Divine Domination Excerpt

2015 Lili Valente

WARNING: Contains spoilers for books one through three in the series.

Hannah had no idea how long she lay on top of Jackson, catching her breath, only that when she finally opened her eyes the blue sky was stained with sunset light and the sea air had grown cooler.

“I wonder if that’s what heroin is like,” she rasped, her voice rough.

“If so, no wonder it’s so hard to quit.” Jackson’s fingers played gently up and down her stomach. “How do you do it?”

“Do what?” She turned her head, meeting his eyes over her shoulder, her heart flipping when she saw the vulnerable, open expression on his face.

“Make me want you more every day?”

She lifted her hand, cupping his scruffy cheek in her hand. “Dark magic.”

He smiled, and her flipping heart turned a cartwheel. “I believe it. There’s no other explanation.”

But there was another explanation.

It was love. Once-in-a-lifetime, only-gets-better, love-you-more-every-day-until-they-put-me-in-the-ground love. She’d known that for a while now and someday soon, Jackson would know it, too.

She didn’t doubt it, not even on those mornings when he stayed in his room until well after breakfast, hiding from her after a night when close had become too close for his comfort. There would come a day when he would realize that there was no need to hide and nothing to be afraid of.

He was safe with her. He could let his guard down and be the man he truly was, the man who was as sweet as he was Dominant, as gentle as he was controlling. She would never take his love for granted or betray his trust.

Never. No matter what.

“No matter what,” she said aloud, her brows drawing together as something ugly whispered through her subconscious. It was like a foul smell drifting through the air, familiar, but horrible, something she knew she didn’t want to recognize.

Once she named it, there would be no denying the existence of the filth smeared across the walls or the body rotting beneath the floor.

Once she remembered, she would never forget again.

“What’s wrong?” Jackson asked, his voice going deep and dangerous as the orange sky darkened, black and blue creeping in to bruise the undersides of the clouds. “Cat got your tongue, Harley?”

Before she could reply, or tell him that she wasn’t Harley, Jackson’s hands were back around her throat.

But this time, his touch wasn’t gentle. His fingers tightened like a vice and pain blossomed through her forehead, the pressure building suddenly, fiercely, until it felt like her eyes would burst from their sockets.

Panicked, she clawed at Jackson’s arms, desperate for breath, but his grip only tightened.

“You’re going to die, Harley,” he growled against her throat as the world went black. “I will end you if it’s the last thing I do.”

****

Hannah woke with a startled groan, hands flying to her neck. She gasped for breath, her throat still tight from the terror of the beautiful memory turned nightmare.

She swallowed slowly and blinked, willing herself to remember the way that day on the boat had really ended, with her and Jackson sailing home under the stars. She’d snuggled in his lap as he’d steered with one arm wrapped around her waist, holding her close to him with a gentleness that made it clear that she was precious to him.

Her heartbeat was nearly under control when the world pitched. A moment later, the plane touched down with a rough bump.

Startled, Hannah turned to look out the window, where pale light glowed on the horizon and unfamiliar palm trees—more sparse and scrubby than the ones back home—streaked past the window. For a moment, she couldn’t remember where she was, but then it all came rushing back—Adam in the doorway, the miracle of learning that her sister was alive, the pain of realizing Jackson planned to kill Harley, and then the terror of grasping that she had much bigger problems than a broken heart.

She had been kidnapped by Jackson’s father and he was going to kill her. Or Harley. But first, he was going to make her father choose between the daughters he’d sacrificed so much to protect.

Depending on how things played out, this could very well be the last sunrise Hannah would ever see.

“So never doubt that you can trust me, sunshine…I won’t hurt you, I won’t let you down, and I won’t leave, no matter how deep we go or what we find there.”

Suspense and action are the name of the game in DIVINE DOMINATION, Book 4 in the Bought By the Billionaire series by Lili Valente. Just when I thought that things were moving along nicely, that Jackson and Hannah were beginning to trust each other, BAM! Lili ended Book 3 with an unexpected twist, and the story picks right back up here.

The tenuous trust that Hannah and Jackson have begun to build is put to the test when all signs point to his betrayal. It doesn’t take long, though, for the real villain to show himself: Ian Hawke, Jackson’s father, has made a career of retribution, and Hannah is the chess piece in his game. Having been used by Hannah’s father to further his own ends, Ian will stop at nothing to exact his revenge. But he hasn’t figured on Jackson, and the lengths that he will go to to protect Hannah.

Hannah was one in a million, the strong, sensitive, beautiful, clever, kinky-as-hell lover he hadn’t believed existed until she’d swept into his life. She was his hurricane and his touchstone. She was an endless adventure and the home he never thought he’d find. She was…everything…

Along with the darkly passionate moments that Lili is known for, this last book is also a story about love and the freedom and redemption that occur as a result of opening yourself up to someone and trusting them completely. There is also some revelation about Harley, Hannah’s twin sister, and her back story, and I would love to see more about her and Clay. Another 5+-star read, DIVINE DOMINATION is the perfect ending to this series, and I could not have enjoyed it more.