“A few months before that party, the last one we ever went to together, Dad told me to stop being friends with you. He knew you were doing drugs and he thought you were a bad influence. I let him believe we weren’t friends anymore, which wasn’t hard because he was so busy with work that he didn’t notice what I did most of the time.”
The look in his eyes tells me he’s piecing things together in his mind. “That was when you started insisting we hang out at my house instead of yours.”
I nod. “Everything was okay until the cops raided that party and our parents were called. Dad was furious when he found out we were still friends. He was also furious over the bad publicity that party gave him. He threatened to ruin you if I didn’t end our friendship straight away. I knew he’d make good on that, too, because I’d seen the way he ruined men when they didn’t fall in line with what he wanted.” I stop for a beat, my eyes boring into his, my voice cracking as I continue. “I couldn’t let him do that to you, Mason. I had to make sure you were safe from him.”
He works his jaw, something I remember from when we were teens. It was what he did when he was pissed off over someone trash talking me. Always my protector. “So you decided that cutting all ties was the best way to do that?” He’s pissed all right. At me. “You decided that never talking to me again, never looking at me again, never fucking taking the time to explain why, after over a decade of friendship, you no longer wanted a fucking bar of me was the best way to keep me safe from your asshole father.” He pushes up off the floor and stabs his fingers through his hair as he paces. “That’s not what friends do, Chelsea. Not by a long fucking shot.”
I push up off the floor, too, my own anger surfacing. It’s mostly at myself, but also at the situation. Grabbing his arm, I stop him from pacing. “I know that now. God, do I know that. But I was a seventeen-year-old girl who didn’t know better back then. All I knew was that my father scared me and had more power than anyone I knew. I honestly believed he would make good on his threat.”
The fury radiating from him should be a caution to me, but it isn’t. I’m drawn to this man in inexplicable ways. We’re a mess of first love and broken hearts and angst, but I don’t want to be anywhere but here. With him. When he gets in my face, I should pull away, but I don’t. I can’t. “You’ve had eight fucking years to fix this. Eight!” He rips his arm free of my hold and paces away from me again.
Mason’s angry, but I’m certain he’s caging most of his anger in. I think he’s pacing to help with that, so as much as I want to go to him and make him hear me, I don’t. I give him the space he needs.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I know that two words can’t make up for what I did, but I—”
At that, he turns and stalks back to me, a hurricane of emotions in his eyes. I expect him to stop in front of me and unleash more of his anger, but he doesn’t. Instead, he keeps on coming, gripping my waist and taking me with him as he barrels his way to the wall. Crushing me against it, he breathes, “We wasted so much fucking time.” His other hand comes to my face, cupping my cheek. “You should have been mine all these years. Mine.” With that, his lips crash down onto mine and I finally have my first taste of Mason Blaise.
Chapter Five
Gunnar
Fuck me, I always knew Chelsea would taste sweet, but I never imagined just how fucking sweet.
She opened her mouth to me without hesitation and is allowing me to take control of this kiss in every way I want. When my tongue slides over hers, the moan that comes from deep inside her causes me to respond with a growl.
Her hands thread through my hair as she pushes her body as close to mine as she can. It’s like she can’t get close enough. That’s something I understand. I’m not sure I’ll ever get close enough to Chelsea Novak. All I know right now is I want to make her mine tonight. After that, we can figure out the details. Letting her go isn’t something I’ll ever do again.
I deepen the kiss and grind myself against her, letting her feel just how fucking much I want her.
That revelation about her father threw me. And pissed me the hell off. All these years, I’ve believed the worst about her, which was hard to do after believing she was the purest and best person I knew growing up. It’s some fucked up shit that her father forced her to make a choice she didn’t want to make.
Now that I know the truth, I want all the moments with her I’ve missed. I want all the firsts we should have had together. I want a future with my arms wrapped tightly around her. We’ll never get some of those things, but here, tonight, we can finally have each other.
“Oh my God!” Chelsea pulls her lips from mine and stares at me with wide eyes. “No. We can’t do this!” She places her hands to my chest and tries to fight against me when I instinctively tighten my hold on her. “My father will decimate you, Mason. There’s no way he’ll allow me to be with you.”
Fury at Novak explodes through me, gripping every muscle, every nerve, every thought. “I won’t let you run from us again. Never fucking again. Your father can’t touch me now.”
The fear in Chelsea’s eyes doesn’t ease. “But he can. Can’t you see that? He’ll use his power any way he can to ensure he gets what he wants.”
“He doesn’t scare me, Chelsea. I’ve dealt with men far worse than him.”
