Today, I have pleasure in hosting M.S. Willis on her blog tour for her book, Control. Please make her feel welcome by reading the excerpts and entering the giveaway at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Book Cover:
Blurb:
***Content Warning - This is a
new adult fiction with mature themes. It contains graphic sexual situations,
mature language and explicit description of sexual violence.***
Paige Stone lived anything but a normal childhood. Having been raised around an abused women's shelter operated by her parents, Paige was a constant witness to the tragedy and heartache suffered by women at the hands of the men they trusted. Out of refusal to ever allow that to happen to her,... Paige built walls around her heart at a young age. Those walls were only fortified when tragedy struck on her sixth birthday and took from her the only friend and love she knew. Now at 22 years old, and working as a private investigator, Paige is driven by a deep need for strength, independence and a stubborn refusal to accept help from another person. Surrounding herself with her three best friends, Paige never assumed that the autonomy she had worked so hard to build could be challenged.
That was, until Paige met Daemon Pierce.
Mysterious, strong-willed, and breathtakingly beautiful, Daemon seemed to instantly know Paige better than she knew herself. Paige is disgusted by Daemon's reputation as a womanizer, but becomes intrigued when she is unable to discover his background. Paige's curiosity about Daemon proves to be her downfall as she is swept up in his charming and arrogant pursuit to possess her in every possible way.
For the first time in her life, Paige will struggle for control while Daemon slowly dismantles the walls she has built around herself. Only time will tell who will be victorious in their battle of wills as Daemon teaches Paige the weaknesses within herself that she never knew existed. Paige stays one step ahead in her struggle against Daemon's controlling ways, but when tragedy strikes her life a second time, she has to choose; will she put her life in danger, or will she finally accept a helping hand?
Paige Stone lived anything but a normal childhood. Having been raised around an abused women's shelter operated by her parents, Paige was a constant witness to the tragedy and heartache suffered by women at the hands of the men they trusted. Out of refusal to ever allow that to happen to her,... Paige built walls around her heart at a young age. Those walls were only fortified when tragedy struck on her sixth birthday and took from her the only friend and love she knew. Now at 22 years old, and working as a private investigator, Paige is driven by a deep need for strength, independence and a stubborn refusal to accept help from another person. Surrounding herself with her three best friends, Paige never assumed that the autonomy she had worked so hard to build could be challenged.
That was, until Paige met Daemon Pierce.
Mysterious, strong-willed, and breathtakingly beautiful, Daemon seemed to instantly know Paige better than she knew herself. Paige is disgusted by Daemon's reputation as a womanizer, but becomes intrigued when she is unable to discover his background. Paige's curiosity about Daemon proves to be her downfall as she is swept up in his charming and arrogant pursuit to possess her in every possible way.
For the first time in her life, Paige will struggle for control while Daemon slowly dismantles the walls she has built around herself. Only time will tell who will be victorious in their battle of wills as Daemon teaches Paige the weaknesses within herself that she never knew existed. Paige stays one step ahead in her struggle against Daemon's controlling ways, but when tragedy strikes her life a second time, she has to choose; will she put her life in danger, or will she finally accept a helping hand?
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Review:
Control by M.S. WillisMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I received a copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.
This is a romance novel with a very dark edge to it. However, I loved it!
Paige Stone is a wonderful character. She is very strong willed and has an independent streak a mile wide. I liked her very much, but there were times I wanted to shake her! I can understand why she shut off her heart. If I had been brought up in a home, run by her parents, for abused women and children as she was, it would make me lose faith in the male of the species too! However, when she meets Daemon, her walls begin to break.
Daemon Pierce is an enigmatic character. I was on the fence about him at the beginning, but as the story unfolded, I think I've fallen for him myself! He is a dangerous character - one I wouldn't want to cross, but his pursuit of Paige had my heart pounding for other reasons besides fear!
I was unsure about reading this book at first, but I was completely hooked from the first page! The characters are extremely lifelike. As I previously said, this is a romance novel, but it has a very dark and real edge to it that took me on an emotional rollercoaster ride. This book is told from Paige's point of view, and there are flashbacks to her childhood and her first love, Buddy. These flashbacks are sometimes sad, sometimes happy. They gave me an insight as to why Paige shut off her heart - she was protecting it from being hurt again. I really felt for the 5 year old Paige, as she loved and lost for the first time. First love really never leaves you.
