Love/Hate: The Complete Enemies to Lovers Series

by Lilian Monroe

  No one was following us. I was seeing things.

  I sighed, relieved, and then I settled into the seat. Mags cranked the music louder and I finally, finally, allowed myself to smile.

  For tonight, I was free. I wasn’t Sadie Blanchet, I wasn’t a Senator’s daughter, I wasn’t a borderline genius or at the top of my class in Georgetown Law.

  I was a nobody, and it was amazing.

  Mags rolled her window down and screamed out of it as we drove past mansion after McMansion, and I giggled. We were too old to be doing this, but I didn’t care.

  I. Was. Free.

  By the time we got to the venue, I couldn’t stop smiling. Mags hooked her arm into mine and we walked to the bouncers. Harry produced our tickets, and we were in.

  The noise hit me like a wall. The noise, and the smell. Mags started nodding her head along to a beat I didn’t understand. It sounded like notes and rhythms and sounds that weren’t supposed to fit together. We weaved through a crowd of rough men and leather-clad women. I was glad Mags had picked my outfit for me—my usual colorful wardrobe would not have blended in. One man looked me up and down, stroking his long beard as we walked by. He was wearing a ripped black tee-shirt and old, bell-bottomed jeans.

  “Metalheads are the nicest people you’ll ever meet,” Mags yelled in my ear.

  “They don’t look it.”

  “That’s the point.”

  We found the bar and Harry bought us a round of drinks. I gripped my beer, trying not to look as nervous as I felt. Harry nodded to the stage.

  “Headliners are about to go on. You guys want to get closer?”

  “Fuck yeah!” Mags shouted, grinning.

  My heart thumped and I managed a smile. “Let’s do it.”

  “Hold on to me tight.” Mags clamped her hand on my arm and we moved into the thicker and thicker crush of humanity near the stage.

  This was definitely breaking more than a few fire safety laws. My mouth went dry and my eyes bulged as I took it all in. Mags was in her element, dancing and jumping and screaming as I did my best to stay upright. Harry grinned back at us, pushing forward towards the stage.

  He yelled something I couldn’t hear. Mags said something back to him, and I didn’t hear that either. I took a swig of beer to calm my nerves and we started moving closer to the stage again.

  This was definitely out of my comfort zone.

  We came to a stop near the stage. Silence fell over the whole room as the lights dimmed, and excitement buzzed through the crowd. Mags glanced at me, grabbing hold of my hand and smiling.

  “These guys are good.”

  I nodded and gulped. I wasn’t exactly sure what ‘good’ meant, in this context.

  The band started with an explosion of light and sound. The crowd went nuts, and I went nuts with them. I laughed and jumped with Mags, screaming along. I did my best to head-bang, my long, wavy red hair flying out in all directions.

  In that moment, I let go.

  I let go of everything—of law school, of the expectations that my parents had of me, of my doubts about my fiancé. I just let myself be.

  Mags and I looked at each other, and I smiled. My cousin knew me so well. She knew I needed to get out, she knew I needed to let off some steam. She knew exactly how to get me out of my comfort zone and show me a good time, no matter how much I resisted.

  As unlikely as it seemed, this metal concert was exactly what I needed.

  The band played and played and then played harder. The energy in the crowd around me started to build. Movements became rougher as bodies banged into each other. I gripped Mags’s hand tight as my heart thumped.

  It was fun, it was controlled, it was everything I needed… until it wasn’t anymore.

  A frantic fever took the crowd as the music got louder. Lights flashed over and over and over as bodies tossed me back and forth. I dropped my beer, and it was lost in a mess of legs.

  When I lost my grip on Mags’s hand, my heart fell down to my stomach. She reached out to grab me, but a massive body pushed me further away from her.

  I screamed again, but this time it wasn’t a release. Terror gripped my throat as I felt myself get tossed back and forth like a rag doll. The crowd was out of control, and I was in the center of it.

  I clawed and fought and kicked to keep my head up. At five foot two, I was used to feeling small. But this was different. This felt dangerous.

  An elbow to the back launched me forward, and I knew I was in trouble. I tripped over big, black boots and scrambled to grab on to a shoulder, an arm, a torso—anything to keep me from falling.

  I was going to be trampled. If I fell, it would be over. It wouldn’t be my legs and feet and beer bottles that would be kicked and stomped on, it would be my head.

  Time slowed. The music got louder and I felt like my ear drums were going to burst. My vision blurred and I bit my cheek so hard I tasted blood. I clawed at a leather jacket, but my grip slipped.

  The world tipped on its axis, and I knew it was done. I was falling.

  A scream ripped through my throat, and suddenly I was floating. I stopped mid-air as a thick, powerful arm wrapped itself around my waist. With a lurch, the arm pulled me back until I collided with a solid wall of muscle. The man’s arm didn’t leave my waist, and he hoisted me up over his shoulder.

  Tears streamed down my face as I let myself be carried away from danger, away from the jostle of bodies, away from the stage. He took long, powerful strides that parted the crowd effortlessly. I clung on to his shirt, silently thanking my mystery man.

  My head was spinning, my heart was thumping, and I hadn’t even caught my breath by the time the man carried me down a hallway to the side of the stage.

