Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 67966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Thorn shook Oliver’s hand and kissed TJ on his smooth cheek. He’d missed him in the house.
TJ had been a gentleman at Belladonna for three years, healing many hearts, until Oliver came and he’d fallen in love.
“I’m glad you both could make it. It warms my heart to see you two together.”
After they left, Lucas pulled Thorn into him and whispered against the shell of his ear, “I need five minutes alone with you…now.”
Thorn led Lucas toward the other side of the mansion and into his office. He closed them inside, and Lucas barely waited for the door to shut before he shoved Thorn against the nearest hard surface and pressed their bodies together.
“I’ve wanted to do this all fuckin’ night.” Lucas lowered Thorn’s collar to suck on his pulse. “I should’ve known you’d be the most popular one here.”
Thorn turned his head, groaning at Lucas’s warm lips pulling at his throat.
“So this is the haven of hearts.” Lucas hummed. “Guess I had to see it for myself.”
“My gentlemen are wonderful, are they not?”
“They are exceptional. Your whole business is, Thorn. To see the couples return and share their progress and growth. It’s inspiring, babe.”
Thorn smiled. “Are you considering becoming a resident?”
Thorn both meant it and didn’t. He wanted Lucas, had from the moment he’d stepped in and rescued him.
Lucas caressed Thorn’s cheek. “I haven’t been able to think of anything else…and maybe an investor.”
Thorn’s pulse quickened.
He needed to know exactly what they were doing. He’d never taken a heart so fresh from a divorce, and it’d been years since Thorn had thought of his own loneliness.
“I’m conflicted. I’ve come to a decision, but for the first time, I’m uncertain of the outcome.”
“Meaning?”
“It means—” Lucas rubbed his temples, making Thorn nervous. “I like you, Thorn, a lot. More than I thought I could after the bullshit I’ve been through. And I’d like to continue seeing you and getting to know you outside of Belladonna.”
Thorn was more than all right with what Lucas was admitting so far, but there was still a lot of hesitancy in his tone.
“I won’t begin a relationship as a business transaction.” Thorn shook his head, but Lucas stopped what he was about to say. “My life is dominated by business deal after business deal and endless contract negotiations. My personal life has to be a refuge from all that.”
He and Lucas had met in the traditional serendipitous way. Lucas had rushed to his rescue like a knight in shining armor, sweeping him off his feet. If Thorn was honest, he also wanted Lucas outside of Belladonna.
The idea of having something all to himself was erotically appealing…and dangerous.
Lucas touched their foreheads together, combing his fingers through Thorn’s hair. The edge of his desk dug into his lower back as Lucas pressed harder against him.
He groaned, unable to put into words how good it felt.
“Did I tell you how gorgeous you look tonight?”
The compliment stole Thorn’s breath, along with the gentle drag of Lucas’s thumb across his cheekbone.
For a man so ruthless in business, his touch was surprisingly tender.
Thorn grinned. “Once or twice.”
Lucas’s low hum vibrated his sensitive skin. “Let me stay with you tonight.”
Thorn was just about to say “hell yes” when his desk phone rang.
“Dammit,” he cursed under his breath.
“Don’t answer,” Lucas said, cupping his chin and tilting his head back to keep kissing his throat.
“It could be one of my investigators.” He chuckled at the hard suck Lucas gave him just over his pulse.
He frowned at the unknown number, but decided to answer it anyway and hit the intercom button.
A crackling distortion came through the speaker before a voice that sounded like metal grinding over stone began to speak.
“You think you’re untouchable behind those big walls, Thorn Blackwell. But you’re not.”
Thorn stiffened in Lucas’s arms.
“Soon, you’re gonna get what you deserve.”
Lucas squeezed him tighter.
“You ruin hearts—you don’t repair them. What about the men you’ve broken, the ones you’ve discarded? I’m going to tear you apart, limb from limb, piece by piece, until there’s nothing left of you or the so-called haven you hide in.”
The voice gritted a final promise, “I’m gonna destroy everything you love, Thorn Blackwell,” before the line went dead.
Silence. Then Lucas swore, every muscle in his body coiled.
“I’m assigning you a security detail. Tonight.” Lucas’s tone was boardroom serious and left no room for argument.
Thorn shook his head, waving his hand carelessly toward the phone.
“It isn’t the first threat I’ve gotten, Luc, and it won’t be the last. Abusive lovers, bitter exes…men who weren’t ready to get left behind. They lash out when they can’t accept that Belladonna gave their ex what they didn’t.”
Lucas’s jaw flexed as if he were unconvinced.
“My house is Fort Knox,” Thorn said firmly. “Every lock, every camera, every gate airtight. My priority is keeping my gentlemen and their hearts safe.”