Paige and Daemon make a fantastic couple, but there are some other fantastic characters in this book too. I loved meeting David, Alex and Annie, Paige's room mates. I laughed at some of the scenes. I found David extremely likable. I loved his sense of humour! It's a bit disappointing that he's already spoken for - his boyfriend would probably laugh at me though!
Annie is a bit of a bubble head when it comes to picking boyfriends, and she sure picks the wrong ones!
Alex is another great character. I actually felt bad for Alex when Paige meets Daemon, but the heart wants what the heart wants!
M.S. Willis has written a fantastic contemporary romance! I am now looking forward to reading the next book, Conflict.
This book contains scenes of abuse and violence, and also scenes of a sexual nature (although not overly explicit or erotic), which I do not recommend for younger readers or those of a sensitive nature. However, I highly recommend this book if you love contemporary romance, older YA or New Adult genres. - Lynn Worton
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Author Interview:
I asked M.S. Willis a few questions, and she took time out of her busy schedule to answer them. Please find them below:
1. When did you first realize you wanted to be
a writer?
I've always wanted to be a writer and have been doing so since I
was young. I never took the time to
write a novel previously because the process of seeking out a publisher was
daunting and I was unwilling to go through the process. Now that self-publishing has become an easy
task, I finally took the time to sit down and write. I’m loving every minute of it and I have so
many ideas for different series and stand-alone books.
2. How long does it take you to write a book?
2. How long does it take you to write a book?
It depends on the book. I’ve noticed the emotional scenes tend to
take me longer because I try to put myself in the place of the characters. The process of writing and releasing Control
took me two months, however book two, Conflict, took a bit longer due to the
increase in emotional scenes.
3. What do you think makes a great story?
I believe a great story is made by a detailed
description of what is going on in the story.
For instance, as a reader I want to be put in the story and able to not
only see the characters and environments, but also be able to feel what the
character is feeling. Additionally, I
appreciate stories that have different types of characters and characters that
have depth. I love to read about
characters that are not the standard, cookie cutter type of person. The more facets they have to their
personality, the better!
4. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
4. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
Unfortunately, I have a full time day job that
takes away from my writing schedule. I
tend to write as soon as I get home and keep writing until I go to bed. I also wake up early to write. My favourite times to write are when the
house is quiet.
5. How do you balance family and writing?
5. How do you balance family and writing?
My husband is a huge help in that department. He has been cleaning, cooking and taking care
of the kids. I’m not sure I would be
able to continue writing without him. I
do set aside time to hang out with my family.
Luckily I can spend time with them and continue writing while they are
watching T.V. or doing other things.
6. Where do you get your information or
ideas for your books?
If I’m unsure about a certain situation that
I’m writing about, I will research it.
Google is a big help in that department!
The underlying theme of Control developed as a result of lessons I
learned in life. Additionally, some of
the scenes actually happened in my life.
I have many ideas for new books and series and those ideas come from
topics that interest me.
7. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book/s?
7. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book/s?
The entire process of creating the book was
surprising. I never understood the
complexity of the business until trying it myself. I was also surprised at how writing the novel
could affect me emotionally. I’m a reader,
so I understand feeling like the characters are real. As an author, that feeling of knowing the
character occurs on a whole new level.
8. How many books have you written? Which is
your favourite?
Control is my first and only book at this
time. I’ve written the second book in
the series, Conflict, and that was my favourite so far because I was able to go
more into the twists and turns of the story.
9. Are your characters based on anyone you know?
9. Are your characters based on anyone you know?
Paige’s parents are based on my parents and
Paige is loosely based on me. My parents
worked to help victims of abuse and I was exposed to a lot of those situations
growing up.
10. Do you have a favourite place you love to
write?
I love to write while sitting on my bed. The quiet and solitude of my room opens the
door to more creative thinking on my part.
11. How hard is it to get published?
11. How hard is it to get published?
I have no idea.
I self-publish in order to maintain creative control over my books and
to keep prices low for my readers.