She clutches my shirt. “Did they run the state? Did they have a whole network of political allies throughout the country? Did they know how and where to bury the bodies of the people who got in their way? Because that’s what you’d be up against with my father.”
I search her eyes, willing her to listen to me. To trust in me. “Your father might have all those men at his back, but I have other men at mine. The kind your father would shudder at if they threatened him. You need to listen to me when I say I can hold my own. There’s no fucking way your father will even get close enough to take me down.”
She turns silent, processing my words. I feel it the minute she lets hope flare. Her body melts into mine a little. Her hold on my shirt loosens. And the fear in her eyes eases. “I don’t know—”
I silence her remaining fear with a kiss. A kiss filled with all the urgency and wild need I’m feeling. I will do whatever it takes to make Chelsea understand that her denial over what’s happening between us isn’t something I’ll allow to happen.
She hesitates at first, but I deepen the kiss and push her to give me the same back. I need that from her. When she doesn’t do that, I tear my mouth from hers and growl, “Can you feel what you do to me, Chelsea? I’m so fucking hard for you right now, but more than that, I feel like I’m coming out of my fucking skin for you. I’ve wanted you for as long as I can remember, even when I was telling myself I hated you. Our families are fucked up, but that doesn’t mean we have to be. This is our chance to finally have what we want. Don’t walk away from me again. Stay and fight for me because I promise you I will always fucking fight for you.”
The silence is deafening for the few seconds it takes her to come to her senses, and then her lips are on mine, her body is hard against mine, and I know every beat of her heart is for me.
Chelsea Novak is mine.
Finally.
Thank you so much for reading Locked Up Hearts!
Gunnar & Chelsea’s full novel (titled: Gunnar) will be out on August 25.
Yes, they had a happy for now ending in this short story, but you know it’s going to be fireworks with her father, right?!
PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY
PS Gunnar will be a standalone within the original Storm MC series.
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Also By
Storm MC Series
Storm (Storm MC #1)
Fierce (Storm MC #2)
Blaze (Storm MC #3)
Revive (Storm MC #4)
Slay (Storm MC #5)
Sassy Christmas (Storm MC #5.5)
Illusive (Storm MC #6)
Command (Stor
m MC #7)
Havoc (Storm MC #8)
Gunnar (COMING AUGUST 25)
Sydney Storm MC Series
Relent (#1)
Nitro’s Torment (#2)
Devil’s Vengeance (#3)
Hyde’s Absolution (#4)
King’s Wrath (#5)
King’s Reign (#6)
King: The Epilogue (#7)
Storm MC Reloaded Series
Hurricane Hearts (#1)
War of Hearts (#2)
Christmas Hearts (#3)
Battle Hearts (#4)
The Hardy Family Series
Steal My Breath (single dad romance)
Crave Series
Be The One (rockstar romance)
Billionaire Romance
Ashton Scott
www.ninalevinebooks.com
About the Author
Nina Levine
Dreamer.
Coffee Lover.
Gypsy at heart.
USA Today Bestselling author who writes about alpha men & the women they love.
When I’m not creating with words you will find me planning my next getaway, visiting somewhere new in the world, having a long conversation over coffee and cake with a friend, creating with paper or curled up with a good book and chocolate.
I’ve been writing since I was twelve. Weaving words together has always been a form of therapy for me especially during my harder times. These days I’m proud that my words help others just as much as they help me.
www.ninalevinebooks.com
Copyright © 2020 by Nina Levine
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Locked Down
Shaw Hart
Copyright © 2020 by Shaw Hart
www.shawhartbooks.com
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Blurb
Hazel was married off by her father. One chance meeting and the next thing she knows, she’s Mrs. Hazel York. At twenty-three, she’s used to her freedom, and becoming a Mrs. to Archer is seriously messing with that.
Archer York is obsessed with his wife. He has been ever since he first laid eyes on her. When her father offers her hand in marriage, he jumps at it. He would do anything to make her his. He’s spent the last two years trying to figure out a way to get his wife to fall for him, but so far, no luck.
Then something happens, a pandemic, and suddenly they’re quarantined together. Will being locked in their house together provide Archer with the opportunity to show Hazel exactly what she means to him?
Chapter One
Hazel
The wind blows strands of my wet hair back and I tip my face up, closing my eyes and enjoying the breeze. The sun is just barely rising but I’m already out on my board. The ocean is calm this morning but I’d never miss a chance to be out here on the water.
I’m an east coast girl, but I’ve always loved California. I came out here for college and fell in love with the culture and the views, especially the view of the ocean first thing in the morning. I had planned on staying on the west coast after I graduated but those plans were dashed when I went home for my Grandma’s birthday. That was the night that my life changed.
