Surrender
A House of Sin Novella
By Elisabeth Naughton
1001 Dark Nights
Surrender
A House of Sin Novella
By Elisabeth Naughton
1001 Dark Nights
Copyright 2018 Elisabeth Naughton
ISBN: 978-1-948050-14-2
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
SURRENDER
A House of Sin Novella
By Elisabeth Naughton
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Elisabeth Naughton comes a new story in her House of Sin series…
The leaders of my House want her dead.
The men I’ve secretly aligned myself with want her punished for screwing up their coup.
I’ve been sent by both to deal with her, but one look at the feisty redhead and I’ve got plans of my own.
Before I carry out anyone else’s orders, she’s going to give me what I want. And only when I’m satisfied will I decide if she lives or dies.
Depending, of course, on just how easily she surrenders...
**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 Elisabeth Naughton
Before topping multiple bestseller lists—including those of the New York Times, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal—Elisabeth Naughton taught middle school science. A voracious reader, she soon discovered she had a knack for creating stories with a chemistry of their own. The spark turned into a flame, and Naughton now writes full-time. Besides topping bestseller lists, her books have been nominated for some of the industry's most prestigious awards, such as the RITA® and Golden Heart Awards from Romance Writers of America, the Australian Romance Reader Awards, and the Golden Leaf Award. When not dreaming up new stories, Naughton can be found spending time with her husband and three children in their western Oregon home. Learn more at www.ElisabethNaughton.com.
Also from Elisabeth Naughton
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Eternal Guardians
(paranormal romance)
MARKED
ENTWINED
TEMPTED
ENRAPTURED
ENSLAVED
BOUND
TWISTED
RAVAGED
AWAKENED
UNCHAINED
Firebrand Series
(paranormal romance)
BOUND TO SEDUCTION
SLAVE TO PASSION
POSSESSED BY DESIRE
Against All Odds Series
(romantic suspense)
WAIT FOR ME
HOLD ON TO ME
MELT FOR ME
Aegis Series
(romantic suspense)
FIRST EXPOSURE
SINFUL SURRENDER
EXTREME MEASURES
LETHAL CONSEQUENCES
FATAL PURSUIT
Deadly Secrets Series
(romantic suspense)
REPRESSED
GONE
PROTECTED
UNSPEAKABLE
House of Sin Series
FORBIDDEN
DECEIVED
UNDONE
Stolen Series
(romantic suspense)
STOLEN FURY
STOLEN HEAT
STOLEN SEDUCTION
STOLEN CHANCES
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 Paig
e
THE BED MATE by Kendall Ryan
PRINCE ROMAN by CD Reiss
NO RESERVATIONS by Kristen Proby
DAWN OF SURRENDER by Liliana Hart
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TEMPT ME by J. Kenner
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Table of Contents
Book Description
About Elisabeth Naughton
Also from Elisabeth Naughton
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
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Epilogue
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Five
Discover the World of 1001 Dark Nights
Discover More Elisabeth Naughton
An excerpt from Forbidden by Elisabeth Naughton
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.
“And some will awaken you to things you didn’t even know were sleeping within.”
–Natalie Peralta
Chapter One
Marco
She was temptation personified. Everything I was not supposed to be enticed by. And yet, one look at her pale skin, blond hair, and deep brown eyes behind that butterfly mask, and I knew I had to have her.
Not just because she was my target. Oh, this yearning had nothing to do with that. As I studied her across the ballroom in the skimpy black dress that showed off her tiny waist, voluptuous chest, and shapely ass, a fire built inside me, one that burned hotter and stronger than the reason I was here.
She was the sexiest thing I’d seen in all my thirty years, even with that ridiculous wig and those fake contacts. And before this night was over, I was going to feel those sexy legs wrap around my waist and draw me in. I would hear her scream my name as she surrendered to me...even if the name she screamed wasn’t really mine.
