Chapter 24

Tess

~Kingfisher~

The flight to Paris took forever.

The train to Blois an eternity.

The moment I arrived in the village where I ran from Franco, a rainbow of feeling settled. Residual fear from the rape. Excitement at being so close to Q. Nerves at not knowing how he’d react.

What if he hated me completely? What if he sent me away again? ~Stop those thoughts.~ One thing was for sure, Q would hear me out before he tossed me away again. He lived in the darkness?

Well, I was about to bring hell on him if he didn’t listen.

Deciding to shed memories of running, with recollections of returning, I strode into ~Le Coq~ and approached the same woman. The roosters on the walls no longer wanted to peck my eyes out.

They looked fat and content.

The women who didn’t believe I’d been kidnapped gawked as I approached the counter. My skin pricked with phantom panic from the rape, but I forced it away. It didn’t define me. It was over.

Her mouth hung open, watching with incredulous eyes.

“~Bonjour.~ I’m looking for the ~Moineau~ residence. Quincy Mercer’s estate.”

Her jaw dropped further showing unhygienic teeth. “You…you came here claiming he kidnapped you. Now you want to go back?”

I smiled bright. “Yep. Makes sense, huh?” I didn’t elaborate, and tried not to laugh. I couldn’t stop bubbles of tentative happiness. I was doing something just for me. It was liberating.

She glared for ages; I didn’t think she’d answer, but finally she called into the kitchen, summoning a scruffy boy with hands covered in soapy bubbles.

“~Emmène la, à la résidence Mercer.~” Take her to Mercer’s estate.

I basked in the lyrical language of French. I’d missed it. I’d grown to love France and its language. Living back in Australia with the twangy accent and heat had never fit.

Australia was bright and brash and wonderful. France was chic and refined and smouldered with passion.

The kitchen boy nodded, pushing a black cowlick from his eyes. I thanked the woman and followed the boy to a white van in the back alley. The same alley where I bolted from Franco.

I suffered a pang of terror at the thought of getting in the car with a stranger. I wouldn’t survive a repeat of Brute and Driver, but I steeled myself.

We didn’t say a word as we drove. Rolling hills and patchwork countryside flurried my heart erratically. Every mile, I was closer to Q. Every mile, I felt more and more confident.

This was where I belonged. This was home.

We turned and drove through huge, imposing gates and the sound of gravel pinging beneath the car made sweat pool in my lower back. Nerves skittered, my mouth dry with worry.

Q’s pastel mansion came into sight, along with the horse fountain splashing with tiny rainbows in the mid-afternoon sun. Spring gave way to summer, and Q’s immaculate gardens rioted with colour.

Butterflies fluttered while birds winged. An innocent paradise where a beast lurked. A beast that liked delicate things, but would never kill.

The young boy smiled as we pulled to a halt outside imposing pillars and cherub plasterwork. My heart firmly lodged in my throat. I couldn’t move. ~What am I doing?~

~“Nous sommes arrivés.”~ We’re here. He waved for me to exit.

I stared at the mansion, with everything bared. ~I can’t do this. Yes, you can.~ But what if… what if he refused to see me, or moved onto another slave… or…

The front door swung open.

I ducked in the seat, cowardice taking me hostage.

A very surprised Suzette stepped out, peering through the van’s windows. I tentatively waved; her mouth fell open.

The boy laughed, reaching across to open the door. I climbed out, frantically smoothing my grey dress, rubbing my cheeks, wishing I’d taken the time to present myself better.

A slight breeze sent a spritz of water from the horse fountain, dewing my skin, making me shiver.

Suzette and I didn’t move for a century.

I doubted any slaves returned once they were released. Then again, I was forcibly removed. I broke tradition by being unpredictable. Our eyes locked and I transmitted everything I felt in my gaze.

~Do you see how worthy I want to be? I came back for him. I came back for you. For this life. For everything he made me become.~

Suzette inched forward, her black and white maid’s uniform sleek and pressed. Hazel eyes sparkled. “Ami? What… I don’t understand.” She stepped hesitantly. I closed the distance between us.

I resisted the urge to bowl her over in a hug. She covered her mouth as I smiled. “~Bonjour,~ Suzette.” The sun burned through late spring haze, warming my skin.

Whatever happened, I made the right decision. Q needed someone to fight. Q needed to be fought for.

I wanted to fight for him. I wanted to ~win~ him.

