"Get up, bitch."Allie blinked in the harsh sunlight and moaned in pain as her arm was taken in a tight grip and she was jerked upright. She stumbled against someone. The world tilted and spun around her, nausea threatening to overwhelm her. Allie lifted a hand to her throbbing temple and groaned as her fingers brushed against tender skin. Vomit rushed up her throat and she dropped to her knees and heaved on the the deck of the yacht.Someone swore viciously and quickly stepped away from her, out of the path of her regurgitated breakfast. Intense pain ripped through Allie's skull and she realized right away that she must have a concussion from the blow to her temple. She huddled against the side of the yacht, dropped her head onto her knees and wrapped her arms protectively around her head. She hoped desperately that the punch hadn't done permanent damage."Yídòng tā. Right fucking now," someone close by snarled.Hard hands wrapped around Allie's waist and dragged her to her feet.
Allie gasped and pulled herself up straighter. "I… I didn't know. I mean, I always suspected that was how Jay got so powerful, but I didn't know he wanted out… because of me."His black eyes searched her face intently. "Yes. Very few of us discuss business with family. It is safer, of course. Involving family, as you have become involved… it is unusual."Allie understood. She should never have been taken. Jay took precautions of course, but involving loved ones within an organizational dispute was like declaring war. It was extremely rare. And it wouldn't go unanswered. Any move against family would be avenged with swift and bloody results."Why is your father angry with Jay?" Allie asked quietly. "Why would he break the rules this way?""Li Wei has had to renegotiate his docking contracts with other yards, which will cost him millions. He is stuck in the old ways and not willing to look forward and try new methods, as I have many times suggested. He has been losing money for some
6 Weeks LaterJay paced the pool deck from end to end, going over all of his reasons for confining Allie. The risk to her was too great if she were allowed the freedom to resume the things she enjoyed. Because the things Allie enjoyed tended to mean throwing herself headfirst into situations that could too easily get her into trouble. But that was part of what made Allie who she was. The woman he loved.Jay had been pacing indoors, but the confining space had caused his claustrophobia to well up too close to the surface. He'd thrown the French doors open and resumed his brooding outdoors, under the amused speculation of his security team."I should've gone with her," he muttered, rubbing a hand over his face.But she hadn't wanted him to. She'd asked him to stay home and wait for her. To trust her to know what she was doing. Fuck that. The second she walked in the door, he was chaining her to their bed, imprinting himself on every inch of her body and never letting her leave his
Fuck.He released her hand and leaned back against the lounge couch. Reaching back he stripped his T-shirt off and tossed it while she carefully slid his zipper down and reached into his jeans to pull out his already hard cock. She grinned up at him, pleased with her prize. He had trouble not grinning back. Instead, he adopted a stern expression."You stop when I tell you to this time. Am I clear?" he asked, using his best no nonsense boss voice.She nodded solemnly and, without wasting any more time, leaned forward between his legs and licked him from the base of his penis to the tip. She watched curiously with her head tilted to the side as his own head fell and his eyes rolled back. She liked watching his reactions, the little witch. She continued to lick him, swiping her tongue up and around until she reached the tip, then starting over again, teasing him until he was ready to grab her and force her head onto his cock. Then, finally, as if sensing his growing frustration, she en
Book Two: Mine to Keep"This isn't negotiable, Veronica. Don't be stubborn."Jay watched her closely for signs of capitulation. It wasn't like her to resist his suggestions, especially when it came to her safety. Veronica tended to be passive and easy going. She was as close to a best friend as he was capable of having. At forty-one, she was nine years older than him. Though she looked much closer to his age.She was standing with her back to him, watching the ships come and go from the harbour. He'd asked her to come down to his dockyard for this meeting. As usual, she'd agreed to his summons without complaint. He was beginning to suspect she might not have if she'd understood why he wanted her to meet him here. Already a small woman, she looked even tinier when she came out to the yard, surrounded by shipping containers, heavy machinery and cranes. Her thick black hair, streaked with bright red highlights was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore a tank top and shorts. She look
Rob glanced around the dockyard noticing every discreet security measure with pride. Jay Le Croix had entrusted his operation to Rob when he purchased it several years ago and so far, the dockyard had never experienced a single hitch, despite some of the less savoury clients that occasionally drifted through. They teamed up on security for each subsequent business purchase or takeover that Jay made.This new security detail was different though. Jay always trusted Rob to make his own decisions regarding security. Rob always hand-picked his own teams, trained and placed them. Jay knew Rob was capable and determined. He was one of exactly two people that knew Rob's complete background. Instead of feeling insulted by Jay's summons today, Rob was intrigued. Rather than simply placing the safety of this mystery woman in Rob's more than capable hands, Jay insisted Rob come to his dockyard office to meet the lady himself before determining how best to protect her.Rob was curious about Vero
