Prologue

Tall, Dark, and Mysterious

It was always dark when he visited me.

I felt his presence in the room long before he gently slid down the covers down my heated body.

The bed dipped behind me under the weight of his giant, bulky frame just as his large hand spanned over my belly and pulled me backwards against the heat of his body. His big, warm, powerful, ripped body.

My lips parted and a soft sigh escaped me at the feel of his rough, calloused finger slowly dipping under my tank to softly caress the skin over my hipbone teasingly which elicited a full-body shiver and I unconsciously leaned back to snuggle further into him.

My eyes slowly fluttered open and I took in the darkness, my bedroom bathing in the soft, translucent glow of the moonlight pouring in through the open windows behind me.

"Nina." He grunted out against my ear, his voice deep and gravelly and I felt the stubble of his whiskered jaw deliciously tickle my skin.

A shudder wracked through my body at the sound of his husky voice calling out my name and I closed my eyes, my heart beating faster in anticipation, "Mmh?"

"Spread your fuckin' legs."

My body convulsed against his and I exhaled roughly at his words before I slowly spread my legs, knowing better than to disobey him.

Not that I wanted to disobey him.

Lifting my left leg off the bed, I cocked my knee and brought them back down silently to rest them over his legs behind me.

Then I waited.

His feral growl of approval reached my ears – the sound reverberating from his gut throughout the silent room; the vibrations sending desire-filled electric shocks down my spine while my body hummed with arousal, the vein at the side of my neck throbbing precariously.

His hand left my belly and slowly trailed down, going lower and further lower... until it reached its destination.

A soft gasp escaped me and I arched back against him when his large hand cupping my sex over my knickers slowly slid the fabric to the side and he stroked the tip of his index finger over my clit in a lazy whisper-soft touch - a tease.

My eyes fluttered close and rolled to the back of my head, anticipation coiling in my lower belly and I shuddered, wanting more, needing more. Something.

Anything.

"Drenched." He grunted out silently with a slight gruffness to his voice; his full lips firmly resting against the soft flesh of my earlobe.

I felt the moisture drip out of me, my thighs quivering helplessly as I shuddered against his hold and placed my hand over his brawny forearm, gripping him tightly while I whimpered, "Please."

Letting out a low chuckle, he slipped his index finger inside me, inch by inch in a slow, calculated motion, easing it inside me as far as he could, until he was knuckle-deep in me and I moaned out loud, feeling the blood in my veins burn down to the very tip of my toes and immediately rush back to my ears.

That's when his thumb darted out to flick the throbbing nub at the same time he dipped his tongue over the sensitive flesh under my earlobe and then softly grazed the susceptible skin with his teeth.

Another tease.

My inner-muscles promptly squeezed his finger in response and my lips quivered, my sensitive nipples tingling and scraping against the fabric of my tank top, a bead of sweat forming over the skin between my breasts and trickling down the warm flesh languidly.

"Honey." I breathed out pleadingly, squirming against his hold and wiggled my bum further into the massive bulge in his trousers.

And then he gave it to me.

Withdrawing his finger almost all the way out, he added another finger and roughly thrust them inside me. This time - no teasing, no exploring.

Just raw, dirty finger-fucking.

He pumped his large fingers in and out of me repeatedly and unabashedly until I felt myself clenching around him, my eyes rolling back in ecstasy. I heard my screams, whimpers, and moans echoing throughout the otherwise silent room as I leaned on the edge of my orgasm.

"Now." He growled against my neck, curling his fingers inside me, the pads of which softly caressed across my G-spot and at the same time, he stroked his thumb against my clit.

And that's all it took.

My eyes clenched shut and I screamed out loud, my body buckling against him and I felt the pleasure coursing through my veins while the white spots enveloped my vision as I rode through the waves of my soul-shattering orgasm.

Then I slumped back against him, breathing hard.

Damn.

Mind numb from my release, I slowly turned around and cuddled into his muscular, burly body that would probably give Zeus a run for his money (legit) and I placed my cheek against the defined bulge of his pectoral muscle and wrapped my arms around him, my legs tangling with his large ones.

And then I sighed dreamily, savoring the feel of being in his arms and at the heat exuding from his large, warm body.

My lips curved into a drowsy, goofy grin and I breathed out, "Awesome."

While Tall, Dark, and Mysterious just tightened his arms around me, otherwise remaining silent.

