Little Taylor Swenson made me hot in ways no one ever had.

Taking slaves had been my way for years.

Taylor wouldn't be taken as one, and I could see that from the start.

Secrets and lies were a necessity for me.

Could I make her my last secret? Could I bind her to me? Could I silence her, using only my body and special talents?

Being a new hire from Boston Arts Academy, I found myself in Lubbock, Texas, working as the newest professor of Ancient Arts at Texas Tech.

I wanted to leave my old life behind. Way behind.

Trouble had a way of finding me, but I thought a place as big as Texas would hide me well enough.

Until she walked into my classroom, rain-soaked, shaking with the cold, and utterly clueless to the predator who would lead her down a path of absolute destruction.

Or that's how I thought at the time.

Could she be the one woman on Earth who could tame the beast who resided within me?

He walked into the classroom and every girl's eyes went to him.

Tall, sexy, muscles that just wouldn't quit.

When the girl who sat next to me called dibs, I laughed.

When she glared at me, I thought twice about what I'd done.

When she forced herself on the new guy, I thought I'd better get him out of her nasty-ass clutches before he got something uncurable from her.

Love wasn't a thing I'd even contemplated, but sometimes things happen that you never see coming.