Devoted: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella Read online

  Devoted

  A Masters and Mercenaries Novella

  By Lexi Blake

  1001 Dark Nights

  Devoted

  A Masters and Mercenaries Novella

  By Lexi Blake

  1001 Dark Nights

  Copyright 2016DDLZ Entertainment, LLC

  ISBN: 978-1-942299-52-3

  Foreword: Copyright 2014 M. J. Rose

  Published by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distrributed in any printed or electronic form without permmission. Please do not participate in or encourage *crane piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imaginattion and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.

  Book Description

  Devoted

  A Masters and Mercenaries Novella

  By Lexi Blake

  A woman’s work

  Amy Slaten has devoted her life to Slaten Industries. After ousting her corrupt father and taking over the CEO role, she thought she could relax and enjoy taking her company to the next level. But an old business rivalry rears its ugly head. The only thing that can possibly take her mind off business is the training class at Sanctum…and her training partner, the gorgeous and funny Flynn Adler. If she can just manage to best her mysterious business rival, life might be perfect.

  A man’s commitment

  Flynn Adler never thought he would fall for the enemy. Business is war, or so his father always claimed. He was raised to be ruthless when it came to the family company, and now he’s raising his brother to one day work with him. The first order of business? The hostile takeover of Slaten Industries. It’s a stressful job so when his brother offers him a spot in Sanctum’s training program, Flynn jumps at the chance.

  A lifetime of devotion….

  When Flynn realizes the woman he’s falling for is none other than the CEO of the firm he needs to take down, he has to make a choice. Does he take care of the woman he’s falling in love with or the business he’s worked a lifetime to build? And when Amy finally understands the man she’s come to trust is none other than the enemy, will she walk away from him or fight for the love she’s come to depend on?

  About Lexi Blake

  Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband, three kids, and the laziest rescue dog in the world. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance that she found success. She likes to find humor in the strangest places. Lexi believes in happy endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome or foursome may seem. She also writes contemporary Western ménage as Sophie Oak.

  Connect with Lexi online:

  Facebook: Lexi Blake

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorlexiblake

  Website: www.LexiBlake.net

  Sign up for Lexi's free newsletter here.

  Also from Lexi Blake

  Click to purchase

  Masters And Mercenaries

  The Dom Who Loved Me

  The Men With The Golden Cuffs

  A Dom Is Forever

  On Her Master’s Secret Service

  Sanctum: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella

  Love and Let Die

  Unconditional: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella

  Dungeon Royale

  Dungeon Games: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella

  A View to a Thrill

  Cherished: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella

  You Only Love Twice

  Luscious: Masters and Mercenaries~Topped

  Adored: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella

  Master No

  Just One Taste: Masters and Mercenaries~Topped 2

  From Sanctum with Love

  Devoted: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella

  Dominance Never Dies, Coming June 14, 2016

  Lawless

  Ruthless, Coming August 9, 2016

  Masters Of Ménage (by Shayla Black and Lexi Blake)

  Their Virgin Captive

  Their Virgin’s Secret

  Their Virgin Concubine

  Their Virgin Princess

  Their Virgin Hostage

  Their Virgin Secretary

  Their Virgin Mistress

  The Perfect Gentlemen (by Shayla Black and Lexi Blake

  Scandal Never Sleeps

  Seduction in Session

  Big Easy Temptation

  URBAN FANTASY

  Thieves

  Steal the Light

  Steal the Day

  Steal the Moon

  Steal the Sun

  Steal the Night

  Ripper

  Addict

  Sleeper, Coming 2016

  Acknowledgments

  Thanks as always to Liz Berry, MJ Rose, and the entire crew at 1001 Dark Nights. Thanks to the amazing editors, Kim Guidroz and Pam Jamison and my betas, Stormy Pate and Riane Holt. Thanks to my husband and kids for always being there.

  This book is dedicated to several amazing men who helped shape my life and who taught me to see the world through different eyes. To Chad from Bell High School. To Lyle from my college years at UNT. To Lee, who is always there for me. And to Christopher, the latest in a long line of men I adore and who prove that you can find love and understanding without ever having sex.

  But don’t worry, there’s totally sex in this book….