12. What do your family and friends think about your books?
12. What do your family and friends think about your books?
My family and friends are extremely supportive
of my books. I’m touched by the support
and encouragement I’ve received from all of them.
13. What do you like to do when you are not writing?
13. What do you like to do when you are not writing?
When I’m not writing, I am a photographer and
musician. I also play far too many video
games with the kids and I spend a lot of time outdoors.
14. Do you have any suggestions to help
aspiring writers better themselves and their craft? If so, what are they?
The only advice I can give is to sit down and
write and don’t give up.
15. As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
15. As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I wanted to be so many things but mainly a
marine biologist, a veterinarian and a superhero. Lol.
16. What are your favourite books and which
authors inspire you?
My favourite books are the Dark Duet series by
C.J. Roberts and anything by Ernest Hemingway and Jack Kerouac. I also love the Graveyard Queen series by
Amanda Stevens and the Premonition series by Amy Bartol.
17. For an aspiring writer what do you feel are certain do's and don’ts for getting their material published?
17. For an aspiring writer what do you feel are certain do's and don’ts for getting their material published?
I’m sure there are many, but, being
self-published, I don’t know what they are.
I will say that it is important that the writer goes through a strong
editing process. I’ve noticed that books that could have been great were
destroyed by poor editing.
18. What are you working on now?
18. What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on two books. I’m finished up the third and final book of
the Control series and I’m working on a new series which will be entitled the
“Cellist” series. The Cellist series
will be a much darker series than Control and I’m going to have to come up with
some neon signs as content warnings.
Thank you MS for joining me on my blog today!
Author Bio:
M.S. Willis is a romance
novelist whose debut novel, Control, was released in 2013. Although
currently writing in the romance genre, Willis has plans to expand her literary
pursuits into multiple genres and has no fear conquering difficult subject
matters in her writing. Willis is a native Floridian who is also a
photographer and musician. When not absorbing herself in written, visual
or musical expression, Willis is an adrenaline junkie, a ‘closet’ video game
enthusiast, and an avid outdoors person and nature lover.
Visit M.S. Willis on her
author page: Facebook
Find her on GoodReads
here: Goodreads
Cover Artist Bio:
Jason L. Lee:
Dragonfly Necklace
Creator: Verita Bolin:
I started making
jewelry in the 80's. In middle school I sold bracelets. In 2004 I started
selling my jewels to the public. I went to The William Holland School of
Lapidary Arts to learn stone identification, wire wrapping, and chain making.
In 2009 I met Jason L Lee, an artist and curator. He liked my jewelry and
invited me to display in Creative Spirit
Art Gallery Orange Ave. I have a company with
my mother, Tita. We set up all over Florida ,
have an Etsy store, and Facebook page. People around the country own my
jewelry.
Control excerpt 1
Just when I was starting to give up hope, an amazing set of arms wrapped around me and I was suddenly being hoisted up onto the speaker. I was placed down and one of those arms stretched out in front of me to keep me from falling forward. I took a second to catch my breath and turned to thank whoever grabbed me. As soon as I caught sight of his clear blue eyes, my breath hitched and I was momentarily stunned silent. I continued my exploration of the person beside me and discovered a chiseled square jaw lightly sprinkled with five o’clock shadow. His face was framed with messy dark brown hair. My gaze slowly wandered downward and found the most masculine pair of broad shoulders a girl could ever ask for. His t-shirt was pulled tight over his chest and biceps and his mid-section dipped down into a perfect ‘V’. His dark blue jeans perfectly accentuated his muscular legs which hung over the edge of the speaker. I looked back up into those eyes and he smiled the most jaw dropping smile revealing two dimples on either side of his mouth.
Just when I was starting to give up hope, an amazing set of arms wrapped around me and I was suddenly being hoisted up onto the speaker. I was placed down and one of those arms stretched out in front of me to keep me from falling forward. I took a second to catch my breath and turned to thank whoever grabbed me. As soon as I caught sight of his clear blue eyes, my breath hitched and I was momentarily stunned silent. I continued my exploration of the person beside me and discovered a chiseled square jaw lightly sprinkled with five o’clock shadow. His face was framed with messy dark brown hair. My gaze slowly wandered downward and found the most masculine pair of broad shoulders a girl could ever ask for. His t-shirt was pulled tight over his chest and biceps and his mid-section dipped down into a perfect ‘V’. His dark blue jeans perfectly accentuated his muscular legs which hung over the edge of the speaker. I looked back up into those eyes and he smiled the most jaw dropping smile revealing two dimples on either side of his mouth.
