LOVING LIV

There were short men, tall men, and everything-in-between men. And then there was Miles Schantz, a man who stood out as different. Taller. Stronger. Sexier. Ruggedly handsome. Miles, the stranger who hailed from Las Vegas. His dark powerful eyes met Liv Sloane’s while he sat at the table among his group of friends. He sipped his scotch, holding her stare like no one else mattered in the room but her. They were both in O’Keefe’s Irish Pub tonight to celebrate the marriage of Gabe O’Keefe, the owner of the pub, and his new wife, McKenna. Liv only got an invite because Allie, her best friend and boss, was married to Micah Holt, a good friend of Gabe’s. But while the outdoor ceremony at Crissy Field Park had been beautiful, with stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay, the reception at Gabe’s pub was filled with delicious food and music from a live band. Liv had been transfixed by Miles all night. No matter how long she studied him, she couldn’t quite put her finger on what made him so intoxicating.  

“He’s a Dominant.”

Liv jerked her head toward her best friend. Allie looked beautiful most days with her long brown hair and big curls, but with shadowy makeup framing her blue eyes, she was stunning. She’d been dancing, leaving Liv at the bar to gawk at Miles. Liv hadn’t realized she’d come back. “Pardon?”

Allie gestured at Miles, waggling her eyebrows. “You’ve been trying to figure out what’s different about him, right? Well, that’s what it is.” She paused to take a quick sip of wine. “Actually, that’s what is different about all of the men sitting at the table with him. They’re all members of an exclusive sex club in Vegas, Club Sin. But keep that on the down low. I’m not supposed to know that, and neither are you.”

“Sex club? Really?”

Allie nodded.

“Miles owns the nightclub that is the front for the secret sex club. It’s called Club Sin.”

“Interesting,” Liv said, glancing back at Miles, who still watched her. The commanding nature in his gaze, the passion all but pulsating out of him…a Dominant. She guessed that made sense. He didn’t smile or try to flirt, he watched. And something in the way he watched her made Liv’s body take notice, her nipples puckering beneath her long cherry-colored dress with a slit in the front.

“Not like that should surprise you,” Allie said, drawing Liv’s gaze again. She gave a knowing look. “They are Micah’s friends.”

Liv acknowledged that with a nod. Allie owned a real estate company, and Liv was her assistant, so while they were on the job, they kept conversation strictly professional. Outside of work, she and Allie were extremely close, and from that friendship, Liv learned about a whole new world. One of Dominants and submissives and wild, erotic sex. A world that seemed a lightyear away from Liv’s own shattered one. The reason for that was Gavin Humphries, a well-known playboy she’d given her heart to… the very boyfriend who proposed and then cheated. Two years had gone by since she’d broken things off, and she still wasn’t over it. She hadn’t dated, or even had sex, since. And the only orgasm she’d had lately was provided by her vibrator. She glanced back at Allie. “Do you know Miles well?”

“I know what’s most important.”

“Which is?”

Allie grinned. “He’s single.” She slid her arm through Liv’s then her smile turned sly. “You’ve asked me before what it’s like to be with a Dominant. Miles can’t take his eyes off you. Girl, here’s your chance. Take it!”

Liv considered just that, meeting Miles’s gaze again. Her belly fluttered as he continued to watch her. Heady need overwhelmed her, warming her up in all the right places. Miles projected something richer than charm, this was seduction in its purest form. And he wasn’t doing a damn thing. She turned back to Allie.

“Honestly, Allie, we both know I’m definitely not brave enough to make the first move.”

Again, Allie grinned.

“Which is quite possibly your first lesson with a Dom. You don’t make the first move.”

Right then, a hand caressed her shoulder. Liv caught Allie’s slight chuckle before Liv turned and stared into eyes that transfixed her. Suddenly, her heart was racing and butterflies filled her stomach.

“Can I have this dance?” Miles asked, his voice a low, deep rumble that hummed through her.

“Uh. Yes, sure,” she breathed, sliding her hand in his. In that moment, something came over her. Something magical. Everything lit up inside her; slight nervousness matched with excitement.

He led her onto the dance floor and pulled her in close against the hard lines of his muscular body. He smelled like warm cinnamon and masculine leather and he felt like…sin.  As she followed him in the dance, she caught his friends and their wives all watching her like she was a puzzle that amused them.

“Are you enjoying yourself tonight, Liv?”

His smooth voice felt like a heat wave washing over her as he guided her in the slow dance. “Very much so. You?”

“Definitely,” he murmured, his attention falling to her lips. “Now even more so.”

Her breath caught somewhere in her throat as parts of her awakened that she thought were dead. Murdered by the crushing blow Gavin had delivered when he broke her heart. A reminder that had her looking a little more closely at Miles. A Dominant, he had to be a player. He must have women available to him at all times.

Miles’s fingers tightened on her back, boldly holding her to him. “Allie told me you’re single. I’ve been trying to figure out all night how that’s possible.”

