Breathless

by Maya Banks

  Zach searched for words, any words, but couldn’t find them.

  “Nora, I—”

  “It’s okay. Really. You have to go. You’re wasting time. You’ve had your bags packed since the day I met you. But it was never to L.A. you were going. We both know that. Go home.”

  Zach stood up and walked on shell-shocked feet toward the door.

  “Zach?”

  Zach turned around. Nora was looking at him.

  “It meant something to you, didn’t it? Me? My book? Last night wasn’t just—”

  It took less than a second to get from the door to Nora’s bedside. Zach took her face in his hands and, careful of her bruises, kissed her with the passion of a man who knew the next woman he kissed would be the only woman he’d kiss for the rest of his life.

  “Yes,” he said, breathlessly. “It meant something.”

  Nora nodded. “You’re still my editor, right?”

  “Always.”

  “I have an idea for a new book. But I’ll need your help.”

  Zach touched the unbruised side of her face.

  “Just remember, show, don’t tell.” He winked at her.

  Nora laughed again, her wicked, dirty, perfect laugh.

  “How much are they paying you for this?”

  * * *

  The drive home from the hospital felt interminable. Wesley didn’t speak and Nora was afraid to shatter the silence. He pulled into their driveway. She got out of the car and felt a sudden wave of dizziness as the painkiller the nurse gave her kicked in when she stood up too fast. She thought she was about to go down, but then Wesley had her in his arms and carried her into the house.

  “You shouldn’t have left the hospital.” Wesley set her on the couch.

  “I’ve left AMA before. You have to or they’ll start calling in for psych evaluations and other shit you don’t need.”

  “You sure you don’t need one?”

  “I had a feeling that deep down you thought I was actually crazy,” Nora said.

  Wesley sat in the chair next to the couch. He leaned back and covered his face with his hands.

  “I’d like to think you weren’t in your right mind when you did this to me.”

  Nora leaned back into the couch cushions. Every breath she took hurt, but not from the pain in her ribs.

  “I didn’t do it to you,” she said. “I did it for you.”

  “That makes no sense, Nora.”

  “You promised me you’d leave me if I went back to Søren. Leaving me is the best thing for you to do.”

  “You want me go?” he asked, his voice soft with shock.

  “No. Never.” She hated the look of relief on his face. “But I need you to. I can’t keep you anymore.”

  Wesley ran his hands through his hair. His face was red, his eyes rimmed with unshed tears. “Let me keep you then.”

  “No, sweetheart, I can’t. I—”

  “Do you love me?”

  “Wesley, it’s not morning until you’re awake. And it’s not night until you’re asleep in your bed under my roof. And I could go on and on but hope is a horrible thing, and I love you too much to give you any. I need you to do something for me.”

  “Anything,” Wesley said. “Everything.”

  “Please,” she begged. “Keep your promise.”

  Wesley opened his mouth to speak, to protest, but he turned his head at the sound of a car honking discreetly outside.

  Nora met his eyes.

  “That’s for me,” she said, standing up.

  “You’re really going back to him?”

  Nora faced Wesley. All she wanted to do was take him in her arms and hold him until all their pain was gone. But there was no time for that anymore. And his pain and hers weren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

  “Wes, I don’t think I ever actually left him.”

  Nora grabbed her purse by the door and dug inside it. She pulled out her wallet and wrote a check to Wesley.

  “Here.” She handed him the check. “Back pay. Should cover your tuition and anything else you need for the rest of the semester.”

  Wesley took the check and methodically ripped it into pieces.

  “I never needed or wanted your money. All I ever wanted was you. Nora, please—”

  Nora looked back at Wesley and wished she hadn’t. She knew this would be the last time she saw him, maybe forever. She wanted her last memory of him to be happy… The day they’d danced around her living room when her fifth book hit the bestseller list… The night they’d stayed up until 3:00 a.m. to catch the meteor shower… That Saturday last summer he took her horseback riding for the first time… Last Sunday when he wanted to give her his virginity and there was nothing more in the world she wanted than to take it. But she knew she’d never forget the look he wore on his face, the desperation, the broken eyes.

  “Don’t go,” he begged. “I love you. I’ve always—”

  Nora stopped his words with a hand on his chest over his heart. He covered her small hand with his much larger one. She took a shallow breath.

  “I was wrong, Wes. About the watch chain and the combs… You’re the only thing I have of value.”

  “Nora—”

  “Don’t forget to check your numbers. And stay away from carbs, okay? And do your homework and—”

  Nora closed her eyes and tears poured down her face. She inhaled hard and met his eyes.

  “I will,” he promised with a hollow voice. His eyes were wide with shock.

  She pulled away from him and left the house carrying nothing but her bag. A gray Rolls-Royce was waiting on the street.

