Paying For Sex
I’m at Tina Donahue’s online home today, talking about paying for sex.
http://www.tinadonahue.com/cynthia-sax-talks-about-paying-for-sex-and-breaking-all-the-rules/
Here’s a snippet
Being paid for sex is a common fantasy. A rich man (or men in the case of Tina’s wonderful Appointment With Pleasure series) buys a woman (or man) for the night. He wants her so much, he’s willing to pay for her time. He’s usually dominant, wishing to be in control of the encounter. Both of them are determined not to care, determined to keep the arrangement businesslike, but every erotic romance reader knows this cold approach won’t last.
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Buy Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Buy Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Paying For Sex
Smut for Good: Curves Rule!
Smutters has organized an awesome charity blog hop to raise funds for Parkinson’s UK. I have loved ones enduring this disease and am thrilled to be participating.
Smut for Good: Curves Rule is a blog hop with prizes galore to raise funds for Parkinson’s UK as this is Parkinson’s Awareness week. To find more curves, and seek out further prizes please visit http://smutters.co.uk/smut-for-good and if you can please visit the Smut for Good: Curves Rule Just Giving Page at http://www.justgiving.com/curvesrule and donate whatever you can to help us reach our target of £100 to raise awareness of Parkinson’s and to support the charity Parkinson’s UK http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/ who help those with the disease learn to cope with the challenges, give out information and search for a cure.
Here is my something curvy, an excerpt from Warlord Unarmed.
One lucky commenter will win a copy of any eBook (excluding collections) from my backlist (i.e. any eBook – LOL)
By Cynthia Sax
Now Available From Ellora’s Cave
When Murad, a powerful and deadly Warlord, arrives to repair Gale’s beloved ship, she doesn’t like it one bit. She sees the danger lurking behind his wide, sexy smile and the temptation in his coarse touch. He stands too close. He smells too good. He muddles her mind with erotic thoughts no bounty hunter should ever entertain.
Murad is known for being lighthearted…until he meets Gale. He’s deadly serious about seducing his curvaceous bounty hunter. With one blast of her stun gun, she captures his attention, and starts his lust burning. To claim Gale for his mate, Murad will brave his cautious female’s itchy trigger finger, his overbearing older brother and Gale’s sense of duty.
Buy It Now At: http://www.ellorascave.com/warlord-unarmed.html
Buy It Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Warlord-Unarmed-ebook/dp/B00CP5LE1C
Buy It Now At Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Warlord-Unarmed-Cynthia-Sax-ebook/dp/B00CP5LE1C
Buy It Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-warlordunarmed-1190269-340.html
She worried her bottom lip with her teeth, viewing Murad’s impending invasion of her beloved sanctuary as a bigger threat than the possible failure of the ship’s life support systems.
“So come on, hon. Work for me.” Gale jiggled the cable leading to the ship’s power converter, hoping to reactivate the process.
Nothing happened.
“Ohhh…” A strangled sound came from her constricted throat.
Behind the captain’s console, a brightly colored drawing covered a large silver wall panel, the green-haired female in the child artist’s depiction sporting a toothy grin.
“Continue smiling and I’ll banish you from the bridge for insubordination,” Gale warned, her words echoing in the empty space, the main viewscreen closed to preserve energy and the ship’s guidance system eerily silent.
Only the primitive crank-powered communicator set by her booted feet crackled. She’d found the ancient device crammed into one of her overstuffed storage chambers and she wished now she hadn’t used it, hadn’t called for help.
“You have to work, baby.” Gale ran her fingers over the power converter, searching for defects and finding none. “Please. I don’t want him on my ship.”
She clasped a fastening tool and frantically tightened each joint, aware that Murad’s ship hovered too close to hers, the Warlord growing increasingly impatient with the delays. He had other things he could be doing, he’d told her, and had only agreed to assist her with the repairs as a favor to Zeta, his brother’s mate.
“If Zeta had contacted me as she’d promised, I wouldn’t be in this mess,” Gale muttered, feeling foolish for having flown across numerous galaxies to rescue a friend who didn’t need rescuing.
“And I don’t require Murad’s or any other being’s help with repairs. I’ll fix my ship myself.” She pressed her hand against the reset panel.
The power converter didn’t activate, the silence ominous.
