“The name’s Chase,” he introduces himself, spinning me around. He’s full of himself, I can tell that already. His attitude aggravates me already, but there’s something familiar about him. The dark blonde shading in his hair and pronounced jaw reminds me fiercely of Jace. But his attitude is nothing like the man I’ve lost.
“Joely,” I greet him politely. I’m mentally kicking myself to be on my best behavior. I’ve lost everything. The only thing I can do now is reinstate myself in this life and never look back. Chase is my only other option. I’m spun around the dance floor in a melodic haze by this fiendish stranger. I’m unaware if I’m supposed to trust or him not, but I remain here. I don’t find myself withdrawing from his presence. Rather, I get lost in it. There’s something about him, something I can’t place a finger on, something that has me settled and content. He doesn’t fulfil me like I wish he could, but he has me feeling secure.
“You don’t look happy,” he deliberates after a few minutes of just leading me in this dance. “Everyone else is having a ball, but you, you look like you’re missing something.”
If only he knew! My mind mocks and I try to rally around for some reserves to put a happier exterior on. “I don’t know what you mean. I live one of the best lives ever. What have I got to be sad about?”
“That means nothing,” he admonishes my claim. “You could have everything, but it’s like something’s been ripped from you.”
I push away as he says that. I’m not able to have this talk. I feel like the most claustrophobic person in the largest of rooms. I place a hand to my chest and wish I could scream the truth – my heart’s been ripped from me! I look around for my safest, securest exit and apparently he notices too. He reaches for me in order to gain my attention.
“Come with me,” he commands me softly, motioning to the large open doors to the back of the room. “I want a smoke. You need some air.”
“I don’t smoke, thanks,” I defy him and decide to turn back and go back to the party, but he stops me, grabbing my wrist tightly. “Let me go.” I’m in no mood for this possessiveness. I have to live it with my Boss, I won’t live with a man I hardly know. He doesn’t seem to be listening. “Let me go, or I will scream.”
“Scream and you’ll regret it,” he grimaces at me and tugs me towards the exit.
As he says that I find myself grief stricken. His words are enough to evoke the darkest of qualms. My suspicions about him manifest into something stronger, but I relent. The way he said that sentence should have me running to where I’m safe with security guards and an enigmatic boss who’s obsessively protective of her girls, but I don’t. There’s something about him that doesn’t seem to rile a dire gut instinct.
When we make it out onto the stone veranda where other smokers are, we don’t stop to gather with them and socialize like I’m supposed to. We carry on down the stairs and I feel myself foolish for trusting him and allowing him to just lead me astray.
“Where are we going?” I ask, confused to say the least, as we distance ourselves from the party.
He gives me a friendly grin. “I want to chat where I can hear you properly.”
I look around, rubbing my arms in worry. I don’t want Clara to get wind that I’m off with another client, doing as I wish, working my way to break the rules. We make it to where there is side parking and I notice how empty it is. It’s so much quieter here, a serene scene in comparison to the roaring party back inside. I watch Chase reach within his blazer, I guess for cigarettes, but then he catches me by surprise. His hand comes out empty and reaches for me. Securing his hand around my wrist once more and forcefully lugs me forward. I stumble on the gravel beneath my stilettos, my legs twisting as I resist.
“Stop it and follow me!” he tells me and I hear a car burst to life. Now I’m riddled with terror, more willing to wrestle for freedom.
“What are you doing?” I bellow at him, my voice heightening with my mounting fear. “Are you crazy?”
“Crazy would be me leaving you in that party!” His declaration is received loud and clear, but I still struggle. I met him not even thirty minutes ago, how can I trust him? “Joely, stop struggling!”
“No!” I fight him, hit him, kick him and soon I’ll be ready to claw him. In all my fighting he gets me closer to the door. He’s got his attention on me, the party, and the car, and he knows how calculated he has to be. It unnerves me that this is a planned attack and I’m defenseless. “Eli!” I scream out, reaching my last result. “Shads! Benson! Josh!” I just scream out for the four men who are the most protective. “Clara!” The name unravels from my throat in a bid of desperation.
“Really?” Chase asks me sarcastically as we make it to the car. “You’re going to call for her?”
“Let me go you bastard!” I scream at him, now attacking him as he opens a passenger door to a black Audi R8, the windows are blacked out, the engine still running. This does nothing to calm me, hell, I can see what’s going to happen, but I can’t let it. “You won’t get away with this!”
“You’ll thank me,” Chase tells me and throws me further into a confused state. “She’s all yours.”