The pastel tones of the manor glowed with sun in pale greens, pinks, and decadent renaissance features.

I never wanted to leave.

Suzette squealed, launching herself into my arms. “You came back? Why would you do that? I thought you hated him, us, everything that happened. He threw you away.

“I thought you’d be plotting murder, not appearing out of the blue.”

I ignored the pang caused by the ‘throwing away’ remark. He didn’t. He did what the police told him. I wouldn’t hold a grudge… unless he kept being an arrogant asshole, then I’d punch him.

Squeezing her back, I breathed in her scent of lavender and cleaning products. My heart thudded with so many memories. Suzette had been difficult.

So loyal to Q, and her hard friendship hurt sometimes, but she was fierce and she’d lived through much more than me.

My respect for her was a hundred fold.

Pulling away, I said, “I’ve had time to think. Q changed me, Suzette. He took the real me and set me free.” I smiled, remembering how fundamental birds were to Q.

Speaking in his cryptic language, I added, “He opened my cage and allowed me to fly. I can’t help it if my freedom is here.”

She pulled back, a sly smile on her face. “You figured him out.”

Wrapping her fingers with mine, she tugged me toward the house. I put one foot in front of the other, focusing on breathing so I didn’t pass out.

My heart hadn’t stopped thrumming since I boarded the plane. I felt sure it was nearing expiration.

“I had help from some drunken ramblings and Franco, but yes. I’m beginning to see him. I want to see more.” I looked around the massive foyer with its midnight blue staircase and huge works of art.

My body spun with a thousand feelings; my stomach wouldn’t stop somersaulting.

She pecked my cheek, closing the door behind us, locking us into Q’s world. His domain. My future. “What day is it?”

I blinked. Crossing timelines and datelines muddled me. “Um, Sunday?”

A smile split her face. “It’s not a weekday.”

Oh, my God. My heart winged, soaring around the foyer. “He’s here,” I whispered. I couldn’t wait another moment. “Take me to him?”

Suzette grasped my hand, dropping her voice. “I’m so happy to have you back, Ami.”

I smiled. “You know my real name. Call me Tess.”

She grinned. “Wait here.”

She flew up the staircase, leaving me all alone. I linked my fingers, lost. I was an intruder in this amazing home, asking a hugely successful man to stop being an asshole, and take me back.

To show me his ruthlessness. His compassion. To give me the life I truly wanted.

A sound rustled from the lounge. I spun to face a woman in baggy track pants and a sweater three times too big for her. She walked with an air of rejection and sadness.

The moment she made eye contact, she whimpered and fell to her knees, bowing.

Time screeched to a halt. I could only stare.

Fifty-nine.

My hands curled. This was slave fifty-nine. My replacement. Where had she come from? Jealously cramped my stomach, but I forced myself to relax. Franco said Q never touched other slaves.

I was the first. His last. His fucking only if I had my way.

“It’s okay. You can stand,” I said softly, inching closer. Brown, straggly hair hung with grease, huge shadows ringed her eyes. Her wrists were brittle thin. Aura beaten and trodden.

Everything screamed abuse.

~Is this how they all arrive?~ Was that why Q seemed so surprised, so intrigued by me? I refused to bow. I swore. I hissed.

My breathing stopped.

I saw myself how Q did that day: a fighter through and through. A woman not stomped into depression or servitude. A flash of brightness in a world of sadness.

I was the polar opposite of this poor girl.

I dropped to my knees, holding out a hand. She scuttled away, trembling.

I stood, backing up. “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you.”

“Sephena. Stand up.”

My body clamped and clenched and melted. His voice. ~Him~. Master. Controller. Sexy as hell control freak.

I shivered and spun. Facing my master. My chosen fate.

Q stood halfway down the staircase, pale jade eyes blazing with a mixture of amazement, lust, and anger.

The air arched and crackled, tension flooding the space. Goosebumps erupted and nothing else existed but him.

The huddling girl shuffled beside me, climbing to unsteady feet. I tore my eyes from Q as she bowed and went to him.

I followed, drawn like a magnet to Q’s power.

Q only had eyes for me; he moved silently down the stairs. His black pin-stripe suit, with aubergine shirt and faded grey tie, whispered with every step.

His polished dress shoes shone against blue carpet. I drank in everything about him.

There were lines around his eyes that weren’t there before. The knotted tension in his shoulders. His whisper-thin control frayed, showing a less than perfect posture.

