The Dark of You

by Shade, S. M.

  The world sways then settles, and I can feel the floor beneath my body again.

  My laughter bounces around the room as I stand up and wipe my hand across my wet cheeks. Why am I crying? Nothing bad has happened. Asylum walls won’t keep the man I love from coming. All of these people will be sorry when he smashes through them to get to me.

  I’m a mess. A shower’s in order before he gets here. Can’t let him see me like this. My excitement grows while I wash my hair and body, imagining how his hands will bring it to life later. It’s too bad I don’t have any sexy underwear here, but he’ll understand. After we catch up, I’ll march him down and rub him in that doctor’s face.

  Then we’re out of here. We’ll go back and adopt those poor little girls. Be a family. I’ll have a family that won’t be taken from me.

  With the lights out, only the thin glow of the moon through the window illuminates the room. A nurse’s face peeks through the tiny slot in the door, doing an hourly check, then moves on.

  “She’s going to get an eyeful next time when I have you bent over this bed.”

  My breath catches, and joy threatens to burst my heart wide open. I turn to see Reeve standing behind me. The gleam in his eyes matches the mischievous expression on his face, and his deep chuckle echoes around the small room when I throw myself into his arms.

  “I knew it!” I sob, clinging to him. “I knew you wouldn’t leave me.” His scent fills my nostrils, comforting and cool.

  Strong arms wrap around me, holding me tight while I bury my face in his chest. He moves his hand up to run his fingers through my hair.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Darcy. Wherever you are, I am.”

  THE END

  “A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity.” -Franz Kafka

  Where To Find S.M. Shade

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  Acknowledgments

  This book has been in my mind for a while, but I was a little hesitant to write it since it’s pretty different from my other books. So, I want to start by thanking my readers and especially my group, Shady Ladies, for all the enthusiasm and eagerness you showed when I tossed around the idea of a dark stalker romance. You gave me the confidence to get it out onto the paper. It’s the best feeling to know that even when I jump from New Adult to Comedy to MM to Dark Suspense, you amazing people will give it a chance. I’m so grateful I have the freedom to write the stories I’m feeling in the moment. Your support means everything. Thank you so much.

  The first to read this and encourage me to finish it was my best frenemy, S.K. Rose. Yes, I’m saying thank you, Sam, don’t make a big deal out of it. I’ve tortured her with lots of phone calls and late night messages. I’d say I was sorry but no one would believe it so I’ll just say how much I appreciate you listening to me rant and change my mind a thousand times. I promise to be nicer to you for at least a week.

  My alpha and beta readers gave fantastic feedback for this story, and were incredibly patient when long periods passed without another chapter. Your questions and messages kept me motivated, and you made the story much better. Chantal Baxendale, Serena McDonald, Aimee Degagne, Veronica Ashley, and Kelly Tucker, thank you for reading and all your hard work!

  Serena McDonald, your messages cursing me out for days kept me laughing. Not even sorry. I am a little sorry that I spooked Veronica, who let me know she was reading it by herself in her house surrounded by woods. You’re a trooper, V.

  I couldn’t do any of this without my PA, Melissa Teo, who not so gently told me to get my ass off Tiktok and social media to get this finished, then took over my group so I could do just that. Thank you for always being there.

  The photo for the cover leaped out at me and I had to have it. Thanks to both the photographer, Wander Aguiar and the model, Lucas Loyola, for such a beautiful photo. The cover was created by Jena Brignola of Bibiliophile Productions, and I can’t recommend her enough. She did a fantastic job. Thanks, Jena.

  The lovely formatting was done by Abigail Davies of Pink Elephant Designs. She does great work and is so kind and easy to work with. Thank you, Abi.

  Finally, thank you to Danielle Sanchez of Wildfire Marketing Solutions and everyone else who helps me get my books out there. Whether you’re an author, blogger, influencer, page owner, or reader, thank you for sharing and supporting me.

  More By S.M. Shade

  Check out my other books and series, all available on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited.

  The Tragic Duet is an enemies to lovers, rock star romance. It can be found here:

  The Tragic Duet and includes the following books:

  Rock Star, Interrupted

  I found my stillness, my space between breaths, when I was a kid. The answer is simple. If it hurts, I pour music on it.

  After years of hard work, it's finally happening. Tragic has a number one album and we've gone from being discussed as one hit wonders to hearing words like meteoric mentioned alongside our name.

  With two tours planned and another album on its way, we have a lot to look forward to. Playing in a different city every night, the shimmer and roar of the crowd, after parties and endless women.

  My lifelong dream is in the palm of my hand until one phone call leaves everything hanging in the balance.

