Craving Forbidden (Craving Series Book 8)

by Crave Publishing

  “That’s beautiful,” I whispered.

  “My mom used to sing it to me whenever I was sad.” My mind was instantly filled with a beautiful woman with long brown hair and beautiful hazel eyes. My parents told me that they adored her. She was nothing like Walter or Logan. She treated them like human beings.

  I continued to lay in his arms, enjoying his embrace, when I was instantly pulled from my happy place. I pulled away from him and moved to the edge of the bed. “What do you want from me?” I was shocked at my question because I hadn’t spoken so bluntly to him before, ever since we were little. There went controlling my emotions.

  “I mean, you hated me. All you did was call me names, and hit me, and just be downright cruel to me. Why are you being so nice to me? Is this part of a bet?”

  He looked confused. “A bet? Of course not.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Of course you wouldn’t tell me.” Whoa. Where was this boldness coming from? It brought me back to when we were little. I was never afraid of standing up to Logan. Well, I wasn’t until Chester.

  “Tiana, I’m telling you the truth.” He reached out to me, but stopped himself. He sighed and closed his eyes. “We were in battle. It was becoming dangerous. We had lost so many men. The colonel was telling us to retreat, but I wanted to prove something. I pulled out my gun, ready to aim when all of a sudden I heard a shot and a body was thrown in front of me. I looked over and it was a man named Anthony. He had a bullet in his chest. A bullet that…” He blew out some air. “A bullet that was meant for me.” I remember teasing him all of the time. Calling him names, punching him, just being a jerk because he was black. But in spite of all of that, he…he saved me.” A tear fell from his eye, and without thinking, I immediately went to him. He pulled me back into his arms and laid his head on mine. I thanked God that the bullet didn’t hit his heart. He was able to be saved. I remember asking him, why he did that, and he said that he wanted me to go home to my family.” He sniffed, but I didn’t move. I didn’t want to ruin the moment.

  I then felt him smile. “We became best friends, and are still best friends today.” I smiled.

  He then grew serious. “I vowed that I would never be that person again. I still struggle sometimes, because that’s how I lived most of my life, but I’m trying.”

  I leaned up and wiped away a tear with my thumb, looking into his eyes. “And that’s all God wants.”

  We stared at each other until he leaned in and gently pressed his lips to mine. After that one touch, he pulled back a little, and with his eyes, asked if it was all right. I nodded and he leaned back in and met my lips with his. The kiss was slow and sweet and perfect.

  We pulled back and rested our foreheads against each other. I wasn’t naïve enough to think that this moment would last. That’s not how life works, but I wanted to embrace this feeling. This feeling of happiness, feeling cherished, feeling human.

  Chapter 6

  These past two months have been horrible. After the night we had shared a kiss, I had come to the conclusion that this is all just Logan ruining my life like he has always done. Of course, he doesn’t see me as someone he would like to be in a relationship with. He doesn’t even see me as a person.

  And I mean, what’s up with that stupid story about him changing while he was in the army? Does he really expect me to believe that? I mean, in that moment, I did, stupidly, but I quickly came to my senses. I can’t just easily forget all the pain he has caused me. I guess he expects that to happen because someone is actually paying attention to me. But life didn’t prepare me just to be blindsided by good looks and nice words. That’s why I’d been trying to avoid him. Well, avoid him as much as I could, what with him living there. He also had been making it hard to avoiding him. No, he hadn’t tried pursuing me or anything, like maybe he wanted to give me some space. It’s just, when Walter was in one of his moods and he took it out on me by slapping me, kicking me, breaking my fingers, or doing anything else equally as horrible, Logan would always come to my aid. He would tend to my bruises or take me to the hospital. Then after, he would just sit and hold me and we would talk. Talk about any and everything. Just feeling comfortable with each other.

  He’s even wanted to hurt his father because of the things he’s done. I’m sure any one of you all would have taken advantage of that, but I wouldn’t. I believe in family. I want them to have a relationship. I don’t want him to sever that for a nobody like me. All you get in life is one dad and one mom, and I wouldn’t wish not having parents on anybody.

  So I would beg him not to do anything. I’m not worth it. I also didn’t want him to find out about us. That could mean my death.

  Now you see why it’s been horrible. It made me angry when Logan continued toying with me. I knew that this wasn’t real, so why couldn’t he just leave me alone? Hadn’t I suffered enough?

  Like I said earlier, I knew not to be deceived, but I am human, and when he does things like that, it made my stomach flutter and my heart melt. That’s another reason why these past few months have been horrible. I’m not used to this kind of treatment from anyone but my parents. I mean, there were even times where I would wake from a nightmare and he would always be there to comfort me. I’ve even sat in his arms and cried, and most of my life, I had always made sure to never show weakness in front of them. I would always wait until I was safely in bed, away from them before I broke down. And now here I was, clinging to the enemy, dreaming about the enemy, falling for the enemy.