“No. No. No. No.” She slapped the reset panel again and again, venting her frustration on the device, her palm stinging with the impact.
The ship shuddered and the collection of broken toys covering the console rattled. The hoarded objects had been obtained over the many solar cycles from the bounty-hunter-school students she spent all of her credits supporting.
“Go away,” Gale snapped, the thought of being trapped on a small vessel with an unfamiliar male warrior filling her with alarm.
“I’ll go away once your ship is fully functional,” the Warlord informed Gale via the communicator, his low, deep voice causing her heart to race, a physical reaction she’d long associated with fear. “Prepare to be boarded.”
“I don’t need to be boarded,” she snapped, irritated at Murad’s arrogance and disgruntled with Zeta for forcing her to deal with the strange male, her friend not caring enough to come herself.
Gale pushed away the pain of that rejection and concentrated on the broken power converter. “This is my ship. I’ll fix it.” The lights flickered, the ship’s alternative energy source quickly depleting.
“You’ve had three planet rotations to fix your ship, stubborn female.” Murad punctuated that dry observation with a pussy-moistening chuckle, his constant mirth and her inappropriate physical reaction to it irritating Gale even more. “Now it’s my turn. Open your doors.”
“Open them yourself.” Gale pushed her curvy form upright and scrambled to her feet. Murad would have to open the doors manually, her single-manned ship barely having enough energy to run the life support systems. She dusted off her knees and focused on the new threat.
He’ll come through the bridge’s main doors. Gale surveyed the array of weapons, restraints and defensive devices she always kept close at hand. And when he does, I’ll stop him, preventing him from touching my ship, my home. Sucking in her breath, she strapped her form-fitting pink body armor around her generous chest, preparedness being a bounty hunter’s best weapon.
Zeta might trust Murad. Gale slid guns and daggers into the holders decorating her pink armor-clad thighs, the weapons reassuringly heavy. But she also believes she’s in love with his brother. Clearly she’s not thinking rationally. She crouched by the door, her form shielded by a console.
Love at first sight. She snorted, that fantastical explanation too implausible even for her reckless friend. They must have drugged her.
Metal screeched, the sound muffled by distance, and she raised her favorite gun, aiming toward the closed doors, her body vibrating with anticipation.
“You won’t drug me, Murad,” Gale vowed. She caressed the barrel of the gun with her fingers, relishing the weight and feel of the weapon. The metal was engraved with Lokan flowers and birds, the piece being both beautiful and functional. “You won’t get near me.”
Boots rang against the corridor’s wire mesh floor, the heavy tread announcing the approach of her intruders. Gale’s muscles contracted and she stilled, becoming hyper-aware of her surroundings, every sound and every scent amplified. She smelled the engine lubricant on her skin, heard the rush of air through ventilation shafts, the footsteps of the Chamele warriors as they neared the doors to the bridge.
“Stop,” Gale ordered. She brushed her fingers over the gun’s trigger, prepared to defend herself with force if necessary. “Come in slowly, unarmed, one at a time, with your hands raised and your palms empty.”
“I’m alone,” one of her unwanted visitors growled.
Gale’s nipples tightened, pressing against the restrictive body armor, her body recognizing Murad’s deep tones. “So you say,” she mumbled, maintaining her battle stance, having learned as an orphaned child not to believe in words.
“And I’ll be unarmed in a heartbeat.” A huge sword slid through the entrance, its blade gleaming and its handle intricately engraved, the weapon decorative and deadly. A dizzying assortment of daggers and guns followed the sword, the advanced gear skittering along the floor, metal clinking against metal. “I didn’t know I’d require an arsenal to do you a favor.” Murad’s distinctive laughter rolled over Gale and her stomach fluttered.
With fear. I fear him. Gale flipped her gun’s setting to stun, killing Zeta’s new friend unfortunately not an option. “You’re doing Zeta a favor, not me.”
“This favor is for my brother.” A breathtakingly handsome male stepped out of the shadows. “And his gun is bigger than yours.” He grinned at her, his white teeth flashing in a flawless, tanned face, his black eyes glinting, his long black hair cascading down his bare shoulders. He wore tight leather leg coverings with matching boots, and had a pack slung over one shoulder. His muscular chest was bare, defined and perfect.
