The moment was surreal, my mind spinning for an entirely different reason. I found myself caring about the man. How was that even possible?

  I’d already known I wanted more when I accosted Dorn. But the article had made me giddy. Now I was being fucked in appreciation of my hard work.

  “Oh. Oh. Oh,” I managed, but only after he backed off his tight hold of the belt. The light filtered back into my periphery of vision the moment he pulled out completely. My whine was met with an evil grin.

  “Don’t worry, little lamb. You know I’m not finished.” Every time he chuckled, I shivered deep inside. This time was no different. When he pressed his cockhead against my asshole, I shuddered visibly.

  There was no stopping the man even if I wanted to. He was in such control his entire face was beaming with joy. The realization caught me off guard. It was such a pleasure watching him, basking in how he was tormenting me. I was on fire, my skin tingling as much as my heart was racing.

  His breathing remained labored as he pushed in another inch. Then another. My muscles stretched, trying to accept, but he was so large, filling me completely. I held my breath as he eased one arm around mine, intertwining our fingers together.

  “I love calling you mine,” he gritted out and drove his cock all the way inside.

  My scream was slight but powerful before I laughed as my ass muscles clenched and released. The sensations were incredible, so overwhelming I couldn’t see anything any longer because of an intense fog.

  Xander powered into me, taking his time with a practiced rhythm. I met every thrust, my body aching from the erotic moment of pleasure. The air in the smaller bathroom was thick, the scent of sex and desire mixing with my perfume and his aftershave. The entire situation was intoxicating.

  The man towered over me and I was completely vulnerable, but I’d never felt so safe as by being in his arms. A sigh slipped past my lips, one of satisfaction and continued longing. How could any one man have this kind of effect on me?

  I always had a sense of when he was about to come, his muscles tensing, but his eyes remained dark and determined to remain in me. I felt the warm gush as he erupted deep inside, filling me with his seed, and for the first time in my life, I was completely content.

  No longer would I ask if there was something wrong with me. If there was, then bring it on.

  This was my life and I intended on living it fully.

  And in exactly the way I wanted.

  Xander

  Relationships.

  They’d never been a part of my need. I’d never felt the desire buried somewhere deep in my psyche, but being around Jessica was entirely different than I’d thought it would be. I enjoyed her company as much as her tempting ways. She’d surprised me with her actions, the sweet girl more of a vixen than I’d believed.

  As we sat on her couch, having a drink together, I thought about how fascinating it was that neither one of us needed to talk to enjoy spending time with the other.

  Maybe that’s how it was between all hunters and their captives, once they were taken in a way that they began to understand their life was no longer their own. But as funny as it sounded to me as I was thinking it, somehow the lovely woman had managed to capture a portion of me I hadn’t known existed.

  A part of my heart.

  Any who knew me very well or even remotely would say there was no heart to give and I’d truly believed that for most of my life. It was a practical thought. You didn’t kill people, even though they’d deserved to die and consider yourself love worthy. I also wasn’t suggesting what we were sharing was budding love. Likely far from it.

  She was too precious, too vulnerable to fall for a monster like me. Although I’d gathered even more of a sense of her resilience. She certainly knew her way around the art of manipulation.

  Including with me. Only to a degree, but it was duly noted.

  “Tell me what you said to Dorn,” I finally said to her since she’d yet to bring up the subject.

  Jessica glanced at me with her soulful eyes, a smile slowly curling across her face. “For me to know and…”

  “That’s not fair.”

  “Who said I played fair?”

  I laughed at her admittance. “I don’t know. Perhaps you bent the rules to your liking in various reality games, but your actions were still considered acceptable.”

  Her laugh was subtle yet kept the man inside of me very hungry. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told him. I’m damn good with Photoshop and Mr. Franklin can be a very bad boy. Just like you told me. I simply pushed the issue, which allowed him to see the light.” She lifted her arm into the air, waving her open fingers as if a bright light had appeared from the shadows.

  I kept my eyebrows lifted.

  She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Stephanie is dating a detective and he did her a favor perturbing the man. I know there will be no charges, but the act convinced him to write a retraction.”

  “Very nicely done. My kudos.” How could I not laugh at her creativity?

  “Thank you very much. Perhaps I learned from the master.”

  I took a deep breath, still smelling our sex. It was fascinating to me that up until meeting her, I’d simply accepted the plague that had befallen me as a child. The weight of having demons reside in my soul had never seemed like a difficult cross to bear.

  Until recently.

  How ironic I’d found the one woman who could soothe the beast, yet she had a dark creature inside of her as well. However, she was still light to my darkness. Yes, the bullshit was cliché, but appropriate.

  “Did it help?” she asked and the young woman with high hopes that I’d seen so many times came shining through. Her eyes were wide open, the look on her face hopeful.

  “Yes. The sales suddenly spiked and my guess is by tomorrow, the stocks will have risen significantly in value. I owe you,” I told her and lifted my glass.

  She laughed. “You owing me. Hmmm… Then I want the job at your company. I’m extremely good at what I do and the honest truth is that you need me.”