He stopped two steps above, glaring. “~Qu’est-ce que tu fais ici?~” What are you doing here?

I waged the battle to swoon at his voice. My sense of hearing, so completely owned by him, ordered me to worship. To climb his magnificent hard body, and never let him pry me away again.

I licked my lips, smouldering with need. The spark between us couldn’t be denied. It burned like a tripwire, waiting to explode.

The entire time I lived with Brax, I had no interest in sex. Now, I would ~die~ if I didn’t have him. My legs trembled, body flamed, and wetness melted unashamedly.

Q erupted all my longing into a fireball, incinerating my insides.

Poor Sephena was completely ignored.

“I came for you,” I whispered. “On my own accord.”

His nostrils flared, mouth parted. That mouth, oh, how I wanted to kiss it. Tongue him. Have it all over me.

“Sephena. Go and find Suzette. She’ll show you where the swimming pool is.” He softened the hard edge in his tone. “Remember, you’re free to do whatever pleases you.” Q stressed the word free.

I fell a little more.

The girl didn’t show surprise, but I sure did. How did I not know Q had a swimming pool? What other surprises would I find? I would make sure Q kept me so I could find out.

I wanted to help in every part of his life. He needed someone.

I blinked, realizing just how lonely he was. A parade of broken women, sharing his home, never finding solace in them.

He worked and slept and worked some more.

The moment Sephena disappeared, I balled my fists. “We need to talk.”

He bared his teeth. “We don’t need to do anything. I sent you back. What the fuck are you doing here?”

My palm itched to slap him, to knock some sense into him. Was he clueless to the pain he caused? Or so suffocated by his own, he couldn’t think straight?

Everything I planned to say flew out of my head; I folded to the floor.

A submissive talking to her dominant. But I wasn’t a submissive. I was the woman who would steal Q, just like he stole me. He had no choice. I wasn’t going to give him one. “Master... Q... Quincy...”

He sucked in a huge gust of air, suit rustling as he shifted.

“My name is Tess Snow. Not Sweetie, or Tessie, or Honey. I’m a woman only now realizing what she’s capable of. I’m no one’s daughter. I’m no one’s girlfriend. I’m no one’s possession.

“I belong to me, and for the first time, I know how powerful that is.”

I stared at the marble, laying my heart at his feet. “I came back for the man I see inside the master. The man who thinks he’s a monster because of his twisted desires.

“The man who rescues slaves and sends them back to loved ones. I came back for Q. I came back to be his ~esclave,~ but also to be his equal.”

My voice trailed off as my throat clogged with passion. “I came back to be your everything... just like you’re becoming mine.”

My heart thudded like a drum, roaring in my ears.

He stepped closer.

Shoes appeared in my line of vision. His voice echoed dark and thick. “You don’t know what you’re offering.”

I lifted my head, boldly wrapping a hand around his ankle. “I’m offering you my pain. My blood. My pleasure. I’m offering you the right to whip and fuck. To debase and harm.

“I’m offering to fight your needs with my own. I’m willing to join you in the darkness and find pleasure in excruciating pain. I’m willing to be your monster, Q.”

I dug nails into his trouser leg, voice aching with truth. “We’re the same.”

With a snarl, he yanked his foot away, prowling into the library. I looked after him, shocked. Damn, he was hard work.

I stood and followed, locking the huge glass door behind us, flicking the switch to turn the glass from see-through to opaque.

Privacy descended and tension threaded between us, exploding into the realm of scary with need. I could see it: hot ribbons of crimson lust, glittering with stars of want and intoxication.

Q bent over his desk, pinching the bridge of his nose. The dark room whispered of sin, compelling wrongness.

Books full of erotic stories looked down from dust-free shelves, encouraging me to finish what I started.

I returned to Q. But he had to work, too. He owed an apology, an explanation. He owed me his heart.

Q whirled away, pacing, running a hand over short hair. Eyes flickered to me, and I tried to read the burning feelings in his gaze.

“You can’t force me to leave, as I came on my own free will. This may be your house, Q, but you don’t have the strength to throw me away twice.” I hoped to God I was right.

He growled under his breath, prowling, never stopping.

Standing in the center of the room, I watched. Letting the beast roam, expelling excess angst. While he paced, I talked.

“That night, before you sent me away, was the best night of my life. The marks you laced me with lasted a full week.

“Every time I looked in the mirror or touched a bruise in the shower, I grew slick for you. You visited my dreams. I woke to aching wetness and an empty heart.”

