Submission is Not Enough
Series: Masters and Mercenaries Book 12
Genre: Romantic Suspense, BDSM
Author: Lexi Blake
Release Date: October 25, 2016
A fallen hero reborn
Theo Taggart lost everything the night he died. His family, his beautiful Erin, and worst of all, he lost himself. A twisted doctor brought him back from the brink of death, but reprogrammed his identity to serve her will. Rescued by his brothers, he must fight to reclaim the man he was and the life, and love, that were stolen from him.
A love worth fighting for
Erin Argent thought she’d lost Theo forever. When he walked back into her life, it was nothing short of a miracle. Months of torture and conditioning at the hands of Dr. Hope McDonald have done damage to Theo that may never be mended. He has no memory of her or the life they shared. Breaking through to him, and helping him rediscover all he lost, will be the toughest mission she’s ever faced. Luckily for Theo, Erin loves a good fight.
Their reunion under siege
Unfortunately, Hope is far from done with Theo Taggart. Obsessed with her prize experiment, she will do anything to get him back. If the only way to finally break him of his past life is to kill Erin and his son, then she’s only too happy to oblige…
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He strode up the stairs, her weight comforting in his arms. Yeah, he wasn’t going to think about that either. He was going to enjoy it, not wonder why his body remembered her when his mind would not.
“Hey, is everything okay?”
Damn it. Case was standing at the top of the stairs, obviously having come out of the privacy rooms. His wife was at his side, her face flushed. Mia had sex hair. Good for them. Red was about to have sex hair, too. Lots of filthy sex hair. “Everything’s great. Night.”
Case put a hand on his shoulder. “Whoa. I thought you were going to take this slow, brother.”
“If you don’t get your hand off him right this second, Taggart, I am going to ensure that you never have children,” Red said, her eyes narrowing on his brother. “You won’t be able to cock block anyone because you won’t have a damn cock. Am I clear?”
Case’s hands came up immediately as though he knew that tone and was not going there. “Trying to help.”
“Three is clean and has plenty of condoms. We’re taking a monitor turn up here. I checked all the rooms.” Mia grinned at him. She actually was helpful. “Have fun and we’ll see you at home.”
He didn’t bother to look back. Case could give him a lecture later. He wasn’t waiting anymore. He’d waited forever. Even when he couldn’t remember her face, he’d known she was there. He’d felt her, or rather he’d felt her absence.
Could he truly be with a woman whose name he couldn’t think without hurting her?
It didn’t matter. He wasn’t making those decisions tonight. He was enjoying her. His sub. He was bringing her pleasure and he probably should do a good job of it because his sub was fucking mean.
And fragile. He’d seen the moment she’d thought he was rejecting her. He’d watch her skin flush and her body start to turn in on itself. She was such a mix of strength and need. It was intoxicating. He wanted so badly to be the man who gave her what she needed.
Affection. Pleasure. Comfort.
Love—he wasn’t thinking that word tonight. Nope. Pleasure was way better.
He kicked out lightly at the partially open door number three. It looked like Mia had done her job. The room was perfectly clean, the lighting soft and romantic. The best thing about this room though was the complete lack of any of his friends or family being here.
It was him and her, and that was exactly what he wanted. No Ian. No Li. No Kai asking them hundreds of questions. Him and her and the night.
He tossed her on the bed and stood back, looking down at her. “Tell me why you thought I was rejecting you.”
The instant she hit the bed, she was up on her knees. So graceful. So deadly. What the hell was this woman like out in the field? She moved like a predator, but the look on her face was pure sarcasm. “Uhm, your words. That’s what sealed it for me. ‘I don’t want to do this’ is generally considered a rejection.”
Somehow she managed to put an unsaid “dumbass” on the end of her sentences. Not all of them. She’d been perfectly sweet most of the night, but she could turn it on when she wanted to. “I didn’t mean that. When I said the words, I watched you change. Why? You’re good at slapping people down. I wouldn’t have said that until today.”
“Because I’ve been careful around you,” she admitted.
“Why? You think I’m delicate?”
Her lips curled up. “I don’t think you’re delicate. I think I’m a lot to take, but I also am starting to believe I was wrong. You like me rough.”
“I like you a lot.” More than he could ever tell her.
She’d been his prize. She was still the prize. He simply didn’t deserve her anymore.
My heart! MY COLD BLACK HEART! It hurts dammit! It hurts so bad. This book twisted me inside out. Never have I been more invested in a character since Theo Taggart. I can’t tell you the amount of tears I’ve shed over this man. As much as I love every single book in this series, this was easily one of my most anticipated. We’ve been getting teased with Theo’s book for what feels like forever, and I felt like my heart would damn near explode if I didn’t get my grabby little hands on his story soon.
First of all, if you’re reading my review and you haven’t read Master No yet, stop right now! Don’t even read this blurb for god sakes! Seriously. You’re doing yourself a great disservice. This is a series that needs to be read in order to truly appreciate the amount of forethought this author put into all her characters and their books. And it would also make you appreciate the tight bond that is Taggart and Co.
This was easily the most emotional book in the series. It was beyond powerful. It was passion and pain in a way that only Lexi Blake could write it. It was equal parts satisfying and painful. It was everything I’d hoped it would be and so SO much more.
I’ve always rooted for Theo and Erin. The more Erin fought their connection the harder I rooted for Theo. His always sunny disposition, his quick smiles and humor, and all around easy going demeanor. That is not the man he is anymore.
Tortured. Brainwashed. Drugged. Theo is a shell of the man he used to be. His memories gone, every day is a struggle to remember his old life and be the man that everyone remembers him to be. My heart broke for him even if at times his actions had me wanting to shake him.
