In His World: His #8 (A Billionaire Domination Serial) (6 page)

“Adrian, are you…? Are you asking me to stay here with you?”

But he shook his head. “Not quite. Too much paperwork for a standard work visa, and the wait is horrendous, though I suppose I could expedite the process with the right incentives for the right people.”

“Deus, Adrian, stop with the jokes! I cringe when you say that.”

“Well, all right, if you don’t want me to chance getting into trouble, we’ll try the petition to stay with a resident spouse.”

“A resident spouse? How would that even…?” Once I’d turned the phrase over in my head a few times, I felt myself flush. Silly of me to think he was suggesting… But I had to ask. “Adrian, are you asking me something?”

I’d never seen a more wicked, roguish smirk than the one Adrian put on then. “Like what?”

“Jerk! I know you are not asking me to marry you. Stop playing with me.”

“You’re right, I’m not,” he said and locked his corded arms around me before his response could set in. “Asking you to marry me would give you the option of turning me down. Think of it as more of a command, Miss Bloom.”

Again, he left me gaping, staring into his face and blinking with confusion and disbelief, until I’d gathered myself enough to plant my hands on his shoulders and rear back on him. “Adrian Knight, you have to actually ask. I mean it.”

“Yes, I can tell.” So why was he smiling and chuckling under his breath? “You flush when you’re annoyed with me, and you set your jaw and purse your lips. It’s an irresistible pout, really.”

“Adrian!”

“Marry me, Chloe.”

“That’s still not a question.”

“I can’t,” he said again, this time with the amusement fading from his face. “I can’t ask and take the chance—even the smallest chance—you’d say no and make all of this mean nothing. Marry me, Chloe. Please.”

“Ha! You said please.” I seized on that single word to give myself permission to… To want what I wanted. To be my mother’s daughter. To give in to a force of nature—Adrian Knight and my heart. “Please makes it a question, and my answer is yes.”

The war of semantic finally won, I was staring now into Adrian’s face as we both nursed the silence. It wrapped us up, still and warm in the moment. I wouldn’t have broken it but for the need to say one more thing, a long time in coming.

“Eu te amo, Adrian.”

When I was a little girl, I spent countless hours sitting with my narrow back pressed to the side of the battered upright piano against the living room wall while my mother played. She coaxed thunderously emotional and sometimes heartrending music out of an instrument of such inferior quality that it never should have withstood the demand—yet it had.

Years later, when I was old enough to understand how improbable it was to have that music pouring out of that piano, I asked my mother about it.

“Ah, Chloeblossom,” she would say, always ending her sigh with a warm smile from behind wayward strands of mahogany hair, adding a hug or at least a squeeze of my shoulder. It was her pet name for me, a play on my full name, Chloe Bloom. “Never worry about how things should work. Go with your heart. It’s a force of nature, too.”

THE END

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Coming in February 2013,

The first full-length romantic domination novel from Erika Masten

THE RINGMASTER: CIRQUE DE PLAISIR

Cirque de Plaisir. Circus of Pleasure.  An upscale underground theatrical pageant of desire and allure.  A masked BDSM spectacle bringing forbidden fantasies to life for the select few with the power, wealth, and influence to secure an invitation.

For Donovan Haigh, the man they all call Ringmaster, the Cirque de Plaisir is illusion, showmanship, and
domination
brought to the level of performance art.  It is the culmination and affirmation of his grasp of human nature mixed with business acumen and sheer force of will. And no one dares ask what wounds and personal losses underlie the Ringmaster’s resolve to maintain that unwavering control.

For Olivia Keane, the Circus of Pleasure is a vision in the night, a hunger in the dark, and a promise of freedom couched in the terms of submission.   Become the Ringmaster’s slave and escape the grasp of her manipulative, belittling family.  Succumb to the tightrope-taut sexual tension between the showman Dom and herself and blossom in the warmth of the spotlight and Donovan Haigh’s embrace.

But when the Ringmaster’s slave becomes the star of the show, drawing the lion’s share of attention and princely sums for private command performances, will Donovan be willing to share either the spotlight or his submissive?  The Ringmaster’s hold on Olivia and his own self-control begins to fray as powerful admirers try to woo her away, and
at least
one suitor proves he is not who he seems.  Old pains and family hatreds will not be so easy to escape for the Ringmaster and his slave, even in their secreted world of glamour and insatiable passions.

In digital and paperback editions, February 2013.

DOMINATION ROMANCE BY ERIKA MASTEN

At His Whim: His #1

In His Service: His #2

At His Mercy: His #3

Under His Sway: His #4

In His Grip: His #5

In His Wake: His #6

For His Sake: His #7

In His World: His #8

SHORT DOMINATION EROTICA BY ERIKA MASTEN

Priority Access: Uptown Sluts #3

Taken: Dominated #1

Tough Love: Dominated #2

Room Service: Dominated #3

A Firm Hand: Dominated #4

Dominated: The Collection

Dominated By Brothers: Hot Hard Ménage #1

Bad Boys’ Submissive: Hot Hard Ménage #2

My Two Doms: Hot Hard Ménage #3

Rough Sex, Rough Love: Hot Hard Ménage #4

Hot Hard Ménage: The Collection

Claimed In Secret: Master Vampire #1

Claimed In Hunger: Master Vampire #2

Claimed In Passion: Master Vampire #3

Domination Sex: Conditioned Response

Military Maledom: An Officer And A Dom

Valentine’s Dom

Backup: Ménage A Cop

His Submissive: Body Worship

Body Worship 2: Breeding Julia

Body Worship 3: Satisfying Julia

Body Worship: The Collection

Bridled: Bitter Creek Doms #1

Broken: Bitter Creek Doms #2

Public Display of Submission: The Dom Next Door #1

Sweet Resistance: The Dom Next Door #2

Weekend Submissive

For a full list of Erika Masten titles, see her website at
http://erikamasten.com
.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I’m the girl next door with an unexpectedly wicked mind (and an addiction to sexy high heels). There’s nothing quite like the thrill of turning forbidden desires and secret fantasies into erotic tales with literary flare and a dirty mouth. Let me tell you a naughty story…

Erika Masten

Email:
[email protected]

Web Site:
http://erikamasten.com

Blog:
http://erikamasten.blogspot.com

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Table of Contents

In His World: His #8

The Ringmaster: Cirque de Plaisir