MIRAI’ve never feet tension so strong, so palpable my body literally shivers from it.My heart thumps like a broken frieght train as Mason comes to a stop before Bobby’s huge bloodied, heaving body. Even the audience have gone silent. Everyone waits with bated breath and trembling fingers to see Mason’s next course of action.“Please…” I whisper to myself, my chest already growing tight. “Please just let him go. Please, Mason…”My hope renews when he starts to walk away, then the unexpected happens. Mason runs forward and delivers a Seth Rollins style “stomp” to Bobby, slamming the injured man’s head down against the ring with the sole of his boots.I sink back into my chair as air whooshes out of me. The audience has grown wild. Everyone is screaming and cheering in a frenzy. Bobby lies there completely unmoving, probably dead while Mason…Mason faces the crowd, his grey eyes as dark as the eeriest night. Around me, I can hear Darth, Vanessa and Damon exchange words, but the sound
MASONShe’s run from me millions of times before and I have let her. I’ve always given her a choice because even if I’m a possessive motherfucker, I do not want to crowd her badly, she feels tempted to run every five minutes.Not. Any. More.I’m done giving Mira Fernandez a choice. I’m done making her feel like she can run from me and hide whenever she wants. I am done bending to her will.I am done spending nights alone craving her, thinking about her… almost going crazy over her.Now, I do not care if I have to forcefully implement the terms of our contract, but she’s coming home with me tonight.She can cry and argue and fight all she wants, but she’s sleeping in my bed tonight and every other night after that.No more crashing at Vanessa’s place. Her place is by my side, in my bed and I’ll be damned if I let her slip away one more time.I brace my palms on the spotless white walls as water rains down on me from the waterfall shower, washing away every single trace of blood and swe
MIRA I remain completely still in Mason’s arms, trying to control my erratic breathing…and my body’s wild response to his closeness. The delicious, powerful heat of his skin seeps into my back and I barely restrain myself from shutting my eyes and letting out a loud, long purr.Okay, it is settled. I’m crazy. I’m a crazy, crazy woman. Because how can I be so madly attracted to and madly afraid of one human being all at once.“Mason, let’s talk about this. Please.” Damon says, coming to stand before us and blocking Mason’s access to the door.“There’s nothing to talk about.” Mason growls. “Get out of the way. Now.”“Mason, listen to me before you end up doing something you’ll regret.”I freeze, staring intently at the savage look on Damon’s face. Something’s not right here. Damon knows something.“Let them go, Damon. Get out of the way.”My blood freezes in shock as I look over my shoulder and shoot my supposed best friend a glare. She just shrugs, a knowing smile stretching her lush
MASONShe’s quiet…too quiet. And I don’t like it.I noticed Mira’s odd silence right from the moment I carried her out of Damon’s raised dome against her will.She’s silent and stiff in my arms, and I hate the fact that my anger might be slipping. I hate the fact that I might actually be reconsidering this whole “hurt her with pleasure until she submits" plot.I hate it when she ignores me. I hate it when those eyes are quiet and cold or firmly shut like they are right now.I want to be the centre of Mira Fernandez’s world. I want to be the reason her eyes light up with happiness in the morning and cloud with unmistakable lust at night. Call me weird, but I also want to be responsible for her tears. What can I say? I’m a jealous, possessive bastard.She’s completely stiff and unmoving in my arms, probably trying to stay still so I do not touch her again.Not on your life, princess.I trace my fingertips softly over the baby hairs on her arm, enjoying the way her breath hitches and sh
MIRA“No. Stay back. Please, stay back…”Mason doesn’t listen. He doesn’t even appear like he’s heard me. His eyes are two glowing torches and his face is set in harsh, grim lines as he approaches.“Mason…” My voice is shaky from nerves as I try to make him see reason. With two final, long strides, he reaches me. A shriek of surprise bubbles in my throat as he curls one solid arm around my waist and slams me against his chest. I try to speak but he wraps his free palm around my throat, cutting off my air flow and raising my panicked hackles.Looking into those beautiful grey orbs filled with so much venomous rage, I’m immediately transported to the time in Halloway’s office, when this same man had me in a chokehold.I could not breath then… I can’t even speak now.I force my body to go stiff in his arms as he leans forward and runs his wet, hot lips against one side of my face. Within seconds, those lips wrap around my left ear, nibbling lightly at the lobe until my breathing comes
ANONYMOUS The dark haired lady knelt before the queen, tears streaming down her reddened cheeks.The queen stared down at her, her lips curled in a sneer.“You good for nothing, worthless human being! You can never do anything right. You almost ratted out all our asses because of your incompetence!”“I’m sorry, my queen. Please temper justice with mercy.” The lady sobbed.The queen looked away from her, focusing her attention on the able bodied men who stood guard at the building’s entrance.“Bring him to me.”Her sister watched in horror as the curtains were lifted and the man was unveiled. His face was caked in dirt and clumps of dried semen and he appeared pale. “Please… please, let him go. He’s done nothing to deserve this. Focus on me. Punish me instead!”The queen laughed…a long, loud cackle.“But I’m punishing you, you see.” Her face morphed into a mask of rage. “I’m punishing you by hurting him. Maybe this way, you’ll understand that your incompetence has consequences.”The