My skin grew hot, remembering how many wet dreams I enjoyed under his brutal demands. I loved how his fingernails left faint scars on my ass.

“Flashes of memories haunted me at the supermarket, at university. I could never escape you.”

He stopped pacing, his gorgeous, angled face frozen in need.

I tiptoed closer, murmuring, “I ~ached~ for you to dominate. I ~throbbed~ for you to fuck. I ~missed~ you. I missed the man I know is in there, but you never let me see.” I held up my wrist.

His eyes flashed down, and he grabbed me, lightning quick. “~Merde.~”

I stifled a moan as fingers kissed the bird fluttering in its prison of barcode, whispering over the number fifty-eight.

“Why?” His voice was tortured, wavering, and gruff.

“Because you set me free.”

His eyes locked on mine, angry. “You’re insane. I warped your mind. After everything I did… everything you went through because I kept you. How can you speak such lies?”

I cupped his cheek, wincing as sparks zapped my fingertips. I couldn’t touch him without pain. It seemed only fitting.

“It’s not a lie. You showed me who I truly am.” My heart grew warm with steel and iron. “I’m strong enough to fight you. I want to give you everything, but only if you give me what I want in return.”

“You really are insane. I hurt you—you should run and never come back.” Fingers lassoed around my wrist, tugging me closer. “I’m not something you can tame.

“I’m not a man who will sprout poems and treat you nice. I’m. Not. That. Human.”

I swallowed hard, buffeted with Q’s temper and rage. “Did I ask for poems and niceties? No! If I wanted those, I would’ve stayed with Brax.”

Q froze, nostrils flaring. Hardness etched lines around his mouth. “Don’t mention that name to me again.” His icy cold voice scattered goosebumps on my spine.

~I’m losing. He’s not seeing.~

I slapped him.

My palm smacked satisfyingly against rugged five o’clock shadow. He reared back in shock, then his whole deposition crouched into hunter—killer—monster. “You go too far. Leave before you regret it.”

I wanted to stomp my foot like a child. Throw a terrible tantrum to get him to open his eyes. Forcing words between clenched teeth, I said, “I want ~you~. I want your complexities, your shadows.

“I want your whips, and chains, and brutality. Listen to me! I’m willing to give you a slave who will never break, if you give me what I want in return.”

Q cocked his head, finally some shred of amazed compression glowed. “And what do you need in return?” he murmured, so close I breathed his question.

My body went from strong and defiant to fluttering and delicate. “I need you to care for me. Promise you’ll share your life and not shut me out. I want to know who Quincy is.

“I want to belong to Q. I want you to be honest with yourself that I mean something to you, too. Do you have that in you, Q? To care for me completely, so I can give you what you need?”

He dropped his head, suddenly nuzzling my neck. Hiding his thoughts and feeling in my blonde curls. “You’re asking for an impossibility. You’re asking me to love you.”

My heart squeezed at the pain in his voice. His eyes glowed with agony as he pulled away. “I can’t. I don’t know how. The things I did to you were tame to what I really want. I can’t stop it.

“I can’t control it.” He pushed me away, hands shoving deep into his pockets. Walking away, he barricaded further connection. “Who wants to hurt someone so much if they’re supposed to love them?

“Who wants to see them writhe in agony and completely submit? No one sane. I’m fucked up,~ esclave~. I can’t give you what you want.”

~Esclave.~

My body shuddered. Q’s face tightened with need, realizing what he said.

“Did you call any other girl ~esclave? ~” I noticed he called the girl in the lounge Sephena—a name, not a title.

His eyes glinted, shaking his head.

I stepped forward, trapping him by the fireplace. “Whatever you think of yourself, you ~do~ care. You gave me the sketchpad. You gave me what I needed after I was raped. You’re a good person, Q.

“A saviour to so many women. I want to make you happy.”

Q sucked in a heavy breath, watching with unreadable eyes as I reached up, cupping his throat. He stood taller as I squeezed, flaring with power at the thought he let me dominate.

I said what I came to say, I needed to hear his proclamation to be satisfied.

Pressing against his larynx, I whispered, “Did it hurt you, sending me away?”

When he didn’t answer, I leaned in, tightening my fingers. He swallowed beneath my touch, Adam’s apple bobbing with masculinity.

He glared, waging an internal war. I knew he wanted to shrug me off—and he could—there was nothing I could do to stop him, but he let himself be ruled, just for a moment.

