Harlequin Desire January 2021--Box Set 1 of 2 Maisey Yates (sad books to read .txt) 📖

you decide not to do anything with what you produce, consider it a souvenir of our time together.” Once again, her heart skipped. Why did she get the feeling he was preparing to say goodbye to her? Had he really fallen in love with her or was this like his love for Pooja? Now that things were getting real, was he getting ready to bolt? Was it all about the chase for him?

He hadn’t just bought studio time, he’d also hired one of the best producers in the field, several technicians and background musicians. Ethan had booked her for twelve hours, which seemed ridiculous for recording the two songs she had written. But when they started, she better understood what it really took. It wasn’t just about singing her songs; it was mixing in the music, fine-tuning how background music would be used against her vocals, even touching up her lyrics. The team Ethan had hired were professionals, and they worked hard without a break. Ethan went on food and coffee runs and watched her patiently the whole day. She should’ve been exhausted at the end of the session, but she was on top of the world. The finished masters were her songs, but they now sounded polished and sophisticated. Her voice had been amplified in the right places and the background music added the depth and symphony her guitar alone couldn’t.

“You’re like no woman I’ve ever met. And you can be like no other artist that’s out there. You don’t have to be like Tina Roy. You don’t even have to tour if you don’t want to. This right here—” he waved at the studio and the musicians packing up “—this is what making music is all about.” He handed her a card and it took her several minutes to recognize it as the one that the man at Café Underground had given them. “The record label is small, but it’s legitimate. I had them checked out.” He pressed the card into her hand.

She hugged him, unable to find the words to say thank-you. How did he know what she needed when she herself didn’t? How was she possibly falling even further in love with him?

They spent the night at his condo. Her family was camped at Arjun’s hotel. Vegas was a quick flight, and they would leave in the morning. Ethan offered to take her out to dinner, but she wanted room service. They ordered hamburgers with fries and milkshakes and demolished their plates. She took a shower and wrapped herself in a hotel robe. When she emerged from the bathroom, Ethan whistled.

“Now, this is exactly how I want to see you dressed.” He stood and kissed her, then untied the flimsy belt holding the robe together. He slipped his arms around her waist, and she savored the feel of his warm hands across her cool, damp back as he kissed the sensitive spot between her neck and shoulder. He moved his right hand down her back and across her stomach, then reached to touch her between the legs. “You’re already wet.”

Oh yes I am. “I started without you,” she whispered into his ear, kissing him just underneath the earlobe, knowing it drove him crazy. “I want you inside me now.” Even through his jeans, she could feel how hard he was.

“Divya,” he murmured, moving his hands to her back. She unbuttoned his jeans and pushed them down along with his boxers. He took off his shirt. She pushed him toward the bed then slipped off her robe and straddled him. She rubbed her sensitive nub against him and he moaned, but she didn’t hear it. Her slickness against his hardness was driving her mad. Her heart thundered in her chest and her body quivered, desperate for him.

She adjusted her position so he could sheath himself. Then she reached between her legs and pushed him inside her with a roughness that surprised them both. He tensed and stopped, his eyes checking with her to make sure she was okay. Even in the height of passion, he wanted to make sure he wasn’t hurting her. Her heart burst inside her chest. For this night with him, she didn’t want a parachute. She wanted to free fall for as long as they could. She moved on top of him, up and down, up and down, until she couldn’t take it anymore and exploded, screaming his name as she did. She collapsed on top of him, totally spent physically and emotionally.

“Ethan…”

He put his finger on her lips, slipped an arm underneath her and pulled her close. The feel of his breath made her exhale whatever she had pent up inside her.

She’d needed the release to prepare for what was coming tomorrow.

“Ethan, meeting my parents is not like it was for me to come to your house. It’ll change my life forever. It’ll change my family. It will irreparably fracture the relationship I have with them. If we do this tomorrow, there’s no turning back. You understand that, right?”

She couldn’t remember his reply because she was so exhausted and comfortable that she fell asleep listening to the beat of his heart.

When she woke the next morning, he was gone.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

He nearly dropped the breakfast tray he was carrying when he walked into the bedroom and saw Divya sitting on the bed with her knees pulled into her chest and her head down. She looked up when she heard him, her face streaked with tears. He set the tray on the bed and went to her. She wrapped her arms around him hard, nearly choking him.

“What’s going on?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

“Did you think I left?” The way she tightened her hold told him she had. He pulled her naked body onto his lap, trying to suppress his instant reaction. He rubbed her back. “How could you think I’d leave you like that?”

She kept her face buried in his shoulder, but he pushed her back so he could look at her. “You