Adored: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella (1001 Dark Nights) by Lexi Blake Page A

cheek before stepping back. Her hands worked the back of her skirt.
    He sat back down because this was his time. He was the Dom and his sub was undressing for him. She needed to understand that she had his complete and undivided attention.
    Her skirt slipped to the floor and she started on the buttons of her blouse, undoing each with care and precision and possibly the knowledge that she was driving him insane. It was a good insane. Or maybe she was like him. Maybe she wanted to slow down this time and make it last in a way it hadn’t before. This time they’d set down the ground rules.
    This time it could work.
    “Take off the bra,” he commanded after she’d divested herself of the blouse and was standing there in her white cotton underwear. It wasn’t plain though. She had something on her panties. “Are those flamingos?”
    She winced. “I probably would have worn something pretty if I’d realized I was going to get hauled to the hospital and then undress for my Dom. You should know that most of my underwear has cute stuff on it.”
    Then he would be buying her a whole lot of new underwear. He wasn’t a Dom who wanted her to toss out the underwear completely. He liked unwrapping his present, but he wanted her in something that fit her beauty. She should be in silk and satin and lace. He was pretty sure the flamingos were wearing party hats. “Take those off, too. They’re distracting.”
    He hadn’t even looked at her breasts. He was too horrified by the underwear.
    She stepped out of the offensive panties and he got his first look at Laurel in her glory. He had to catch his breath because she was even more beautiful than he’d imagined her. She was a fucking fertility goddess with her curvy hips and full breasts. There was a slight curve to her belly that made him wonder what she was going to look like when she was full and ripe with child. His child. “Come here, Laurel.”
    Her golden brown hair was loose around her shoulders, her eyes slightly suspicious. Did she think he was about to reject her? Was she worried she wasn’t pretty enough? Because he thought he’d already shown her how much he wanted her.
    “Grip your wrists behind your back,” he ordered when she moved close enough.
    She took a deep breath and complied, the position causing her breasts to thrust out.
    Fuck those were gorgeous. She had full breasts, likely a large C cup, maybe even a D , with big pink and brown nipples he could suck on for days. “How sensitive are they?”
    “They’re sensitive, but they don’t hurt.”
    He reached out and let his fingers trace a line from her collarbone to her right nipple. The minute he brushed the top of her breast, the skin underneath flushed, the nipple hardened. Like a flower blooming to his touch.
    Because he was sitting down, those pretty nipples were almost at the level of his mouth. He leaned over and placed a very chaste kiss on one and then the other. “Do you know what I’m going to do to you tonight?”
    “I’m kinda hoping you’re planning on fooling around.”
    He traced the areole of her nipple with his fingertip, utterly fascinated with her beauty. “Don’t be ridiculous. Fooling around is for high school kids. I’m going to make love to you. Properly this time, and with complete control. I acted like an idiot that night.”
    “You were passionate.”
    “Passion tends to get us into trouble. I’m going to be thoughtful this time. I’m going to make you scream for me. I’m going to teach you what it means to be my sub. Tell me something and be honest with me. I’ll know if you’re not honest. I might not be in the courtroom a lot, but I can tell when a witness is lying.”
    “You’re quite good at it,” she agreed in a breathless voice.
    “Why did you join Sanctum?”
    She hesitated and he worried that she wouldn’t answer. He filled in the time by moving his hands down to her hips and kissing his way to her belly. He breathed in the sweet scent of her