  The woman had no idea that my cock was already fully aroused, eager to fuck her again. I mulled over the answer before giving it to her. “You have it. Welcome to the Blackwell Group.”

  “Really?” Shock outweighed every other emotion. I was reminded of my own youthful eagerness a long time ago as she jumped nearly off the couch, crowding my space. “You’re serious?”

  “I don’t lie, especially about business, little lamb. You earned your place by sending your resume in.”

  She frowned seconds later. “No contest?”

  As much as I wanted her safely under my protection, she wasn’t ready to be a member of the Obsidian Society. Not yet anyway. “Postponed for an indetermined period of time. We have work to do that precludes that adventure for now.”

  Her frown intensified. “Well, when it’s back, I want to be a part of it. In fact, I demand to be allowed.”

  I chuckled softly and took her hand into mine, pulling her knuckles to my lips. She sighed as I pressed kissed across each one, finally leaning back once again into the soft cushions.

  “I’ll consider it.”

  “Try hard or I’ll be a thorn in your side.”

  So many things that she said allowed me to laugh. This was one of them. “I’ll try and keep that in mind when I’m disciplining you for your caustic mouth.”

  She feigned being shocked. “I don’t belong to you.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  Jessica’s blush forced my balls to tighten. She pulled her hand away, staring forward as if something else was on her mind. “I hate that my reputation was sullied. I would never do anything to hurt Sam.”

  “I know you wouldn’t.”

  “He could never trust me again. Do you trust me?”

  “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be offering you a job.”

  “When do I start?” Her eagerness was powerful.

  Now I was the one who gave her a stern look. “A few days. Perhaps on Monday. I have a few loose ends to take care of.”

  “Okay. Whatever you say.” She looked away again.

  “What is it, Jessica? I can tell you have many questions.”

  “You never talk about your brothers.”

  “Well, we haven’t done much talking, now have we?”

  She gave me a hard look and sighed. “I’m serious. Are you close with them?”

  “As close as strangers can be after working together for several years. We’re very much alike.”

  “Is it true you grew up in foster care?” There was no reason for her question to trouble me. While we rarely talked about our pasts, the fact we’d been brought up separately in the system was information that could easily be found if someone was looking.

  “Let me guess. Your friend Stephanie told you that.”

  “She did when she warned me about you.”

  “Because of her father.”

  Nodding, she scooted all the way around to face me. “He’s some bigwig and I don’t care what he has to say.”

  “He had some issues with Wilder. I don’t know the details because I don’t care. Yes, we were abandoned as young children and no one wanted the burden of taking three infants into their homes. We were so young Zach and I have no memory of our earlier childhood. Wilder doesn’t talk about what he remembers, but I have a feeling he does.”

  “Have you ever wanted to find your biological parents?”

  I leaned over, rubbing my finger under her chin. “There are some questions and concerns in life that are best left unanswered.”

  “But the truth is important.”

  “Not when folded in darkness.”

  “That’s very sad. Why wouldn’t you want to know?”

  I needed to answer her carefully. “What my brothers and I endured is the kind of life horror movies are crafted from. We never knew why we weren’t loved when we were young. When we got older, each one of us figured out we’d been lost in the system, the foster families wanting the money and not the responsibility. The three of us were dealt horrible hands in life and to be honest with you, dredging up the memories or learning more about our parents will only bring back the intense loneliness and anger.”

  “You experienced abuse.”

  I took a sip of my drink. Other than with Wilder and Zach, I’d never talked about any of the experiences I’d endured with anyone, including the couple of child psychologists I’d been forced to see before I was a teenager. The visits had stopped after I’d threatened one of them. That was something I regretted. The poor woman had simply been doing her job.

  “Do you really want to know about my childhood and the horrors I suffered?”

  “Maybe not, Xander, but the past doesn’t need to define you.”

  I was laughing again and certainly not for the same reason as before. “Perhaps you’re right.”

  She cocked her head to the side. “Maybe you’ll have a family of your own one day. But you’ll need a strong woman by your side.”

  “Yes, I will. Are you volunteering?”

  “Whatever would my father say?”

  “You might be surprised. But you’ll need to ask him.”

  “We’ve already talked. I told him I was living my life my way.”

  “Just remember, he’s your family.”

  The look remained as she tilted her head, searching my eyes. “You talked to him.”

  “Let’s just say he came to see me.”

  “Interesting. Did you sort things out with your relationship?”

  I took a deep breath. “To some degree. He wants what is best for his daughter. I can’t blame him.”

  “What if he’d told you to leave me alone?”

  “Let me give you an important hint about me, little lamb. I never do what anyone tells me to do. The niceties of doing so ended years ago.”

  “Ah, yes, you take what you want.”

  “Yes, I do.” I offered a sly grin and she blushed all over again. Keeping her wasn’t an issue, but protecting her was something that did weigh heavily on my mind. Dorn wasn’t the only man who’d played us. He wasn’t smart enough to be working alone.