  “Bonjour, maîtresse,” Kingsley said from the backseat.

  “No, it isn’t a bon jour, monsieur.” She collapsed against him, her head on his knee.

  “I know, Elle.” Kingsley put his hand on her flushed forehead. She winced at the pity in his voice, the pity in his touch. “Where to? You said you needed to hide out for a few days. My town house? The Circle?”

  “Take me anywhere,” she said.

  “Anywhere?” he asked.

  Nora closed her eyes as the painkillers finally bested her desire to stay awake. Sleep came for her and she let it take her, not falling into it, but flying.

  “King…just take me home.”

  CHAPTER 35

  There was no such thing as London fog—never had been.

  Zach laughed to himself as he recalled his Royal House nickname. He thought he was the only London Fog anyone would ever see. But tonight it was a real London fog—clean, pure, swept in from the southern seas that wrapped its gray arms around the never quite sleeping city and around Zach as he stood outside the house he and Grace had shared during their marriage.

  Almost eight months had passed since he’d crossed the threshold of his own home. He stood in the shadow of a streetlamp and imagined Grace inside. She was most likely reading, her knees tucked up under her chin in that battered but comfortable armchair they used to play-fight over. Zach slipped his hand into his pocket and felt a rush of silk against his fingers. He pulled out the black tie Nora had used to blindfold him. He stared at it. How had it gotten into his pocket? Who knew with Nora? Magic most likely. Zach considered throwing it into the nearest rubbish bin, but thought better of it.

  Perhaps…maybe…one never knew…

  Zach shoved the tie back into his pocket and strode forward up the three steps to his front door. He raised his hand to knock, but the do
or flew open before his knuckles touched the wood.

  And there stood Grace wearing one of his shirts and not much else, and no woman in the history of the world had ever looked so beautiful standing in a doorway.

  “Hi, Gracie.”

  Grace grinned at him.

  “Hi, George.”

  * * *

  Nora awoke and knew neither the time nor the place. She knew only that she had slept for a long time and that wherever she was, she wasn’t afraid.

  “Where am I?” she asked, trying to orient herself. She only knew this was not her bed, not her usual darkness.

  But it was a familiar darkness. She remembered this darkness and knew it remembered her. She inhaled the scent of hardwood so clean and comforting, savored the soft sheets wrapped around her naked body. The bed that held her now had held her before.

  She saw a square of white break through the blackness, felt the bed shift with a familiar weight.

  “I’m here, little one,” came a voice made for coaxing secrets from the heart. “Sleep now. We’ll talk when it’s time.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said, now knowing where she was. She surrendered to sleep again.

  The most familiar darkness…her darkness…she was home.

  * * * * *

  Hold Tight

  By Alexa Riley

  New York Times and #1 ebook bestselling author Alexa Riley returns with Hold Tight, the next novella in the For You series

  A hotshot consultant hired to streamline Osbourne Corp. meets his match in Pandora Justice—the more she plays hard to get, the more he wants her.

  They say that like recognizes like, and the day I looked into her deep blues, I met my other half.

  Pandora Justice took over as head of security at Osbourne Corp. after her father’s retirement. Eighty-hour workweeks are normal; being bossed around by handsome outsiders is not. And she doesn’t like it. Not even one bit.

  It’s amazing how easily she can lie to herself.

  I had to have her. Plain and simple.

  The first time Pandora sees Royce in the ring—all tattoos and sinew, covered in sweat—he looks at her like he’s just won more than the fight. Like he won her.

  I won’t play games with her. I’ll wait, and it will kill me, but I’ll do it for her.

  Royce’s cocky grin with deep dimples makes Pandora melt. Once she wanted to smack that look off his face—now all she wants to do is kiss it. For the rest of her life.

  The thought of spending the rest of my life with Pandora warms the place in my chest I didn’t think was alive. I’ve put my claim on her—she’s the one, and I’m done.

  This book is approximately 20,000 words

  One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

  Edited by Angela James

  Hold Tight

  Alexa Riley

  CONTENTS

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue: Royce

  Epilogue: Pandora

  PROLOGUE

  Royce

  My friends call me Rolly. Granted, I used to be chubby when I was a kid, but I grew out of that around ten. The reason it started is because I come from a long line of rich assholes. The Davenport name is known all over New York, and my father is no exception. I went to one of the most expensive private schools in the state, and when I showed up with the name Royce, it wasn’t hard to connect the dots to Rolls Royce. Rolls turned into Rolly, and that was that. It stuck from day one, and though most of the kids I grew up with ended up being douchebags, a couple of them were ride or die.