Not that it was unusual.

After five years of being with him, I knew that he was a silent, broody man; the kind of person who didn't speak unless he needed to.

His hand snaked up and curled around the nape of my neck, his thumb deliciously digging into my scalp, an action which told me he didn't mind my post-orgasmic cuddle as he ordered gruffly, "Sleep."

I let out another dreamy sigh and snuggled closer, clenching my eyes shut and felt him kiss the top of my head in response as if he knew I had just obeyed him.

Spooky.

At that thought, I lifted my head, tipping my chin up and opened my eyes and stared at his profile. Not that I could; he always made sure his face was hidden in the darkness from my watchful and brazenly curious eyes. (Hence, the Dark and Mysterious part in his nickname. Genius, I know.)

I frowned to myself, scrutinizing him with my narrowed orbs and let the train of thought take over my mind.

It didn't take a sleuth to notice that Tall, Dark, and Mysterious was a complicated man.

And this kind of complication resulted in me knowing only ten things about him - as a person, even though I had been with him for about five years now.

His name wasn't one of those ten things.

TDM Fact #1: He didn't speak much.

Not that he needed to. His silence spoke for him. He had a way of making me obey to a command he didn't actually verbalize. He was awesome that way.

TDM Fact #2: No inappropriate touches.

It was weird how for the past years, he was the one responsible for countless orgasms on my part and never asked for anything in return. Even though, I really wanted to.

And Holy Mother of God, I wanted to!

He had a strict 'No-hands-or-lips-or-tongue-below-his-belt' policy. Real shame, I say.

At times, I used to wonder whether he was an artificial humanoid dildo sent from the future as a part of some beta-testing program put forth by the scientists to experiment on the women of the current era.

And I still found that thought plausible.

TDM Fact #3: He was a Generous lover (yes, with a capital G).

I was pretty sure that if I had searched for it in the Oxford dictionary, I would have had found his name synonymous with the G word.

TDM Fact #4: Swapping of spits or any other bodily fluids was forbidden.

In simpler terms – we never kissed nor did we ever have sex.

He came into my room at night, pleasured the ever-loving crap out of my comparatively tiny body and then we cuddled.

One can say, we were sort of snuggle-bunnies with benefits (the benefits strictly on my part).

TDM Fact #5: Any attempt of seducing him was bound to prove futile.

You cannot seduce him, period. Trust me, I should know.

On a fateful night, six months back, I tried to do so by stripping myself naked and lying under the covers, patiently waiting for him to ravish my dorky world.

Didn't happen.

He somehow found out I was lying beneath the covers in my birthday suit (even though I had the covers up to my neck) and he proceeded to pull out the fabric from the sides and then roll my body around it, blanketing my figure from all the sides like I was a some sort of a human-sized tofu and then he lied down and cuddled with the said human-tofu.

The worst part about it: since I was sleeping with the hands bent at my elbows, resting my palms flat over my stomach when he had supposedly rolled me around in the covers like a rag-doll and tightly secured the soft fabric around me; I found myself unable to move my hands from my belly.

Hence, it resulted in me waking him up in the middle of the night requesting him to scratch that infuriating itch on my bum because I was incapable of doing so.

I could still hear his wicked, little snort of amusement when he had gradually complied with my request.

Other than that, he thankfully didn't say a thing nor did he ever bring up the bum-itching incident ever again.

Smart guy, that Tall, Dark, and Mysterious was!

TDM Fact #6: He never showed his face.

It was always shadowed by darkness. Though, I could see the outline of his features, his defined squared-jaw with stubble that always tickled me when he kissed my skin, his full lips soft against my sweet spots but other than that – Nada!

I knew he was ruggedly handsome.

Knew it in my gut. Call it female intuition, I suppose.

But I also knew not to push him - not that I could.

A man like him wasn't supposed to be pushed.

TDM Fact #7: He liked me being close.

He always had his hands on me. Even in his sleep, he held me close to his big, warm body – an action which never failed to make my lady bits flutter wildly and my belly all tingly.

TDM Fact #8: He knew everything about me.

I don't know how but I could always feel his wild, smoldering gaze burning through me in the dark. Like he knew me. Like he knew everything about me.

What I was thinking. What I was feeling.

Who I was.