MIRA My heart thuds and flutters wildly as Mason presses the upper half of my body into the bed and positions a few pillows underneath my already throbbing arse, leaving it high and vulnerable to his ministrations.His fingers trace a heated path across the back of my thighs… and lower. I clench my eyes shut, knowing he’s about to touch me and hating that I want him to.Mason’s fingers finally graze the slightly swollen nub of my sex and I bite my lower lips hard in a bid to keep myself from moaning my pleasure all over the place.The heat of his bare chest presses against my side, leaving me all hot and bothered as he continues to circle his thumb around my clit.Needles and jolts of hot, electrocuting pleasure shoot up my spine and end in a heated pool deep in my belly.“Stop holding back, baby girl.” Mason growls. “Let go. Fucking let go.”He tortures my clit harder, heightening my pleasure and stealing my breath. I clutch the duvet in a death grip as sobs of pleasure threaten to
MIRA Mason’s expression transforms into harsh, cold granite as he turns away, bending down to pick his shirt. My heart lurches at the realisation that he’s trying to avoid my interrogations… this is Mason trying to run away.“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I ask as I position myself before the door, blocking his only way out of the room. He begins stalking in my direction after putting on his shirt and my chest jolts at the realisation that if Mason decides to physically remove me from the door, there’s nothing I’ll be able to do about it… and that might end us. Forever.When he just keeps coming, his dark gaze firmly fixed on me, I lift my chin and stare him down as I finally lay myself bare to him.“Do you fucking think this past few weeks have been easy for me? Do you bloody think I’ve enjoyed staying away?You know, Mason, before I used to think you refused to see your best friend for the psycho she truly is because you just really cared about her, but lately, I’ve had
SNEAK PEAK OF MY UPCOMING DARK ROMANCE NOVELTITLE: AUCTIONED TO THE RUTHLESS, ITALIAN DAREDEVIL.***He is Edoardo Vicenzo, son of Dante Vicenzo.They called him the most dangerous man in Italy, the boss of all bosses, the leader and owner of men.He had everything he could ever want… money, cars, women. Everything. While I, on the other hand, had absolutely nothing to my name.All I had was my pride. And my beloved sister.When my sister came home from school one day, crying that she was almost raped by one of his men, I lost it. I ran crazy. I became unhinged.My father warned us to keep quiet about it because he was obviously benefiting from the evil reign of Edoardo’s father in the city, but my name is Annachiara Giovanni, and I’ve never been known to keep silent.My blood boiling with rage, I went to fight for my sister that night and ended up nearly being forced into a sex battle. One thing I did not realise was that my sister wasn’t just assaulted by one of Edoardo’s men… she
THREE YEARS LATER... MIRA “Hello, beautiful.” I look up from the cake batter before me and my heart literally sings with joy as I watch my husband come in through the back door of our Victorian home. His handsome face breaks into a full blown smile and those smoky gray orbs shine as bright as the midday sun. I drop the whisk in my hand into the bowl and open my arms wide, beckoning at him with a grin of my own. Without hesitation, Mason covers the distance between us and wraps his strong arms around my waist. He lifts me off the floor and twirls in a half circle, eliciting giggles of delight from my throat. He finally puts me down and buries his face in my neck. “Mmm, you smell delicious. Did you miss me?” I whisper against his chest. “Yes, baby. I missed you so, so much.” My heart warms at those words, but I can’t help but tease him. “You saw me just twenty minutes ago.” He holds me tighter and breathes in the scent of my hair. “It doesn’t matter. The last twenty minut
MIRAI nearly sag from the force of relief that spirals through my veins.My lips stretch in a smile and before long, my pregnancy hormones kick into action and I’m crying all over the place. “Mira!” I hear my sister scream behind me. “He’s awake! Mason has finally woken up!”She wraps her arms around me from behind and I lean into her and shut my eyes, soaking in her love and relief as I sob against her chest.Before long, Vanessa also wraps her arms around us and we stay like that for a long, long time. Anna pats my hair and whispers.“I knew he’d wake up. I just knew it.”I lift my head slowly and stare at her through my tears.“How did you know?”She shrugs.“After he rescued Dutch and I from Halloway and her evil sister, he promised that he’ll always protect us. Mason always keeps his promises.”My tears fall faster and I cup her cheek, trying to smile.“He does, doesn’t he?”“Come on, pregnant lady. You need to sit down.” Vanessa chirps in.With Anna and Vanessa on both my side
