"Where's Ash?" Khalid demanded, approaching his wife of three months with a fierce frown. Shania turned to him, her arms laden with boxes. Khalid reached out and plucked them from her. Dropping them onto the couch, he pulled her into his arms and nuzzled his favourite spot between her neck and shoulder. She always smelled so fresh and sweet. He licked the spot, enjoying the feel of her pulse speeding up against his tongue. "I sent him on an errand to the shelter. Now that you've made me cut my hours back, he and I worry about Evelyn getting enough of her meals at the shelter. He's going to pick her up and take her himself this afternoon and then drive her home afterward." She tilted her head to the side, giving him better access. "Now, can we talk about the absurd amount of gifts you've sent up? I mean, seriously? I thought you had an empire to run, how do you find the time to buy out all the baby boutiques in town?" Shania wished she was exaggerating, but the staggering amount o
Book Two: Fight or FlightSweat dripped into Ash's eyes, momentarily obscuring his opponent. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs from the last punch he took. He ducked another jab and hit his opponent with a series of strikes to the side and back that brought grunts of pain from his opponent. Van Koslov, otherwise known as The Brick, went down onto one knee, panting. Grinning, Ash jumped back, giving the other man room to recover and get up. Ash was having too much fun to end things now. The match hadn't lasted nearly long enough and this guy was supposed to be one of Sitnikov's best. Ash needed to put on a good show if he was going to attract another sponsor, and sponsor's tended to enjoy long fights with plenty of dirty hits and blood. So far, neither of them has started spontaneously bleeding. Ash's gaze swept the warehouse, searching out some of the bigger players. He was pleased to see Tyson King, one of the city's most prominent businessmen with a penchant for illegal fig
He'd had enough of her teasing. Time to put her mouth to better use. He moved so quickly she barely had time to blink as he lunged across the shower room for her. She was closer to the exit door and whirled around to run. He chased her, dripping across the change room and caught her right as she reached the door. Grabbing her arm, he swung her around and slammed her back against the lockers next to the door. Anya gasped and tilted her head up to stare at him with wide, frightened eyes. He had no intention of hurting her, but he was glad she was taking him a little more seriously. She had made a stupid move, following a champion cage fighter into a dimly lit change room alone and then questioning his ability to tame her. That kind of challenge could only end one way. He hunched his naked shoulders and dropped his head down into the crook of her neck, under her jaw. Water dripped from his hair down her neck, trailing into the neckline of her hooded sweater. Inhaling her sweet fruit
What had she been thinking? Anya shoved the door to her favourite midnight coffee haunt open with a huff. Honestly, teasing a cage fighter and then taking off, leaving him with a dick that could pound wood. She hadn't meant to make out with the guy. He was just so arrogant and masculine, with a body built like a tank and a deep voice that probably made panties drop everywhere he went. Who could blame a girl for getting a little carried away? Anya dropped into a chair, crossed her legs and tried not to squirm. Just the thought of Ash running naked through that change room after her had her body amping back up again, ready for more of those delicious orgasms. She had never felt anything near this level of attraction before and she wasn't certain she liked it. "Thanks babe," she said absently, when her friend Claudia placed a steaming cup of hot chocolate in front of her. Claudia raised her eyebrow, sensing something was off with her usually chatty, sarcastic friend. Claudia's abi
Anya cast a wicked look over the top of her hand, blew on her dice, and tossed them onto the table. She waited breathlessly. Everyone else watched to see how the dice would land, but her eyes were sweeping the casino for any sight of the spiky blond giant she'd come for. "Pair of fours," said the dealer. Anya grinned and accepted congratulations from the tipsy cowboy who had glued himself to her side early in the evening. She had been steadily winning at the craps table, but not so much at her goal for the evening. Ash hadn't made an appearance yet. She was beginning to wonder if he'd seen her and decided to ignore her, or if his boss had sent him on another errand. Khalid had many interests in the city. Ash could have been at any of those other establishments, acting as the boss man's enforcer. Anya felt a hand slide under her very short skirt and squeeze her nearly bare ass. She sighed and, without turning, said as calmly as she could, "You're going to want to remove that hand,
The explicit request coming from those perfect lips of hers was too much. Ash swung her back around on the stool, picked her up by the waist and set her ass on the counter. He kicked the stool away and forced his way into the warmth of her body. He yanked her tiny spaghetti strap shirt down, revealing small breasts that were, to his surprise and intense pleasure, not confined by a bra. "Fuck yeah," he growled, immediately palming one of her breasts in a huge hand. "I'm going to make you come so hard, it'll make the locker room look like child's play." She moaned and tipped her head back, the vibrant blue tips touching the counter top. Her silken skin filled his rough hands. The way her body moved against him, expressing her pleasure, made his head swim and his dick grow so hard against the zipper of his jeans he thought he might explode in his pants. "Can't wait, baby," he mumbled, reaching under her skirt and yanking her panties down her legs. They caught on her boots. He pulled
