The Satin Sash

Table of Contents

 

 

HEAT
Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700,Toronto,
Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2,
Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell,Victoria 3124,
Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)
Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park,
New Delhi - 110 017, India
Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632,
New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue,
Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

First published by Heat, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. First Printing, December

Copyright © Red Garnier, 2009

All rights reserved
HEAT is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data:
Garnier, Red.
The satin sash/Red Garnier.
p. cm.

eISBN : 978-1-101-15185-3

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

Publisher’s Note

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

This book is dedicated to—
The agent of my dreams; a most savvy, fantastic, knowledgeable
woman, Roberta Brown.
To Tracy Bernstein; a
gem
of an editor, whose brilliance, support,
and enthusiasm are not the only reasons I dote on her.
And to my husband. I love you with every bit of my being.
After all these years, you still make my heart flutter.

A huge, heartfelt thank you to my friends who read it first—and threatened in the most convincing way to kill me if I didn’t show it! Your advice, your support, your countless hours on IM and e- mails, have kept me excited and inspired. So thank you, Sierra Dafoe, for sharing your amazing knowledge with me; Wylie Kinson, for your insightful critiques and witty observations, which I can’t live without; Lilli Feisty, for your awe- inspiring faith and talent; R.G. Alexander, for your support and friendship, which mean the world to me; Robin L. Rotham, you know I will continue to beg for your amazing advice!; and Karen Erickson, my daily brainstorm gal and woe buddy—you are the best.

Also, I am entirely awed by all the terrific people at NAL/ Penguin, and want to thank each and every one of them for their terrific job in this book and for making it happen.

And to all of you readers who like to cuddle up to a story. I hope you enjoy mine.

Chapter One

“Your woman wants me.”

Grey Richards froze, then lowered the glass of wine and turned to look at the man facing him. Heath’s jet black eyes gleamed with a disconcerting mix of devilment and concern.

Grey glanced over the crowded room to where Toni stood, smiling among a group of women. His gut clenched in a knot. “Come again?”

“Your woman. She wants me.”

For a stunned moment, Grey gazed into the crimson depths of his glass, his sixth of red cabernet, and decided if he wasn’t drunk, then his friend and partner
was
.

“Toni?”

“Do you have another woman?” Heath replied.

Grey could only stare at him.

Underneath the black tuxedo he’d borrowed from Grey, Heath Solis was still the rough-edged daredevil he’d met twenty years ago, and while his social skills could use a little polish, Grey had always appreciated his bluntness.

No one
cut through the bullshit like Heath.

Together they’d been through good times and bad, but unspoken between them lay a quiet understanding. They worked well together. Grey the brain; Heath the muscle.

Having jointly built RS Corporation from scratch, making the company Chicago’s most successful commercial development firm, Grey managed the corporate offices in the city while Heath handled their businesses abroad.Where Heath liked to keep his private life to himself, Grey had to face the press. Grey enjoyed living lavishly, while Heath preferred frugal surroundings.

Despite their differences, they were united by dedication, wills of steel, and a fierce loyalty and trust.

Heath’s childhood might have been far from the ideal foundation for a hero, but Grey would put his life in no one’s hands but his.

Heath was the brother Grey never had. Grey was
all
Heath had.

He couldn’t believe he was hearing this.

“You’re serious?” he asked.

Heath’s jaw was set, his expression somber; Heath’s face could send people scrambling when he scowled, and lure the ladies when he smiled. “I wouldn’t kid you about this,” he said, shooting Grey a sidelong glance. “You haven’t exactly taken her off the market, have you?”

Head reeling, Grey looked back at the group of women to find Toni gone. The room was alive with music. Glittering chandeliers hung from a vaulted ceiling, fountains spouted champagne, busy waiters circulated among the guests.

He and Heath stood a good distance from the dance floor, amid dozens of vacated tables at what had been a five- thousand-dollar-per-seat mediocre dinner, but it didn’t take him long to spot her.