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection One

  Click here to explore

  FOREVER WICKED by Shayla Black

  CRIMSON TWILIGHT by Heather Graham

  CAPTURED IN SURRENDER by Liliana Hart

  SILENT BITE: A SCANGUARDS WEDDING by Tina Folsom

  DUNGEON GAMES by Lexi Blake

  AZAGOTH by Larissa Ione

  NEED YOU NOW by Lisa Renee Jones

  SHOW ME, BABY by Cherise Sinclair

  ROPED IN by Lorelei James

  TEMPTED BY MIDNIGHT by Lara Adrian

  THE FLAME by Christopher Rice

  CARESS OF DARKNESS by Julie Kenner

  Also from 1001 Dark Nights

  TAME ME by J. Kenner

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Two

  Click here to explore

  WICKED WOLF by Carrie Ann Ryan

  WHEN IRISH EYES ARE HAUNTING by Heather Graham

  EASY WITH YOU by Kristen Proby

  MASTER OF FREEDOM by Cherise Sinclair

  CARESS OF PLEASURE by Julie Kenner

  ADORED by Lexi Blake

  HADES by Larissa Ione

  RAVAGED by Elisabeth Naughton

  DREAM OF YOU by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  STRIPPED DOWN by Lorelei James

  RAGE/KILLIAN by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright

  DRAGON KING by Donna Grant

  PURE WICKED by Shayla Black

  HARD AS STEEL by Laura Kaye

  STROKE OF MIDNIGHT by Lara Adrian

  ALL HALLOWS EVE by Heather Graham

  KISS THE FLAME by Christopher Rice

  DARING HER LOVE by Melissa Foster

  TEASED by Rebecca Zanetti

  THE PROMISE OF SURRENDER by Liliana Hart

  Also from 1001 Dark Nights

  THE SURRENDER GATE By Christopher Rice

  SERVICING THE TARGET By Cherise Sinclair

  Sign up for the 1001 Dark Nights Newsletter

  and be entered to win a Tiffany Key necklace.

  There’s a contest every month!

  Click here to subscribe.

  As a bonus, all
subscribers will receive a free

  1001 Dark Nights story

  The First Night

  by Lexi Blake & M.J. Rose

  Turn the page for a full list of the

  1001 Dark Nights fabulous novellas...

  Table Of Contents

  Book Description

  About Lexi Blake

  Also by Lexi Blake

  Author Acknowledgments

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection One

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Two

  Foreword

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Epilogue

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Three

  Discover the World of 1001 Dark Nights

  Discover Lexi Blake

  An excerpt from Dominance Never Dies by Lexi Blake

  Special Thanks

  One Thousand And One Dark Nights

  Once upon a time, in the future…

  I was a student fascinated with stories and learning.

  I studied philosophy, poetry, history, the occult, and

  the art and science of love and magic. I had a vast

  library at my father’s home and collected thousands

  of volumes of fantastic tales.

  I learned all about ancient races and bygone

  times. About myths and legends and dreams of all

  people through the millennium. And the more I read

  the stronger my imagination grew until I discovered

  that I was able to travel into the stories... to actually

  become part of them.

  I wish I could say that I listened to my teacher

  and respected my gift, as I ought to have. If I had, I

  would not be telling you this tale now.

  But I was foolhardy and confused, showing off

  with bravery.

  One afternoon, curious about the myth of the

  Arabian Nights, I traveled back to ancient Persia to

  see for myself if it was true that every day Shahryar

  (Persian: شهریار, “king”) married a new virgin, and then

  sent yesterday’s wife to be beheaded. It was written

  and I had read, that by the time he met Scheherazade,

  the vizier’s daughter, he’d killed one thousand

  women.

  Something went wrong with my efforts. I arrived

  in the midst of the story and somehow exchanged

  places with Scheherazade – a phenomena that had

  never occurred before and that still to this day, I

  cannot explain.

  Now I am trapped in that ancient past. I have

  taken on Scheherazade’s life and the only way I can

  protect myself and stay alive is to do what she did to

  protect herself and stay alive.

  Every night the King calls for me and listens as I spin tales.

  And when the evening ends and dawn breaks, I stop at a

  point that leaves him breathless and yearning for more.

  And so the King spares my life for one more day, so that

  he might hear the rest of my dark tale.

  As soon as I finish a story... I begin a new

  one... like the one that you, dear reader, have before

  you now.

  Chapter One

  Amy Slaten hung up the phone and sighed.

  “Not again.”

  She kind of wished her ex-husband wasn’t here to witness her complete and utter humiliation. Unfortunately, her ex-husband also happened to be her best friend and had been her business partner for a very long time. Their firms had been kept separate by an ironclad prenup and they’d handed back each other’s stock after their amicable divorce, but still she turned to him in times of trouble.

  And the times they were a troubled now.

