by Lexi Blake
Praise For Lexi Blake And Masters And Mercenaries…
“I can always trust Lexi Blake's Dominants to leave me breathless...and in love. If you want sensual, exciting BDSM wrapped in an awesome love story, then look for a Lexi Blake book.”
~Cherise Sinclair USA Today Bestselling author
“Lexi Blake's MASTERS AND MERCENARIES series is beautifully written and deliciously hot. She's got a real way with both action and sex. I also love the way Blake writes her gorgeous Dom heroes--they make me want to do bad, bad things. Her heroines are intelligent and gutsy ladies whose taste for submission definitely does not make them dish rags. Can't wait for the next book!”
~Angela Knight, New York Times bestselling author
“A Dom is Forever is action packed, both in the bedroom and out. Expect agents, spies, guns, killing and lots of kink as Liam goes after the mysterious Mr. Black and finds his past and his future… The action and espionage keep this story moving along quickly while the sex and kink provides a totally different type of interest. Everything is very well balanced and flows together wonderfully.”
~A Night Owl “Top Pick”, Terri, Night Owl Erotica
“A Dom Is Forever is everything that is good in erotic romance. The story was fast-paced and suspenseful, the characters were flawed but made me root for them every step of the way, and the hotness factor was off the charts mostly due to a bad boy Dom with a penchant for dirty talk.”
~Rho, The Romance Reviews
“A good read that kept me on my toes, guessing until the big reveal, and thinking survival skills should be a must for all men.”
~Chris, Night Owl Reviews
“I can’t get enough of the Masters and Mercenaries Series! Love and Let Die is Lexi Blake at her best! She writes erotic romantic suspense like no other, and I am always extremely excited when she has something new for us! Intense, heart pounding, and erotically fulfilling, I could not put this book down.”
~ Shayna Renee, Shayna Renee's Spicy Reads
“Certain authors and series are on my auto-buy list. Lexi Blake and her Masters & Mercenaries series is at the top of that list... this book offered everything I love about a Masters & Mercenaries book – alpha men, hot sex and sweet loving… As long as Ms. Blake continues to offer such high quality books, I’ll be right there, ready to read.”
~ Robin, Sizzling Hot Books
“I have absolutely fallen in love with this series. Spies, espionage, and intrigue all packaged up in a hot dominant male package. All the men at McKay-Taggart are smoking hot and the women are amazingly strong sexy submissives.”
~Kelley, Smut Book Junkie Book Reviews
For His Eyes Only
Masters and Mercenaries, Book 13
Lexi Blake
For His Eyes Only
Masters and Mercenaries, Book 13
Lexi Blake
Published by DLZ Entertainment LLC
Copyright 2017 DLZ Entertainment LLC
Edited by Chloe Vale
eBook ISBN: 978-1-937608-59-0
McKay-Taggart logo design by Charity Hendry
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to my whole team. Kim Guidroz, the best editor in the business. My lovely betas, Stormy, Riane, and Kori. All around cheerleader, Liz Berry. Proofreader extraordinaire, Fedora Chen. Social media queen, Jillian Stein. The best publicist a writer could have, Danielle Sanchez and the whole gang at Inkslinger. My husband and kids. In a world like publishing where the ground is constantly shifting, these people form the bedrock of my career and I love you all!
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Author’s Note
Love Another Day by Lexi Blake
An excerpt from Arranged: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella by Lexi Blake
An excerpt from Revenge, Lawless Book 3 by Lexi Blake
An excerpt from Going Down Easy by Carly Phillips
An excerpt from Rescuing Rayne by Susan Stoker
About Lexi Blake
Other Books by Lexi Blake
Prologue
Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts
Nikolai Markovic eased out of bed, desperate to not disturb the woman beside him. The floors creaked under his bare feet and he went still, his eyes going to her sleeping form.
God, but she was lovely. Dark hair spilled out over the pillow and he couldn’t help but think about how she’d clung to him, how innocently she’d looked at him, her eyes widening with sweet shock as he managed to draw the first orgasm out of her.
I knew it would be good. I knew we would be good.
She’d whispered the words right before she’d fallen asleep, her body plastered against his.
She’d whispered something else, too. Something he couldn’t forget.
I love you, Nick. I always have.
He should have gently explained all the reasons he wasn’t good for her, should have been kind and put her into a cab and sent her back to the world she belonged in. Instead, he’d closed the door, locking the two of them in his shitty motel room. She deserved more than to have lost her virginity in a forty-dollar-a-night motel room. She should be back with her wealthy family, enjoying the ocean and eating a late supper. She should have saved herself for some well-raised intellectual who could have fit into her family and given her the life she needed, rather than selfishly taking what he wanted.