She was on the dance floor, whirling in the arms of Senator Louis.A pretty flush stained her cheeks as she let the energetic man twirl her round and round.

Without even realizing it, she’d had Grey’s nuts in a twist from the instant he set eyes on her. Now at the sight of her petite, graceful body draped in shimmering fire-engine red, while she smiled one of her million smiles, Grey was a ball of lust waiting to be unleashed on her.

Her little bottom jiggled, her bosom heaved, and her eyes sparkled like gems. She was all fun, all life, all sweetness and spice. The large diamond studs he’d given her for Christmas peeked through the glossy chestnut waves tumbling past her shoulders, catching the light.

His blood thrummed in his veins with the desire to press his mouth to one ear and tongue her. Eat up that sweet, feisty baby, his juicy-l ipped baby, nibble by nibble. His chest swelled, a sensation that had become painful of late and all too real.

He was in love with her.

Irrefutably, indisputably in love with Toni.

It was a place he’d never imagined himself to be. A place where all thought centered around her, all actions aimed to please her. A place where Grey could hardly think.

All he could think of was her.

What had started as a passionate fling had turned into a full-blown relationship, to the point where Grey’s penthouse had been empty for months.The closet in Toni’s apartment was now crammed with his expensive suits and endless racks of ties. Their bathroom looked like a war zone. His schedule was continually interrupted with unexpected but delightful “situations.”

And he wouldn’t change any of it for the world.

She’d been a sight to behold, leaning over the bathroom mirror, creaming those pouty lips with a glittery red substance. “Will I get a prize for surviving an entire night without panties?” she had playfully asked, setting the lipstick down and twirling around to fix his collar.

Her eyes gleamed appreciatively as she took in his tuxedo-clad figure. She fitted her body up against his and fingered the black bow at his throat.“Will I get to take everything off but this, Mr. Richards?”

“Give me some of that,” he murmured huskily as he ducked his head to run his tongue across the plump bottom curve of her lips, “and I’ll show you how I plan to suckle the lips between your thighs.”

At thirty-five, Grey had seen and done it all. As teenagers, he and Heath had had dirty, raunchy sex with the dirtiest, raunchiest women they could find. Prostitutes and kinky widows and women who seemed so high and drunk they’d do anything with anyone. They’d done things to women that the girls in high school and college would never in their wildest dreams let a man, much less a boy, do.That had been sex for Grey at sixteen, seventeen, eighteen.

Later, through the years, while he and Heath went their separate ways, he’d acquired a connoisseur’s taste for it, like fine wines and cigars. He’d sought pretty women much as he sought out the finest cars; he’d had them all.

And not a single experience compared to being with Toni. No orgy or threesome or plain-vanilla sex could capture a fraction of the intensity of his feelings for her, his
wanting
of her. She was so passionate, her eager receptiveness to his touch consumed him. He was addicted to memorizing her noises, testing her responses, discovering where to caress, to touch, to bring her pleasure. Her face as it bloomed in orgasm brought him to his knees; he’d never seen anything so beautiful.

He wanted her now. Here, at this wretched party. In front of Heath, in front of everybody.

He burned under his suit, itched to take her into a nearby hall and remind her who it was she wanted, who it was she fucked all day, every day, and she
begged
for more.

He did no such thing.

Instead he averted his eyes and studied his friend and business partner once again.

“What would have given you the impression she wants you?”

Heath took a step to stand shoulder to shoulder, his midnight gaze tracking Toni. Grey did not like the hot, possessive way Heath looked at her. Or the slow, knowing smile stretching his lips. “Do you honestly think I don’t know when a woman wants me?”

“Did she tell you so?”

“Nah. She’s too fine to tell me in words.”

Oh, she was fine all right. More than fine. Perfect.

Unlike the models Grey had preferred for years, Toni was no tall, bosomy Amazon. She was a small, sprightly thing—a little fire to Grey’s ice. A whirlwind of smiles and surprises that made his heart ache with how freaking adorable she was.