Razed

by Shiloh Walker

  PRAISE FOR

  WRECKED

  “The sexy surprises . . . send their comfortable relationship into uncharted (and utterly hot) territory . . . Walker ably demonstrates her skill with a contemporary scenario.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “A touching romance about best friends finding out that love was right in front of them the whole time. It has plenty of sizzle . . . We get to see the interior feelings of both leads in this lovely little contained look at two people who any reader would love to call friends. A beautiful story!”

  —RT Book Reviews (4 1/2 stars)

  “A sweet and sexy story that . . . was charming and fun to read.”

  —Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

  PRAISE FOR THE PARANORMAL ROMANCES OF SHILOH WALKER

  “An action junkie’s thrill ride that hits all the high notes. I recommend this series as a must-read for those who love their paranormal romances to be wrapped in dark emotional suspense and intrigue.”

  —Smexy Books

  “This story showcases Walker’s talent . . . Her characters are complex . . . Her plots twist in very interesting ways . . . The sex is sizzling . . . This is a taut, beautifully written thriller readers won’t want to miss.”

  —RT Book Reviews (4 1/2 stars)

  “An outstanding story fraught with sexual tension and a spine-tingling mystery. The Departed will keep readers turning pages faster than they think, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “Chilling [and] heart-wrenching . . . A richly emotional and wildly imaginative story that grips the reader with genuine, vivacious characters and a sinuous, flowing plot.”

  —Fallen Angel Reviews

  “Shiloh’s books are sinfully good, wickedly sexy, and wildly imaginative!”

  —Larissa Ione, New York Times bestselling author

  “Suspense that can rip your heart open and leave you raw . . . The characters are absolutely fantastic, from the leads to the side characters.”

  —Errant Dreams Reviews

  Titles by Shiloh Walker

  HUNTING THE HUNTER

  HUNTERS: HEART AND SOUL

  HUNTER’S SALVATION

  HUNTER’S NEED

  HUNTER’S FALL

  HUNTER’S RISE

  THROUGH THE VEIL

  VEIL OF SHADOWS

  THE MISSING

  THE DEPARTED

  THE REUNITED

  THE PROTECTED

  FRAGILE

  BROKEN

  CHAINS

  WRECKED

  RAZED

  Anthologies

  HOT SPELL

  (with Emma Holly, Lora Leigh, and Meljean Brook)

  PRIVATE PLACES

  (with Robin Schone, Claudia Dain, and Allyson James)

  HOT IN HANDCUFFS

  (with Shayla Black and Sylvia Day)

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) LLC

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

  USA • Canada • UK • Ireland • Australia • New Zealand • India • South Africa • China

  penguin.com

  A Penguin Random House Company

  RAZED

  A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with Shiloh Walker, Inc.

  Copyright © 2014 by Shiloh Walker, Inc.

  Excerpt from Busted by Shiloh Walker copyright © 2014 by Shiloh Walker, Inc.

  Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

  Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group.

  BERKLEY SENSATION® is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

  The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

  For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  eBook ISBN: 978-0-698-15397-4

  PUBLISHING HISTORY

  Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / December 2014

  Cover photo by Getty Images.

  Cover design by Rita Frangie.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Version_1

  For Haley . . . hope you don’t mind me using and abusing your anecdotes . . . it just went so well with what I needed in Keelie’s story!

  Thanks to Buddy at Tattoo Charlie’s in Louisville for answering some questions that came up as I wrote the book.

  For everybody who asked from day one if I’d tell more stories about the brothers . . . here we go.

  As always, to my family. You are my everything. I love you.

  Thanks to Libby Rice for the help with understanding some basic info on patents.

  Thanks to Sara Thorne for some with Italian.

  And as always, Nicole . . . thanks for always helping with the legal end of things.

  Contents

  Praise for Shiloh Walker

  Titles by Shiloh Walker

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Preview of Busted

  Chapter One

  Stop worrying so much about the future

  Call Roger and tell him off

  Flip off the next photographer you see

  Get a tattoo

  Have a torrid affair with a hot guy

  Ask that hot guy if he’d maybe like to marry me . . . up in Alaska

  Keelie Jessup ran her finger over the warped pages of the journal and couldn’t help but smile.

  The battered copy of Wreck This Journal lay in a place of honor on a table near where the wedding cake sat, waiting. That wedding cake looked more like a work of art than anything edible. But if she knew anything about Abigale Applegate—no—Abigale Barnes, then that cake would be as delicious as it was beautiful. A caterer now, Abigale knew all about finding the absolute best and yummiest of creations—or making them herself.

