His strokes grow longer, harsher. He’s unrelenting and unapologetic as he slams into me, colliding over and over until I’m sweating and burning and feel like I’m on the verge of dying wonderfully. Inside me, he distends as his grip on me turns rough and his thrusts turn downright savage.

  “That’s it. I feel you. Hot. Tight. Fuck.” He plows into me again.

  I’ll be sore later. I’ll have bruises tomorrow.

  And I can’t remember ever feeling anything so dizzying and perfect.

  “Chad. I can’t…hold”—I gasp as he hits the most sensitive spot deep inside me again—“back.”

  “Don’t. Come with me. Now.”

  Resisting him and his command is impossible, so I don’t even try. Instead, I let the pleasure roll over me as I rub and grind down on him. The scream that shoots from my throat doesn’t even sound human as the ecstasy explodes inside me, taking my sanity, my will to resist, and my heart.

  Damn it. Somehow, in the span of hours, I fell for Chad Force. And as I wilt against his chest, breathing hard and trying to recover a normal heart rate, I already know I can’t stop and life will never be the same again.

  Chad

  What the hell just happened? One minute I was auditioning a new assistant—which I desperately need—and the next I tumbled her into bed. Now I think I’m losing my heart.

  I’ll have to tread carefully. Savannah is ambitious. She would hate to be placated or coddled. Professionally, I need to let her spread her wings and prove her brilliance—preferably at Force Financial. But personally? She’s mine. She just doesn’t know it yet.

  “Oh my god,” she pants.

  I hold her close, still trying to recover my breath, too. “Yeah.”

  A glance at Hades across the room, lounging with half-slitted eyes on the cozy chair near the fire, tells me he’s none too happy all the bouncing and noise drove him from the bed.

  She sends me a satisfied, blue-eyed smile. “Amazing.”

  I grin back. “Definitely fun.”

  “Fun?” She sounds insulted. “That’s it?”

  I try not to snicker. “Well, I don’t want to go overboard. Anything that’s fun costs at least eight dollars.”

  “What the hell?”

  I can’t hold back my laugh. “At least according to Eric Cartman.”

  “Are you kidding me?” She rolls her eyes. “I would have thought the Chad Force was way too highbrow for South Park.”

  “Nope. Now ‘respect mah authoriteh.’”

  She dissolves into giggles. “Why do I get the feeling there’s never going to be a dull moment with you?”

  “I’ll make sure there isn’t one, sweetheart.” I kiss her forehead, then her lips with a soft brush. “But you had other questions, so I’ll answer them. Hades came to me through my last mistress. He liked me more than he liked her—smart cat—so when I told her I no longer required or desired her, she left him behind.”

  “Mistress?” Clearly, that gives her pause.

  “I’ve never done the girlfriend thing. Negotiating an arrangement beneficial to both parties always suited me. No expectations. No feelings. No surprises. I work ridiculous hours and I’ve never had the time or inclination to worry about someone else’s emotional state. But I screwed up with you.”

  “In what way?”

  “In the past, I settled for women happy with a mere financial arrangement. But you’re ambitious, and I already know that’s not going to fly. I want more from you.” I caress her face. “For the first time in my life, I want something real.”

  “I do, too. But I didn’t go into this thinking we’d have more than tonight.”

  “Do you want more?”

  “Yeah.”

  Her soft admission fills me with relief. “Me, too.”

  She grins. “I knew you were a smart man.”

  “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.”

  She sends me a dry stare. “I said you were smart. I didn’t say you were Stephen-Hawking smart.”

  God, this woman makes me laugh and puts a smile on my face. “What does it say about you that you knew every quote I threw at you except Eric Cartman?”

  “That I don’t listen to crap from a fictional elementary school kid from small-town Colorado, so that probably makes me smarter.”

  “You might be right.” I roll her to her back, gingerly avoiding my sore knee. “So now what?”

  Her expression turns serious. “We need to talk.”

  I thought we just did. “About what?”

  “Really?” Then she does her best Cartman imitation. “When a chick says we need to talk, you might as well start punching yourself in the balls, dude.”

  I let out a hearty laugh, and she giggles in my arms. “I think I love you, Savannah Blythe.”

  “It may sound crazy, but I think I love you, too.”

  This night just keeps getting better and better. “So what comes next for us?”

  “I owe you an explanation, too,” she admits. “My parents…”

  “The ones you don’t discuss with anyone?”

  “Except people I trust.”

  “And you’re trusting me now?”

  She nods. “Don’t make me regret it.”

  “Never.”

  Savannah sighs as if she’s looking for strength. “My mom was born in India, in the same village in which her mother was raised. My grandfather was British, I’m told, there on some research trip. He and my grandmother had a brief relationship, which didn’t work out. Afterward, he went back to London, so my mom never met him.”

  “Did you?”

  She shakes her head. “He never wanted to know us, so I never sought him. But my mother’s birth was a stain on our family, and she’s carried the guilt all her life. She did everything to please my grandmother, but daadee ma always treated my mom as if the out-of-wedlock affair was her fault, so it’s no surprise my mother escaped to America the first chance she had.”

