Chapter Twenty-five
She opened her mouth to argue, caught his “I"ve spanked you once and I can do it again” stare, and slid backward on the bed to the designated spot. Pulling her legs up, she wrapped her arms around her knees, feeling very exposed. When she noticed his leather toy bag sitting by the headboard, a quiver shook her. Sneaky.
What was the sneaky lawyer planning? Her hands started to sweat, and her heart thudded hard enough to do damage to her rib cage.
He shrugged out of his shirt and tossed it over a chair. Joining her on the bed, he leaned against the headboard. “Now we"ll discuss you and me. Come here.”
Why did he get to keep his jeans on? But it was…a little reassuring. Maybe he didn"t plan to make love. Then why couldn"t she put her clothes back on? I’m so confused. “I think I"d rather stay here. Marcus, can"t you understand this won"t work? There is no you and me. We"re totally incompatible.”
He snorted in exasperation, snagged her arm, and pulled her gently onto his lap. At the feeling of his hard arms around her, she felt her eyes blur with tears.
Again. Don’t do this to me, Marcus.
“What we have here is a failure to communicate,” he said, his dark, rich drawl thicker than normal. “You best tell me why you ran away from me and sent Galen with a letter.”
“I didn"t run. I came here to stay with my parents.”
“Do not even try to bullshit me, Gabrielle.”
The sound of the less than polite term halted her thoughts for a second. His darkened expression and the dangerous look in his eyes warned her his tolerance had reached a limit.
She pushed away her internal “don"t do this” voice and gave him the simple truth. “I"m not a sweet submissive, Marcus.”
“I do believe I have grasped that fact.”
“You don"t want a brat. You don"t want the problems or the troubles. I know that and…” She stared at her hands. “I thought about pretending to be a sweet, quiet submissive for you, but…after staying with my parents, I know I wouldn"t be able to do it for long, and it"d break my heart to put that look in your eyes again.”
He put one hand on each side of her face, and his thumbs stroked over her cheekbones. “What look, sugar?”
“Disappointment,” she whispered.
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“You"re going to disappoint me sometimes,” Marcus said. Her gaze got caught in the blueness of his. “If I disappointed you, Gabi, would you want me to leave?”
“No. But it"s different. I know who you are, and I wouldn"t want you to change.”
“There we go. Gabrielle, I don"t mean for you to change. I love who you are, little brat.”
Her breath caught, and joy spiraled up inside her like a whirlwind of glitter.
Love? He loves me? Me? And then she shook her head. “No. No, you don"t.”
“Contrary little sub—never accepting anything. Why am I not surprised?” He smoothly reversed positions with her so her back rested against the headboard and he straddled her bare thighs. “Gabrielle, over the last month, you"ve made every sweet, obedient submissive seem boring.”
The spurt of hope faded quickly as logic returned. “You hate when I disobey you. I saw that.”
“Sugar, when you were acting and I didn"t know it, you drove me crazier than a june bug,” he agreed.
Absentmindedly he ran his hands over her breasts, distracting her. Damn him, she craved his touch like a drug, wanted to be in his arms, under him. She closed her hands on his wrists, needing him to hear her. “I wasn"t pretending all the time.
Don"t you understand?” she said. “And—”
“I do understand, Gabi.” His lips curved. “I"d guess only about half of your bratty behavior was an act.”
She blinked. He knew? “Then why are you here?”
“I discovered I like matching wits with you. I like your honesty. I like seeing you struggle to submit, and sometimes winning and sometimes losing.” He tugged on her blue lock of hair.
Everything in her body started to turn to mush. But this couldn"t be right. He had to be confused. “No.”
“Oh yes.” He frowned. “But I want you in Tampa. Or me in Miami. And you in my house.”
She remembered how Vance had mentioned he could get her transferred to Tampa. No. Leaving now.
His lips curved. “If I wake up needing to beat on a little sub in the morning, I want her bottom available.”
The glint in his eyes said he was joking—mostly—but not all. She swallowed hard, imagining his hand spanking her butt. The flash of heat bunched her nipples into jutting peaks.
He glanced at her breasts and raised his eyebrows. God, that smile of his. “I reckon you like the idea of a morning beating,” he murmured.
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“No, I don"t.” Hope and fear fought, drowning her in churning emotions. I can’t think. She clung to the one fact—he needed to understand it couldn"t work. “I won"t cooperate. Not always, and then you won"t like me.”
