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His to Take

Wicked Lovers, Book 9

Giving into her dark stranger might be the most delicious danger of all…

Racing against time, NSA Agent Joaquin Muñoz is searching for a little girl who vanished twenty years ago with a dangerous secret. Since Bailey Benson fits the profile, Joaquin abducts the beauty and whisks her to the safety of Club Dominion—before anyone can silence her for good.

At first, Bailey is terrified, but when her captor demands information about her past, she’s stunned. Are her horrific visions actually distant memories that imperil all she holds dear? Confined with Joaquin in a place that echoes with moans and breathes passion, he proves himself a fierce protector, as well as a sensual Master who’s slowly crawling deeper in her head…and heart. But giving in to him might be the most delicious danger of all.

Because Bailey soon learns that her past isn’t the only mystery. Joaquin has a secret of his own—a burning vengeance in his soul. The exposed truth leaves her vulnerable and wondering how much about the man she loves is a lie, how much more is at risk than her heart. And if she can trust him to protect her long enough to learn the truth.

Novel



Wicked Lovers SERIES

EXCERPT

He filled the doorframe—all six plus feet of him with broad shoulders straining a white V-neck T-shirt, showing off a chest as hard as concrete. He kissed like a man who knew how to make a woman melt. He spanked like a Dom who had a point to make. He was insistent. Sure of himself. He was nothing like any of the boys she knew. Damn it, if that didn’t excite her.

“Good morning. I have to talk to you about last night.”

She crossed her arms. That conversation would be totally embarrassing. “Can’t we just forget it?”

“No.” He stepped in and shut the door behind him, locking it. “I upset you. That wasn’t my intention. I’ve never hit a woman in my life. I’ve never spanked one, either. You…” He shook his head. “Never mind. I don’t have an excuse. I pushed you. I scared you. I hurt you. I’m sorry. That won’t happen again.”

Guilt pummeled her. He might have pushed her, but he hadn’t done anything she hadn’t enjoyed. “You didn’t scare me. Or hurt me.”

His entire body froze. “Then what did I do to you?”

“Nothing, really.” Just stirred up my blood and made me ache for you. She couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze. Even now, the lie sat heavy on her conscience. “I’m fine.”

Joaquin closed the remaining distance between them and grabbed her chin. “Look at me. Since I didn’t hurt you, did my actions offend you?”

“No,” she breathed, unable to look anywhere except into his eyes. Why did she feel as if she could get lost here, as if he would always catch her and hold her upright even as he kept her off balance. “You shocked me.”

He nodded as if that was a given. “It shocked me, too. Especially that I liked it.”

Wow, that was honest. She opened her mouth to say she had, too, but the words just wouldn’t come.

“What about you?” he demanded.

Bailey blew out a breath. How was she supposed to answer him? You made me wet enough last night to masturbate? “I . . . didn’t hate it.”

His grip on her chin tightened a fraction. He frowned, his gaze deepening as if he wanted to pick her thoughts apart. “Were you at all aroused?”

Why couldn’t he be like so many of the people she’d met during her years of dance, polite and indirect, folks who rarely pinned her down to force out an uncomfortable reply? Even Blane often let her off the hook.

She swallowed, trying to escape Joaquin’s hold and his gaze. He allowed neither.

“Let go,” she murmured, aware that she had no real power in this situation.

“Not until you answer me. And if you won’t, we’ll repeat last night until I figure it out.”

Against her will, her breath caught. The memory of his hand on her ass made her heart pump, her insides flare with heat.

Joaquin stared, not missing a thing. He scanned her flushed cheeks. His gaze fell to the pulse hammering at her neck. Then that burning stare dropped to her breasts, zeroing in on their tingling tips poking desperately at the fabric of her shirt.

He knew. That knowledge flared in his hazel eyes, which looked even more green as the sunlight streamed into the room and across his face. She had nowhere to run or hide to escape his insistence.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Bailey berated herself. She owed him the truth. But hell if it wasn’t embarrassing to admit that she found the guy who’d taken her from her home and spanked her against her will hot.

“Bailey?” he prodded. “I haven’t been less than honest with you.”

“I know.” But she still couldn’t look at him.

“Open your eyes,” he demanded, waiting until she’d complied.

