Fear You

by B. B. Reid

  I made him break his oath and now he was all grumpy.

  We pulled up to my house and Keiran cut the engine before coming around to open my door. He was testing his ability to be a gentleman, and I have to say, I loved it just as much as his rough edges.

  “Make it quick,” he ordered. “You have a test next period.”

  See? Rough edges.

  “You know we wouldn’t be here if you weren’t so stubborn. If you hadn’t stopped touching me, I wouldn’t have had to resort to drastic measures.”

  “I’m not in the mood, Monroe.”

  I chewed on my bottom lip to keep from saying something sarcastic. I hated when he called me Monroe and he knew it. I could see the smirk forming on his lips.

  I fisted his dark gray shirt in my hands and stepped closer until my lips rested right under his. He moved forward to kiss me, but I dodged his lips and smiled sweetly.

  “You know… you get to see me in a dress again tonight. Are you prepared to stake your claim and perform your boyfriend duties?”

  “Or we can just skip it, and I can perform my duties all night—no interruptions.”

  I smiled and let him kiss me before pushing him back and catching him by surprise. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you. Maybe I’ll make you wait.”

  “Monroe…”

  “Don’t forget your suit after school, Masters!” I skipped into the house to change my clothes leaving him standing in the driveway with a hard dick.

  * * *

  Prom night. Every girl thought about the day of her prom. It was the second best night next to her wedding night.

  I was the exception to little girl dreams because I always had the intention of skipping this night. I expected nothing good to come out of it. Not if Keiran was there.

  So why was I standing here—showered, shaved, primped, and ready? Well, almost ready. I looked over at the beautiful, turquoise dress hanging on the back of Sheldon’s door.

  The white bodice of the dress was strapless with a heart shaped neckline that would push up my breasts. The turquoise faux pearls decorated the top in a mass of swirls and trails. The bodice tapered at the waist and led into the princess skirt that reminded me of a tutu. It stopped just above my knees and twirled when I moved.

  I could still remember the way Keiran’s eyes darkened when I emerged from the dressing room to model for him. I thought I’d succeeded in making him speechless—until he’d said, I need you now.

  I’m glad we both loved the dress because after we’d christened the dress in the dressing room, we had no choice but to buy it. After the mind-blowing, sneaky, dressing room sex, we spent almost an hour arguing at the cash register. The first argument was who was going to pay. He won that argument, but when the sales associate announced the total price, it sparked the second argument.

  We ended up leaving without the dress after I promised to tear it to shreds with a kitchen knife if he bought it.

  I felt my body heat as I remembered him taking me home immediately after and punishing me one screaming orgasm at a time. He never let up until my aunt came back. The next day, I came home to find the dress laid out on my bed and a note lying next to it:

  I spent the last eleven years making your life hell. I’m ready to spend the rest of mine making it up to you. Spoiling you is just the start. Will you let me?

  And as usual, I caved. The dress really was beautiful despite the ridiculous price. I was even more curious to see how Keiran planned to make up for the last eleven years.

  Sheldon and Willow walked in, breaking me out of my thoughts. They were dressed in gowns that Willow made herself. Willow’s strapless dark purple dress was short and similar to mine except hers had a black lace bodice. Sheldon wore a long, flowing black dress that had a strapless silver studded bodice.

  They decided to go as each other’s date.

  “What time is Keiran picking you up?” Willow asked.

  “In about twenty minutes.” I hurried to finish dressing and took a final look in the mirror as the sound of more than one male voice came from downstairs.

  Sheldon and Willow hurried out ahead of me when Dash yelled up the stairs. Despite all the tension, we decided to go as somewhat of a group. I really thought Willow and Dash would have worked through their differences by now, but she still allowed her mom to keep them apart. I realized Dash hadn’t quite given up on them when he asked me a month ago if Willow was going to prom. Turns out, he had asked her, but when she turned him down, he told her he was done chasing her. Willow didn’t stop crying for nearly two weeks and barely ate. It wasn’t until Sheldon magnanimously asked her for her hand to the dance, as she put it, that she finally came around.

  I slipped on my heels, took a deep breath, and made my way downstairs.

  The first thing I noticed was Keiran waiting by the stairs dressed in a black suit and shirt that had to have been tailored by God for him. He wasn’t looking my way, so it allowed me to drink in the sight of him in a suit. He definitely made black look good.

  I descended the stairs. When I managed to make it next to him without him noticing, I knew something was wrong. If I weren’t busy drooling before, I would have seen the hard set of his jaw. I looked in the direction of where his attention was fixed and took in the scene unfolding.

  Sheldon stood pale and frozen to the left side of the stairs as she stared at the tall figure occupying the doorway.

  “Keenan… How—how are you?”

  He wore sunglasses that shielded his eyes, but I could see his lips pressed in a hard line and his jaw working. The room was silent as everyone’s attention zeroed in on the tension that now overtook the atmosphere.

  “I’m not dying anymore if that’s your real question.”

