Three years of mourning. One night of pleasure. It might be a new beginning, but only if he is willing to submit. Three years ago, Lani McMillan lost her submissive, and she has been running from her heart ever since. She may rely on the occasional scene to scratch the itch, but no other has come close to arousing her dominant instincts to claim them as her own. That is, until she meets The Playgrounds' latest security contractor, Nathan Pelletier. He is everything she didn't expect-ex-military, ex-cop, a fighter, a leader and very much confused by why submitting to her fulfills his deepest desires. So why does she want nothing more than to wrap her hands around his tie and pull him closer? But time is running out for them to explore their new, tenuous bond, as the demons of both, real and imagined, emerge from the shadows and threaten to consume them. Now they must decide what they are to each other if they are to survive their pasts and their own desires. Because it takes more than the will of a Dominant to lead.