Persuasion

by Stone, Piper

  He lowered his head, taking several shallow breaths. “I have no real excuse, Giliana, other than to say that I fell in love with money. Greed pulled at me, the desire to earn more, be more something I couldn’t get away from. No matter what success I had legitimately, it didn’t seem to be enough.”

  “And Mother hated what you were doing.”

  He glanced at me warily before wiping his brow. “Yes. When I was first approached about a get rich quick scheme, I hid it from her, but she found out. I know I destroyed her, but I did try and make it up to her, Giliana. I loved your mother. When she became sick, I was so lost.”

  I took a few seconds before answering, my heart aching. “I believe you. I know you had nothing to do with her death.”

  The look of relief on his face was genuine. He held out his shaking hand. “Do you forgive me for all the pain I’ve caused? Can you find it in your heart?”

  “I love you, Father, but that’s going to take time. I need to find myself, a life that I care about, and not because I’m running away from the truth. I only hope you can do the right thing, find the man you used to be. That’s how you can honor my mother.”

  I’d seen men broken down to the point of real emotion, including Kostya. I also knew when they were lying, even though it was sometimes too late to avoid experiencing pain. What I saw on his face was raw, agonizing emotion. He was crushed beneath the weight of a boulder.

  He stood, remaining where he was but shoring his shoulders. “You’re right and I learned that with this ridiculous situation I placed myself in. I made a decision that I think will honor your mother.” He hesitated, taking a deep breath. “I have a friend in the DA’s office. I’ve made an appointment to tell him everything.”

  I was shocked, the words echoing. “Is that true?”

  He walked around his desk, pulling out one of his drawers. “I’m not entirely certain what’s going to be left of this company when everything is sorted out, but I’ve taken steps to protect the legitimate portions. At least you and your brother will have some kind of legacy. I hope you’ll consider running what’s left of my dream one day.”

  As he walked in my direction, handing me yet another envelope, I was forced to acknowledge that karma had brought me back to this city. To face my past. To face my demons.

  To crush my fears.

  This was the first day of the rest of my life.

  “I’ll consider that, but not for a while,” I answered, accepting the thick bundle.

  He gave me a waning smile, exhaustion riding him hard. “That’s all I can ask for. What are your plans?”

  I thought about his question. “That depends. I’ll give you a call when I figure that out. I hope you keep your promise, Father. I really do.” I closed the distance, wrapping my arms around him. And in those few moments of closeness, I heard his anguished sobs.

  Forgiveness.

  I’d already forgiven him.

  As Kostya escorted me outside, I knew the weight of my anger and hatred had been lifted. “What’s happening now?”

  He took my hand, moving in front of me. “That’s entirely up to you, Giliana. I have a plane waiting at the same airport we flew out of earlier and I’d like you to go with me, but I’m not going to force you. You deserve a wonderful life.”

  I tilted my head to gaze into his sexy ice blue eyes. The electricity we shared was still there, a live wire dangling over a precipice, but there was so much more.

  Two damaged people.

  Two broken souls.

  One heart.

  “You told me that I belonged to you,” I countered.

  He chuckled in a husky manner. “I did.”

  “Is that still true?” I pressed my hands against his chest, kneading my fingers.

  Growling, he wrapped his arms around me. “Only if you obey.”

  “I’m not good with rules.”

  “Then I guess you’re going to receive harsh punishment.” He cupped my face, his fingers digging into my skin as he pulled me onto my tiptoes. “I do adore you, Giliana, my beautiful princess.”

  As he captured my mouth, immediately thrusting his tongue inside, I knew I’d made the right decision.

  * * *

  The blindfold was annoying, but Kostya had insisted that I wear it after leaving the plane. The new driver had spoken to Kostya away from me, making certain I hadn’t overheard anything they were saying.

  Kostya had admitted that while he would continue working with the Specialists on certain missions, he’d taken a leave of absence and that he expected additional changes.

  Change.

  Something we both feared but would face together. I was excited at the prospects.

  When the rumble of the engine stopped, I leaned forward.

  “Not yet, princess,” he whispered in my ear.

  As he guided me out of the car, I took a deep breath, able to detect the scent of various flowers and other fragrances in the light breeze. He kept his arm around me as we walked several feet. I heard the sound of a door being unlocked. Then several more steps.

  “This isn’t fair,” I whined on purpose.

  He swatted me on the bottom, nipping my earlobe. “I never told you that life would be fair with me. I am in control.”

  I shivered at his words, the meaning behind them. The final admittance that I craved his dominance had been eye-opening. As far as surrendering to him?

  That had already happened.

  “Stay right here. If you touch your blindfold, you’re going to get a spanking.”

  “Why, yes, sir.” The dangerous man had a way of exciting me beyond my control.

  I listened for other sounds, finally realizing he was opening another door.

  “Take a deep whiff,” he commanded.

  I did as he required, tingling all over as the scent swept into me. The ocean. I would know the amazing fragrance of the sea air anywhere. He pushed me gently until I felt a warm breeze across my face, could hear the lapping waves as the water hit the shore.

  “I heard what you said on the plane,” he whispered.

  “You did?” My legs were quivering.