He leaned over to speak closer to my ear. “Sorry
to manhandle you without permission, but you looked like you could use some
help down there.” His voice was a deep enough timbre that it wasn’t
difficult for me to hear him over the music. I continued staring at
his sculpted mouth like an idiot and then shook my head to free myself from his
spell. I could feel my face getting hot from looking at him.
“Uh, yeah, thanks for that. It normally doesn’t
get that bad down there and I wasn’t expecting to get trapped.” I
smiled at him and then turned my attention back to the stage. The
band was starting in on their second song and the crowd calmed for a moment
before picking it back up with the increasing tempo of the song.
He leaned over to me again. “No problem
beautiful, I’m always happy to assist a fair damsel in her time of
distress.” Even though his lips were brushing over my ear, causing
tremors, and his hot breath rolling down my neck was doing wonderful things for
my body, I was suddenly annoyed.
I shouted over the music at him. “Please don’t
say that.”
“What?” He looked at me and his confusion at what I had said
was clearly written in his expression.
“Don’t call me a damsel in distress. It’s
degrading and I don’t appreciate being classified by use of a demeaning
stereotype.” I turned my attention back to the stage for a second
time and we sat watching the show without speaking. I was distinctly
aware of his shoulder and thigh pressing into my side and I was disturbed by
how his body heat was affecting me. His cologne weaved a trail
straight over to my face and I breathed it in deeply before realizing what I
was doing. After a blissful half hour of music immersion, the band
finished their set and I discovered that I had started leaning into
him. I also realized how thirsty I was and was thankful that I could
go get something to drink. The problem with being stuck on a speaker
is that it doesn’t often present the opportunity to refresh your beverage.
The crowd below us started to disperse from the pit and he
jumped down from the speaker. I scooted my butt as far to the front
as I could and looked down preparing to jump. It was at that moment
I remembered I hated heights and I quickly determined that I was in the middle
of an unfortunate predicament.
I looked to my right and left hoping that someone had the
foresight to install a ladder on the sides of the speaker. When it
became clear that I was out of luck in that department, I looked down into the
eyes of my newest acquaintance. He had a smug look on his face as he
watched me attempt to get down. He reached up his hands to offer
assistance and chuckled.
“From where I’m standing, ‘damsel in distress’ might be an
adequate category for you. This is the second time I’ve had to come to
your rescue in the last hour.”
What the…!
This guy was really starting to piss me off. Who
the hell does he think he is anyway?! If it wasn’t for him coming
to my rescue in the first place, I wouldn’t be in this
situation. I slapped his hand away and scowled down at him.
“No thanks on that rescue attempt. I can get down
perfectly fine by myself. Just step back so I don’t land on top of
you.”
His eyes darkened and then quickly filled with humor. His
voice lowered an octave when he replied, “Oh, the threat of you on top of me is
supposed to make me move? Because, I can promise you damsel, I’m
not feeling real motivated to budge even an inch.”
I flashed him my best menacing stare. “I’ll tell
you this one more time, Do. Not. Call. Me.
Damsel.” I pointed my finger in his face to drive my message
home. It must have worked because he removed his outstretched
hand. He stepped back from where he had been standing and held his
arms out to his sides in defeat.
That’s right, mister, fear the ninja.
I turned my body around, determined to shimmy down the side
of the speaker and then drop the last foot to the ground. I got my
lower body safely over the edge, but my shirt caught on the corner and I was
stuck there with my bottom in perfect view of Mr. Arrogant standing behind
me.
“This is a delightful view. I almost wish I had a
camera. Are you sure I can’t help?”
My air huffed out from annoyance before I freed my shirt and
started shimmying over. I finally dropped to the floor and
looked over my shoulder to find my acquaintance openly staring at my
assets. His eyes wove a slow path up my body and stopped suddenly on
the dragonfly tattoo on my shoulder. His eyes widened and he looked up to
my face, grabbed my shoulders and spun me around to face him.
