“Demitri…please. You’ll have justice.”
His nostrils flare, but he never takes his eyes off Lennox. I worry he can’t hear me through his hatred. His rage. He dwarfs the other man with his size and strength. Any second this could be over for Lennox. Over for me if it means losing the man I love too.
“Please… I need you.” A sob rocks me. “I need you.”
I press my hand to my lips, another sob ripping through me. I’ve never needed anything more. I close my eyes against the torrent of tears. The agony of what’s happening. The pain in my chest. The sickness of knowing how close they were to taking advantage of me.
Then I feel him. His arms fold around me. A massive cocoon of warmth. Safety. He hushes me softly.
I blink my eyes open. Through the blur of emotion, I can see Ronan has moved to where Demitri was. He’s with Lennox, shoving him roughly to the ground and cuffing his hands behind his back. Moments later, agents are spilling into my apartment. Guns raised. Reading Lennox his rights. Interrogating Ronan with smiles on their faces and slaps on the back like they’ve just caught a prize fish.
A couple of agents come up to me looking more concerned than celebratory.
“Are you all right? Do you need a medic?”
I shake my head and turn into Demitri’s strong chest. He’s all I need.
“Demitri…”
He tugs me tighter. “I’m sorry,” he whispers against my ear. “So sorry. This is all my fault. I’ll never forgive myself for not getting to you sooner.”
“Don’t leave me,” I beg.
“I’m never leaving you. You’re mine to protect, and I’ll never stop. For as long as I live, kitten.”
I fist my fingers into his shirt and burrow closer, wishing I could find a way to crawl inside and hide from everything. Everything except him.
“I was so scared.”
“I know. I came for you as soon as I knew he could be watching you. He paid off the doorman for a spare key to get in here. Don’t worry. He’s going to pay for it too.”
The added betrayal is a twist of the knife inside me.
“I don’t feel safe here anymore. I don’t know what I’m going to do. My parents control everything. They’ll make this my fault—”
“You’ll come home with me. No one’s going to keep you safer than I will.”
“What about my parents? They’ll find out about us…”
He pauses, and I worry that’s the one circumstance we’ll never be able to get around. “Your father knows a lot of important people who could make trouble for me. I haven’t gotten this far without making a few friends of my own. We’ll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it. In the meantime, you’re staying with me.”
I weaken against him, intoxicated by the thought of his protection. But for how long? I’ll have to move on eventually.
I look up at him. “I don’t want to be a burden.”
“There hasn’t been a single moment I’ve spent with you that’s ever been a burden.” A line forms between his brows as he lifts his hand to touch my cheek. “I love you, Katherine.” He closes his eyes briefly before opening them to me again. “I’m not good at this. I know I haven’t been fair to you.”
My heart clenches at his admission. I’m not sure if I’ve ever wanted to hear those words more from anyone.
“You were just trying to protect me. I get that now.”
“I was worried about what your father would do if he ever found out you were coming to Crave. But I couldn’t let you go either. I was selfish.” He brushes tangled strands of hair from my face. I must look terrible, but the adoration in his eyes says something else. Like maybe what he sees is deeper.
“I love you too, Demitri. Every moment we spent together, I fell a little bit more. I wanted you to be my Master, but I wanted to be in your heart too.”
He grasps my hand gently and presses it to the place on his chest where his heartbeat can be felt. “You’re already here.”
I fight back tears until he takes my mouth in a tender kiss. When we part, he whispers against my lips, “Come home with me, kitten. And stay.”
Chapter Fifteen
Katherine
“A white Christmas. How lucky is that?” I marvel at the winter weather swirling outside Demitri’s living room window.
“Not as lucky as me,” he murmurs, sinking his teeth gently into my neck. “Come kneel for me, kitten. Master has a present for you.”
I moan and lean back into him, pleased to find him as turned-on as I feel. We haven’t had sex since I moved in. He insists I need time to recover from what happened with Lennox. He might be right. But every day I’m forced to endure moments like these adds to my torture.
When he steps away, creating an unwelcome chill, I turn. Even in the few days we’ve been together, he manages to routinely take my breath away. Maybe it’s his Czech blood or his sheer size, but he seems immune to the cold. This morning he’s shirtless again, with red plaid pajama pants slung low on his hips. Barefoot and totally at home. A stark contrast from the unforgiving sex club owner I’ve been falling in love with a little more every time he’s taken me over his knee.
Watching him walk away and sink into the chair beside the tree is redefining Christmas spirit for me. I take a snapshot in my mind—my own private holiday photo card. Demitri…my Master…against the backdrop of his apartment, which I’ve transformed a little bit with decorations here and there. Some garland over the fireplace. A modest tree with a few ornaments dangling from its branches. I hope we’re here next year, just like this, adding to them.
He crooks his finger toward me. “Crawl for me, kitten.”
I set my hot cocoa down and do as he asks, never taking my eyes off him. I settle between his thighs and take my usual position.