And he never hid that from me. 'Cause that was a part of who he was; a man who was always in control. A man you would never be able to surprise. A man who knew exactly who it was he was sharing his bed with. Simply, he was a man. All man.

"You're starin'." His deep, whiskey-smooth voice brought me out of my thoughts.

Blinking twice, I focused my eyes back up at him and saw him staring right back at me through the darkness and I felt the sensation of his vigilant eyes running over my features, studying me silently.

I opened my mouth hesitantly and curled my fingers tighter over the fabric of his shirt above his abs, whispering, "I have a question."

His hard body tensed against mine at my words for a beat before he gradually relaxed, though I could still feel his apprehension and he squeezed his hand on my hip, giving me the go ahead to ask him the question.

Like I said, he didn't talk much.

I parted my lips and began to ask him the questions that were on the tip of my tongue since the moment I met him:

What's your name? How old are you? Why do you always visit me at night? What exactly are we? How do you sneak into my room every night? How do you know my name even though I have never introduced myself to you?

Only, I couldn't.

Instead, my mouth thought it was better to blurt out, "Can I touch your bum?"

As soon as the question left my lips, I cringed and mentally face-palmed myself. Then I thought over it some more and realized that was actually not a bad question.

I let out a soft squeak when he dipped his face against mine and pressed in deeper, his nose lazily nuzzled my own as I closed my eyes and my breath left my lips in small puffs, my heart throbbing against my ribs at his closeness. He curled his large hand over my jaw, his thumb skimming across the apple of my cheek and then down the side of my face before it went away completely.

"No." He muttered quietly.

My eyes fluttered open at his response and I did a slow blink before I dipped my chin, dropping my head back into his chest and grumbled out grouchily, "Thought so."

Ah, the dreaded Tall, Dark, and Mysterious fact number two!

I harrumphed in annoyance and nuzzled his chest, breathing him in and felt my lungs fill with his alluring scent. My lips parted and a soft sigh escaped me and my body hummed at the essence of his mouth-watering intoxication. Awesome.

His hands tightened around me and he dropped another kiss on top of my head, giving my sides a gentle squeeze. I grinned to myself and whispered softly, "Good night to you too."

He grunted.

I giggled at his grunt.

He grumbled something under his breath in response to my giggle.

And I giggled some more.

He lifted my hand, brought them to his mouth and placed a soft kiss to the sensitive skin at the inside of my wrist, still grumbling.

I stopped breathing.

And my giggle faded into a soft, drowsy smile.

Then my eyes fluttered shut.

And I slept.

With a smile still curved over my lips.

* * *

A yawn escaped past my lips and my eyelids sluggishly fluttered open, adjusting to the darkness around me, only to find myself snuggled firmly against a hard, muscular body.

I paused.

My ears perked up and I heard the familiar sound of his heartbeat and saw his chest rising and falling in accordance with his slow, deep breaths.

I paused some more.

Then I grinned mischievously.

I cuddled further into him and lifted my hand and slowly brought it down and daintily placed my palm flat against the small of his back. Then I waited.

When he didn't stir or jolt up awake, I gingerly lowered my palm downwards and dipped it inside his sweatpants, encountering no underwear (yowza!) and then I gently trailed my palm lower and curled it around the warm, delicious right globe of his salacious bottom.

Then I squeezed it.

Oh sweet heavens!

My eyes rolled shut at the feel of his warm skin against mine and I swallowed back a feminine squeak, unable to stop myself from breathing out breathlessly, "Awe-some!"

As soon as the 'some' in the word awesome left my mouth, a large hand wrapped around the wrist of the hand that was currently groping his tight, sexy bum and my body was lifted off the bed just as Tall, Dark, and Mysterious rolled around to lie on his back and dropped my body on top of his.

I landed against his chest with a loud, surprise shriek.

"Pain in my fuckin' ass." He growled out, his chest rumbling at the force of his low growl and he smacked the cheek of my bum lightly making me wince and bite the inside of my cheek.

Damn. Busted.

I pinched my lips together and tipped my chin, resting it on his chest and looked up at him. Lifting my index finger in the air close to his face, I pointed out courteously, "It was a really nice arse though."

Tall, Dark, and Mysterious blinked.

I continued, "And tight. And warm. Totally squeezable. And bite-able." I paused and looked up to see him staring at me unblinking, so I added idiotically, "You should really consider adding those points to your résumé. I know, I would."