“What is your name?!”
I was shocked by his sudden intensity and I couldn’t process
what he had just asked me. I stared into his eyes but didn’t say a
word. He continued to hold me by the shoulders and was searching my
face and body as if trying to memorize me. He looked back up at me
and slightly shook me out of frustration.
“Your name. What is it?”
I shook away my stupor once again and jerked my shoulders
out of his grasp. I took a step back and looked up at him in challenge. “Why
the hell would I want to tell YOU my name?! Thanks for the earlier
assistance, but you can forget that you know me now.” I turned to walk away and
he called out to me again.
“That’s fine if you don’t want to tell me your
name. I’ll take your refusal as a clear indication that you wish for
me to continue calling you damsel.”
My jaw dropped and I turned back around. “If you
really think I’m dumb enough to fall for that crappy manipulation tactic, then
I should be upfront and honest with you now. You are clearly
confused about the type of woman that I am. I am not the type that
needs rescuing and I am not the type that swoons over a beautiful face and a
deep rumbly voice...” He grinned at that and I quickly realized my
error. Refusing to acknowledge that I just called him beautiful, I
continued, “…and it is pathetic for any person, male or female, to refuse
information about themselves in order to continue some type of crappy pet
name.”
Those dimples of his popped out and his eyes smiled right
along with his mouth. “I’ll make a pact with you; you tell me your
name, and I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the night.”
I considered his offer. If he was telling the
truth, I could end this aggravating encounter now just by giving him my
name. On the other hand, if he was lying, than at least he
might stop calling me damsel. There really was no down side to this
situation. I decided to play hard ball anyway.
“I’m not enough of an imbecile to believe that you mean
that. How do I know you will stick to that agreement?”
He looked at me with a matter of fact expression and seemed
to be considering my question. After a moment of intense
introspection he formulated his response. “You don’t.”
Well, there you have it.
Defeatedly, I muttered, “Paige. My name is
Paige.”
Control excerpt 2 Introducing Annie, Alex and David!
David turned to look at me and his face was a mixture of
disgust and apprehension. I raised my eyebrows at him in question
and he used his head to indicate in the direction of the living
room. I heard Alex introducing himself to Annie’s boyfriend and
Annie giggled again. Alex came into the kitchen to join David and
me.
Using his thumb to point back in the direction of the living
room, Alex asked, “What the hell is that?”
David turned to Alex with a scorned look. “That is
Annie’s new boyfriend Chris. He’s a 36 year old loser who works at
the local flea market as a janitor. He’s not going to be able to
work for the next four to six weeks because of his injury and he’s already
convinced Annie that she should loan him some money to help with his
bills. Annie thinks he’s gorgeous and believes she is in love with
him. They’ve know each other for a little over twenty-four hours and
he’s convinced her to give him four thousand dollars! Have I done a
good job in explaining what that is?”
Alex’s eyebrows shot up and I dropped my face into my palm
and groaned. I began shaking my head in silent protest. I
looked back up at David and he looked like he was about to
explode. I turned to Alex to ask his opinion.
“So, is he a bad looking guy?”
David let out an insulted gasp. “Well, if any man in this
room should be judging the beauty contest, it should be me. He’s not
a bad looking guy, it’s just that his personality is obnoxious and he is an
obvious mooch. Poor Annie is completely smitten with this guy and
she has no clue that he’s using her. I mean, what kind of person
asks another person to borrow money within twenty-four hours of meeting them?”
I thought that over for a moment and then voiced my
guess. “A bank customer?”
Alex laughed and David gave him a pointed glare. “Oh sure,
chuckle it up chuckles, but while you’re busy finding this amusing, we’ve got a
serious problem in there. What are we going to do about this?!”
I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed out a breath.
“Unfortunately, Annie is a grown woman. If she wants to give her
money to some guy, the only thing we can do is suggest against
it. She’s ultimately the one who will make that decision and there’s
nothing we can do to prevent her from making that mistake.”
David shot his head towards me. “Nothing you can
do? Are you kidding me?! We can lock her in her room,
take shifts watching her, deny her outside communication and internet access,
and install a two way key lock and not give her the
key. There’s plenty we can do. My
question is, just how far are we willing to go to keep her from doing this?”