  Rock Star, Unbroken

  I knew better and I let it happen anyway.

  I was drawn in by her kindness and the way she sees into people. The way she looks through their motivations, their fears, into the heart of them where the good waits. One glance and she’s stripped away the layers we wrap ourselves in to keep from being unique.

  She saw into me.

  Then used it to her advantage.

  Now, my son is in danger and if she’s behind it, there won’t be a hole deep enough for her to hide in.

  I broke my own rules for Naomi.

  My son will not pay the price.

  The Violent Circle Series is a five book series of interconnected standalone romantic comedies. It can be found here Violent Circle Series and includes the following books:

  Scarlet Toys (FREE)

  Living on Violet Circle, a place that’s less of a neighborhood and more of an insane asylum poured into the street, I thought I was prepared for anything.

  How naïve I was.

  After the factory closed, leaving me and a good portion of the town unemployed, I took a job managing Scarlet Toys. I knew it wouldn’t be a typical work environment, selling adult toys in a town more uptight than a constipated nun, but some things you just never see coming.

  Like the protesters covered in poison ivy, screaming about smut peddlers.

  Or a dancing dinosaur named Fappy.

  Or the allure of the man standing in the center of all the chaos.

  Wyatt Lawson, a six foot, four inch heap of muscle with a quick smile, ignited my interest in more than the available manager position. Like the missionary one. Or the rodeo. Maybe the side rider. What can I say? I’m an overachiever.

  Let’s just hope he doesn’t scare easily.

  Frat Hell

  Frat Hell.

  That’s how the wh
ole neighborhood refers to the apartment where I live with three other college students. It’s a bit judgmental, considering the neighborhood we live in is more like a zoo than an apartment complex, but not inaccurate. If you put that many young guys together, things are bound to be interesting. I still maintain that the giant water guns filled with poison ivy water were not my idea.

  January Dixon.

  She’s the girl I’ve lusted after for years. A smart mouth and sharp tongue surrounded by soft beauty and a body I’d give up an organ just to touch. An important organ, like a kidney, not one of those lame ones like a gallbladder.

  It’s a tricky situation since she lives right down the street, and dating a neighbor generally isn’t a good idea. But this is Violent Circle, where normal may as well be a dirty word. Thanks to an impromptu fashion show where I tossed all self-respect aside and strutted my stuff in full bondage gear in front of our small town, she now owes me a date.

  And I plan to collect.

  Clean Start

  Everyone knows the rumors about Violet Circle and the crazy inhabitants, but becoming a resident was my best option. These are the kind of decisions you’re faced with when you have a baby at eighteen, and your knight in shining armor turns out to be a deadbeat dad in saggy boxers.

  Don’t get me wrong, my five-year-old son, Aiden, is the love of my life, even when he’s telling random strangers I’m constipated, or lecturing his preschool friends on the differences in their anatomy. I wouldn’t trade him for anything, but raising him as a single parent while cleaning motel rooms for a living is like walking a balance beam made of sand. One wrong slip, and we’re homeless.

  It doesn’t take us long to adjust to our new home with all its eccentric people, and Aiden is happy here, but danger lurks right across the street. Not in the apartment of the odd woman who always wears a floppy sun hat and trench coat, or the crazy apartment full of college kids. I wish it were that simple.

  Neal Chambers, the single father who is ten years my senior, sets off alarms in my head.

  Mainly because he sets off other things in my panties.

  Zero Fucks

  Mr. Rogers did not prepare me for the people in my neighborhood. A cut in financial aid for college and a lot of bad luck have landed me not only on Violent Circle, but in the apartment known as Frat Hell.

  I can handle myself, so living with three guys isn’t a problem. Even the madhouse disguised as a low income neighborhood isn’t an issue. The trouble is Denton, the man with the mischievous grin in the room across from mine.

  I can resist the lean, muscled body. I’m stronger than the quick smile and adorable dimple. But his kindness, that may be the straw that breaks the vagina’s crack.

  I just need to keep my head down and my legs together while I focus on making my dream of owning my own tattoo shop a reality.

  Level Up

  It's hard to believe it's almost over.

  After three years of living in the wildest apartment in the craziest neighborhood, the clock is ticking down.

  College is ending.

  My friends and I, known around Violent Circle as the Frat Hell Guys, have managed to make it to graduation without a major injury or arrest record. It was a close call.

  My career path as a video game designer is laid out clearly before me, but I have one more objective to achieve before the school year is over; show the beautiful, stubborn, infuriating woman I’m in love with that she’s mine.

  She just doesn’t know it yet.