  “Yes, we lost the Kleinman account. They’re concerned about the lawsuit and how my father could keep us wrapped up in court for a long time. Naturally they went to Glendale.” Glendale Incorporated was the bane of her existence and had been for a long time. She’d heard the company was under new management since John Adler had died. John and her father had been business rivals, and not the friendly kind. They’d gone for each other’s throats and it looked like the son John, Jr. was planning on keeping up the family traditions. He came after every contract Slaten Industries had, competed for every one they went after. Even the ones they shouldn’t. Glendale was so much bigger than Slaten. They shouldn’t play in the same sandbox, but the Adlers seemed determined to wipe out Slaten no matter what the cost to their own company.

  Frankie sat back, his perfectly tailored clothes not wrinkling at all. He was wearing a Dolce & Gabbana three-piece suit with a snowy white dress shirt and a peacock blue tie that nearly matched his eyes. He was the most stunning man she’d ever met.

  Unfortunately, he was also gay. Their marriage, while loving and friendly, had not been intimate in a physical sense.

  “Is there anything I can do?” Frankie asked. “Beyond assassinating your father? Because I could arrange that. I know some interesting people.”

  She had to chuckle at that. “Don’t tell me you’re bringing in the gay mafia.”

  His lips curled up in a perfectly gorgeous smile. “Don’t underestimate the gay mafia, darling. They will take care of business and with amazing style.” He sobered. “You know I would do anything for you, right?”

  He’d proven that when he’d married her in order to help her take Slaten Industries away from her awful father. At the time her father had been planning to sell the company her grandfather had built and take all the profits for himself. He’d been willing to sell out every employee they had for his own gain.

  She’d stopped that with Frankie’s help, and she’d used the stock she’d gotten on the day she’d married him to help him wrest power away from Hank Lyndon, Frankie’s father and chief tormentor. They’d bonded over horrible parents.

  His company was running brilliantly. Hers not so much. She was dealing with a board filled with relatives waiting to stab her in the back, chaos from moving the main office to Dallas along with her entire staff, multitudinous lawsuits filed by her parents, and a never-ending blood feud she didn’t quite understand.

  All in all, her stress levels were reaching maximum capacity and she wasn’t sure she could come back down.

  She bit back tears as she looked at him. There was no crying in CEO land. “I do and I thank you for it, babe, but unless you know John Adler, Jr. and can force your will on him, I think I’m screwed.”

  “Let me look into it. Will you at least let me look into him?”

  She winced. It wasn’t the first time he’d offered. The trouble was she didn’t want to play the way her dad did. Her father had kept dirt on every single business rival he’d had. He’d had files on all his perceived enemies. When she’d taken over the company, she’d inherited all of them and promptly burned them.

  Her father kept files on everyone, including her and her sister, Bridget. She could still remember looking through her own file.

  Amy is weak. All it would take to deal with her would be to send in a man who could make her feel pretty. With the right man in place, she will be completely controllable.

  Lucky for her the “right man” in her father’s words had been the one who could make him money. He’d made a deal with Frankie’s father that would benefit the both of them, and neither gave a damn that their kids had plans of their own. It had worked out for her and Frankie in the end.

  But she’d learned to never trust a man like her father.

  Frankie was different, but he could be just as ruthless when it came to someone he loved. She was determined to never behave like that. If she won, she would do it fairly.
<
br />   “I don’t want to come at him personally,” she said. “He’s done nothing like that to me.”

  “You don’t think he’s playing dirty?”

  “I don’t think he’s coming after me on a personal level,” she clarified. “This is business, babe. You know as well as I do that it can be cutthroat and nasty and not personal.”

  “So if you met this asshole, you wouldn’t slap him?”

  She had to laugh at that. “I would buy him a drink and ask him what the hell my father had done to his. Seriously, I would do that in a heartbeat. And I would flirt shamelessly with him.”

  Of course, he was very likely thirty years older than she was and probably married with kids or even grandkids. His father had been eighty when he died. If he’d been like her parents, he’d had kids in his twenties and that would make them in their fifties or sixties, so her flirtation likely would be for naught.

  Frankie grinned. “And he would fall madly in love with you and all of this would be over.”

  He could also be an optimist at times. “I doubt that, but I would ask. Unfortunately, I’m not likely to sit across a table from him. He won’t meet with me and I’m not flying back to California to force a meeting. We’ve got another shot in a month. If we can get the Clannahan account, we’ll be in the black for another six months. And I can flirt with those men.”

  They were an Irish company looking for an American company to make a deal with. They had all the access to European markets that Slaten needed to grow. In exchange, Slaten could give them a position in the States. It would be a win-win for both companies.