“You"ve set your teeth into that notion, haven"t you?” He pulled a huge wrist cuff from his bag and a roll of gauze. “Best we test it, then.”
Wait. “No. We"re not going to do this.”
Ignoring her struggles, he pinned her with his weight, captured one hand, and held it securely. She couldn"t fight him and chance hurting his shoulder, but trying to yank her arm out of his grip got her nowhere. After he wrapped gauze over the abrasions on her left wrist, he buckled the cuff on. “Nolan happened to own an extra wide set of cuffs,” he commented. He lifted her arm and snapped the cuff to a rope attached to the headboard.
How could she not have spotted the restraints? But nooooo, she"d been too busy staring at him.
He did her other wrist and patted her hand. “These shouldn"t rub on your arms where you"re still sore.” He snapped the right cuff to another rope and sat back.
He"d restrained her wrists against the headboard on each side of her head. She tugged at them and winced when the movement pulled on her ribs. “I can"t believe you!”
“Oh, I"m not done yet, sweetheart.” The big corner post of the headboard had a rope wound around the wood…and a cuff attached.
“You set everything up. You planned this.”
“Darlin", I wasn"t just a Boy Scout, I was an Eagle Scout.” He proceeded to attach the cuff to her ankle. He did the same on the other side. “I do like how flexible you are, but you let me know if this hurts your ribs.” He watched her closely as he tightened the ropes, forcing her legs upward toward the corner posts on the headboard.
“After you"re all healed up and we"re home, I"ll have your feet almost to your head,” he said. At the thought of being tied up in his bed, desire edged beneath her frustration.
He tied off the restraints. “I reckon this will do for today.” She was slouched against the headboard, wrists on each side of her head. Her legs were pulled up and widely separated, and her feet high in the air halfway between her hips and her shoulders. She tugged on her legs, unable to even make the board wiggle—solidly made bed—and realized he was watching her with a faint smile on his face. His pleasure at seeing her bound showed clearly.
And knowing he was aroused by her helplessness heated her blood.
He ran his hands down the insides of her thighs, pausing on either side of her p-ssy. “I do like seeing you so spread and exposed.” He touched her *, the merest brush of his fingers, sending a burn through her, a growing need for so, so much more. “And havin" your feet waving in the air tilts that pink li"l p-ssy up so I can Masters of the Shadowlands 5: Make Me, Sir
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play with it.” His gaze on her seemed as warm as his fingers as he touched her, teasing between her folds. “Seems you"re a tad excited.”
“I"m n—”
A gentle swat right on her open p-ssy sent fire stinging down her nerve endings. She gasped.
“Don"t lie to me, Gabrielle.” His eyes were firm. “That"s not the same as defying me. We will be honest with each other. Am I clear?”
“I"ll try. I don"t lie, unless sometimes… But I can"t talk about…“ Her words tangled.
His smile showed his approval, warming her deep inside. “I understand, darlin". You haven"t lied unless you"re being a brat. And you have trouble sharing your thoughts. We"ll work on that one.”
He kept assuming they"d be together…
“However, I will not accept lying even when you"re acting sassy. No lies.
Anytime. Understood?” His fingers stroked the crease between her hip and thigh.
Then he shot her a hard look. “Answer me.”
“Yes, Sir.”
She was beautiful, Marcus thought. Her big brown eyes were stormy with emotion, her breasts jiggled with her breathing, and her nipples had peaked tight from her excitement. I love this woman.
Too soon, Marcus would usually think, to be so certain, but he"d been involved with enough women to know when one felt exactly right. Seeing her chatting with his grandparents—and teasing Gramps—confirmed his belief. Gabi fit with them and him like a missing piece of the puzzle, snapping into place in a way that other women, even his ex-wife, never had.
“Marcus?”
He smiled down at her. Tied and quivering. So appealing. Her expression showed desire and trust…and worry, a mixture more stimulating to a dom than any aphrodisiac. Having him in control excited her, and although she trusted him not to hurt her, she knew he could and would push her out of her comfort zone. Especially today.
He did enjoy that smidgeon of worry in Gabi"s wide eyes.
“So sass me now, little sub,” he said.
She fired right up at his patronizing tone. “I sass when I want to, not at your command.”