I crossed the black and white checked floor toward her, unable to stay still by the column where I’d been watching the masquerade party in the shadows for the last hour. The room was filled with wealthy men and the women they preyed upon, all hiding their identities as they met up, paired off, and disappeared to the lower levels of the mansion for whatever debauched activities they could imagine. I was already considering which room I would take her to. Would hers be a high-pitched scream? The kind that threatened to shatter glass? Or a low, throaty sound that vibrated through every cell in my body and triggered my own release?
My mission where she was concerned was obvious. She was the eldest child of the head of House Merrick, centered in the U.K., one of the five main Houses spread across Europe that made up the Entente. The other Houses were in Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. For over a thousand years, the Entente had been controlling the world from the shadows—manipulating world governments, militaries, even currencies and economies all for their gain. Most people didn’t know they existed. Those that suspected something nefarious was going on behind the scenes were labeled conspiracy nuts. This woman, though, was making waves for the Entente without her father’s knowledge. She was part of what had been labeled the Resistance—those working to undermine the Entente and destroy its power. And my House—House Salvatici in Italy—wanted her stopped before she ruined everything.
“Threaten her. Scare her. Make sure she gets the message that she is not to fuck with House Salvatici.”
Of course, we couldn’t just outright assassinate her. She was an heir, after all, and there were rules. Rules the rest of the world might find ridiculous, but which those of us in the Entente did not. Those ancient rules kept the Entente running smoothly. They were sacred. I’d been sent to make sure she surrendered to our will and backed down. And I fully intended to fulfill my duty. But after seeing her, after taking in those plump lips and that sinful body, I first intended to make her surrender to me. In every filthy way I wanted.
She was standing at the bar, sipping what looked like a bourbon or rum or tequila as she scanned the room. Most women I’d met didn’t like strong alcohol, though, so I was sure I had to be wrong. I moved up next to her—not too close, not too far away—and signaled the bartender. As he moved my direction, I said, “Large Laphroaig. On the rocks.”
“Ten year?”
“Eighteen.”
A nervous look crossed the bartender’s face. “That’s a very rare bottle, sir. I’m not sure we have that.”
“I’m sure you do,” I responded in my practiced Spanish accent. “I’ll wait while you find it.”
Beside me, the blonde lifted her auburn brow that didn’t match her hair color and sipped her drink, continuing to look out over the crowd of people drinking, laughing, flirting—some even dancing to the low, sultry beat of some jazz number I didn’t recognize.
The bartender disappeared into a back room and returned severa
l minutes later with a bottle in his hand. “Turns out we did have it.”
Shocker. The masters of the universe running this masquerade didn’t drink the cheap shit themselves.
The bartender added ice to a glass and began pouring. Beside me, the blonde’s perfume—something that included gardenias, my favorite flower—drifted to my nose. Another enticement I couldn’t refuse.
I pulled a generous tip from my wallet and set it on the gleaming wood as the bartender handed me my glass.
“Thank you, sir,” he said in his clipped British accent.
I lifted the glass to my lips and took a large sip. As the bartender moved to help someone else, the blonde said, “A whisky connoisseur. That or you were just trying to see how cheap our host is.”
I smirked and turned toward her. “They always hide the good stuff.”
“Sounds as if you know from experience.”
Her accent was very posh. And very un-commoner. A dead giveaway she was from the upper British crust and not the mind-washed kitten she was pretending to be.
“Here? No.” I worked to accentuate my own accent so she wouldn’t realize where I was really from. “But at rich parties like this, they always keep the good stuff hidden.”
I offered my hand. “Marc Garcia. I’m in the computer business.”
I figured that was a boring enough cover. And a partial truth to my name would keep me out of trouble.
“Computers, hmm?” Her silky fingers slid over mine for a split second before disappearing way too fast. “What are you doing here, Mr. Garcia?”
There was definite interest in her eyes. I hadn’t been wrong earlier when I’d thought she was checking me out. The little minx was as attracted to me as I was to her. She was just working hard to hide it.