This is Murad? Gale’s mouth dried and her heart raced, a pulse of savage want and uncontrollable need coursing through her sex-deprived body. If the two brothers look alike, they wouldn’t have needed to use drugs to enthrall Zeta. My impetuous friend would have gone with Khan willingly, foolishly risking her heart, her life, her future for a fast fuck.
I won’t be as easy to enthrall. Gale straightened, not trusting her emotions and certainly not trusting the big Warlord. “If I shoot you with my smaller gun, you’ll still be dead.” She aimed the gun at him, proud of how steady her hands were, many solar cycles of chasing fugitives across the universes having refined her control.
“That’s true.” Murad’s gaze swept her from head to feet, pausing on her breasts and hips and then returned to her face. “My adorable little bounty hunter.” He inhaled, his chest rising and his nostrils flaring. His mouth twisted into an even sillier smile. “My curvaceous gerel,” he purred, his voice mind-numbingly soft.
He won’t use that sexy voice to capture me. Gale narrowed her eyes, fighting the desire Murad invoked, her lust being a weakness, a weapon he could use against her. “I’m not your anything.”
“You’re correct. You’re not my anything. You’re my everything,” Murad replied, his words infused with passion and sincerity.
He can’t be sincere. He doesn’t know me. “I don’t need your help, Warlord.” Gale caressed the trigger of her gun, her nerves on edge, her body too aware of his. “Please leave my ship.”
A loud click followed her declaration and the lights turned off, casting them in complete blackness. Gale stiffened, unable to detect her adversary. Please let him not have the ability to see in the dark. A wave of panic surged over her.
Murad chuckled, the sexy rumble made more intimate by the darkness. “I see you have everything under control.”
Buy It Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Warlord-Unarmed-ebook/dp/B00CP5LE1C
Buy It Now At Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Warlord-Unarmed-Cynthia-Sax-ebook/dp/B00CP5LE1C
Buy It Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-warlordunarmed-1190269-340.html
Topics: Guest Post | 5 Comments »
Great Review For Breaking All The Rules
Give Me Books And Boxes has reviewed Breaking All The Rules!
“This ruler setter executive wants Camille and he wants her under his terms and conditions. But guys, he’s a total sweetheart under his icy exterior! I fell in love with him from the start.”
Read the full review here (plus there are great quotes from the story and photos!!!!)
http://givemebooksandboxes.blogspot.ca/2014/04/arc-review-breaking-all-rules-by.html
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Buy Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Buy Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
Topics: Reviews | Comments Off on Great Review For Breaking All The Rules
The Games We Play
I’m at The Lusty Literate today,
talking about the games we play
Here’s a snippet
Years ago, I worked at a data entry job. My job was to manually transfer information into the archaic computer system. It was mind-numbing work. We’d type for hours, our fingers busy and our brains free.
To keep us from going completely insane, we created games for ourselves. We’d bet on how many times our boss would say ‘quota.’ We’d try to guess what color his assistant’s obscenely short skirt would be. We’d count how many times the sales guy would shoot someone with his pistol fingers.
These games kept us entertained and happy. Other employees would drop by the corral (as we called our circle of desks), wondering why we were laughing so hard. Our boss didn’t care as long as we made our quotas (that’s one!).
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Buy Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Buy Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on The Games We Play
Release Day For Breaking All The Rules
Woot!
Today is the release day for Breaking All The Rules!
I can’t think of a better day than April Fools’ to tell the romance of Camille, our green-haired Goth girl heroine!
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Buy Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Buy Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
Topics: New Releases | Comments Off on Release Day For Breaking All The Rules
Green-Haired Goth Girl Heroines
I’m at Sara Walter Ellwood’s online home today, talking about Camille, the green-haired Goth girl heroine of Breaking All The Rules
http://sarawalterellwood.wordpress.com/2014/03/31/cynthia-sax/
Here is a snippet
Camille Joplin Trent, the heroine of Breaking All The Rules, isn’t your average erotic romance heroine. She isn’t your average anything. She has green hair, tattoos, and multiple piercings.
Many readers would expect such a woman to work in a tattoo parlor or a bike shop or somewhere else that hires edgy employees. Camille doesn’t do anything anyone expects. She works in a very conservative high tech company, a company with a rigid dress code. I suspect if she worked in a tattoo parlor, she’d have blond hair and wear pale pink suits with matching pumps.
