Never Again
Lilliana Anderson
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 14, 2017
Not even a year after marrying the guy she'd thought was the love of her life, Cora Knowles is already requesting a divorce. To her recollection, philandering was not a part of her wedding vows, and she wasn't about to stand by while 'Sally from accounts' rolled about on her Egyptian cotton sheets.
While trying to soothe her broken heart with copious amounts of cake and liqueur chocolates, her best friend, Olivia suggests that the best way to get over someone, is to get under someone else. Problems arise when the one Cora 'gets under' turns out to be the son of the Director of Prosecution—her boss. Worse still, he's young. Younger than Cora originally thought, and younger than she's comfortable with.
But, when the attraction is undeniable, Cora needs to decide whether she'll turn her back on the enigmatic Brandon Sharp, or take a risk and follow her heart, even though she promised herself she'd never do that again...
“I think we need to make one thing abundantly clear,” I said as I sat
on the bench top the next morning, Bran caging me with his body as he fed me
toast and coffee. We’d barely slept all night, and my body was achy all over.
But I had more energy that morning than I ever remembered having before.
“And what precisely is that?” His eyes dropped from mine as he took a
mouthful of his own coffee. Just watching him swallow turned me on. I reached
out and ran my thumb across his full lips. He smiled then bit the pad of my
thumb playfully.
“This thing,” I started when our gazes locked again. “It’s not a
relationship. We work together and we fuck when the urge arises. That’s it. I
can’t offer you any more than that.” My life was already far too complicated.
He smiled, seemingly unfazed. “Understood. My only condition, as
stated previously, is that I don’t share. I’m an only child so I’ve never been
very good at it. Plus, it’s rare to find a woman so willing to take all I give
without flinching.” He pinched me playfully on the outside of my thigh and I
liked it, especially when his hand covered over the sore spot.
“You mean the marks you like to leave behind or the rough man-handling
you’re so fond of?” I took a bite of the toast he held out to me.
“All of it. Most girls”—he took a breath, as if he wasn’t sure he
should speak up—“they don’t take too kindly to being marked. They find my brand
of fucking a little too rough and intense.” It was rough and intense. But that
was what made it so delectable for me. He kept me riding that fine line with
expert hands.
“Most girls? You’re only twenty. How many could you have possibly gone
through?”
He grinned. “You’d be surprised. I’ve quite the appetite, and I like
to dominate. In the bedroom, of course. At work, you’re one hundred percent the
boss.”
I liked his brand of dominance. What was it about him that made me all
right with his aggression in the bedroom? Was it because I was angry? Angry at my life and my husband? Or did I have
something that had been living inside me, a dormant desire to be manhandled and
marked that I’d never explored before?
“You can just switch it off like that, can you?” I snapped my fingers,
imagining that a man like Bran would prefer to always be in control.
“What happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom.” He smiled, a
mischievous glint in his eyes. “Or on the couch, the shower, the kitchen…”
I studied his expression, feeling slightly lost in those jade-green
eyes of his. “That’s exactly how it has to be. I need your word that this
arrangement between us stays just that—between us. I will not be the subject of
office gossip, Bran. I don’t even want Olivia to know.”
“I won’t breathe a word.”
“OK. So, we do this, and when we’ve gotten to the point where we can
be in a room together without wanting to tear each other’s clothes off, we’ll
end it and no one’s job has to suffer because of it.”
“I love it when you talk dirty to me.” He grinned and leaned forward
to kiss me. I placed my hand on his chest and stayed out of reach.
“I’m serious, Bran. These are my terms. This is all too complicated to
be anything else and I want to make sure we’re on the same page before this
goes any further.”
With his hand gripping the back of my head, he pulled me forward,
despite my protest, so his lips pressed against my ear. “I will fuck you in the
shadows of every place you hold dear so that even when we’re finished with each
other, you’ll get excited just walking through the door.” My entire body
quivered at the thought of everything he could do to me. I knew we had an
expiration date, and I was OK with that. There was no way a ten-year age gap
coupled with a complex work situation could be any more than a fling, and that
was discounting the whole Jack debacle. Yes, a fling would do me just fine.
Bran might never become my happily ever after, but he could certainly be my
happy for now—no worrying about the future, or wandering eyes—we’d do this
until it wasn’t fun anymore and then we’d stop. It was the perfect setup, and I
was going to enjoy every moment of it.
“As long as no one finds out, you can fuck me anywhere you like.” I
threaded my fingers through his hair, holding tight as he worked his magic at
the nape of my neck.
“Is that an invitation?”
“It’s a demand.”
“Hmm.
I’m going to enjoy being your dirty little secret.”
Bestselling Author of the Beautiful Series, Drawn and 47 Things, Lilliana has always loved to read and write, considering it the best form of escapism that the world has to offer.
Australian born and bred, she writes New Adult Romance revolving around her authentically Aussie characters with all the quirks you’d expect from those born Down Under.
Lilliana feels that the world should see Australia for more than just it's outback and tries to show characters in a city and suburban setting.
When she isn't writing, she wears the hat of 'wife and mother' to her husband and four children.
Before Lilliana turned to writing, she worked in a variety of industries and studied humanities and communications before transferring to commerce/law at university.
Originally from Sydney's Western suburbs, she currently lives a fairly quiet life in suburban Melbourne.
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