Alphas & Millionaires Starter Set (68 page)
Read Alphas & Millionaires Starter Set Online
Authors: Brooke Cumberland
Grab
Dangerous Temptations
and
Pushing the Limits
on Amazon! Both are standalone contemporary romances with over 4.5 star rating averages.
Brooke Cumberland is a
USA Today
Bestselling author who's a stay-at-home mom and writes full-time. She lives in the frozen tundra of Packer Nation with her husband, 5-year-old wild child, and two teenage stepsons. When she's not writing, you can find her reading love stories, listening to music that inspires her, and laughing with her family. Brooke is a self-diagnosed addict to Starbucks coffee, leggings, and anything sweet. She found her passion for telling stories during winter break one year in grad school—and she hasn't stopped since.
Twitter @blcumberland
Instagram - AuthorBCumberland
I’m going to make this quick, so hold on tight! Firstly, thank YOU the readers! Thanks for picking up this eBook and reading. Thanks for coming back for more. Thanks for connecting and interacting with me on social media. I absolutely love it!
My PA, Miranda, or as some may know her on my Facebook page as MJ. Thank you for being my right-hand woman. You and I both know I’d be lost without you, but thank you for always putting up with my craziness, my tight deadlines, and voice messages of panic. I love you!
To my real life, Katie Bear. (hahaha, like that?) Thanks for being my best friend. You’re one of a kind, and I absolutely cherish our friendship. Thanks for being such a great support system and being that kind of person that doesn’t mind the all day long texts and phone calls. I love you forever and ever.
To my editor, Kiezha at Librum Artis for taking on one hell of a project. Thank you for taking such good care of my babies and making my characters and stories stronger. Thanks for the pumpkin spice memes and understanding the craziness of toddlers. So happy to have found you and add you to my team!
To Staci for always giving me a reason to smile when I’m down or need a kick in the pants. Thanks for being an amazing writing critique and friend. I think I’ll keep you around a while. Love you to the moon and back (times Pi).
To all my cover designers and photographers: Staci at Quirky Bird, Sara Eirew, Sommer at Perfect Pear Creative Covers, Regina at Mae and I Design, Lauren Perry at Perrywinkle Photogaphy, and Golden at FuriousFotog. Thank you for sharing your creations and passion with me. Photography/design wouldn’t be the same without people like you!
To Christine Stanley at The Hype PR. Thank you for always having my back, baby cakes!
To my TBR sister’s, betas, ARC readers, bloggers, readers, lovers, and haters. Thank you. This journey has taught me to believe in myself, to find inner strength, and to challenge myself.
I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Much love,
Brooke xo
One night was all it took…
One night to ruin everything I thought I knew.
From the outside, I had the perfect lifestyle.
Wealthy fiancé, blossoming career, amazing friends.
I wasn’t looking to get married yet, but when William—”Manhattan’s royalty”—charmed his way into my life, I couldn’t deny the security and comfort that overcame me.
To society, I was the girl only after his money. I was the party-goer who managed to seduce a man twice my age to have the lifestyle some could only dream of. I was every magazine’s cliché of what a gold-digging whore was.
I wanted to prove them wrong—that our love was real and that I wasn’t that girl.
But then everything changed.
One wrong decision. One unfaithful night. One haunting reality.
Perhaps they were right.
The media didn’t see it coming…and neither did I.
Excerpt:
“Good morning,” I heard Alex before I saw him, but my body instantly reacted. I sat up taller, my body tensing just at the sound of his voice.
I swallowed and answered, “Morning.” I was still actively trying to avoid him, but I knew I couldn’t for long. He seemed to find ways to interrupt any quiet and alone time I had. “You’re up early,” I said just before seeing that he was in running shorts and sweat was dripping from his bare chest. His hair was slicked back and his body looked tight as if he had just worked out. “You run?” I asked, a bit shocked I didn’t know this before now.
“Yes.” He walked to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water out.
“Since when?” I asked but then shoved a bite of bagel in my mouth. I should be ignoring him. Avoiding him. Anything but talking to him while he stood looking like that in front of me.
“Keeping tabs on me now?” I could tell he was smirking by the flirty tone in his voice.
“No. Was just asking.”
“Good looks and tight muscles don’t just happen overnight.”
“You’re so arrogant,” I spat out, finishing my juice and bagel so I could get the hell out of there.
“I’d say confident, which most chicks dig, by the way.” He winked, and I wanted to slap that stupid grin right off his face. He knew what he was doing, and I wasn’t going to let him.
“Well, good thing I’m not most chicks. I, for one, have a brain.”
“Well, then it’s a good thing I know what your favorite bagel is. Brain food is important, you know,” he said, amusement lay heavily in his tone, and I suddenly felt the urge to throw something at him.
“The bagels are from you?” I asked shocked and a bit pissed off at myself for not considering it.
“That’s right, sweetheart. Glad to know you’re enjoying them.”
“How’d you know my favorite flavor?” I asked a bit self-conscious.
