TARYN BELLE is the pen name of Cea Person, a bestselling Canadian author who wrote about her unconventional childhood in two memoirs, North of Normal and Nearly Normal, both published by HarperCollins. She is a former international model and a businesswoman, running a swimwear company with merchandise popularized by celebrities such as Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson. She loves playing board games with her husband and three children, hosting dinner parties in her Vancouver home and crafting out.

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author CATHRYN FOX is a wife, mom, sister, daughter, aunt and friend. She loves dogs, sunny weather, anything chocolate (she never says no to a brownie), pizza and red wine. Cathryn lives in beautiful Nova Scotia with her husband, who is convinced he can turn her into a mixed martial arts fan. When not writing, Cathryn can be found Skyping with her son, who lives in Seattle (could he have moved any farther away?), shopping with her daughter in the city, watching a big action flick with her husband, or hanging out and laughing with friends.

Also by Taryn Belle

Tropical Heat

In Too Deep

Also by Cathryn Fox

On His Knees

On Her Terms

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

In For Keeps & Under His Touch

Taryn Belle and Cathryn Fox

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09936-3

IN FOR KEEPS & UNDER HIS TOUCH

Published in Great Britain 2020

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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Cover

About the Authors

Booklist

Title Page

Note to Readers

In For Keeps

Back Cover Text

Dedication

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

EPILOGUE

Under His Touch

Back Cover Text

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

About the Publisher

In For Keeps

Taryn Belle

Kiki’s sexy one-night stand with rock god Dev Stone has become a red-hot affair with a lot of potential...until she discovers a secret that threatens to ruin everything.

Kiki Becker moved to Moretta—a beautiful island and popular celebrity haunt—to escape a painful divorce. But after a scorching one-night stand with rock star Dev Stone almost becomes a sex scandal, she realizes she needs to face real life again. When Dev offers her a job as his tour assistant, Kiki leaps at the chance to go to Australia and find the mother who abandoned her decades ago.

Dev can’t stop thinking about his electrifying night with Kiki, so he’s thrilled when she accepts. Their chemistry is irresistible, and the pair soon embark on a sexy no-strings affair—the perfect distraction from his tiresome celebrity life and all its trappings.

Kiki realizes she’s falling for Dev and cautiously confides in him about her past, bringing the couple closer together. But Dev has his own dark secret and it could push Kiki away forever. Will he trust her with it...or walk away and break her heart before she can break his?

Harlequin DARE publishes sexy romances featuring powerful alpha heroes and bold, fearless heroines exploring their deepest fantasies.

Four new Harlequin DARE titles are available each month, wherever ebooks are sold!

To Remy, my real-life love story

PROLOGUE

“THIS DRESS,” DEV SAID, trailing his hands beneath it up to the lacy edge of her panties, “needs to be on the floor.”

Kiki laughed and squirmed away from him to the other side of the sofa. “You said you were going to show me around, rock star,” she said, gesturing toward his studio equipment.

Dev gazed longingly at the woman he’d known for less than an hour. Their eyes had met across a room full of people—his room full of people—and her pull on him had been as irresistible as a rare earth magnet. She was obviously gorgeous, but it was her confidence that had attracted him to her. A brief conversation had revealed a quick wit and a straightforward, no-games personality. The habit she had of pulling her hair to one side to bare her neck, the way she parted her sensual lips when he spoke to her, had had his mind going to lustful places within minutes.

“Later,” he said. “Right now we’ve got way better things to do.”

“But you’re missing your own party,” Kiki said, bringing a finger to her mouth. She held it there, licking the tip suggestively while electricity jolted down Dev’s spine. She was making him fucking crazy, but soon she would be his. He only hoped he wouldn’t crush her. At six foot two he was tall, and he kept his body muscular with regular workouts. She couldn’t be a shade over five-three, a perfect china doll in a pink minidress. Her large blue eyes, freckles and long strawberry blonde hair added to the effect of innocence.

But he already knew from what had led them here, desperate for privacy, that she was anything but. Thirty minutes of making out on his private beach like a pair of hormonal teenagers had nearly brought him to his knees. By the time she’d taken his hand and pressed it to her pussy in a silent plea, he’d actually been worried about his own control. No—this woman was no innocent doll. She was red-hot, in charge and fully attuned to both of their gratification. “This is my party,” Dev said. “We’ve got everything we need. Music, fun and the best fucking present I’ve ever gotten.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah,” he said, unbuttoning his shirt.

