**Please note – the following is unedited and remains subject to change. Worldwide copyright laws are observed.**

If women tell you they don’t like power, they’re fucking lying. They do like it, and do you know how I know this? They’ve all become a little too obsessed with books and movies that make masochistic males out to be the good guys. So as I tell you my side of the story, remember, I’m the good guy. Well, at the very least, I’m good-looking.

People say I’m arrogant and rude, which is laughable when that is what has drawn them to me in the first place. I would prefer to think of myself as a confident, self-assured man who knows what he wants. And I most definitely knew what I wanted when it came to Evie.

That girl wasn’t like the others, which is probably why I took the whole game to another level and had to put a ring on her finger. I wanted her as my property. She needed to be mine to do what I wanted with; mine to control. She was a challenge. Even now I can see it in her eyes as she’s gagging on my cock. Now don’t go and get all soft on me. You think she really doesn’t want this? Bullshit. She’s a great actress, the theatrics all being part of the game. It makes it more exciting for me and her if she puts up a little resistance.

Do you know what I like best about Evie? Her mouth. She’s got these luscious lips that are full and plump. I’m preferable to her painting them with a red glossy lipstick because it gets me off to see the bright stain around my cock as she gives me head. Like the clothes she wears and the way she acts, I control everything down to her make-up. I have her wear the kind of make-up that I’m preferable to. Don’t judge. I told you, I like control.

It’s been a long day. I’ve had conferences with clients and dinner with business partners. We’ve only just returned to our apartment in the city but my night is far from over. There will always be more work, it’s the nature of the beast. I didn’t get to being CEO of my own company by slacking off. Labouring jobs are for losers. Sure, I had a privileged upbringing and was born with the proverbial silver spoon in my mouth, but I still believe in good work ethics. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and if I want to continue on my path of wealth and success then I’m damn well going to put my work before absolutely everything.

First things first, though. Despite the lateness of the evening, I wanted a little release. I wanted those red lips on my cock, sucking me until my balls cease to ache with lust. I’m not going to stop until I’ve squirted my seed into her throat and made her swallow the whole damn lot.

Nights like these, I prefer to sit in my leather chair that faces out of the panorama glass windows that afford views over the Brisbane River. The lights of the Story Bridge twinkle back at me and the water looks dark, murky and mysterious under the night sky. I bought this apartment as a wedding gift for Evie, but for the most part I don’t think she likes it. Ungrateful springs to mind, although it could just be the company. I’m seriously laughing as I tell you that, because to be honest, I don’t give a fuck whether she likes me or not. She’s mine and that’s all that matters.

When I come, I come hard. And no, it’s not aimed at the back of her mouth like she’d have liked. Pulling her hair makes her wince and she loses some of the suction on my shaft, her lips making sucking and slurping noises as she tries to reposition me back to where she’d like me. Unfortunately for her, she’s too late. Her perfectly positioned tongue is only lapping at the eye of my cock when I blow in her mouth. I’ve got to give her credit for her spunk because she does try to pull away. Unsuccessfully, I might add. My grip on her hair forces her to remain right where she is. I keep her there until I’m licked clean. Getting a blow job is not as good as fucking her pussy, but it sure comes a close second. I never give her the satisfaction of pleasurable sounds coming from my mouth, though, because that would be giving her the green light that she has in some way pleased me. And with the knowledge that she has pleased me would give her power. Power I don’t want her to have.

There may, or may not be tears in her eyes tonight. They have no effect on me whatsoever. I dismiss her to bathe before bed while I pour myself a refill of scotch. Twenty-two stories below, people are still walking the boardwalk that runs along the river’s edge. Some are alone, others huddled together like love birds. It’s a sentiment I’m not familiar with. My whole life is lived like a business transaction. I know I like having Evie in my life and I know I like the status of being a married man. But love, well, it’s not for me.

In the beginning I know Evie foolishly thought that it could be that way between us. Like her parents, she was lured into the deception I was selling. Trust me when I say, no one sells lies like I do. I showed them what they wanted to see; revealed the parts of me and my life that would be desirable by a family like theirs. Each and every one of them fell hook, line and sinker. It’s laughable, really, that one family could be so gullible. I’m sure over the last three years they’ve all tried to think a way out of the Alex Stratford contract, but all I can say is, ‘Over my dead body,’ or more likely, over theirs.

©Copyright 2013/2014 Shelly Pratt

About the Author

S. Pratt is a multi-genre author who lives on the east coast of Australia in northern New South Wales with her husband and two children. She has a choc Labrador, Scooby-Doo, and two little mice that the kids promised they’d look after. This is now Shelly’s job, amongst other things. Things you may not know about Shelly? She has four tattoos and would love more, is only now in her 30’s becoming a wine whore and is a fiercely, loyal friend.

Shelly’s breakout novel, Ruined and companion novella, Ruining Angel are contemporary romance fiction books available on kindle and print from the Amazon store.

Sanctuary of Mine is her latest work in the New Adult Romance genre. (Graphic Design by Cover It Designs). Available NOW.

Beloved Soul by Shelly Pratt is available through Amazon and is published through Eternal Press. Please note that Beloved Soul’s cover artwork, editing and publication are all done through Eternal Press.

All other novels are written and published by S. Pratt. Editing acknowledgements go to those who are listed on each individual book title.

You can find all the latest information about Shelly and her other books (in different genres) by visiting http://facebook.com/authorpratt or http://shellypratt.net or http://twitter.com/authorprattster