  My two buddies and I got out of college and started up a consultancy firm. We used the money we made from hustling. The only things we wouldn’t do to make it was sell drugs or ask our parents for it. My buddies, Ezra and Donovan, came from the same background as me, and the three of us agreed we wanted to be our own men. It sucked living in a four hundred square foot studio with two mattresses pushed together and a bathroom with no door. But we made it big in less than five years.

  I wanted to make my own contacts, and when I met Henry Osbourne at a charity function last year, I knew that working with him would benefit the both of us. What I didn’t know was that the day he asked me to come take a look at his departments was the day she would walk into my life.

  Pandora was unlike any woman I’d ever seen. Her red hair was pulled back from her face, and her dark blue eyes were rimmed with black eyeliner. It made her look intimidating. And sexy as fuck. She was petite, but I got the impression from her stance—and from her handshake—that she could take me down in the blink of an eye. God, she had no idea how much I wanted her to try.

  They say that like recognizes like, and the day I looked into her deep blues, I met my other half. She was my equal in every way—possibly even better than I’m willing to admit. I had to have her. Plain and simple. Too bad it wasn’t that easy.

  CHAPTER 1

  Pandora

  “I swear on every bagel in Manhattan that if you come over here and ask me what time you can go to lunch, I’ll burn this building to the ground.”

  The new guy, Josh, looks at me with a blank expression on his face and takes a step back. “So, um, now?”

  “Go to lunch. Before she kills us all,” Sophia says, patting him on the shoulder.

  He walks away, and I drop my head on the desk. I want to beat it against it, but I don’t want the mark on my forehead for the rest of the day. It would be too much of a reminder of my frustration.

  “Sorry. I meant to intercept before he got to you. How’s it going, boss?”

  I lean up from my desk and sit back in my chair. “I’m still not used to you calling me boss.” I smile at Sophia, and she shrugs.

  “Hey, you earned it. Might as well wear the title with honor.” She lays a file down on my desk. “That’s the Miller report you asked for. Are you taking a lunchbreak today?”

  I’m already opening the file and shaking my head as she tells me she’ll bring me back something from the cafeteria. I scan the documents and start clicking on my computer to see if I can code some of it now.

  An email pops up from my twin sister, Penelope, and I smile. Of course there are pink hearts in the subject line.

  I skim it and see she’s excited to find out the sex of her baby, and Ivan is being extra protective, but she’s so happy she can’t seem to care.

  Shaking my head, I send an email back, telling her I still think it’s a boy and I’ll finally be able to have something in common with one of her kids.

  Penelope and Ivan got married when she was eighteen. They started having babies right away, and now she’s on number three. Ten years later and she’s got two beautiful girls, who are full-blown princesses, and one on the way. Fingers crossed this one likes to get dirty.

  At twenty-eight, I’ve got a very different life than my sister. She lives next door to our parents, and they have this big family compound. I’ve got a place there, too, but I stay in the city most of the time. After college I went in for an internship in the security department at Osbourne Corp. It didn’t hurt that my cousin Henry was running the place now, but I’m damn good at my job. I worked my way up, and when the time came for my dad to retire, I was chosen as his replacement. I thought that there may have been some animosity in the department, but I found out afterwa
rd that my dad put it to a secret vote so that everyone had a chance to be honest and have the leader they wanted. He said every vote was for me but one. And that one was his. I know I’ll always be his little girl, so I couldn’t even be mad about it.

  I work eighty-hour weeks and give everything I have to this job. I want the department to be the best it can be, but I’m only one person.

  Human resources restructured security a few months ago, and we’re having some growing pains. Mostly in my ass. Some of the new hires they sent are completely incompetent, and most days I’m spending even more of my time cleaning up their messes.

  Henry keeps promising me that he’s going to sort it out, but he’s running out of time. I’m at my wits’ end with trying to manage a department and trying to hold the hands of dumbasses. Good thing personnel can’t hear my inner thoughts.

  I’m so caught up in my work that at one point I look down and see a bag of food on my desk. I glance up at Sophia, and she shakes her head, laughing. “Thank you,” I mouth from across the room.

  I inhale the sandwich and the Diet Coke, and it’s hours later when I realize that everyone is gone for the day. I heard people telling me goodbye as they were leaving, but it didn’t register. Glancing down at the clock on my computer I’m shocked to see it’s after ten.

  I pull out my phone and see I’ve got a missed text from my friend Delilah.

  Del: I’m at Lincoln’s until midnight

  I grab my bag and make my way out of the building, waving to the late-shift staff at the front desk in the lobby. They all know me by first name and watch out for me when I let the time slip by.

  As I walk, I respond to the other texts I missed during the day. I send one to thank my mom for sending me the name of the new restaurant that popped up near my apartment, and then I reply to my dad to say that yes, I promise to come home this weekend and see everyone. They like to nag, but I love it. We are all really close, but they know I’m addicted to my job.