Page 112 of The Delta’s Rogue (Crescent Lake #4)

I love nights in Hawaii. The breeze off the ocean, the rustling palm fronds, frogs croaking and waves crashing, the twinkling stars that never end—the only place that comes close to its beauty and tranquility is Crescent Lake.

It’s home, and I was gone for far too long.

I’m sure it seems strange that the royal pack is here of all places. But where better to have the headquarters of a creature that most humans aren’t aware of than on a magical island hidden within a chain of islands?

Lemon and mint mix with the salty, flowery-scented air. Leather shoes tap across the glass roof of the greenhouse. Eyes sweep over me, and the mate bond thrums with sensual admiration as I pivot towards him.

My king.

He pauses his steps when I’m fully facing him, and I swear his heart stops.

A trillion stars glitter in the sky above us, but he looks at me like I’m the brightest one. The only one.

My heart stops too. How can it stay beating when he looks at me like that? Or when he’s dressed like that?

His olive-green suit hugs his tall, muscled frame, and his brown tie and leather shoes accent the green perfectly. He’s incredibly handsome. He always is. But tonight… Tonight, he’s delicious.

I smile at him once he remembers how to walk again and closes the gap between us.

“I missed you,” I say .

It’s only been a few hours since we saw each other last—a necessary separation so we could get ready for this night—but it feels like it’s been days.

“I missed you too,” he admits. He stays a foot away from me and scans me again. “Let me look at you.”

I twirl in place, taking my time to show off my gown to him. Custom made from silk and lace, it emphasizes my best assets—his favorite assets.

His breath catches when I’m in profile and he sees the hip-high lace inset that shows off my leg.

My palm flattens against the matching one on the other side as he hums his approval.

He traces along the lace that peeks out of the silk bodice and curves around the tops of my breasts.

That touch trails to the top of the long, off-the-shoulder lace sleeves and down to my fingertips.

He takes my hand in his and spins me under his arm. I laugh at the sudden speed of our movements, and I’m met with his breath-stealing smile when I complete my turn.

Sebastian tugs me flush against him. He cups my ass and sniffs the sprig of honeysuckle pinned into my soft waves. “I think this is my new favorite dress of yours,” he says into my ear.

“What dress was your favorite before?”

“The red one.”

Of course it’s the red one. I should have known.

“I hated that one until the moment you tied that strip around my neck,” I admit.

He smiles against my skin and kisses my neck, where I used to wear that fake yet very real choker. “Are you ready?” he asks.

“Beyond ready.”

I’ve been ready for a while. Months. But there was so much to do after we left Crescent Lake.

Between planning Dominic’s memorial, meetings with the council, meetings with my dad, public appearances, destroying the trafficker’s headquarters, working with the crones on the punishments for any surviving witches Amara had on her side, setting up the new team to rescue the girls Lyall and Amara sold, therapy appointments, and planning for our official coronation, it was hard to find a day to ourselves.

It was hard to feel like we deserved a day to ourselves. A moment to ourselves. A moment of peace .

He releases me and puts space between us again. His eyes sweep over me one more time as he reaches into his suit jacket and takes out the slim black box I’ve seen only once before.

Butterflies come to life in my stomach.

This is it. The final step in our relationship. Not as mates, but as a Dom and his sub.

I have his mark, and after tonight, I’ll have his collar too.

As he removes the lid and the choker comes into view, I’m trembling with excitement, anticipation, and lust. Because once he clasps it around my neck…

Heat thrums through me, my clit throbs, and I moan softly.

A half-smile tugs at Sebastian’s lips. “Patience, carino .”

My thighs clench at the deeper, commanding tone of his voice.

How can I be patient when he orders me around with that voice? When it melts my insides, tightens my nipples, and makes my pussy beg for his attention?

His smile grows at my deepening sexual frustration.

This is going to be a long night for me. I can already tell.

I can’t wait.

“Sarina.” Sebastian pockets the box and holds the choker across his palms, showing it to me as he speaks.

“Sarina, I give you this collar tonight to mark you as my sub. This collar is a physical representation of the contract we created and signed together.” He steps closer and lifts the collar so it almost touches my neck.

