1. Ava

AVA

S omeone was watching me as I slept.

My consciousness slammed into my body, adrenaline coursing through my veins as my eyes snapped open. I lay still, my heart pounding like a warning drum, my skin prickled with unwanted awareness, listening.

All I could hear was the soft ticking of the clock in my room and the soft rustle of the night breeze in the leaves outside my balcony.

Maybe Ebony had gotten up, needing a glass of water to chase away her nightly glass of Macallan whiskey.

I listened for noises in the rest of the house.

But the McKinsey mansion was quiet.

There was a low muffled noise, but I couldn’t tell what it was.

A soft footstep on my balcony, a rustle of ivy, or a rush of hot breath against the glass windowpane?

Maybe it was just the wind in the leaves, a squirrel running along the ornate eaves, or scattering dried debris in the old gutters.

A shadow flashed past the gap in my curtains, making my chest seize.

At least, I thought it was a shadow.

I sat up in bed, blinking, squinting into the darkness, willing my eyes to adjust to the dim, the soft moonlight filtering in through my silk curtains being the only light.

There was no way I was staying here like a sitting duck.

Girls that fought back were less likely to be taken.

Or so I read somewhere.

I slowly pushed back my covers, wincing as the luxurious Egyptian cotton rustled, and slipped my legs out.

Goosebumps immediately rushed across my bare skin, and for once, I wished I slept in something more than panties and a thin t-shirt.

It was early spring in Dublin, Ireland, and the nights had become cool. But the drop in temperature wasn’t what sent shivers up and down my spine.

My toes sank into the plush carpet as I crept toward my balcony.

My bedroom was spacious, but still, it felt like it had swollen in size at how long it took for me to close the few feet, my throat tightening the closer I got.

Finally, I reached the slit in the curtains.

Shit. I should have grabbed something as a weapon. My bedside lamp, perhaps.

Surely Ebony wouldn’t mind her precious vintage Fendi Casa lamp smashed if it was on the head of an intruder.

I shoved that thought aside. I didn’t need a weapon. I made sure all my doors and windows were locked before I went to sleep at night.

And as Ebony’s crusty old father used to brag before he died, every single pane of glass in this entire mansion was bulletproof and shatterproof.

It wasn’t like my late-night prowler could get in . Right?

I wanted to see what he looked like. It was only fair, considering he knew what I looked like.

I swallowed down a bitter acorn of fear and reached out to the thick curtain.

A gong reverberated through the mansion, making me jump.

Fuck. I clutched at my heart through my thin t-shirt.

Just the old grandfather clock in the main foyer.

It sounded again, then was still.

Two a.m.

A perfect time for late-night prowlers.

I forced my hand to push aside the thick curtain, revealing my full-length glass balcony door and the spacious stone balcony outside covered in English ivy.

There was only a thin stream of light from the nearby exterior wall lamp that lit up the balcony.

I scanned it twice, left to right and then back, gaze lingering in the dark corners and the potential hiding places where the ivy had grown particularly thick.

There was no one out there.

I released the breath I’d been holding in a rush.

I almost laughed at myself.

Silly, Ava. You’re imagining things again.

Dr. Vale was going to have a field day when I told him about this .

Or maybe I should keep this paranoid hallucination to myself this time.

I was about to pull my curtains shut when a thin stream of cold air brushed the hairs on my forearm, causing a shiver to travel up my arm.

What the…? Where was that coming from?

I glanced down at my polished gold balcony door handle.

The thin gap in the door burned into my vision like a warning flash.

My balcony door wasn’t just unlocked…

It was open .

At the same time, the scent of amber and woodsmoke hit my nose and a dark presence seared into my back.

He wasn’t on my balcony.

He was inside my room.

Right behind me.

Strong hands grabbed me like a vise.

I was helpless as my intruder yanked me aside, my breath lodging in my throat.

I windmilled my arms out of instinct, trying to grab something, trying to hit him, trying to break my fall.

My fingers brushed against something smooth, and a split second later a smash of glass shattered the silence and the strong smell of my Mojave Rose room fragrance filled the air.

My back slammed into the wall, knocking the air out of me. I tried to suck in a lungful of air to scream. But I was too late.

A gloved hand clamped down over my mouth as my intruder pinned me to the wall .

His face was in the shadows, so I couldn’t make out his features.

I fought against him, pushing and kneeing, but he was leaning his weight against me, crushing me against the wall.

If I could just get free, I could lunge for the panic button beside my bed.

God, he was so strong. I couldn’t move. I might as well have been paralyzed.

With his free hand, he reached for my face.

I flinched, bracing for impact.

But he didn’t hit me.

