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Cole held Savannah in his arms as long as he dared. She hadn’t so much as stirred since collapsing in his bed just a few hours earlier. He debated raising hell with Grant this early in the AM versus risking an argument with Savannah when she finally did wake up. It was still dark outside when he curled one large bicep around the brunette and used the other to reach for the phone. He kept it in silent mode as he typed.
Need the day off.
He knew Grant wouldn’t like it, but so what? Cole hadn’t had a day off since they’d stepped off the plane in Boise months ago. He was due, and Savannah needed him. To his surprise, Cole’s former Marine Captain texted him back rather quickly.
Me, too. Fishing?
Cole frowned and tapped his thumbs on the keyboard in the dark.
Can’t.
If he thought that would be the end of it, he was deluding himself. Grant Daniels ran the Moon Lake Lodge the same way he’d run their unit in the Corps. With zero tolerance for bullshit.
Why? — came the answer.
The Cap somehow managed to sound imperious even in 10-point font. Cole didn’t feel like typing out a long-winded explanation. And what would he say, anyway? He had no idea how long she’d be at his place. For all he knew, she’d play dumb again, pass off her promise to give him anything he wanted in exchange for a place to crash as just another drunken faux pas. Then he’d get her paws right in his puss.
He sniffed.
Speaking of puss.
He looked down at the half-dressed New York debutante. She wasn’t quite naked. She was wearing a bra and matching panties. Cute, but that wouldn’t do. Not at all.
Savannah’s with me, he typed. He pressed send.
The reply was swift and brutal.
I don’t care if she let you go around the world. Get your ass to the cabins by 0730.
Cole sighed quietly.
He’d hoped the Cap’s girlfriend, Paige, would have done a better job blunting the man’s sharp edges. But apparently the Captain was only soft for his woman.
Meanwhile, Cole was getting hard for his.
His dick was a bastard.
Good thing the rest of him wasn’t.
Cole copied and pasted the headline he’d discovered the night before. Rereading it still managed to stir murderous feelings in him.
Real Estate Mogul Caught Running Underage Prostitution Ring.
Cole hated sharing Savannah’s business like this, but the Cap’s self-imposed social media boycott would only isolate him for so long. Eventually, Paige and Tallulah would know, if they didn’t already. Indeed, half the world knew by now. The other half was merely still asleep.
Grant’s response was as quick as before, reminding Cole that although the older man shunned most forms of technology, it wasn’t because Grant didn’t know how to use them.
Take as much time as you need.
Cole smiled. It was good when the boss had your back, in and out of the field. He turned his phone completely off and picked up Savannah’s phone too. Then he unzipped her suitcase. Quietly, he set about separating Savannah from her clothes, so she couldn’t leave, and her gun, so she couldn’t shoot him when she discovered that she couldn’t leave, and her phone so she couldn’t do anything stupid with it.
He put them all into the bottom of his foot locker. Just before he closed the lid, he selected a pristine white folded handkerchief and a pair of stainless-steel handcuffs. Then he closed the trunk and slid the cool steel of the padlock back into place.
Cole had never met a woman as resourceful as Savannah, except maybe Tallulah. If she called Tallulah for help, Cole was almost half convinced the pixie really would just wave a magic wand at the footlocker and pop it open like an overripe gourd. But Savannah, he was sure, couldn’t get the locker open even with a hammer, and he knew she’d never find the key.
Now, he stood at the foot of the bed and looked down at Savannah’s sleeping form. It seemed a shame to wake her. But you could only find out so much from an unconscious person. Which was not to say you couldn’t discover anything at all from someone who was asleep. You absolutely could.
For example, Cole had slept beside Savannah enough times now to know that despite what she said, she enjoyed cuddling. She also liked the room temperature a bit on the cooler side, just like he did.
Six months in the jungle would do that to a man.
He didn’t have a blanket which might have accounted for some of the cuddling. Cole didn’t mind keeping the temperature a little low every time they were together. He wasn’t above setting up traps for his little fox
His dick was being a hound, though.
It twitched while he watched her.
