Trust Me (Rough Love #3) (27 page)

She nodded with a pleased, gap-toothed grin. “Di-mons.”

She was a jeweler’s daughter. She knew what diamonds were. She loved how they sparkled, like the solitaire in my engagement ring. She loved that ring more than the garnet ring I still wore, but she didn’t know the story behind it. I thought I’d always love the garnet ring a little more.

She ran away and came back with another handful of grass, and placed it reverently in my lap.

“Di-mons, mama.”

“I see.”

“Beautiful diamond,” said Price against my ear. “Beautiful heart.”

I teared up whenever he quoted that poem. I ducked my head to hide it, but he laughed and made me look at him anyway. There was no hiding from him, which I supposed was good. Aliya spun away and ran off again, singing about diamonds and pulling up more grass.

There was always a way, if you wanted it badly enough. We’d fought for what we wanted, and now it was ours.

I have so many people to thank for their help with the Rough Love trilogy. First of all, I have to thank the readers who badgered me to write it, even when I doubted. (Sometimes rough love works.)

Thanks to Ay and Roughinamorato for providing some nitty gritty details about the rougher stuff, as well as the numerous Fetlife friends who’ve inspired me with their edgier kinks through the years. Thanks to Riane Holt for saving
Taunt Me
when I wanted to ball it up and set it on fire, and to my other trusty editors and beta readers, Lina of LinaEdits.com, Audrey, Doris, Tiffany, Janine, Tasha, Tracy, and Linda.

Thanks to Kate at Bad Star Media for the trio of sexy covers, and to Nina, Irene, and the Literary Gossip ladies for launch help. Mega thanks to all the Club Annabel denizens for being my goddesses of encouragement. I won’t name names, because if I leave anyone out by accident I’ll be crushed, but you know who you are.

Thanks finally to Price and Chere, who came into my mind fully formed, as imperfect as they were, and kept me writing even when it seemed too dark to go on. I hope they’re pleased with their happily ever after, and I hope you are too. If you would be so kind as to leave online reviews, and help spread the word about the Rough Love series in your naughty reading groups, I’d be ever so grateful.

You can learn more about my other series by signing up for my newsletter at annabeljoseph.com, or following me on Facebook or Twitter. You can also apply to join Club Annabel on Facebook if you’re looking for an AJ discussion and social group. I’m so grateful for your support.

The Problem Princess,

Book One in the Royal Discipline series

There’s a problem in the kingdom of Hastings: the princess is too headstrong and ill-mannered to carry on the royal line. In desperation, the king delivers his daughter to the darkly imposing Duke of Thornton, who promises to correct her behavior through a course of stringent and lowering physical chastisement.

Despite the duke’s harsh disciplinary measures, Princess Violet resists change, and Thornton is drawn into an escalating battle of wills with his spirited charge. How far will he go to humble the haughty royal, and put an end to her spoiled behavior? This fairy tale fantasy is a raunchy tumble into spanking depravity, with a royally satisfying ending.

The Fortune series

Deep in the Woods
… Sophie finally finds the courage to reenter the BDSM scene after extricating herself from an abusive relationship. At a local munch, she meets Dave, a funny, laid-back erotic photographer. They embark on a thrilling D/s relationship and Sophie finds healing and fulfillment in Dave’s arms.

But Sophie is still haunted by nightmares of her past. On a dark night in the woods with Dave and his friend Ryan, frightening memories overtake her. She knows that in order to move on, she must uncover the tragedy that haunts her subconscious.

Sophie’s quest for answers brings her face-to-face with her previous tormentor. She finds herself once more in the deep woods, not only fighting for answers, but also for her life.

Fortune
… Kat doesn’t know how to end her six-night-a-week party habit, not to mention her unhealthy addiction to meaningless sex. Then an accident lands her in the hospital. She wakes to a menagerie of origami figures, and a gorgeous neurosurgeon beside her bed. The complexity of the paper creations is nothing compared to the complexity of dark-eyed, authoritative Ryan, who seems determined to give her life some direction. Trouble is, Kat’s just as determined to resist his efforts to tame her wild side.

