“I hurt her,” Cole said in a low voice. “I was young, arrogant, stupid. I abused her trust. She gave herself to me. She believed I wouldn’t hurt her. I did.”

Serena’s face crinkled in sympathy. Damon simply stared back, silent.

“I need to know how to find her,” Cole said. “I have to see her.”

Damon sighed. “I can invite Lucas to The House. That’s all I can do. I can’t give you anything else. He’s extremely private. Such a breach would be unforgiveable to him.”

“Then invite him. Make damn sure he brings Ren,” Cole growled. “I’ll turn this whole damn city over if I have to.”

Damon leveled his gaze at Cole. “What will you do if Lucas comes?”

“I don’t know yet. But I’m damn sure not going to sit back and do nothing. I have to see her. Damn it, she was mine.”

“And yet you didn’t keep her,” Damon returned.

Cole flinched at the reminder. No, he hadn’t kept her. He’d walked away. And he’d never found anyone who could occupy the same place in his heart.

CHAPTER 2

“On your knees.”

Ren slid gracefully to her knees, thighs open, lips parted, hands resting palms up on her legs. She waited patiently for Lucas’s next instruction, her gaze trained straight ahead.

“You were beautiful tonight, Ren. But then you’re always beautiful and graceful. I’ve no complaint in that area.”

“Thank you, Lucas.”

“As a reward, I’ll let you choose tonight’s instrument.”

“Your hand,” she said without hesitation.

He smiled and she thought he liked her choice. “Tell me why.”

“I like having the imprint of your hand on my skin. It’s a reminder that I belong to you. That you possess me.”

He nodded his agreement. “Open your mouth. Wider. No teeth. If your teeth touch me, you’ll be punished.”

The words were said more for effect than a true warning. Arousal rose, sharp and aching, within her. He knew how his words would fan the flames of her desire. Above all else, she enjoyed the sweet kiss of pain when he saw fit to give it to her.

If she weren’t so disciplined, she’d graze her teeth across his rigid length, but they played no games. No silly pretense of disobedience so he would punish her. They both had needs and they fulfilled each other’s need perfectly.

She supposed in a way that Lucas cared for her. Emotion had little to do with their relationship. He gave her something far more powerful than love. He provided security and comfort. He protected her, and in return, she gave him her submission, her complete obedience and her respect.

His cock slid over her lips and then over her tongue. She savored the first burst of musk and inhaled his masculine scent. He was rougher tonight, not as patient as he typically was.

He thrust deep, holding there until her chest burned. Then he pulled back and she sucked in a deep breath. He framed her face in his hands and slid his fingers around to the back of her head until they dug into her scalp. Then he thrust again, harder this time.

It was then she realized he was trying to draw her teeth. He wanted to punish her. He was in a mood tonight. He wanted to exert mastery over her, push her limits. For a moment she considered giving in and allowing him the bite of her teeth, but he wouldn’t want that either.

He was her master, yes, but he didn’t want a weak woman or one who gave in too easily to his silent demands. Yes, she was obedient, absolutely. But only to commands he voiced. If he wanted to punish her, he would, but she wouldn’t be an easy conquest for him.

She relaxed further around his impressive girth and allowed him to slide deeper into her throat. He made a sound that was a mixture of approval and frustration. He didn’t want her to give in.

And for that reason, he withheld his release for longer than usual. He was rough, relentless, and he showed no mercy. He was determined to push her past her limits, and she was determined to show him she had none.

She purposely blanked herself to everything but the task at hand. Outlasting him.

With a muttered curse, he tightened his hands on her head and poured himself into her throat, forcing her to swallow every single drop. When he finally released her, she rocked back on her heels, dazed by the power of the exchange.

Lucas breathed harshly as he slowly withdrew from her mouth. His grip gentled and he slid his fingers back along the line of her cheekbones before wiping his semen from her lips.

“So fiercely determined,” he murmured. “I wonder what it would take to break that restraint.”

Ren didn’t flinch because she knew Lucas wouldn’t do it. He had no interest in breaking her. Eventually he’d grow bored with her just as he’d grown bored with his previous possessions. And when he did, she would be cast adrift again.

He saw her as a challenge. She knew without false modesty that she intrigued him far more than the previous women he’d owned. It wasn’t intentional. It was just who she was. She knew what she wanted and what she needed. She had nothing to prove. She wasn’t interested in impressing her master. She did only what she needed to do in order to have her needs met. Pleasing the man she gave herself to was a need.

He held his hand down to her and she accepted the wordless command. He helped her to her feet and then guided her toward the plush leather chair where much of her pleasure and pain were doled out.

He settled onto the seat, still nude, his muscular legs splayed. His cock was semi-erect. Thick and long, it lay over the top of his thigh and she stared, suddenly overtaken by the urge to have it deep inside her body, taking, demanding.

More likely he would thrust it into her ass when he was through spanking it.

He pulled her between his legs, allowing his hands to smooth up her body, wandering over her curves, up to cup her full breasts.

Her breasts were a source of fascination for him. She was otherwise slender. Slim hips, flat belly, slender legs. She was slightly built and delicate, and he loved that sense of fragility about her that hid a core of steel.

But her breasts were full and plump, a contradiction to the rest of her otherwise boyish figure.

He toyed with her dark nipples, plucking gently at them until they were hard and pointed. But he didn’t do as she wanted. He didn’t take them into his mouth and suck.

“I’m glad you chose my hand.”

He bent her over, positioning her so that she was draped across his lap, her head toward the floor. He tucked his leg over the backs of her knees and then rubbed his hand over her buttocks.

