Hard to Serve: A Hard Ink Novella
Laura Kaye
Hard To Serve
A HARD INK NOVELLA
By Laura Kaye
1001 Dark Nights
HARD TO SERVE
A HARD INK NOVELLA
BY LAURA KAYE
1001 Dark Nights
Copyright 2016 Laura Kaye
ISBN: 978-1-942299-26-4
Foreword: Copyright 2014 M. J. Rose
Published by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.
Book Description
Hard To Serve
A Hard Ink Novella
By Laura Kaye
To protect and serve is all Detective Kyler Vance ever wanted to do, so when Internal Affairs investigates him as part of the new police commissioner’s bid to oust corruption, everything is on the line. Which makes meeting a smart, gorgeous submissive at an exclusive play club the perfect distraction…
The director of the city’s hottest art gallery, Mia Breslin’s career is golden. Now if only she could find a man to dominate her nights and set her body—and her heart—on fire. When a scorching scene with a hard-bodied, brooding Dom at Blasphemy promises just that, Mia is lured to serve Kyler again and again.
Then, as their relationship burns hotter, Kyler learns that he’s been dominating the daughter of the hard-ass boss who has it in for him. Now Kyler must choose between life-long duty and forbidden desire before Mia finds another who’s not so hard to serve.
About Laura Kaye
Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over twenty books in contemporary and paranormal romance and romantic suspense. Laura’s Hard Ink series has won many awards, including the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Romance Suspense of 2014 for Hard As You Can. Her upcoming Raven Riders series debuts in April 2016. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day. Learn more at www.LauraKayeAuthor.com.
Also From Laura Kaye
Click to purchase
The Raven Riders Series
RIDE HARD
RIDE ROUGH
The Hard Ink Series:
Hard As It Gets
Hard As You Can
Hard to Hold On To
Hard to Come By
Hard to Be Good
Hard to Let Go
Hard Ever After
HARD AS STEEL
HARD EVER AFTER
HARD TO SERVE
The Hearts in Darkness Duet
HEARTS IN DARKNESS
LOVE IN THE LIGHT
The Heroes Series
HER FORBIDDEN HERO
ONE NIGHT WITH A HERO
Acknowledgments from the Author
Sometimes, you get to do really fun things with super cool people – and that’s totally the case with my 1001 Dark Nights books. The whole Dark Nights family, from Liz and M.J. to Jillian to all the other authors, is simply fantastic to work with, and I will remain forever grateful to Liz Berry for bringing me into the fold. And I have to thank both Liz and Jillian for their habit of texting me their reactions when they read my work – it’s the most fun an author can have with their phone!
Next, I need to thank my best friend and fellow author Lea Nolan for helping me brainstorm parts of the book and for cheerleading me through! How lucky am I that get to work with my bestie every day?
Thanks, as always, to my husband and daughter for supporting me and giving me the time that it takes to finish a book. I’m so fortunate to have the love and support of my family, and I can’t thank them enough.
Finally, thank you to my Heroes for all your help and support, to my Reader Girls for squeeing over early excerpts from this book, and to all the readers of my books—you take my characters into your hearts and let them tell their stories over and over again, and for that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. ~LK
To Liz~
The gardener of ideas
The cultivator of magic
The builder of castles in the air
You build me and everyone around you up. And I’m so grateful to know you.