“That’s a lot of pressure. I guess I’d better deliver.”

“Somehow I’m not too worried.”

He dropped his shirt onto the sofa, not missing the hungry rove of her eyes over his chest. Drawing one knee up, she let her leg fall open just enough for him to catch a glimpse of her thong: black silk edged with a cream lace border. His cock surged forward in his shorts, aching for her touch. She licked her lips, which were swollen and pink from the intensity of their kissing. He leaned toward her and took them again. She yielded to his tongue, and he let it build until she was biting ravenously at his mouth. A sharp charge zapped up his thighs. The pleasant, dull ache in his groin was becoming a throb. He needed her. Needed her breast in his mouth, her long hair wrapped in his fist, his cock thrusting into her, her moans of pleasure in his ear. His entire body was vibrating with anticipation, an insane urgency to claim her. Something told him he was in for the fuck of his life, and it wasn’t just because he hadn’t bedded anyone in over a year. He had chosen her when he’d had no intention of sleeping with anyone tonight, and that in itself was a dangerous thing to consider.

Throwing her head back, Kiki slid a hand into her panties. “Ohh...” she moaned as she touched herself. He watched her, so overcome with desire he was practically trembling. “Was this what you wanted?” Pushing a finger inside herself, she closed her eyes and sighed rapturously.

It was too much to take. Dev grasped her wrists and pushed her hands above her head. Then he slowly lowered himself between her legs until he was pressing his cock, still caged in his shorts, against her pussy.

“This is what you want. Trust me,” he said, pushing into her rhythmically. He knew he’d hit her sweet spot when he was rewarded with a helpless whimper. Her wrists strained as she tried to reach for him, but he held them firmly in place. Then he brought his mouth down on hers for another slow, sensual kiss, ending it before it became too urgent. He wanted to prolong this delicious moment for all it was worth—not his usual MO. Normally he preferred quick and impersonal, but this tiny creature was bringing something out in him that had his head spinning. He wanted to fuck her like a wild animal and caress her gently at the same time. But most of all, he wanted her to experience the same pressing need that was melting his brain and firing up his insides like an inferno.

“It looks like you have a present for me,” Kiki said, looking down at his shorts. “Shall I unwrap it?”

“That would mean I’d have to let you go,” Dev replied, rubbing his thumbs in slow circles on the insides of her wrists. “And I happen to have you just where I want you.”

Her wide blue eyes teased him back. “I promise I won’t try to escape.”

Dev loosened his grip, and she unzipped his fly. He let her get a good look at his cock, perfectly outlined against his black boxers, before he reached for the hem of her dress. “Me first.”

He tugged the garment over her head and stared at her in wonder. Her breasts, encased in a bra that matched her panties, were the perfect size—still small, but not as tiny as the rest of her. Lightly dusted with freckles. Her rosy nipples strained toward him when he unclasped her bra. He hooked a finger around one and tugged, thrilling at her sharp intake of breath. “Yes, please.” Her hands, finally freed, went to the back of Dev’s head to bring his mouth to her breast. He flicked his tongue over it mercilessly until she was gasping. When she pushed her pussy harder into him, he pulled back. She made a frustrated sound.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, looking down at her face. He was pleased to see that her pupils were dilated with need. “Was there something else you wanted?”

“There sure is, rock star. Your tongue.” She brought his hand down to her panties. He could feel her wetness through the thin fabric, sending another jolt straight to his cock. “Lick my pussy just like that.”

He hooked his fingers around her thong, and she eagerly raised her bottom off the sofa. He slid the silky triangle down to her ankles. She was beautiful down there, too, a wet dream come true. “You mean right here?” he teased, hovering his hand an inch above her pussy.

She drew toward it like a magnet. “Yes, right there,” she gasped, grabbing his fingers and pushing them inside her. The intoxicating moan that escaped her lips was almost his undoing, but it was nothing compared to the feel of her warm wetness. Jesus. It was time. But his body wanted to rush forward and pull back at the same time to prolong the delicious tension.

Sliding his hands under her ass, Dev trailed his tongue up the inside of her thigh. When he reached the tense muscle that led straight to heaven, he stopped, making her wait for one more torturous moment. Then he flicked his tongue across her clit. “God, you’re sweeter than a strawberry,” he whispered. Before long, he found the exact pressure that brought those arousing moans of pleasure to his ears.