“That"ll work,” he murmured and pushed a finger into her. Hot, wet tissues enfolded him, and damn, his cock wanted to be in her sweet little p-ssy. She arched, giving a shocked squeak. Talking’s over, little sub.
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inhaled. Oh yes. Her aroused female scent had overwhelmed the fragrance of soap.
Still watching her face, he gently licked her *.
The stifled gasp of shock and pleasure she gave made him smile. Did she have any idea of how cute she was?
Then she stiffened, starting to get a glimmer of his intent and how much he planned to take from her. “Marcus,” she whispered. “No.” She tugged frantically on the restraints and winced.
Her ribs. “Stop, Gabi.”
She didn"t—in fact—pulled harder, her teeth gritted.
Stubborn woman. He slapped her round little butt hard enough to sting, and she froze. Her startled eyes met his.
“Struggling will hurt your ribs. You will not continue.”
At his hard command, her pupils dilated. The muscles in her thighs relaxed, then her arms. She sighed.
Such sweet surrender. As he"d suspected, her brattiness was only superficial, her submissiveness went heart-deep. Unable to help himself, he nuzzled the line between her hip and thigh, fragile and soft. “I love you, Gabi, and we are going to remove these doubts of yours. Today.”
Her breathing increased when she realized she couldn"t stop him. Couldn"t even fight back.
And then he got right down to business, moving around to each of the hot spots he"d noted in previous encounters—the high sides of her *, the firm area on top of the hood. He smiled as he felt the bundle of nerves harden. Pushing her right to the edge didn"t take long at all, considering she"d heated up the minute he"d cuffed her wrist.
Quivers ran through her body as he kept her on the pinnacle with teasing, leisurely licks and measured in-out movements of his finger. Soon she was trying to pull her hips up toward his mouth, despite the restraints.
“Say ?I love you, Master."” His lips curved. She wasn"t blind with need yet, and he knew what would happen.
“You"re not my master. You"re an a*shole is what you are. Stop teasing me,”
she said in a hoarse voice.
“An a*shole? Didn"t you have an anatomy class in college?” He reached into his toy bag and took out an anal plug, one larger than any he"d used on her before. “Let me show you what an a*shole is. Considering I"ll be using yours one of these days, we might as well start getting you ready.”
“No. No, wait.”
With a quick squirt of lube between her cheeks and another onto the plug, Marcus ignored her squirming and pressed it against her back hole.
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Oh, God. “You bastard.” Burning seared Gabi"s anus as the plug stretched the ring of muscle at the opening. Wide…wider. She wiggled uncontrollably. With an unheard plop, it slipped in. The pain eased, leaving her nerves tingling. “Damn you.”
“Well now, that looks nice,” he said. He licked her * again, his tongue hot and wet as it traced erratic patterns around her increasingly sensitive nub.
She was going to die; she knew it. Her hips canted upward as the plug in her backside sent odd nerves tap-dancing from her bottom all the way to her spine.
Under his slow, determined stroking, her * swelled until it felt like an overripe melon just waiting to split. She closed her eyes. Oh God.
“Please,” she whispered. “Dammit, Marcus…”
“Not there yet,” he murmured, and his finger circled her entrance. The anal plug pressed against her vagina as he pushed his finger into the compressed space.
Too tight. Her insides pulsed around the new intrusion, the feeling incredibly intense.
His finger pressed, rubbed against something inside her vagina, and she felt the pulsing start to expand. Ruthlessly he licked her * and stroked inside her, pushing her higher and higher until all she could think about was the next touch of his tongue, the next slide of his finger.
He stopped. His finger slid out, leaving her empty and throbbing.
“Say ?I love you, Master."” he repeated, not lifting his head. His warm breath brushed over her excruciatingly sensitive tissues.
She couldn"t think, couldn"t feel anything except his lips barely brushing her *. “Damn you,” she moaned. Bastard, jerk, putz. “I love you,” and she did. But still—master?— a*shole, only he"d gotten revenge for her calling him that, and now her anus throbbed in time with her p-ssy—“Master. Oh, pleeeeease…”
He didn"t move. She opened her eyes.
His face was still, his clear blue eyes intent. “I believe master sounds just right…when you say it,” he mused, almost to himself. Then he smiled at her. “Very nice, Gabrielle.” His lips closed over her * even as he thrust two fingers into her—
two—stretching her.
