This will most likely be the last week I’ll be sharing excerpts from my work in progress Having it All, book three in the Passion Series on #WIPITUP because God willing, by this time next week it will be released and all you lovely people who have been encouraging me to get it out to you will be too busy reading it to come check out my blog anyway!   (Hey, a girl can hope).  Watch for a coming cover reveal this week.   Now check out this fun excerpt from early in the book.   You gotta love Derek, the voice of reason, guiding Lukus through his first meltdown.
Excerpt:
For the first time since she got there, Lukus smiles. The surprised look on her beautiful tear-stained face is adorable. The thought that he’s about to lose her is a sucker punch to the gut. She finally looks his way. He can see her confusion and that’s when it hits him. She’s floundering right along with him.
He forces down the emotions rumbling through him. “Derek is right. Go back and splash your face, then lay down for a bit. I’ll be back in a while.”
Tiffany looks conflicted. Derek spins her around and smacks her ass. “Go on. Get going.” She finally shuffles off with one last pitiful look over her shoulder at Lukus.
The second she’s out of sight, Lukus is up in Derek’s face. “What the fuck? Don’t touch her ass. Who the hell do you think you are?”
In typical Derek fashion, he doesn’t back down. “I’m the asshole who just stopped you from making the biggest mistake of your life, that’s who. I’ve been waiting for this. I thought we’d have a little more time, but hey, no time like the present.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You. Losing your shit. I knew it was coming. So let’s deal with it.”
Lukus has had enough. He moves around Derek to beeline it to the bar and pour himself a tall shot of whiskey. The burn flames on the way down. He downs one more before walking to the floor-to-ceiling wall of windows facing east.   The familiar Chicago skyline greets him like an old friend. He’s relieved. Finally, something in his life that is steady, that isn’t out of control.
He doesn’t know how long he stands there before Derek joins him, handing him a cold beer. They stand silently looking out on the city together until Derek senses Lukus feels more like himself again.
“So, you ready to talk about it yet?”
“No.”
“Too fucking bad.”
“Fine. What the hell just happened?”
“You lost your shit. That’s what happened.”
“I don’t lose my shit.”
“No. You never used to lose your shit. Now, I have a feeling you’re going to lose your shit regularly. It goes with the territory.”
“Like hell it does. You’ve been married for years. You don’t lose your shit.”
Derek’s rolling belly laugh surprises Lukus. “Damn. I guess I’m a better actor than I thought I was. First of all, I lose my shit all the time. It’s worse than ever these last few weeks with Rachel pregnant. I’m constantly worrying if I’m doing the right thing by her, and now the kid.”
“Maybe, but at least she doesn’t look you in the face and say fuck off. That’s what Tiffany did tonight. Less than five minutes after I told her not to go into the club, she went into the club.   She might as well called me and told me to fuck off.”
“I know you see it like that, but you’re not being rational.”
“Now it’s me saying it loud and clear to you. Fuck off.”
Derek ignores the insult. “Second, and most importantly, I married a woman who is submissive to her core. In fact, I’m worried about how Rachel is going to be authoritative enough to be a mom to the kid. She was submissive when I met her and I’ve had years to train her. You have a bit of a different situation going on here.”
“I’ll tell you, this is my fault. All week I’ve been playing it slow. Trying not to freak her out, knowing she was a newbie. I gave her too much freedom. I should have been laying down the rules harder from the start.” Derek laughs again. It’s really starting to piss Lukus off. “So glad I can provide you with comic relief.”
Getting his laughter under control, Derek pushes for answers. “What did you say to me in the alley on Sunday right after Tiffany left?” When Lukus doesn’t answer, he barges ahead. “You told me that you wanted it all. More accurately, you told me that Tiffany was going to give it all to you. Remember that?”
“I was obviously delusional. All she’s gonna give to me is a fucking nervous breakdown.”
“She may do that, yes, but she’s the one, Lukus.”
“What one?”
“The one you’ve been looking for.”
“She’s not a sub, Derek. I can’t do this. What the fuck do I know about being in a vanilla relationship? No, it’s better that we found this out now before we get hooked on each other.”
“Wow. So you’re gonna quit that easy. I never in a million years thought of you as a quitter.”
“Fuck you. I’ll just end up hurting her.   I’m not too proud to say thank you for coming up here tonight. I was about to really screw up. I could have hurt her. She’d never forgive me. Hell, I’d never forgive myself.   She makes me…” his voice trails off.
“She makes you lose your shit.”
“Stop saying that, will ya? I hate it.”
*****
Want to know more? You don’t have long to wait now.  Mark your calendar for April 21st!
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