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection One
Click here to explore
FOREVER WICKED by Shayla Black
CRIMSON TWILIGHT by Heather Graham
CAPTURED IN SURRENDER by Liliana Hart
SILENT BITE: A SCANGUARDS WEDDING by Tina Folsom
DUNGEON GAMES by Lexi Blake
AZAGOTH by Larissa Ione
NEED YOU NOW by Lisa Renee Jones
SHOW ME, BABY by Cherise Sinclair
ROPED IN by Lorelei James
TEMPTED BY MIDNIGHT by Lara Adrian
THE FLAME by Christopher Rice
CARESS OF DARKNESS by Julie Kenner
Also from 1001 Dark Nights
TAME ME by J. Kenner
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Two
Click here to explore
WICKED WOLF by Carrie Ann Ryan
WHEN IRISH EYES ARE HAUNTING by Heather Graham
EASY WITH YOU by Kristen Proby
MASTER OF FREEDOM by Cherise Sinclair
CARESS OF PLEASURE by Julie Kenner
ADORED by Lexi Blake
HADES by Larissa Ione
RAVAGED by Elisabeth Naughton
DREAM OF YOU by Jennifer L. Armentrout
STRIPPED DOWN by Lorelei James
RAGE/KILLIAN by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright
DRAGON KING by Donna Grant
PURE WICKED by Shayla Black
HARD AS STEEL by Laura Kaye
STROKE OF MIDNIGHT by Lara Adrian
ALL HALLOWS EVE by Heather Graham
KISS THE FLAME by Christopher Rice
DARING HER LOVE by Melissa Foster
TEASED by Rebecca Zanetti
THE PROMISE OF SURRENDER by Liliana Hart
Also from 1001 Dark Nights
THE SURRENDER GATE By Christopher Rice
SERVICING THE TARGET By Cherise Sinclair
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1001 Dark Nights story
The First Night
by Lexi Blake & M.J. Rose
One Thousand and One Dark Nights
Once upon a time, in the future…
I was a student fascinated with stories and learning.
I studied philosophy, poetry, history, the occult, and
the art and science of love and magic. I had a vast
library at my father’s home and collected thousands
of volumes of fantastic tales.
I learned all about ancient races and bygone
times. About myths and legends and dreams of all
people through the millennium. And the more I read
the stronger my imagination grew until I discovered
that I was able to travel into the stories... to actually
become part of them.
I wish I could say that I listened to my teacher
and respected my gift, as I ought to have. If I had, I
would not be telling you this tale now.
But I was foolhardy and confused, showing off
with bravery.
One afternoon, curious about the myth of the
Arabian Nights, I traveled back to ancient Persia to
see for myself if it was true that every day Shahryar
(Persian: شهريار, “king”) married a new virgin, and then
sent yesterday's wife to be beheaded. It was written
and I had read, that by the time he met Scheherazade,
the vizier's daughter, he’d killed one thousand
women.
Something went wrong with my efforts. I arrived
in the midst of the story and somehow exchanged
places with Scheherazade – a phenomena that had
never occurred before and that still to this day, I
cannot explain.
Now I am trapped in that ancient past. I have
taken on Scheherazade’s life and the only way I can
protect myself and stay alive is to do what she did to
protect herself and stay alive.
Every night the King calls for me and listens as I spin tales.
And when the evening ends and dawn breaks, I stop at a
point that leaves him breathless and yearning for more.
And so the King spares my life for one more day, so that
he might hear the rest of my dark tale.
As soon as I finish a story... I begin a new
one... like the one that you, dear reader, have before
you now.
Table Of Contents
Book Description
About Laura Kaye
Also by Laura Kaye
Acknowledgments from the Author
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection One
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Two
Foreword
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Three
Discover the World of 1001 Dark Nights
Blasphemy, a new series from Laura Kaye
An excerpt from Ride Hard by Laura Kaye
Discover More Laura Kaye
Special Thanks
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.”
~Henry David Thoreau
Chapter 1
“You’re on restricted duty, pending medical clearance, Detective Vance,” Captain Mike Burkett said, his voice unusually formal as his gaze lifted from the file of paperwork. Probably because of the suit from internal affairs sitting beside him. Why the hell was that guy here for Vance’s evaluation to return to duty anyway?
Detective Kyler Vance. That’s who he was. Who he’d always been. Who he needed to get back to being. He’d had enough time off and on his own to last for a lifetime.
Kyler eyeballed the IA investigator and his gut tightened with suspicion. But he boxed that shit up tight even as his hands fisted against his thighs under the beat-up wooden table in the meeting room at the Baltimore Police Department’s headquarters. “Cap, it’s been three months,” he said, working to keep his temper in check. Three months since he’d been shot in the shoulder in the line of duty. Three months since that GSW had left him with nerve damage that affected the strength and dexterity of his right arm and hand. “I’m fine. I can do the job.”
His captain gave him a pointed look full of truth and regret. “You still can’t meet the target-shooting qualifications. So you’re riding a desk. For now.”
For now. Meaning, at some point, Kyler might be allowed to return to duty. Or he might not even be allowed behind that desk. Everyone wearing the uniform had to meet certain performance qualifications and standards, no matter what job they performed. Which was why Kyler had been one hundred percent committed to his physical therapy since a shooting spree erupted at a funeral attended by a bunch of his friends, killing a couple of bad guys and wounding more than a few good ones, himself included. But it had all been worth it to nail the scumbags responsible for murdering his godfather, Miguel Olivero, who had been his father’s partner on the force back in the day. “You know I’m working on it. I’m stronger every day.”