LILYTHREE WEEKS LATER…“So, Mrs. Lachlan, what do you plan on doing with your husband’s ashes? Have you thought about that yet?”I sit before the therapist, totally swathed in a feeling of numbness. I’ve felt numb for the past three weeks. The only emotion that has kept me company during this dark time is pain… venomous, excruciating pain. “I don’t know yet.” I whisper, patting my swollen tummy absentmindedly.I don’t want to be here but Vanessa and Damon forced me to come after my third failed suicide attempt. They don’t understand. How can they? How can they understand that I might’ve lost my reason to wake up every morning? How can they understand that Mason is gone and I cannot live without him?How will they understand that I do not believe I have the strength to raise these children on my own?How will they understand that when the doctors pronounced him dead, I wanted to die, too?The therapist, a petite Korean lady, clears her throat and shifts closer.“Mrs. Lachlan, don’t
MASONWhile I’m still trying to deal with my shock, Scuderi’s hold on my neck tightens, blocking out any form of air from passing through my windpipe. My vision becomes increasingly blurry and my head starts to spin.“Get a hold of yourself!” My subconscious screams when I’m on the verge of passing out.At the last minute, I decide that I’m not gonna die like this. I promised Mira that I’ll come home. And I always keep my promises.Just when my uncle thinks he’s winning, I muster the last dregs of my energy and shoot up my free arm, striking him square on the jaw and dislodging him from my body immediately.“Fuck!” He snarls, falling to the side with a pained grunt. A greater part of me just wants to lie there and catch my breath, but deep down, I know that if I waste even a second here, I might not make it out alive.I quickly jump to my feet and pick up the nearest object I can use as a weapon — a baseball bat. When I turn to my uncle, he’s trying to crawl away like the coward he
MIRAThe moment I open my eyes in the morning, I know something has gone horribly wrong. I feel Mason’s side of the bed and it’s cold. Very, very cold. Dread crawls up my spine as I hurriedly sit up, trying to understand what the hell is going on.“Mason?” I call, pulling the covers aside and getting to my feet. “Mason, where are you? Are you in the bathroom?” Silence greets me. Stone cold silence.I pad barefoot to the bathroom, my stomach tightening with fear as I go. Ten minutes later, I’ve searched the entire room and even the closet, but he’s still nowhere to be seen. Now, I really begin to panic.I pull the door open with the intention of searching the rest of the house for him and standing just outside with two papers in her hand and tears streaming down her cheeks is Vanessa.I freeze, horrific images already swirling through my tired brain.“Nessa, what happened? Why are you crying? What are these papers?”She walks past me and climbs onto the bed, her shoulders tremblin
MIRAMy cheeks redden in embarrassment as I quickly look down at my bare feet. I raise my head slowly, already dreading the anger I’ll see in Mason’s eyes.However, when our gazes meet, all I see is worry and concern. He cups my heated cheeks with his palm and murmurs;“What happened, baby? Did you need something?”I’m about to reply when someone slams the table behind us and sneers.“What is this, Mason? Can’t your wife see that we’re in a meeting? How dare she interrupt us? And you’re just going to stand there and do absolutely nothing about it?”I whirl in the direction of the voice to find a stout, middle aged man glaring at us with fire in his eyes. Mason stiffens against me moments before he growls.“What did you just say to me?”The man tries to repeat himself but Damon places a hand on his arm and tries to force him back into his seat.“You do not want to get on his bad side, my friend. Especially when it comes to his wife.”The man looks from Damon to Mason and finally lowe
MIRAWe’ve been back in New York for a week now and Mason seems to grow more overprotective with every passing second. He doesn’t let me do anything… and I mean, anything at all. Sometimes, it’s a real struggle to convince him that I can brush my teeth on my own. Sheesh.I swear, if I didn’t love him too much, I’d have dumped his overbearing arse down the Himalayas mountain by now. Today is one of those days I dread very, very much. It’s one of those days when I have to convince Mason to let me step a foot outside.“But please, oh please…” I beg. “I promise we’re just going skinny dipping in the pool. We’ll be back before you know it.”“Absolutely not.” He says firmly as he knots his immaculate blue tie.I huff and flop on the bed.“Be careful.” He calls from his position in front of the mirror.I finally snap. “What?!”He turns to me, looking gorgeous and edible as ever.“Don’t hit yourself on the bed too hard. Lie down softly.”A incredulous laugh escapes me.“I shouldn’t hit mys
MIRAMason and I hurry through our bathroom niceties and five minutes later, we’re walking into the living room.“Wait for me here.” He says, motioning at a sofa. “I’ll handle them.”“No.” I retort as gently as I can. “I’m coming with you.”He lifts a brow.“There might be a possible threat out there, baby girl. Sit still while I handle it.”In response, I walk past him and gesture at the door.“Isn’t it great that I have you here in case of such threats?” I argue coyly. “Besides, haven’t you been taught never to argue with a pregnant woman?”His face is hard and unyielding for a second and I fear that he might force me to remain inside. To my surprise, his lips tilt in one of those sexy half smiles and he covers the distance between us with two long strides. Mason leans forward and places a soft kiss on my forehead.“I didn’t know stubbornness came with pregnancy as well. Fine, you can come. But you’ll stay behind me at all times. Understood?”I nod eagerly. I even salute and everyt