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Chapter 1

Maksim

“Giveher”

I kept my voice low as I knelt at the altar, but the deep baritone of my words seemed to echo off the centuries old cut stone walls When I loweredsaw her The curve of her neck, the shape of her lips, the way her skirt outlined the V of her pussy when the wind blew just right Anika My goddamned stepsister

“Giveobsession” The cut ofand I waited

No answer

There was never an answer

But any son who loses his mother as a child and says he doesn’t talk to her is full of shit My mother had been dead for years, but I talked to her all the ti at the shrine I’d built in her old chaAnika

Myeach other, I was sure of it But the fucking irony was this: Anika was just the type of wo, whip-smart, fiercely independent And so daoddamned heart hurt

The other irony, of course, was the fact I was the heir to the throne and could have any woman I chose But the only one I wanted was the one I couldn’t have

It was fucking impossible So, I turned to my mother for help And I needed some serious help Because without it, this obsession would destroy dom

Or both

No ot no relief I loved Anika to distraction, to insanity I thought of her constantly When I ake, I thought about protecting her When I slept, I thought about fucking her I woke up hard for her and went to sleep even harder It never ended And unless I found a way to make her mine, I knew it never would

A noise froht made me open my eyes and look over If anybody heard odda to go check, I rubbed my temples and ran my hand down my stubble as I approached the door