The call ended, with Sergei ensuring he had the last word.
Fredericka stared at her phone.
Younger men were so...
So...
The End
Author's Note
29 June 2020
Manila, Philippines
And just like that, the first half of 2020 has come to an end.
I hope you're all doing well and fine, wherever you may be, while reading this. Thank you for spending some of your precious time with me, and I really hope that this book - despite its darkness - has also helped drive the point home that lightness - in the end - always, always wins.
Please take care everyone. Challenging times are still ahead of us, but we must never lose hope, and we must never stop being kind.
Until our next journey,
Marian Tee
P.S. For those interested, many of the characters you've seen here already have their own stories. Fredericka Spears (Reid's lawyer) for instance already has her own book, and so do all her other friends. For that matter, all of Reid's friends already have their stories told as well. Please check my website for my character database. My Amazon author page also has an updated reading order of my books.
P.P.S. If you enjoyed this book, please consider writing a review - even something short and simple would do. It would truly, truly mean so much!
P.P.P.S. Please subscribe to my newsletter to enjoy sneak peeks of my latest works. :)
Continue reading for samples of other books I have available on Kindle Unlimited.
My Billionaire Captor
(steamy retelling of Beauty and the Beast)
I had no choice. If I want to save my father, I must forget my old life...and allow a mysterious French billionaire to become my whole world.
Note: This book was previously published as Savage, Broken, Beautiful.
****
So this was Arabella Blume.
The beast stared at her through the two-way mirror, finally seeing her for the first time. She was sleeping peacefully on the bed, her long dark hair fanned wide against the silk pillows, the covers falling just below her full breasts.
She was smaller than it had expected and far lovelier, too. The latter fact might have pleased other men, but that was the problem.
The beast was not like other men, and no other men could be like the beast.
Swinging away from the sight of her, the beast paced broodingly, its mood made edgier by the claustrophobic narrowness of the secret passageway, which wound behind the walls of every room in the mansion.
Could it really be possible?
Could she be the woman the beast had been waiting for?
The beast wanted to believe it was so, but the cynical part of it scoffed at this.
What the beast wanted was a dream, an illusion.
And it would never come true.
A growl of frustration escaped the beast at the thought. The sound caused Arabella to stir on the bed, and the beast stilled. Damn. The beast knew it would only be mere moments before she came into consciousness.
He should leave now, the beast thought.
But instead, the beast found itself doing the opposite.
A swift push of a button had the wall sliding out of view, and it slid back into place as the beast stepped silently inside Arabella’s room. Her scent immediately reached out to the beast, and it closed its eyes, savoring and committing every nuance of her scent to memory.
This was perhaps one of the few advantages of being a beast: the ability to identify a person, not only by sight but also by their scent.
And some scents were more tantalizing than most – as Arabella Blume’s was.
Her scent was a mixture of pure innocence and fiery passion, of sunlight and roses that were just about to bloom. It was enthrallingly contradicting, this scent of hers, and the beast found itself moving closer towards her, wanting more.
But then Arabella suddenly stirred, and the beast stilled.
Even deep in her sleep, the woman had managed to feel its presence, and the beast’s nostrils flared at the realization of just how sensitive she was.
If she was this sensitive, then did it apply to the rest of her body?
Would Arabella Blume be as acutely responsive if the beast dared to touch her?
The thought came out of nowhere, and the beast inhaled sharply.
The beast tried to control itself, but it was too late. The enticing notion had already taken hold of its thoughts and erotic images flashed in the beast’s mind.
Her dress falling in a pool around her feet, revealing her silken nudity to the beast’s hungry gaze—-
The feel of her skin under its claws, the way her gloriously large breasts would jiggle at its touch—-
Liquid heat laced its blood, and a shudder ran over the beast’s large, powerful body.
Arabella.
Just thinking of her name –
Of being able to say it as the beast kissed her –
The beast’s cock swelled and hardened into a formidably hard erection behind its pants.
Mon Dieu.
How it wanted this woman!
But would she want the beast back?
Breathing hard, the beast turned away sharply at the thought.
Logic told the beast that wishing for such a thing was a sheer waste of his time, and yet –
It could not forget her words.
Although the beast had never left its island, it still retained full control of the family empire. It knew the business inside and out, and that included each and every person who worked in the company. Like the security chief, the beast believed that Maurice Blume had been a pawn, and it had been the beast’s idea to set a detective on the father and daughter’s trail, hoping that they would reveal something in their private conversations.
And indeed it had.
It revealed that Arabella Blume, daughter of a man accused of theft, might be the one woman in this world who could love the beast...because of her words.
Her very own words—-
Not even if the whole world thinks you’re a monster.
I will always trust and love you.
Because I know you.
The beast could not help turning to face her again as her words echoed in its head like the most elusive of promises.
From that moment on, it had wanted her.
It had wanted her like it had