  “I would have, too. What happened?”

  “To make a long story short? My mother fell in love and got pregnant before she realized he was married. He denied fathering me until a DNA test proved otherwise. By then I was five, but he still wanted nothing to do with me. So we’ve never been close.”

  “Why would you be?”

  She nods. “When I was eight, my daadee ma fell ill. My mom raced back to India to care for her, leaving me with my paternal grandmother, Lienna.”

  “The one who loved you?”

  “Totally. But I helped her, too. She moved here from China as an adult, and she still wasn’t steady with the language. I taught her to read and write.”

  “I’m sure she appreciated that. What about your mom? She left for India and…”

  “It was temporary, she said. She was coming back, of course. But she never did. It took daadee ma two years to die. There were always reasons she couldn’t return to the States.” Savannah draws in an unsettled breath. “I found out a few years later that she never moved back because daadee ma talked her into an arranged marriage and she’s had more children. To this day, she’s never told her husband about me.”

  I gather Savannah in my arms. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. You deserve people in your life who are here for you.”

  “I can take care of myself, and Renee has always been in my corner.”

  “You can, and I’m sure she has. But I’d like you to make room for me, too.”

  She gives me a sharp-eyed stare. “How is that going to play out? If I’m working for you, and we’re not strictly professional—”

  “People will talk no matter what. Hell, there have been all kinds of rumors that I fooled around with my last half-dozen assistants. None of that is true.”

  Savannah looks alarmed. “Half-dozen? How often do you hire a new one?”

  “Every few months. Each time I do, they start up a betting pool in Accounting. It should be no surprise that I demand dedication to the job, and that comes with a lot of hours. It’s not for everyone. But I’ve never crossed the line from professional to sexual with any of them, and most everyone else in the organization was happy to see them go because none of them could keep up. I know you’ll be different. You’ll make a name for yourself. And it will have nothing to do with any relationship you have with me.”

  “You sound awfully sure of that.”

  “Because I’m sure of you.” I brush a kiss across her lips because I can’t stop myself. “I’ll call my VP of HR tomorrow and get you an offer…but we have hours until then. I wouldn’t want to waste them.”

  Her smile is somehow joyous and coy at the same time, reaching her eyes to fill them with happiness. “The Asian markets are still open, and we could always study the Dow futures.”

  “True.” I nod as if I’m actually considering her suggestion. “Or I could just spend the next couple of hours with my tongue on your pussy, wringing one orgasm after another from you.”

  “I like your idea way better.”

  “I thought you might. But don’t count on making it back to your bed tonight.”

  “Oh? I don’t mind.”

  “I hope not, because now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t see you making it to your own bed anytime in the near future.”

  She cocks her head. “We might have to negotiate that. I agreed to cede tonight to you, but if you’re asking for longer—”

  “I am, and you know it.”

  “Then it will cost you, Mr. Force.”

  “Will it?” I drop another kiss on her mouth, then another on the softest part of her neck, just beneath her ear. “What did you have in mind?”

  “It just might cost you your heart.”

  “You’re in luck, Ms. Blythe. I think it’s already yours.”

  August 1

  Force Financial Offices, Boston

  Savannah

  “Chad, what are you doing?” I call after my boss and my boyfriend as he tugs me toward the executive conference room. Behind him, Marcus Hunt and Josh Hennessey laugh as they block my escape route down the hall.

  The three of them are definitely up to something.

  When we arrive, all the senior management is crowded inside the room. As soon as I step into the throng, they start clapping.

  I send Chad a suspicious stare. What’s going on here? He gives me a dazzling smile. It matches the grins everyone else is wearing, even Mrs. Turner, the taciturn receptionist.

  I turn to Dan, the doorman who lent me that fateful twenty bucks months ago—and has turned into the best trainee I could have asked for. “Are you in on this?”

  “Me?” he asks way too innocently.

  “Did Renee put all of you up to some early birthday thing?” That’s all I can think of, but it hardly makes sense. My birthday is still three weeks away.

  “No, and if she had, she would want to be here.”

  True. He’s gotten to know Renee almost as well as I do. No shock, really. He’s been asking her out nonstop for months. She’s been wary after her last relationship ended so badly in April, but I think Dan is wearing her down. And good for them.

  “So what’s going on?” I insist.

  He shrugs. Hunt and Hennessey do the same. Then I settle my stare on the man who never fails to make my heart skip a beat, especially when he heaps the pleasure on me that has me biting my lip so I don’t scream down the walls—just like I did in his office two hours ago.

  “Come and see.” Chad pulls me to the middle of the room. “Attention, everyone. I’d like to make an announcement.”

  My heart stops. What the hell is he doing? Hopefully, he’s not confirming the rumors that we’re having a relationship to everyone in the organization.

  “Mr. Force?”

  Chad ignores me. “As many of you know, longtime employee Barney Townsend recently retired from his position as director of Emerging Overseas Markets. I’ve searched high and low for the best possible replacement, then I realized the one who’s been doing the job admirably for the past two months is the most qualified to fill Barney’s shoes. So I’m pleased to announce that, effective next Monday, I’m promoting Savannah Blythe into that position.”