  “Never forget, my little lamb, that you now belong to me. There is no exception, no termination clause. And no way you can leave. You’re mine.”

  It was only a matter of time until the person responsible for providing Dorn with his jaded information would be found.

  And when they were, the person would pray for salvation and none would be given.

  CHAPTER 35

  Jessica

  “You’re mine.”

  Xander’s words had reverberated in my mind several times since our night of passion. I’d been consumed by his act of possession, constantly quivering whenever I thought of him. The night had been amazing, the conversation we’d had so different than anything I’d believed could occur between us.

  Yet the man was still a mystery, the darkness enshrouding him providing a perfect backdrop for the obsession I felt.

  In the world of shadows, the art of make believe was vital.

  I’d read that somewhere many years before. Xander was masterful as a visual artist, capable of making his consumers believe anything he wanted them to believe. He was a strong, dominating figure and not only women gravitated toward his intense personality. So did men.

  Granted, I had a feeling most men were terrified of him not only because of his large frame, but also his powerful persona. I wasn’t frightened of him, other than being caught up in the reality of his games.

  The way I felt about him was all encompassing, but whatever horrors he’d endured in his past had shaped him much like a Hallmark-type family did to someone else. I was somewhere in between, appreciating the light and the dark sides of morality. My father would call me crazy, but from what he’d admitted, he’d challenged the concept of morally gray more than once.

  I finished my makeup, eager to meet the girls for a nice lunch. It might be my last if the schedule I anticipated came to pass.

  I’d gotten my dream job.

  I couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t expected the offer and I wasn’t entirely certain how I felt about it. Xander hadn’t been forthcoming about the details as he hadn’t been about his life in general. That only made me want to know more about him.

  Whatever he’d endured had shaped the darkness, the violence, and his desire to protect those who couldn’t do so for themselves. It would be called admirable if his actions didn’t include…

  Murder.

  I shuddered as I headed into the kitchen, pouring the remainder of my cold coffee down the drain. There was no rationalizing what he’d done, but I felt empathy. Our connection was so strong, but could I ever live with the understanding in the back of my mind that he might go off again? Mulling over the answer had cost me yet another night’s sleep.

  My mind drifted to two nights before. He’d stayed until early in the morning, but I’d known the moment he’d left, standing by the window and watching the taillight of his motorcycle as he drove away.

  And I’d swooned.

  Who did that when the man in question was so… merciless?

  I wasn’t certain of the correct adjective to use to describe him. All I knew was that I was starting to like the man hiding behind the mask almost as much as the masked man himself. That was the craziest aspect of all.

  After placing the mug into the empty dishwasher, I grabbed my purse and keys, checking the time before heading to the door.

  Monday loomed, only a couple of days away. I’d yet to process I’d be walking into the hallowed halls of the Blackwell Group. Hopefully, I’d get an email from someone at the company over the weekend, but if not, I’d arrive bright and early at their corporate headquarters. HR was handled there. I knew I’d be working at the production facility and that was fine. Separation of work and pleasure was the right thing to do for any relationship.

  Although did I actually have a relationship?

  I noticed the mail person arriving at my mailbox just as I walked outside. I waited until she drove away before heading to the box, taking the slim stack of items and shoving them into my purse. It was a beautiful sunny day, barely a cloud in the sky. It was funny that a part of me couldn’t wait until nightfall.

  Why?

  Because I never knew what to expect from the man who’d awakened my senses. I almost felt like his captive just like he wanted me to feel. He certainly controlled my thoughts and desires, igniting or crushing them as he saw fit.

  I scanned the streets and smiled. There was a black vehicle parked on the other side of the street. While I couldn’t see the driver’s face, I was pretty certain the person behind the wheel was my… lover. At least that was a label I could place on what we were sharing.

  The man was more passionate than any I’d ever experienced. I tingled all over just thinking about it.

  After strapping in with the seatbelt, I turned over the engine, giving myself a quick look in the rearview mirror. I’d been a bad girl, asking for one more favor from Stephanie. I would owe her bigtime. I was indeed cunning, but more than finding any dirt on the Blackwell brothers, I simply wanted to know what had happened to keep them separated for their entire childhood.

  Yes, the system was fairly fucked up, but wouldn’t social services attempt to keep the brothers together?

  As I drove down the street, a little thrill tore through me. He was following me. Xander has insisted he needed to protect me. I’d sensed he believed danger lurked in the shadows we both enjoyed. I wasn’t certain what to think, but I did enjoy having my own private security.

  A laugh bubbled to the surface as I turned on some music, humming the entire time I drove to the lovely café only a couple of miles from my house. Even though I lived in a big city like Chicago, there were still small boroughs that allowed you to feel as if you were in a small town.

  That’s the reason I’d purchased my little house. The entire area was quaint.

  The dark car was still following me, keeping enough of a distance I couldn’t see the driver given the sun’s rays reflecting off the windshield. But I knew. There was such a sizzle of electricity coursing through me and only one man brought me that kind of thrill.