Finally, something unlocked in his eyes; heart-shattering passion blazed. He nodded. “Yes.”

I could barely breathe. “Yes, you hurt?”

He rolled his shoulders, breaking my hold on him. He towered over me, gathering shadows from the room, crackling with energy. “Yes, I fucking hurt. I haven’t slept well in weeks.

“I can’t go in my bedroom because I get so hard. I fucking cum twice a day remembering how you writhed beneath the whip. How your skin flushed and crested with red.” He stopped, breathing hard.

His body beseeched mine and I struggled to stay frozen.

Dragging hands over his head, he forced himself to go on as if the confession was the hardest thing he ever had to do. “You’re everything I’ve been looking for and you scare me shitless.

“You want me to hurt you! You’re fucking crazy for taunting me that way.” In cobra-strike quickness, he kissed me hard. “I’m terrified I’ll end up killing you.”

We locked eyes, overcome with truth. My blood thrilled at the thought of his deep desires.

With shaky hands, I unbuttoned his shirt, pushing it aside under his blazer. Every button, he breathed harder, until his chest strained and panted. My own breath matched his.

“Stop it, Tess.”

I swallowed. “You won’t kill me. You wouldn’t go that far.” I traced inked sparrows on his skin, following ribs, and hard planes of delectable muscle.

“I know you deplore what happened to the women you save. You won’t turn me into a broken shadow of myself. Your ferocity feeds me.” I ducked to nip his nipple, teeth aching to draw blood.

“Whatever you give, I can take… as long as I know how you feel.”

My fingers etched brambles and barbwire going around his side, pulling him into me. Q flatly refused to come. Back muscles tensed as he denied my request.

I groaned, loving his strength. His control. But I wanted him closer. Glaring, I pressed against him from toes to chest.

Q ground his teeth, eyes growing heavy with lust. He stood perfectly still, not uttering a word. His power, his rage, filled the library, threatening.

“Tell me…” I murmured. “Speak to me…”

Q sucked in another shuddering breath as I stood on tiptoes, licking his bottom lip.

He softened. The ridges of muscle at the base of his back trembled, leaning into me. “I will never get enough,” he whispered.

“C'était la plus grosse erreur de ma vie de te renvoyer chez lui.” It was the biggest mistake of my life sending you away.

Effervescent happiness. Complete sublime joy.

“You’re willing to keep me? To hell with the police?” I licked the seam of his lips, capturing his ragged sigh.

“There was no deal with the police. They congratulated me on saving such a strong slave.”

Time froze. ~What?~

I pulled away, crying out as Q snapped, “You can’t tease and expect to get away without paying.”

His arms tightened around me, plucking me from the floor as if I weighed nothing. Q carried me to the desk, swiping the contents off in one swift move.

Pens clattered, papers fluttered, and a laptop smashed to the floor.

Practically throwing me on top, he pressed his hips violently against mine.

Heat smoked and words disintegrated to cinders, but I clung to lucidity.

I arched, clawing his forearms. “Stop... what do you mean?” My body swept control away, but I needed to understand. What the ~hell~ did he mean?

Q groaned, thrusting his hard cock. I automatically wrapped legs around him, thrilling, filling with lava and need.

“The police know what I do. Once the girls are... better... they find their loved ones and return them.” His eyes snapped closed as he thrust again, body shuddering with desire.

He chuckled darkly, bowing over me. “They’ve been meddling in my love life since I was sixteen. They thought you were different.

“Hinting that I’d touched you, rather than helped you.” His eyes burned me with hot jade. “It freaked me the fuck out.

“They saw the truth and I knew I had to get rid of you before I killed you, or worse... turned you into what other sick masters do to their slaves.”

He stopped thrusting, the sudden silence chilling me.

“Don’t you see? I cared too much to do what I wanted. I made a promise. I won’t ever break that vow again.”

My world shifted, turned from round to flat. Black and white became colour, night became day.

Finally.

The puzzle of Q Mercer made sense; I fitted the final piece. I wanted to hug and bite and slap and fuck him to death. He gave me up because he cared for me. Even though he swore he never could.

I laughed. Men. Glorious stupid, egotistical men.

My man.

~Mine.~

He stared deep into my eyes, not moving apart from a small pulse of his hips, barely detectable. I rocked, moaning as the seam of his fly teased through my dress.

“Break your promise. Now. With me.”

Q shook his head, even as his hips pressed harder. “I can’t ever let myself free.”