“Please, Dev. More, more, more—” Kiki gasped. He saw her hands open and close, open and close, like it was the last part of her body she had control over. Then she started to tremble, and he knew she was dangerously close. He pulled away from her. “Oh, no you don’t. Not without my cock inside you.”

Her eyes were wild with desire. “Give it to me. Now, Dev. Fuck me.”

He couldn’t have waited any longer if his life depended on it. Kneeling on the sofa with his hips at her eye level, he let his shorts drop to his knees. Her hips, which were squirming on the sofa in anticipation, stilled when she set eyes on his cock. “That’s a very nice instrument you have there, rock star.”

“Just wait till you feel it,” he said, rolling on the condom he’d snagged from an old stash on his way in the door.

“I’m dying to,” she sighed, back to gyrating her hips. He grasped them firmly to stop her, gripping her with the same claiming energy he felt charging through his cells. Her eyes widened a bit, and then her face relaxed into a smile. “My God, where did you come from?”

“I’ve been wondering the same thing about you,” he said, letting her feel his weight on top of her. “You ready?”

“Never readier.”

He wanted to go slowly, but his consuming need for her halted that idea in its tracks. Next time, he thought above the roaring in his head. He positioned himself and entered her in one forceful thrust.

“That’s it,” Kiki moaned. “God, yes. That’s it. That’s it!”

It felt heavenly. Better than he’d even imagined. It took all of his control not to drive himself forward in pursuit of his own pleasure, and he could tell by her face that she’d been transported to a similar place. As he moved, her legs went around his waist and her hands went to his ass, pushing him in deeper. He could already feel a thin sheen of sweat coating his body, the result of passion and forced restraint. It felt so good that he never wanted it to end, he wanted to fuck her until his party was over and the guests had cleared out and morning came. And then he wanted to do it all over again.

“Fuck me harder, Dev,” Kiki cried breathlessly, her eyes hooking into his like talons. “Give me everything you have. Everything. Please.”

She’s there with me, Dev thought triumphantly. His to bring to the same heights of ecstasy he knew he was about to rise to. At his mercy.

Or was he at hers?

He slid a hand up her neck and over the bump of her slightly pointed chin. When her lips parted, he pushed his fingers inside her mouth. She made sweet sounds of greed as she sucked them. He quickened his pace, feeling the promising heat build at his center. Her moans spurred him on as their bodies slid, skin against skin. They were too perfect together. As different as their bodies were, they were made to move as one, made to leave each other gasping over and over again. And it made no sense that he was thinking that way. Who was this woman he suddenly wanted to know everything about, to feel the same desire that was consuming him? An hour ago Kiki had been a temptation, half an hour ago an object of lustful anticipation, ten minutes ago the best fuck he could remember. But now, as she pitched beneath him with a sharp cry and her pussy tightened hard enough to bring him over the edge with her, all that filled his head were three little words: more of her.

CHAPTER ONE

“EARTH TO DEV,” Alex said, waving a hand in front of his face. “Nicola will be here in a few minutes. You want another beer?”

Like an earsplitting record scratch, Dev’s mind snapped back to the moment: Pablo’s bar, late afternoon on the patio, a casual drink with his little brother.

And two days before his descent into hell.

Remembering that night with Kiki had been so much more pleasant—even if it did fill his entire body with frustrated, overheated longing.

“Sure,” Dev said to the waiter, trying not to look over his shoulder as he slid his bottle across the table. Because that was where the bar was, which also happened to be where Kiki worked. Not that she was here today—ever since their night together three weeks ago, she seemed to have developed the magical power of avoidance. And on a three-square-mile island that they both called home, that was nothing short of miraculous.

“Hey,” Alex said, working his thumbnail under his beer label. “Did I tell you Brissoli’s being sued? By one of your party guests—the son of the judge, I think.”