He walked toward me, eyes focused on me and intense. “I know a lot about you.”
I swallowed and let his eyes captivate me for a moment. I shook my head, needing to break the tension. I quickly stood up and walked to the sink. “Oh, yeah…I hear it’s real hard to navigate Google.”
“Everything I know about you is from experience and observation, Mac. I don’t need Google,” he said seriously, his voice almost pained from the accusation.
“You’ve known me for like five minutes, Alex.”
“Actually, I’ve known you for almost three weeks, Mac. I know it’s not a hell of a lot of time, but every second has counted in some way.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. Eventually, you’ll move out, and I’ll only have to put up with you on holidays and birthdays,” I said smugly, hoping to piss him off.
I turned around to grab my things to leave, but he was standing directly behind me and caged me in with his solid arms. “I’ll guaran-fucking-tee you, holidays and birthdays would never be enough with you. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure of it.”
“You’re crazy, you know that? Stop chasing after something you’ll never catch,” I threatened and meaning every word.
“Oh, sweetheart,” he says, amusement thick in his tone as he looked down at me and smirked. “You’re ignorant if you think all you are is a chase for me. If that were the case, I’d push that skin-tight skirt over your hips and fuck you up against this counter.” I swallowed as he leaned in even closer, grazing his lips against mine as he continued just above a whisper, “I’ve already had a taste of you…on my tongue, on my cock. I’ve already been buried deep inside of you as your tits bounced in my face. I didn’t need to chase that hard in the first place, so if that were the case, I’d stop wanting you.”
“You can’t talk to me like that.”
“Says who, princess?”
Anger boiled in my blood as he challenged me. The way he was looking at me, reminding every cell in my body how close we were. My chest rose and fell as my heart pounded hard against his body. I wanted him in a way that didn’t make sense. I wanted to hate him. But the flashes of our night together haunted me. I wanted to remember, I wanted to feel what he felt like, even just for a moment. And that feeling scared the hell out of me.
I didn’t know how to respond, so I did the only thing I could to relieve the ache.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pushed our faces together, molding our lips as one. His body jerked in response, cupping my face in both of his hands. I released a moan as he pressed himself into me, rubbing the length of his erection against my stomach. His hands moved down to my waist and thighs, cupping my ass and lifting me up on the counter. His hands roamed up my legs, pushing my skirt up with them. I spread my legs wider for him, leaving no space between us as he stood in front of me.
His mouth was greedy and hot, kissing me fiercely and with no apologies. His hands continued exploring my body as our tongues tangled in a messy battle. One hand pressed against my face as the other slid up and down my body from my breast down to my waist.
I became lost in him, in us. My body remembered everything about how he made me feel, but my mind was still catching up. It was obvious—the tension between us palpable—heavy, hot breathing, the only sounds in the room. It was wrong, but I didn’t know how to stop it. My body craved it, my mind took it, and my mouth devoured it.
He was my kryptonite. I was his addiction.
I squeezed my hands around his biceps, keeping him close to me. One hand wandered down further and squeezed my thigh. I moaned in response, his fingers tangling in the fabric of my panties.
My back arched as his mouth moved to my throat. I put both hands behind me as his lips continued devouring the flesh of my bare neck and chest. His fingers moved my panties to one side as he slipped a finger inside of me, sending a harsh shiver down my body. “You like this?” he taunted, pulling his hand back slightly. I groaned in response. “Or something more like this?” he whispered as he trailed up to my ear. He twisted his wrist and sunk it in deeper, making my hips jerk in response.
“Oh, god…” The moans I tried to hold in were uncaged. My hips moved on their own accord as my body heated from the arousal he was building up inside me. His lips covered my mouth again, soaking up the moans and screams I could barely contain. He worked another finger in, twisting and stroking deeper and harder. “Yes…yes…” I panted—an orgasm just within reach. I couldn’t think, only feel and he was making me feel something I had never felt before.
Just as I felt my body tighten, Alex released his hold on me and jerked away. I quickly opened my eyes in response, shocked and embarrassed that he had stopped just before letting me release on his fingers.
I could feel the flush across my face as my chest rose and fell again, my heartbeat vibrating loudly against my ribs. He looked dangerous…his eyes tense and his hands balled into fists.
“Alex…” I panted, gripping my hands against the edge of the counter.
He stepped toward me, pressing his forehead to mine. His heavy breathing matched mine as we struggled to catch our breaths. Realization finally washed over me and I felt worse than ever.
“Not like this…” he began, guilt rising up in my core at how pained his voice sounded. “Not here.”
I closed my eyes to keep the tears from coming, but my body was so worked up, and my mind was spinning out of control between what my body wanted and what my mind knew.
I wanted to say something, to beg him to forget this ever happened, but I couldn’t get the words to come out. He leaned back on his heels and turned away, storming out of the kitchen and leaving me behind.
I jumped off the counter and sunk to the ground. I buried my head in my knees as tears leaked down my cheeks. How could I let that happen?
