She ran.

One corner, then another. He was going to be… The word annoyed wasn’t nearly descriptive enough. The thought increased Kari’s speed. Her glow-sticks shone too brightly, beacons in the eerie fog. She whipped around a fountain, circling toward the right. How had she let Master Z goad her into this?

She shook her head, knowing the answer. Stupid Kari. How many times was she going to let him hurt her?

At the right corner of the Gardens in a wide clearing, the grass hadn’t yet been cut. The cool strands brushed over the top of her feet. She slowed and dropped to her knees. If she sat on her ankles, only a faint gleam from her ankle bracelet escaped through the higher strands. She tucked her glowing wrist between her legs and scowled when the light lit her pale skin faintly pink. But if he didn’t get too close, he wouldn’t see it.

He wasn’t the only one in a bad mood after all, and she felt like making him work a little.

From the right, a man shouted in victory. Kari hunched closer to the ground. A panting fight from another direction ended in a woman’s shriek and a man’s rumbled satisfaction. The minutes passed. Her legs started to cramp.

Had he given up? Maybe he didn’t even want her, hadn’t even come after her at all.

Then she saw a thin pink light moving steadily closer, flickering through the intervening bushes.

She could hear him now, his footsteps even and slow. Stalking her. Her heart started to hammer, her fingers closing around strands of grass. He wouldn’t hurt her; her head knew that, but her body…her body felt like prey and wanted to run.

Closer. He knew she was hiding for he checked each small clearing. Her area came next. Oh, God. Her nerve broke. She scrambled to her feet and darted away.

He gave a grunt of satisfaction. Heavy footsteps thudded behind her. Risking a glance back, she saw him, bare chested and heavily muscled with the determined, cruel face of a predator.

Ignoring caution, she ran faster.

He closed on her. Out of breath, she stumbled, her heart hammering so loud she couldn’t hear him. His hand closed on her arm, pulling her around. She yanked, and his hand slipped off.

She sprinted away. Glancing back, she saw he’d disappeared. She slowed.

He charged her from the side, huge and overpowering, bringing them both down onto the grass. He rolled at the last minute, taking the fall on his back, protecting her with his arms.

Panting for breath, she fought him instinctively, still covered in enough oil that his grip couldn’t hold her. She kicked at him, and he laughed. His hard hands slid over her breasts, her waist. She slid free and pushed to her feet.

He grabbed her ankle and yanked her down on top of him. Rolling, he pinned her under him, his weight inescapable.

She squirmed frantically as he flipped her onto her stomach, sitting on her as he loosened his leathers, applied a condom. She tried to crawl away as his implacable hands hauled her onto her knees, his arm securing her in place.

Fingers parted her folds, probing, sliding into her, her wetness a stunning betrayal.

A second later, he rammed into her, burying himself so hard, she cried out in shock. She tried to crawl away from the impaling shaft and from the treacherous pleasure.

“God, no, sweetheart. You’re not getting away.” His fingers dug into her hips, holding her immovable as he hammered into her, over and over. “You’re mine, Kari,” he growled. “My sub. My woman. Mine.” Each word was punctuated by a hard thrust.

He’d called her his woman? A thrill ran through her. But it wasn’t true. Shaking her head frantically, she tried to pull away.

With a low snarl, he shoved her knees farther apart and lifted her bottom higher, rendering her more helpless.

As she strained against the grip of his big hands, arousal shot through her, every nerve in her body flaming to life. His thick shaft plunged in and out of her sensitive tissues ruthlessly, and she tightened around him, the need becoming unbearable. She keened, unable to stop the sound.

A ripple started inside her, like a tidal wave, carrying everything before it, intensifying until she convulsed around him, until her whole body shook with the strength of the exquisite spasms, her voice lifting in high cries of bliss.

And then he buried himself deep, deep inside her and came with a low roar.

Her arms gave out, and she landed on her forearms, dropping her heavy head in the grass. He still held her hips in the air, breathing in heavy gasps.

She felt battered inside and out. Taken. Possessed. His words rang in her ears. “My sub. My woman. Mine.”

Dan’s words rang in his ears. “My sub. My woman. Mine.”

