His (Hers #5) (25 page)

“Anything else?” Livie flips her golden blonde locks to the side, pushing it from her face.

“Yes, actually there would be.” I give her a smug grin. “You are more than welcome to join us for the grand opening Friday night. But, there are a lot of rules that come along with the privilege of being part of this club.” I wink. She has seen the contracts flowing around the office in the past two months.

“I understand, Seven.” She is quiet and shy. For someone who almost fell into bed with my married ex-boyfriend, Daniel Alexander, you would think that she wouldn’t be as shy as she is today about the taboo subject of kinky sex.

“If you would like to join us, the offer stands. You would be a special guest of mine. You know, for all the years you’ve dealt with my abuse.” I wink at her.

“I’d love to come and get my feet wet. I don’t have to
do
anything if I don’t want to… right?” Livie asks with hesitation.

“Livie, this is a place where you should feel most powerful. No, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. No one has to. These clubs are a safe place, someplace where you can truly be free to understand who you are and act on the impulses we normally would feel ashamed of. Embrace yourself.” I smile and hand her a copy of one of the club contracts. “If you want to come, you read over this and fill it out. If you don’t want to come and explore… rip it up and throw it in the trash. Simple. No pressure. Just freedom.”

It is a cold day in hell. I invited my personal assistant to be part of the world I held a secret for so long. But at the end of the day, the world knows all the shit I’m into. Vince bluffed us for so long, but once he was arrested, the videos he promised he had went viral. They were everywhere for weeks. You couldn’t turn on a television without seeing a picture of my face. Or Star’s face. Or Levi. Poor Levi.

They started calling him the Strap On Stud. Thinking back, I thought it was fuckin’ hysterical. I would never tell him that though. He would divorce me and be on his way. His ego took more than a minor hit. Personally? I think it has a nice ring to it.

At the end of the day, Vince landed himself in prison and we won a defamation suit that was handled quickly and quietly. Out of the eyes and ears of the press. Gotta love gag orders.

“Friday night, meet Levi and myself at our home. You are a guest and you will ride in style with us.” I smile and add, “Be sure Rosie knows this Friday night, she is not going to have off.”

Livie smiles and jots that down on the paper and exits the room.

We’ve been pretty good at not abusing the nanny we hired. Yes, we have a lot of family and friends here with us… hell, we all live in the same building. But it’s important to us to be fair and give her time off when she needs it. She is human and single. We all know women have needs.

“Is that all?” Livie asks one last time before I dismiss her.

“You do know that just because we all live in the same building doesn’t mean we need to be together every night of the week, right?” Levi harasses me about the fact that when we walked in the door from the office, our house was filled with pure chaos. The kids are crawling and running from side-to-side. Willow is screaming in the arms of Rosie while she vacuumed up a mass amount of crumbs on the floor and Star just sits at the breakfast bar with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s propped on her growing belly.

“Ran out of ice cream?” I ask her as I toss my purse on the counter.

“Nope, ran out of patience for my kids, so I brought them over here. Poor Rosie.” She laughs as she shoves a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. “Scarlett and Magnolia are at their painting lessons and I just couldn’t take it anymore.” She laughs. “At least coming over here I can pretend I am watching Rainbow while Rosie follows behind her making sure she doesn’t crack her head open.”

“You really need to find a Nanny before that baby comes.” I tell her. Rosie was the best thing we ever did. I am still a very involved mom, but I realized there was no way I could take care of my children, my house and work full time without making sacrifices somewhere. And there was no way I could have anyone going without.

“Tell that to Chrome. He is against it. Something about the kids not being entitled brats.” She lets her words slip and I laugh about the earful he is going to get from me next time I see his Mr. Clean lookin’ ass.

“Shower…” Levi says as he walks by, side stepping toys and making his way to the other side of the penthouse.

“He needs some time to decompress today. He went at it with some guy over a deal and they ended up calling him the Strap On Stud. Needless to say, he’s been on the warpath ever since.” I laugh and star chokes on her ice cream.

“That is never gonna get old,” she howls.

“Never.”

“Ladies and Gentlemen! Can I have your attention please?” Levi says, grabbing the attention of the crowd packed inside the walls of the very different looking club. “My wife, Seven, and her partner, Star, have done a phenomenal job bringing our club back to life. Can they both please get a round of applause?”

The room roars with cheers as Star and I stand up. We look out among all the faces, some new and some old. Chrome, and Levi accompanied us both here tonight along with so many of our close friends and family members. Journey sits in the corner eying Ryker across the room while his eyes remained glued to Lyric. The bikers line the back wall, wearing their leather vests over the suits that Star and Chrome forced them all to wear. Paisley and Diesel sit at the bar looking incredibly uncomfortable and out of place. But the face I wanted to see the most is still missing.

