by Sam Crescent
I’d never been so confused in my life.
As evening morphed to night, I stayed firmly in between the bedcovers, vacillating between short bursts of rage and long stretches of hopelessness. If I thought I’d hit rock bottom when I was sleeping on the couch in Jon’s apartment, this was somewhere below the rock. Worse, I had no one to blame but myself. I’d taken my new life, and I’d cast it aside in favor of the insanity that had sent me running to begin with. Now I really was out of options. Failure wasn’t just inevitable, it had already happened.
I just needed to admit it now.
And that was what kept me awake for the last of so many sleepless nights under the roof of Elliot Rochester.
I had every intention of embracing the insomnia, accepting the self-deprecating night thoughts that sounded eerily like my mother. But the soft knock on my bedroom door put an end to that. And because it may have been Addie—though some part of me knew it was not—I answered.
“I’ll never touch you again as long as I live,” Elliot explained, standing in my doorway. “Not if you don’t want me to. But I owe you the whole story. From the beginning.”
In his eyes, there was a foreign look of uncertainty. Silent, I stepped to one side, admitting him into the room. He waited for me to find my way to the bed before he sat beside me, a platonic distance between us.
“Caroline Finch is—was—my Maker.” He swallowed hard, as if just saying it aloud was difficult. “She was the one to turn me. She tried to introduce me to her pack, and it didn’t go well. There are roles in a shifter pack, same as a regular wolf pack. So when they realized I was an Alpha … things got violent.” He looked at me to gauge my reaction. I nodded, carefully keeping my face impassive.
“I refused to fight for control of a pack I didn’t want to lead, and she couldn’t handle that. She wanted me to make her some kind of queen and I … I just wanted to go back to my old life. I tried.”
He gestured around him. “Obviously that didn’t work. She was so vindictive after I left the pack that she would do anything to lure me back in. When she tried to take Addie, her intention was…” He trailed off, looking ill.
“To turn her,” I realized. “So you’d go back.”
“Yes.” He sighed. “That’s when I hired Grace. She could be another set of eyes around the house that didn’t look like security. She knew my secret within two months, but it didn’t scare her away. And Jessa? Grace is my cousin.” He laughed softly. “Didn’t you ever wonder where Addie’s green eyes come from? That side of the family. That night, she was in my bedroom to make arrangements for my next shift. I was worried I would come to you in the night without knowing what I was doing. I was worried I’d hurt you, or worse.”
He looked down at his fists, clenched in his lap.
“The night she broke in, she was sending me a message. She could have killed every person in that room, easily, but she didn’t want to. She wanted to play games.”
“What do you mean?” I asked carefully.
He inhaled audibly. “She was hoping the stress of it all, on top of the full moon, would send me into a shift. I’d have killed you all. Then I’d have to join a pack. For protection.”
“And the fire?”
“Must be she finally she had enough and figured if she couldn’t convince me to come back to the tribe, she could at least put an end to it all.” He shuddered. “She locked herself in my bedroom. She thought we would all go down in some blaze of glory together. Addie woke up, smelled the smoke, and woke Grace. I wasn’t even in the house.”
“I see,” I murmured, letting all the pieces fall into place.
“When you left,” he began, softly trailing a fingertip over a wrinkle in the down comforter, “I wanted to go after you. I wanted to tell you everything, and then—“
“Then what?” I asked, my heartrate picking up.
“I think you already know,” he said huskily. A flash of gold glinted in his eyes, and I felt my insides clench at the sight. God, how I’d missed those eyes.
“Tell me anyway,” I whispered.
“Well, first I was going to tear that damn nightgown off of you.”
I glanced down at my chest, rising and falling beneath the silky black nightdress.
“And then?”
“Then I was going to lay you down on this bed, and I was going to kiss your neck, your collarbone—” His eyes traveled down my throat, and the force of them there was almost palpable. “Down your chest, the curve of your hip, between your thighs…”
“How long are you going to torture me?” I gasped.
“Until you ask me to touch you,” he said, leaning so close to me that his breath tickled my lower lip. With a will of its own, my chin tilted upward, trying to catch his lips with mine. He pulled away by a fraction. “Until you beg.”
“In that case,” I told him, leaning forward, “pretty, pretty please.”
His mouth, soft and warm and desperate, found mine about the time I locked my hand around the back of his neck. With the gentlest of movements, his tongue played across the curve of my lip and coaxed me closer. With one arm around my hips and the other anchoring my face to his, Elliot laid me down on the bed and made good on his promise to undress me. Breaking the kiss for only seconds, he peeled the silk off me, nearly tearing it in half in the process. With impossible grace, he slid his pants off. My bare skin tingled with electricity, and when he lowered himself on top of me, the lean planes of his skin pressed against the slope of my stomach, I wanted nothing more than to feel him inside of me. But Elliot had other plans. Agonizingly slowly, he planted a kiss on my mouth, my cheek, the edge of my jaw.
“You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do that,” he whispered into my ear, nipping at the lobe.
My mind was spinning.
“More,” I managed hoarsely.
“Don’t worry.” He unleashed a wicked laugh against the skin of my collarbone. “I’m not even close to finished with you.”
