Enemies to lovers.
Diamonds at every turn.
Off-the-charts chemistry that neither of them was expecting.
Roman is a tall, gorgeous, and arrogant tycoon who wants to make a name for himself and step out from under his father’s control. He meets his match when he seduces his sultry and curvy rival, Juliana, to get the upper hand on a business deal.
Their business? All about the D… as in diamonds.
But Juliana is no fool. She knows the art of the double-cross, and sees Roman’s cocky tricks — and his generous package — coming at her from a mile away.
Now, he’s about to find out that sometimes, faking it can turn into something real. And when it does, he’s the one who won’t want to let go.
Prologue
Roman
Present Day
She stood at the side of his bed, her brown doe eyes big and wide, pleading up at him for forgiveness, begging for what they used to have to stay the same.
It was too fucking late for that.
She had another thing coming if she thought this time would be like the last.
He wasn’t going to be soft or gentle.
Not after what she’d done to his heart.
He gave her shoulders a shove, pushing her onto the bed. As he got in beside her, he flipped her onto her stomach and tugged down the zipper of the rich red strapless ball gown she had worn to whatever event she was at earlier in the evening. The force of his movement caused a small tear where the zipper stopped, and he felt a hint of satisfaction.
I ruined her dress.
Like she ruined us.
Turning her onto her back, he dragged the dress off of her completely. He used to love staring at her delicate lines and creamy skin. Under the soft light glowing in through the windows at night, she’d always been perfection.
But now, he couldn’t stand to look at her beauty. Not when he knew her own flesh and blood had a hand in turning him into the bad guy. Now, she was just like every other woman who had an agenda when they climbed into his bed.
Her legs parted slightly and he ripped her silky panties off her hips. He did the same with her bra next, and lowered to one breast, sucking her nipple in between his lips. He flicked his tongue across her puckered flesh. She writhed under him, panting for breath, and he threw the shredded fabric clear across the room when he remembered why he was here.
It was to use her perfect fucking body.
To break her.
Like she’d done to him.
She stared up at him, bare, vulnerable. She was filled with lust, but there was a bit of something else in her gaze.
Fear.
Good.
She fucking should be afraid.
Her breath hitched as he grazed callused palms up the sides of her legs. Stopping at her waist, he turned her onto her stomach and raised her ass high into air. Yes, he fucking wanted her, but he was done staring at that face, and those lips that spun lies with such ease.
“Roman,” she whispered his name on a breath.
Undoing his belt buckle, he unbuttoned the waistband, lowered his zipper, and found the strip of three condoms in the pocket of his slacks. He planned on using these up on her tonight.
I’ll fuck her.
Then I’ll do it again, and once more to make her raw before I send her on her way.
He wanted her to remember what it felt like to be owned one minute and discarded the next.
Desired then tossed away.
Trusted then betrayed.
She needed to feel it.
He released his raging erection and gave it a tug. He was almost angry at the sight of a bead of precum at the tip, because it was for her. He silently told himself that he might have been hard as fuck for her, but she didn’t own him. Not after what she’d done. He rolled a condom on, and with a feather light touch, slid a hand across her stomach and down between the tops of her thighs. Cupping her mound, he was rough and abrupt when he curved two thick fingers between her hot folds.
With a hiss of a sigh, she pressed her backside onto his groin. Her tight walls rode his fingers, sucking them into her while grinding her ass against his swollen, rigid cock.
She wanted more.
Needed it.
And fuck, she would get it like an animal needing to scratch an itch. But it wouldn’t mean a thing. Not like it could have.
He palmed her ass cheek and spread them apart, positioning the tip at her slick, glistening center. He dragged his length along her folds, teasing her, extending her anticipation, driving her need so high that she begged for it.
“Please,” she hummed.
“Please what?” he asked.
“Please fuck me, Roman… I need you… Don’t make me wait.”
He smiled a little, knowing that he had her where he wanted her.
She needs me.
But I’m done needing her.
This is just damn good sex now that she shredded me.
She just doesn’t know it yet.
“I want you… so bad,” she called out on a breathy whimper.
It had only been a couple of days since the last time he’d taken her, but tonight was the first time he’d fuck her. This time, he felt nothing.
Just a dull numbness in his heart and anger around his chest.
“How bad?” he asked her on a raspy groan that reminded him how fucking bad he wanted her too.
“So bad, baby… I can’t do without—”
Before she finished her sentence, he sank balls deep into her tightness, entering with a sharp jerk she hadn’t expected. Fuck, she felt so fucking good, so tight and wet around him.
She gripped fistfuls of the bedsheets as he pounded into her, her face now buried into the mattress. He was relentless. One hand dug dull fingernails into her hips while the other anchored her to him from the nape of her neck. He claimed and reclaimed every inch of her, making sure she came for him a few times before he threw her away. Both were sure to leave a mark that would last longer than ever. Good.
Soon, the fused scent of their sweat and her arousal, and the sound of her screams and their slick skin slapping together overtook all his thoughts. Pleasure rolled through him as he fucked her and his rage into oblivion. And when he was done, he climbed off of her, cleaned up in the bathroom, rolled on another condom, and started again.
She wouldn’t be able to shake the memory of tonight once he was done with her. She’d be fucking ruined. And after that, when she realized what she lost, she’d be gutted.
Like she’d done to him.
I’m a Wall Street Journal (Begging for Bad Boys, April, 2017) and USA Today (Begging for Bad Boys, Alpha for the Holidays, Shifters in the Snow: Bundle of Joy, Shifters in the Shadows) Bestselling Author.
I love reading and writing steamy, high-action romance stories about firefighters, billionaires, and alpha males who know what they want and aren’t afraid of laying claim to the women who catch their interest. I love a happy ever after ending. I enjoy reading, hiking, the countryside, and traveling to destinations unspoiled by commercial tourism, like Las Vegas… 🙂
Like so many characters in my novels, I enjoy action, romance and unexpected love connections that take your breath away. For the next while, you’ll find me plotting and writing about my latest stories on my Macbook.