He pushed a strand of hair from my damp forehead and tucked it behind my ear. It was familiar and tender.

It had been so long since someone had touched me like that, and a pathetic part of me yearned to lean into him.

Did I know him?

His imposing silhouette was tall, at least six-two. His wide shoulders and thick torso in dark clothing radiated raw danger.

I already knew he was strong.

Was this… Cormac?

He hadn’t left me alone since I broke up with him. Did he finally man up and decide to give me what I secretly admitted to him: my masked intruder fantasy?

A thrill rushed through the grip of fear in my body as I waited for my intruder to make his next move.

He leaned in closer, the sweetness of his whiskey breath mixing with the leather scent of his glove.

Moonlight swept up his throat and across part of his features.

First, the hint of dark ink peered out of the collar of his dark leather jacket, worn and rugged, clinging to his broad shoulders.

Then a thick stubbled neck leading to a strong jawline and sharp angular cheekbones carving into a darkly beautiful face.

A set of thick perfect lips were set in a cruel sneer that promised dark intentions, like he was weighing his options, deciding whether to let me go or to tear me apart.

Not sure why I thought this was Cormac.

He was too imposing, too menacing to be mistaken for my clean-cut and polished ex.

Then I saw my intruder’s eyes… his eyes, a striking icy blue, were set deep beneath strong, dark brows and surrounded with dark lashes so thick it looked like he was wearing eyeliner.

They were mesmerizing. Drawing me in.

They were… familiar.

I knew those eyes.

I knew him .

But how?

I searched my memory for who he might be…

God, there were so many blank spaces. So many dark corners that I feared digging too hard into.

But then again, if I knew him, why would he be breaking into my bedroom in the middle of the night?

No. He was a total stranger. An intruder.

I started to fight for my freedom again. I elbowed his side but didn’t have enough leverage. I made my hand into a claw and aimed for those piercing eyes.

But he moved like a flash, gathering up my wrists with his free hand and pinning them against the wall above my head. He shoved his knee in between my thighs to restrain me.

I was like a butterfly pinned to a board.

Holy crap. He pressed into me with every inch of his strong, powerful body.

The sharp edge of danger in his eyes should have scared me, but instead, it made my skin buzz, my whole body hyper-aware of every inch between us.

My knees were trembling; my heart was a riot against my rib cage.

But to my horror, a part of me flared to life. I was on the brink, teetering between fear and excitement, my body betraying me with a flood of heat.

My nipples hardened into painful points against his firm chest.

And by the look on his face, the crinkle of amusement in his eyes, he knew it.

My breath caught in my throat, the tension between us thick and electric, the air humming with an energy I couldn’t control.

He shifted and I felt his cock growing against my hip.

Oh my God, it was so big and thick.

Much bigger than Cormac’s dick.

For one shameful moment, I imagined what it might feel like to have my intruder’s cock slide into me, splitting me open.

His thigh pressed against my clit and an unwanted gush of heat pooled between my legs.

I swallowed back a shudder.

Why was my body reacting this way ?

Something dark and hungry flashed across his eyes, and my stomach flipped.

He ground his thigh against me again.

What was he doing?

My heart pounded so fast it was hard to tell if it was from fear or something else entirely.

He leaned farther in, a low growl rumbling in his throat as he licked the sweat off my neck.

I winced. Please, no.

And yet my skin felt electrified, need coursing through my mutinous body.

He kept going, kept grinding against me, slowly at first, then faster, his cock getting harder as the friction burned hot between us.

I squeezed my eyes shut as he continued his assault on me, as cell by cell my body betrayed me, disgust turning to need, fear mixing with pleasure to produce the most intoxicating cocktail.

As he rocked his hips, heat flooded between my legs, my panties soaking through into his pant leg. Surely, he could feel how wet I was getting.

A traitorous moan came, muffled against his leather glove. I realized I was bucking my hips as if begging for more.

Oh God. I was going to come…

I was going to come on the thigh of the stranger who’d broken into my bedroom.

What was wrong with me?

The pleasure crested, my muscles tensing as I felt myself tip over.

He froze .

I couldn’t help but whimper.

He was trying to torture me.

What the fuck, Ava? You shouldn’t be disappointed that the intruder stopped assaulting you.

He tore his gaze away from mine, staring across my bedroom, cocking his head as if he was listening for something.

What was he doing?

A knock came on my bedroom door.

“Ava?” It was Angus, one of Ebony’s bodyguards. “Are you okay?”

My intruder turned back to face me, his eyes flashing in a warning.

He nodded his head toward the door. Then he pressed his thigh against my swollen clit again and watched me as if he was waiting for my reaction.

Oh. He was giving me a choice: if I called off the bodyguard… he’d let me come.

