out that
Soren
had insisted on helping to pay her family’s legal and medical bills and that he refused to file suit against her, the press had gone almost as crazy for
Soren
as she was.

If only they all knew how true it was.
Soren
was
her knight in tarnished armor. Had been since the start. And she hoped he always would be.

And
that
is where things got nerve-wracking, all over again.

Cate couldn’t look away from
Soren
, even across the party. Those eyes held her, every time. Every time. Did he know already? Did he know what she was going to say?

Soren
hadn’t let her forget that he meant tical bt marriage. From another guy it might have been too much, but he was
Soren
, and he watched her. He was careful. And he was so damn excited to be in love that it was infectious. The man had put a
fruitloop
ring on her finger while she was doing the crossword at breakfast this morning; how was she supposed to do anything but love him and laugh?

But she’d been thinking about it.

A lot.

She’d wanted to wait. She’d wanted to be sure. Maybe there was still some part of her that was only half out of its hiding place, that was waiting for something to go wrong, for the vulnerability she experienced every day with
Soren
to end in pain rather than pleasure.

Maybe it had even made sense to still be a little bit afraid.

But now?
Now it just felt like so much wasted time.

Cate felt the tears start and bit her lip, craning her neck to catch another glimpse of him as people passed between them. She could look at him all
night
and never get up the courage. She was going to have to find a way to toughen up.

Actually, she was going to have to find
him
. Cate spun around, muttering. Where had he gone? She really had managed to lose a blond giant?

“Listen up!”

It was Chance Dalton’s bellowing voice. The party chatter, the laughter—all of it came to a halt, and everything seemed to settle on Chance’s broad grin. Cate didn’t know the owner of the L.A.
Volare
location very well yet, but he was the kind of guy that
Soren
said you got along with immediately, as long as you were cool with occasional pranks. The combination of those looks, that military buzz, and playfulness in a Dom probably broke a lot of hearts before he’d met his Lena.

And the
grin on Chance’s face told Cate that he was about either pull another prank or break
another heart, or possibly both.

Chance looked to his left.
To his right.
And Cate figured out where he was looking at about the same time as everyone else: Ford on the one side,
Adra
on the other.

Oh boy.

“Some of you know that I’m a restless man,” Chance said, his grin getting wider. “And now I’ve got a woman who gives me a run for my money.”

He punctuated his speech by pulling Lena in for a startling, breath-taking kind of kiss, winning a few smiles from the crowd.

“And this place seems to run pretty well,” Chance went on, his arm still around a surprised Lena.

“Honey, stop torturing them,” Lena said, and reached up to rub her hand on his buzzed head. “Just tell them.”

“Lena and I are leaving,” Chance said.

There was a shocked silence.

“Relax,” he said, smiling again. “Just for a little while. We’re scouting out locations for the newest Club
Volare
. And while we’re gone…”

And here, if Cate didn’t know any better, she’d swear Chance’s grin turned a little bit evil.

“…We’re leaving Ford and
Adra
in charge.”

There
it was.

They would have to work together. No more avoiding each other for the sake of the club, no more pretending everything was fine. No more pretending they didn’t care.

Cate looked at Ford, then
Adra
. Then she smiled. Ford was a stoic rock, professional and unshakeable, unless maybe you knew him—then there was the telltale pulse in his neck, the creases at the corners of his eyes. Nothing got to him quite like
Adra
.

And
Adra
?
Adra
looked like she couldn’t decide if she was happy, terrified, or just in a kind of shock.

Cate would have gone over there to check up on one or both them if she hadn’t felt those familiar large hands come snaking around her waist.

“Where do you think you’re going?”
Soren
whispered in her ear.

Cate sighed, and sank back into him.

“I was going to check on our friends,” she said, smiling at that. ‘Our friends.’ Little things like that felt good to say.

“They’re fine,”
Soren
said. “Or they will be. You are coming with me.”

He turned her around, marching her towards the edge of the room, where there was one of the many little hidden alcoves that made Club
Volare
such a fun place to navigate at night.

Cate turned around and put her hand on
Soren’s
chest. “Did you have a part in that? Setting Ford and
Adra
up?”

“Not just me,”
Soren
said. “Molly’s idea. I knew Chance was planning a trip. Figured this was the way to get them to fix it or forget about it.”

“You don’t think they’d really forget?”

Soren
laughed. “Not a chance.”

“That’s diabolical,” Cate said as
Soren
pushed her into a corner.

She came up against th up Cate e wall and sighed.

“You don’t know from diabolical, baby,”
Soren
said, slipping his hands under the hem of her dress. “You haven’t seen what I’m
gonna
do to you next.”

Cate’s eyes fluttered as he gripped her bare ass, his body pinning her to the wall, his leg pushing between hers. She summoned all her strength, gripped the lapels of his jacket, and said, “Wait.”

“Hmm,”
Soren
said, his mouth on her neck. “Don’t want to.”

“No, wait,” she said, pushing at him slightly. “I don’t want you to think that I’m saying this because of what…ah…
.what
you’re about to do to me.”

Soren
stopped advancing his touch, his hand resting possessively on her naked hip, and tilted her chin up so she would look him in the eye.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

Cate swallowed. “I am more than ok,” she said.

“Tell me what it is,” he said.

Cate’s heart skittered into a new rhythm, her pulse pounding in every part of her body. This was it. Right now.

“Yes,” she whispered.

Soren’s
beautiful blue eyes went wide.

“What?” he said.

“Yes,
Soren
,” she said. “I mean…I mean, yes. I mean I love you, and you make me happy, and you love me better than I thought anyone ever could, and I don’t want to waste anymore time. I mean,
yes
.”

Neither of them moved.

Neither of them breathed.

Then
Soren’s
hand cupped her cheek, his eyes flashing, his shoulders shaking. “Yes?” he asked.

“Yes!” Cate said. “Yes, yes, yes, yes—”

She never got to finish.
Soren
pressed her back against the wall and kissed her. He kissed her tenderly, he kissed her hungrily,
he
kissed her with all the love she’d ever felt. He kissed her completely.

“I’m not going to stop until I have you screaming that,” he said, giving her a moment to breathe.

Cate smiled and bit her lip. “Shut up and kiss me,” she said.

THE END

Thank you!
I hope you enjoyed
Soren
and Cate’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. :) These two will be back in the next Club
Volare
book, which will be all about Ford and
Adra’s
story. I have been waiting to get these two together for
ever
! If you want to know as soon as Ford and
Adra’s
story is available in early 2014, you can sign up for my New Releases list

here
.

I only use that list to announce new books. Read on to find out how you can get a free advanced review copy of those books by joining my review team!

Also? If you liked this book, go ahead and lend it to a friend. There’s no DRM for just that reason, so
g’head
, go nuts. :) It’s one of the best ways to find new books.

And, if you have a moment, please help others enjoy this book too by
leaving a review
and letting them know what you liked about
Savage Hearts.
I think it helps other readers choose which books are right for them, and I learn something with every review, too. If you do leave a review, shoot me an email with a link to the review at
[email protected]
and I’ll send you an advanced review copy of my next book. I send out those ARCs to my review team in exchange for an honest review, hopefully about a week or so before the book comes out. (Though sometimes I get my butt kicked by deadlines!)