  “Every word, including your love of the beach.” He untied the blindfold as he said the words.

  I blinked several times, the early evening light creating a beautiful array of colors on the horizon. As I walked forward, I was taken aback by the incredible beauty. “Where are we?”

  “The French Riviera. I bought this house for you. For us.”

  There were no words to describe the setting; craggy rocks and a pristine beach. We were perched high above, able to see for miles. “You did this?”

  “Anything for the woman I love.”

  I shifted until I could face him and for the first time I saw true peace in his eyes as well as unbridled love. “I adore you, my Zorro.”

  “Just remember I own you. For now. Forever.”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him in close. As he slid his hand down my spine, my pussy quivered, my longing exploding.

  “I’m going to make love to you, fairy princess,” he murmured.

  “Then what?”

  He laughed as he fisted my hair, tugging on my head. “You’re going to have to wait to find out.”

  I pushed away from him, dragging my dress over my head. He’d already taken my panties, his playful mood on the plane something I hadn’t expected. As I dropped the unwanted sheath to the deck and turned to face him, I shivered from the way he was staring at me.

  As if I was his possession.

  His nostrils flared as he beckoned for me. When I was only inches away, he reached into his pocket. “It would seem you forgot about one of your first rules.”

  The damn anal plug.

  I bit my lip, shuddering as he pointed toward the railing. As I gripped the edges, leaning over slightly, he kicked my legs apart.

  “You’re going to learn to follow my command,” he said sternly as he slipped the plug in between my legs, rubbing it up and down
the length of my pussy. I moaned, the sensations sending a shower of electric jolts through me. He dipped the rubber piece into my pussy, thrusting hard and fast for several seconds before pushing it between my ass cheeks.

  “Open up that pretty little bottom of yours,” he huffed.

  I obeyed instantly, closing my eyes as he slipped the implement inside, twisting and turning until the thick rubber was seated properly.

  “So beautiful,” he whispered in his husky and sensual Russian accent.

  And I believed him.

  Love.

  L.O.V.E.

  I had the feeling I’d soon be able to say it in Russian.

  The End

  Stormy Night Publications would like to thank you for your interest in our books.

  If you liked this book (or even if you didn’t), we would really appreciate you leaving a review on the site where you purchased it. Reviews provide useful feedback for us and our authors, and this feedback (both positive comments and constructive criticism) allows us to work even harder to make sure we provide the content our customers want to read.

  If you would like to check out more books from Stormy Night Publications, if you want to learn more about our company, or if you would like to join our mailing list, please visit our website at:

  http://www.stormynightpublications.com

  More Stormy Night Books by Piper Stone

  Claimed by the Beasts

  Though she has done her best to run from it, Scarlet Dumane cannot escape what is in store for her. She has known for years that she is destined to belong not just to one savage beast, but to three, and now the time has come for her to be claimed. Soon her mates will own every inch of her beautiful body, and she will be shared and used as roughly and as often as they please.

  Scarlet hid from the disturbing truth about herself, her family, and her town for as long as she could, but now her grandmother’s death has finally brought her back home to the bayous of Louisiana and at last she must face her fate, no matter how shameful and terrifying.

  She will be a queen, but her mates will be her masters, and defiance will be thoroughly punished. Yet even when she is stripped bare and spanked until she is sobbing, her need for them only grows, and every blush, moan, and quivering climax binds her to them more tightly. But with enemies lurking in the shadows, can she trust her mates to protect her from both man and beast?

  Buy on Amazon

  Millionaire Daddy

  Dominick Asbury is not just a handsome millionaire whose deep voice makes Jenna’s tummy flutter whenever they are together, nor is he merely the first man bold enough to strip her bare and spank her hard and thoroughly whenever she has been naughty. He is much more than that.

  He is her daddy.

  He is the one who punishes her when she’s been a bad girl, and he is the one who takes her in his arms afterwards and brings her to one climax after another until she is utterly spent and satisfied.

  But something shady is going on behind the scenes at Dominick’s company, and when Jenna draws the wrong conclusion from a poorly written article about him and creates an embarrassing public scene, will she end up not only costing them both their jobs but losing her daddy as well?

  Buy on Amazon

  Conquering Their Mate

  For years the Cenzans have cast a menacing eye on Earth, but it still came as a shock to be captured, stripped bare, and claimed as a mate by their leader and his most trusted warriors.

  It infuriates me to be punished for the slightest defiance and forced to submit to these alien brutes, but as I’m led naked through the corridors of their ship, my well-punished bare bottom and my helpless arousal both fully on display, I cannot help wondering how long it will be until I’m kneeling at the feet of my mates and begging them take me as shamefully as they please.

  Buy on Amazon

  Caught

  If you’re forced to come to an arrangement with someone as dangerous as Jagger Calduchi, it means he’s about to take what he wants, and you’ll give it to him... even if it’s your body.

  I got caught snooping where I didn’t belong, and Jagger made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. A week with him where his rules are the only rules, or his bought and paid for cops take me to jail.

  He’s going to punish me, train me, and master me completely. When he’s used me so shamefully I blush just to think about it, maybe he’ll let me go home... or maybe he’ll decide to keep me.