That's when he placed his hand around the nape of my neck and pressed in, bringing my face closer to his and he held it there, staring into my eyes for a beat as if searching for something.

And then he did the most beautiful thing.

He leaned forward and shoved his face into my neck and burst out laughing.

Sweet Jesus!

The vibrations of his laughter against my neck and at the sight of his shoulders shaking in front of me, I felt my own lips curve into a soft smile.

It was at that time, I first felt it.

This slight pang in my heart. A low throb slowly spreading and expanding until I felt my heart burning and that's when I knew, when it came to him, I was completely screwed.

Oh God.

So freaking screwed.

Lifting his face from mine, he tightened his arms around me, bringing me even closer to his large, warm, still shaking body. He dipped his face and rested his forehead against mine and I felt his warm gaze burn right to down my throbbing heart.

He skimmed the pad of his thumb across the outline of my lower lip and muttered silently, "Definitely mine."

Oh God.

Oh God.

Oh... God.

Definitely mine.

Damn. Fuck. Crap.

I was so completely, seriously, abso-freaking-lutely screwed.

Exhaling slowly, I tried to calm my heart and dropped my head back to his chest, squeezing my eyes shut and swallowed loudly, feeling the clog of emotion biting down my throat.

On the fifth exhale, my heartbeat slowed and I relaxed into him, sighing softly at the feel of his large hand tenderly rubbing my back. Up and down and then back up again repeatedly.

He knew.

Which wasn't a surprise; he always knew what I was feeling. And he was always there to comfort me; showing me that this giant, broody hunk of a man had a gentle side when it came to me.

Yep. Screwed.

I shook off my thoughts and kissed his chest, whispering softly, "Night, honey."

He grunted his reply.

I smiled and closed my eyes and wiggled on top of his giant body, getting comfortable only to stiffen when I felt his large member poking my bum – all thick and hard. And oh so very hard. Oh dear Lord.

Did I say hard?

And just like that, it all came rushing back.

Nipples tingling.

Clit throbbing.

Knickers drenching.

Body humming.

Breathing accelerating.

I bit down my lower lip and squirmed again, grinding myself against him; using his hard body to try and relieve the ache in my nether regions. Sliding my body down, I raised my hips and felt his erection bump against my clitoris. My head fell down and buried itself deeper into him, my forehead to his chest and I let out a low whimper and clutched the fabric of his shirt tighter at his hips as I continued moving my body against his.

His body immediately tensed underneath mine and his large hands came to my waist, stopping my movements with ease. Then he rumbled out, "For fuck sake, woman! I just finger-fucked your cunt fifteen minutes ago."

I let out another whimper.

Dirty talk was so not helping.

I raised my eyes to meet his and I whispered sheepishly, feeling my cheeks flush, "So, is that a firm no or can I persuade you further?" I blinked at him expectantly and looked at him through my big, hopeful eyes.

He lifted his hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes to the ceiling as if begging the Lord for some patience. Then he looked back down and shook his head and I swear I heard him mutter, "Pain in my ass," under his breath. This time though, his voice laced with hints of amusement.

He brought his dark eyes back to mine and grunted quietly, "Got five seconds to strip off your underwear and sit on my face."

A shiver wracked through my body at the quiet command concealed within his grunt and wetness gushed out of me, pooling around in my knickers. I jumped into action. I pulled away from him and bit my lip and quickly took off my underwear and then straddled his face covered in darkness, looking down at him shyly.

"Hands to the headboard, babe. You move 'em, you lose my mouth. Hear?" He grabbed my bottom in both of his gigantic hands and lowered my body towards his lips only to stop when he was inches away from my sex and he lifted his eyes to meet mine and stared at me expectantly, waiting for me to answer.

I brought my hands to the headboard and gripped it tightly, curling my palms around it and looked down, still blushing and whispered softly, "I hear you, honey."

He didn't reply.

Instead, he lowered my body further and his lips touched me there and my head fell back, my chest arching and a long moan escaped me.

TDM Fact #9: He was an all-rounder.

Tall, Dark, and Mysterious wasn't just good with his hands, but also with his lips, his tongue, his teeth... oh those sneaky pair of teeth. He was absolutely amazing.

And it felt beautiful.

Ravishing.

And completely and literally awesome!