  The In Safe Hands Series is a five book series of interconnected standalones about a group of hackers who hunt child predators who have escaped justice. It can be found here In Safe Hands Series and includes the following books:

  Landon (FREE)

  Zoe

  I’m not interested. I’m not interested in his blue-green ocean colored eyes, his lean muscular body, or that crooked smile that can be so infuriating. I have more important things to worry about, like how to keep myself in college and my sixteen year old brother fed and sheltered. We all know life is hard, some of us just learn that lesson younger than others, but that doesn’t mean I’ll give up. I intend to succeed and make sure my brother has the opportunities he deserves, and no privileged jerk is going to distract me.

  Landon

  I don’t date. Don’t get me wrong, I’m far from celibate, but my condition makes carrying on any kind of normal relationship impossible. My life revolves around In Safe Hands or ISH, the underground hacker group I work with to track down and take care of predators and sex offenders who beat the system. I’m satisfied with my life until the day I meet the smart mouthed, compassionate, determined woman who opens my eyes to possibilities I never thought existed.

  Dare

  Ayda

  I hear him.

  His deep voice and rumbling laugh. The bang of the headboard slamming the wall and fake screams from yet another woman. Derek is a pile of muscle and ink, a bad boy fantasy only a few layers of wood and plaster away. It’s all I expect or want him to be.

  Until that irresistible voice begins talking to me.

  Dare

  I hear her.

  The clicking of her fingers on a keyboard, her music or TV playing in the background. Her musical laugh and soft cries of pleasure, accompanied by a low, steady buzz. Ayda is a good girl who keeps to herself, and I have no business pursuing her, but I’m not a man known for doing the right thing.

  I’m an ex-con. I’m a criminal.

  And I want her.

  Justus

  Justus

  I’m not conceited.

  Really, I’m not. It just so happens I have a body a Greek God would be jealous of, and a face that could make an angel weep. Other than that, I’m just your everyday normal guy who happens to take his clothes off for money. Sure, I’ve had to dispose of a few guys for In Safe Hands, the organization I work for that helps track predators and child molesters, but other than that, completely normal.

  Women flock to me, screaming and paying for the right to touch me, so why is this woman so stubborn? Sadie Belmont’s curvy body and sharp tongue have haunted me since I met her a year ago. There’s something about her that gets stuck in my head like a bad song, and I’m determined to find out why I want her so badly, and why she can’t stomach the thought.

  Sadie

  I can’t believe I’m doing this. Of all the men in the world, I’m taking Justus Alexander to my childhood home in Oklahoma to meet my mother. A stripper who has a revolving door of women jumping in and out of his bed. Nine months ago when I lied to my mother and told her I had a steady boyfriend, I didn’t expect it to come to this. She doesn’t have long to live, and her only wish is to know I have a husband before she goes.

  I can’t disappoint her, and male escorts cost way more than I can afford, so when Justus volunteered, I took him up on his offer. I know what he wants. After annoying me with constant pick up lines for a year, he sees an opportunity to get me in bed. It’s not going to happen. I just need to get through this week with my sanity intact.

  Tucker

  Tucker

  She’s beautiful.

  She’s young.

  She’s driving me out of my mind.

  I’ve always done my best to avoid Leah Bolt. I have enough problems without having to deal with a young woman with a crush. My life has been a disaster since I was court-martialed and dishonorably discharged from the military. After spending a year living on the streets, I’m finally starting to pull things together.

  Now, I’m stuck with her, living side by side in my house with my complete opposite. If spending every day with this peppy, optimistic, energetic woman doesn’t kill me, her brother will. Dare is a friend and a member of In Safe Hands, a group that tracks down sexual predators and brings them to justice. He has also done time and is the size of a mountain.

  I’ve survived combat, but I may be taken down by a perky blond.

  Leah

  He’s gorgeous.

 
; He’s older.

  He’s a stubborn, broody jerk.

  Tucker Long is every woman’s dream…until you talk to him. He may be sexy when he’s out sweating in the sun with sawdust clinging to him as he hammers and saws, but try to hold a conversation and all you get are grunts and nods.

  He was the one who wanted a house sitter and just because his plans fell through doesn’t mean I’m changing mine. My future is up in the air while I try to decide who I want to be, and Tucker’s farm is the perfect place for me to do it. He calls me kid, but the way he looks at me doesn’t lie.

  I may be ten years younger, but I can still handle him.

  Jeremy

  Melissa

  I escaped.

  For the first time in almost four years, I’m free.

  My freedom came at a steep cost, leaving me on my own with no family or friends. I have a lot of healing to do, and this beautiful lake house seems like a perfect setting to find myself again.

  I can do this.

  The only thing I have left is hope.