  The newlywed Abigale Barnes was on the edge of the dance floor with Zach. Keelie assumed what they were doing might be called dancing, but it was more like swaying as they stared at each other. They might as well be off on their honeymoon—completely alone in the world, lost in each other.

  Neither of them looked like they had eyes for anybody else.

  A tug of envy twisted at her.

  Not because Abby had Zach, really.

  One thing had become painfully clear over the past few weeks. Keelie felt a lot of things for Zach, but she didn’t have the kind of feelings for him that Abby did. She’d thought she did. She’d wanted to, had
hoped he’d realize he felt the same.

  Then she kissed him.

  She’d got as much wow out of that kiss as she did when her buddy Javi gave her a hug. Those rare, infrequent hugs. Physical contact wasn’t really up her alley and Javier, more than most, seemed to pick up on it.

  No. She wasn’t in love with Zach, but who could look at those two and not envy the magic they obviously had? The insanity was that it had taken Abby this long to see it.

  Shrugging off that tug of envy, she grabbed a pen and flipped through the journal. There was a space where other people were invited to draw in the journal. It had sat in Steel Ink for a while, the tattoo studio she co-owned in Tucson with Zach, but she hadn’t felt right doodling in it then.

  Now, though, she had something in her head.

  She bent over, braced one elbow on the table as she sketched.

  The cartoon images were clearly Zach and Abby and she had fun making them look a little more gah-gah than they already were.

  “You’re good.”

  She jumped a little, looking up to see Zane Barnes towering over her. Zane, the oldest of the Barnes brothers, stood there watching her, his eyes unreadable behind a pair of glasses she secretly found terribly sexy. Okay, secretly she found him terribly sexy. All five of them were beautiful, really, from Zane down to the youngest sibling, Sebastian.

  Forcing a smile, she looked back at the sketch, gave a few final touches, and then straightened. “Thanks. It’s just for fun.”

  She glanced down at it and then gave the newlyweds a smirking smile. “You gotta admit, it’s pretty dead-on, though.”

  Zane laughed. “Pretty much.” Then he held out a hand. “Dance?”

  Her heart froze. Dance. With him.

  For some reason, he always made her a little nervous. Those blue green eyes of his—beautiful eyes—made her feel like she had no shields, nothing between her and him and he could see all the flaws and holes and mistakes she’d made. And man, were there mistakes.

  She hesitated, probably too long, because he started to lower his hand.

  Impulsively, she caught it. “Yeah. Sure. I . . . ah. Look, I haven’t danced in . . .” She stopped to think. Shit. That long. “I think the last time I danced with anybody was in high school.”

  “Well, I’m not going to be a great partner for your first dance.” He led her out on the dance floor and tugged her in close. “My brothers used to taunt me for how clumsy I was.”

  She let him catch her hand in his, her breath trying to hitch in her chest as he slid his free arm around her back. He moved with a little too much ease for her to buy the clumsy bit, though. She tipped her head back, had to appreciate the fact that she actually could. She’d worn heels with her dress and with those heels, she stood six feet. Zane still had a good five inches on her.

  His gaze rested on hers. Normally, silence didn’t bother her at all, but normally, she wasn’t moving on a dance floor with a guy. She didn’t know if normal could really fit in here. She was in a dress. She was in heels. And she was dancing with Zane.

  Since thinking about it made her even more nervous, she had to break the silence. “So what happened to them getting married in Alaska?”

  “I think Abby decided it was easier to have a wedding—especially a fast one—for two hundred people if she actually had the wedding here.” A faint smile curled his lips. “Never let it be said that she doesn’t have her share of common sense. They decided to have the honeymoon there instead.”

  Keelie shuddered. “I don’t get it. A honeymoon in Alaska. Sounds cold.”

  “Nah.” He shrugged. The muscles under her left hand glided and shifted and she realized her mouth had gone a little dry. Nice muscles, she realized. Really nice. “It’s early fall. It will be getting cooler, but it won’t be bad. Besides, they’ve both always wanted to go. It’s beautiful up there.”

  “You’ve been.”

  He lifted a brow.

  “Your pictures. You mentioned it.” She shrugged self-consciously. She wasn’t about to mention that she sort of stalked him online. It wasn’t like he didn’t have a blog. It was easy to follow him through the pictures and posts.

  “Yeah. Had a freelance thing there not too long ago. Didn’t pay much, but it was worth it just to go.” The black-framed glasses he wore caught the light, hiding his eyes from her for just a moment and then they swayed, the angle changing.

  Her breath caught.

  He wasn’t looking at her eyes.

  His gaze was on her mouth, something hot flashing in the blue green depths. Her heart slammed hard against her chest and without even thinking about it, she licked her lips.

  Then he blinked.

