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Wicked as Secrets
WICKED LOVERS: SOLDIERS FOR HIRE, BOOK 7 (NOVEL)He’ll do anything to protect her from danger…but it will cost her everything.
Security specialist Matt Montgomery has never forgotten—or forgiven—Madison Archer for walking away and ripping out his heart. Three years later, she crashes back into his life, terrified that her wealthy husband is trying to kill her. Matt vows to protect Madison…but there’s a price. He’ll have revenge by making her submit to his every sexual demand.
Part of a powerful, ruthless political dynasty, Madison's soon-to-be ex has deep, dark secrets. When uncovering them nearly proves fatal, she turns to the one man she knows can protect her—the lover she’s never been able to forget. Matt’s ultimatum is both shocking and intoxicating. But if she wants to keep herself and her ailing father alive, he’s her only option.
As the danger escalates, so do Madison and Matt’s feelings. But navigating their rocky past while trying to stay one step ahead of her deadly husband proves perilous. Will their forbidden love survive the danger and give them a second chance at happiness?
**Wicked as Secrets is part of the Wicked Lovers: Soldiers for Hire romantic suspense series. Stories in this series are told in a duet of two full-length novels. Each duet can be read as a standalone. Includes strong language, sexy times, alpha male attitude, and a guaranteed happily ever after. Enjoy!**
What’s included?
- Bodyguard
- Forbidden Love
- Lovers Reunited
- Revenge
- Second Chance Romance
Wicked Lovers: Soldiers for Hire SERIES
EXCERPT
Matt Montgomery cursed as he stared out the window at the pouring rain. He’d lived in Louisiana for three years and there were still things he didn’t understand about this state. Like swamps all over the damn place, hungry gators, and a community who spoke a version of French that sounded nothing like the language he’d learned in high school. Now he had to contend with a summer rain that lasted for days and felt like a hot, sticky blanket.
Why did he still live here? Right, because he liked the people and the Southern hospitality. He loved his job. Nothing but bad memories waited for him in Wyoming.
And you keep hoping she’ll come back…
With a curse, he turned away and paced the house he’d been renting since impulsively deciding to stay in Lafayette. He had no business thinking of Madison Archer. Or rather, Madison Archer-Pershing. It had been three years since Trees and Laila’s wedding, when he’d spent that mind-blowing weekend in a suite, sharing champagne, cheese fries, his deepest secrets, and the absolute best sex of his life with her. Now, she was very much married to some bigwig senator’s grandson. She’d moved out of the bayou and moved up to the world of wealth and influence—two things he could never give her. He was no good for her, anyway.
Those realizations were the big turd on top of a giant shit sundae.
His phone buzzed and he pulled it from his pocket, praying it was work. He could use some adrenaline and action to take his mind off Madison and spice up his night.
Instead, it was a text message from Casey, his latest friend-with-benefits. As usual, she didn’t beat around the bush.
Rain turns me on. Let’s f*ck.
Normally, he would. In fact, since news of Madison’s engagement to Senator Winston Pershing’s grandson, Todd, had splashed across newscasts and social media, Matt hadn’t turned many offers down. A hookup at a bar here and a sexy sleepover with a neighbor there? Why not? A blind date? A flight attendant? A random quickie at the grocery store? Check, check, and check. Hell, he’d even nailed a former client, a gym pal’s little sister, and an ex’s best friend. He’d totally been game for all that. When he’d met Casey at a community food festival and they’d gotten to talking about mutual acquaintances, she’d pointed out he had already f*cked two of her friends. They’d apparently left with smiles, and she wanted some of that for herself. At the time, the arrangement had seemed perfect. Two weeks later, he wasn’t interested anymore.
The terrifying truth was no one measured up to Madison.
Dude, she isn’t coming back. Move the f*ck on.
Good advice, especially since he was pretty sure that, any day now, he’d be hearing about Madison being knocked up by that stuffy blue blood. God, Matt felt like a stupid a$$, because the thought of her in bed with the entitled pr!ck made him homicidal. He really should get laid.
He just didn’t want to, not by Casey. Not by anyone else he could think of.
Only Madison.
How the f*ck had she ruined him in a mere forty-eight hours and made it last three godd*mn years?
Unfortunately, Matt knew the answer. He couldn’t risk tempting fate again.
Sighing, he grabbed a beer, downed half of it, then headed back to the window. She was out there, somewhere. Probably at some pompous, ten-thousand-dollar-a-plate fundraiser, rubbing elbows with people who would look down on him for making a living by his gun.
F*ck them. And f*ck her. Whether he wanted to or not, he was going to f*ck Casey tonight.