Veronica went into panic mode. He was going to be here any minute. That massive beast of a man was going to be in her home any minute. How exactly was she supposed to deal with this? She'd spent the last seventeen years avoiding men like the plague and now one was going to be in her home. In her precious space. Where the only man that she had ever opened her door to was Jay. It occurred to her that Jay probably had no idea she never had men in her home.But how could he know? She'd never told Jay. She never told anyone. God! She was such a damaged ball of stressed out crazy. Of course, he wouldn't know. The last man that touched her body was the last man that paid for her services. She'd been twenty-four. Allie had been five and Jay fifteen. Of course, Jay had always known how she'd survived. How she'd fed them and how she'd fed her drug habit. He never judged. Her trick had hit her that night. Not bad, but bad enough that she'd needed an extra dose to ease the pain.Jay found her. H
"I'm ready," Veronica said coldly, refusing to actually look at the hulking giant in her kitchen. Robert Senator had made himself right at home in the two and a half days since Jay hired him to watch over her. He was currently going through her fridge, searching for… what? She had asked him to assign someone else to her. He had assured her that no one else was available. She had then asked Jay to step in. Jay assured her that Robert had an unparalleled reputation in security and was capable of making decisions regarding her safety. Now she was watching in complete frustration as the man stepped out of her refrigerator with a handful of vegetable sticks."Don't have much protein in this place, do you?" he grunted, eying her tight shorts and black T-shirt with the emblem for Allie's University emblazoned across the front. He didn't bother to hide the blazing interest from his rugged face.She crossed her arms over her small breasts and shook her head. "Vegetarian," she informed him c
Two years laterVeronica didn't have many things that belonged to her. Life had taught her too many hard lessons about broken toys. As a child, things that belonged to her got taken away. Either when she moved homes, or in the homes she was moved to. She learned not to care about things, because it hurt too much when she lost them. Sometimes she would be allowed to keep the things, but the other kids would break them. Then she didn't want them anymore.Veronica was a pretty child. It didn't take long before she became the toy. And it didn't take long after that before she became a broken toy. She stopped keeping things for herself. Until one day, a thing started growing inside her. A thing that she desperately wanted to protect, but knew she would never be allowed to keep. Unless a knight in shining armour came along and rescued her. So instead of allowing her new toy to be torn from her and broken, like all the other toys, like her, she'd screamed and cried and banged on the walls o
Later that night Robert showed her exactly how much he enjoyed a good chase when Veronica decided to wear her new leather jacket, a pair of black panties and nothing else. When he demanded she relinquish the coat, she refused and took off running. He had a foot of height on her, but Veronica had been running for years, so she wasn't easily caught. She ran through his massive home, laughing hysterically when he hit the bottom of the stairs and tripped over his own feet because he was too busy watching the curve of her ass."You're going to pay for that, woman!" he growled, righting himself."You'll have to catch me first!" she shrieked rounding the kitchen island and facing off with him as he stalked toward her.Her heart beat with adrenaline and anticipation. He looked so incredibly yummy as he strode toward her, sexual heat radiating from every line of his body. His dark brown-grey hair was wildly mussed and wet from the shower they just had. His strong jaw was hair roughened and h
She was with another man.He could see the pair easily through the diner window. They sat in a booth next to the glass, oblivious to the stream of people passing on the sidewalk, oblivious to the pair of dangerous men observing them. The guy was big and mean looking. Every bit as rugged and confident as Rob. He was tall and muscular with a full head of hair and a dark beard. Every visible inch of the guy's skin was tattooed. He looked like a biker. Someone Rob might hang out with if he didn't intend to kill the guy first chance he got. Veronica's small hand was sitting casually on top of the stranger's hand, as though touching was the norm for these two. The guy looked enthralled with whatever she was saying. Not that Rob blamed him, Veronica would be enchanting while reciting a cookbook.Every muscle in Rob's body vibrated with the need to crash into the diner, tear them apart and then make the man bleed. For a long time. Then murder him, slowly and painfully. Jay chuckled and smack