  Logan and I were sitting on my bed, me in his lap clinging on to him for dear life, after another nightmare. Tonight, it wasn’t about my parents’ death. Instead, I dreamed of my past. The pain I endured from Logan and Walter. I know I’d dreamed of it before, I’d even lived it, but it never got easier. Those moments had been engraved into my mind, mocking me. And here I was, draped on the cause of my pain. But I couldn’t help it. For some strange reason, his arms felt like home.

  After a few more seconds in his arms, it was finally time for things to get back to normal. I started pulling away when he stopped me.

  “Tomorrow is the anniversary of my mom’s death.”

  I stopped and slowly faced him. He wouldn’t look me in the eyes, but I could see his eyes were full of unshed tears. His mood throughout the day finally made sense. I leaned back into his arms and touched my forehead to his.

  “What was she like?” I asked quietly. I didn’t want to ruin the moment.

  His eyes immediately began to light up and I instantly started to feel warm inside.

  “I remember hearing in Sunday school that God would send angels to earth, and I always wondered if my mom were one of those angels.”

  I smiled.

  “I mean, of course, she was human, so she made mistakes, but it’s like she had this otherworldly love for people. She was also the funniest person I knew.” He chuckled. It was never a dull moment. I remember my dad asking her if she was twenty-five or two. She was a big kid. Dad would say it’s like he’s raising two kids instead of one.” He laughed. “I had more fun with her than I did with kids my age.” I chuckled. “She was also very brave. She hated the water. She didn’t even want to look at the pool, but when my childhood friend fell into the water and couldn’t swim, she jumped in without hesitation.” He smiled, remembering that moment.

  “She loved music, but couldn’t sing if her life depended on it. My mind would always turn to one of those movies where someone sings so horrible that the mirror would shatter. And I promise I saw a crack in my sunglasses.” We both laughed. He then grew serious. “Every night, I would pray for God to give me cancer instead.” With our foreheads still connected, I wrapped my arms around him. I saw a tear fall and land between us.

  He was quiet for a few minutes. I then felt his grip around me tighten.

  “When I lost my mom, it shattered me. If I lost you, my life would be meaningless.”

  What? I looked into his eyes and he was looking at me with so much love and intensity, that
it frightened and angered me. I pulled back and got off the bed.

  “Tiana…”

  “What do you want from me?” I shouted. He then had the audacity not to be baffled by my outburst. He stood up and came closer, but I backed up. He looked hurt. Yeah, right.

  “I didn’t mean to…”

  “You want to see the dirty nigger on her knees, begging for your acceptance?! Isn’t that where you said I belong?”

  “Tiana, listen to…”

  “The fact that you think that this actually funny, shows…”

  “I love you!”

  Without thinking, I walked up to him and slapped him. And the thing was, I wasn’t scared. I mean, this could mean my death right here, but at that moment I didn’t care. “Get out.”

  He looked up at me with understanding and so much pain, that it felt like my heart was being ripped in two, but I quickly put that feeling to the back of my mind. Don’t fall for it. It’s not real.

  I saw him nod his head and then he turned around and left. As soon as he closed the door behind him, I grabbed my brush and chucked it at the door with a scream.

  Chapter 7

  A couple of hours after he left, I lay in bed, not able to sleep. After twenty minutes of just tossing and turning, I sighed and sat up. I looked over to my right, where another chair sat. That chair houses my parents’ belongings. My dad’s watch, his rings, my mom’s jewelry box, her tiny brown box filled with mementos, her diary.

  I have never touched their stuff before. I felt like I was invading their privacy, but for some reason, at that moment, I kept being drawn to Mom’s diary. After a couple minutes of debating, I finally gave up and picked it up. It was purple with a big black heart on the front and her name was engraved inside of the heart. Anne. I opened it to the first page and there was a folded up piece of notebook paper inside. I picked it up and opened it, and it was filled with my mom’s handwriting.

  Dear my sweet Tiana,

  I’m sorry that we didn’t have long together, but I will always cherish the moments we did have.

  A tear fell, and thankfully it landed on the side of the paper, and not the words.

  Don’t be sad that I am gone. I’m in peace. I’m in peace because I know that you are taken care of. God has been there for your father and me, and I know that he will be there for you.

  I know you may not think you can survive on your own, but my sweet baby, you can. You always thought that your father and I were the strong ones, that we kept this family together, but I am here to tell you that it was you all along. Your father and I looked up to you when things got tough. You always gave encouraging words and you always pushed us to never give up. You gave us hope when we didn’t have any. You were our shining angel.

  I wrote this letter to remind you of that. To remind you that you are beautiful and smart and loved. Oh, baby, you are loved so much. When you look in that mirror, I want you to see a woman who can accomplish anything. A woman who is worth something.

  I wish we could hold you in our arms and never let go. Wait, what am I saying? We are holding you in our arms, never letting go. Remember that when you feel alone.

  I promise something good will come out of this. You won’t live this way forever.

  We love you, Tiana. Always be our strong little cheeky.

  I laughed while I wiped away my tears. I clutched the letter to my chest and fell asleep, never letting it go.

  Chapter 8

  “Ahhh!”

  “You think that this is funny? Huh?” he asked, pointing at the cut I gave him by mistake while cutting his beard.

