The Complete Tempest World Box Set

by Mankin, Michelle

  “I’m on this side.” I gestured.

  Dizzy grabbed his bags and followed me down the corridor. We passed the tiny gift shop, and I led him to a narrow hallway that had two small elevators.

  “How are King and Sager doing?” I asked, needing a distraction. What I really wanted to do was grill my brother about Bryan and his mysterious surprise.

  “They’re good,” Dizzy said as the elevator arrived. “Usual K&S routine on the plane ride, both of them cutting up and trying to get a cell number from the first-class flight attendant.” He shrugged as I pushed the button for my floor. “Without Bryan to help me keep them in line, it was tough.”

  I let him off the hook and didn’t question him further until I had him inside the apartment. But once there, I pounced.

  “Dizzy Lowell. Tell me right now what you know.”

  “No.” Grinning, my brother set down his things and pulled an embossed vellum envelope out of his leather jacket pocket. My name was scrawled on the front in Bryan’s handwriting. “You’ll find out yourself in a couple of hours.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  Lace

  I clutched the invitation in my hands and glanced down at my formal gown. The light pink silk dress was a 1965 vintage Oleg Cassini, strapless and gathered in an elegant rhinestone-encrusted bow beneath my breasts. It was a real find, very Jackie O. The dress and matching shoes had been delivered to my apartment moments after Dizzy and I’d entered.

  My palms were sweaty as I waited in the lobby for Bryan to pick me up. I didn’t know what to expect tonight. The invitation just said dinner and dancing, and was signed, “Love, Bryan.”

  I loved that, and was mulling over the possibilities of what he might have planned for tonight when a limo pulled into the front circle. I knew it was for me when it parked beside the clipped topiaries adorned with twinkling white lights. Keeping with the sixties theme—Bryan certainly knew it was my favorite design era—the car was a 1968 cream-colored Mercedes Benz.

  Wow. This was quite the elaborate setup.

  I pulled the matching silk wrap around my shoulder. It didn’t do much to ward off the damp, chilly Vancouver night air, but it gave me something to do with my hands. My legs were another story. My silver heels felt as shaky and fragile as glass slippers as I walked out to meet him.

  A uniformed driver popped out of the vehicle and scurried to open the back door for me. I thanked him as I ducked inside. Expecting to see Bryan, I was disappointed to discover that he wasn’t there.

  The driver folded himself into the front seat and tipped his cap to me in the rearview mirror. “Mr. Jackson said to tell you that you look beautiful, miss.”

  I smirked. I couldn’t help it. How could he know how I looked?

  “He also said to tell you that he’s waiting for you at the restaurant. It’s only a short drive from here.”

  I nodded and settled into the seat, trying to relax, taking in the scenery as he drove. The lights of downtown sparkled in the light evening mist. I noticed we were driving downhill toward the waterfront.

  After a short ten-minute drive, the driver pulled up in front of a tall glass building, turned off the engine, and came around to open the door for me. He waited as I smoothed out the ankle-length skirt before offering me his arm.

  “I’m to escort you to him,” he said.

  I nodded, and we rode the elevator up to the thirty-fifth floor in silence. I found myself more and more curious as to what was coming next. When the door slid open, I gasped. I didn’t even remember stepping off the elevator or the driver leaving. I just stood there in complete awe.

  The restaurant was deserted, but all around me, candles flickered atop white linen tables sprinkled with red rose petals. Out the windows and beyond the water, the lights of West Vancouver sparkled elegantly in the distance.

  The invitation, the gown, the car, and now this. I was overwhelmed with the emotions that swirled around inside me. Bryan had gone to an awful lot of trouble. No one had ever done anything so special for me.

  Tears filled my eyes, and then he appeared, stepping out from behind a column to greet me.

  “When a Man Loves a Woman” began to play over the sound system, but my eyes, my heart, my soul, and all the rest of me were focused on Bryan. He had never looked so handsome or so serious.

  Silky layers of brown hair rested lightly against his furrowed brow. A black tuxedo jacket hugged his broad shoulders, a crisp white shirt and a shiny black silk tie underneath. His black trousers moved fluidly against his muscular thighs as he walked toward me, his hand outstretched, his gray-green eyes beckoning with deep emotion.

  “You look wonderful, Lace,” he said, low and soft.

  “You look wonderful too.” I put my hand in his, a surge of warmth hitting my cheeks as soon as we touched.

  Bryan led me out to the middle of the dance floor. Moving into his arms, I inhaled deeply, my senses flooded with the familiar pine scent of him. I licked my suddenly dry lips.

  His presence, his hands on my bare skin, the strength of his shoulders beneath my fingertips, the evening, the way I felt about him—all of it made me sway a bit as if I were a little tipsy.

  I drew in a shaky breath and gazed up at him. His eyes were heavy lidded, his face drawn tight with desire that I was sure matched mine.

  He came closer, and I didn’t resist. The time for caution was over. This man had me from the moment he’d made that first silly face at me when I was five years old. I’d only gotten a tiny glimpse of his tender heart back then, but it had been more than enough to completely rock my world.