She gasped at the exquisite blast of sensation.
One tiny pause and then he sucked strongly on her *, and his fingers pressed deeper.
Everything inside her burst. Fireworks of searing pleasure exploded in her core, rocketing upward, outward until it seemed even her hair and fingernails tingled.
He kept her going, gently but implacably, coaxing the last few shudders from her. Her heart hammered in her ears so loudly she couldn"t hear herself gasping for breath.
When he sat back on his knees, satisfaction showed in his smile and eyes.
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Dammit, she"d begged. Called him “Master.” Wasn"t she planning to show him how much of a problem she"d be? Not cave in, for heaven"s sake. He was too good at this stuff. Sneaky lawyer. “Let me go now. You got what you wanted,” she grumped.
“Oh, not even close, little subbie. You"re not even close to convinced yet,” he said, and the feeling of his strong hands gripping her thighs made her jerk. His thumbs pulled her labia apart. He looked and smiled at her. “Nice and pink and wet, the way I like it. Now say ?I love you, Master" again.”
What was this? “Dream on. I"m not into the master stuff.” Why couldn"t she think of something nasty to say? Where had her inner brat gone, dammit?
“I see.” He unhurriedly unzipped his jeans, and his shaft sprang out. Maybe a little over average thickness, but long—long enough it had given her a few bad moments. With slow movements, he covered himself in a condom, his eyes pinning hers. “I reckon you"ll come to see it my way after we …discuss…this further.”
Smiling, he pushed inside her, an infinitely wonderful slide of flesh against flesh, filling her…and filling her… She started to squirm against the overly full feeling as the anal plug and his cock fought for space.
When she whimpered, he slowed but kept advancing, his gaze on her eyes, her mouth, her shoulders. “Easy, sugar. You can take me—and you will.” He stopped when he was embedded deep inside her.
So full. Tiny spasms sent sparks zipping over her nerves.
His fingertips grazed over her cheek. “So pink and flushed,” he murmured, holding her gaze with the sheer power of his. The world shifted sideways, and she shook at the feeling of being possessed, inside and outside. She stared up at him helplessly.
His gaze gentled, and he rubbed his cheek against hers. “Yes, little sub, today you will give me everything.”
He leaned forward, his weight on one arm, and started thrusting in a hard, driving rhythm. He took her mouth, deeply, sweetly, never slackening.
To her surprise, her own arousal started to climb, and she moaned. How did he do this to her? Would she ever get enough of him?
As if he felt her response, he pulled back enough to smile down at her. “I love you, Gabrielle,” he murmured, and before she could react, he reached down between them and slid his fingers slickly over and around her *.
“Oh God.” She hadn"t been ready, but she exploded anyway, her hips bucking against his. The waves this time were less intense but rolled through her over and over until the air itself thickened and she could only arch and ride the pleasure out.
Eventually her breathing slowed. A fine sweat coated her body, and she tasted salt on her lips. Each beat of her heart pulsed against the plug, against his hard cock.
He was hard?
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Keeping his groin pressed against hers, he pushed to a kneeling position. “Say
?I love you, Master" again.”
She gave a huff of disgust, feeling as if she"d run a marathon. Her mind had hazed. “I thought we had this discussion.”
He chuckled. “I"m yet in the mood to discuss it.”
Oh, God, he hadn"t gotten off. Her body seemed to be sinking down into the mattress, and he was still hard.
He pulled his toy bag closer and came out with…dammit, nipple clamps.
She jerked, pulling at the restraints uselessly, and only succeeded in shoving his cock against the anal plug inside her. Her vagina spasmed again, the surge of pleasure intense enough to make her gasp. Somehow her body didn"t seem like her own anymore.
He stroked over her nipples and sighed. “I fear you"re all soft now that you"ve come. I"ll have to fix that first.” With a wicked smile, he leaned forward and licked her left nipple, then took it in his mouth and sucked. Gently, and then more powerfully, until she actually felt blood surging into it. Each suck pulled at something in her groin. He let go. “Aren"t you pretty now?” He touched a finger to the dark red, firmly bunched peak.
He rubbed it dry and fastened on a clamp, watching her closely as he tightened it, then tightened it more until the slight bite of pain became a throbbing pressure.
“It hurts,” she objected, making his cheek crease with a smile. He flicked her nipple. She yelped, and her insides spasmed around his cock.