I wish River would stop being so stubborn and just do something for someone else. Just once in his life. I let out a sigh and stand up to give the speech I have re-written over a dozen times. Trying to get it perfect, but knowing at the end of the day I would only end up winging it anyways.

“Thank you everyone for coming to the grand opening of Seven & Star!” The room erupts into applause once again and it takes a minute for the cheers to subside. Star smiles at me and I give her a wink. “You all know it has been a crazy year for all of us. By a show of hands, how many of you saw my vagina on the internet?” I joke, trying to poke fun at the scandal. Hands fly up all over the room and I point at many of the people… “It’s nice isn’t it?” I wink and the room laughs.

“A long time ago, I met a Dom by the name of James. He was a mentor and he taught me everything I know today. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here and neither would this club. He taught me that we all should feel safe within these walls. We should never feel alone or misunderstood here. This is our place to be who we want to be without the fear of judgment from society. We like kinky shit… so what? Who doesn’t?” The cheers begin again and I smile.

“This club needed a fresh start. A new chapter. So that is what Star and I did. We brought life back to a place that had become dark and dangerous. This club will never go back to what Sinners & Swingers was. Behavior of the past Master will never be tolerated. It is a new decade and time for Seven & Star to shine.” My eyes continue to scan all the faces in the crowd, until I finally land on another very familiar face hiding in the back corner.

I notice him, and he noticed me at the same time. A shy smile spreads across his face and I can’t help but beam from ear-to-ear. River is there, hiding behind Livie, my personal assistant, lurking in the shadows praying no one notices he made his way to Manhattan for this occasion. He only makes his attendance known to me before he slips back into the crowd and out of my sight.

“I’d like to propose a toast!” I say, holding up a shot of whiskey. “Out with the old and in with the new. To Star for being the finest blonde on this side of the island. To my husband Levi for being the man I met right in this very room three years ago. To my sister Lyric for teaching me what family is and for my children for calming me the fuck down! Cheers!”

The room joins me in a montage of well wishes as everyone throws back whatever drink they have in their hands. The whiskey burns so good, just like that night so long ago when I preyed on the fresh meat across the room.

The man I knew from day one would be impossible to get out of my system. The man who made me the woman I am today. Levi Parker. His arm wraps around my waist and he pulls me tightly against his body.

“Congratulations, love. You did it and I am so beyond proud of you.” He says before pressing a kiss to my cheek.

“You wanna go christen one of the new rooms… ya know? Like the first time we met?”

And like that, I escape my party to do what always comes so naturally to me. Top my husband the way I did the night we met.

T
HE
E
ND

Goodbye to the Hers Series

I can honestly say, I thought the Hers series would never end. And with every book I wrote, I wanted to keep it going. But, all good things must come to an end. And although this is the end of the Hers Series… I promise you these characters will never go away.

I have so many thanks I need to make sure I remember…

Brandelyn Harris was one of the first people to EVER read Hers. Along with Stephanie from Stephanie’s Book Reports… you helped me bring Seven James to life with the confidence I needed to make her one bad ass bitch.

To all the authors who I am lucky enough to call friends: RL Griffin, Dawn Pendleton, Brooke Cumberland, Aly Martinez, JM Walker, Tabatha Vargo, Christina Lauren, Felicia Lynn, EK Blair, Carey Heywood… if I forgot anyone, I am sorry but know that I love the Indie Community more than words could ever describe.

To the blogs, and bloggers who have been die hard fans of the series since the beginning. To the READERS! Without you guys… I would be no where. Thank you for loving these characters and treating them like your very own. Taking the time to leave reviews, and buy paperbacks. Come to book signings, and spend your time with me!

To Seven James for making me the woman I am today.

To my mother for taking a chance and reading my books… even in they include the words : Strap On more than any romance novel should.

To my father for always supporting my dreams. Checking in with me day in and day out wondering what I am working on now.

To my sister for being my guardian angel, and never ending inspiration.

To my children for going to school and saying “My mom writes smut, her name is Dawn Robertson…” Yes, my kindergartener actually did that during the FIRST week of school this year.

To my amazing graphic designer Rachel Mizer. Every beautiful Hers Series cover, and Dawn Robertson book cover, teaser, banner, bookmark design… EVERYTHING has been at her crafting hands. Without her, I know that I wouldn’t have been a QUARTER as successful as I have been. I owe her the world.

To my Street Team, Dawn’s Dolls. You ladies are amazing.

My PA’s Stefanie and Carrie. I can’t imagine what kind of state my affairs would be in without you.

To the event organizers who have repeatedly asked the Pony Panty lady to attend their events. Even if I peddle fireball to all the other authors and swim in hotel fountains.

To Lily White… my editor for putting up with my comma key… or should I say ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,! I am so grateful for your friendship.

I know I have forgotten a bazillion people and I will want to edit this repeatedly after I publish it. Just know that you'll mean so much to me, and I could never had done any of this without you.