Will froze for a moment. She didn’t look real, standing there in all her color and softness in the midst of everything that wasn’t. Her beauty didn’t belong here, and yet Will couldn’t have been happier to see it again. He felt bursts of emotion run through his skin as he stared at her, soaking in every inch as she searched the room for his face.

“Whoa…” said Ghost from his seat suddenly, halting his annoying fake monologue. He was looking at Eva, too. “I mean… whoa. She’s like a cupcake come to life.”

Will put his beer down and gave Ghost a stern look. “Behave?”

“I wanna eat her right up.”

“Ghost.”

“I’m serious. You better be able to get around that bar faster than I can get off this stool.” Ghost started chugging his beer and held up his fingers in a slow, awkward countdown as he drank. Will just shook his head and slapped the back of Ghost’s as he came out from behind the bar and walked by.

Will felt his heart start to race as he walked up Eva. When she spotted him, her face immediately lit up in a smile that crinkled her eyes and sent a heated flush through her skin. He saw her jaw drop a little when he stopped before her.

Eva stared deep into his eyes, like she was searching for something. “Wow, I… I came here to check and see if you were doing okay, but I can see already… you look like a different man.”

Will flushed with a rare feeling of self-consciousness, smiling downward. He took his big right hand and grasped the middle of Eva’s fidgeting fingers, holding them there in a warm, tight embrace. She wrapped her hands around his lovingly, her small fingers curled and rubbing in little strokes.

“I hope not so different,” said Will. “I’m sorry I haven’t reached out to you. What you saw in me…” He shook his head. “I figured you’d never want to see me again.”

Eva smiled softly at him. She put a palm up to his face and caressed his cheek, and Will felt his stomach flutter. “I did see some darkness,” she agreed slowly. “But I think I also saw a true glimpse of who you are, Will. And I think that’s the man who is standing in front of me right now.”

“I wish you didn’t have to see me like that,” said Will. “I know I was already deep in before you arrived, but I still wish… I still wish I could take it back.” He squeezed her hands. “It was old pain I was fighting, but a new danger that was real. I only wanted to protect you. You believe that, right?”

Eva nodded. “I do. And you did, Will. You protected us. You made the difference. I’m glad the wolf in you was there when we needed it.” She smiled a little. “Coriolanus wasn’t all wrong…”

Will returned her grin. She’s really not afraid. She’s like a queen. My queen.

She looked down like she was gathering her courage. “You’ve made a difference to me. A big difference. I know I don’t really fit into your world here and… and I understand if your interest isn’t the same… but I just wanted you to know that you made me feel more alive than I’ve ever felt. And I’ve had enough of being alone, and enough of being careful, for a fucking lifetime.”

Will raised his eyebrows at her curse, and couldn’t help but smile. It made Eva blush.

“I just mean… I liked spending time with you, and for more reasons than just your dick,” she said with a mischievous smile that made Will ache with lust. “So if you wanted to keep spending time together, maybe try and see what we’re like without a bounty hanging over our heads, I think I would like that.”

Will smiled so big, his face muscles hurt. He leaned down and rested his forehead on Eva’s, whispering, “You really would?”

Eva nodded under his face, and planted a tiny, heartbreaking kiss on his lips.

“My life isn’t always as insane as last week, but it’s also not boring. Are you sure you want that kind of trouble?”

Eva smiled. “Are you kidding?” She reached a hand out and ran it across his abs, under his cut, and around his back. Will groaned as even this touch made his lust start boiling for her. “I’m done being jealous of my books. I want some adventures of my own.”

Will wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her into him. “I think I can help with that.” He cupped her jaw and ran a soft thumb across her pale skin before he leaned his lips into hers, kissing her with slow, deliberate passion as she clung to him tighter.

It was only a few seconds before the men in the room erupted into ludicrous cat-calls, whistles, and howling as they watched Will and Eva kiss. They tried to ignore it, but the longer they did, the louder everyone became until he and Eva both broke down into embarrassed laughter as the MC got riled up. Sometimes, Will forgot how much of himself he kept hidden from the people in his life—this was the first time the MC had ever seen him with a woman who wasn’t just a casual fuck.

“Well done, sir!” Jase clapped from the pool table.

Will shook his head and looked down at Eva with apologetic eyes. “Welcome to the jungle, I suppose.”

“If Will’s going monogamous, tell the house ladies I’m taking his spot as the club’s sex-crazed maniac,” said Ghost, raising his beer in the air. “To my dick, and all its future successes!” Before he could take a drink, someone threw an empty beer can at him, making him spill his beer with a curse.

Will shot Eva a glance, worried about how she’d react to Ghost’s mention of his prior sex life, but Eva surprised him again by laughing full and loud, with only a little embarrassment on her flushed cheeks. She tucked her head against Will’s chest and he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer, planting a kiss on top of her head as he led her into the den to make introductions.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bestselling author Sienna Valentine grew up in Canada and still lives there, spending her time reading and writing.  Steamy romance has always been her favorite genre, and now finds that the only thing more satisfying than dreaming up her fantasies in the first place, is writing them down and being able to share them with others.

You can find Sienna on facebook here:

www.facebook.com/Sienna-Valentine-429498083819222

Don’t forget, if you want to be the first to know about her upcoming projects or join her ARC team, be sure to sign up on her mailing list right here: http://hyperurl.co/2u6hlg

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would to thank all of my wonderful readers who have given me a chance to live my dream of writing for a living.  I hope that each book I write is better than the last so that I never disappoint you.

I would also like to thank my ARC and Beta readers that were very helpful in pointing out issues that my own eyes passed over after multiple edits.   It’s so helpful having a group of wonderful women that are eager to read my sometimes unfinished and unpolished work and give me constructive feedback.  You are all very patient and I appreciate every one of you!

ALSO BY SIENNA

Desperados

Sanctum (Black Dogs MC Book 1)

Slade: A Stepbrother Romance

With Aubrey St. Clair

Fighting for Salvation

Trust

Silver and Chrome (coming in October)

Excerpt From Slade

SLADE

~ PROLOGUE ~

Slade

“Slade, wait… I’m a virgin.”

That’s what Iris said to me two months ago, when we were in the same position then—only that first time, her ass wasn’t on the kitchen counter of her parents’ pool house. Our parents’ pool house.

The first time we’d fucked had been in her bed, still made up in frilly comforters and pillows and being watched by the stuffed animals on her shelves. You would’ve never guessed Iris Walker was eighteen years old. Not by the way she still clung to her innocence like it was her very own lifeboat.