“Good for him,” Dev said dully. It wasn’t the first time he’d wondered if things might have turned out differently with Kiki if Brissoli had never happened. It should have been a perfect night—a gathering of Dev’s friends, along with Alex and his girlfriend Nicola, to celebrate his thirty-sixth birthday. The same night he’d been with Kiki. That part had been a dream, but the next morning they’d all been pitched into a cold and dark reality. John Brissoli, hungry for fodder for his celebrity-chasing website, had found the perfect target with Moretta. This tiny island of only ninety-two estates was where celebrities came to get away from the spotlight, and they paid dearly for that privacy, but occasionally the bottom-feeders still crawled onto land. Brissoli had not only crashed Dev’s party, he’d managed to get photos of several of the guests in compromising situations. Drugs, sloppy drunkenness, sex in risky places—he caught all of it that night, including footage of Dev and Kiki’s encounter in the studio. In the end he, Kiki and Alex had managed to head the disaster off, but it had taken a serious toll on all of them. Dev didn’t think it was any coincidence that he’d barely laid eyes on Kiki since.

“Just in time. I ordered you a margarita,” Alex said, looking up to greet Nicola. She kissed him passionately on the mouth and sank down into a chair between the two men. Dev gave her a quick grin to hide his irritation, which had nothing to do with Nicola herself. A month ago Alex had come to Moretta on business and ended up meeting his dream girl. It wasn’t that Dev wasn’t happy for them, it was just that things were so damned simple for Alex: meet a woman, decide she was the one, cue happily-ever-after.

Things could never be that easy for Dev. Being the fifth-bestselling recording artist of all time had always made relationships complex. In the beginning the female fans had done the trick, but he’d left that scene behind a while ago. Sure, he still let them hang around, but it was more out of habit—and loneliness, if he was completely honest with himself—than anything else. A stretch of celibacy had followed after that, when he found himself less willing to spend time with anyone he saw as temporary. Ready for a real relationship but without the right woman to fill the role, and that mostly came down to a matter of trust. Finding someone he wanted to go to bed with every night was one thing, but in his experience, finding a woman who wouldn’t fuck with either his head or his money was an even bigger problem.

Until Kiki. The girl who’d handled the sex-tape scandal like a pro, who clearly had no interest in fame or fast money, who’d been in his corner every step of the way. The girl he’d broken his year of celibacy for, who drove him to obsessive, cock-stiffening thoughts every night when he tried to sleep.

It was torturous.

“Alex tells me you’re off on tour in a few days,” Nicola said, plucking the menu from between the salt and pepper shakers.

Dev felt himself crash down to earth yet again. The tour. His heart slammed once, twice in his chest. “Yep,” he said with simulated lightness. “Back to the grind.”

“We’ll miss you.”

“Speak for yourself.” Alex grinned.

“Aren’t you supposed to be gone?” Dev asked his brother in annoyance.

“Nicola keeps asking me the same thing,” Alex said, cupping a hand around her face. “I’m still trying to convince her to move back to LA with me.”

Dev’s beer had arrived. He took a long swig and set the bottle back on the table, aiming his gaze at the view beyond the patio to calm his roiling gut. The clear Caribbean Sea lapped gently at the sandy white shore. Palm trees swayed to the mellow reggae music coming from the bar’s speakers. It should have been enough to soothe anyone’s frayed nerves, but none of it worked on Dev. He may have lived in paradise, but his mind was in hell.

His phone started vibrating on the table. He glanced down at the screen and almost laughed out loud. Bix Jenner. The guy’s timing was uncanny. Flipping his overgrown dark hair out of his face, Dev grabbed his phone and stood up. “Bix. Give me some good news,” he said as he strode toward the end of the deck.

“I didn’t need Viagra to bang my wife last night” was Bix’s gravelly response.

“Not quite what I had in mind,” Dev replied with a grimace. Bix had managed Dev’s career since the day he’d called him up seventeen years ago and congratulated him for attracting the interest of the best manager in the business. Despite his immodesty, Bix’s claim wasn’t without truth, and Dev trusted him with his life. But Bix’s crass manner came with the territory, and even on a good day it grated on Dev’s nerves.

“You never did appreciate real humor, Stone.”

“It’s not that you’re not funny, it’s that I don’t believe you,” Dev responded dryly, hooking a flip-flop over the railing.

“You’re goddamn killing me. How about this, then—Jerry Farr’s guy is looking to move on. Said he’d take on the assistant job.”

Dev nearly dropped his phone. “What the fuck are you talking about? Vanessa’s got it covered,” he said, referring to his assistant of two years.

A beat. “You’re kidding me. She hasn’t told you?”

“Told me what?”

“She quit. Sent her notice in three days ago. She really didn’t—?”

“Quit? Why the hell would she do that?”