  Buy on Amazon

  Captured and Kept

  Since her career was knocked off track in retaliation for her efforts to expose a sinister plot by high-ranking government officials, reporter Danielle Carver has been stuck writing puff pieces in a small town in Oregon. Desperate for a serious story, she sets out to investigate the rumors she’s been hearing about mysterious men living in the mountains nearby. But when she secretly follows them back to their remote cabin, the ruggedly handsome beasts don’t take kindly to her snooping around, and Dani soon finds herself stripped bare for a painful, humiliating spanking.

  Their rough dominance arouses her deeply, and before long she is blushing crimson as they take turns using her beautiful body as thoroughly and shamefully as they please. But when Dani uncovers the true reason for their presence in the area, will more than just her career be at risk?

  Buy on Amazon

  Taming His Brat

  It’s been years since Cooper Dawson left her small Texas hometown, but after her stubborn defiance gets her fired from two jobs in a row, she knows something definitely needs to change. What she doesn’t expect, however, is for her sharp tongue and arrogant attitude to land her over the knee of a stern, ruggedly sexy cowboy for a painful, embarrassing, and very public spanking.

  Rex Sullivan cannot deny being smitten by Cooper, and the fact that she is in desperate need of his belt across her bare backside only makes the war-hardened ex-Marine more determined to tame the beautiful, fiery redhead. It isn’t long before she’s screaming his name as he shows her just how hard and roughly a cowboy can ride a headstrong filly. But Rex and Cooper both have secrets, and when the demons of their past rear their ugly heads, will their romance be torn apart?

  Buy on Amazon

  Capturing Their Mate

  I thought the Cenzan invaders could never find me here, but I was wrong. Three of the alien brutes came to take me, and before I ever set foot aboard their ship I had already been stripped bare, spanked thoroughly, and claimed more shamefully then I would have ever thought possible.

  They have decided that a public example must be made of me, and I will be punished and used in the most humiliating ways imaginable as a warning to anyone who might dare to defy them. But I am no ordinary breeder, and the secrets hidden in my past could change their world... or end it.

  Buy on Amazon

  Ruthless

  Treating a mobster shot by a rival’s goons isn’t really my forte, but when a man is powerful enough to have a whole wing of a hospital cleared out for his protection, you do as you’re told.

  To make matters worse, this isn’t first time I’ve met Giovanni Calduchi. It turns out my newest patient is the stern, sexy brute who all but dragged me back to his hotel room a couple of nights ago so he could use my body as he pleased, then showed up at my house the next day, stripped me bare, and spanked me until I was begging him to take me even more roughly and shamefully.

  Now, with his enemies likely to be coming after me in order to get to him, all I can do is hope he’s as good at keeping me safe as he is at keeping me blushing, sore, and thoroughly satisfied.

  Buy on Amazon

  Rogue

  Tracking down cyborgs is my job, but this time I’m the one being hunted. This rogue machine has spent most of his life locked up, and now that he’s on the loose he has plans for me...

  He isn’t just going to strip me, punish me, and use me. He will take me longer and harder than any human ever could, claiming me so thoroughly that I will be left in no doubt who owns me.

&nb
sp; No matter how shamefully I beg and plead, my body will be ravaged again and again with pleasure so intense it terrifies me to even imagine, because that is what he was built to do.

  Buy on Amazon

  Roughneck

  When I took a job on an oil rig to escape my scheming stepfather’s efforts to set me up with one of his business cronies, I knew I’d be working with rugged men. What I didn’t expect is to find myself bent over a desk, my cheeks soaked with tears and my bare thighs wet for a very different reason, as my well-punished bottom is thoroughly used by a stern, infuriatingly sexy roughneck.

  Even though I should have known better than to get sassy with a firm-handed cowboy, let alone a tough-as-nails former Marine, there’s no denying that learning the hard way was every bit as hot as it was shameful. But a sore, welted backside is just the start of his plans for me, and no matter how much I blush to admit it, I know I’m going to take everything he gives me and beg for more.

  Buy on Amazon

  Hunting Their Mate

  As far as I’m concerned, the Cenzans will always be the enemy, and there can be no peace while they remain on our planet. I planned to make them pay for invading our world, but I was hunted down and captured by two of their warriors with the help of a battle-hardened former Marine. Now I’m the one who is going to pay, as the three of them punish me, shame me, and share me.

  Though the thought of a fellow human taking the side of these alien brutes enrages me, that is far from the worst of it. With every searing stroke of the strap that lands across my bare bottom, with every savage thrust as I am claimed over and over, and with every screaming climax, it is made more clear that it is my own quivering, thoroughly used body which has truly betrayed me.

  Buy on Amazon

  Dangerous

  I knew Erik Chenault was dangerous the moment I saw him. Everything about him should have warned me away, from the scar on his face to the fact that mobsters call him Blade. But I was drawn like a moth to a flame, and I ended up burnt... and blushing, sore, and thoroughly used.

  Now he’s taken it upon himself to protect me from men like the ones we both tried to leave in our past. He’s going to make me his whether I like it or not... but I think I’m going to like it.