  She felt like the air had been knocked out of her. Whoa—

  Unconsciously, her hand tightened on his.

  Dragging her eyes away, she stared out over the dance floor, looking back at Zach and Abby.

  Her heart started to slow.

  “He’s where he belongs.”

  Swinging her head up, she met Zane’s level gaze. Blood rushed up to stain her cheeks. Well, hell. Of course Zane knew. Zach and his brothers were tight, but there was no denying he was closest to his older brother. She had the urge to pull away, find a dark corner and just hide until it was polite to leave. The reception had only been going on for forty-five minutes. They hadn’t cut the cake. Too early to leave yet.

  Besides, she wasn’t about to make a habit of cutting and running just because she was uncomfortable. It wasn’t an easy habit to break, after all.

  Mentally bracing herself, she confronted Zane’s stare. “Trust me, I’m well aware of that. That I didn’t figure it out earlier just means I’m an idiot. But then again, I wasn’t blind to it for what . . . fifteen or twenty years?”

  “Give or take.” Zane smiled a little. “When something is always there, it’s easy to overlook it.”

  She blew out a sigh. “I guess.”

  “So you’re okay with . . .”

  His words trailed off.

  Blushing, she focused on his throat. It was easier to do that than to look at him now. She took a deep, slow breath and then wished she hadn’t, because suddenly she was aware of something almost painfully intense—Zane Barnes smelled really, really good. “Okay? Yeah. It’s not like I have much say in it.” She darted a look up at him. “I’m going to make a startling observation here and just say I assume you know I kissed him. It was stupid. But I figured something out almost right away—even if those two somehow decided they weren’t right for each other, it wouldn’t matter. Kissing Zach was like kissing Javi. There’s nothing there. If I felt what I thought I felt, there should be something there, right?”

  * * *

  It took more restraint than Zane thought he had not to pull her closer.

  He didn’t know he had that kind of self-control. He’d been doing just fine up until she’d given him a quick, almost nervous glance under her lashes and he felt something arc between them.

  He knew that sensation, all too well.

  He’d been feeling it burn on his side almost from the first time he’d seen her.

  Need. Lust. Plenty of it.

  But Keelie was oblivious.

  Suddenly, though, she wasn’t quite as unaware.

  Of course, it would happen at his little brother’s wedding.

  And it would happen now—when they were talking about that kiss that caused the first real fight between Zach and Abby.

  “Something there,” he murmured, splaying his fingers out wide across her slender back, feeling the smooth, elegant line of her spine under his palm. Her dress, the same pale blue as her left eye, stopped three inches above her knees and clung to her slight curves like a lover, rising high on her chest, the sleeves long and tight. It was smooth under his hands and all he could think of was peeling it away and tasting the skin underneath.

  Of course, he’d had those fantasies about Keelie for a long time.

  “Yeah,” he said, nodding, like he wasn�
��t thinking about seeing her naked. Having her under him. Over him. Kneeling before him. Sweat started to bead along the back of his neck. “I guess there would have been.”

  Hunger. Heat. Kind of like what he was feeling now.

  “You okay?” Keelie cocked her head. “You look kind of hot.”

  “Yeah.” He needed to get away from her—probably for the rest of the night, he decided.

  “Me, too. Wanna go outside?” She’d broken away, although her left hand was still gripped by his. “They’ll cut the cake soon, but I need to get away from the noise for a few minutes anyway.”

  Outside.

  Not a good idea.

  But he wasn’t about to say no.

  The French doors spilled golden light outside and they moved into the warm night, leaving the noise and the laughter behind them. Keelie didn’t go to one of the tables set up near the doors, though. She let go of his hand and kept right on walking, down the steps and into the night-dark garden.

  The hotel set up on the outskirts of town was an old, elegant sprawl, the gardens designed for Tucson’s desert climate. Zane moved in her wake, trying not to stare at her ass, but he was having a hard time with it.

  “That’s better,” she muttered, finding a bench and dropping down on it, her moves all easy, boneless grace. She stretched out her legs and rotated one ankle.

  He dragged a hand down his face.

  He should have stayed the hell inside.

  “I haven’t worn heels in months. You’d think I’d remember how torturous there are. I don’t know why we put ourselves through this,” she said, eying the glittery, sparkling spikes on her feet with acute dislike.

  “Well, whatever the reason, please know that men across the world appreciate it.”

  The words escaped him before he realized he was going to say them.

  She shot him a look and then she started to laugh.

  “Yeah. Y’all wear them awhile and then maybe that will mean a little more.”

  “Hell, no.” He moved in restless circles around the small, semiprivate square, listening to the distant sound of music, keenly aware of the woman so very close.

  “How long are you in town?”

  He shot her a look. “A few days.”