“Wouldn’t give a reason. But between you and me, I heard she’s moving to France with her boyfriend.”

Dev slapped a hand to his forehead. Vanessa was the best assistant he’d had in a long time, and with their high burnout rate they were hard to come by. “Nice of her to clue me in. We kick off rehearsals in two days!”

“You don’t have to tell me. Lucky for you, your fairy godfather found you a solution before you even knew you had a problem.”

“I’ve met Jerry’s guy—he’s a wet freaking noodle.”

“A noodle’s better than jack shit.”

“Is that what your wife says, too?”

“Screw you, Stone. He’ll get the job done.”

Dev shook his head tiredly. “I’ll have to think about it.” He paused, considering his next question. When it came to his career, offers went one way—they came to him. But it was making him crazy that a producer had recently dangled a carrot and then never followed through. “Listen, you ever hear from Larry Weatherby again? He seemed pretty hot for me to write for a few of his artists a couple months ago.”

“Nah. Reality probably kicked in—someone as big as you, he had to know it was a long shot. Besides, you’ve got the tour to focus on now.”

Dev suppressed a sigh. He’d started his career by writing songs for other artists until Bix had taken him under his wing and brought him into the spotlight, insisting that Dev was way too talented and easy on the eyes to keep hidden. Bix’s promises of fame and fortune had all delivered, but sometimes Dev wondered if he would have been better off staying where he’d been. Even a platinum album at the age of twenty hadn’t settled the beast of anxiety he tangled with onstage each night. The voracious crowds he’d dreamed of as a kid had turned out to be the stuff of nightmares. It wasn’t always like that, of course. When he managed to control his nerves, the adrenaline high from a great show could leave him buzzed for hours afterward, better than any drug. But more often than not, touring meant sleepless nights of worry, a hammering heartbeat and cold shakes as bad as any junkie’s.

“Listen, Stone, I know what’s on your mind, okay?” Bix continued, as if he were right inside Dev’s head. “And I want you to take all that worry and put it into Uncle Bix’s back pocket. We’ll handle it—you and me. Don’t we always?”

“Sure,” Dev said flatly. It was true—Bix was the only person in the entire world who knew the price Dev paid to get up on that stage night after night, and he made sure he had everything he needed to get through it.

“I’ll see you in London. And, hey—nice job on the Rolling Stone piece. If that doesn’t put you down in history as rock god of the century, I don’t know what will. People are eating up the new album. They love it. They love you, and don’t you goddamn forget it.”

“Thanks, man,” Dev said, and hung up. He knew Bix’s assurances should make him feel better. In a world being taken over by rap, EDM and sugary pop, Under My Skin, his tenth rock album, was selling almost as well as his first. His career was a resounding success, the one thing in his life that he’d always been able to depend on. And he knew he had to take the good with the bad; it was time for him to go out there and be a superstar again.

Back at his table, Alex and Nicola were deep in conversation and his beer was still waiting for him. Dev traced a finger through the condensation. Enjoy it while you can, he thought. In a few days he’d have to stop drinking altogether if he was going to get through his tour alive. He brought the bottle to his lips.

Six weeks of anxiety-filled days and nights. A woman he couldn’t get out of his head. And now no assistant.

Dev drank long and deep.

Victoria O’Hare, Real Estate Agent.

Sitting in her golf cart outside Pablo’s, Kiki Becker stared down at the woman’s face on her phone. Blue eyes under wispy brows, a ski-jump nose and reddish bobbed hair. Did Kiki bear a resemblance to her, or was she just trying to see something that wasn’t there? Not knowing the answer to that question had been driving her crazy since she’d come across the photo a few days ago. A search of the website hadn’t revealed anything further about her other than her recent home sales, and there was nothing else on the entire internet about any Victoria O’Hare who looked like this woman. Her picture mocked Kiki, daring her to reach out—which was completely out of the question.

Kiki clicked her phone off and shoved it into her handbag. The emptiness swelled in her chest, spread to her belly, threatened to spill tears. But she would not succumb to it. She swung her legs out of her golf cart and walked toward the entrance to Pablo’s. It had taken all of her strength to drag herself to work, but at least today she had a plan. Three weeks of feeling down in the dumps, tossing and turning through the night and mainlining junk food had been more than enough for her. It was time to accept that there would be no encore to her encounter with Dev Stone and move on with her life. And she would do it the best way she knew how: by getting laid tonight.