HER DEMON LOVER by Anne
O’Connell
Lori Penhall is a bit wary
when she's called to her late uncle's estate to claim an inheritance. After
all, she barely knew him. Leaving her tangled life and her ex-husband behind,
she travels to western Ireland .
As if her surprising inheritance wasn't enough, she meets the handsome dark and mysterious Michael O'Siad who rents the local renovated castle.
One night his dream doppelganger invites her to a private "dungeon" party. Intrigued by what she sees but mortified by how it makes her feel, Michael shows Lori what it means to truly be free. In the real world, she begins to fall in love with him, only to learn the real Michael has other dark, intriguing secrets - darker than a dream dungeon. Will his secrets tear them apart, or will their love and desire for each other be enough to keep them together?
Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: BDSM theme and content includes: bondage, spanking, anal play, exhibitionism, voyeurism, and ménage m/f/m.
As if her surprising inheritance wasn't enough, she meets the handsome dark and mysterious Michael O'Siad who rents the local renovated castle.
One night his dream doppelganger invites her to a private "dungeon" party. Intrigued by what she sees but mortified by how it makes her feel, Michael shows Lori what it means to truly be free. In the real world, she begins to fall in love with him, only to learn the real Michael has other dark, intriguing secrets - darker than a dream dungeon. Will his secrets tear them apart, or will their love and desire for each other be enough to keep them together?
Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: BDSM theme and content includes: bondage, spanking, anal play, exhibitionism, voyeurism, and ménage m/f/m.
AUTHOR WEBSITE:
http://www.anneoconnell.com/
HER DEMON LOVER (Excerpt)
She felt compelled to open the door
a little more to be polite. “Yes, can I help you?”
He held out his hand and said in the
most beautiful, deep accent she’d ever heard, “I’m Michael O’Siad. I live in
Castle Sedgebrook.”
She reached out her hand to take
his, surprised when he lifted it to his lips and kissed it. That was certainly
old-fashioned. She gently pulled her hand back and gave him a nervous smile.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. O’Siad. I’m Lori Penhall.”
“When Jack O’Mally told me I’d have
a new landlord I was looking forward to meeting you. I saw the lights…”
She nodded, “Yeah, just settling
in.”
“I am sorry to hear about your
uncle. It was a difficult loss for me, too. I considered him a dear friend. I’d
sometimes come up and play chess with him. He was a good man.” His eyes
traveled over her.
Feeling small under his gaze, she
was beginning to wish she’d changed into something less - common. But then she
didn’t have anything uncommon in her wardrobe. In her off hours she was a jeans
and t-shirt kind of girl. The only reason she was wearing khakis and a white
blouse now was because she was always told that one dressed business casual to
travel. “Yes, it was sad, but he was older. These things happen,
unfortunately.”
The light in his eyes showed
amusement. “Very pragmatic. Were you able to find everything okay?”
“Yes, thank you.” In the back of the
house the tea pot began to whistle. “Oh, my tea…”
He gave her an expectant look.
Crap. Was he expecting an
invitation? It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be hospitable, but really she’d
just arrived and wanted time to sort through everything - alone. Finally, she
gave him a smile and relented. “Would you like a cup of tea, Michael?”
“I would love some.”
She fought back a groan, stepped
back into the house and opened the door so he could enter. Once he was inside,
she closed the door behind him and motioned him to follow. “Come back to the
kitchen.”
As he followed her back she found
herself increasingly annoyed that he’d expected an invitation in the first
place. Then she was annoyed at herself that she felt guilty enough to invite
him in. Reaching the kitchen before him, she turned off the stove and took the
kettle off the burner. Pulling a second cup from the cupboard, she placed a
teabag in each cup, and then poured the boiling water over each. Finally, she
covered each cup with a saucer.
She heard a deep chuckle behind her.
Turning to him she asked, “Is
something funny?”
“I always thought the saucer went
under the cup.” He gave her, what she surmised, was an arrogant smile.
Despite that, she couldn’t help but
notice how gorgeous he was. For some reason his good looks annoyed her even
more. Good looking men always thought they could charm any woman they set their
sights on. If he was trying to be funny, she wasn’t amused. “It keeps the water
hot while the tea steeps,” she explained, feigning a smile.
“Ah, I see. That makes sense. I
apologize for laughing,” he said, still obviously amused.