He groaned as I shot up and kissed him. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I threw my entire being into the kiss.

He fought for a millisecond, before kissing me back, plunging his tongue deep and violent, taking possession completely. Brain muddled, breathing caught, and I no longer thought. I only felt.

I nipped at his lip, fighting his tongue with mine. We fought our wordless battle, hearts racing to the same beat.

He broke the kiss. Instead of lust and unbridled need, he was... sad, remote.

I spread my legs further. No way would I let him overthink this. He hissed as I arched my back, purring against his rigidity. “I need you—I need you to hurt me.”

Something dark thickened the air, and I hid my smile. Quincy was losing to Q. Black desires slowly tearing at the cage he locked himself in. ~I’m winning.~

“You need me? Or you want me?” he growled, mouth pursed as he thrust hard.

I trembled and writhed, taunting, dangling the wanton little slave in front of a diabolical master. I panted, “Is there a difference?”

In my mind, there wasn’t. Both were important. Life and death important with how my body heated and summoned for release.

He grabbed my nipple through the silkiness of the dress, twisting, dragging another cry from my throat.

“Do you need me as a man, or as your master?” he bit the words into pieces, a vein on his neck stood out as he unzipped his pants, pulling his straining erection free.

“Is this what you’re begging for, ~esclave~?”

I nodded, unable to look away from his huge, delicious hard cock. “Yes. God, yes.”

His fingers bunched my dress up my thighs, and he pushed aside my knickers. His finger disappeared inside with no gentle foreplay, but I was drenched for him.

I bowed around his touch, whimpering with gratitude. So long. So, so long since I felt such rhapsody.

He smeared wetness over my clit. My legs bound tighter, squirming away from the sharp-edged pleasure. “Q… Master.”

Never breaking eye contact, he curled his fingers around my bird tattooed wrist, locking me in his dominance. His touch oozed sexual prowess, bending my will with nothing more than pressure.

“Do you promise to tell me if I go too far? Do you promise you’ll never let me take away your spirit, your fight, your strength?

“You promise you’ll always stay strong.” His finger speared deep, stroking my G-spot.

My mind shot blank. He wanted me to promise? Fine. I could promise. I came here to give him everything. If he needed it in blood, I would sign.

I would autograph any contract, if it meant Q gave me himself entirely.

His finger thrust, pressing incredibly deeper, dragging dark needs to the surface; I clenched, hungry, desperate for more. “Answer me, ~esclave~,” he rasped.

I looked deep into his eyes, imprisoning both of us. Irises were dark and smitten, lids heavy with lust. “I vow to fight you to the death before I let you break me.”

Q withdrew his fingers, reaching over my head for a letter opener. The sharp glint of the blade sent my heart winging wild.

“I’m a businessman, Tess. I don’t take promises lightly.”

I scooted up, pushing my dress to cover myself. My body vibrated for his touch, but I saw how important this was to him. My chest ached. Q was going to agree to keep me.

To allow me to share his world. I waited in thick anticipation. I would do anything to put his mind at rest.

“You’re asking me to treat you like a slave, but also share my life with you?” His face was closed off, becoming perfectly Q again. “To allow me to control you, but also be an equal?”

I nodded. “Exactly.”

His eyes flashed and his fingers tightened around the letter opener. “I almost came to steal you back, you know.”

My heart kicked into a higher gear; I fought the soft smile. “You did? Why?”

He snorted, smiling wryly. “You know why. It’s been complete and utter hell. ~J'étais malheureux sans toi.~ I’ve been miserable without you.

Sighing heavily, he added, “The other girl, Sephena, arrived from some sadistic prick in Tehran a week after you left. All I could think about was you.

“You bowled through my front door, spitting, and so proud.”

He cupped my jaw with angry fingers. “She was carried in by Franco because she passed out from fear of a new master, completely different to your ferocity.”

He bowed his head, glaring at the blade in his hand. Determination and acceptance settled in his gaze. “You must never ~ever~ let me break you so completely. I need your fire, your temper.

“Your unbreakable will.”

I slid off the desk, standing on crinkled paperwork, no doubt for another building merger. “I’ve already given you my promise, and you didn’t have to steal me. I returned.”

He swallowed, and his face cleared from confusion and misplaced desires. Vivid excitement gleamed. He stood taller, light tempering his darkness as he finally understood what I offered.