“Good girl. Now look over here for your present and bring it to me.”
My heart does a little skip. Quickly I find a small flat box wrapped in silver paper and a shimmering bow under the tree. I bring it back to him and offer it.
He shakes his head. “You open it. Go slow. Don’t rip the paper.”
I laugh a little and follow his instructions. The anticipation is killing me, but of course that’s what he wants. Delayed gratification. But it’s more than gratification I feel when I’m finally able to pop open the box, revealing a thick platinum necklace. The front joins around a circle piece made of diamonds with two sharp ears on top. I smile and look up.
He smiles too, something rare that he’s giving me more of lately—vulnerability that I cherish along with all his other gifts.
“For my kitten. My lion.”
My cheeks warm. He takes the collar out of the box and clasps it around my neck. I know that’s what this is. More than a holiday trinket. This is an official claiming, a Master of his sub. I’m so overwhelmed I’m shaking when I bring my fingers to it.
“Thank you, Master.”
He leans down, tunnels his fingers into my hair, and tugs me upward for a kiss—a deep and savage kiss that has my knees trembling too.
“I am your Master, and you are my kitten. And always moje láska.”
I search his eyes for a clue. I’ve never heard him call me that before.
“My love. My only love.”
I smile so hard it nearly hurts. I’ve wanted these moments with him so badly for so long, to have them is pleasure and pain. A sweet and heart-wrenching satisfaction.
“Can I give you a gift?”
He regards me thoughtfully a moment. “All right.”
I bite my lip and stand to slip off my nightshirt, which is actually a shirt from his drawer that I’ve grown attached to. But not so much that I’m not happy to leave it in a pile on the floor while I straddle the man I love. He groans, grasping my hips tightly.
“This is the gift?”
I pepper his mouth with needy kisses. “The gift that keeps on giving.”
“Are you sure?” Some of the heat in his eyes melts away, replaced with concer
n.
“I need this. I need you, Demitri. Please.” I kiss him again and grind myself against his steely erection, trying to convey the depth of my desire. “Please,” I beg again.
He answers by lifting me up with him as he stands. Then he takes us to the rug, where he settles between my thighs, shoving his pants down just enough to free his thick erection.
When he joins us, I cry out from the overwhelming sensations. The relief of finally feeling him push inside me again. The hint of discomfort from the intrusion that my body is still learning to accept. The sheer pleasure of being filled and stretched and driven to the edge of reason, with every thrust, every touch, every command. And more than anything, the deep and satisfying solace of being loved by my Master.
About Meredith Wild
Meredith Wild is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author. After publishing her debut novel, Hardwired, in September 2013, Wild used her ten years of experience as a tech entrepreneur to push the boundaries of her “self-published” status, becoming stocked in brick-and-mortar bookstore chains nationwide and forging relationships with major retailers.
In 2014, Wild founded her own imprint, Waterhouse Press, under which she hit #1 on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. She has been featured on CBS This Morning and the Today Show, and in the New York Times, the Hollywood Reporter, Publishers Weekly, and the Examiner. Her foreign rights have been sold in twenty-three languages.
Visit her at MeredithWild.com
About Mia Michelle
Mia Michelle fell in love with the world of books the very first time she stepped inside of her small hometown library. Growing up, she loved to spend time losing herself in the world of make believe by creating her own imaginative stories.
The gift of a leather journal for her eighth birthday inspired her dream of one day becoming a writer. Though Mia kept most of her writing private over the years, a childhood best friend read the first draft of Rose of Thorne and encouraged her to take the leap of faith to bring her dream to life.
Mia fully admits to having a hopeless infatuation with her Kindle and suffers from a one-click book addiction. (No intervention required.) When she isn’t shuttling her two kids between cheerleading and football practice or folding a massive pile of laundry, she can be found curled up in her favorite cozy chair with a pen in one hand and an adult beverage in the other.
Mia currently resides in a quaint little southern town in Tennessee with her husband, two children, and fur baby.
Visit her at MiaMichelleAuthor.com
Coming Soon from Meredith Wild & Angel Payne
Blood of Zeus
August 25, 2020
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Excerpt from Blood of Zeus
Kara
I rip my hand back when he grazes my skin. The hot bolt of awareness inspires a flash of concern first, then melts into something even more unsettling when I realize it’s Professor Kane—well, Maximus—beside me.
His polite gesture isn’t paired with a friendly smile. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he felt the singe of energy between us too. But that’s impossible. Normal people don’t feel things like I do. Except he looks like I feel—stunned and fascinated.
He stares down at the book like it offended him before offering it to me. I take it, careful not to touch him.
“Thanks.”
He doesn’t speak for a moment, his blue-eyed gaze boring into me like I’m a problem he can’t solve. It doesn’t help that this place is jammed, forcing us into a proximity that feels too personal. Especially as I find myself taking in details about him I couldn’t appreciate before. The ring of deeper blue around the irises of his eyes. His muscled forearms, visible now with his sleeves rolled up tightly. Most noticeably, his hair falls in messy coppery waves past his shoulders, giving him a wild and untethered look far from the buttoned-up professor I met yesterday.