From his chuckle, he"d enjoyed the sensation. “I"d say it"s just right.” He teased her other nipple into hardness and applied the second one. Then, to her dismay, he attached a pea-sized weight to the dangling chains. The weights bounced at her sides, a steady painful pulling against the clamps.
Her hands tried to reach her breasts, and she groaned with frustration. Her nipples hurt and burned…yet she was getting aroused again, maybe because with every movement the thing in her butt reminded her it was there, and his cock…
He dropped forward onto his uninjured arm and eased his cock out. In. She moaned at the long, slick slide of him, how he pressed against the anal plug with every thrust. Tingles danced in feather touches over her skin, and blood started pooling low in her belly.
She stared at the door, at escape—and knew she didn"t want to leave. Ever.
She had the feeling of being over a cliff, hanging on with just her fingertips.
Calloused fingers on her cheek turned her face back to his. He studied her face slowly, making it clear that there was nothing she could hide from him.
“Why are you doing this?” she whispered. “Is this punishment?”
“Sugar, I don"t think getting a sub off punishes her.” His eyes never lessened in their intensity. “But it can teach her something.”
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To her shock, he moved faster, and with each slamming thrust, the weights hanging from her nipples swung, pulling painfully. The twinges shot straight to her * until she desperately needed to come again, and there was no way she possibly could.
Marcus saw the disbelief in her eyes as her body spiked from arousal into clawing need. With each swing of her nipple clamps, her vagina contracted around him, threatening his control. Before his own demand became critical, he reached between them to her tender little *, already well on its way to hardness again. He found the firmness under the soft, slick tissue, and he rubbed until the nub stood up—and damn, the feel of it almost sent him over. He stroked harder, faster, knowing she"d need more stimulation this time, after she"d already gotten off twice.
Her muscles went taut. She panted, her head rolling back and forth as if she could deny her own body"s response.
She probably did, he realized. She"d ignore what she needed because the admission would make her feel she was less than perfect. Well, he"d work on that also. For now, he twisted his hand sideways enough to catch her * between his thumb and fingers and pinched it gently with each thrust. With the rhythm and pressure, her body tightened until she stopped breathing, holding rigidly still.
The pinnacle. He squeezed a tad harder, and she came with such a scream that he was glad he"d shut the balcony door. She shuddered, and the convulsing of her p-ssy around his cock almost took him with her.
He could spend a lifetime f*cking her and count himself happy.
She blinked at him with glazed eyes. “Are you insane?”
He"d pushed himself back on his knees to talk. Now he pinched her * in response to the rudeness. She squeaked, and her vagina spasmed again, making him smile. “Do you want clamps on your *?” he asked softly.
Her eyes widened, and if she could have retreated through the wall, she would have. He chuckled and ordered again, “Say ?I love you, Master."”
She started to automatically sass, and he moved slightly. Still hard. Her mouth fell open. “You…” She shut her mouth quickly, obviously realizing his hand rested on her *. “Why are you doing this?”
Because you need to know that I’ll love you even when you fight me. But telling her wouldn"t do anything. She needed to know it, down at gut level. “Say ?I love you, Master."”
Her mouth shut, her chin in an adorable stubborn set.
“No?” He sighed. “You"re proving to be right difficult.” Which was why he"d saved this for last. He put his hand between her ass cheeks and flipped the control on the butt plug.
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What was he…? The plug in her ass came to life. Gabi already felt stuffed full, and now that thing vibrated inside her, sending every nerve into spasms. “Oh no no no.”
“Oh yes, little brat,” he said softly. “I do enjoy the challenge, darlin", and I can see we"re going to have a lot of fun.” His eyes danced with laughter and passion as he leaned forward and took her mouth, hard and possessively.
He started to move. Everything had already heated up inside her; the vibrations in her back hole shimmered to her vagina and now mixed with the unbelievably erotic slide of his cock. Her hands clenched around the ropes as he sped up, really, really hammering into her, and she realized how much he"d held back before. Each thrust sent the weights on the breast clamps spinning. It felt as if someone was tugging on her nipples, each small jolt merging into the strange, disconcerting vibrations. Sensations rushed through her, tumbling her as if she"d been caught in a raging surf.
Her vagina tightened. Her thighs tightened. Her whole body tightened.
