Salt Kissed Love (a Tomb of Ashen Tears Book 1) Read online

  What Serene doesn’t know is Sal used them both.

  Without a collar, Sal is a prime target. Masters put in silent offers for him, and subs covet the golden boy to collar them.

  And he cannot let either happen.

  The Cardinal-S collar provides Sal with a measure of safety, declaring with much exclamation— leave me alone. No one wants to tango with Serene and what is hers. At the very least, a move to take her boy guarantees a suspension of membership privileges, possibly revocation.

  His work at Sibyl hidden by Serene’s collar on his neck. No one will ever be any the wiser. First, because he is good at the role play. This time the leash grasps in the hands of none other than a Sibyl contractor.

  Serene uncovers cases from the inside, her knowledge pivotal in the destruction of several black markets. Her clients trust her to take them to the next level. With the bond that transpires between the two, her clients inform her of dirty deals rarely discussed—shipments of fresh stock, drug runs from Mexico, cash infiltrating in and out via overseas shipping containers. It never stops.

  And she is the first.

  In a brilliant move, she accidentally discovered a small sex trafficking ring over twenty years ago. Strangely enough, through the man that introduces her to BDSM in the first place. His friendship with Dr. Alvin “Pappy” Peles, chief surgeon, proves a dealmaker for the sleeper task force who is also a coordinating member.

  Serene used her wits and played a hefty card, all which lead to her stay at Juliet and the talete marking upon her body for Sibyl. She never plans on being an agent, but she is good at it. Hitting the filthy rich when they are the most vulnerable and least expecting it, she proposes the idea of using the fetish world to knock the evils of the world out one at a time.

  Every kinky Sibyl recruit has approval from Serene.

  Anna came on board early with vast amounts of international recognition, a who is who of her world connections, along with names and addresses of her encounters with them and everything she knows.

  Mierne acknowledges Sibyl’s presence and their work, but years in the FBI leave her depleted. She helps if needed, but refuses to be listed as an agent in their database. The abduction cases serve up far too many missed steps, dead girls, and heart wrenching walks to the front doors of broken parents. She supports their endeavors, but her emotions prohibit her delving in too deep.

  Dr. Jack Kerris knows Dr. Peles from his friendship with his son Tanner at med school. Between Peles and his early servitude to Serene, Jack is a shoe-in as his good looks, intelligence, and charm undermine the unsuspecting.

  Georgia Wills came onboard via her connections with the FBI and Mierne. Her forte in research enviable by even the most seasoned hackers.

  Mitch Daniels was never supposed to be in Sugargrove, but through a series of assignments he weasels his way into the campus and winds up taking his position on the ground alongside Sal.

  Despite being Chance Ballister’s prodigy, Jack and Sal do not care for the young man and his resume of sketchy allegiances, so Jack brings his new favorite girl in—Agent Priscilla Grace, aka Juliet sub student Jaid Chambers.

  Jaid’s resume reads like a dream, mostly due in part to the fact that she looks and behaves like a teenager—and predators love baby faces, but Jaid is as deadly as they come. Trained as an assassin, she has years of gymnastics and mixed martial arts under her belt. Her favorite weapons are her shivs which she proudly wears strapped to her thighs in custom made sexy garters.

  Dale Archer arrived to watch over Sal almost five years ago. The young man likes the rough cases and plays stunt roles way too often. Serene insisted on hiring the biggest, badass she knows to protect her precious property—Sal, with her younger brother, Dale.

  Dale doesn’t know the extent of Sal’s work. He is an undercover operative, but a daring contract killer for the agency. The past few weeks have been difficult to say the least.

  Finally, Serene hires the young man who showed up on her doorstep five years ago—Lucas Salvatore Raniero—prince of a demented mafioso, golden boy to her wicked whip, and now, black ops agent to save the immaculate in a hideous underworld. His chaos brought a constant struggle for power. His photographic memory and brilliant mind trapped under a pretty mug giving the criminal labyrinth a run for their money.

