Savage Temptation : A Brother's Best Friend Romance (Savage in Love) Read online

  SAVAGE TEMPTATION

  A BROTHER’S BEST FRIEND ROMANCE

  LARK ANDERSON

  Copyright © 2022 by Lark Anderson

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  CONTENTS

  Other Books by Lark Anderson

  Chapter 1

  Atticus

  Chapter 2

  Tessa

  Chapter 3

  Atticus

  Chapter 4

  Tessa

  Chapter 5

  Atticus

  Chapter 6

  Tessa

  Chapter 7

  Atticus

  Chapter 8

  Tessa

  Chapter 9

  Tessa

  Atticus

  Chapter 10

  Tessa

  Chapter 11

  Tessa

  Chapter 12

  Tessa

  Chapter 13

  Atticus

  Tessa

  Chapter 14

  Tessa

  Chapter 15

  Atticus

  Chapter 16

  Tessa

  Chapter 17

  Atticus

  Chapter 18

  Tessa

  Chapter 19

  Atticus

  Chapter 20

  Tessa

  Chapter 21

  Tessa

  Epilogue

  Atticus

  Atticus

  Other Books by Lark Anderson

  About the Author - Lark

  A Sneak Peek At: The Billionaire’s Board

  Chapter One

  Twenty-Four hours earlier—Remi is the WORST kind of millennial…

  OTHER BOOKS BY LARK ANDERSON

  CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

  The Beguiling a Billionaire Series

  The Billionaire’s Board

  The Billionaire’s Fixer Upper

  The Billionaire’s Funding

  The Bad Girl

  The Dis-Graced

  The Trainwreck

  Hacking His Code

  Reckless in Love

  Love you…not!

  Trust you…not!

  Tempt you…not!

  Savage in Love

  Savage in the Sheets

  Savage in the Sweets

  Savage in the Streets

  Savage Redemption

  Savage Temptation

  Cutler Family Christmas

  Not So Jolly

  Not So Merry

  Standalones

  Professional Consult

  The Glow Girlz Series

  Stacey's Seduction

  Tempting Teysa

  Desiree's Delight

  SCI-FI/FANTASY ROMANCE

  Devoured by Dusk

  A Beast So Broken

  A Curse So Vile

  Venus Quarantine Initiative

  Her Chosen Mate

  If you’d like a FREE ebook, click HERE!

  If you'd like to become an ARC reviewer for Lark Anderson, please email her at: [email protected]. If you would like to subscribe to Lark's newsletter, please sign up here.

  CHAPTER 1

  ATTICUS

  It’s ironic how the elite party. We celebrate by putting on expensive designer suits, sipping flutes of champagne, and rarely talking above a whisper. It’s hardly celebrating at all, if you ask me.

  The wait staff knows. I can see it in their eyes. They mock us just as much as they envy us, knowing that even though we never have to worry about the mundane existence of showing up for a 9-to-5, we’ll never feel the rush and thrill of living as fearlessly in the moment as they do.

  Throughout my childhood, I went to elite private schools, had the best tutors, and traveled the world. Everyone within my circle was at the uppermost crust of society.

  Except for Lance Campbell, my best friend and partner in crime. And I do mean crime in the literal sense. We may have never been caught for lighting all those smoke bombs in the locker room, but that doesn’t take away from our shared deviance.

  Lance’s mother taught at Elkwood Academy, allowing him to attend without the burden of tuition, and thus, it was friendship at first sight.

  A beautiful woman drapes herself over my shoulder. I’ve never met her before, or at least I don’t think I have. She’s probably an Instagram influencer, and they’re hard to tell apart.

  Her honey-blonde hair is about as real as her overly stuffed lips. Someone needs to direct her to a better doctor.

  Of course, she knows who I am. As does everyone attending the ‘party’, and I mean that in the loosest sense of the word.

  “Atticus Savage,” she purrs. “I’ve been waiting to meet you.”

  A leggy brunette approaches my other side, sandwiching me between them.

  “My name is Karissa,” Brunette says in a sultry tone. “I see you’ve already met Candice. We have some ideas on how to celebrate your recent deal with Ashcroft.”

  With my family name, line of work, and the number of zeros in my bank account, I’m used to this sort of attention, and once upon a time, I enjoyed it.

  But what was once thrilling now feels hollow.

  “Atticus Savage!” Lance shouts from across the room, making the uptight crowd gawk in horror.

  He saunters up to me with a champagne flute that’s undoubtedly filled with his favorite IPA. “Drink up!”

  We clink our glasses and throw back like heathens. The way men are meant to.

  Mischief twinkles in his eyes. “I see you found us some ladies. Awesome! Which one do I get? Or are we taking turns?”