  “Ahhh!”

  He let go of my arm and I snatched my hand out of the boiling pot of water.

  As I clutched my hand, Walter stormed toward me and pushed me into the counter.

  “You stupid nigger! You’re going to pay for this!”

  He then lunged at me and wrapped his big hands around my neck. Instead of closing my eyes, I looked him dead in the eyes. Even close to death, I didn’t show any fear. I wasn’t going to let him take my bravery from me.

  I was kicking and clawing his face, and then all of a sudden, his weight was thrown off of me. I clutched my neck as I gasped for air. I then looked to the side and that’s when I saw Logan on top of Walter, pummeling his face.

  “Stop,” I yelled with as much breath and force as I possibly could.

  Walter was trying to block and get a few punches in, but Logan was too fast.

  “Logan, stop!”

  I know you must think I’m stupid, but I didn’t want him to kill Walter. He was still his dad, and I didn’t want Walter’s death on his conscience or for him to go to jail.

  After a while, Logan finally stopped. I saw that Walter was motionless, but still breathing. Logan then walked up and crouched in front of me. Without thinking, I threw myself into his arms, crying.

  “Oh, baby. It’s okay. It’s over.”

  I pulled back a little and laid my forehead against his.

  “I’m going to get you out of here.”

  I gave him a puzzled look. “What?”

  He then lifted me up into his arms and carried me out of the house, to his truck. He buckled me in and then got in on the driver’s side. He turned to me and grabbed my face between his hands and looked at me with so much love, and right then, I believed it.

  He closed his eyes and let out a gust of air. “I know you don’t trust me, and I completely understand. After everything, I deserve it, but no matter my feelings, I will make sure that he will never harm you again. I will find you somewhere to stay and make sure you’re all right and then I’ll go my separate way. No matter how much it will hurt, you can have a great home and a great life, and you won’t have me or your past to worry about anymore. I’ll make sure of that. You’re worth it.”

  Without a doubt, I knew in my heart, that I didn’t want to be anywhere without him. I pulled him closer and smashed my lips to his. I then pulled back and touched my forehead to his. “You are my home.”

  His face lifted into a breathtaking smile. He leaned in and kissed me with so much passion, I felt it all the way to my toes. He then pulled back. “Are you ready?”

  I smiled. “Yes.” He kissed my forehead and started the truck.

  As we drove away from the place I called a prison, I stared at my hero. And in that moment, all I could think about was that dream I had. That dream where I was running in a field of lilies and at the end was Logan, standing there, waiting for me.

  About the Author

  Allysia Myers is a twenty-three-year-old who lives in a small town in Georgia. In her spare time, she reads, sleeps, writes, watches movies/TV, and sings.

  She’s a huge hopeless romantic. Basically, she will read and watch just about anything as long as it has romance, so expect her stories to be filled with it.

  She started writing in the ninth grade and has written five short stories that she hasn't shared outside of her family. She then took a short break but then returned to writing when she found out about Wattpad.

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  The Widow

  By Jessica Calla

  Chapter 1

  Nellie, my regular Wednesday night client, yelled in ecstasy as I pounded into her from behind. I’d been doing her long enough to know that she liked it hard, fast, and rough. Exactly opposite of how her husband fucked her.

  “Yes! Right there, Ryder!”

  I loved when they called my name. Felt like I was earning my pay.

  She was close to coming, and I had shit to do, so I gave her my full length. When she moaned, I bent so that my chest lay over her back, and whispered in her ear. “You’re so hot, Nellie.”

  They wanted to hear it. All of
them. And it was my job to give them what they wanted.

  In Nellie’s case, at least, it was true. As far as thirty-something housewives in suburbia go, Nellie was looking damn good. Her husband worked out of town on Wednesday nights, and the babies stayed with Grandma so that Mommy could have some “alone time.”

  Alone time for Nellie meant a session with the best escort in a fifty-mile radius.

  As soon as I was certain that Nellie had been satisfied, I squeezed my eyes shut and continued to pump into her, thinking of my usual fantasies to make myself orgasm. Being a pro, time was money, and I could pretty much make myself come on demand in order to get out of a client’s way. Within half a minute, I filled the condom with my DNA and pulled myself out of Nellie.

  She plopped into bed and rolled onto her back. “Amazing, as usual,” she said. “Same time next week?”

  The best thing about Nellie was that once she came, she was done with me. I didn’t have to pretend our interaction meant more than it did, like I had to do with some needier clients. She’d once told me that her husband gave her plenty of love and hugs, but sometimes, she just wanted to be fucked hard.

  Which was why she paid Night Moves Escort Services hundreds of dollars for an hour with me.

  Once I caught my breath, I stood and gathered my clothes. As I pulled up my jeans, I flashed her my perfectly whitened grin. “Thanks for the good time, Nel. And the money.”

  I took the wad of cash off the dresser.

  “My pleasure.”

  Damn straight it was her pleasure.

  At the door, I turned to her and pointed. “Don’t forget to call Danny for next week.” If she didn’t call to arrange through the service, Danny would rip my balls off.