The din of the crowd is pierced with the squeal of an excited Piper Blue fan on the other side of the store. He looks over briefly before turning his attention back to me and the book in my hand.
“Required reading?”
I blink a couple of times before I latch on to his meaning. “Oh.” I tuck the heavy hardcover under my arm. “Not really. Just looked interesting, I guess.”
The corner of his mouth quirks up. “Greek rituals are interesting?”
“I’m a classics—”
“Yes, I know. Classics major. You told me that already.” He rests his elbow on the edge of the shelf dedicated to the Roman Empire. “It’s just that everyone’s here to gush over celebrities, and you’re over here in your own little world.”
“And that’s interesting to you?”
Those rings of cobalt seem to intensify. “It is.”
I fidget with the textured edge of the book, a little floored that he’d notice. “Is that why you’re here? To gush over celebrities?”
His smirk broadens. “No. I’m friends with the owners. I grew up down the street. They’re basically family.”
“So is Piper. She and my sister have been inseparable for years.”
“That’s nice of you to come and support her.”
I fail to mask an eye roll.
He laughs. “What?”
“Piper has enough fangirls. She doesn’t need moral support. My sister’s determined to put me in the spotlight every chance she can. I was promised a lift home after class and here we are.”
“Little bit of a detour.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Little bit.”
“You could just leave, you know.”
I shrug. “I like books.”
“I can tell. How’s Dante treating you?”
I feel my cheeks color, though I can’t reason why. His question is simple enough. “I’m enjoying it,” I finally manage.
His next words are lower. Almost…intimate. “You don’t have to tell me that just because I’m your professor.”
“I wouldn’t lie about that.”
His gaze drops from my eyes to the book and seems to wander over more of me. I take in an uneven breath because this feels dangerously like flirting. With my professor. Not that I’m parked on any moral high ground about it, but I’m not in a position to get entangled with anyone. Especially Maximus, with his sweet eyes and electric touch and soft-looking mouth…
Umph.
Suddenly I’m shoved from behind, launched against his massive frame. Lighting fast, he wraps his arm around me to keep me from tumbling sideways into the people near us.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” someone says.
They could be a mile away, because all I can hear is Maximus’s heavy exhale as he cinches us infinitesimally closer. His hand is on my waist, huge and warm. Then his voice is in my ear, breathy and low.
“Fuck.”
It’s barely a whisper. A word I can feel more than hear as I struggle to process the sensory explosion of this much contact. My heart beats excitedly, like it’s responding to a fun new drug designed to keep me amped all night. I brace my palm against the expanse of his chest and force myself into a state of composure. Calm down. Focus.
Except this is more than butterflies. This is a phoenix in flight. The hard hook of attraction that’s impossible to pass off as anything else now. A live wire I don’t want to let go of but desperately need to before he gets the wrong idea.
I steady on my feet and step back slowly. His touch falls away, and I’m almost mournful as I drag my gaze up to his. I’m ready to thank him for his quick reflexes, but the words die in my throat. Suddenly my skin burns as fiercely as the heat in his eyes. Then I realize his earlier slip wasn’t meant to curse the offending klutz who ran into me. In fact, I don’t think he meant to say it at all.
“You all right?” he says, his voice taking on a raspy quality that I can feel on the surface of my skin.
And other places.
“I’m good.”
Too good. Buzzing with euphoria good. About to rip his clothes off good.
I should thank him for saving me from the fall. Then I should walk away and take great pains to never get this close to him again.
“Kara. There you are. Seriously.”
My sister’s dramatic drone breaks the spell. Maximus runs a shaky hand through his hair as she sidles up beside us in head-to-toe Gucci.
“It’s a miracle the paparazzi get any pictures of you at all. You find the weirdest places to hide out. You’re nowhere near the action,” she rattles on.
Before I can make introductions, Maximus mumbles something I can’t make out and turns into the crowd, creating distance between us that I’m already too conflicted about. A little voice reminds me I’ll see him in class tomorrow, which shouldn’t be such a thrilling prospect. Not after I nearly seized with pleasure from a few seconds of body contact.
I try in vain not to follow him as he finds a place to stand on the other side of the store. The farthest possible spot from me. Wise. I need to remind myself of that at least a thousand more times.
I silently promise to stick with my seat in the back row of the lecture hall going forward. This can’t happen again. He’s too dangerous to the walls of my self-control.
“Come on. Let’s go get a pic—” Kell’s deep brown eyes widen slightly. “Whoa. Do you smell that?”
I swing my gaze back to her. “What?”
Her nostrils flare with a couple of short sniffs. “Lust and…” She frowns. “Anxiety?”
I lick my lips nervously. “That’s me. I’m anxious.”
“I know what you smell like, K-demon. That wasn’t you.”
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