Seduction in Session (The Perfect Gentlemen, Band 2) - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Shayla Black is the New York Times bestselling author of over 30 novels, including the Wicked Lovers novels (His to Take, Theirs to Cherish, Ours to Love). She lives in Texas with her family.

Lexi Blake is the New York Times bestselling author of the Masters and Mercenaries series (You Only, Cherished, A View to a Thrill). She lives in North Texas with her family.

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Prologue

From the foot of the old pier, Connor Sparks watched his friends’ revelry farther down the beach. After tonight, would he ever feel like one of them again? In a few days, everything was going to change, and it killed him. Since his first year at Creighton Academy, way back in the seventh grade, he’d known his friends would be a part of every single day—usually a big part. Since they’d formed a friendship in prep school, the “Perfect Gentlemen,” so named by a sarcastic counselor, had been tight. That first Christmas, Dax had asked him what he was doing for the holidays. The conversation had ended with him accepting an invitation to spend two weeks with the Spencer family. In fact, he’d managed to worm his way into spending every summer break or holiday with one of their families for years. He wouldn’t be lucky enough to continue that tight-knit shit during college.

What the hell was he going to do now?

Connor looked out over the beach where his buddy Gabe Bond had started a massive bonfire. It crackled and the embers promised warmth. The moon hung low, and Connor could hear their laughter, practically smell the hot dogs they were roasting. That wouldn’t be the only thing smoking out there, but he rarely touched anything harder than a beer. He couldn’t. He was a scholarship kid, which meant he had to prove his worth every second of every day or he would be right back in the trailer park.

Now that they had graduated and prep school was in their rearview mirror, Connor refused to go back to that sad-sack single-wide with the cracked linoleum and broken stairs. But he also wouldn’t be joining his buddies at Yale. Of course, they had no idea. All they knew was that he’d gotten his acceptance letter at the same time as the rest of them.

He alone had been forced to wait for more information to see if he could actually attend. Unfortunately, his financial aid letter had not been quite as cheerful. In fact, that letter had slapped him with the reminder that no matter who his friends were, he lived in a different world. He’d merely had a four-year reprieve from having to deal with that truth.

“Hey.” Dax Spencer clapped a hand on his shoulder. He dangled a six-pack from his other hand. “Why are you hanging alone up here? The party is on the beach, man. Well, unless you’re Roman, and then the party is in Gabe’s parents’ bedroom. I am not cleaning that up. What the hell is he thinking, taking twins in there?”

“Double the pleasure?” Connor quipped.

Roman had actually offered him one. A beautiful blonde from their sister prep school who would likely be headed straight to Yale and pledging a sorority closely tied to Skull and Bones. Hell. That wasn’t exactly accurate, was it? She would serve the men of Skull and Bones because they would run the world one day.

No one ran the world from community college, and they didn’t run it from where he was going, either.

There would never have been an invite to Skull and Bones in Connor’s future, even if he could have afforded the Yale tuition. Bonesmen came from the elite. No matter how closely he was associated to these men, Connor could never forget where he came from. Neither would anyone else.

Dax winced. “I’m a realist, man. I think it’s just double the trouble—even for a night. I’m with Scooter. I kind of wish Gabe hadn’t sent out that invite. It’s our first night of freedom. It would have been cool to spend it together. But hey, we’ve got all summer for that, I guess. One last blowout before the real fun starts.”

Like the rest of the group, Dax was headed to Yale, though after his four years, he intended to join the Navy as his father had, and his grandfather before him, and so on, dating back to when the U.S. Navy had first been formed. Gabe and his ancestors were the first family of aeronautics. The rest of the Perfect Gentlemen came from equally pedigreed backgrounds. Maddox Crawford’s family practically owned the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Roman Calder came from a long line of powerful D.C. lawyers. Zack, aka Scooter . . . well, he was being groomed to become president of the United States.

“Can’t wait.” Connor simply wasn’t ready to admit that he wouldn’t be staying here for the summer.

“Mad bought a brownstone off campus.”

“I thought we were supposed to move into fraternity houses.” It was tradition among this set. Each of their fathers had pledged influential frats.

“And live through all that hazing? Fuck that,” Dax said with a shake of his head. “I’m with Mad on this one. We’re our own frat, brother, and we take care of each other. Senior year at Yale, Skull and Bones will come for Zack. You know they will. And Roman’s dad is legacy. Mad just wants them to have a place where they’re not expected to be the next freaking saviors of the free world. He thinks it’s up to us to keep those two grounded. Everyone else in the world is going to want a piece of Zack, and because Roman is never going to leave his side, they’ll want a piece of him, too. So Mad wants to remind them who their real friends are.”

Connor looked out over the dark water shimmering under the moonlight, then at the beach. Mad danced around the bonfire with total abandon.

Puck. Ever since Connor had read Shakespeare, he’d thought of Mad as Puck—impish and chaotic, yet truthful when a person least expected it. That brownstone was Mad’s attempt to keep their little family together. They had four years before the world would separate and test them, each in their own way. Four last years to live together and influence one another. It was a good plan. Mad simply didn’t know all the facts, and Connor intended to keep it that way because his pride wouldn’t allow anything else.

“Your dad was in,” Connor pointed out. “You’re a legacy as much as Roman. You should be a Bonesman, too. It would help your Naval career. You want to make admiral, right?”

Dax shrugged. “Yeah, but who knows?”

“They’re fuckers if they don’t let you in,” Connor insisted.

Dax was the best guy he’d ever met. Shit, he would miss Dax most of all. Like freaking Dorothy and the Scarecrow.

Connor frowned. Maybe he would get a little wasted tonight. He was sounding awfully maudlin.

“I’ll be honest. I don’t want in. I don’t want to rule the world. I just want my own command someday. And one really hot woman to settle down with. Roman’s insane. See you down there?” Dax was halfway down the steps, already moving away from Connor.

“Sure. I’ll be there in a bit.”

Unmoving, Connor watched Dax join the others.

Creighton Academy had been the best years of his fucking life. Likely, they always would be. But after tonight, it would be time to make his own way. He would claw out of poverty while he watched the rest of them soar into their wealth and power.

“You’re looking lonely there, son,” a deep voice to his left said.

Connor turned and spotted the man standing in shadow almost immediately. He was tall, his hair just starting to thin out on top while graying at his temples. He was lean, without the usual middle-aged paunch. He wore a three-piece suit and expensive loafers, which struck Connor as odd since they were at the beach. Even the businessmen who came out here changed before they left the city.

“What can I do for you, Officer?...