by Lexi Blake
Protected
A Masters and Mercenaries Novella
By Lexi Blake
1001 Dark Nights
Protected
A Masters and Mercenaries Novella
By Lexi Blake
1001 Dark Nights
Copyright 2018 DLZ Entertainment, LLC
ISBN: 978-1-945920-98-1
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 distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage 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 imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.
Book Description
Protected
A Masters and Mercenaries Novella
By Lexi Blake
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lexi Blake comes a new story in her Masters and Mercenaries series…
A second chance at first love
Years before, Wade Rycroft fell in love with Geneva Harris, the smartest girl in his class. The rodeo star and the shy academic made for an odd pair but their chemistry was undeniable. They made plans to get married after high school but when Genny left him standing in the rain, he joined the Army and vowed to leave that life behind. Genny married the town’s golden boy, and Wade knew that he couldn’t go home again.
Could become the promise of a lifetime
Fifteen years later, Wade returns to his Texas hometown for his brother’s wedding and walks into a storm of scandal. Genny’s marriage has dissolved and the town has turned against her. But when someone tries to kill his old love, Wade can’t refuse to help her. In his years after the Army, he’s found his place in the world. His job at McKay-Taggart keeps him happy and busy but something is missing. When he takes the job watching over Genny, he realizes what it is.
As danger presses in, Wade must decide if he can forgive past sins or let the woman of his dreams walk into a nightmare…
**Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you'll enjoy each one as much as we do.**
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: authorlexiblake
Website: www.LexiBlake.net
Sign up for Lexi's free newsletter here.
Also from Lexi Blake
Click to purchase
ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
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
Submission is Not Enough
Master Bits & Mercenary Bites: The Secret Recipes of Top
Perfectly Paired: Masters and Mercenaries~Topped 3
For His Eyes Only
Arranged
Love Another Day
At Your Service: Masters and Mercenaries~Topped 4
Master Bits and Mercenary Bites~Girls Night
Nobody Does It Better
Close Cover
Protected
Masters and Mercenaries: The Forgotten
Memento Mori, Coming August 28, 2018
Lawless
Ruthless
Satisfaction
Revenge
Courting Justice
Order of Protection
Evidence of Desire, Coming January 8, 2019
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
Smoke and Sin
At the Pleasure of the President, Coming Fall 2018
URBAN FANTASY
Thieves
Steal the Light
Steal the Day
Steal the Moon
Steal the Sun
Steal the Night
Ripper
Addict
Sleeper
Outcast, Coming 2018
LEXI BLAKE WRITING AS SOPHIE OAK
Small Town Siren
Siren in the City
Away From Me
Three to Ride
Siren Enslaved
Two to Love
Siren Beloved, Coming July 17, 2018
One to Keep, Coming August 7, 2018
Siren in Waiting, Coming Summer 2018
Acknowledgments from the Author
As always I want to thank my whole team – Kim Guidroz, Danielle Sanchez, Stormy Pate, Riane Holt, Kori Smith, and my son who better have formatted this book properly! Thanks to Liz Berry and MJ Rose who built a place where authors can express themselves freely, can bring even their craziest ideas to life. This book really belongs in the Crossover Collection because Wade is the final bodyguard to find his happily ever after. I would like to thank my fellow authors – Larissa Ione, Carly Phillips, Corinne Michaels, J Kenner, and Susan Stoker – for bringing the bodyguards to vivid life.