  I glance at each of the women, relishing the look of shock Lance put on their faces.

  And no, these women are not above threesomes, foursomes, and moresomes. It’s Lance they are balking at.

  It’s not that Lance isn’t attractive or has trouble getting laid, but the women that attend these functions are hunters, seeking a certain dollar value in their prey, and Lance falls far short of that.

  They’re too stupid to realize he’d treat them better than any other man here. Myself included. He treats his one night stands better than most of the men here treat their wives.

  I look from one woman to the other. “These ladies are eager to celebrate my newest contract. Why don’t you take this one,” I push on the small of Brunette’s back until she nearly tumbles into Lance’s arms, “and I’ll take this one. I think her name is…Marissa, Melody, Mable? I can’t remember.”

  Brunette glares back at me, lip sneered upward in distaste. I don’t have the slightest bit of guilt. She’s the one that initiated unwanted contact. Now she knows how it feels.

  She fumes off, her shoes clicking on the tile floor with each step. Blonde remains, clinging to me, not at all discouraged.

  She reaches across to Lance to fix his wayward lapel. “Three can be fun.”

  “You’ll have to excuse us,” I say gently, not nearly as put off by her as I was by the other.

  She stares at me with hopeful eyes, her lower lip tucked between her teeth. With hesitation, she removes herself from my arm, lingering for a moment before saying, “Don’t hesitate to seek me out. I’ll be here all night.”

  “Don’t hold your breath, sweetheart,” I tell her, knowing full well I sound like an asshole and not caring in the slightest.

  Lance whistles as he watches her walk away. “I don
’t know how you say no to a body like that.”

  He’s not the only one who’s confused. A year ago, I would have taken them both up to my penthouse. Perhaps even a third.

  I exhale morosely. “I do it without batting an eye.”

  “Of all the nights to party it up, this would be the one. You landed Ashcroft International—which is insane!”

  “I’m sure my family’s name had nothing to do with it.”

  “You’re in tech, competing with juggernauts like the Icors,” Lance enthuses. “This is a big deal.”

  “Oh, my God—is that Atticus Savage?” A porcelain-skinned redhead points a perfectly manicured finger at me.

  How is she so surprised to see me when the party’s being held in my honor?

  “Let me guess, you’re going to turn her down too?” Lance chides.

  “I prefer to see it as denying these women bragging rights.”

  “Well, I’m going hunting. Wish me luck,” Lance says, then stalks in the direction of a leggy blonde.

  I’m well aware of how cocky I sound, but it’s true. I’m considered one of the world’s most eligible bachelors and a night with me would assure these ladies a slew of modeling gigs, free swag from high-end boutiques, and other men within my orbit.

  And being wanted for those reasons has left me feeling empty.

  Richard Scarlet approaches with an outstretched hand. We shake. “Bravo for the good work, my friend. I hear your Savage Playground is making waves. Heck, a tsunami.”

  Though we grew up on opposite coasts, we’ve hovered in each other’s circles our entire lives, eventually attending the same college.

  I ignore the redhead and give Scarlet my full attention. “While it’s not as exciting as opening nightclubs around the world, I do think the pornography implications make it a tad spicy.”

  Scarlet laughs. “No wonder Ashcroft signed. Sex is money. By the way, I saw you dash those beating hearts earlier. Tell me, have you found love in your Playground?”

  I snicker. “Not even close. While some scientists that have worked on the project have developed an…unhealthy relationship with the bots, I can’t say I share their appeal.”

  “People are going to lose their damn minds. With your technology, average Joes can have your real-life sex life.”

  “May I remind you that my project will revolutionize the way we teach healthcare and other technical and dangerous jobs? It’s not just about v-pussy.”

  “My mind is more focused on V-Tatum and V-Hemsworth, anyway.” Scarlet doubles over in laughter. I forgot how funny he can be.

  “If I can acquire a license, I plan on charging an arm and a leg for their skins, so save up.”

  “Hm, is there a special? Is it more to bang Hemsworth’s Thor over The Huntsman? Will there be a BOGO?”

  I chuckle, but as funny as he is, I find myself lacking joy.

  Scarlet casts me a dubious look. “You don’t seem happy despite just closing a deal that will make you one of the ten richest men on the planet.”

  I shrug. “Success is never what you think it is.”

  “Tell me then, what is it?”

  “It’s being given everything you need in life in great excess, while disallowing you the things you really want.”

  “What do you want that copious amounts of money and a near-perfect virtual reality world can’t buy?”

  I look him dead in the eye. “I don’t know.”

  Scarlet gives me a pat on the shoulder. “Well, as long as it’s not Channing Tatum or Chris Hemsworth, I hope you find it.”

  A jewelry heiress calls him away, and I’m left wondering if I’ve gone insane.