Burkett nodded and released a weary breath. All at once, the lines on the older man’s weathered face betrayed not just his age but the stress he was under. Serving and protecting was an honor, but it was also a job that inflicted all kinds of wear and tear. “I know. And if there was something I could do—”
“But there isn’t,” the IA guy said. Detective Niall Foster, his badge read. Kyler had seen him around from time to time, but he didn’t know him much more than that. Cops didn’t make friends with IA investigators. “I’ll tell you what Captain Burkett hasn’t yet said. You’re lucky to be on restricted duty and not administrative leave.”
“Why the hell would I be on administrative leave?” Anger rolled through Kyler at the other man’s monotone voice and blank face, as if he wasn’t fucking with the only career Kyler Vance had ever wanted. Career, hell. Being a cop was his whole damn life. Just like it’d been for his father, uncle, and grandfather before him.
Foster flipped open the file in front of him and skimmed his finger over the writing. “You’re no doubt aware that Commissioner Breslin has launched an investigation into corruption and conspiracy within the department, particularly as it relates to the city’s heroin trade. Your name has come to the attention of the investigation as a person of interest, and—”
“Wait a goddamned minute,” Kyler said, launching to his feet and driving his finger into the worn tabletop. He couldn’t deny that he’d bent some rules in the weeks before his injury, but he’d done it in the name of uncovering that corruption—and nailing those responsible for Miguel’s death, both inside and outside BPD. Kyler supported the new commissioner’s goals to restore the integrity of the department, even if the guy was a hardassed, stubborn, my-way-or-the-highway son of a bitch. At least, that’s the impression all the guys had of him—Kyler hadn’t yet had the pleasure. “I’m not dirty, and I’d like the person who accused me of being otherwise to say it to my fucking face.”
“Sit down, please, Detective Vance,” Foster said, gesturing to the chair behind him. Kyler sat reluctantly, but his muscles remained as tense as if he were expecting to be jumped. He certainly felt like he was being ambushed here. He glared at Burkett, who at least had the decency to look abashed. “No one has accused you. You’re not currently a suspect. But you are a person of interest in the investigation. Which, together with the fact that your physical limitations have placed you on restricted duty, is why you aren’t being put on administrative leave.”
The phrase “physical limitations” was like a punch to the gut. Yeah, his shoulder and arm hurt sometimes—when steel pierced flesh you expected that shit to happen. But he could handle it, and he’d been working his ass off and was capable of ninety-nine percent of daily life functioning again. What he hadn’t yet mastered was superfine motor skills, of the kind that made you a reliably deadly accurate shot, for example. What if those skills never returned?
“So what the hell does it mean then? What will it take for the investigation to be done being interested in me?” Kyl
er asked, his hackles still way up.
“Time,” Foster said on a sigh, as if he were bored.
Prick.
“If you’re clean, the investigation will clear you and you have nothing to worry about.” As if that settled the matter, the man scooped up his paperwork and rose. “Commissioner Breslin wants to restore the department’s good name in this city and within the law enforcement community. Surely you can understand that. Support him in this mission, stay out of trouble and do your duty, and this will resolve itself in due course.” Foster looked to his side and nodded. “Captain Burkett.”
“Foster,” his captain said as the IA guy turned and walked out the door, the stick firmly planted up his ass.
Kyler’s gaze cut to Burkett. “This is bullshit.”
“It is,” Burkett said, sitting forward in his chair as if he were about to share a secret. “But it’s also reality. And the more you stay on Breslin’s good side, the easier this will go and the faster it will disappear. Understand me?”
Stay on the commissioner’s good side. A long moment, then Kyler gave a single, tight nod. Since he hadn’t done anything wrong, that shouldn’t be all that fucking hard.
“Roger that.” Kyler rose when his captain did.
“Take care of yourself,” Burkett said, extending his hand. They shook, and then Kyler found himself alone in the room.
Take care of himself. Fine. He could do that. What he needed after this shit show was to blow off some fucking steam. It had been months—well, before getting shot—since he’d last played. It was time.
