MasterofVelvet

by Kirstie Abbot

  Dan groaned. “Come on, guys, get a room! Do you have any idea how nauseating it is for a blissfully single man to watch you two get all loved up?”

  “Ignore him, sweet. He’s just jealous.”

  “Maybe we should do some matchmaking,” Beth suggested mischievously.

  This time Dan’s eyes rolled. “Heaven preserve me! Just for that I’d make you walk back to Winterleigh, except he’d beat the crap out of me.”

  The three of them talked a while longer, as only three people bound by one single, terrifying incident could talk. If any good could be said to come from such an event, it was that it further cemented the friendship between the two men, strengthened the love between Beth and Adam and created an unbreakable bond between all three.

  Eventually Dan stood up. “Right. I’m going to get the car and bring it round to the front. Anything to get me out of here while you two do the kissy-kissy thing.”

  “You’re just jealous, Danny-boy!” Adam hurled the comment at his friend and received a silent but cheerfully and expressively obscene parting gesture in return.

  Once his friend had gone, Adam turned to Beth, his expression becoming serious. “There’s something I have to ask you, love. The things you saw, the things I did—“

  “Shh.” She placed a finger on his lips. “I know it was self-defense. What terrified me most was the possibility of you being hurt. When I saw the blood—” Her voice trailed off, eyes fixed on the area where he’d been wounded.

  “It looked worse than it was, little one.”

  Her face spoke volumes about the degree of her skepticism. He could understand her point of view but given the experiences that had already left their mark on him, a glancing gunshot wound was next to nothing.

  Her breath came out in a huge sigh. “I wish I didn’t have to go home. I hate being without you.”

  “It won’t be for long. I promise.” He kissed her fingers. “I’m going to get out of here just as soon as I can.”

  As he watched Beth, felt the small, comforting movement of her thumb over the back of his hand, a sense of soul-deep rightness swept over Adam. This was how his life was meant to be.

  It was how Beth’s life was meant to be too and the radiance of her slow, gentle smile told him that she wasn’t about to argue. She was home.

  Epilogue

  Contrary to statistics and the forecast, there was a white Christmas that year.

  It was Beth and Adam’s first Christmas together. The events of autumn were behind them now if not forgotten and since then there had been many changes in both their lives.

  For all practical purposes Beth had moved out of her flat the night her ankle was injured in the mugging—she had returned only to collect her belongings and arrange for larger items to be transported to Winterleigh, all of which she had done without a hint of regret. Nor had she been back to the office for one very significant reason—there was no office for her to go back to.

  Well there was, but it no longer belonged to the man walking hand-in-hand beside her through the snow. Adam, still recovering from the lingering effects of his wounds, had sold the business and even given up the lease on his London apartment. He was now deciding what to do with the rest of his life—besides supporting Beth in her new career as a writer.

  Adam had finally managed to persuade her to let him read her novel. He’d provided some constructive criticism and then encouraged her to submit it to a suitable publisher. The news had finally come about ten days prior to this wonderful Christmas Day that her manuscript had been accepted for publication.

  That had been Beth’s second-best Christmas present. The first had been Adam’s release from the hospital—a little earlier than the doctor would have preferred but Adam had insisted.

  At least it had given Beth the opportunity to boss the big, bad Dom around while she supervised his recuperation—and to fall even more deeply in love with him. He’d been every bit the difficult patient she expected him to be but she’d managed to keep him in line with promises of what he could do to her when he was fully recovered. A somewhat rash decision on her part since she’d barely been able to sit down for three days once he’d regained his strength. She smiled, hugging the memories to her like a warm blanket.

  “What are you grinning at, Beth? It’s bloody freezing out here! I don’t know how you managed to talk me into this route march.”

  “I seem to remember that this route march was your idea, Master,” she reminded him. “Let’s go for a brisk walk, you said. It’ll blow the cobwebs away, you said.”

  “Did I say that? Are you sure I said that?”

  He was teasing her. Again. Over the last few weeks, since he’d sold the business and moved to Winterleigh full-time, since they’d settled into the routine of being a couple, he’d been more relaxed and playful than she’d ever seen him. Unless—perversely—they were playing, of course. Then he was every inch the Dom—her Master. At those times, she just melted with wanting him.