He crossed to the bed and gingerly slid the cuffs around one of the rails of the headboard. She’d never slept in his bed before and hadn’t realized it wasn’t like the other hotel beds. It was good for a few surprises. When he was finished, his fingers brushed the gold man’s watch she always wore on her left wrist.
He had questions about that.
About other things, too.
But this was Savannah’s game.
No questions, she’d said.
And he had agreed.
She had fallen into his trap, but she still set the rules. Of course, she didn’t need to know that she set the rules. Cole extracted information. He didn’t give it. At least not freely. If she wanted anything from him, it would cost her.
Dearly.
As he looked her over, he wondered if she could afford it. Her pride was the monster in the room. Sometimes it took chunks out of lesser men. Cole had seen it. The girl had a jab that had broken at least one nose since Cole had known her. She also had a tongue like a samurai sword, and she wielded it like an Old Master.
Pity, because he found himself wondering what that tongue would feel like on his shaft.
Too close to her teeth, though.
If Cole had set a trap for Savannah in his bed, the one in her mouth was far more dangerous. He’d have to tread around it like a land mine. He only had one type of Bouncing Betty in mind.
He crossed the room again and turned up the thermostat a bit. In just a few minutes, the room would be downright uncomfortable.
Unless you were naked.
His cock twitched at the thought.
As many times as he’d been in bed with her, he still hadn’t seen her naked. Unless you counted that moonlit night up over the Rim when Cole had been too far away to touch her, and he did not count that.
When she’d knocked on his door last night in the wee hours, she’d said he could have whatever he wanted. Cole wanted a lot of things from Savannah. About half of them involved her naked. A few of them required it.
They could start with that.
Besides, it was harder to lie without any clothes on.
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Savannah woke to the not-unpleasant sensation of Cole’s body stretched out over hers. She liked sleeping with him, though she would never tell him that. He was always warm, something she could find in the night when she opened her eyes and couldn’t stop herself from making sure the bathroom door was shut tight.
His hands slid over her arms and she sighed. She loved it when he touched her. She wished he could touch her everywhere at once, but again, she’d never admit it. It wasn’t until his hands suddenly clamped down on her wrists that she felt a spike of panic. Her eyes fluttered open.
He forced her arms over her head and she heard a sharp, metal click that sent a violent shiver down her spine. It happened so fast. He was pinning her body down with his own weight. She struggled against him until he finally let her go, but she could see— and feel— that it was already too late.
Above her head, her wrists were sporting a pair of silver handcuffs. She jerked on them, hoping the rails of the headboard would give way, but they remained steadfast as she pulled.
“What the fuck?” she hissed. “Get these fucking things—“
Suddenly, Cole had one hand on the back of her neck and the other at her mouth. Before she realized what was happening, he’d stuffed something that felt like fabric between her lips. She tried to bite him, but he pulled his fingers away just in time.
Savannah clamped down on the fabric in her mouth. There was no point in screaming. No one would hear her anyway. She tugged at the cuffs, knowing they wouldn’t give an inch, but still trying, just in case. The steel clanked against the gold of her Cartier watch. There was no escape. No hope for rescue. She looked up at the Marine towering over her with a knife in his hand.
Cole looked down at her, his expression was totally unreadable, but his cock was already beginning to rise to the occasion behind his shorts. Then his lips parted. “Rent’s due.”
Jennifer says
May 4, 2023 at 5:38 pmSo excited to see this newest entry. MORE please! Immediately checked to see if this book was available to purchase. Fingers crossed it will be released soon. Your characters are all wonderful. Please never stop writing.
Dahlia West says
September 27, 2023 at 11:51 amRight in the middle of finishing it, I had to move out of my house and into a hotel so my dog could be treated for cancer in another city. That upended my life, spectacularly, for several weeks.
I wanted it to be out by Midsummer, but the Man in the Moon had other plans.
The book should be out at the end of Sept/early Oct.
Mindy says
August 19, 2023 at 4:59 pmI love all your work! You are an excellent author! Have been waiting FOREVER for Moon Lake books 2 (&3?). Good luck finishing them! We love you, and we are waiting (semi-) patiently.
But, remember, there is a special level of hell reserved for authors who cliffhang, and never finish. I was assured of that by an ancient used bookstore owner. Beware!