With his left hand, he lifted me and deposited his hips between my thighs as his other hand took hold of my right breast, squeezing in time with the wet kisses he planted on my collarbone. The rigid flesh of his cock pressed into me, and I arched my back despite the thin fabric of his underwear between us. I reached for the waistband, desperate to tear them off him like he’d disrobed me, but he caught hold of my wrist. The restraint in his tensed muscles sent another wave of want over me.
“Patience, Miss Edwards,” he instructed. And then the underwear was gone too, leaving nothing between us but space. “I still need to finish those kisses.”
He gave me a wide smile, teeth glinting white before he bowed low and dragged his tongue over the crease of my hip. And then, in a shower of sparks, he buried his mouth between my thighs. A low moan escaped my lips as my hands found purchase in his hair, pulling him closer if that were even possible. Lips and tongue and the edges of teeth became a dizzying triad of pleasure as I rocked back and forth, begging him for more, always more. And when my moans climbed toward a crescendo, rising in pitch, he drew away. Only then did he lay himself down on top of me again, his face inches from mine and drunk with desire.
And with one torturously slow thrust, he was inside me. Deep in his chest, a primal growl rumbled forth, and using one hand to support himself, he pumped into me again and again. My fingernails dug into his back as I tried desperately to hold on.
“Elliot,” I whimpered, matching his rhythm stroke for stroke. Of all the words in the English language, his name was the only one I cared to remember.
“Oh, fuck, Jessa,” he groaned, cutting off my gasps with another deep kiss.
The sound of my name on his lips sent me over the edge, igniting a tremor in my chest that radiated out all my limbs. While my every cell quaked, Elliot was shaking too, fisting his hands in the sheets as he bucked into me, hard. That was all it took. Arching my back and screaming his name, aflame down to my very soul, I exploded into a thousand pieces of light.
Epilogue
Six Months Later
It’s funny how success works. Just when I thought I’d made the biggest mistake of my life, I was taking the first step up from rock bottom. When I woke up after that night, tangled in Elliot’s arms, I finally knew it.
I never went back to Jon’s apartment for my things. Those were relics of an old life, something I no longer needed. And I didn’t want to set foot in that kale-scented apartment ever again.
What I did do was get on the train the next day and go to New York City. And after scouring the city for job offerings and finding none, I didn’t quit. I went back to the Rochester mansion—which was in a state of rebuild for months—and I pitched article ideas to every editor who would listen.
And eventually, one of them said yes.
I don’t write for the New York Times … at least not yet. And I don’t have a perfect life. But I am not a failure, and at the end of every day, I get to come home to a new family who loves me.
Sometimes, I even think of them as my pack.
The End
www.evernightpublishing.com/tesla-storm
BEARLY CAUGHT
Sarah Marsh
Chapter One
The exit sign reading Hillion Falls was a welcome sight after a two-day drive up North from Dani’s hometown. Well, what had been her hometown until her control-freak ex-boyfriend made it clear he wasn’t about to let Dani move on with her life. When she’d gotten the call from her Aunt Bess’s lawyer a week ago, informing her that her aunt had passed away, she’d been devastated to lose the last of her family. But the news that Bess had left her estate to her only niece gave her the perfect opportunity to get out of Dawson and away from Andy trying to ruin her life so she’d be forced to run straight back to him to fix it.
Asshole. Like I’d ever go back to that pathetic excuse for a man. If he loses his shit when I go out with some friends for dinner after dating for ten months, his control issues will only get worse. I can fix up the house before I sell it. By that time, Andy will have moved on as well, and I can get back to my life.
She was tired, hungry, and her ass was pretty much asleep. Hillion Falls seemed like a quaint little town—if you can call a place with only one streetlight a town. This certainly wasn’t the city life she was used to. Dani made her way down the main street and decided to stop for some dinner before heading out to her aunt’s, as there was no way she was eating one more bologna sandwich out of the cooler. The neon sign flashing the words Burgers and Brews was calling her name something fierce. She pulled into the parking lot of the Blue Moon Pub and was surprised at the number of cars there. One could only assume that meant the food was good, right?
Dani hoped it was since it was unlikely the grocery store in a town this small was still open at seven PM. She’d instructed Bess’s lawyer to keep the power and water on at the property so at least she knew the fridge would be working and ready for a load of groceries—that would be her first chore tomorrow morning.
There were two men walking toward the entrance in front of her and she was surprised when the second one waited and held the door open for her. She hadn’t thought they’d seen her at all.
“Thank you.” She nodded politely.
“Anytime, darlin’.” His smile grew larger as he looked her up and down. “I’m good with holding a lot of things if you need a hand tonight.”
His blatant innuendo left her speechless.
Wow, the men around here sure aren’t shy, are they?
“Uh, good for you?” She felt like an idiot as soon as the words left her mouth, but how in the hell was she supposed to respond to that?
His deep laughter echoed through the doorway as his smile turned from flirty to genuinely amused. “You are a riot, Red.”
She blushed as he gave her a mock bow and ushered her up to the bar.
