Kept by Him (16 page)

And suddenly he couldn’t take it anymore.

“You’re no longer with Gustafson, good for you. But what does your new situation mean
for me?”

Holding his gaze as though startled, Monica bit her lip and then glanced at the hands
he kept motionless at his sides.

“Does this mean anything for me?” he demanded.

When she only held her breath, still looking at his hands as though she
wanted
them on her, Daniel took a step forward, his heart screaming at the risk he was taking.
If she kept saying no … if she
kept shooting him down …

“Am I going to live my entire life wanting you and not having you?” he asked in quiet
fury. “Would you have stayed with a man you don’t love if it weren’t for the out I
found for you?”

She shook her head. “There were a lot of things wrong with Roland, actually.” She
met his gaze squarely. “Starting with the fact that he’s not you.”

He stiffened in unexpected surprise when she leaned forward, altering his body chemistry
with the touch of her frame fitting like a missing puzzle piece into his larger one.
He instantly responded. He grew hot and hard under his tuxedo, too big to fit inside
his skin.

He was throbbing to be inside her as she started sliding both her hands up the length
of his chest. His pulse skidded when she grabbed his bow tie and boosted herself up,
and her soft, parted lips came locking perfectly with his.

A frisson of heat bolted straight from her kiss to his heart, his toes, his cock,
her lips immediately parting at the contact of their mouths.

It was the softest, most shyly hesitant kiss anyone had ever given him, and the significance
of her sweet, open public display of affection wasn’t lost on Daniel.

He could shatter her right here. He could turn her away. Hurt her like he
hurt
. But the fact that Monica was exposing herself, vulnerable and open and at his mercy,
hell, the
trust
her actions implied, as if she knew even when he was aching down to the marrow of
his bones, he would protect her with his
life,
undid him.

Monica Davenport was claiming him. Claiming him and
accepting
him.

The realization fired him up like an explosive.

Groaning fully, Daniel pulled her to him, not minding that the people around them
seemed to have fallen still, not minding the press, the entire crowd, anything but
opening Monica’s sweet soft mouth and tasting her and taking what she gave him. Tears,
love, he could taste it. He shuddered with it, felt the tremor that went through her
slender body, and he brought her closer, close and tight, but not close enough.

She heatedly whispered, “I adore you,” into his mouth, making small fists in his hair,
locking herself against him as a string of words rushed out of her lips, warm and
fast. “I’m sorry. Please tell me I haven’t lost you. Tell me you love me. I’m yours,
Daniel, you’ve always had me. You had me when I was ten years old. I’ve been so afraid.”

Daniel was so dazed, he just framed her face and nuzzled her nose for a minute, panting.
“It’s just me, Monica, it’s me, princess. Your friend, your protector, your lover.”

She shuddered and kissed him softly again, pulling back to capture his gaze. “I’m
so afraid what I feel will eat me up, but it’s out of the box, Danny. I want to feel
everything you make me.… I want to keep you forever, I want you to keep me, never
have anyone other than me.”

“Jesus, come here.” He crushed her tighter to him and reclaimed her lips, and there
was no resistance in her, only a shudder that seemed to start in her body and end
up in his. Waves of ecstasy throbbed through him, her kiss singing through his veins
until his breath tore out of him in gasps. He pulled away and shakily kissed each
of her cheekbones, the tip of her nose. “Do you want to get out of here?”

The mere touch of her hand as she set it trustingly in his sent another shiver through
him, filling him with relentless excitement as her lips curled in a smile of mischief.
“Please, let’s. Do you have a decoy?”

He shook his head but smiled in mischief as he glanced at the front ballroom doors,
where a couple of VIP press members seemed to be clamoring for a picture, their long
lenses on the cameras, aimed straight in their direction and zooming in. Every eye
in the party seemed to be focused on them, and when Monica realized this, her eyes
first widened in concern, and then she pressed to his side and laughed softly. Their
bodies thrummed against each other, vibrating with new life as they linked their fingers
together.

“Maybe we should just give them what they’ve been begging for all these years,” she
lightly suggested.

His chest swelled at those words and the confidence in them, and Daniel’s grip tightened
on her fingers. “All right, if we’re doing this, let’s go all out and give them a
field day.”

He scanned the crowd for a head of light blond hair and noticed Chloe was already
leaving through the back door, a big smile on her face as she waved. Seconds later,
Daniel and Monica stepped out of the ballroom, the reporters who had lingered there
charging feverishly after them. They headed out the lobby, where even more paparazzi
stood in wait. One of Daniel’s Bugatti cars was parked at the very entrance driveway
of the hotel, and it automatically beeped as Daniel and Monica approached.

Flashes erupted all around them, and for a moment both Daniel and Monica stopped to
face them, his arm around her.

“Mr. Lexington, are you together?”

“Is she The One, Daniel?”

“Ms. Davenport, is there anything going on between you?”

“Daniel, is she The One?”

Neither answered as they allowed a couple of pictures, and Daniel finally opened the
door for her, led her in, locked her in, and then he slid in behind the wheel and
started the engine.

“Daniel, it’s going to be difficult for me,” Monica said as soon as he pulled them
out of the hotel driveway.

He checked the rearview mirror to make sure they weren’t followed, then made a left.
“That’s all right, we’ll take it one step at a time. I’ll spend some nights in your
place, you spend some in mine. We can leave some clothing. I don’t care where as long
as you’re in my arms.” He braked at the stop light and glanced at her with a grin,
taking in her amazed expression, her pink cheeks, the special warmth in her eyes,
that ear-to-ear smile that matched his. “How does that sound?”

“It sounds like heaven.”

His chest overflowing with emotion, Daniel reached over and squeezed her thigh, then
shifted gears. “Where to, princess?”

“I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.”

“You regret it?” He baited her with a smirk. But no. He couldn’t miss the excitement
in her voice. The excitement whirling inside his car. In his
heart
.

“I’m excited, Lexington. Very excited.”

“Yours or mine, princess?”

She took a quick breath that shook with emotion, then she laughed and sat up on the
seat to quickly grab his head and kiss his temple, his jaw. “Yours. Yours.” She settled
down so he didn’t get distracted from the road, he supposed, and quickly put her hand
over his on the gear shift. She lightly squeezed, and this time, she never let go.
“Yours.”

Epilogue

One month later, an excerpt from the Chicago
Gazette
social section:

It’s Official!

Well, ladies and gentlemen, for all those of you single out there, it’s official.
Monica Davenport and Daniel Lexington are an item. MoDa, as they’re now being called,
have been spotted everywhere around town, in events, snuggling, holding hands, and
as you can see in the picture below, publicly kissing! If we failed to see a fair
amount of PDA from Miss Davenport before, it seems there’s now PDA going aplenty between
the good-looking pair. And now there’s speculation on whether or not our beloved MoDa
might be soon tying the knot. Miss Davenport has been wearing something that looks
like a very elegant Asscher cut diamond engagement ring, and she’s been spotted visiting
the most prestigious museums for what we speculate might be the perfect setting for
the grand event. Stay tuned!

Red Garnier loves a good book and a great romance. Nothing brings a smile to her face
faster than a happily-ever-after, especially one she gets to pen down. Red is living
her deepest, most cherished dream today, thanks to a bit of luck, a lot of work, and
a lot of support. She is a happy wife, a cherished mother, and a full-time writer.
You can visit her website at
www.redgarnier.com
to find out more about her and her upcoming books.

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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed
in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

“Kept by Him” copyright © 2013 by Red Garnier.

All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

Cover art © Studio10Artur/Shutterstock.com

Author photo © JCP Portrait Studio

eISBN 9781466833470

First eBook Edition: July 2013