Because Camille is a rebel. She prides herself on not conforming and that means breaking the rules of any organization or group she belongs to.
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Pre-order Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Pre-order Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Green-Haired Goth Girl Heroines
Interview with Camille From Breaking All The Rules
I’ve interviewed Camille, the heroine from Breaking All The Rules, on Bitten by Love Reviews today.
http://www.bittenbylovereviews.com/2014/03/breaking-all-rules-by-cynthia-sax.html
Here’s a snippet
A green-haired woman struts into the room, singing the words to an extremely vulgar hip hop song. She’s clad in a faded black skirt suit and heels and there are holes in her bottom lip and ears. She flops into the empty chair.
Camille: Miss Yen told me you wanted to see me. (she crosses her arms in front of her body) Whatever I did, I can explain—
Cynthia Sax: (raises her palms) There’s nothing to explain. You didn’t do anything wrong.
Camille: (mumbles) That you know about.
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Pre-order Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Pre-order Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Interview with Camille From Breaking All The Rules
Library Love Fest
I’m at Library Love Fest (isn’t that the GREATEST blog name?) today, talking about unusual heroines and why erotic romance belongs in libraries. Library Love Fest is the online home of the team at HarperCollins dedicated to marketing to libraries.
http://www.librarylovefest.com/2014/03/starred-review-for-breaking-all-the-rules.html
Here’s a snippet
None of my heroines are perfect. They are all flawed because I think ALL women deserve happy ever afters. We don’t have to be perfect or classically beautiful or supermodel skinny. We can dress in faded frayed suits, listen to extremely vulgar hip hop music, leave for three hour breaks in the middle of a work day.
Drop by and express your love for libraries!
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Pre-order Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Pre-order Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
Topics: Coming Soon | Comments Off on Library Love Fest
Writing IS Personal
Reviewing and reading buddies often wonder why writers take criticism of their work personally. It’s a product, right? Corporate executives don’t take criticism of their wonderful widgets personally. Writers shouldn’t either.
The problem is… a book isn’t a widget. I spent decades launching new products (i.e. widgets) for big corporate entities. I took these products from the idea stage to launch and often beyond. I became invested in their successes but there was always distance between the product and my self.
There’s no distance with a book. There can’t be. A great story involves emotion. Many of us read romance because the stories make us laugh or make us cry. We feel. Deeply.
When I was a reader, I thought what I was feeling was the character’s emotions. It isn’t. What we’re feeling is the WRITER’s emotions.
When writers tell newer writers to write what they know, we’re being told to write the emotions we know. I’m not a green-haired, tattooed Goth girl but I DO know what it is like not to fit in, to push people away, to worry that I’m not ‘good enough’ for love. When Camille is expressing her emotions, these are my emotions, my most inner self laid bare for everyone to see.
Does this mean reviewers and readers shouldn’t criticize stories? Of course not. Some of my best buddies hate every story I’ve ever written (they don’t read erotic romance or they prefer longer stories) and I accept that. Sometimes I write a story for a specific group of reading buddies and the reviewer might not be part of this group. Sometimes a story simply doesn’t work.
We’re making art, not cheeseburgers. Every work of art is different. We’re fortunate in Romanceland that we have reviewers to point out these differences. A well written review (including a well written negative review) helps readers find the right stories for them and this is a win for readers, writers, and everyone else in Romanceland.
But to say that writers should look at their stories as a product is misunderstanding the process. Stories aren’t products. They’re a piece of us that we’re sharing with others.
When (often newer) writers react badly to a negative review, I try to remember that what they’re feeling is rejection. The ‘cure’ for rejection isn’t more anger. It’s a hug (which studies also show make people live longer – grins). More hugs make any place, including Romanceland, a better place to be.
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Pre-order Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Pre-order Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
Topics: Writing Tips | Comments Off on Writing IS Personal
Fourth Excerpt From Breaking All The Rules
This post has adult content. If you are under the age of eighteen years old or sensitive to adult language/situations, please do not read this post.
I previously posted the first three excerpts from Breaking All The Rules.
Excerpt One
http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/03/05/first-excerpt-from-breaking-all-the-rules/
Excerpt Two
http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/03/12/second-excerpt-from-breaking-all-the-rules/
Excerpt Three
http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/03/19/third-excerpt-from-breaking-all-the-rules/
Here’s the next bit to tide you over until release day (Tuesday!)