With persistence, Ryan draws Kat into his world of dominance and submission, where quiet commands and lengths of rope awaken needs and desires she never knew she possessed. But Ryan’s erotic shibari sessions frighten Kat as much as they excite her, for each simple knot requires infinite trust and inspires complicated emotions.

When a family crisis threatens to snap the fragile ties that bind them, will fortune smile on this unlikely couple, or will fate tear them apart?

Reader Advisory: For those who subscribe to a “more the merrier” philosophy, this story contains a scintillating m/f/f/m scene.

The BDSM Ballet series

Waking Kiss
… A stranger in the wings, a traitorous pair of toe shoes, and a traumatic turn dancing with The Great Rubio… For ballerina Ashleigh Keaton, it’s been one hell of a night.

But it’s not over yet. When Rubio drags her to a private party at his friend’s house in the ritzy part of London, she meets Liam Wilder, a lifestyle dominant and frighteningly seductive man. Liam pursues Ashleigh, attracted by her strength and talent, but she has secrets—an abusive past and a crippling fear of intimacy that prevents her from connecting to anyone, especially a playboy reputed to be legendary in bed.

Eventually he wins her trust and sets out to heal the troubled dancer, awakening her to a world of sensual abandon in a series of BDSM “sessions” at his home. But how pure are his motives? Is he helping her or endangering her fragile soul? Liam hides his own destructive secrets, and so does Fernando Rubio, their temperamental friend. Over time the three become embroiled in a tangle of artifice, fears, and lies that threaten to undo everything they’ve worked for.

Will Ashleigh and Liam find the strength to defeat their demons? Or are they cursed to sleepwalk through life forever, afraid to experience the passion and intimacy of love?

Fever Dream
… Petra Hewitt’s the top ballerina in the world, and The Great Rubio her obvious counterpart, so why does she want to strangle him whenever he’s around? He’s haughty, abrupt, demanding—and alarmingly sexy. Petra knows Rubio is dangerous to her heart, to her peace of mind, and worst of all, to her career, but his rough flirtation compels her. When she gets a chance to play with him at a BDSM party, their professional partnership takes a feverish left turn.

After that, any attempts to keep him at arm’s length falter in the face of his obstinate sexuality. Rubio’s methods are ruthlessly erotic as he introduces her to the pleasures of sadism, bondage, pain, and submission. The more Petra tries to resist him, the more she craves his strength and control.

But as they play their sensual games of dominance and submission, career pressures mount, and an overzealous fan brings dangerous tension to their relationship. Soon, the dream gives way to the stark reality of her vulnerability. Maybe, just maybe, some risks are too terrifying to take.

Mercy

Cait and the Devil

Firebird

Owning Wednesday

Lily Mine

Disciplining the Duchess

Fortune series:

Deep in the Woods

Fortune

Comfort series:

Comfort Object

Caressa’s Knees

Odalisque

Command Performance

Cirque Masters series:

Cirque de Minuit

Bound in Blue

Master’s Flame

Mephisto series:

Club Mephisto

Molly’s Lips: Club Mephisto Retold

Burn For You

BDSM Ballet series:

Waking Kiss

Fever Dream

Properly Spanked series:

Training Lady Townsend

To Tame A Countess

My Naughty Minette

Under A Duke’s Hand

Rough Love series:

Torment Me

Taunt Me

Trust Me

Books by Molly Joseph

The Edge of the Earth

Pawn (Ironclad Bodyguards #1)

Coming soon:

Diva (Ironclad Bodyguards #2)

Annabel Joseph is a multi-published, New York Times Bestselling BDSM romance author. She writes mainly contemporary romance, although she has been known to dabble in the medieval and Regency eras. She is known for writing emotionally intense BDSM storylines, and strives to create characters that seem real—even flawed—so readers are better able to relate to them. Annabel also writes non-BDSM romance under the pen name Molly Joseph.

You can follow Annabel on Twitter (
@annabeljoseph
) or Facebook (
facebook.com/annabeljosephnovels
), or sign up to receive her monthly newsletter at
annabeljoseph.com
. She also loves to hear from her readers at
[email protected]
.