Finally understood I was powerful enough to stand up to the beast he lived with and collar it. I would let it hurt me, but never ruin.

“I’ll try and give you what you want in return for two things.” He tugged a blonde strand, bringing me forward to plant a harsh kiss on my lips.

“You only have to ask.”

He murmured against my mouth, “I want you to work for me. I know you finished your exams. You’re qualified.”

I looked up, mouth gaping. Two things knocked me over. One, he trusted me to work in his multi-billion dollar company, and two: he’d spied on me. My soul flew. He hadn’t let me go after all.

~I’m happy he stalked and spied~. Damn right, I was. Ecstatically happy.

“And the other?”

“Two others, actually.” He straightened, bracing himself. His face thundered with temper, rolling with heavy clouds.

“If you ~ever~ sleep with another man again, I swear to God, I won’t be responsible for what I do. You went home to that boy Brax. You shared his bed for a month.

“That was the worst kind of torture, and I refuse to do it again.” He breathed hard, shaking his head, eyes haunted.

I threw myself against him, kissing, climbing him. He crushed me, teeth bruising lips as if he wanted to replace all my thoughts with only him. He didn’t need to try. He did it effortlessly.

When I could breathe again, I muttered, “That goes for you, too. No other women. I’m the one you whip and fuck.” Flashing him my tattoo, I said, “This little bird belongs in your cage. No one else.”

He groaned, backing me against the desk again, rocking. I leaned back till my shoulders pressed hard wood. I grabbed his tie and forced him to fold over, warming me.

His naked chest teased between the unbuttoned shirt and I ran my fingers up his back, hissing as he bucked into me. Not caring I was wanton and brash and horny and all manner of hot, bothered things.

It had been so long; I needed him so bad.

Q nodded. “Sounds like a fair trade.”

I smacked him lightly. “And your last condition?” I panted as his lips trailed down the side of my neck, disappearing between the valley of my breasts.

Q bit my nipple through my dress and jagged lightning erupted through my belly. “I want to commit murder.”

My heart stopped beating.

“I’m going to put the bastards down who hurt you. I’ll personally make sure their entire operation is burned to the ground.”

I jerked back, looking into his furious eyes. I couldn’t breathe. ~He wants the same revenge I do.~ I didn’t even have to ask. He saw deeper than he even realized.

However unconventional our relationship, it rang with rightness. Q spoke to me on a much deeper level than man and woman.

I fully believed I was made for him and he was made for me. Two halves of the same fuckedupness. Two souls from the same twisted desires, unable to fully be free until we found each other.

Throwing my arms around him, I breathed deep his heady scent of citrus and something darker, something pulling energy from my body.

Transcending my soul from my mortal shell, ready to be claimed and taken.

“You’re the one, Q Mercer. You were always the one.”

Q blushed. The first time I’d ever seen shyness on a man so strong and bold. Pink tinged his perfectly sculpted cheekbones, melting me into a puddle. ~Will I ever get used to how much he means to me?

Do I ever want to?~ I wanted to live my life in seventh heaven. Constantly in awe. Constantly needing.

Q gritted his teeth, pulling the letter opener through a fleshy palm. A small line of blood welled. With his other palm, he grabbed my hand, locking eyes as he sliced my skin the same way.

The burn was nothing. I welcomed it. I knew what Q wanted to do. It made complete and utter sense. Anyone else wouldn’t see how much I needed to mix our essence, our life force. But he did.

This was a contract between two monsters fighting in the dark. Our blood was basic ink for such a deal—a deal of pain and endless pleasure.

We clasped hands. Sonnets and thunder and every element in the universe shot through him to me.

I shivered as Q growled, “I promise to protect you, ravage you, hunt those who hurt you, and give you the life you deserve. My fortune is yours. My secrets are yours.

“And I will give you the corpses of the men who hurt you.”

My body hummed with the pact we made.

“I promise to fight you every hour of every day.”

His lips curled in a cruel smile. “Welcome to my world, ~esclave~. I fight my desires every second.”

Unlatching our grip, he smeared our combined blood on my tattoo. “You’re the first bird I released who came back. The only bird.”

Tears glassed my vision as I caressed his cheek. “I was always running to you. I just didn’t know it. My freedom is in your captivity, Q. I fly when I’m with you.”

He licked his lips, worshipping awe and rapture in his gaze. ~“Je suis à toi.”~ I am yours.

I shook my head. ~“Nous sommes les uns des autres.”~ We are each other’s.