  I gape up at Chad as everyone around us claps. His big, beaming smile shines down on me. His expression tells me he’s proud of all I’ve accomplished, and he wants everyone to know. My heart swells with so much pride—and love. He’s given me space to make a name for myself in his organization, and now, when Chad is tied up in meetings, employees come to me without a second thought.

  It’s been an amazing couple of months, and I’ve learned so much. His show of trust in me and my abilities warms me everywhere, as well as makes my eyes sting and my throat tighten.

  “Seriously?” I croak.

  “Seriously.”

  I’m bypassing the analyst and manager positions and being promoted straight into the director’s seat?

  A huge smile crawls across my face. “Oh my god. Thank you. I’m thrilled and honored, sir.”

  He nods as Hennessey shoves a hand in my direction. “You’ve more than earned it, Blythe. But I’m put out with Chad because he wouldn’t promote you to my department. I need a go-getter like you.”

  “Back off,” Hunt growls. “I asked her to transfer to my team after her first week here. Chad, the stingy bastard, kept hoarding her.”

  I laugh. In truth, they’ve both been wonderful mentors and friends. They’re the closest things Chad has to brothers, and I’ve been so blessed to have them in my life—after I scolded them both for trying to pull that fast one on me just before I hired on.

  “I wasn’t giving her to either of you.” Chad scowls. “She doesn’t need the training wheels of working on a well-oiled team. She’s ready to lead her own. Congratulations, Savannah.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Mrs. Turner, who I would have sworn disapproved of me the day we met, produces a round cake with Tiffany-blue fondant, a cluster of frosting roses at the top, and lovely script font that reads Congratulations, Savannah across the middle.

  “Oh my goodness. It’s beautiful! Thank you so much.”

  “You’ve been a joy to work with, dear.” The older woman pats my hand, then proceeds to serve cake to the smiling management team.

  Chad’s hand lingers on the back of my chair. I can tell he wants to touch me but doesn’t want to undermine my professional credibility. But if we were alone…

  Over the last six months, the man has proven inexhaustible and insatiable. All he ever does is make money or make me feel pleasure. I’m so lucky. And I’m so in love with him it’s ridiculous.

  I can’t imagine my life without him.

  “So that’s a yes? You’ll take the job?” Chad prompts, extending his hand to me.

  “Of course it’s a yes, Mr. Force. I’m honored.”

  After we shake, the cluster of cheering Force Financial employees finish their cake and begin to file out of the conference room. Several stop to smile my way and offer their congratulations. A few other department heads tell me quietly they lobbied Chad to have me moved to their departments before being turned away.

  Once the room empties, Chad gestures me out the door with a gentlemanly sweep of his hand. “If you’ll come back to my office, we’ll negotiate salary and terms.”

  He means we’ll volley back and forth while he tries to talk me out of my skirt. “Of course.”

  Once inside his office, he shuts the door—and drops the purely professional pretense by taking me in his arms and kissing me. “Happy, sweetheart?”

  “Thrilled. And shocked. It’s a big responsibility. Thank you for trusting me with such an important role.”

  “You can handle it. And you’re ready. I wouldn’t have promoted you if I wasn’t one-hundred-percent convinced of that.”

  “Coming from you, that means a lot.”

  He smiles. “So…let’s talk terms.”

  I cross my arms over my chest and prepare for this argument. In truth, I’ve come to love our verbal foreplay. And I know that grin of his. He wants to play hardball, and it already has me squirming hot. “All right. Make me an offer.”

  “Eighty-five thousand, three weeks’ vacation, and an eight percent annual bonus for all metrics met.”

  I raise a brow at him. “I hope that’s a joke.”

  His face doesn’t change, but I know him. I see the smile lurking in his eyes. “Why would you think so? I just offered you a thirty-five percent raise, not including your executive bonus.”

  “You did. But two of Hennessey’s directors make over a hundred grand.”

  “They’ve been here longer.”

  “So? You hired Hunt’s last director, Alejandra Samos, fresh off the street three months ago, and she makes ninety-five. She also gets four weeks’ vacation and a ten percent bonus.”

  “But Shawn Amos has been here just over a year, and he makes seventy-eight, along with the rest of the benefits I’m offering you.”

  “Please. He’s acting in that position, like I have been. If you make him permanent, you’ll bump his salary and benefits.”

  “I’ve never promoted anyone up four levels as quickly as I have you. Your salary will take a bit more time to come up.”

  “You either believe I can do the job and are willing to pay me accordingly or not. If you’re not, I’ll go out to my desk and simply continue being your assistant. And good luck finding someone qualified to take over Townsend’s chair in less than a week. But if you truly believe in me, I’m expecting a hundred grand, four weeks’ vacation, and ten percent. Take it or leave it.”

  A smile breaks out across his face. “Done. By the way, I had a guess what we’d be settling on. Want to see?”

  This ought to be amusing. “Sure.”

  He reaches into his desk and retrieves an envelope, then hands it to me. I open it to find a piece of paper with his distinctive scrawl. “You thought I’d settle for ninety-five, three weeks, and ten percent? You silly, misguided man…”