RULE MASTER

by Sienna Snow

March 7, 2017 

Forever Yours

Rules of Engagement series Book 2

 

His rules.  Her pleasure.  His Way.

Italian heiress and international financier Milla Castra knows she can’t avoid him forever.  Irredeemably confident and controlled Lex Duncan once shared her craving for things deliciously forbidden.  He was her lover.  Her Master.  And the husband she’s kept secret from everyone.

But Lex will never relinquish what’s his—and Milla is definitely his.  And he knows she can’t resist the exquisite pleasure that awaits in his arms.  When the violence of her past threatens them both, Lex will risk everything to keep Milla safe…before she submits to the cruelest master imaginable, Fear.

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Excerpt

“This is non-negotiable. I’m bringing you home. Besides, the only plane available for you is our plane.”

His words awakened images of the escapades we’d engaged in during our many flights together. My skin tingled, reminding me of how long it had been since we’d touched.

I wiped sweat from my brow. “Does making these high-handed decisions without discussing them with me get you off?”

“You’re the one who knows what gets me off. Why don’t you tell me?” His eyes bored into mine.

“You are insufferable.” I ground my teeth and held back the urge to tell him I’d book a commercial flight, just to spite him. Since my kidnapping, I wasn’t stupid enough to risk my safety simply to make a point with Lex.

“I’m your husband. I have a right to bring you home.”

“Why now? Why not a few months ago or, for a matter of fact, yesterday?” I turned my back to him, closing my eyes and clenching my fists open and shut. “Please, Lex. Tell me why you’re here.”

If he’d come sooner, I might not have signed those stupid papers. I might have waited to see if we still had a chance. No, I couldn’t second-guess my decisions anymore. He deserved someone who wasn’t selfish.

“You want to know why I waited? I wanted you to heal. You wouldn’t talk to me. You needed something I couldn’t give you. And in my ever-loving stupidity, I believed you’d get that here. When I realized you were hiding from me, I decided I’d come get you. I’ve spent the last month clearing my schedule so I could spend time with you here until we figured things out. That was until a few days ago.”

“What changed?”

Lex sighed. “I don’t know how to tell you this.” He moved behind me but didn’t touch me. “I got this in my private e-mail.”

He reached around me and gave me a printout. It had a picture of me bound against a pole, bleeding from whiplashes, and my head hanging down. There was a message underneath that read, Although she suffered, she still owes me a debt that I plan to collect.

My feet buckled, but before I fell to the floor, Lex grabbed me. The hours of my torture and captivity flashed before my eyes, and nausea invaded my stomach. I’d worked so hard to push all the memories back, and now everything seemed fresh once again.

“Easy, baby. I’ve got you.” Lex lifted me into his arms and sat with me in the nearby chair.

I couldn’t breathe. A heaviness settled on my chest. I had to get clean. I rubbed my arms, trying to cleanse the feel of dirty hands on my body.

“I’m not going to let anyone hurt you again,” Lex whispered into my hair.

His scent enveloped me, soap and light cologne. I leaned into his comfort, letting the security of his body drive my fears back. I was protected here, more than I’d felt with the ten bodyguards who’d watched over me during my entire stay in Italy. I buried my face into his chest and clutched his shirt.

I was safe if I was with him.

No, Mil, you can’t do this. You’re leading him on.

“Please, Lex. Let me get up. I can’t depend on you like this. I’ll fall apart.”

He opened his lips to argue, but then conceded, loosening his arms and allowing me to stand. He remained in the chair, staring at me, in the way that made me want to kneel and give him anything he asked.

I knew this would be hard, but how was I going to make it if only a few minutes in his presence gave me the urge to call my assistant and cancel the plans I’d set in motion?

“I’m taking you home, Mil. I’ll throw you over my shoulder and carry you onto the plane. Just know you won’t get back to Boston without me.”

I took a deep breath trying to keep my anger in check. The old Milla would have given him a piece of her mind, but I couldn’t let him get me riled up. My safety was the most important thing, and no matter how much my gut wanted to play the brat, it wasn’t smart.

“Fine,” I conceded. “We’ll go back together.”

He gaped at me in surprise. “What’s the catch?”

“Nothing. Until I can wrap my head around what’s going on, it’s better for you to take me home than for me to travel on my own.”

Lex frowned at me, looking a little confused. “Milla, I don’t know what’s going on with you. Why aren’t you fighting with me?” He stood, stepping forward, as I moved back.

I had to tell him what I’d done. He deserved to know.

“Lex, I’m not the same. Things are going to change, once we’re back home.”

“Whatever it is, we’ll work through it. That’s what marriage is about.”

“There’s something you should know before we get on the plane.” I paused. Here goes. Pain stabbed my heart. What I was about to say would hurt no matter how I told him.

I had to get it out before I lost my nerve.

“Lex. Today, I started…”

A loud commotion sounded from the terrace doors.

“Why is he in my house? He is not welcome here. He is not good for you.”

I cringed as my mother stepped onto the balcony, followed by my exasperated sister-in-law a few paces behind her.

“He does not belong here.”

“Mamma. Not now.” I stared at Lex, pleading with my eyes not to mention what we were discussing.

He nodded and mouthed, This discussion isn’t over.

 

 

 

About the Author

Sienna Snow’s love of reading started at a very young age with “Beezus and Ramona.” By the time she entered high school, a girlfriend introduced her to Bertrice Small and Jude Deveraux, and an avid romance reader was born.

