Excerpt: Indulge Me - Vilma Iris | Lifestyle Blogger

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author J. Kenner comes a new story in her Stark Ever After series…

Despite everything I have suffered, I never truly understood darkness until my family was in danger. Those desperate hours came close to breaking both Damien and me, but together we found the strength to survive and hold our family together.

Even so, my wounds are deep, and wispy shadows still linger. But Damien is my rock. My hero against the dark and violence.

And when dark memories threaten to consume me, he whisks me away, knowing that in order to conquer my fears he must take control. Demand my submission. Claim me completely. Because if I am going to find my center again, I must hold tight to Damien and draw deep from the wellspring of our shared passion.

Series:

Stark Ever After

Can be read as a standalone

Book Type:

Romantic Suspense

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Excerpt: Indulge Me
By J. Kenner

Excerpt: Indulge Me

Out this week from bestselling author J. Kenner is INDULGE ME — a brand-new novella in the Stark Ever After series. I’m thrilled to share a sneak peek with you today!

It turns out we don’t dine inside the museum itself, but in Café Marly, located beneath the arcade of the Louvre’s Richelieu wing. We sit on the outdoor terrace, which provides a stunning view of the pyramid, brilliantly illuminated in the deepening night.

I expect him to tease me sexually. To insist that I pull the dress up and sit with my bare ass on the seat despite the fact that our table has no cloth. Or that he’ll slide his arm around my shoulders and stroke his thumb casually over my nipple for anyone who is dining to see.

But he does none of that. Instead, he orders for us, and we spend a lovely two hours finishing off an incredible bottle of wine and indulging in duck foie gras, rack of lamb, and an absolutely marvelous mille-feuille. The latter, which we call a Napoleon back in the States, is one of my favorite pastries, and this one is about the best I’ve ever put in my mouth.

All in all, it’s a wonderful dinner date with my husband, and my only disappointment is that Damien seems to have entirely forgotten tonight’s original plan. Even when the plates are cleared and we’re finishing the last of our coffee and brandy, he doesn’t mention the club at all.

Instead, he pays the bill, extends his hand to help me up, and guides me out of the restaurant.

I consider saying something, but this entire trip is Damien’s show, and we talk quietly about Paris, sights he wants to show me while we’re in town, and similar travel-related conversation. On any other trip, I’d be fully engaged. Now, I’m wondering what game he’s playing.

It’s not until we’ve actually stepped inside the hotel that he pauses, then turns to look at me directly, his head cocked. “You haven’t said a word. Should I assume you’re relieved that we’re not going to the club?”

“We’re not?” I hear the disappointment in my voice, and Damien must as well, considering the way he’s smiling.

“That depends. It won’t be like last time,” he says. “Are you prepared?”

I raise a brow. “You’re asking me? I thought this whole exercise was about pushing my limits. Facing my fears.”

He doesn’t answer. His small smile is enough, because it tells me that he has something intense planned. And he’s giving my imagination the full length of the ride to the club to imagine every decadent possibility.

“With me,” he says, then leads me back through the doors where a limo is now waiting for us. We get in, and I notice my trench coat is laying across one of the seats. I swallow, wondering…

As soon as we are underway, he orders me to strip.

“I—”

I don’t finish the sentence. Damien’s look of approbation cuts me off too quickly. Instead, I pull the shift up over my head, then sit back as Damien looks me up and down, my skin tingling from the intensity of his gaze. “You are so damn beautiful,” he says. “How can I not show you off?”

My heart lurches in my chest. The first time we came to À la Lune, he’d specifically told me that he didn’t want me naked, though many of the other guests—men and women—were. He said he didn’t intend to share even the sight of me.

But a lot has changed since our honeymoon, and I wonder what additional boundaries he wants to push tonight. The possibility that he wants me bare in the club scares me, and I consider what I’ll do. I can call sunset—he will never push me past my safeword. Or I can trust that he is right. That I’ll survive the embarrassment and the fear that—despite the club’s strict vetting of its members and even stricter rules about privacy and no photography—some image of me will make it into the tabloids.

What if it did?

That would be hell, no doubt about that. But would it ruin my marriage? My friendships?

I know that it wouldn’t.

What about my kids? It wouldn’t be easy, but they’re young enough now to not even notice, and by the time they are old enough to care, the tabloids would have moved on. If they dig it out at some point, though…well, it wouldn’t be my first choice of a conversation to have with my kids, but I would survive.

So would my business, if any of my clients get wind of the photos. It would be awkward and strange, but the bottom line is that this trip is about trust and fear. And if Damien wants to push me that way, I trust him…and I can overcome my fear.

He is still watching me, and I draw a breath. “Is this how you want me in the club? Should I wear the trench coat for the walk from the limo to the door?”

“Is that what you want?”

I meet his eyes straight on. “I want what you want.”

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