“You will bring this collar to me when you need me to be in control. You will come to me with your collar and our contract if, at any time, you want to amend the terms of our agreement. As your Dom, I promise to take care of you, protect you, pleasure you, or punish you in any way I see fit when this collar is around your neck. I promise to respect your safe word if and when you need to use it, and I promise to respect the boundaries put in place in our contract.”

I stare at him through my lashes as he makes his promises to me. The excitement in me builds with each one.

This is really happening. I’ll finally be his sub. His good little rogue.

“Do you also promise to abide by the rules in the contract we signed together?” he asks.

“I do.” My reply comes without hesitation.

“Good girl.”

I hold my breath as he encircles my neck with the choker and clasps it shut .

It’s the first time I’ve had anything around my neck since the night he saved me. The gold, diamonds, and rubies are cool against my skin, and the necklace is as tight as it can be without choking me or digging into my skin.

I wait for the panic to hit, for the fear to settle in, but it doesn’t. There’s no pain, no fear. The weight of the jewelry is comforting, and I feel safe.

Protected.

Free.

His.

It may not always be this way. There may be times when the fear overwhelms me and won’t release me from its grasp, and we have a plan in place for when that happens. But tonight… Tonight there is only freedom—freedom to be his and let him control me.

The long end of the chain dangles down my back to the top of my tailbone, and I can already imagine how it will feel against my bare skin when I’m in lingerie. Or naked.

He runs that chain through his fingers, and I shiver and whimper.

“Mine,” he growls. His hands cup my face, which he tilts higher, exposing my entire neck to him. “All fucking mine.”

My whimpers morph into little moans as he closes in on me with slow steps.

“Starting now,” he says, “the only words you’re allowed to say tonight are my name, and ‘yes, sir’. Every time you say something else, I’ll delay your orgasm by two minutes. If you do it too many times, you won’t get to come at all tonight. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Sir.”

Maybe I’ll test the waters later, but right now, I’m clay beneath his touch and his gaze. I’ll do whatever he wants me to do.

“Good girl.”

Fuck me. Oh Goddess, fuck me. Every time he says that, I’m ruined, and tonight is no exception.

Arousal gushes from my pussy, and I groan—loud and long—as he gathers my hair in his fist, tugs on it, and nips at my marking spot.

“Patience,” he reminds me. “I promise I’ll give you everything you need tonight. But not here.”

He backs away. If he wasn’t holding my hand in an iron grip, I think I might collapse into a heap on the greenhouse roof .

We speed walk off the roof and through the palace’s enclosed upper floors. The navy-blue drapes, the arched windows, and the potted calla lilies pass by us in a blur as Sebastian drags me down a hall on the opposite side of the palace from our suite of rooms.

“Where are we going?” I ask before I can stop myself.

He whirls around and stalks towards me. I back away, but I’m trapped by the wall. He rests his forearm above me and leans over me, preventing me from escaping. His lips hover right above mine like he’s about to kiss me, but I know better.

“Are you supposed to ask questions?”

“N—” I clamp my mouth shut as he raises a brow at me, and I shake my head no instead.

He traces my lower lip with his thumb. “This pretty mouth is going to get you into so much trouble, isn’t it?”

I resist the urge to reply. As much as I want to snap back at him, to be a brat, I want whatever he has in store for me tonight more. I’ve been waiting for it, on edge all day as I conjured up all sorts of intense, sensual, kinky ideas of what he might do to me now that I’m collared.

He breathes roughly as he hovers over me and holds back from kissing me, his hand sliding from my mouth to my hip. He’s so tall, so powerful, so massive compared to me.

My palm smooths his lapel, and I peer up at him. He said I can’t say anything. But he never said I can’t touch him back. Not yet anyway.

His fingertips dig into my ass. My breaths match his. The heat in his eyes tells me he’s a heartbeat away from taking me right here in the palace hallway.

Am I terrible for wanting him to?

“Don’t be naughty,” he warns, snatching my hand away from his chest. “Naughty girls don’t get to come.” With that, he leads me the rest of the way to our destination. “Honeysuckle,” he says into the tiny box by the door.

He shoots me a smile as the bolt unlocks, and then he whisks me through the door. It shuts behind us with a loud click, but I barely notice it. I’m too stunned by the room in front of me.