  The hostility in his voice couldn’t be mistaken, and if he was anything like his brother, there was sure to be rage simmering beneath his shades.

  “I’m glad you’re okay. We—”

  “Cut the sympathetic bullshit. You didn’t care enough to bring your selfish ass to the hospital. There is no need to feign concern now.”

  And just like that, he was gone again, leaving us all to stare after him in shocked silence.

  John had been notified the next day after Keiran had decided to let go of his past and to not kill Officer Reynolds and Mrs. Risdell that a set of lungs was available for Keenan.

  Talk about a sign…

  He had the transplant immediately. He was then released from the hospital after a month long stay to recover. Everyone was extremely happy except him. The doctor assured us he was going through the normal emotions an organ transplant would typically go through. Fear. Anxiety. Stress.

  He wasn’t out of the woods yet because, at any moment, his body could decide to reject the lungs or he could suffer from infection. So he was constantly in and out of the hospital for blood tests and X-rays.

  And tonight, we were all together getting ready for prom without him. It had to hurt.

  He still wasn’t speaking to Keiran so the tension and distance between them only grew each day. It made Keiran’s hunt for Mitch an obsession. After the phone call Keiran received six months ago, Mitch had gone silent, but Keiran never gave up his search. Sometimes, he would slip back into that dark place, and I did everything in my power to bring him back. I was prepared to do whatever it took to help him. No one, least of all me, expected him to change overnight though I think he wished he could.

  “Lake?” I was so lost in my thoughts, I hadn’t realized when Keiran had taken my hand in his and everyone had walked out.

  “Oh, uh… Huh?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, but do you want to go see about your brother?”

  He looked backed at the door where Keenan had disappeared for a long moment before he shook his head slowly. “Pushing him would be a mistake.”

  “What if he never—”

  “Shh, baby. You look beautiful tonight. I don’t want you crying.”

  “What makes you think I
’m going to cry,” I accused even as I heard the tremble in my voice.

  He offered me a crooked smile and squeezed my hand. “Because you’re always crying… and you snore.”

  I laughed and hit his chest, and he feigned pain until I realized he might not have been faking it. “Sorry! Did I hit it?”

  “Yeah, but don’t worry. I can take the pain,” he whispered seductively.

  “Don’t get too excited. I want a dance out of you first.”

  He groaned, and for the first time, Keiran pouted. It would be really interesting to see Keiran dance. “One dance and then I get to have you.”

  “Sure. So can I see it now?”

  He released my hand and held my gaze as he slowly unbuttoned his shirt. Covering the remnants of how I almost lost him was a tattoo mimicking my handwriting that read ‘Forever, Lake.’

  Now I knew why he mysteriously had me write the words on a sheet of paper a few weeks ago.

  “I couldn’t take seeing the look in your eyes every time you looked here. It’s not a memory I want you to carry. When you look at me, I want you to see forever. I want you to remember our promise to each other.”

  “It’s beautiful. Did Keenan do this?”

  He shook his head, and then kissed me, but I think it was more to distract me.

  “What are we going to do? Mitch is still out there, and Arthur could get out at any moment.” It was a wonder he hadn’t already, but there were so many fingers pointing and evidence uncovered, including dozens of children found in Canada in a compound like Keiran had described who were finally set free. Arrests of police officers, judges, and nearly all of Arthur’s workers were also made.

  “I have something to show you.” He pulled out a sheet of paper, and for a moment, I experienced déjà vu. Was it another letter from his mother?

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Keiran

  She took the paper from my hand, but I sensed her hesitation. She turned it over and slowly began to read it. I could see the confusion in her eyes and the way her body tensed. I received the letter today and must have read it over a hundred times. The words were burned into my memory:

  Youngblood,

  Every warrior knows how to fight, but a smart warrior knows when to survive. If you are reading this letter, then I can only assume you are the latter.

  I have one question to ask you and that question is simple.

  Do you believe in fate?

  My daughter came to visit me yesterday. I have you to thank for that. You protected mine without anything in return, so I only felt the need to return the favor. You never know what can come from trusting someone with your secrets…

  Two nights ago, I met a powerful man named Arthur. He offered me a great deal in return for protection.

  I accepted, but with the price of a secret. A secret much like yours.

  He’s no longer a problem.

  -Rufus

  “I don’t understand. Who is Rufus?”

  “He’s an old inmate I met the last time I was in jail. Two years ago, he came looking for his daughter, who was being beaten by her husband, but she couldn’t get out. He confronted her husband, but they got into a bad fight. Unfortunately for him, the husband was a cop and he was an ex-con with a criminal record.”

  “The woman… She was Trevor’s mom, wasn’t she? And he’s her father?”

  I nodded my head but said nothing.

  “Is Arthur really dead?”

  I nodded again.

  “Did you know Rufus before?”

  “No. It was some fucked up coincidence. I don’t even know what made me help her. I just did.”

  “Maybe it was your own mother’s past. You said your father abused her.”

  “I didn’t know it at the time I helped Trevor’s mom, though.”

  “Well, then you know what that means, don’t you?