Alex patted David on the back. “How will Annie go to work if
we have her locked up?”
David put his finger to his mouth to think about what Alex
said and then responded. “I’ll tell them she’s ill. I’ll take over
her cases until she comes to her senses and then she can have them back when
she gets over this idiot.” He gave Alex a thumbs up. “Good attention to
detail.” He turned to me. “Paige you should take some notes from Alex’s good
thinking. It might help you out in that investigation career of
yours.”
I uncrossed my arms and pushed myself up from the
counter. “I guess I need to go in there to see what we are dealing
with. Maybe if I can find enough issues with the way he looks I can
appeal to Annie’s superficial side.”
David pointed to the living room. “Go.”
I sighed and turned toward the living room. “No
problem. I’ll just go in there and take control of this situation.”
I took a few steps towards the room when I heard a low
moan and a high pitched sigh.
Ew.
I turned around. “Um, no. I’m
not going in there.”
Alex tried to suppress a grin while David acted like
he was dry-heaving over the sink; well, at least I think he was
acting. I walked back over to where they were standing and hopped up
to sit on the counter. “Guess we’ll be here for a while.”
David finished hacking up his hairball, looked up from the
sink and stamped his foot. “Oh no, I am not getting stuck in the kitchen
while she gets her dirty going on the living room couch!” David marched
into the living room and cleared his throat loudly. “Excuse
me! Could you two possibly stop licking, and tugging and touching
all over the community seating area? There are other
people here, although I can understand how it would be difficult to know that
with your eyes closed and your tongues shoved down each other’s
throats.”
David crossed his arms and forcefully nodded
his head. “Now have some decorum people and stop pretending like you are horny
teenagers in the living room.”
Control excerpt 3
When we reached the back room, Daemon opened the door and
motioned for me to walk through. I walked straight to the other end
of the room, taking the position that I had the other night. Daemon
closed the door and locked it and then blocked it when he continued standing in
front of it.
I spoke first. “Well, here we are…in a locked
room…together. Feels familiar, although, I’m not a raging lunatic
tonight so there’s really no need for the lock and barricade.”
He let out a low chuckle and my knees started giving out
beneath me. What is up with this guy and how is he doing this to
me?
Daemon looked amazing as usual. He had on a dark
blue t-shirt that brought out the crystal blue of his eyes and his dark jeans
hung off his hips, yet still perfectly hugged his bottom. His hair was
stylishly messy and he had his usual five o’clock shadow peppered
along his jaw. I imagined what that stubble would feel like scraping across my
skin and had to stop the mental imagery before I lost it. He was slowly
stalking towards me when he finally responded. “Yes, it does feel
familiar. However, I never know what you are going to do next, so
the lock is just added security.” He stopped when he was a few feet
in front of me. “Why are you here, Damsel?”
I flinched at his use of that word but I played it off and
acted like a professional. I cleared my throat. “I’m here for the
same reason everyone is I guess; music, alcohol, dancing. You know,
fun with the boyfriend and all.”
By the time I was done spewing out that pathetic excuse he
had walked closer and was standing directly in front of me. I could feel the
heat coming off his body and I had to look up to meet his darkened
eyes. He looked like a predator and I froze. We stood there staring
at each other for what felt like minutes and my heart felt like it was going to
come through my chest. He reached his hand up to my face and
starting tracing the outline of my bottom lip. I couldn’t tell what
he was thinking by the strange expression he had on his face. He
leaned over slowly and replaced his finger with his mouth. His kiss
was feather light but sensual. My traitorous body trembled again and
he softly laughed and ran his hand over the goose bumps that broke out on my
arms. He pulled back to look me in the eyes and I continued my statue
impression while he backed up to put a small amount of space between us.
“There you go using that 'boyfriend' word
again. Somehow, I don’t think you are being very forthcoming
with me, Damsel. Care to guess why I think that?”
I looked up at him and in an attempt to appear angry, I
narrowed my eyes at him. “I have no idea why you would think that,
Daemon.” I angled my head to the side. “I will tell you though, that
if you attempt any more funny business like you did just a second ago, you’ll
be lucky if you don’t walk out of here with two black eyes.”