He didn"t make her wait. He simply angled his cock differently. With each short, hard stroke, he ground his pelvis against her *. She soared higher. The edges of her vision blurred, leaving only his blue eyes staring into hers, not releasing her, keeping her with him. Against the rushing in her ears, she heard him drawl, “I love you, Gabrielle.”
With a low groan, he pushed in so far she felt him slam into her cervix. His cock jerked as he came and somehow merged with the vibrations in her ass and the pressing of his groin against her *. Her climax blew over her like a hurricane, sweeping her up and destroying any defenses she had remaining. Pleasure battered her, her body completely at its mercy. At his mercy.
When he pulled out of her, he set off more spasms, and more again with the removal of the plug. The sharp pain of the clamps being released sent her into another orgasm.
He had removed the wrist and ankle cuffs before her breathing slowed. Her mind felt full of gauzy clouds, and if someone had asked her to get off the bed, she"d have cursed them. If she could have found her tongue.
When Marcus lay beside her and took her in his arms, it was the most wonderful feeling she"d ever known. Her body had tumbled away with the surf, but he found her, kept her afloat. “You look a tad lost, sweetheart,” he said, his amusement so obvious, she wanted to hit him.
And hold him. And stay there forever.
“I love you,” she whispered, and if it sounded a little blurry, he still understood. His arm tightened around her.
“More.”
“I love you, Master. You a*shole.”
With her head on his chest, she heard his laughter rumble upward and burst out, deep and rich, reminding her of the first hint she"d had that he was much,
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much more than Mr. Perfection. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and she gave a sigh of sheer contentment.
A second later, his fingers tilted her chin, forcing her to look into intense blue eyes as he said, “I love you, Gabrielle, and you are mine. We will be together, sugar.” His lips curved. “If your brattiness bothers me, I think you know now that I can—and will—simply f*ck it right out of you.”
His lesson. He"d done all this to push her into defying him—and to show her how much he enjoyed the challenge. The knowledge shook something deep inside her.
Eyes steady on hers, he waited.
Oh, she couldn"t hide anything from him, and with the knowledge, she surrendered completely. Her eyes filled with tears.
He caressed her cheek, murmuring, “There we go. My little brat.”
“I really do love you.” God, she really, really did. And she wanted everything he"d said—to live with him, to play with him. He loves me – he likes me. Heart overflowing, she kissed him as sweetly as any master might want.
With a low laugh, he rolled on top of her and took a kiss that left hers in the dust.
When he pulled back, he rubbed his cheek against hers. My big cat. “I think there"s a glass of wine calling. And perhaps a balcony with some animals to watch.”
The sun lines at the corners of his eyes crinkled. “If you can behave yourself, of course. Otherwise we can stay in here.”
She glared, then took a breath and said, “I"ll behave,” so sweetly that his eyes narrowed.
And she would too because if she had another orgasm today, it might just kill her. But tomorrow…
Where did I put that list of insults?
Loose Id Titles by Cherise Sinclair
Master of the Abyss
Master of the Mountain
The Dom’s Dungeon
The Starlight Rite
The MASTERS OF THE SHADOWLANDS Series
Club Shadowlands
Dark Citadel
Breaking Free
Lean on Me
Make Me, Sir
“Simon Says: Mine”
Part of the anthology Doms of Dark Haven
With Sierra Cartwright and Belinda McBride
Cherise Sinclair
Now everyone thinks summer romances never go anywhere, right?
Well…that"s not always true.
I met my dearheart when vacationing in the Caribbean. Now I won"t say it was love at first sight. Actually, since he was standing over me, enjoying the view down my swimsuit top, I might even have been a tad peeved—as well as attracted. But although our time together there was less than two days, and although we lived in opposite sides of the country, love can"t be corralled by time or space.
We"ve now been married for many, many years. (And he still looks down my swimsuit tops.)
Nowadays, I live in the west with this obnoxious, beloved husband, two children, and various animals, including three cats who rule the household. I"m a gardener, and I love nurturing small plants until they"re big and healthy and productive…and ripping defenseless weeds out by the roots when I"m angry. I enjoy thunderstorms, playing Scrabble and Risk, and being a soccer mom. My favorite way to spend an evening is curled up on a couch next to the master of my heart, watching the fire, reading, and…well…if you"re reading this book, you obviously know what else happens in front of fires. :)
—Cherise