Our very own private sex room, right here in the palace, with an enormous bed, a large chest of drawers that I assume is full of toys and props, and Goddess only knows what else, and two doors on either side of the room leading into other rooms .

He watches me closely as I take it all in. “We won’t always be able to leave the island to go to my club in California. I want to open one here, but for now…”

“It’s perfect.”

His brows raise, and I exhale in annoyance at myself.

He set me up for that one. I know he did.

“It’s bare bones at the moment.” He wraps his arms around me so his hands rest on my upper thighs. “We can add more to it together.”

I remember my rules this time and nod my response.

“Such a good fucking girl.” He massage my thighs, then he cups my breasts from beneath and squeezes them tightly. “Go through the door on the left,” he orders me before I can get too lost in his praise and his touch.

His hands leave me, as does the warmth of his chest, and I pout at the loss.

He’s teasing me into a frenzy. I’ll be a raging storm of pent-up lust by the time he lets me come.

I take two seconds to calm myself. Two deep breaths. I don’t give myself longer because I know he’ll punish me if I don’t go into that room.

He holds the door open for me. I squeeze past him, and once again, I’m shocked to my core.

It’s a closet. A huge, walk-in closet with a gorgeous, three-paneled mirror, a black pedestal, and racks and shelves already filled with shoes and lingerie.

“ Sebastián …” My teeth dig into my lower lip as I bite back my questions.

How? When?

“Four years ago, you came with me to meet with Forrest. I gave you ten minutes to get dressed and meet me in the club, and everything you tried on, touched, or even looked at, the employees boxed up and sent to me. I’ve had all of this just…

waiting for you.” He answers my questions without me having to ask them, likely sensing my confusion through the mate bond.

I cover my mouth with both hands, in part due to my surprise and in part to keep myself from screaming out my thanks to him.

Then I run into his arms and squeeze him.

I don’t need words to show him what it means to me that he had all this tucked away for four years, as he waited for me to return to his side .

He hugs me back then spins me to face the racks once more. “Tonight, you’re going to pick one of these pretty little outfits for me to ruin.”

Another wave of heat pulses through me at that word— ruin .

He can ruin whatever he wants. My clothes, my pussy. Any of it. All of it.

I scan the options. So many of them. Some sweet, some sexy, some that are essentially nonexistent…

How am I supposed to decide?

Sebastian sweeps my hair off my back and kisses the top of my spine. “Pick something out,” he murmurs as he unzips my dress. “Get dressed. And meet me in the bedroom.”

He slides his fingers up the dangling choker chain, teasing my exposed back. When he reaches my neck, he tugs the choker slightly, and then he leaves the closet.

I dart forward and grab the first piece I see.

Part of me wants to take my time and find something perfect, something to keep the tone of this special night.

I chose this gorgeous gown for that exact reason, even though I knew I wouldn’t wear it for long.

But a larger part of me is done with the waiting—with the teasing, the buildup, and the anticipation. I want the rest. The grand finale.

I change as quickly as I can, ensuring the bows tied between my breasts and above my ass are perfect before I meet him back in the bedroom. My black stiletto heels click on the marble floors, drawing Sebastian’s attention.

The smug smirk of appreciation on his lips as he takes me in does illegal things to my insides. It sends a zap of lust to my clit.

He circles me, examining the bow tying the fabric that covers my breasts, and the open back of the panties that shows off every inch of my ass except where the ends of the bow dangle.

He yanks on the bow in the front when he’s finished his circle, untying it and letting the two pieces of silk fall to the sides.

My exposed nipples pebble at the change in temperature, and he grips my waist.

“So fucking pretty.” He groans, lowering his mouth to my chest and blowing on each of my nipples.

My chin tilts to the ceiling, and my knees almost buckle, but his hands on my waist keep me steady. I wait for him to cover a nipple with his mouth, but he doesn’t. Instead, he leaves me breathless and needy.

“Are you ready to go?” he asks .

“Yes, sir.”

He re-ties the bow, covering my breasts again—for now. Then he takes out the special transport stone Rune made for us, one that travels between a stone in Sebastian’s office at The Black Door and one here, and he tosses it in the air to take us to his club.