MASONI should be holding Mira right now. I should be reassuring her of my unlimited devotion. But her confessions earlier struck a chord deep in my heart."Fuck!" I curse into the empty office.Unable to keep sitting still, I walk to the mini wet bar and pour myself a glass of my favourite Cognac. I tip the shot glass and down the contents in one gulp. The sharp burn does nothing to lessen the pain inside of me. It does nothing to quench the fire that burns so desperately for one green eyed, stubborn-as-fuck female.I slam the shot glass on the counter to stop myself from throwing it against the wall.Mira wouldn't want to stay with me unless I admit that I'm in love with her. Am I in love with Mira?The sudden realization has me freezing in my tracks. It hits me out of nowhere, numbing my senses.I walk back to my chair and sink into it. It is either that or fall flat on my face. I've always seen myself as incapable of love or anything related to the term. Turns out, the little
MIRA “Wake up, princess. It’s getting late.” I blink sleepily, smiling to myself when I catch a whiff of heavenly smelling cologne. With my eyes still firmly shut, I reach out to the source of the delicious scent and my arms instantly come in contact with broad, cloth covered shoulders. With a determined tug, I pull the shoulders closer to myself and it lands against me with a soft thud, then I proceed to sink my face into the neck of the owner of the shoulder and get a better whiff of that addictive scent. “Mmm… you smell so good.” I feel soft, warm lips against my cheek. “Thank you, baby.” That jolts me out of my sleepy state. I open my eyes and I’m immediately assailed by piercing gray eyes. I blink up at him for a second. “Good morning, baby girl.” He whispers. I swallow. “Good morning.” I feel every part of my body tense up, mostly because I believe I have an early morning arousal and the world’s most handsome man is lying almost fully against me. I try to move awa
SNIPPET – MIRAI stare languidly at the man before me, trying and failing miserably to calm my raging heartbeat and contain my fury.How dare he?Mason Lachlan has gone too far this time. There is always a limit to what a woman can take.He takes his precious time to shut down and put away his MacBook, straightening imaginary papers here and there on his already pristine, glass desk.Then he finally looks at me. I suck in a breath at the searing intensity in those stormy gray eyes. Eyes the colour of frozen graphite, they make my heart beat out of tune."I believe you have a suitable explanation for barging into my office and interrupting my conference call, Mira. Let's hear it. And on God who made me, princess, if your reason doesn't add up, I will take you over my knee right here."My core clenches involuntarily at his obscene words. His smooth, deep baritone washes over me, sending a thrill of electricity up my spine.Focus, Mira! My subconscious yells. I cannot afford to be distrac
MIRAGod, my head hurts!My ear feels like a banshee wailed in it for hours and my eyelids might as well be gummed together with super glue.I struggle to open my eyes, wincing against the bright shafts of light that penetrate my vision. Where the hell am I?"Mira? Mira, c'mon, wake up!"I jerk awake at the urgent whisper, my vision clearing to take in my surroundings. "Oh, Mira! Thank God you're okay."I turn slightly and find Vanessa…chained to a wall? My heart thuds against my chest and I make to free her, but I cannot move more than a few inches myself."What is going on, Vanessa?" I whisper."I don't know." Her eyes are red rimmed and wild from crying and she looks weary. "The goons that came to the diner earlier left us here thirty minutes ago. No one has come back for us since."I struggle against my bonds, looking for a way to break out of them."What the hell?""There's no point, Mira. I already tried all that. Those chains are welded deep into the wall. No amount of struggl
MIRAI watch the stranger's gradually retreating back until it disappears completely into the blackness, trying to grasp the strange turn of events."You heard my nephew. Get this girl ready in his chambers like he said, immediately."I whip my head in Scuderi's direction."What? No! I am not a whore. I do not accept this."He chuckles."It is quite funny that you believe you have a choice in any of this, my darling."Scuderi leans back in his seat while three of his men advance and begin to fiddle with the lock to my chains. Fear begins to hammer a dizzying rhythm in my veins as the hopelessness of my situation dawns on me."Scuderi, stop this, please. Please, stop this."My hands are finally free, but before I am able to put up any form of resistance, one of Scuderi's men grab me roughly by the waist and throws me over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes, just like Vanessa.I struggle wildly against them until Scuderi lifts a finger and the men come to a stop.He walks towards us
MIRAFIVE YEARS LATER"...and in other news, business man and CEO of LACHLAN GROUP OF COMPANIES, Mason Lachlan, has expressed his wish to buy the New York's diamond mine facilities and convert it into a private helipad lounge…""Shut that thing off, Vanessa.""No, no, no! This is the best part. The news man is about to roll a picture of Mason Lachlan."I shake my head."And?"She shoots me a dirty look over her shoulder."He's by far the hottest man in the entire world. I'm sure you know that."I roll my eyes at Vanessa's antics and collapse on the sofa beside her."Why on Earth would a sane human being convert an entire diamond mine into a helipad lounge?" It honestly doesn't make any sense to me.Vanessa's eyes are still glued to the TV. She barely pays me any attention."The kind that is worth a bazillion Dollars, darling. Mason's a billionaire. He can afford it."My eyes flit over the tiny room in search of the remote. If I do not shut that thing off anytime soon, Vanessa might