She could tell the apology wasn’t
genuine, and decided to change the subject. In the very least she could try to
be a gracious hostess. “Feel free to have a seat.” She motioned to the kitchen
table. It was probably good to at least get to know her tenant a little. “So
how long have you lived in the castle?”
He sat down, his eyes again
traveling over her and through her. “Almost four years. I have an apartment in
Dublin, but only use it when I’m there on business. I much prefer the castle.”
Checking the tea, she decided it was
dark enough and set a saucer and cup in front of him. “I don’t have any cream,
I’m sorry. But I think I saw some sugar cubes in the cupboard...”
“No need, I take it plain.” He
examined her some more and took a sip of the tea and wrinkled his nose a
little.
“You know, you keep looking at me.
Do I have hanging threads or a stain or something?” Looking down at herself,
she smoothed her blouse.
“Do I keep looking at you
strangely?”
“Yes, and you also just wrinkled
your nose at my tea.” It was just like her to be blunt. As a girl, her father
was always telling her that there were some things she should keep to herself
because being honest and up front was offensive to a lot of sensitive people.
She never listened, or learned.
He chuckled again. “The tea is fine,
just strong. And I wasn’t aware I was looking at you in a way that might be
uncomfortable for you.”
“Oh.” What she really wanted to do
was tell him his time was up and send him back to his castle.
“So when does your husband join
you?” he asked.
A vision of Dave jumped into her
head and she shoved it aside. “I’m not married.”
“Boyfriend then?”
“Happily unattached to any male.”
She changed the subject yet again. For whatever reason, Michael O’Siad was
getting on her last nerve. He was presumptuous and nosy. “So I’ll come by to
inspect the castle later this week. Maybe in the morning even?”
“Very good. All business.” He
studied her some more. “You’re not a lesbian are you?”
“Excuse me?” The question left her
aghast.
“Well you don’t have a boyfriend or
husband. You are happily without a male, specifically, you made that very clear. So I’m wondering how a
beautiful woman like you is single at your age.”
“No. I’m not a lesbian,” she said.
“As I was saying, I want to just take an inventory of the property and see if
anything needs to be fixed. Anything my uncle didn’t get to. So please make a
list of any maintenance issues…”
“James usually gets to my
maintenance issues quite quickly. I have no problems. I’ll be in all week. You
can stop by any time. So I stand corrected. You’re just coming out of a bad
relationship.” He took another sip from the tea cup though she was sure it was
out of politeness rather than enjoyment.
“Mr. O’Siad, my personal life is
none of your business. Now who is James?”
His grin widened. “Call me Michael,
please. James is your maintenance man. It appears I’ve offended you. I
apologize. I just find you curious. Since we’re neighbors I thought it might be
nice to get to know one another.”
She bit her lower lip. Curious how?
What the hell did that mean? “Well, let’s keep things… business, shall we?”
“Ah, yes. I see I’ve pushed a button
and for that I apologize. I didn’t mean to pry.”
A surge of annoyance overwhelmed
her. “Of course you meant to pry, otherwise you wouldn’t have.”
He shrugged. “Perhaps later this
week you’ll let me show you around town. Let me take you to dinner.”
“Are you picking up on me?” The more
annoyed she got, the more he seemed amused.
“I just wanted to offer to show you
around.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“I’d like to get to know you.”
She was at a loss for words at
first, but quickly recovered. “Thank you, but I’m not interested.”
“On the contrary, I think you’re
very interested, you’re simply afraid.” He narrowed his eyes. “But of what? Was
it a nasty divorce perhaps?”
“I think maybe you should go.” Her
hands started shaking and she realized she was trembling a little.
“He left you for someone else?” His
blue, piercing eyes grew narrower.
Her heart began pounding in her
chest. Somehow this stranger knew things about her that only her closest
friends knew. Who did this arrogant prick think he was? “It’s late and I’m
tired.”
He stood. “I suppose I’ve imposed
enough.”
“Yes, you have,” she whispered under
her breath. She started toward the front door, very aware that he was right
behind her. She opened the door.
“It was nice to meet you Ms.
Penhall. I look forward to your visit. Goodnight.” He turned and made his way
down the stairs.
She closed the door and locked it
behind him. “What a jackass,” she said.