* * *

"Good?" He whispered softly, bringing me back against his warmth, thirty minutes and two toe-curling orgasms later and after I tagged my panties and pulled them back on.

I buried my face against his neck and nuzzled him, cuddling closer and sighing happily. I mumbled something incoherent in response.

I felt his smile when he kissed the top of my head and grunted to himself, "My woman's good."

My woman.

I liked that.

The corners of my lips curved into a sleepy smile and I melted into him, sighing some more.

He lifted his hand and weaved his long fingers through my hair, his other hand tightening around my waist and he ordered, "Sleep."

This time, I didn't argue.

I just mumbled a drowsy, "Night," and I felt my heavy eyelids flutter close.

Not before my lips puckered up and I sleepily kissed the side of his neck and I may or may not have parted my lips and licked his skin with the tip of my tongue and mumbled tiredly, "Love you."

And then, I was out.

But not before I felt his body tense up and his hand in my hair stop mid-movement and the sound of his quiet, dead voice grunting to himself, "Fuck me."

Not knowing for the first time in his life, someone had taken Tall, Dark, and Mysterious, a man who was always in control, by surprise.

* * *

Beep.

"Shut up."

Beep beep.

"Shut... up!"

Beep beep beep.

"It's like you're intentionally trying to piss me off!" I grumbled out, stretching my hands in the direction of my night-stand, mindlessly searching for that damn alarm.

Once I had it in my palm, I gripped it tightly and flung it towards the nearest wall and felt my lips curve maliciously when I heard the sound of it smashing against the hard surface.

Point to Nina.

Huzzah!

I grinned victoriously and fell back asleep, only to wake up two minutes later when my bladder decided it was now her turn to piss me off.

Ah, screw it!

I groaned to myself and sat up on my bed, feeling the warm sheets pool around my waist and I yawned out loud, lifting my hands to the sky and stretching my body.

Only then I opened my eyes and blinked twice, looking around my large blurry room. Almost instinctively, my head snapped to the side and I braced myself, trying not to get my hopes back up like I usually did, every day for the past five years.

And at the sight in front of me, I was indeed spot-on on my decision of bracing myself.

Because the other side of the bed was empty.

And cold.

Damn.

My shoulders slumped and I felt my eyes sting with tears, my posture crouching and I chuckled wryly, "Tall, Dark, and Mysterious fact number ten," I started, my voice devoid of any emotion.

I dipped my face and covered them with my hands, whispering quietly, "He isn't real."

And he never was.

He was just a part of my imagination.

The literal man of my dreams.

Damn. Fuck. Crap.

Not giving a shit about my emotional state, my bladder continued wave her imaginary hands in the air, trying to get my attention back at her.

"Yeesh, lady! I'm going, I'm going!" I grumbled to myself, leaping off the bed and walking into the bathroom mindlessly like a zombie.

Quickly doing my business, I flushed the toilet and lowered the lid and washed my hands and took off my soiled panties (A side-effect of dreaming about Tall, Dark, and Mysterious) and replaced them with a fresh pair and walked back into my bedroom.

I looked down at my four-poster Queen-sized bed and dropped myself face-down and snuggled under the covers. It was Saturday, after all.

I frowned to myself and slowly turned my head to the side and ran my gaze over the Tall, Dark, and Mysterious' side of the bed (which meant it was partly my side of the bed, considering he usually made me sleep on top of him; in my dreams, of course!) and I felt my heart ache.

I lifted my hand to his side and gently placed my palm flat over the covers.

Then I cried out softly, sniffing to myself, "Honey."

There was no reply.

Not even a silent grunt.

I clenched my eyes shut and rolled around to lie on my back, dropping my forearm over my eyes when I felt the first tear drop down my cheek. And then another.

And another.

And it didn't stop until my eyelids grew heavy and I slowly drifted to sleep.

And because I was asleep, I was unaware.

Unaware of the burly, herculean man watching me silently from the darkened corner of the room.

Unaware of his silent footsteps as he walked towards the bed with a determined look.

Unaware of him tucking strands of my unruly raven hair behind my ear and looking down at me with a gentle, warm expression that he had only ever directed towards one person in his life. Me.

"Tomorrow, Nina." He whispered quietly and leaned down, brushing his lips against mine in a barely-there touch and continued in a quiet, deadly grunt:

"You're gonna know exactly who you fuckin' belong to."

* * *