Ash wanted to punch something but managed to refrain, not wanting to break casino property, which his scarred fists were entirely capable of. He followed her into the elevator looking like the lethal killer he knew he was. Anya looked at him out of the corner of her eye, some of her annoyance fading to be replaced with fear. It wasn't his intent to scare her, but he wanted answers. Like why the fuck did she keep showing up where he was, the epitome of his fantasy woman, twitching her little tail and then running when things got serious? "What's with you?" he asked, stepping in front of her, crowding her. "Why are you leading me on and then pretending there's nothing between us? I know you feel it, feel whatever this connection is." He could tell she was seriously considering not answering or pretending she didn't understand. Then she did the worst thing he'd seen her do so far. She collapsed a little, her small shoulders slumping, and her blue eyes looked at him with fear and vul
Anya didn't realize she'd fallen in love with the asshole until he'd taken her suggestion and walked away. Like the few others she had bothered to care about, he walked away from the little sister of the mob boss because she was a complication that nobody needed. This time it hurt more than all the rest combined. "Let's go," she said to Boris, turning around and heading for the door. When she headed toward her dark purple Camaro, Boris stopped her. "You ride with me," he said in heavily accented English, his voice deep and clipped. "Boss would have my ass if you wrecked because of bad temper." Anya laughed a little and handed her keys to one of the other guys. She took Boris' arm and walked with him to the black SUV parked at the curb of the casino. "You always know how to tell it like it is Boris." "And you know how to push the boss' buttons, little girl." His strong accent emphasized leetle gurl. It wasn't a compliment. Nobody wanted to be around Vlad Sitnikov when he was p
"These just arrived for you." Claudia looked up and smiled as Laney Paul walked into her office. The smaller woman set a box on her desk and took a step back. She was about 5'5" and weighed maybe 130 lbs. She was a lovely girl with a petite figure and straight black hair falling down her back. She was also one of the most deadly women Tyson could find to guard his jewel when she wasn't with him. Claudia had insisted on being part of the hiring process when it came to her protection detail. She understood the necessity of having one, but she absolutely wasn't going to have Daniel dogging her every step. While Daniel had warmed up to Claudia a tiny bit, in his own way, he still held himself stiffly separate. Claudia flat out refused to have decisions made for her when it came to her own safety. Tyson had been surprisingly understanding. He wanted his future wife to feel secure in her new life. When Daniel had gone toe to toe with Laney and pronounced her a decent fit for the security
It was amazing to Claudia how long a split second could feel when a person was castigating themselves for making a very bad decision. She screamed in terror, her arms still locked around Dante's neck, as she fell through the air, hoping desperately that pool tiles didn't hurt too much after a thirty-foot fall. They missed the tiles and hit the pool together, the force of their entry driving them to the bottom. Claudia bent her knees, but the impact was minimal. She let go of Dante's neck and pushing her feet against the concrete bottom, propelling herself back up. Claudia broke through the water gasping for air and looked around in confusion, water streaming over her head and into her eyes. She immediately turned to where Tyson was frantically calling her name and started swimming weakly toward him. Dante surfaced in front of her and, immediately taking in the disadvantage of his situation, surrounded by an extremely angry Tyson King and his men, grabbed Claudia. She struggled in h
"I've missed you, Alicia." Claudia stared in shock and horror as she stumbled into Tyson's living room. Dante Marquez, her ex-boyfriend, surveyed the room as if he owned the place. He looked the same as he had when she'd last seen him a year and a half ago. He was a few inches shorter than her in her expensive heels. His chest and shoulders were leanly muscled. His tanned skin and black hair attested to his Cuban ancestry. He was a handsome man, with dark eyes, a sharp nose and high cheekbones. Though she despised him with every part of her, she also saw the original appeal. Claudia had spent months agonizing over the stupidity of her decisions. In the face of Dante's commanding presence and good looks, it was a miracle any woman could resist him. Until they saw the darkness that lurked within. It hadn't taken Claudia long to discover his true colours. She wondered how many other women had found out too late. "Dante," she said quietly. He turned to her, studying her striking fe