  She’d also succeeded in persuading Adam to return to the therapist to exorcise the demons from his past. Beth had sat beside him through every session, holding back the tears as Adam had gone into the details of his ordeal, passing her love and her strength to him through the simple act of touch. On more than one night, she’d held him while he wept in her arms. The tears had helped to cleanse his soul and then one night, after what had turned out to be his last session, instead of the tears he had kissed her and made love to her with heartbreaking tenderness.

  “Oh, I’m absolutely sure.”

  He shrugged. “Whatever. You didn’t answer my question.” He’d switched on the Dom tone, his sure-fire way to get what he wanted from her.

  “I was thinking of when you got your own back on me for making sure you rested when you came out of the hospital, Master.”

  “And if you tell me you didn’t enjoy it I won’t give you more of the same when we get back home.”

  Eyes narrowed, Beth shot him one of her looks while trying to ignore the desperate need growing between her thighs.

  Adam had decided that they would be spending most of the festive season enjoying each other in a variety of ways and on New Year’s Eve he was planning to take her to Club Apollo for the first time.

  “Here we are.”

  Adam had brought her to a secluded clearing in the woods that formed part of the grounds of Winterleigh. He turned to face her. Gloves removed, he framed her frozen face with toasty-warm hands, his gaze intense as he lowered his head to kiss her. It was a kiss that claimed ownership of everything that she was, everything she would ever be.

  “I love you, my sweet sub,” he declared with a controlled, powerful passion. “I don’t tell you that often enough.”

  “You don’t need to say the words, Master. Your actions tell me that every day.”

  And they did. Beth knew she was loved, protected and cherished beyond measure. She also knew she loved and trusted this man with all her heart, all her soul and all her life. He owned her yet she felt freer than she could ever have imagined possible.

  “Do they tell you how much you mean to me, little one?”

  She kissed his palm, something she had done many times before—the act had come to symbolize her total devotion to him. And she knew exactly how much she meant to him. This man had risked his own life to save hers.

  In the weeks that followed that terrifying incident, the truth had come to light about Ewan Underwood and the motivation behind his actions. The tragic event of his younger brother’s death while on active service under Adam’s command had sent Ewan completely off the rails—and in the years between Jimmy’s death and the incident at Winterleigh, he’d been in and out of prison, each sentence providing him with the opportunity to pick up the skills he’d needed to exact his revenge.

  “As much as you mean to me, Master.”

  He kissed her again, this time wrapping his arms around her to hold her hard up against his body. “I brought you here today for a reason, Beth. I
n spring this clearing is particularly beautiful—it’s my favorite place on the entire estate—but I couldn’t wait ‘til spring. Not for this. This is too important.”

  He released her, so that one hand could delve into the pocket of his winter-weight parka. What he brought out remained hidden beneath clenched fingers.

  “Bethany Harrison, a man could wait his entire lifetime and never find a woman like you. I consider myself lucky beyond all any man could hope for, that you chose me to love.”

  Beth’s smile radiated the love she felt for this special, unique man. He was wrong about one thing, though. “As if I had any choice. You are an irresistible force, Master.”

  His grin clearly communicated his satisfaction with her assessment. The fingers of his clasped hand slowly opened, revealing a platinum and diamond solitaire engagement ring. “In that case you’ll know that this is not a question. Marry me.”

  About Kirstie Abbot

  British born and bred, Kirstie lives in North West England, and ever since winning an erotic short story competition in a magazine more years ago than she cares to remember, she has been a writer-in-waiting. A lightbulb moment during a business trip gave her the inspiration to try her hand at an erotic novel, a hobby that rapidly turned into an all-consuming passion, interrupted only by the day job.

  Writing is her addiction. Kirstie looks for inspiration wherever she goes, and has found it in some unlikely places—including a drive home from the supermarket that involved a detour due to roadworks!

  Kirstie welcomes comments from readers. You can find her email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

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  Master of Velvet

  ISBN 9781419949432

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Master of Velvet Copyright © 2013 Kirstie Abbot

  Edited by Julie Naughton

  Cover design by Fiona Jayde

  Cover photography by cyther5 /shutterstock.com, thereedfiles.com

  Electronic book publication November 2013

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