Rob stopped beating Jay the moment he realized the younger man wasn't fighting back. Well… Rob stopped punching him a few seconds after he realized Jay wasn't fighting him, remembering the look on Veronica's face after Jay had asked how much Rob was paying her for sex. The hurt and devastation in her eyes was almost more than he could bear. He knew he screwed up by attacking Jay instead of going to her and helping her through the hurt. But he'd never had to deal with these types of feelings before. Never cared enough to want to help a woman in emotional distress. The only way he knew how to deal was by beating the shit out of the source of the problem.He turned back to Jay, fire leaping into his eyes and a growl on his lips. "What the fuck is your problem, man?"Jay was doing his best not to double over in pain from the blows he'd taken to his jaw and torso. Rob hadn't been messing around. He knew how to floor a guy in seconds. Fortunately, Jay knew how to take a hit. He grew up on
Was it theft if you're screwing the brains out of the owner of the car? Veronica asked herself, as she stomped on the brakes of Robert's car and ground the gears. She glared at the gearshift and decided it definitely wasn't stealing when it was a stupid standard transmission, something she hadn't driven in years. She was in a damn hurry and she had to re-teach herself how to drive stick shift. She sighed and put the Porsche in first gear before attempting to floor it off the line again. Some guy in a sports car next to her was grinning in amusement.Veronica grumbled and made her way angrily down to the dockyard, hoping that Jay would be there. If he was with Allison last night he might be either at his apartment or still out of the province. Still, she had to try. If he wasn't at the dockyard, she'd try his home next. She hadn't bothered calling him. He'd know that daughter would've called mother by now and mama bear would be on the warpath."You better duck and cover, asshole," she
Veronica squinted around Robert's bedroom. No alarm clock. She wasn't too surprised. She guessed most people just used their smart phones these days. She was old-fashioned and still used an alarm clock. She liked having the radio. She glanced at the grey light filtering through the floor to ceiling bedroom windows and guessed it was probably around 7:00am.She smirked at his sprawled form as she crawled carefully off the bed. This time she was ninety-nine percent certain he was actually asleep. He was on his back with his arms flung out to the sides, snoring his head off. He should be exhausted. They'd made love twice more during the night before finally collapsing in a tangled heap and sleeping off the sex hangover. After their first encounter, they'd gone searching for an evening snack. Robert found her a tub of ice cream and then insisted on feeding her in front of a roaring fire. After eating, he'd explored every inch of her body with both tongue and fingers on top of the rug in
It took her a moment to realize that Robert was on his knees next to her, urging her to breath slowly. She looked him in the eyes and followed his instructions, even though she couldn't hear them through the rushing in her ears. She watched his lips form words. Such beautiful lips. She wanted to trace them with her fingers and her tongue. Would he still want her after watching her have a meltdown?He flashed her a grin and said, "Fuck yeah, I'll always want you, sweetheart."She groaned. Had she said that out loud?He carefully gathered her into his arms and pulled her onto his lap. She went without protest, feeling a little weak and shaky from her freak out. She stared up at him and finally indulged herself by reaching up to touch his full lips. She let her fingers drift to his unshaven cheek and chin, touching the rough, masculine face that fascinated her so much.He squeezed her against his chest. "I would never treat you like something that could be bought," he said in a voice
Veronica grinned under the visor of her brand spanking new pink and black helmet. Never in a million years would she ever have imagined herself on the back of a motorbike, clinging tightly to her very own bad boy, sex god. Pulses of need vibrated through her body as the bike moved underneath them, making her wish she had a little more room to squirm on the leather seat. She loved riding on top of Robert's Harley!She'd just about melted when Robert presented her with the helmet earlier and then pulled it gently over her head, adjusting the fit. Though nervous, she'd stood docilely, excited for her very first ride. While he was busy tucking her hair back, she'd stealthily pulled the receipt that had fallen out of the brand-new leather helmet bag toward her. Her jaw fell open. It was dated and timestamped for two hours after he met her in Jay's office at the dockyard. His eyes met hers and she saw a fierce burning possession in their depths. She also saw a hint of worry. He was afraid o
He slept on his back with an arm flung over his eyes as though trying to stop the light from streaming in the window. She always kept her blinds open, feeling more secure when her room was filled with light. She'd noticed that he always kept the curtains firmly closed in the spare room and that he liked sleeping in. Definitely a trait they didn't share. Veronica was unapologetically a morning person. It used to drive Allie nuts when Veronica was in her room at the crack of dawn on the weekends, demanding she wake up and accompany her down to the beach or someplace else. She wondered how Robert, a former soldier of fortune or mercenary or whatever he used to be, slept so deeply. Weren't these guys supposed to sleep with one eye open and a giant serrated knife under their pillows, ready to cut the throat of the bad guy sneaking up on them? Not that she was complaining. The knife she envisioned didn't go with the frilly purple pillow he was resting against. But seriously, how was this g