  The sound of the band was muted as soon as we turned the corner. The man set me down. He was gentle—so gentle it was surprising for a man his size. His hands dropped from my waist and I wavered on my feet.

  “You okay?” He had a deep, gravelly voice. Heat flooded my womb.

  My chest was heaving, and I just nodded. I couldn’t make words—not yet. He reached up and brushed my hair back from my face. His touch felt so good, so warm and gentle, and safe.

  I inhaled his scent and it calmed my racing heart. It was the smell of pine and spice and the faintest hint of manly sweat. I closed my eyes as he brushed the hair off my forehead, letting this stranger touch me in the most intimate way.

  Finally, I opened my eyes and dragged them up his brawny body. His tee-shirt clung his chest where it was damp with sweat. His nipples were hard, poking through the thin fabric. I longed to touch them, and the thought made me blush. Thick cords of muscles bulged in his arms, and he dropped his hand away from me.

  When I looked up at his face, my heart skipped a beat.

  Deep, dark brown eyes stared back at me. Looking into his eyes was like getting lost in the forest on a warm summer’s day. It felt like I had seen those eyes before.

  A thin shadow of stubble was dusted across his chiseled jaw, and he swallowed. His Adam’s apple bobbed. A zip of heat travelled down my spine and my heart started beating again in a different way.

  “Th-Thank you,” I managed to stutter.

  He nodded. “You should go home.” His voice was so deep that it reverberated in my chest. It knocked something loose in my heart and made me want to lean into him. I twisted my hands in front of me and took a deep breath.

  “Yeah. I will.”

  “Good.”

  He turned away from me and I watched him take a couple steps towards the music.

  Then, it hit me like a bolt of lightning.

  I knew that walk. His gait looked exactly like the gait of a young, straight-laced teenager that used to live with us, whose parents used to work for my family. The eyes. I knew those eyes. Those were the first eyes that I fell in love with, when I was thirteen years old.

  He was walking away from me. He had saved me from the mosh pit, he’d saved me from being trampled, and he was walking away from me w
ithout even saying a word.

  Maybe it wasn’t him? Maybe—

  “Zane!” I called out before I could stop myself. He froze mid-step, and my heart thumped.

  It was him.

  He stared at the ground beside his foot for a second, and then slowly turned around. His eyes dragged up my feet, my legs, my stomach, my chest. Everywhere he looked, flames ignited in my veins. His eyes met mine, his deep brown irises almost black in the low light.

  “Sadie.”

  My name on his lips was the sweetest sound I’d ever heard. I squeezed my thighs together as the timber of his voice made my body thrum with desire. I wanted to run to him, to feel those big, powerful hands on my body. I wanted him to rip my clothes off and push me up against this dirty wall. I wanted his hands, his mouth, his everything.

  I didn’t feel like myself. This wasn’t me. I’d never even been with a man! I didn’t like touching myself. I was basically a nun.

  But now…

  My mind whirred as I tried to make sense of what had just happened, of who he was, why he was here.

  His tongue slid out and swiped across his lower lip, and I nearly died. He was more man than I’d ever seen. He was insanely attractive, the kind of man that made you weak in the knees, even at a distance.

  His body was big, and hard, and I knew I wanted him. I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anyone before. I was engaged, but for the first time, I wished I wasn’t. I wanted everything with him.

  Zane took a step towards me and my breath hitched. With every step he moved closer, my heart beat harder. When his chest was inches from mine, he brushed my cheek with the back of his hand.

  A growl rumbled in his chest, and my panties were ruined.

  “Sadie Blanchet.” His voice was husky, like hot whiskey and honey. “You’re all grown up.”

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  xox Lilian

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  Also by Lilian Monroe

  For all books, visit:

  www.lilianmonroe.com

  Brother’s Best Friend Romance

  Shouldn’t Want You

  Military Romance

  His Vow

  His Oath

  His Word

  The Complete Protector Series

  Enemies to Lovers Romance

  Hate at First Sight

  Loathe at First Sight

  Despise at First Sight

  Secret Baby Romance:

  Knocked Up by the CEO

  Knocked Up by the Single Dad

  Knocked Up… Again!

  Knocked Up By the Billionaire’s Son

  The Complete Knocked Up Series

  Knocked Up by Prince Charming

  Knocked Up by Prince Dashing

  Knocked Up by Prince Gallant

  Knocked Up by the Broken Prince

  Knocked Up by the Wicked Prince

  Knocked Up by the Wrong Prince

  Fake Engagement/ Fake Marriage Romance:

  Engaged to Mr. Right

  Engaged to Mr. Wrong

  Engaged to Mr. Perfect

  Mr Right: The Complete Fake Engagement Series

  Mountain Man Romance:

  Lie to Me

  Swear to Me

  Run to Me

  The Complete Clarke Brothers Series

  Extra-Steamy Rock Star Romance:

  Garrett

  Maddox

  Carter

  The Complete Rock Hard Series

  Sexy Doctors:

  Doctor O

  Doctor D

  Doctor L

  The Complete Doctor’s Orders Series

  Time Travel Romance:

  The Cause

  A little something different:

  Second Chance: A Rockstar Romance in North Korea