I stand there frozen stiff, my mind whirling in a billion different directions.I have tried so hard to forget that night, but the stormy gray eyes of a stranger who made my body sing with pleasure for the first time in my life haunts me every single night. I thought I could forget about him. How wrong I was.I might never see my stranger from the dungeon again, but I sure as hell will not forget him. And this man, Mason Lachlan, has a very uncanny resemblance to him.Focus, Mira.My eyes feast on him for a while longer. He's talking to Peteman, or rather, Peteman is talking to him. Mason on the other hand stares down at him, one hand in his pocket, the other around his girlfriend.He looks up sharply and I quickly avert my gaze. I do not want to look like some kinda man pervert.I turn my attention back to the co-worker that needed my attention. A few seconds later, I feel the fine hairs on the back of my neck rise, and a strange tingle runs up my spine. "Oh. My. God. He's looking
MIRAI storm back to the bar, fuming with anger. Who the hell does he think he is?Mason Lachlan does not have the right to hurt me, billionaire or not.I watch as Peteman tries to placate him and his friends. Mason does not even appear to be listening to his garbling. His eyes are firmly fixed on the glass of drink in his hand.A minute or two of fuming later, Peteman joins us with a face like thunder."Before you begin sir, take a look at this."I shove my bruised wrist in his face and he gasps. Yeah, that's right. The skin around my wrist is slightly swollen and blue, courtesy of Mr. Billionaire over there."I know you're hurt, Mira, but I already told you, Mason is one of our biggest clients. You were not supposed to aggravate him."I look at him in shock."I did not aggravate him, sir." I state matter-of-factly. "He doesn't have the right to hurt others simply because he's a rich."Peteman's eyes narrow dangerously and I fall silent."But he does, Mira. Don't you get it? You do n
MIRA “Wake up, princess. It’s getting late.” I blink sleepily, smiling to myself when I catch a whiff of heavenly smelling cologne. With my eyes still firmly shut, I reach out to the source of the delicious scent and my arms instantly come in contact with broad, cloth covered shoulders. With a determined tug, I pull the shoulders closer to myself and it lands against me with a soft thud, then I proceed to sink my face into the neck of the owner of the shoulder and get a better whiff of that addictive scent. “Mmm… you smell so good.” I feel soft, warm lips against my cheek. “Thank you, baby.” That jolts me out of my sleepy state. I open my eyes and I’m immediately assailed by piercing gray eyes. I blink up at him for a second. “Good morning, baby girl.” He whispers. I swallow. “Good morning.” I feel every part of my body tense up, mostly because I believe I have an early morning arousal and the world’s most handsome man is lying almost fully against me. I try to move awa
MASONI should be holding Mira right now. I should be reassuring her of my unlimited devotion. But her confessions earlier struck a chord deep in my heart."Fuck!" I curse into the empty office.Unable to keep sitting still, I walk to the mini wet bar and pour myself a glass of my favourite Cognac. I tip the shot glass and down the contents in one gulp. The sharp burn does nothing to lessen the pain inside of me. It does nothing to quench the fire that burns so desperately for one green eyed, stubborn-as-fuck female.I slam the shot glass on the counter to stop myself from throwing it against the wall.Mira wouldn't want to stay with me unless I admit that I'm in love with her. Am I in love with Mira?The sudden realization has me freezing in my tracks. It hits me out of nowhere, numbing my senses.I walk back to my chair and sink into it. It is either that or fall flat on my face. I've always seen myself as incapable of love or anything related to the term. Turns out, the little
MIRAMason and I fall into each other in a tangled heat of fused mouths and moving hands. He picks me from the bathtub and I hold on to him, enjoying the delicious slide of his wet body against mine.“Wrap your legs around me, baby.” He whispers urgently against my lips, and I comply. He grabs my arse, his fingers digging into the soft skin. The combination of pain and pleasure almost leaves me reeling.My core is already slick and dripping from arousal. My entire body feels like I’ve been set alight with a flaming torch.Mason pins me atop one of the counters in the bathroom. He spreads my legs and steps between them. His hot, hard, throbbing erection brushes against the swollen nub of my clit and I throw my head back, a slight whimper escaping my lips.“Mason. Mason please…”He runs his hot lips over the skin of my neck.“Please what, baby? What do you want?” He whispers against me. “Whatever you want is yours. Whatever you want, baby girl.”“Touch me. Touch me, please.” My voice is