I flew back to New York for what was supposed to be a quick visit, just a long weekend trip. On the second night that I was back, we had gone out to dinner to celebrate grandma’s eighty-fifth birthday. It was at this upscale restaurant on the Upper East Side and my dad ran into a colleague, Mr. York.
I remember being introduced to him and not thinking much of it. My dad knows a lot of people in New York and I’m always being introduced to someone or another. The only thing that stood out this time was how handsome Mr. Archer York was. I had said hello to him and then excused myself before I could do anything to embarrass myself. We had ordered dinner and toasted my grandma and then I went back to my parents’ house and tried to forget about the man with the dark blue eyes that seemed like they could see straight into my soul.
The next day, an hour before I was to leave for the airport, my dad came to me and told me to start planning my wedding. He had made a deal with Archer and his end of the deal was me. In exchange for me, Archer would invest in my dad’s failing hotel and help to restore it back to greatness.
I became Mrs. York three weeks later. I don’t remember much from my wedding day, or the weeks leading up to it for that matter, but the pictures that Archer hung up in our room as soon as we moved in look beautiful.
I suppose most people would be happy to be married off to some bigshot billionaire investor but not me. I wanted to marry for love, not money. Unfortunately, my father offered me something that I couldn’t refuse. He promised to put my grandma up in the nicest retirement community if I went through with the marriage. That’s what had me walking down the aisle and staying with Archer every day since. My family has never been rich. We were strictly middle class and with the business that my father got from his deal with Archer, he would be able to take care of grandma for years.
It still stings though. My father knew how I felt about marriage and he still made the deal. To this day, I can’t believe he just married me off like that. Like this is the 1500’s and I’m some princess being sold off for her dowry. Well, I don’t want to be a Queen. I just want to be me.
I have no interest in eating at five-star restaurants every day of the week. I prefer the little taco truck down by the beach. I don’t want to go clubbing or shopping. I’d rather wake with the sun and go surfing.
That actually used to be one of my favorite things. I’d wake up and meet my two bodyguards outside. We live right on the beach so I’d run down the sand with my board and crash into the waves. The water is cold first thing in the morning but it feels nice. Invigorating. My bodyguards had two jet skis that they would ride out. That way if anything happened, they could get to me right away.
They used to race around after I was done and we would all laugh, getting sprayed with the surf or the waves from the jet skis as the sun rose higher in the sky. We haven’t done that in a while. Not since my husband came out and saw them riding around and laughing while I was standing chest-deep in the water, watching them. I had ducked under an approaching wave, trying to cool off and when I came up, he was yelling at them. He threatened to fire them and I begged him not to. Since then, it’s been more of a stoic outing every morning.
That’s what my husband does though. He stops people from having fun. I don’t even know why he wanted to marry me. We rarely go out. Even if he has a social event to go to, he usually goes alone. Not that I mind. Eating dinner with a bunch of hedge fund investor guys and their wives sounds boring as hell.
To my husband’s credit, he does seem to be a good man. He hasn’t touched me. Probably because he walked in on my father and me the night before the wedding. I had told my dad that if he made me marry some man that I didn’t know and love, that I would never talk to him again. The wedding went on as scheduled the following day and I haven’t talked to my dad since.
Archer makes for a good husband and any girl would be lucky to be his wife. I only wish that it was real. That we had married for love instead of as some weird kind of barter. He’s never tried to force himself on me and he seems to take an interest in my life. He’s just very…protective.
My husband hates California. He hasn’t told me as such, but I’ve heard him mumble under his breath about the traffic and every time he passes one of those little green smoothie shops, he practically bares his teeth. As if New York doesn’t have both of those things. I was surprised when he told me we were mov
ing to California. He let me pick out where we lived and our house. When we first got here, it was great. I kept busy decorating our place and learning my way around, but it’s been eighteen months now and I’m dying for something else to do.
I wish that he would let me have more of a life but it seems that he wants to keep me locked down at home. I found this Aerial Yoga class downtown and I mentioned it to Archer. A personal instructor showed up the next day and walked me through a class. Now she comes twice a week and we work on it together but it’s not the same as going out and doing it with other people.
I feel like I’m stuck. All I want in life is to be happy and to be a mom, but I don’t want to raise kids in this type of relationship. What kind of family would we be? What if we had a girl? Would Archer sell her off too? My heart says no, but what proof do I have?
With a heavy heart, I take one last look at the sunrise before I turn my surfboard around and head back toward the beach where my two bodyguards are standing, waiting for me. I know that it’s almost time for me to head inside to meet my husband for breakfast. My heart thumps harder in my chest and I have a feeling that it has nothing to do with my paddling.
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