His Ward Read online

  “Out of sorts! I can’t… You stupid…” Nicholi fumed. “I’ll call you back.”

  The call disconnected before Misha could reply, but that was more than fine with Misha. He had much more pressing issues to attend to. With little thought of his digital leash, he dropped the phone carelessly on the tabletop and reached for Tionne, who was standing next to him, and pulled her down onto his lap.

  “Good morning,” he murmured seconds before covering her mouth with his own.

  AFTER WAKING UP alone, Tionne had briefly worried if Misha was going to pull the we-made-a-big-mistake card, but from the fervor of his kiss, she could tell her previous misgivings were dead wrong. So she gave in to the moment, in to the man, and surrendered herself to him. She put all her love and desire for him into the embrace, giving as good as she got for several pussy-dampening seconds before finally pulling back and running her tongue over her bruised lips. His kiss warmed her from her lips to her toes. She could definitely get used to this. “Morning.”

  Misha brushed her hair behind her ear, then cupped her cheek as he studied her intently. “Did you sleep well?”

  “How could I not with you next to me?” Tionne moved in to kiss him again but stopped halfway when she heard a faint but familiar musical tune. “Do you hear that?”

  “Hear what?”

  There was a brief pause; then the music started again. “That. I think it’s my cell.”

  She moved as if to stand, but to her surprise, Misha dropped his hand to her hip and held her tightly to him. “Ignore it.”

  “Why?” Confusion laced her voice.

  “Because it’s just Nicholi,” he said matter-of-factly. “Give him a minute. He’ll call your house phone next.”

  Tionne pulled back and narrowed her gaze. Now he really wasn’t making any sense. “What’s going on?”

  Misha’s lips spread in an evil little grin. “A little payback is all, love.”

  “Payback? What does that me—” Tionne’s house phone rang, cutting her off midsentence.

  Misha leaned back in the chair and grabbed the cordless phone from her kitchen counter. “Watch this.” He pressed the speaker button, then held the phone up so they both could hear it clearly.

  “Oh honey.” Nicholi’s angry voice filled the room. “I’m so sorry. My cousin is such an idiot. Are you okay? Tell me you’re okay. This is all my fault. I don't know what’s wrong with him, but he’s a fool. The biggest fool to ever walk this earth. I swear to God, when I get my hands on him, I’m going to kill him.”

  “But if you kill me, who will sign your paycheck?” Misha said, interrupting his cousin’s death threats as if he’d been expecting nothing less. “Trust me, I’m worth more to you alive than I am dead, cousin of mine.”

  The silence that followed was deafening, as was the loud round of vulgar words that came tumbling out after in both English and Bosnian. Words that made Tionne happy she’d never developed an ear for foreign languages, because, from the sounds of it, whatever Nicholi was saying, it wasn’t nice at all.

  “Smiri se, rođaka,” Misha said teasingly.

  “Don’t tell me to calm down. You calm down, you bastard!”

  “Time out, you two,” Tionne said loudly. “Does someone want to let me in on the joke too?”

  “Ask your boyfriend what’s so damned funny,” Nicholi said petulantly. “Because I don’t want to talk to him ever again.”

  “We’re still on for golf tomorrow, though, right?” Misha asked, as if his cousin’s words didn’t bother him at all.

  “You’re dead to me.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll see you at eight.”

  Nicholi snorted. “Whatever,” he said, then hung up.

  Tionne waited until Misha clicked off the phone and placed it back on the charger before asking the million-dollar question. “Okay, I’ll try again. What was that about?”

  “A pissing contest. Nothing more.” Misha grinned.

  “And he lost.”

  “There aren’t winners or losers, moja draga, just good old-fashioned fun.”

  “Nicholi didn’t sound like he was having fun.”

  “Well, I was. On to more interesting topics,” Misha said huskily as his gaze traveled down the length of her barely covered body. “Have I told you how much I love you in my clothes?”

  “Have I told you how much I love you out of them?”

  He laughed seductively. “I guess I’ll have to be naked more often, then, since keeping you happy is my primary goal in life.”

  “Is it, now?” Tionne ran her fingertips down his bare chest and around his pebbled nipples, causing Misha to let out a little moan.

  “A man has to have a hobby.”

  Tionne undulated on his lap, smiling coyly when she felt his body respond to her movements. “And yours is going to be pleasing me?”

  “Can you think of a better one?”

  “Not at all. In fact, I think you should make it more than a hobby. Make it a career. Just live to please me.”

  “A career, huh?” Misha moved his hands from her hips to the front of her shirt and began to slowly unbutton it. “I don't think so.”

  “No?”

  He undid the last button, then pulled the shirt open so she was bare before him. “No. I think you’d make a much better kept woman than I ever could a kept man.”

  “Kept woman.” Tionne grabbed the edges of the shirt and pulled them back together. She was down for fun and games, but even she had her limits. “I don’t think so. In fact, let’s make a couple things clear. Just because we’re getting all horizontal with each other doesn’t mean I’m going to go back to work for you or start letting you boss me around. Nor are we going to be running down the altar anytime soon. I still have things to do and see before I settle down, you know.”

  “As long as you come home to me, I can wait.” He grabbed hold of her shirt and yanked it out of her hands. “A year…or two.”

  “Or four or five,” she countered, just to be contrary.

  Misha slid his hands up her arms to her shoulders, then pushed the shirt down and off her body. “Let’s meet in the middle at three.”

  Tionne’s nipples tightened, and her pussy instantly became wet. Maybe she was up for a game or two after all. “What do I get if I agree?”

  “My love for eternity.”

  Tionne smiled. She couldn’t have asked for anything else. “You got yourself a deal.”

  Loose Id Titles by Lena Matthews

  Happily Even After

  He's So Shy

  Season of Love

  Sleepless Beauty

  Soaked

  Still the One

  The Good, the Bad, and the Naughty

  * * * *

  The KEY PARTY Series

  Band of Gold

  Brown Sugar

  Still the One

  * * * *

  The REDEMPTION Series

  Co-written with Liz Andrews

  Logan’s Temptation

  Steven’s Salvation

  Lily’s Surrender

  Helen’s Release

  Sweetest Taboo

  Body & Soul

  * * * *

  “Into Temptation”

  Part of the anthology Wild Wishes

  With Stephanie Burke and Eve Vaughn

  Lena Matthews

  Lena Matthews is the proud mother of two children, three evil dogs, and a mess of ants that she can't seem to get rid of.

  When not writing she can be found reading, watching movies, lifting up the cushions on the couch to look for batteries for the remote control, and plotting different ways to bring Buffy back on the air.

 

 

 
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