She shivered and he chuckled softly. He loved to draw out her pleasure. Tease her mercilessly. He was hard. No doubt about that. He was ruthless, even. But he was fair and a generous lover. He knew what pleased her and never hesitated to give her what she needed.

Were their needs not so closely aligned, perhaps it would be a different matter. Perhaps he wouldn’t be as generous as he was. But they craved the same things. Him taking his pleasure spurred her own.

The smack of his hand against her behind startled her from her sensual thoughts. Fire licked up her spine when he followed the first blow with another in rapid succession.

He alternated splaying his fingers and keeping them tightly held together so the sensation was different each time he struck her flesh.

She moaned and stirred restlessly but his hold tightened on her until she was powerless to move and it only heightened her desire.

This was what she craved beyond all else. To be held completely in a man’s power. To know that she had no choice but to accept whatever it was he wanted to do to her. The knowledge was dark and edgy. It made her skate along that forbidden line where it was easy to fall off into complete darkness.

How far would she go? How far would she allow Lucas to go? She’d never answered that question. Had never entertained allowing things to go that far.

She trusted Lucas. Implicitly. But maybe even he didn’t trust himself to push beyond the tightly controlled boundaries they’d erected.

He continued to mete out the spanking, but it was a ludicrous word that in no way described the dance they performed. This was no spanking for an undisciplined sub. This was as sexual as fucking, more powerful than kissing.

This was where she got her high. Where she got so pumped on lust that she’d literally let him take her wherever she wanted to go.

She was barely aware when he pushed her to the floor, forced her cheek to the carpet and held her head down, his hand tangled in her hair.

He mounted over her—rough, crude, possessive—like she was a bitch in heat. He thrust first into her pussy and then dragged his cock out and up the seam of her ass. With his free hand, he applied a liberal amount of lubricant, but tonight she didn’t even want that. She wanted it hard. She wanted it to hurt. She craved the rough bite of pain when he forced his way past her unwilling opening.

His hand tightened in her hair and he growled low in his throat. “Open to me. Let me take what’s mine.”

As he knew they would, the words sent her over the edge. She arched up, desperate for his possession. He fit his cock to the tight ring and pushed hard.

She cried out but he yanked upward on her hair until she quieted.

“That’s it,” he said in a harsh, low voice. “Be silent and take it. You’re mine, Ren. Never forget that. I own you.”

He powered inside her and held himself deep, cupped over her body, covering every inch of her flesh.

She trembled. Her entire body shook as she fought the orgasm that built like a hurricane.

He laughed and reached underneath to press the flat of his hand to her belly. He slid his fingers down to the juncture of her legs and lightly touched her clit.

She clenched her teeth, closed her eyes and willed herself to control the reaction.

He was a master at knowing her body. Knowing what she loved. He knew how to talk to her, what words aroused her. How hard to take her. When to be rough and when to be gentle.

His fingers slid even lower, toying with the entrance to her pussy. He fingered her roughly as his cock twitched deep inside her ass. Then he withdrew, dragging that huge erection over distended flesh.

She moaned again and let out a sigh.

“No, Ren, you don’t get to come yet. I’m going to fuck you for a good long while and you’re going to be a good girl and you’re going to take it up the ass and keep taking it until I tell you to come. And then I’m going to fill your ass full of my cum and you’re going to beg me for more.”

And she would. She closed her eyes. She’d beg him never to stop. He’d come inside her and then he’d go back to fucking her until his hot liquid ran down her leg. And she’d love every damn minute of it.

CHAPTER 3

Ren stretched and glanced up at the clock. She grimaced. It was time for a break. Lucas insisted she not work to the exclusion of all else. It annoyed her sometimes, but the simple fact was, that if he didn’t interfere, she’d forget to eat, wouldn’t sleep and would work tirelessly until she collapsed.

And well, she was in touch enough with her feminine wants and needs to know that she loved that he took such good care of her. She needed that.

She put down the pencil she’d made preliminary sketches with, carefully pushed her drawings into an orderly pile and closed her sketchbook so the weight would prevent them from falling out.

Deadlines had little meaning to her. Once she got inspiration for the story she wanted to tell and the images began dancing in her mind, she was driven to work until the book was completed. Often that meant finishing well ahead of her deadline. It was an illness, this compulsion to be early. But it was who she was and it served her well in her career as an author of children’s books.

Rennie Michaels. A slight variation of her real name. It sounded light and fun and on the level with the children who she wrote for.

She got up from her desk and rubbed absently at a kink in her neck. When she looked up, to her surprise, Lucas was leaning against the doorframe, his lazy gaze stroking lightly over her body.

He didn’t often come into her studio. It was the one place that was hers. It was provided by him and he insisted that she be able to maintain her privacy here. Anywhere else in his home, she was his. There was no privacy. She belonged to him and he could intrude at will. But here was her work place and her place to be alone with her thoughts. It was off limits to him, a condition he himself had put into place.

She stood still, unsure of what he wanted her to do.

He pushed off the doorframe and walked into her studio, hands shoved into his jeans pocket. He was barefooted, as he typically was in his home. For a man as wealthy and cultured as he was, in his private sanctuary he was a creature of comfort, usually in well-worn jeans, a T-shirt and sometimes flip-flops.

“We’ve received an invitation,” he said when he stopped in front of her.

She arched one eyebrow. She didn’t know anyone here. She and Lucas had met in his Las Vegas nightclub a year ago. She’d been out of sorts because her last relationship had been a complete disaster and he’d been an immediate source of security. He’d taken her home with him that night and they’d been together ever since.