She writes sexy romance, some with a lot of heat and spice and others with a bit of fantasy. Her characters represent strong women of different cultures and backgrounds, who seek love through unique circumstances.

When she is not writing, traveling, or reading, she spends her time with her husband and two children.

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Giveaway

Enter to win 1 of 15 free ebook downloads of Rule Master!

Release Date: March 7th, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-942432-24-1

Lieutenant Ashwin Malhotra is a Makhai soldier—genetically engineered to be cold, ruthless. Unfeeling. His commanding officers consider him the perfect operative, and they’re right. Now, he has a simple mission: to infiltrate Gideon’s Riders, the infamous sect of holy warriors that protects the people of Sector One.

He’s never failed to execute an objective, but there’s one thing he didn’t anticipate—running into Dr. Kora Bellamy, the only woman to ever break through his icy exterior.

When Kora fled her life as a military doctor for the Makhai Project, all she wanted was peace—a quiet life where she could heal the sick and injured. The royal Rios family welcomed her like a sister, but she could never forget Ashwin. His sudden reappearance is a second chance—if she can manage to touch his heart.

When the simmering tension between them finally ignites, Kora doesn’t realize she’s playing with fire. Because she’s not just falling in love with a man who may not be able to love her back. Ashwin has too many secrets—and one of them could destroy her.

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Excerpt

He moved slowly. Precisely. It was everything she’d ever known of Ashwin—his seriousness, his meticulous attention to detail—distilled into the gentle glide of his hands as they traced down her arms and over her sides.

He didn’t strip off her dress all at once. He took his time, gathering the soft blue fabric in his fists and coaxing it up inch by inch. It tickled over her skin, an unending caress that he dragged out until the breath she was holding escaped on a moan.

“I have a plan,” he murmured as the dress cleared her head, sending her tousled hair cascading around her face. Ashwin dropped the dress and smoothed the locks back from her cheeks, his fingertips lingering to caress the shell of her ear. “I formulated it when you came to me last night, but I’ve been revising and refining it all day.”

“All—” Her voice broke, and she swallowed—hard. “All day? Surely it’s not complicated enough to warrant that.”

“It’s not about being complicated.” He brushed glancing, maddening touches over her back and the line of her spine on his way to the clasp on her bra. One efficient twist of his fingers and the fabric went loose, one strap slipping from her shoulder. “It’s about being thorough. A man who wouldn’t be meticulous in devising the best way to give you pleasure is a man who doesn’t deserve to touch you.”

“Really?” Another moan built in her throat, and she released it on a shaky sigh. “I think figuring it all out should be part of the fun.” She touched his face, drawing a line from his cheekbone to the corner of his mouth, and smiled when he sucked in a breath. “See?”

Something dangerous burned in his eyes as he turned his head to nip at her fingers. It almost hurt, and the sensation zipped along her nerve endings like an electric shock.

She was trembling now, so she dropped her hand to his shoulder and pulled at the soft cotton of his shirt in silent demand.

He answered by lifting his arms.

Kora didn’t have his patience. She jerked at the fabric, and it caught on his chin and tangled around his arms. He helped her by stripping it away and letting it fall to the floor.

She’d seen him half naked more times than she could count. Most of their interactions had involved his partial nudity. It was different now that she was undressed, too, and that look in his eyes—

Kora slid her arms around him, traced the scratches she’d left on his shoulders the night before, then stepped back until her legs hit the edge of the mattress.

He followed her, looming over her for a dizzying moment before sinking to his knees. He smoothed his thumb over the edge of her simple black panties as his gaze drifted up to hers. “You’ve touched yourself before, haven’t you?”

The question surprised her—and it shouldn’t have. The fact that he wasn’t sure he could feel emotion had no bearing on his sexual experience. He’d mentioned other women, and he must have had domestic handlers.

He’d had sex before. Probably lots and lots of it. She was the inexperienced one here. “I have.”

“Show me.” He caught one of her hands and pressed it to her abdomen, her fingers spread wide beneath his. But instead of guiding her down, he slid their hands up. When she was cupping her breast, he let his touch fall away.

Her cheeks heated, but she didn’t look away as she squeezed her fingers together, pinching her nipple between them. She shivered at the sudden spike of pleasure, more intense because he was watching her so closely.

“You don’t mind it either, do you?” The sudden warmth of his breath on her abdomen kept her shivering. He soothed her with an open-mouthed kiss and the gentle brush of his tongue, so sweet she wasn’t ready for the sudden shock of his teeth closing on her skin. “A little bit of pain.”

Her voice failed her, so she shook her head.

“It’s all right.” He hooked his fingers under her panties and dragged them lower. His mouth followed, hot against her hip and so, so soft. “Sometimes pain is a warning. But like this, with someone you trust…” She anticipated the jolt this time, but she still swayed when his teeth sank into her skin. “It’s a different kind of sensation.”

Her knees would barely hold her. “Ashwin…”

 Review

As sad as I was to see the end of Kit Rocha’s Beyond series, I’ve been very much looking forward to the start of the spin-off series, Gideon’s Riders. Ashwin is the first in this new series.

Ashwin Malhotra is a soldier, a Makhai soldier. He is a one of the elite that Eden has created. Dr. Kora Bellamy was one the the military doctors for the Makhai project. And I can’t imagine a more perfect match for Ashwin than Kora.

Ashwin is a great kick-off for this new spin-off series. I couldn’t help let myself get immersed in Sector One. I’m looking forward to book two, Deacon.