Hard to Serve: A Hard Ink Novella

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