“Enjoy your evening, darlin’.” He smiled once again at her and walked toward the other side of the room to a large table of people who greeted him enthusiastically.
“Can I get you a menu?”
The deep voice sent a shiver down her spine and as Dani turned to face the speaker, her eyes went wide at the virile specimen of a male who stood behind the bar, his lips quirked up on one side as if he knew exactly how devastating he was to the female species.
Dani cleared her throat and hopped up onto the empty stool. “Yes, please, and whatever wheat ale you have on tap.”
“A beer drinker.” He winked as he slid over the small menu and the pint. “My kinda girl. Be right back to take your order, love.”
She watched him as he moved down the dark wooden bar top, gathering drinks for the patrons lined up on the other side. He had to be over six feet tall and built like a predator—all muscles but not bulky gym-borne ones. These muscles were probably from doing ridiculously manly endeavors such as felling trees with only a tiny ax, and then hollowing out a canoe from said tree to save orphans from drowning or something.
Yeesh, this bartender just might be the hottest man I’ve ever seen.
His curly, deep-brown hair fell almost to his collar, and he had the most delicious soulful brown eyes, but it was his mouth that kept drawing her attention. The full lips looked like they were made to do all sorts of dirty things.
Eyes up and mind your business, woman! There’s no time to get distracted by seductive eyes and a smile that could melt the panties off a nun. Remember, you’re here avoiding a man, not looking for a new one.
Dani’s scowl, which was aimed more at herself than the handsome stranger, only seemed to amuse him as he walked back toward her.
“Not pleased with the menu selection?”
“No, it’s fine.” She managed a smile. “Can I please just get a cheeseburger and fries?”
“You got it.” He turned and spoke to the man in the kitchen and then began wiping down the counter next to her. “Are you just passing through? These roads aren’t great after dark, but there’s a small inn right at the edge of town if you want to wait until daylight.”
“No, I inherited some property in town and I’m just here to fix it up before I sell it.”
He looked up and paused for a moment, then a smile grew on his face.
“Are you Bess’s niece Daniella, then?”
Dani was speechless as she stared at him, and then she blinked. “How in the hell do you know that?”
He chuckled. “First, we don’t get a lot of visitors around here … you may have noticed we’re a bit out of the way.”
She didn’t want to be charmed by his teasing, but dammit, there must have been something wrong with her hormones.
“Second, because it’s a small town, word gets around about most things, and we were all very fond of Bess. Her lawyer, Jeffery, told the town council that you’d be arriving soon to finish up with the estate.”
“First, no one calls me Daniella, it’s Dani, and you’re on the town council?” She thought it seemed odd since he couldn’t be much older than thirty.
“Mayor Emmett Greyson, at your service, Miss Holt.”
She assumed he wanted to shake her hand as he offered his own, but she realized too late he was raising it to his lips and she’d only make a scene if she yanked it out of his grasp.
Yeah, tell yourself that all you like, sweetheart.
Chapter Two
Emmett inhaled the scent coming off Dani’s wrist as he gently kissed her hand. What was it about this woman that had his bear nudging awake? Sure, she was cute enough; there was no doubting that. Curves a man could get lost in, long, dark-red hair that made him picture it spread out on his pure-white sheets, and vibrant green eyes that conveyed quite succinctly that she took no bullshit.
… and they’re narrowing on me as we speak. Yup, she’s definitely Bess’s niece, all right.
“So.” She pulled her hand out of his grasp and settled it around her beer. “Mayor and a bartender? That’s an interesting mix.”
He laughed at her raised eyebrow. Damn, this woman sure wa
sn’t afraid to bust some balls. Emmett took another deep breath of her scent. It was a shame that she was only human.
“I’m just covering the bar for a friend,” he explained, “but, as mayor of this humble town, I am a Jack of all trades. If you’re going to be staying for a while, you’ll run into me quite a bit around these parts.”
“Thanks for the warning,” she whispered back at him.
This time his head was thrown back as his laughter boomed, so much so that many of his pack in the bar turned to see what was afoot. When some of the males’ attention turned to Dani beside him, his bear rumbled its irritation inside. Huh. Emmett’s animal side didn’t seem to like that one bit.
“Are you always this feisty?”
She laughed along with him. “I swear, I’m not normally.”
Dani shook her head. “There’s just something about you that seems to, I don’t know? Rile me? Do you have this effect on a lot of women?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Huh.” Her cheeky smile was adorable.
“Huh.” He smiled back at her until someone called his name from the other end of the bar. Emmett winked and left to ponder what exactly it was about Dani that was so intriguing.
The bar started to get busy, so he didn’t have another opportunity to chat with her aside from dropping off her food, and he was getting antsy for Callen to get back so he could concentrate more on Dani. Luck wasn’t on his side, but when he saw her drop cash on the bar for her tab, he couldn’t stop himself.
“Bess’s place can be tough to find in the dark if you don’t know your way around town.” He set down her change. “I could show you to the house if you’d like?”
Whatever he was expecting her answer to be, the loud snort followed by a chuckle wasn’t it.
“I appreciate that, but I have this crazy new invention called GPS that can show me the way.”