  He trains in New Orleans with fellow agent Dom Gennaro, also the son of a mafia lord. With his mentorship, Sal finds a balance between sleeper agent and familial ties, but with the dissolution of certain enterprises the time approaches quickly when he will have to go up against his own father, Cesario Raniero.

  There is only one problem with that and her name is Lucilla Veramonte Raniero—his mother. Taking down the network of Raniero Fisheries would be easy if it weren’t for his momma stuck in the crosshairs between the man ruling Boston and the North-Eastern seaboard and the son damned to bring Cesario to his knees.

  Caught in amongst it all, Kacilyn Mae Hope Raniero, Sal’s deceased wife helping Serene bring it all together. The secrets behold in the strictest of confidence that Kaci takes to her grave.

  “What about this guy?”

  “He’s fourteen,” Serene said, shuffling through the stack.

  “Yeah, and I am eighteen,” Kaci implored, pulling the beanie off and revealing her bald head. “I say go after him. Get him into Sibyl before he ends up a problem.”

  Serene fraught with the possibilities as they searched through possible targets for recruitment. “He’s so young though.”

  “He was taken into custody for sneaking into a fetish club. If that isn’t reason enough to act now, I don’t know what is. I can get him,” Kaci assured, leaning back against the pillow in Serene’s suite.

  “You want me to get eyes on this Kid now, so we can nab him in four years?”

  “You got it,” Kaci said, handing her the paper with Sal’s picture on it. “He’s got an axe to grind. He’s the only son.”

  “He is?”

  “Yeah. Four sisters. Italian,” Kaci boasted with a distinct cackle. “No chance in hell they are going to want to give that business to anyone else.”

  “You want to run an interception play. You are assuming they haven’t been grooming him,” Serene argued, handing the paper back. “I would almost guarantee they have.”

  “I am telling you—I can get him for you,” Kaci bounded with a broad, confidant smile.

  “We’ll scout him for fourteen days. If he looks promising, we will talk again. It could be very lucrative to take the son of a kingpin into our ranks. We acquired Dom by mere accident, Cesario Raniero is beyond dirty.”

  With her wide grin, Kaci bantered, “His son would be, too.”

  Serene smiles at the memory as she recollects the pieces of the puzzle and the possible moves he can make. The only thing that concerns her is the reckless young man. And the one thing she doesn’t understand—his dedication and unwavering loyalty to one Iris Kettles.

  The half Japanese and English daughter of influential parents holds an unmistakable power over Sal. She married Chance Ballister at eighteen. He had been the head enforcement agent for Sibyl. His work in the collective and the society of members read pristine. Shortly before Iris appeared in Sugargrove, Chance died in a freak accident. With no reason to investigate, his file is moved to the retired bank.

  Serene has spent days on campus trying to locate the box on Ballister. Using the sale of her apartment as a cover, she went to upstate New York to get into the trenches of the past case files at the agent storage facility. No one knows why she was actually there. But now, on her private jet, a box on the elusive Ballister sits in a large black tote.

  There has to be a connection between Sal, Iris, and Chance. Something dead and buried. Something someone wants forgotten. Serene cannot let it go, not with her favorite whipping boy involved.

  Uncertain who to trust, she empties her calendar for the rest of summer—all to research the past. She has no idea where it will lead or where she will end up. But
in order to get in the box and do what she needs to do, she has to make the wild one disappear for a while. Take a vacation, go do this for me, find this… she barks the order, and the well-trained Sal does it.

  Serene plans to lock herself away in the farmhouse for some heavy-duty intel—research and discovery. She has avoided digging since Kaci’s death. The young woman had served as her understudy in many regards, which seems only fitting, considering the red headed siren keeps her own secrets locked away and held tight.

  No one needs to know the four times Serene disappeared for nine months at a time were not for in house Dominant contracts. No one needs to know the truth disguised in lies. No one needs to know she is about to disappear again.

  The unplanned, surprise positive observed two days ago changes everything.

  And the Queen of control refuses to let that happen.