Was he actually thinking of doing this? Was he considering running away with Hayley Dalton, who was barely twenty years old and had stars in her eyes?
Did he think she could save him?
He had some money saved up. They could go to Seattle where she was in her last year of college. He could buy them a small house, get a job in security, and for once in his life settle down and breathe. He could get her pregnant and then there would be no looking back. He could have a family.
He shoved his legs into his jeans and tossed on a T-shirt. He needed to breathe right now and he couldn’t do it with Hayley here. Not when all he wanted to do was get back into bed and roll on top of her. She would spread her legs and welcome him inside her body. Hayley loved him, and not with some small part of herself. When Hayley loved, it was with her whole heart. She was all in.
It felt good to be loved. It made him remember that once he’d had a home and a family, and life had been good. Life h
ad been more than running from place to place. More than doing whatever dirty jobs he could find so he could keep running. So he didn’t have to think about everything he’d lost.
He palmed the key and his wallet. There was a soda machine downstairs by the check-in desk. He would get a drink and sit for a moment.
He would think about it, think about putting her in his car in the morning and driving west and never looking back.
They could start all over. He could forget his past and build something for once.
Desiree kicking him out might be the best thing that ever happened to him. She’d ended their toxic relationship and he didn’t have to feel guilt at moving on.
A light sense of joy bubbled up inside him. Hayley loved him. Oh, she was a foolish girl to love him. She shouldn’t, but she’d made the mistake and now he could take her and make her his.
He locked the door behind him. Was that the sun coming up over the horizon? How quickly the night had gone.
Hayley. He got a stupid grin thinking about her. He was too old for her. Not in years. In years he was only a few older, but he’d been aged by experience.
And she was reckless, as she proved by showing up at his motel the night before. Reckless and naïve and maybe she could use someone to watch after her, to protect her when she had those crazy ideas.
She was smart and kind and needed someone to ensure no one took advantage of her.
Unlike Des, who needed no one at all.
“My cousin? Really, Nicky? She’s twelve.”
He stopped and tried to shove down the white-hot anger that flared at the sound of her voice. How long had he followed her mindlessly? “She’s twenty years old and I wasn’t doing anything else for the evening.”
She chuckled, the sound deep and sexy. He would give her that. Des radiated sex. “Sure. That’s what sent you into the arms of my little cos. Boredom. Don’t be ridiculous. I know you better than you know yourself. And I know Hayley’s been mooning over you forever. Ever since we started dating.”
He finally turned. She was leaning against the Benz she’d rented for the family gathering out at Martha’s Vineyard. He wondered how many of her upper-crust family knew what Des did for a living. Certainly not Hayley, who seemed to be the odd poor kid in a family of wealth and privilege that spanned two countries. “Is that what you call it? Dating? I thought I did favors for you and you fucked me.”
“Poor Nick. Where would you be if I hadn’t found you? In some Gulag in Siberia, if you were allowed to live at all.” She brushed her hair back. In the early morning light, he could see that her makeup was flawless. But then she was always perfectly done up.
Unlike Hayley. Hayley was always a little messy and she rarely paid attention to wearing the “right” clothes or perfect shoes. And still there was a fresh, sexy beauty to Hayley that called to Nick.
“I would be. Putin would have seen to it.” He’d left the SVR the day he’d met Des. SVR was nothing more than a new version of the KGB. He’d joined to help his country and because he was addicted to the adrenaline of the job. He’d rapidly learned his boss was, as Americans would put it, an asshole. A money and power grubbing asshole who cared about nothing but keeping his lofty place in the world.
She straightened up and her perfect mouth turned down. “I don’t blame you. She’s a lovely girl. I like Hayley and I pushed you last night. I said some things I shouldn’t have said. It wasn’t well done of me, but then you know I like to play games.”
“I think I’m tired of games, Des.” It had been a crazy ride with this woman and he couldn’t help but have feelings for her. Des had saved him. Des had gotten him out of Russia, and in return, he’d become one of the many people she relied on for information and backup. He’d been crazy about her in the beginning, but being one of many lovers was wearing on him.
Hayley offered something different. Maybe he was getting old because the thought of staying in one place, with one woman who cared about him, seemed like a good thing to do.
Des moved in, giving him a view of her perfect breasts. She gazed up at him, her lips pouting. “But you’re so good at them, love. I’m sorry about what happened yesterday. I was overwrought. I have some business dealings that are going a bit awry and there are a lot of changes coming up, but I should have been kinder to you.”