MIRA“Bathe with me.” He says confidently like he hasn’t just made a declaration that has my heart spilt all over his thousand dollar shirt.All traces of sleep departs from me and I stare at him, transfixed. He looks serious. Dead serious.“Is…is this still part of the challenge? Getting me to fall in love with you, I mean.” Because if it is, unfortunately for me, that ship has long sailed. I need to know where all this is coming from.For a moment, Mason says nothing. He simply stares at me, those stormy grays causing havoc to my raging nerves.“Do I look like I’m joking, little flower? Challenge aside, I’ve decided that I want you. I need you with me every single fucking moment.” My breath hitches. “You’re not there for five seconds and I suddenly can’t breathe properly. I remember that whatever is going on here is temporary and I want to smash something against the wall.” He pauses, his chest heaving rapidly. I have never seen him so…worked up. “ I think I’m obsessed with you, Mi
MIRAIt’s eight o’clock and Mason still isn’t back. I left Vanessa’s a while ago after spending enough quality time with my sister and promising to come back. Actually, Darth came up and declared in his usual quiet, lethal manner that the boss wanted me back home. I would have defied him and stayed back, but I want to get this tuition issue out of the way once and for all.That was seven o’clock, almost an hour ago. Now, I sit in the main room and stare unseeingly at the beautiful mini aquarium, worrying myself to death. I started calling him thirty minutes ago. So far, he hasn’t answered any of my calls. Neither has he returned them. He said he was going after those who hurt me. What if they hurt him? My heart squeezes at the thought of him probably lying broken and hurt somewhere with no means of getting help, and I call his phone over and over again. It keeps going to voice mail. I throw the stupid thing against the wall, watching it crack open and fall to the ground with a sick
MASONMira and I have been back to civilization for all of three days and I already want to load her up and take her back. I admit that our little vacation time together was…positively enlightening, but I never wanted it to end. Sadly, the real world was calling. I had to come back and make plans, put things in place.Mira trusts me to take revenge on everyone who hurt her in the past, and that is exactly what I’m going to do. I haven’t told her about our little encounter when she was fucking nineteen years old. The very thought of telling her makes my insides turn to ice.She might run. She might want to leave me. I won’t let her. Losing Mira would destroy me. I never counted on wanting a woman so much, not seeing or hearing from her for up to an hour would make me itch, but Mira changed…everything. So if keeping this little secret from her for the meantime would guarantee that she stays with me a little longer, that is exactly what I’m going to do.“What’s the plan?” I turn my
MASON Mira might seem a little dazed, a little confused even, but I meant what I said. I protect her now. Her care is my responsibility. I know everything might go to shit later when she finds out that my uncle is in fact Escobar Scuderi and I’m the nephew she was “given to,” but when that time comes, I will be ready. She may have an anger fit, she might cry, she might even throw things at me. But even then, I’m not letting her go anywhere. She’s stuck with me for life now, even if I have to force a ring on that finger to prove it. I freeze as that thought flits through my mind, but the thought of Mira in my house, legally mine with my ring on her finger to prove it leaves me hot…and hard. I want to bind her to me in every possible way. I don’t really care if she accepts it as first. In the long run, she will come to understand that there won’t ever be another man in her life except me. As it should be. When I saw Mira for the first time at Le Delegharo, it felt like I was being p
MIRAYou know that point in your life when it feels like you have absolutely no idea which path you're headed?That part where you feel like you had everything all figured out and suddenly, the way you chose doesn't feel like the right way anymore and you're all toggled up with confusion? That is exactly how I feel right now.Mason's eyes spark with conviction and something else, an emotion I have seen one two many times in those gray depths…determination. "I'm the one who owes you not the other way round, Mason."One of his perfectly shaped brows shoot up."And what exactly do you feel you owe me, Miss Fernandez? Sex? Mistress duties?"Okay, now I'm confused. I lift my chin, my gaze equally tinged with determination."I'm sorry, did I perhaps miss the memo? Isn't that exactly why I'm here?"Mason stares down at me for a while. An emotion that feels too dangerously close to indecision flits in his gaze."I don't want you to just be my mistress anymore."I freeze." What?"He rolls off
MASONAfter two, or was it three more rounds of hard sex, Mason and I finally find ourselves back in the bathroom where he gives me soothing, refreshing bath. He literally scrubs me clean.When we’re both squeaky clean, Mason pins me beneath him on the bed. My legs are completely entangled with his. There’s absolutely no escaping him.”I like you like this.” He murmurs, running a thumb over my cheeks.”Oh? Like what?””Naked in my bed. Completely mine.”My pulse spikes and my heart begins to burn with a warm glow. Calm down, stupid heart.”I’m not utterly yours, Mason.” I challenge.His eyes equally spark with a dangerous, gray gleam.”Want me to show you all over again?” He asks, running his fingers over my thighs suggestively.”Are you joking?”His face is a perfect mask of seriousness,”Do you think I’m joking?”My mouth falls open and for a few seconds, I’m not able to utter a single word.”We just had…sex a couple minutes ago. I’m incredibly sore.” I point out incredulously.His