  “Amber Leigh, we are going to be late!” Dale paces around the kitchen, drinking his fourth cup of coffee. His daughter Mae-Mae coos in her car seat as they wait. He touches her cheek and whispers, “We were supposed to be at Anna’s house twenty minutes ago. I am going to train you to be a woman who is never late.”

  “Excuse you,” Amber says, rushing in and downing the rest of his coffee. “Stop telling my daughter how women should behave.”

  “Your daughter, huh?” Dale smirks and grabs Amber, pulling her close and kissing her lips. The pair have yet to tie the knot, and technically the baby belongs solely to Dale. He adopted Mae-Mae just under six months ago. Feeling a bit like an ass, he asks, “Did you finish the chapter?”

  “I did, thank you for asking. Maybe I won’t miss my deadline.”

  Best-selling author, Amber Rosen, and online porn video billionaire boyfriend, Dale Archer, have been trying to assimilate into the fray of the Juliet academy since moving into the rundown Tudor.

  With his history in the military and extensive security background, Dale also works for Sibyl, the private collective run by a secret society. His partner just happens to also be none other than Sal Raniero.

  The duo quietly bust drug rings, sex traffickers, and other unsavories for years under the guise of the academy.

  All kinds of sordid types attempt to infiltrate the halls of Juliet, and their inquiry leaves a footprint. The leads acquired through Juliet are an invaluable tool in the successful operation. With Sal and Dale and a handful of others, Sibyl easily sets up a clandestine command center deep in the heart of Texas.

  Bumping next to Juliet, the two-thousand plus acres sits unkempt with the vacant dilapidated house. Sugargrove seems the perfect place to raise his daughter and maintain the work he loves. The porn business makes easy money without much attention, but his true professional joy comes in being the partner and bodyguard of the undercover black ops agent. He serves time and again as the muscle behind the madness, but this morning they have a brunch date with several other members from the academy at none other than Anna Ford’s house.

  Pulling up to Scarlet House, Dale touches Amber’s hand and asks, “Are you nervous?”

  “You mean about being a former stripper walking into this southern plantation to schmooze with the rich and elite?”

  He smirks. “Yeah. That. Exactly.”

  “No,” she says with a smile. “Well, maybe a little. I wish our boy was here. I know where he is and I know why, but it doesn’t change the fact this would all be easier if Sal were here.”

  “I know honey,” Dale soothes, rubbing her hand. “Jack and Serene are both here though. And I am fairly certain Anna is going to hand you and Serene a nice fat stack to help get Red Crow off the ground.”

  Red Crow is Serene’s idea of a charity organization. Serene is providing a good chunk of the funding and Amber will oversee it.

  With her horrible childhood and history, Amber brings a greater understanding to the table. The daughter of Rampage MC leader, she has first-hand experiences of the issues women have in the clubs. Red Crow will provide a safe house, keeping those women as well as other women down on their luck somewhere to turn to.

  With the first safe house up and running in July, plus a book deadline in August, Amber has spent the past few weeks running in circles.

  Adding to the tension, the couple recently endured some difficulties, spending the better part of the last month separated. Though each apologized to the other, the distance still looms like a dark shadow.

  While Dale has his own sister, Serene, here—Amber has no one remotely close—which left her feeling alone and insecure, or in other words, not presenting like the confident leader of a women’s shelter. She feels off, disjointed, and very much thrown into a world she can accept and be a part of, but her street smarts acknowledge everything comes with a price.

  “Let’s just get this over with. Between this brunch and the wedding, I am beyond overwhelmed,” Amber responds with a shrug as Dale sighs.

  The friction between the pair also fell out of alignment due to the fact Dale insisted that Sal keeps Amber trained. Master Nero and his submissive, Lady Mae, grew beyond close. The intimate relationship connects and stitches them together which lead to Dale’s jealousy of her position with the young man. He ended up cheating—more than once. And the holy trinity of Dale, Amber, and Sal vanished into thin air.

  Sal and Dale work the gig with Sybil.

  Amber and Sal talk about everything, all the time.

  But the three have yet to come to a place of happiness and balance.

  “You just don’t understand,” Amber scoffs.

  “What don’t I understand?”