“Did you find my spanking arousing? Because if you need me to confess first, I’ll be perfectly happy to tell you that it turned me on like nothing else to see my hand on your pale skin. The redness I left behind after every blow—the marks I’d given you—made me beyond ready to finish stripping you down and fuck you. Does that make it easier for you to tell me the truth?”

She felt her jaw drop, even as desire stung her. “You can’t say that.”

“Why?” His free hand lifted to her waist, skimmed up her rib cage—and kept climbing.

Every muscle in her body grew taut. Bailey couldn’t breathe. Would he dare to just—

She had her answer a moment later when he cradled her breast in his hand and feathered his thumb across her beaded nipple.

Her breath caught on a gasp.

“You’re aroused.” He didn’t even ask, just stated fact.

Oddly, Bailey was a bit relieved. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe not.” He shrugged. “But there it is. I want you. You want me.”

“I’m not ready for sex.” She shook her head.

Holy crap, did he think that barely twenty-four hours after he’d kidnapped her, she was going to just spread her legs and welcome him inside her body? She’d always been shy about that sort of thing. She’d had one fumbling lover back in high school. Intercourse had always been something she could take or leave. But already she knew Joaquin would be nothing like that.

He nodded. “I respect that. I understand it. It shouldn’t even be the first thing on our agenda right now.”

God, he’d finally thrown her a bone, and she was taking it. “Exactly.”

Joaquin leaned closer, and she could smell his woodsy, musky scent. It made her weak-kneed and somewhat dizzy, especially when he murmured in her ear. “But it doesn’t mean I’m not thinking it. It seems impossible for me to concentrate on much else when I’m around you.”

AUDIO EXCERPT

PLAYLIST

TEASERS

PRAISE

5 Stars! “Shayla Black can write the shizz out of a hot sex scene and this one is no different! Melt… One of my new favorites in this series.”
-Shameless Book Club

Highly recommended! “This story has it all, action, suspense, humor and hot sexy time, but most importantly family, and not just the family you’re born with.”
-Author Groupies

“Hot, edgy, intense… one you want to pick up.”
-Fresh Fiction

5 Stars! “Simply Amazing!! It had me gripping the edge of my seat!”
-Eye Candy Bookstore

Wickedly delicious! “This story was well written with some sexy as sin scenes and a edgy storyline that giving this story ANYTHING less than a FIVE SHOOTING STARS was impossible!”
-Marie’s Tempting Reads

Wow! “… each story in the Wicked Lovers books keeps getting better and better!”
-Rebels & Readers

“His To Take is a read that will enthrall you, make you squirm in anticipation, leave you panting wanting more and will have you loving Joaquin and wishing he was your man.”
-My Secret Romance

5 Stars & Purest Delight! “… a suspenseful plot, fascinating complex characters, and a touching love story in a scorching hot read that keeps the reader involved from beginning to end.”
-Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews

Sexy hot! “… the perfect amount of sexy with loads of scorching buildup.”
-Flirty & Dirty Book Blog

Fantastic read! “Shayla Black is a genius with her words. She sucks you in with all the emotion pouring out of the pages.”
-Shayna Renee’s Spicy Reads

5 Stars! “ I loved it! Shayla Black is one amazingly unique writer.”
-Deborah’s Blog of Book Reviews

“This is a great erotica and romantic suspense series!”
-Reading in Pajamas

5 Stars! “Shayla always gives you what you want…in one way or another.”
-Sassy Southern Book Affair

5 Os! “His To Take is pack full of adventure and really hot sex!”
-Tasty Wordgasms

“Reading about Joaquin and Bailey is like dropping a stone into water, it sinks fast but the ripples it makes are beautiful. Joaquin and Bailey are thrown together and fall for each other so fast, but it’s beautiful to see two people who both deserve love find it with each other. This book has a fast pace, familiar faces, murder, mystery, kink, a wedding, and love. In short it has everything and it’s written beautifully.”
-Twinsie Talk Book Reviews

5 Bars! “If you like an erotic romance packed with suspense then this is the book for you.”
-Battery Operated Book Blog

5 Apples! “Once again Shayla Black delivers. A great new book in a great series!”
Deb’s Book Bag

“If you're looking for suspense with some scorching heat added in, this is a series to read. It provides everything and then some.”
-Fresh Fiction

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