Retrieving his phone, he started to type out a response when he suddenly heard a tap at his window that startled the h#ll out of him. He reared back, then saw a face on the other side of the glass. Ball cap, sunglasses, baggy T-shirt plastered to a slight frame. No distinguishing features or tattoos. At first glance, it looked like a teenage boy. But the face had a softness… Smooth, fair skin, gracefully arched brows, and a delicately sloped jaw.
Why the f*ck would this kid be out in the pouring rain after ten o’clock at night? H#ll, why would he avoid the covered porch, rather than knock on the front door?
No kid would…unless there was trouble.
Matt unlocked the window and raised it a fraction, aware of his gun a mere split second from his grasp.
“Yeah?”
“Matt?”
That trembling voice. Not a boy at all. Definitely a woman.
One he knew.
No, that was impossible. It couldn’t be… But a second glance had him reconsidering his assessment.
Holy sh!t.
His heart crashed into his chest. “Madison?”
She gave him a shaky nod, then looked behind her as if she expected the bogeyman to jump her. “Yes. I’m sorry to barge in—”
“You’re not.” He threw the window wide open, cursing the screen between them. If she was here, hiding in his bushes and disguising herself to approach his house late at night in the rain, something was terribly wrong. “What’s going on?”
“I-I need help, and I didn’t know anyone else I could trust.” She swallowed, and he saw the abject terror on her face. “My husband is trying to kill me.”
Excerpt 2 (717 words) – 3/8 NL
Matt eased into the cozy plaid recliner across from his footboard and nodded at the mattress. “Get in.”
Madison wanted to protest. Once she fell asleep, morning would come. They would be separated again, probably forever. While that seemingly suited him, her heart ached. She’d managed the last three years by fantasizing that, someday, she would be free so that she and Matt could rekindle what he’d cut short after that magical weekend. Instead, tonight had put a final period on their relationship. He wasn’t happy she’d come here, and he couldn’t wait to get rid of her. Because he was involved with someone? She hadn’t asked about his love life. She didn’t want to know. Was the that same reason he’d never asked why she’d married Todd?
In the end, she also didn’t want to make Matt’s life difficult. She loved him too much to make more waves, so she slid between the covers, trying not to smell him on the sheets, and rolled away from his probing gaze.
He killed the overhead lights. The squeaking of the chair told her that he sat again. She peered across the room to find him typing something onto his phone.
“Is everything all right?”
“Yeah. I’m just telling the bosses that I need to borrow Nash for a few days. He just came off a gig, so they probably won’t mind, as long as he manages his paperwork and follow-ups.”
“What about you? Do you have an upcoming assignment?”
He shrugged. “I’m supposed to go out soon, but we’ll see what sticks.”
Madison wasn’t sure what he meant. Maybe it was better if she didn’t know. The thought of him in danger terrified her.
“Whatever happens…be safe. Please.” Then she rolled over, closed her eyes, and tried furiously to blank her mind and sleep.
But Matt’s scent surrounded her—musky, woodsy, manly. For three years, she’d ached to share even a zip code with him. Now they were alone in the same room. All she could imagine was him losing his shirt while she threw back the covers to welcome him before they melted into the mattress together.
That wasn’t going to happen.
“Do you ever think of us?” he asked in the dark, shocking her.
His voice was so low she wondered if she’d imagined it.
If this was the last night they might ever be together, she should be honest. After all, she didn’t have any pride left to salvage. The Pershings and her never-ending pining for Matt had stripped her of that.
“All the time. Other than marrying Todd, you’re my biggest regret.” She huffed bitterly. “Not that it mattered. I know you didn’t really want me.”
“Oh, don’t kid yourself, honey. From the second I laid eyes on you, I wanted you more than my next breath.”
She frowned in the dark. “But you just disappeared. You ghosted me…”
“Because it wasn’t going to work.”
So he’d hurt her. She’d deserved it after all the rash decisions she’d made. And maybe he’d been right. They would never know. It was too late for them now; Madison was horribly aware of that.
She should close her eyes and leave Matt in peace. But after the harrowing twenty-fours she’d endured—not to mention the horrible years since she’d last seen him—she needed him so badly. He made her feel safe and sexy. He reassured her. He pleasured her like no man ever had. Would it be so terrible if she asked the person who held her heart to take her in his arms her one last time? She wouldn’t ask for promises or forevers. Just this moment.
The memory would have to last the rest of her life.
Slowly, she slipped from his bed. Instantly, his head zipped up from his phone. By the light of the device, she watched his eyes narrow when she stripped off his flannel and the air conditioning hardened her bare nipples. He didn’t speak, but the groan that slipped from his lips spoke volumes as she untied the pants. Slowly, she shoved them down, walking out of them and straight toward him—not wearing a stitch. As she stopped a mere foot from him and unwound her shoulder-length hair, she stared as him unapologetically. “Come to bed with me.”