The woman was holding a walking stick, too. Dear god, was she blind? Claudia was about to scream out to her when the woman, apparently instinctively, dropped to her knees and then rolled over on her side, covering her head. A spray of bullets hit the metal doors of the closing elevator right where the woman had been standing. Claudia turned to Daniel to warn him about the innocent woman. He was staring toward the other woman, a look of anger and horror frozen on his face. Claudia had never seen such emotion penetrate his deadly exterior. Did he know the other woman? From her current position, Claudia doubted it. The woman looked soft and feminine, the opposite of anything that might attract Daniel Mercer. Yet, he was watching her like a hawk watches over its young. Deadly, uncannily still, ready to strike if necessary. Thinking quickly, Claudia said, "Give me one of those guns." Daniel looked down to where Claudia was crouched under him. Her green eyes held his earnestly. Like mo
"Time to go," Daniel Mercer growled down at the two women. Claudia tossed her long blond waves back over her shoulder and glared up at Tyson's goon. Despite spending weeks in the guy's company, he wasn't even remotely softening toward her. He acted as though she were a glass wall. A thing he could touch and guard, but also see right through. He wasn't rude, but he wasn't anything else either. It drove her nuts. It drove her to be uncharacteristically stubborn when he made suggestions she wasn't particularly fond of. Like when he suggested in no uncertain terms that she could meet her friend in Tyson's fortress of a penthouse rather than at a restaurant. They had been back in the city for three days. Tyson had business to attend to and he had been unwilling to leave Claudia even for a day. She felt the same way, so she had accompanied him back. In the city, he wanted her to stay in the penthouse at all times where she was safe. In fact, he had insisted. Claudia had systematically br
Tyson carried her back to his chair and collapsed onto the leather seat still buried in her body. Claudia curled her legs up around him and wrapped her arms around his neck. They sat that way for a long time, just talking and gently touching each other until Tyson once more took her mouth in long, drugging kisses. He picked her up and laid her down on the rug, kicked his shorts off and crawled over top of her. He took her body with such gentleness that Claudia was swept away on a swell of the sweetest orgasm she'd ever experienced. Tyson held her tightly in his arms, both of them silent in the glow of their mutual ecstasy. After several long moments, he stood up, towering over her prone body, and then gently lifted her up in his arms. He carried her up the stairs and tucked her in bed where she drifted off to sleep immediately with the feel of the soft, cushiony blankets surrounding her and Tyson's hard, warm body at her back. She had never felt safer. Until the next morning. Cla
Claudia sat on top of a boulder, her legs dangling down the side and her palms pressed back into the warm rock where the sun had heated it. She contemplated the sight of Tyson King with a fishing pole in his massive paw. She thought he never looked sexier than he did in that moment, wearing beige cargo shorts, his rippling back bared to her lascivious gaze. She might have done something about her baser inclinations if Daniel weren't standing twenty feet away from them, staring at nothing in particular and doing a good job of looking like a badass mercenary bodyguard hanging out in the woods. She sent Daniel a glare for being himself and returned to her ponderings. She brought a leg up and studied the remnants of chipped rose coloured nail polish that had adorned her toenails. She would never have imagined that Claudia Cantore, or even Alicia Pederson, might enjoy living in the middle of nowhere, happily lost in the mountains. She still wasn't particularly fond of bears or ticks, but
Claudia had no idea how long he left her like that. She was helpless to do anything but listen to his movements throughout the house. With the open loft she could hear him on the floor below working in the kitchen, making something to eat. She tried to think about the last time she ate and if she were hungry, but the sensations overwhelming her body were too distracting for her to worry about food. The press of the anal plug against her tender ass had gradually morphed from uncomfortable into an incredible fullness. Every time she shifted or wiggled her ass the plug moved ever so slightly, pressing against nerve endings she didn't know existed. The feelings were intense, unexpected and so unbelievably good. The better her ass felt the more she became aware of her empty pussy and the desire to have it filled. Specifically with the fat cock of her gorgeous, overbearing captor. Claudia bit her lip to keep from begging him to come over to the bed and fuck her. He was sitting in one of
"Tyson, let's talk about this," Claudia gasped as she bounced on the bed, some of her temper diffusing as she began to get worried. "I'm not really into bondage." He ignored her and bent down to dig through the bag some more. The muscles of his arms strained against the fabric of his white dress shirt. She couldn't see what he was pulling out of the bag, but the rustling made her anxious. She tried to reason with him again, this time going for firm rather than pleading. "Don't you dare put anything else on me Tyson King, or I will make you regret it. Your other girlfriends might be into this kinky shit, but I'm having nothing to do with it." "I bought this stuff for you, before we even met. Never used it before," he rumbled in reply, straightening. Claudia's head swam with the idea that he was planning on using this stuff on her before he even acquired her. She was pretty sure that was stalkerrific, but her pussy tingled at the thought that he always planned on tying her down for