Daemon’s eyes got wide and he suppressed a grin. “Can’t
wait.”
I was suddenly under the impression that Daemon wasn’t
believing my cover. He continued. “Although I’m thoroughly enjoying
this back and forth that we are having currently, I believe I brought you back
here to answer a question, which I very much would like to do.”
I was confused for a second but then remembered what I had
asked him while sitting at the table. I started to chastise myself
for having opened up that line of questioning.
“You wanted to know what I meant by saying ‘if you
were my girl’.” He moved closer to me again
and tilted my head up by placing his finger underneath my chin. “If
I had you, Paige, I would not only be with you, but I would own you,
I would control you, and I would, in all ways,possess you.”
A shocked laugh burst from my lips. “You would
own me and control me? What kind of crap line is that?! I mean, do
women really fall for that shit?” My laughter continued bubbling
out. “I don’t know who you think you’re talking to, Daemon, but I believe you
have me mistaken for the slutty redhead you were with the other night.”
His eyebrows shot up at that comment and he
chuckled. “No. I don’t have you mistaken for anyone,
Damsel. I know exactly who I’m talking to at this moment.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and glared up at him. “Well,
then it’s obvious you’ve suffered an unfortunate head injury and have forgotten
what I told you about myself. NOBODY owns me or controls me or
dictates my life in any way. Besides, I don’t even know anything
about you. For instance, what is your last name?”
He gave me a knowing look and answered. “Pierce.”
My head shot up in shock at how easily he had given up that
information. He smiled and then continued explaining his statement.
“I think you may be misunderstanding what I am
saying. I wouldn’t dictate your life and you’d be free to do
whatever you like, but when you are in my bed, you will do as I say when I say
it. Thus, the control. And if you were in my bed, I’m not sure I
could stand it if any other man touched you again after that. Thus,
I would own you from that moment forward.”
I didn’t understand why he was telling me this. Even
though I now had the information that I needed and I should be walking back out
to the club, my curiosity got the best of me and I couldn’t help but question
him further. This was just too good to not fully discuss. “So, if
I’m understanding you correctly, if I were to sleep with you, you would own me
or control me, just like the rest of your lady friends?”
He eyed me for a minute before responding.
“No. Not like my other lady friends. I couldn't care less
what they say or do once I’ve had my night with them. I just know
that with you, it would be a different story altogether and I think it’s only
fair that I warn you ahead of time.”
His eyes were the deepest blue that I had ever seen in
him. His jaw worked over itself and it made his face appear even
more masculine. He crossed his arms over his chest and I wanted
nothing more than to reach out and run my hands over the definition of his
arms. I tucked my hands behind myself to keep them from reaching out
on their own accord.
I couldn’t help it that my voice was husky when I
responded. “I guess it’s a good thing that I’m spoken
for. I suspect we’d have a few issues if we ever attempted being
anything more than we already are. I’m not one of your women waiting
around to be tamed and I don’t enjoy being told what to do, or pain, or crazy
bondage shit, or whatever the hell else it is you are implying that you would
like to do to me.” I started moving forward to indicate I was
leaving when he grabbed my shoulders and forced me to look at him
again. His look was intense as he searched my eyes.
“Once again, Paige, you are mistaking what I’m
saying.” He bent down to whisper against my ear. My
breath hitched at his closeness and I tensed up in an attempt to control my
body’s reaction to him. “I would never hurt you. I would
never do anything to you that you haven’t asked for. There is no
crazy bondage shit; no whips, no chains, nothing like that. What I
want to do to you doesn’t require props or toys or anything
else. Just me and you. But I would control you and I know
that you would like it.”
The tension within me was more than I could handle and I
started feeling woozy. Damn my traitorous self and this annoying
swooning. I shook it off.
I spoke slowly so as not to give away what he was doing to
me. “I can guarantee you, Daemon Pierce, that you can set whatever it is you
are suggesting aside. I’m not the type of girl you think I
am.” I looked up into his face in challenge and he released
me. I started to walk past him and he called out to me again.
“Whatever you say, Damsel. But I’ve felt how you react to me
and I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again. Enjoy your evening with
your boyfriend.”
I didn't look back at him as I walked to the door, unlocked
it and then let myself back out into the club.
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