Her body trembled in his grip, her pussy giving intermittent twitches of satisfaction. He’d used her hard, reacting to Buck’s attack and her taunting like the alpha he was. He’d had to possess her, to brand her with his scent, his body, his cum.

Mine.

He couldn’t move. His fingers wouldn’t release their grip on her soft hips.

He didn’t want to release her. Ever. No matter how often his mind told him to retreat from her, his emotions and his body kept forcing him back.

His own expression came back to him. “Your body likes that idea,” he’d told her, trying to teach her to look past her inhibitions. Hadn’t done a hell of a job following his own advice, had he? He’d been too busy looking to the past.

She’d hit him over the head with the truth, shown him that he was both blind and deaf, and then she’d walked away.

He’d already been coming after her when the asshole attacked. Dan’s jaw tightened. Should have punched the bastard a few more times, loosened some teeth.

Then again, maybe he should have thanked him. All-unknowing, the asshole had finished the awakening of Master Dan, the biggest idiot on the planet. But his ears were open now, and his body was telling him that he’d found his mate.

His heart agreed.

Beat a man over the head hard enough, and he’ll eventually figure things out.

Dan leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the nape of his little sub’s neck. Slowly he pulled out of her. The whimper as she was emptied made him smile. He patted her soft ass. “I’ll be right back, sweetheart.” He disposed of the condom.

When he returned, she let him pull her into his arms, all her fight fucked right out of her. That shouldn’t have felt so gratifying. With a sigh, she snuggled close like a milk-fed puppy. Having her there, fitting against him as if she’d been designed for him…his world seemed to jerk and spin and suddenly right itself. Yeah, she was his.

Now all he had to do was get her to agree to take on a cynical cop with a penchant for kinky sex.

Piece of cake.

Kari rubbed her cheek against Sir’s skin, wanting to take his scent with her when she left. And she needed to leave. Now. Before she burrowed farther into his arms. Why had Master Z thought Sir chasing her would make a difference? Why had she even tried? He’d used her and now held her…just like every other time. Had she really thought he’d blurt out some romantic nonsense?

She had to get out of here. At the thought of standing up and walking away again, she wanted to cry. “Let me go, please.” She pushed away from his body. “I’m going home. I want you to leave me alone.”

“No, you don’t.” He pulled her closer, his fingers tightening on her hip like a steel trap. “Did you hear me say you’re mine?”

Just hearing the words tugged at her heart. And yet, in a minute, he’d turn that cold face on her. “Just now?” she said, trying for a polite, indifferent tone.

“Mmmmh, just now when I was buried so deep inside you I never wanted to leave.”

The rumbling words made her shiver. Still, she knew what came next. She struggled up and braced herself with a forearm across his chest. She’d take the news looking at him, not huddling like a child.

His hand cupped her cheek. “I meant that, sweetheart. You’re mine.” He smiled slowly, his cheek creasing. “And I intend to keep you.”

“Keep me?” Her heart bounced inside her, choking her words into incoherence.

His eyes were intent, and she realized he’d been studying her face. A satisfied smile crossed his lips.

“You can’t keep me.”

“Oh, but I can.” His finger traced her lips, and the look in his eyes was one she hadn’t seen before. “Your body says it likes the idea.”

Keep her? She shoved the hope down. Don’t be silly. He meant he’d see her at the club, use her as a sub. “You mean here at the club?”

“Here, Kari. And everywhere else.”

Her brows drew together. There had to be a catch. “Does that mean I get to keep you also?”

“Oh, absolutely.” He kissed her, his lips demanding. “I’m a firm believer in equality at all times—”

“At all times?” She glanced at the cuffs clipped to his leathers. “Why do I find that hard to believe?” And why the heck was she arguing with him. Mine, mine, mine.

“At all times,” he repeated. “However, in the bedroom or in the club, I am a lot more equal than you.” His grin flashed white before he rolled her onto her back. Pinning her between his knees, he buckled her cuffs on.

“Jerk,” she said, the joy impossible to contain.

“That would be me. But I’m your jerk.” He lifted her hands over her head, trapped them there. Leaning down, he stopped with his mouth an inch away from hers, his breath warm on her face. “We’ll discuss this later, but you’re at the club right now. So what do you say to me, little sub?”