  “You have a whole tribe of people in there who know and respect you. You are a fucking billionaire, D. Your sister is in there. People you work with are in there. I have no one.”

  “Oh yeah, cause Master done flew the coop,” Dale snickers with a callous tone. He loves the shit out of his partner, but damn if he isn’t pissed. Underneath the anger, he just really misses Sal, who took off almost a month ago.

  Scowling out the window, Amber rebukes fast, “That’s not fair.”

  “It may not be fair, but it’s what happened.”

  “Fuck you, Mr. Archer,” she says with a note of hostility, getting out of the car. “Are you taking Mae, or am I?”

  “I will,” he assures, white knuckling his fists on the steering wheel.

  “Fine.” She shuts the door and makes her way to the garden alone.

  The same routine practiced over every day. Dale is exhausted, as is Amber, but the hurt possesses a real threat to the continuation of the relationship. He doesn’t know how much longer they can handle the battle of wills and words before the entire engagement is cancelled.

  A knock on the window drives him out of his sludge. “Hey, you…”

  With her pretty, demure smile, Jaid bends over, laying her arms on the door. “How are you doing?”

  “Not a good time to ask,” Dale agonizes, lighting a smoke that Jaid proceeds to steal.

  Standing up, she scans the area and exhales as she lowers back to the window. “Another fight?”

  Not wanting to talk about it, he fumes, “Yep.”

  Handing Dale the smoke, she says, “I’ll get the baby. Don’t you dare smoke in the car with this little angel.” She makes all sorts of baby noises at the happy, babbling Mae.

  “You are too good,” he replies, grabbing his tailored suit jacket.

  “You mean too—tempting.”

  The ginger stallion blushes at her flirtations and warns, “Don’t you dare.”

  “You thought it,” she goads with a smile.

  Stepping out of the car, he takes quick note of the sexy agent in her white suit. Her hot piece of ass wrapped beneath the tightest pants he has ever seen. She doesn’t look to be wearing any panties.

  With a smirk across his lips, he says, “Doesn’t mean you should say it.”

  It is going to be a long, damned day.

  In an upscale neighborhood, out of the main town, the house lurks quiet in the early morning. Wit
h several acres surrounding the sprawling southwest style retreat, the owner can easily disappear into her thoughts. The pool fountain gurgles amongst the sounds of nature.

  She awakens with his warm hands all over her body. He caresses up her thighs, blows at her apex, and lays atop her body in a shower of kisses. His decadent body carved and chiseled just right as she welcomes the wake-up call.

  His lips roam over her skin as he inhales her splendid dark curls. He wastes no time, traveling south over her ripe nipples. His lusty mouth pours his desire over each one as his large hands grab at her hips. He wants inside of her—now.

  Patience is a virtue, but with a massive erection between her thighs, she holds nothing back. Reaching between them, he palms his length slow and teasing. “I want you to walk me into the wedding tonight,” she whispers as the motion of her hand persuades his journey. “Nothing would make me happier.”

  He casts a glance to her dark eyes and smirks.

  With one muted push, he thrust into her wetness, taking her offering. Pressing his body onto hers, he kisses her pout, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth and nibbling ever so lightly. Burying his face in her neck, he nuzzles her, running kisses from behind her ear to the thin, black collar encircling her neck.

  “I am so falling in love with you,” she mutters. “And I really don’t want to be.”

  With a cackle, he growls, “The feeling is mutual…”

  With a booming, beautiful laughter, her voice fills the air, sprinkling it with an unknown happiness she hasn’t experienced in years. His making love to her is the culmination of months of coaxing for both parties. It hasn’t come easily or even by choice, but by fate sealing the deal.

  As his body soars hers to a sensuous new height of arousal, she understands the responsibility she takes on by agreeing to wear his collar last night. And she knows he doesn’t give such things away without regard and forethought. He is not an impulsive man, but in his strength, she finds her own—alive and well, breathing and beating as every minute passes in his presence.

  Her red nails dig into his hard biceps as he pushes deeper, begging for more. Months of flirting proves he won’t give up until she does.