“Thanks, bro.” The voice next to me is heaven sent I swear, and in my confused state, I miss my chance to continue my fight for freedom. Instead the door is closed, but I’ve been enchanted by the voice speaking beside me.
I look and have to take a double take because this cannot be happening. “Jace.” His name slips from my lips so effortlessly and my heart rate slows as I see him sitting there before me behind the steering wheel. Tears swirl into my vision and I feel like I’m dreaming.
He doesn’t move, or say much, just quips with one sentence, and that wickedly devilish grin of him. “Didn’t think I’d really believe you were breaking up with me, did you?” He’s playing with me and my heart swells at the sound. He tosses something at me and throws the car into gear. I look at my lap and see my engagement ring glistening up at me. “Buckle up, baby, we’re going on a road trip.” He looks into the rear view mirror and smirks again. “This is the real start.”
To be continued
Bonus Material
The RunawayViper
Book two in The Viper series.
Chapter one.
Chapter One
I uncurl from my position. The sun beating down upon my body and I smile as I wake up to the heat. This is how life has been since Jace, in all manner of wording, kidnapped me.
We've resulted to never lingering too long in one place, but Jace has promised that when we make it to the right place we'll settle down. We can't run forever. That's no life. The entire point of Jace saving me was so we could make a life, prepare for a perfect future.
I look down at the stretch of white sand to my left and just muse wistfully. We’ve been in the Dominican Republic the longest. We’ve been in this state of bliss, a honeymoon phase if you were, for almost two months and I don’t want to leave. I’ve grown attached, and I know Jace has too.
"Australia," Jace suddenly calls out to me.
I whip my head around, looking across the sandy dunes to him. I squint to watch him intently.
“It’s a country,” I state dryly and he laughs. “What about it?”
“How do you feel about starting a life there?” he asks as he crosses the distance between us. “I’m a lawyer; I have a trade. It’s feasible for me to get you placed on my VISA to enter the country. Think of all the opportunities you’ll have. You’ll finally be able to do something with your talent.”
I don’t respond; I’m caught up in the ideology he’s bestowed upon me. I’d give anything to play in the orchestra of the Sydney opera house. I’ve dreamt of composing the next best melody, having my name known for what I can create, not what I’ve done.
“Should I worry over your silence?”
“No,” I whisper coyly and tilt my head to look up at him. “It sounds like a perfect idea.”
He drops onto my sun lounger and I feel it sink
into the sand beneath us. Jace leans in, his half-naked body towering over me and I can now see the perspiration beading all over his tanned skin. My eyes continue to glide over his skin until I’m staring up into his blue eyes. They’re still little pools of heaven, ones that I look into first thing in the morning.
“But?”
I shake my head. “There are no buts.” There really isn’t this time. We’re here, together, living in domesticated bliss. Right now, I’ve started to believe in our future. It’s there, a breath away. “Let’s make a life.”
I watch as his features lighten up, dragging his lips into a bright smile so full of life and excitement, I feel overwhelmed by it. “It’s been a long wait, but I think we did it,” he muses. From his tone, he fully believes we’ve outrun the devil.
A piece of me feigns happiness. It resides within me, lingering at the back of every moment, reminding me that we are only running away from something that can ultimately pounce upon this perfect life. I cannot dispute how quiet this life has been for us. Even if I panic at every sound and bump in the night, I cannot lie, living with Jace, building what we have only ever dreamt of, has been something I cannot help but enjoy. I lavish every single second we have without cause for alarm.
“Stop that,” Jace abruptly scolds me. He looks amused when my head shoots up to stare at him. “Stop over thinking. We’re safe.”
But are we?
Taking a deep breath, I know I need to calm the storm that is beginning to take over within me. So I smile and resume the state of blissful unawareness I was in before this chat.
Jace obviously agrees as he begins to play with the bow on my bikini briefs. I feel him tug and the strings pull apart. I look down as one side of my bikini bottom falls open, leaving me vulnerable. When I steal my attention to focus on his face, he has that crooked grin. I feel the butterflies liven up, fluttering into a frenzy. It’s so sudden I catch myself looking over Jace’s shoulder, looking for any form of life that could catch us in the act.
“We’re alone,” he admonishes my sudden rush of fear.
I know we are. It’s crazy to think otherwise. This tiny slice of heaven is so secluded and peaceful, if we find anyone on the premises, Jace will call the police and get them for trespassing. I think it’s one of the reasons I love it here, total seclusion was promised. Jace made sure of that.
I’m brought back from my thoughts as Jace’s hand travels across my body, his hand untying the strings to the other side of my bikini briefs. I gulp, my eyes keeping watch on his as they become drawn with lust and he looks at me under hooded lids.