  As a waiter passes, and I grab a fresh drink, telling myself that I just need to loosen up. Let out a little steam. Maybe an evening of flirting followed by a night of debauchery is what I need to jumpstart my enthusiasm for life.

  But I’m more than my bank account and the innovations of my company. I don’t want those to be the qualifiers that make me worthy of a woman’s attention. Or anyone’s attention, for that matter. All they see is rich, handsome Atticus Savage with more money than he knows what to do with and they want to hop on board.

  Across the room, I spot someone as dour-faced as myself, which brings a smile to my lips.

  Lance’s sister Tessa stands with a glass in her hand, glaring daggers at her best friend Ashley, who is talking a mile a minute.

  She’s gorgeous in only the way a person can be when she barely puts any effort at all into being beautiful. Not to say that she’s sloppy. She’s just…effortlessly whimsical.

  My eyes are drawn to her shapely legs that I’ve imagined wrapped around my waist half a hundred times just this week alone, but they don’t stop there, they travel up her trim waist to her perky tits, and I say a silent prayer of thanks that she’s gone braless

  Tessa and Ashley are proof that opposites attract. Ashley is the heiress to a peanut empire, which may not sound like much, but it affords her private jets, luxury accommodations, and a life of leisure.

  While Tessa, with the same middle-class parents as Lance, works her ass off conducting domestic and international fraud investigations. She’s kind of a badass.

  Growing up, I never realized that Lance’s bratty sister would transform into the intelligent, snarky, alluring beauty she is today. It happened while she attended college. She came to a party, and I didn’t realize it was her. Seeing her sans braces with her acne cleared was a shock to my system. I’ve never fumbled my words with a woman before, but all at once, I developed an awkward stutter I blamed on a hangover I never had.

  Perhaps one of the things I most admire about her is that even though she has been surrounded by some of the most privileged assholes in existence, she was always appreciative of what she had. On her sweet sixteen, when her parents bought her a nine-year-old Toyota Corolla, she squealed with delight and begged to take it around the block even though her best friends were all driving Mercedes, BMWs, and Aston Martins.

  And if anyone ever gave her hell for it, those friends would put their pretentious asses in their place. Not that she needed their help. Tessa never groveled to those with money. She never backed down. Never submitted.

  Even now, surrounded by perfectly polished women who have teams that do their hair, makeup, and wardrobe, Tessa wears her bohemian chic signature style without caring what others think.

  And somehow, she makes it work when others would struggle. Her beige gown fits loosely, but still hugs her in all the right places, accentuating her hips and that round little ass of hers. Sparkling embellishments give her an ethereal aura, making her as unapproachable as a goddess.

  But that’s Tessa in her authentic form, with her blonde hair styled in wild waves, wisps set in charming braids.

  She’s the most beguiling woman I’ve ever seen, which makes the fact that Lance has put her off-limits to our circle of friends maddening.

  She’s the one thing I can’t have in this world, even though she’s the only person capable of fixing me. Of filling this hollowness that’s been growing inside of me. Consuming me.

  I approach, and for the first time this evening, this week, this month, I feel happy.

  “What are you ladies gossiping about?” I ask with a waggle of my brow.

  “Oh, we were just wondering if the rumors are true,” Ashley says, then takes a big gulp of her champagne.

  “What rumors are you speaking of?”

  Ashley and Tessa look at each other with wry grins.

  “The sex toy mods,” Tessa says, then breaks out into a fit of giggles.

  “Jesus Christ.” I run my fingers through my hair. “Why is everyone so focused on the sex implications when there are medical advancements to be had?”

  “Hey,” Tessa points an authoritative finger at me, which I kind of like. “Don’t act like masturbation doesn’t have health benefits. I hear it decreases the risk of prostate cancer in men and cures mania in women.”

  She and Ashley gig
gle.

  “If you must know, we’ve contracted with several niche businesses. Some will manufacture medical props to help people train in the virtual world, while others will serve a more recreational purpose.”

  Tessa’s jaw drops. If we were alone, I might be stupid enough to kiss those pouty lips of hers.

  Which means we can never be alone.

  Ashley gasps. “Please, oh, please tell me I can be one of those tester people!”

  My eyes find Tessa again, and because I can’t help myself, I imagine her lying on my bed as she tests out the various scenarios programmed into the Playground, sensual moans escaping her lips as she writhes on the blankets.

  Fuck—what the hell has gotten into me?

  I down my glass of champagne, then grab another from a passing tray and ask the server to get me a whiskey from the bar.

  Tessa folds her arms over her chest. “Way to avoid Ashley’s question.”

  “I’m sorry, ladies. My brain is starting to go numb from all the times I’ve been asked that, and I just thought I’d help it along.” I hold up my glass.