I’m terrified to get hurt again. She laughed dryly. “Easy. I like being single. Don’t you?”

His thumb brushed across hers and a jolt rolled through her. “Tonight, I’m very glad I’m single.”

She almost snorted. Single. A nightclub. Dominant. Trouble. That’s what this guy was. Pure trouble. The type of trouble that gathered hearts and threw them away. She nearly stepped away. She’d been here before and been burned. And yet…and yet…he was also the type of trouble that was perfect for a one-night stand. She could almost taste the friction between them. She felt more alive tonight than she had in years, desperate for a man’s touch. His touch. She took a step forward, locked in this stranger’s intensity, pulled by something she didn’t want to control. “I am too,” she said softly.

His eyes flared before he dropped his head and trailed his nose against her neck, making her shiver. Then he looked her right in the eye like he had nothing to hide. “We’ve got tonight, then?” he murmured.

“We’ve got tonight,” she whispered.

His heated smile told her she wouldn’t regret her choice.

And she didn’t regret it. Not when they danced the night away. Not when he began kissing her. And certainly not when he pinned her to the brick wall in the alleyway after the groom and bride left for their honeymoon. Outside, the air moist, and the night dark, Miles’s gaze skimmed over her parted lips, the move impossibly sexy, as she drew in a deep breath. A slight curve lifted his mouth as he grabbed a fist full of her ass and pressed his thigh between her legs. A whimper fell from her lips, and she found no shame in it.

His grin was pure sin. “I could have so much fun with you,” he murmured.

Desperation filled her as she gripped his ripped biceps and ground herself against him. A low, very male sound came from deep in his chest. Suddenly, the scruff of his five o’clock shadow scraped against her cheek and down her neck as he placed a hot kiss there. His fingers tangled in her hair, pinning her like a promise she knew he could deliver on. And she wanted him to deliver. Badly. Gavin had stolen something from her when he cheated, not once, but five times over the course of their relationship. Tonight, with this man, she was going to get back her confidence.

Miles tightened his fingers, almost as if he knew her mind wandered. She shivered, and then his low chuckle brushed across her ear. “You’re primed and ready, aren’t you, Liv?” he murmured.

She moaned, not recognizing the need in her voice. “Yes,” she rasped. “Don’t wait.”

And perhaps the same insane need drove him, too, since his mouth immediately dropped to hers and he kissed her in a way that no one ever had before. He tested and teased, giving her a kiss that had her nearly climbing his body to get closer. His pants were hastily pulled open, a condom quickly applied, and her panties were thrust aside. He nudged her legs open wider. She stood on her tip toes, melting into his kiss again, his tongue stroking hers, making her feel alive in ways she hadn’t felt for so long. Wanted. Desired. All the things that had been stripped from her.

Then Miles was inside her, and her head fell back against the brick wall as a moan escaped her lips. She hadn’t had a man touch her in so long, and every slow shift of his hips as he drove his hardened length inside her, only brought her higher. He was big. God, was he big, and the pleasure rippled through her.

But she didn’t want slow.

“Harder,” she said.

Miles nipped at her neck. “Such a bossy little thing.”

She realized he might be turned off by her demands, but she couldn’t help herself, and she felt the spread of his grin against her neck before he leaned away and set that potent stare on her. She wanted to lose herself in those piercing eyes and look away all at the same time. He penetrated places in her soul no one had ever touched, making her feel like he saw all the things everyone else missed. Her heart raced a little bit faster; her skin flushed a little bit hotter.

Before she could pull away, flee like she always did whenever someone got too close, he slammed forward, and her gasp echoed around her. “Stay right here with me, Liv,” he murmured. “Don’t run.”

She shuddered against him. “I’m not running.”

He brought his mouth close to hers and said softly, “You’re blazing away from something, sweetheart.” He gripped her hair tight, allowing her to feel every spectacular inch of him. Until he stopped. His lips brushed against hers. “I’m tempted to see how much more I can make this body shake.” Only then did she realize he was right. Her legs were trembling. Hard. “But I’ll give you what you need.”

The conversation ended, and he kept the promise that his eyes had made earlier. His fingers never left her hair, his other hand held her ass as he fed her desire, driving into her, the misty air easing the burning of her cheeks, as he took her to a place she’d never gone.

One of total surrender.

Within his touch, and in this safe power he exuded, he claimed her body, and she allowed it, melting into him.

Until he stopped.

She cried out in frustration. So close, she was right there. Her entire body shaking now.

He slid both hands to her cheeks. Dark, addictive lust stared back at her. “One thrust and you’ll shatter,” he murmured. “Is that what you would like, Liv, to come?”

She tried to respond, but only another whimper came out.

Miles firmly held her gaze. “Tell me what you’re running from, and I’ll give you what you want.”

“A broken heart,” she managed.

At her answer he thrust once, with such force and intent, that she broke apart fast and hard, and somewhere in all of that, she heard him say, “Good girl.”