Devoted to Pleasure (Devoted Lovers, Book 1) by Shayla Black

BLURB

Bodyguard and former military man Cutter Bryant has always done his duty–no matter what the personal cost. Now he’s taking one last high-octane, high-dollar assignment before settling down in a new role that means sacrificing his chance at love. But he never expects to share an irresistible chemistry with his beautiful new client.

Fame claimed Shealyn West suddenly and with a vengeance after starring in a steamy television drama, but it has come at the expense of her heart. Though she’s pretending to date a co-star for her image, a past mistake has come back to haunt her. With a blackmailer watching her every move and the threat of career-ending exposure looming, Shealyn hires Cutter to shore up her security, never imagining their attraction will be too powerful to contain.

As Shealyn and Cutter navigate the scintillating line between business and pleasure, they unravel a web of secrets that threaten their relationship and their lives. When danger strikes, Cutter must decide whether to follow his heart for the first time, or risk losing Shealyn forever.

 

 

EXCERPT

 

“Cutter?”

She sounded unsure. Was she afraid of the dark? Of what had happened with her blackmailer earlier? Or what might happen betweenthe two of them next?  

He moved closer slowly, giving her plenty of time to back away. “I’m here.”

Shealyn allayed his worries when, instead of retreating or flipping the light switch beside her, she reached for him, fingers curling around his arm like she was grabbing a lifeline.

Cutter edged into her personal space. She didn’t put distance between them, just exhaled in relief and pressed herself against him.

Oh, god. She wanted something from him that didn’t feel merely like comfort.

He was going to have to deal with the two dirtbags who were after Shealyn and convince her to let him hunt them down to see justice served. To do that, he would have to focus on something besides her sweet, addicting mouth.

But unless someone charged in, gun drawn, threats spewing, that wasn’t happening now.

The thought that she was here, safe, and wanting his touch tore the leash from his restraint.

Cutter took her shoulders in hand and nudged her back against the wall. She went with a gasp. In one motion, he flattened himself against her, palms braced above her head, hips rocking against the soft pad of her pussy. He couldn’t hold in the groan that tore from his chest.

“I shouldn’t do this but . . . goddamn it. If you don’t want this, stop me. A word will do it.” Cutter tried to wait for her assent, but the sensual curve of her throat beckoned him. He bent, inhaled her, grew dizzy from her scent. It reminded him of the gardenias Mama used to grow in the spring. Blended with that scent was the thick aroma of her arousal, pungent and dizzying. “Say it now, sweetheart.”

Shealyn ignored him, rocking against him, her head falling to the side as she offered him her neck—and any other part of her he wanted. “Why would I tell you to go when I want you closer?”

She wasn’t going to stop him. And she wouldn’t save him from himself. Drowning in her would be a singular pleasure that would be worth whatever the price—even his heart.  

Cutter fastened his mouth to hers again and tugged on the bottom of her turtleneck, only breaking the kiss when the sweater came between them. The moment he yanked it over her head and tossed it to the floor, he captured her lips once more, growling at the heady feel of the warm, smooth skin of her back, bare under his palms.

Shealyn moved restlessly against him, fisting his T-shirt in her hands and giving it a tug. She raised the thin cotton over his abdomen and chest, but got stuck at his shoulders. Her moan pleaded with him. She wanted the shirt gone and she wanted it now.

Cutter took over, tearing his mouth from hers and shrugging off the holster. When it fell to the tile with a seemingly distant clang, he reached behind his neck and jerked the T-shirt from his body. Using one hand, he tossed it aside. The other slid down Shealyn’s spine to cup her pretty, pert ass.

Jesus, she was like all his hottest fantasies, but better. Because she was real and, right now, she desired him.

When his second hand joined the first on her luscious backside, he bent and lifted her, parting her legs and sliding between them with a growl. She wrapped her legs around him, clutched his shoulders, and swayed against him as if she wanted nothing more than to be as close as two people could.

The attraction between them was chemical, animal—unlike anything he’d ever felt. He needed to get on top of her, be inside of her, root as deep into her as he could. The wall had been convenient for a mere kiss, but it was a damn hindrance now. He couldn’t have Shealyn the way he craved her here.

“Hold on to me,” he demanded as he clasped her tighter and trekked down the hall, across the expansive living room and the glitzy view, then strode into her bedroom.

The stars of L.A. beckoned beyond the French doors. He didn’t give them a second glance, not when he had Shealyn West in his arms.

She pressed kisses to his jaw, his lips, his forehead. She nipped at his earlobe, her soft pant a shiver down his spine. “Cutter . . . I-I need you.”  

Yeah, he understood her perfectly, even though nothing between them made a damn lick of sense. But tonight had flipped some switch inside him. He could no longer pretend—to her or himself—that his feelings for her were strictly professional. No, he craved her alive and responding, clawing, wailing, begging, seemingly his . . . even if it wouldn’t last.

“I’m here.” He laid her across the bed and climbed over her, settling his hips between her legs. He wished they were naked. He wished he was inside of her, already one with her as he pressed his erection to her softness. “I’m not going anywhere unless you want me to.”

She paused and blinked up at him as if she was trying to gauge how much he really meant that. Why would she doubt him? Or her own appeal, given how quickly she’d dismantled his self-control?

“I don’t want you anywhere else.” She skated her palms over his shoulders, even as she parted her thighs to take him deeper.

Her touch sent an electric reaction zipping through his veins. He curled his fingers around one of her shoulders in return, lowering her bra strap. When she didn’t object, he tugged down the lacy cup and exposed her breast.

Holy hell. He had to have that taut pink flesh in his mouth now. He had to savor her, suck her like a sweet summer berry. He craved his lips against her skin.

Without another thought, he lowered his head and lapped her rigid peak with his tongue. She gasped, arched up, clasping him like she never wanted him to let go. He sucked harder.

He’d known she would be beautiful. He’d known she would feel like heaven. He had never expected her to respond so perfectly to him, with little catches of breath as she burrowed her fingers in his hair, urging him closer.

Under his body, Shealyn writhed, trying to shimmy out of her bra. She couldn’t reach the clasp—and he couldn’t bring himself to allow enough space between them for her to do the job—but she still managed to work the other strap down and peel the cup away.

Cutter seized the unclaimed space instantly. He broke the suction from the first peak and shifted to the other. Oh, hell yes. Soft and velvety, her breasts beckoned him the way the rest of her did—every part from her pouty lips to her sweetly sassy spirit. He loved that she wasn’t all bones, hadn’t subscribed to the Hollywood belief that a woman with hips should immediately begin starving to save her career.

He couldn’t wait to see Shealyn naked, wrap his arms around her, sink into her. Take her. Make her his for the few golden hours it lasted.

With a move Cage had taught him in high school, Cutter slid a hand beneath her and pinched the clasp of her bra. The undergarment propped free, and he stripped it from her body.

A voice in the back of his head reminded him that getting inside her shouldn’t be his top priority. But a primal fever burned him, urging him on. It wouldn’t cool and it wouldn’t bow to logic or civility. It didn’t give a shit right now if he was professional. It could care less what else was going on in their lives. It wanted to claim Shealyn, mark her as his woman.

 

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