Erin was just as amazing in this book as she’s been. This is a woman with a soft heart but a steel strength. She’s not afraid to fight for the man she never stopped loving even if she did spend most of their time together pushing him away. Man. Watching her go through everything she does for Theo was absolutely heart wrenching.
Lexi Blake is one of my go-to authors when it comes to sexy romantic suspense, but with this book she proved that she can wring emotion from her readers like no other. It’s so much more than just romance. Twelve books into the series and I’m still as invested as ever if not more so with these characters and find myself eagerly anticipating the next book. It’s so far beyond just sexy BDSM romance and high octane action. Starting one of these books is like getting reacquainted with a gang of friends. I fall hard for each of them every single time and with the snippet of the next book I’m practically salivating for Nick already.
If you’re hoping this book lives up to all your expectations, it does. It goes beyond it. It blows all the expectations away. I loved every page!
NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband, three kids, and the laziest rescue dog in the world. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance and urban fantasy that she found the stories of her heart. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome, or foursome may seem.
Facebook | Twitter | Website | Amazon Author Page
BROKEN PRINCE
Well…damn. Color me conflicted. I struggled with my rating for two days after finishing it. Because see, the thing is, I’m freaking conflicted! Am I even making sense here? Of course I’m not! Because I’m conflicted I tells ya! Bah. Just bah.
So how do you make all of the teenage drama even more extreme? Throw in a murder mystery into the mix. It was basically like Gossip Girl meets Cruel Intentions meets Pretty Little Liars. Craziness ensues. But if you’ve read the previous books, this is nothing new.
It was so over the top, it was so crazy, that it totally killed everything for me. Le sigh. Don’t get me wrong, it certainly didn’t discount the fact that I enjoyed the majority of this book, because I totally did, but c’mon! Perhaps the argument can be that with the way the series progressed it’s only fair to make it finish out with this crazy bang, but I’m not of that mind. It was simply too OTT for my tastes.
BAITING THE MAID OF HONOR
Mother….effing…..Reed. It’s like he jumped out of my dreams and into this book. Dark, Tattoos, Broody, Mean, Bossy. Ugh. Gimme. He is from the other side of the tracks. The bad boy. He is a SWAT team leader, so he used to bossing everyone around. Everything is black and white to him. He barely even made it to the wedding. The first time he sees Julie, she is letting her hair down, literally, and he knows he has to have her. Reed…..I want him for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and especially for dessert. 
That ladder scene?! Tessa, how do make a ladder scene so erotic?!!! Because I will never look at a ladder the same way again! 
PUNK 57
Ever since I read 
Misha is a grade A asshole in the beginning and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love every page of it. Douglas has this gift for writing some of the sexiest alphaholes I’ve ever read. Yes, they’re mean and you want to slap them at times, but you also understand what drives them to be that way and you can’t help but love them anyway.
This is so much more than a sexy NA romance, however. It’s a story of learning to love and accept yourself. A story of learning to stand up for what you believe is right even if no one stands up with you. It’s a story of friendship and love. It’s an emotional rollercoaster that you never want to get off of and a romance between two people that don’t make sense together on paper but couldn’t be more right for each other. It’s dark and light, it’s love and hate. It’s complete and utter perfection.
SAVAGE MAFIA PRINCE 
The wait is finally over. The youngest and most lethal Dragusha brother’s story is finally here. To say that I was eagerly anticipating Kiro’s book would be a HUGE understatement. I was practically panting with need for it.
Ann only knows him as patient Patient 34. He’s on so many drugs he’s practically comatose, but yet she can’t help but feel an almost electric current of danger oozing from his still form. As an undercover reporter sent on a different assignment than Patient 34, Ann can’t help but sense a deeper story and she’s determined to get to the bottom of it. But what’s more important to her, the story, or the developing bond she feels to Kiro every passing second in his company?
TAKE ME WITH YOU
What.
Take Me With You is dark, twisted and immoral. It’s violent, crude and dirty. The characters are so far outside typical comfort zones and the norm, they may as well be in a different dimension. It was also phenomenally written, completely unputdownable, and utterly unforgettable.
BETWEEN HERE AND THE HORIZON
The way this story builds up is nothing but true perfection. You fall in love with each word they say to each other. Out of hatred or out of love, it doesn’t matter. You are enthralled in this journey with them wondering what the hell is really going on sometimes, as if you are missing something and just waiting for it to happen.
Nothing is better than two people hating each other and avoiding each other in every way just to find themselves in each others company far to much and learning their inner workings even though they find each other insufferable….It’s seriously the BEST!!!!
PATCHWHORE
Well…that was smuttertaining. Smutty and entertaining. Totally coining that phrase.
TONIC
Joel (aka Hairy) is a tattoo artist….a hairy tattoo artist. He owns the tattoo shop, Tonic, which is getting its own reality tv show. He isn’t excited about it, but he realizes he would rather be the show on tv than the competition to get the show. When he first meets Annika…..FIRE! I LOVED the animosity between the two right away. Annika tries to give him the cold, but his fire is so hot that she cannot resist him. I’ll take a little bit of THIS and THAT. 
BLACK SWAN AFFAIR
It’s official. I’m ruined. Utterly and totally ruined by this incredible book, by these beautiful words, by the heart wrenching story, by the devastating angst…this…EVERYTHING.
Yep. That about sums it up.
Have you ever read a romance where you didn’t know which man to root for? Where your feelings were so up and down you felt like you were in a never ending spiral? Where you spend the entire time glued to the pages, utterly incapable of tearing yourself away for even a mere second? Because I just did.
Mesmerizing, maddening, heart rendering; this book owned me to the depths of my dark soul. I devoured every page, I screamed, I cried, I raged. I was enraptured.