This was what Des did. She ripped his heart out and then came back with sweet words and even better sex.
Not this time. Not when he’d just had Hayley. Not when he’d made love for the first time in years instead of fucking. Hayley had let him touch her, let him spend hours kissing her and caressing and feeling like he was worth more than an orgasm. “I’m out, Des. I wish you all the best. I’ll always come if you need me, but I want to try with Hayley.”
Her eyes closed briefly, and when they opened, there was a sheen of tears there. He’d never actually seen her cry. Not even when he’d had to dig a bullet out of her thigh.
“That hurt more than I could have imagined. I think I love you, Nick. As much as I can love any man. But I love her, too. She’s my cousin. She’s one of the best people I know, and given who her father is, that’s saying something.”
Hayley was smart and resourceful. She was kind. “I’ll take care of her.”
Des’s jaw firmed. “Will you?” She stared at him for a moment and he had to wonder what she was planning. “You can’t love her. You barely know her.”
“I feel something for her I haven’t before and I’ve known her for a few years now. When you bring me to these family outings, I spend most of my time with her. I’ve come to care very much for her.” She brought him peace. When he was with Des, it was like his life was a roller coaster filled with thrills and moments when he simply held on for dear life. He’d been hooked on the adrenaline of the life they led, but he felt such peace with Hayley. Such beautiful peace.
“I get that, Nick. I really do. Like I said, I love her. I get that I hurt you. I don’t mean to, but this is who I am. I’m never going to be faithful and I’m never going to want to settle down. But neither will you. Not for long. You’re hurting because of what happened to Katja. You miss your sister and I was a terrible bitch to you earlier. I lost my temper. It’s no surprise you’re having a crisis.”
“It’s not a crisis. It’s time to grow up.” He wasn’t sure she would ever understand him. “Breaking things off was the best gift you could have given me. What we have is toxic. I hope you can see that. It’s not normal what we do to each other. There’s passion and yes, there is some love, but, Des, there’s no peace between us and there never will be.”
“Because we’re not normal,” she said, her voice going low. He could hear the impatience in her tone. “There’s nothing ordinary about our lives and you won’t last more than a few months in Hayley’s world. I got some information last night. It’s why I’m here. If you can walk away from this information, then I’ll be the first one to cheer at your wedding. If you can’t, then, by god, Nikolai, admit that you belong with me.”
He wanted to walk away, to back up the last ten minutes of his life and be upstairs and safely in bed with Hayley. No temptations other than the soft heat of her body and the peace he felt when he connected with her.
But he could see in Desiree’s eyes another temptation. It was one he’d never been able to resist.
Vengeance.
“You found the man who killed my sister?”
Des put a hand on his arm, invading his space as she had a thousand times before. “Yes, and this is going to get bloody. He’s Bratva, my love. I have ties that go deep with that group, but helping you means moving to the private sector. I’m leaving MI6. We’ll take out the Ivanov syndicate and then I thought we might spend some time making serious money and seeing how the other half lives. It would be nice to be out in the open about our work for once. Have you heard of a man named Damon Knight?”
She talked on but all he could see was months and months ahead. Months of blood and sacrifice and pain. Tha
t man had murdered his sister.
What would Katja want for him? Katja had been a fierce operative, one of the best, and yet somehow she’d managed to maintain her sunny, bright smile. Katja would have loved Hayley.
Katja had spent her final hours in agony, tortured by the Bratva, left behind by her own agency.
Even with Des’s help, it could be a year or more before he finished the job. How much blood would be on his hands then? How many bodies would he have left behind? How many people would pray to see him dead?
He glanced back at the motel room where Hayley was sleeping.
Des had gone silent, but she wrapped her arms around him from behind. “I know, Nick. I know how much you want to stay, but we both know you won’t. Please don’t hurt her. She doesn’t deserve it. Make the break clean so she can move on with her life.”
His heart actually ached and yet he found some odd comfort from Des. Desiree had been the one constant in his life since that terrible day. His sister had died because she wouldn’t give him up. Des had saved him, risked her own life to get him out of that hellhole he’d been left in.
What did he owe them? His sister and Des?
“You’re being too kind,” he said. “It makes me suspicious.”
She sighed against him. “I’m getting something out of this, too. I get to keep you for a while longer. Like I said, I do love you. I know it’s not enough right now, but someday you’ll see that this is the right thing for the both of you. Hayley could get hurt, and neither one of us could stand it. Even after we’ve finished our work, there will always be someone after you.”
Des was right. There would always be something. His world was blood and death, and Hayley was studying history. She was going to be some kind of teacher or professor. She wouldn’t have any idea how to handle his world.