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
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Three
Click here to explore
HIDDEN INK by Carrie Ann Ryan
BLOOD ON THE BAYOU by Heather Graham
SEARCHING FOR MINE by Jennifer Probst
DANCE OF DESIRE by Christopher Rice
ROUGH RHYTHM by Tessa Bailey
DEVOTED by Lexi Blake
Z by Larissa Ione
FALLING UNDER YOU by Laurelin Paige
EASY FOR KEEPS by Kristen Proby
UNCHAINED by Elisabeth Naughton
HARD TO SERVE by Laura Kaye
DRAGON FEVER by Donna Grant
KAYDEN/SIMON by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright
STRUNG UP by Lorelei James
MIDNIGHT UNTAMED by Lara Adrian
TRICKED by Rebecca Zanetti
DIRTY WICKED by Shayla Black
THE ONLY ONE by Lauren Blakely
SWEET SURRENDER by Liliana Hart
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Four
Click here to explore
ROCK CHICK REAWAKENING by Kristen Ashley
ADORING INK by Carrie Ann Ryan
SWEET RIVALRY by K. Bromberg
SHADE'S LADY by Joanna Wylde
RAZR by Larissa Ione
ARRANGED by Lexi Blake
TANGLED by Rebecca Zanetti
HOLD ME by J. Kenner
SOMEHOW, SOME WAY by Jennifer Probst
TOO CLOSE TO CALL by Tessa Bailey
HUNTED by Elisabeth Naughton
EYES ON YOU by Laura Kaye
BLADE by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright
DRAGON BURN by Donna Grant
TRIPPED OUT by Lorelei James
STUD FINDER by Lauren Blakely
MIDNIGHT UNLEASHED by Lara Adrian
HALLOW BE THE HAUNT by Heather Graham
DIRTY FILTHY FIX by Laurelin Paige
THE BED MATE by Kendall Ryan
PRINCE ROMAN by CD Reiss
NO RESERVATIONS by Kristen Proby
DAWN OF SURRENDER by Liliana Hart
Also from 1001 Dark Nights
Tempt Me by J. Kenner
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Featuring stories by
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Stacey Kennedy, Adriana Locke
JB Salsbury, and Erika Wilde
Table of Contents
Book Description
About Lexi Blake
Also from Lexi Blake
Acknowledgments from the Author
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection One
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Two
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Three
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Four
Foreword
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Discover the Lexi Blake Crossover Collection
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Five
Discover the World of 1001 Dark Nights
Discover More Lexi Blake
An excerpt from Memento Mori 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: شهريار, “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.
Prologue
Broken Bend, TX
15 years before
Geneva Harris was going to die. It was right there and he was a horrible person because he kept her on the edge. That brilliant place only Wade Rycroft had ever taken her to was within reach, but every time she thought she would fall over the edge, he pulled his hand away.
“Not yet.” He kissed her again.
She groaned. “It better be soon or my dad is going to be home and then you’ll likely be facing the business end of that shotgun he never uses.”
His gorgeous face split in a wide grin. Her heart threatened to seize because he was the single most beautiful guy in the world. The whole town was crazy for the Rycroft brothers, but not a one of them compared to hers. “Your daddy points a shotgun my way and I’ll just marry you sooner. Now hush and give me what I want.”
She’d been t
rying to do that for hours, it seemed. Wade kissed her again and moved over her, his gorgeous face staring down at hers.
She held on as he finally seemed to get serious. He thrust up and joined them together. This was where she always wanted to be, connected to the love of her life, holding on to him while he brought them pleasure.
He hit the right spot deep inside her and she went flying over the edge.
Of course she’d been flying ever since the day he’d kissed her six months before. She’d been tutoring him in geometry so he could graduate with his class. It wasn’t because Wade wasn’t smart. He simply hadn’t been motivated. After a few weeks, she’d learned a lot about him and fallen madly in love. Everyone had been shocked when the nerd of Hamilton High School had started dating the senior class’s most popular boy.
None more than her old friend Brock. She’d been fast friends with Brock Howard when they were young and her father had done some accounting work for his. Her dad had finally joined the Howard family company and they’d been thrown together a lot. He’d been an odd kid, the son of the wealthiest family in town, but none of the others ever seemed to want to play with him. He’d come back from private school the year before and he and Wade had hated each other on sight.
Wade fell forward and she welcomed his weight. In a matter of days, this feud between Wade and Brock would be over and they would be starting their lives. Wade was going to boot camp in the morning and she would spend the summer looking for a place to go to school. It would all depend on where he was stationed after his training, but she was going to make it work. If she had to get her degree online, then that was what she would do.
Her father was going to be disappointed, but she couldn’t let that sway her. She loved Wade, and building a life with him was all that mattered.