I was so close. I wanted to come so bad.

Jesus, Ava. Are you really considering letting this criminal give you a fucking orgasm? Are you really that fucking starved for affection?

Apparently, I was.

Because I nodded.

It was only a tiny movement because his gloved hand was still clamped down over my mouth so tight.

He slowly peeled his palm off my lips, his fingers tracing down over my neck like a lover’s caress, sending a spine-racking shiver through me.

He closed his hand around my throat, firm but without restricting my breath .

A warning.

Or perhaps… a promise.

My breath hitched. Need surged through me and my hips rocked against him.

He pressed his hips against mine so I couldn’t move. Couldn’t get any satisfaction. So that I was totally under his control.

I repressed a whimper.

God, I was so fucked up that I wanted this stranger to choke me while I came.

I should scream out to the bodyguard and have this asshole arrested. This was my chance.

I glanced between my intruder’s burning stare and the door as another knock came, louder this time.

“Ava?”

I cleared my throat. “I-I’m fine.”

There was a short pause and I could hear Angus shuffling outside my door. “Are you sure? I heard a crash.”

“I… er, I knocked over a vase on my way to the bathroom. I’m still half-asleep.”

My intruder’s hand slid down from my neck to cup my breast through my thin t-shirt, his thumb brushing over my nipple.

A reward.

I suppressed a moan as pleasure spread through me.

The door handle jangled. “I think I should come in and—”

“No!” I yelled out. “Don’t come in!”

The door handle stopped moving. “Ava?”

“I’m, uh, naked. ”

My intruder shoved his hand into the front of my panties and his gloved fingers slid across my wet slit.

Pleasure surged through me so hard that my knees trembled. The only reason I didn’t fall was due to him crushing me to the wall.

A wonton cry slipped out from my lips.

“Ava?” Angus’ concerned voice sounded muffled through my cotton wool ears as everything faded away except for my intruder’s fingers rubbing against my clit.

My intruder pushed two fingers into my pussy, his eyes glittering with intensity.

I gasped at the feeling of being filled.

There was a fierce determination in his gaze as he curled his fingers around to hit my G-spot. He wasn’t going to stop this time.

Oh God, and neither was I.

“Ava?” Angus knocked again from somewhere just outside of my awareness. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes. Yes!” My muscles shook as my orgasm slammed through me in powerful waves.

I bit down on my bottom lip to stop from screaming, the taste of salty copper on my tongue as I came harder than I’ve ever come in my life.

I came so hard that my vision went white.

He languidly finger-fucked my pussy as I rode out surge after surge.

By the time the pleasure had subsided, my knees had given out, but I hadn’t fallen because he was holding me up against the wall with his body.

In the absence of the mind-fogging pleasure, a cold realization settled in my bones, heavy and unshakable .

Oh God. What had I done? What did I let this stranger do to me?

He pulled his fingers from me and I felt the loss of him instantly.

I let out an involuntary soft sob. Because I missed being filled by him. But mostly because I was a fucked-up girl who just let a dangerous intruder finger her to the best orgasm of her life.

He lifted his gloved fingers between us, glistening with my juices.

“Clean up the mess you made,” he growled in a dangerous low voice that vibrated right into the very core of me.

Before I could protest, he shoved his fingers into my mouth.

My head hit against the wall as he thrust into me, pinning me.

He pulled his fingers in and out and I tasted my sweetness and musk amid the leather as I sucked my cum off his fingers.

His cock twitched against my hip. Was he going to make me suck it next?

The thought should horrify me. Should fill me with disgust.

And it did. Mostly.

But the ache began to grow again in my greedy core. What was wrong with me?

He pushed his fingers so far back down my throat that I gagged.

But even that sent a pulse of need through my fear, an intoxicating mix .

He pulled his fingers from my mouth.

“Good girl, Ava.”

He stepped back and cold air rushed in where his hot body had consumed me.

I slid down the wall into a confused puddle, my legs still trembling, as he stepped to my balcony door, barely making a sound as he moved.

I hugged my chest with my arms as my shoulders shook with relief. He was leaving. He wasn’t going to keep assaulting me.

But a tiny fucked-up part of me ached for him to stay. For him to keep going.

A rush of cold air swept into the room and across my clammy skin as he slipped out the balcony door.

“Wait!” I called out.

But the door clicked softly shut and he was gone.

Just as a realization gripped me in its lethal hold.

A realization that chilled me to my bones, an icy truth that left my skin prickling, each hair standing on end.

One that left my head spinning with the dangerous possibilities.

And a dizziness swirling in my head, unsteady and disorienting, over what he had planned for me next.

Because my intruder knew my name.