  “What?”

  She leaned close to me and wrapped my arms around her. “It means you’re a hero.”

  I swallowed hard against the onslaught of emotion, but mostly for the small ounce of insecurity that I couldn’t be what she needed. “Is a hero what you want?”

  She shook her head. “You were born out of greed and you were raised out of greed. You lived your entire life being who someone wanted you to be. Who do you want to be?”

  “I want to be yours, but are you sure you can live with a broken love like ours?”

  “I think it’s been proven I can take whatever you throw at me. Love is much more powerful than fear.”

  I couldn’t deny what we had was born out of darkness, but instead of pulling her into my dark world, she led me to a light I wasn’t sure I even deserved.

  I may not be a monster, but I am still anything but a hero.

  “I love you, Keiran.”

  Still… forever was a long time for change.

  The End

  Dear Reader . . .

  I hope I gave you what you were looking for. Keiran, “The Dark Lord,” as Willow spitefully dubbed him, with all his unredeemable qualities managed to find his happily-ever-after with the only person who was brave enough to venture into the dark and pull him out.

  Bringing them together was no easy feat, but if they could do it, I know there is hope for Keenan & Sheldon…

  Don’t forget to review where you purchased Fear You and on Goodreads, too.

  Continue on for TWO Sneak Peeks . . .

  Sneak Peek — Fear Us, By B.B. Reid

  Fear Us (Broken Love, #3)

  Coming Fall 2015

  KEENAN

  “Keenan! What are you doing? This isn’t you!”

  “Yeah?” I stared down at her body splayed out for me like an offering I had just recently finished devouring. “You think you know me?”

  “What? Of course I do,” she whispered softly. I didn't like the way she gazed up at me with love in her eyes. Her love was a lie. Love was just that. A lie.

  “You don’t fucking know me. You never did.”

  She tried to lift up, but the belt wrapped around her neck and tied to the iron rails of her headboard stopped her movements.

  “I watched him do this to her one night.”

  “What?” I ignored the confusion in her eyes and continued.

  “I wanted to see what it was he was doing to her. I wasn’t looking for pleasure. I was curious. Just me trying to be a good guy. I actually thought I might have been willing to protect her if need be because she couldn’t protect herself. But then she fucking took him. She actually decided to be with him—thinking he could and would change. He won’t. And she won’t realize it until it’s too late. She’s already trapped.”

  “Keenan, please—”

  “I always wondered what kind of desire he could get from someone he claimed to hate. Now I fucking know.”

  “You hate me?”

  “What I feel for you goes far beyond hate. I needed you, Shellie, and you turned your back on me just like she did.”

  “I am not your mother, Keenan!”

  “Oh, I know that. The difference between you and her was that I actually believed you loved me.”

  “I do!” she cried out and struggled against her bonds.

  “Then prove it.” I gritted my teeth in anger. My internal fight was threatening to surface. I needed to stay levelheaded.

  “How?”

  “Run away with me.”

  “What?”

  “You’re either going to run with me or run from me. Make your choice.”

  “Keenan, I love you.”

  Hope. That’s what I felt. I was glad I could still feel at all.

  “So you’ll come with me then?”

  That was until she took it away.

  “No.”

  Sneak Peek — Project: Killer, by J.L. Beck

  COMING MAY 2015

  Prologue

  Killer

  It all started with a kiss. It wasn’t one of those sappy ass ones where there is affection and sparks flying and you just f
ucking know they’re the one for you. No, this was a different kind of kiss. It wasn’t a spark, but a simple touch of one’s skin against another. I would like to think somehow that simple gesture had triggered something into motion. That somehow that one kiss had signified our entire being of life—it didn’t.

  The kiss meant nothing, and the feelings formed from within because it meant nothing. Every time I thought of Maggie, the way her brown hair billowed in the wind, the way her small hands clasped mine, it reminded me of the illness, the death that plagued me. It reminded me of the clock that slowly ticked inside of me.

  I was dying, and there was nothing anyone could do. There was no cure, no miracle for someone like me. After all, millions of people lost their loved ones, so what would one more loss be? What would me not dying do for the world? Nothing.

  Eventually, I would be replaced. The school would get a new student, the teachers would forget I ever existed, and Maggie—sweet little Maggie would move on and find someone new. My parents would have another child and life would be normal. Normal for everyone but me.

  See, I wouldn’t get to live such a lavish life. No, the life I would live would make me wish that the cancer had killed me. That it had eaten away at everything that made me who I was. Why, you ask? Simply because the person I was being morphed into, the man they were making me be was anything less than death. He was ruthless, angry, and hateful. He thought for no one but himself. He was careless, his needs only being met with sex and violence.

  His memories would be wiped away, yet a small girl with red cheeks and brown hair would still find her way into his dreams. He would grow to hate the little girl for not being able to remember the memories or where she came from and it would drive him insane.

  He would eventually become one of the world’s most trained fighters. Genetically mutated to the government’s liking. Turned into something he never wanted—something he never should’ve been.