Moving smoothly, Jace moves up the sun lounger, only to surprise me by lowering it. I find myself flat on my back, the sun and bright blue sky above me. My eyes struggle to adjust until Jace towers over me, blocking out the brightness. His body is covering me as he moves to touch all over my sun kissed body with his lips.
Now as I feel the butterflies escape, my body turning into a fireball of anticipation and desire, I forget about it all and just lavish the feel of Jace worshiping my body. I moan out as his hand squeezes my left breast, his lips travelling slower than ever. He cruelly works my body into a heated mess, making me weak for his touch. I feel his lips drag across my skin, nipping and kissing. I’m falling into the rapture so fast, my voice is lost to me.
“Jace,” I gasp as I feel him kissing back up my body, his hand slipping between my legs.
He’s barely over my midriff when I feel him enter me. The sound of his chuckle at finding me already wet vibrates through my body, but I can’t react. I can only fall prey and allow him to have his wicked way with me.
“I will get you like this every single day of your life,” he vows intensely, his lips still brushing against my skin. “Hot, wet, speechless.” It’s as he finishes his staccato statement, he shifts his body weight and I feel his bare skin against mine. I never saw him remove his swimsuit, but when he’s working my body in such a way, I never pay much attention to anything else, but the swirling desire he arouses.
When he enters me, my back arches in unison with my toes pointing, I’m fulfilled, and blissfully so. He starts a rhythm so gentle to begin with, I scratch at his back begging him to hasten his speed. When he does, I’m left breathless as he fulfils me hard and fast. He works the art of penetration and separation into a steady pace, making sure I moan out and grunt in pleasure. It’s captivating, and when I hear him groan, it pushes me up higher to my climax.
When my orgasm explodes, the fervor is out of this world. The fever pitch that takes me capture is one to match the beating sun above us. There’s no relief with my orgasm. I’m still a hot mess, if not hotter.
Breathlessly, Jace kisses into my neck, whispering a string of sweet nothings that barely penetrate my addled brain. It’s only the kisses that make any sense to me right now. They’re direct and lingering. Even when Jace falls beside me, our bodies a raging mess of orgasmic afterglow and borderline sunstroke, there’s nowhere else either of us want to be.
We just lay draped over the lounger, both sexually drained. I curl into him, not caring for the humidity clinging to us. I want to lavish this memory for another moment longer. I kiss his chest, and in response, he kisses my hair.
I mew in pleasure and close my eyes. I’m content, but I’m eager for what awaits us.
“So, Australia?” I ask him, not moving, just remaining staring at the crashing waves beyond us.
“Yeah?” he questions back, this time his voice is tiredly laced, heavy to hear.
“When do we leave?” I sit up then, only enough to look at him better. “I’m ready to make this life permanent. It’s been seven months now, let’s do this.”
A part of me wants to escape completely, another wants to believe in fairytale endings, and the other part of me wants to believe that how we came to be was the perfect start only seven months ago.
Acknowledgements
I’m keeping these short. I have a lot of love, but don’t want to ramble!
Nicola, Charlotte W, Charlotte J – Without you three, this book wouldn’t have burst to live as quickly and scarily as it did! You loved every page, responded to every character and event, and even believed in it all. Regardless of how evil and twisted the Boss was, or how badly I hurt your hearts, you stuck with me and this story like no other!
Beth, Amy, Megan, Allana, Felicity, Hannah – you bunch of amazing women received this book in differing stages, but you all loved the plot and made me value my own writing more than ever. You’ve really helped me find a sense of self belief in myself I was scared I’d never see!
To the Moretti girls, thank you for welcoming me and encouraging me in such a short amount of time!
And last but not least, my amazing mother and nan! Without who, I would never be able to pick myself up, brush myself down and carry with my head held high! I will never be able to prove how grateful I am for you two, but I love you from the bottom of my heart.
About the author
Kirsty is a twenty-two year old British writer, who started her writing career as a Fanfiction author under a pseudonym. For years, she built her talent, writing style .and fan base before progressing to release her first novel, ‘A Fire That Burns’. This was quickly followed by its sequel, ‘Watch What Burns’.
Kirsty has a degree in Education Studies and a hope to pursue a career working with children. Right now, she works part-time while volunteering in a nursery for disabled children and writing novels. Writing is a hobby she hopes to continue throughout life.
To learn more about Kirsty, visit-
https://www.facebook.com/pages/authorkirstyannestill
On Goodreads-
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7059341.Kirsty_Anne_Still
book with friends
Saturdays at the Viper Rooms Page 25