By noon the numbers on the expense reports blur, the lines running together. I set the stack aside, remove my lunch from the backpack, and saunter to the break room. The space is empty, my coworkers preferring to buy food from the company-subsidized cafeteria.
The meals served there are good, but not as good as my beef panang curry, a recipe I learned from Auntie Ratana, one of my mom’s best friends. I warm up the dish and carry it back to my desk, looking forward to enjoying this little taste of home.
The pinch-faced lady seated one row away from me complains loudly about stinky foods. She must be complaining about her own dish. She’s eating steamed broccoli, and the scent of flatulence hangs heavily in the air.
I ignore her grumbling, open my data donation program, and eat slowly as I code, savoring the flavors of curry paste, coconut milk, lime, and basil.
The program I’m crafting is my gift to the world, a means of sharing unused data and voice capacity. The less fortunate often receive free used phones, but not the plans needed to utilize them. My program will fix that problem.
There’s no money in it. When it goes live next year I might snag a Blaine Technologies’ Change the World grant. The mentoring provided is direly needed. The funding, however, will only pay for additional business expenses, not for my rent or my grocery bill. Nate would call my project’s lack of profit unsustainable.
I peruse his schedule. He has booked a lunchtime meeting with Mr. Blaine. My friend Anna’s desk is situated outside of her enigmatic CEO’s office, and I should drop by, see Emily, the adorable heir to the Blaine Technologies’ empire. If I bump into Nate as he leaves his meeting, I can claim it’s a coincidence.
It wouldn’t truly be a coincidence and this would violate the rules of my game. Nate must choose to see me outside the confines of our morning elevator rides. I can’t see him. I force myself to remain at my desk, to concentrate on my project, to not think about the object of my doomed and completely absurd obsession.
My progress is slow. Coding is natural for me. I’ve been taking programs apart and putting them back together since I was a child, computers being a necessary evil at the commune. Designing the site is more challenging. I stress over every marketing decision, every color choice, every graphic and text I utilize.
The small hairs on the back of my neck rise and my body hums with awareness. Only one man has this effect on me, but it can’t be him. He has a meeting. I glance upward and my jaw drops.
It is him. Nate stands at the end of the row of empty cubicles, his expression blank, his back straight, and his feet braced apart. His fingers clench into fists and release, clench and release. He’s the Iceman, renowned for his restraint, yet he’s struggling with his control. This is how much he wants me.
“I thought you had a meeting with your boss.” I issue this statement as a challenge. He’ll know I checked his schedule, accessed his account.
“I canceled the meeting.”
He canceled his meeting with Mr. Blaine. Nate never cancels meetings. His schedule once drafted is set for the day.
“Did you?” I ask.
“Yes.” Nate’s gaze meets mine and I suck in my breath. His pale gray eyes are turbulent with stark, raw emotion, his need calling to me, seducing me.
“I see.” I stare at him. He stares back at me, his square jaw jutted and his lips pressed together. Tension radiates from him, heavy waves of desire dragging me down, down, down.
“Okie dokie, then,” I concede. He came to me. He canceled his meeting for me. I can do the rest.
I push away from my desk and walk toward him, my hips swaying, my soul filled with purpose. Nate watches me, not moving, not speaking.
“Come with me.” I cover his fists with my fingers. Energy surges from his hands to mine, the connection instant and intense, shaking my soul.
“Come,” I repeat, leading him toward the shredding room, grabbing a box of tissues as we pass an unoccupied desk. Nate follows me, issuing no protests, offering no resistance.
I want resistance. I want push back, challenge, him. Nate’s unbending personality is an integral part of him and I don’t want him to change, not for me, not for anyone.
We enter the shredding room, the space soundproof, private, utilitarian. A monstrous machine is bookended by two stacks of folded cardboard boxes. Shelves line the perimeter. White dust hangs in the stale air and covers the gray frayed carpet.
“This isn’t posh, but it will do.” I set the box of tissues on a nearby shelf and close the door, blocking the outside noise and hiding us from curious eyes, creating a secluded office oasis for the two of us.
“We’re not doing anything, Miss Trent.” Nate stands dangerously close to the exit and watches me warily, prepared to leave at the slightest provocation. “I only deal with professionals.”
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
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