  Bryan Jackson was the constant in my life, my irresistible refrain. I could no more keep myself from needing, wanting, or returning to him than I could keep myself from breathing.

  It was always going to be him.

  Our bodies brushed together, hard against soft, the silk of my dress rustling between us. I felt a shudder run through him. His warm hands made me shiver as they slid down my arms and came to rest on the small of my back. His eyes burned into mine as he held me close.

  “Lace, I made a mistake on prom night.” His voice was deep and thick with regret. “I should have claimed you back then.”

  I shook my head. “There was a lot going on back then, Bry. With you. With the band. I had stuff of my own to work through.”

  “Maybe, but it was still a mistake. You’re my love, my one and only one. I’m claiming you now.”

  I held on to his forearms to steady myself, just as I’d done that day on the beach when he’d first kissed me. My head spun as if I’d just gotten off the Tilt-A-Whirl ride.

  “What exactly are you saying?” I whispered.

  He blew out a ragged breath. “I had it all planned out, but I’m finding it fucking difficult to think straight, let alone make the kind of speech you deserve when I’ve got you in my arms like this.”

  Bryan took a step back, not much, about an inch, but enough that I felt bereft without the delicious warmth of his body pressed against me. He reached in his jacket pocket, and I held my breath, my eyes filling instantly when I saw what he held.

  “Oh my God.” My wide eyes met his. “Is that what I think it is?”

  He nodded, and I stared at him in dazed wonder.

  It was the ribbon I’d worn around my neck on prom night.

  “Lace Lowell, I love you. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known, the most incredible one, and I want you to know that I’ve always had faith in you, even when you lost your way. I know that you’re no weak-minded princess in need of rescue, and that’s okay because I’m not a real prince. And it’s really me who needs the rescue, from a life that means absolutely nothing to me if you’re not in it.”

  His hands moved softly through my hair, and he scanned my features as if he was committing them to memory.

  “I love you, Bryan Jackson. Your strength. Your loyalty. Your kind and valiant heart. You’re a true prince to me.”

  “What I believe in most is us
,” he said softly. “You and I are better than any fairy tale. And if you want me to wait for a day, or a month, or a year for you, until you’re ready for us to begin our life together, I’ll do it. But just like I’ve been doing for the past several weeks, I’m gonna do it right here in Vancouver, where I can watch over you.” His eyes blazed with intensity. “You know me. I take care of and protect what’s mine.”

  Holy shit.

  I didn’t say that out loud. Hello. I have much more princess class than that.

  I didn’t need any more time to think it over. Bryan was right. I could take care of myself; I knew that now. That impediment to our being together was out of the way.

  I didn’t need fairy godmothers, or enchanted coaches, or even glass slippers. I just needed him. Bryan. His faith in me was all the magic I would ever need.

  “I’m ready now, Bry.” I took the ribbon from him, holding it across my neck, and turned around. Bowing my head, I offered him the loose ends to tie.

  He breathed my name across my neck, and his rough fingertips trembled as they brushed across my bare skin. The silk ribbon was cool as he fastened it around my neck. Once his task was complete, he placed a soft kiss on the delicate skin between my neck and shoulder.

  Bryan turned me around to face him. His dark, possessive gaze swept warmth over me before his lips claimed mine in a deep, hot, wet kiss.

  Bleep. The sound of an incoming text.

  “I think that’s your phone,” I whispered breathlessly as he rained passionate kisses up and down the column of my throat.

  “Mmm.” Bryan groaned without pausing from his tender assault on my fevered skin. “Forget it. Tonight’s just for us.”

  He hauled me closer, slid the cell from his pocket, and tossed it on a nearby table without reading the message.

  EPILOGUE

  MARY TIMMONS: Meeting reminder: My office. Nine a.m. Tempest has a new lead singer.

  Thank you!

  Thanks so much for reading Irresistible Refrain . . . I certainly enjoyed writing it. If you would like a little more of Bryan and Lace, a bonus extended epilogue available to read for free, you can link to it here.

  Want to know who the new lead singer for Tempest is? Rock and read on! Enticing Interlude, book 2 is next. There are five more Tempest novels in this box set, one book for each member of the group.

  Heroin Facts provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse

  Heroin is an opioid drug that is synthesized from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of the Asian opium poppy plant. Heroin usually appears as a white or brown powder or as a black sticky substance, known as “black tar heroin.”

  In 2011, 4.2 million Americans aged 12 or older (or 1.6 percent) had used heroin at least once in their lives. It is estimated that about 23 percent of individuals who use heroin become dependent on it.

  How Is Heroin Used?

  Heroin can be injected, inhaled by snorting or sniffing, or smoked. All three routes of administration deliver the drug to the brain very rapidly, which contributes to its health risks and to its high risk for addiction, which is a chronic relapsing disease caused by changes in the brain and characterized by uncontrollable drug-seeking no matter the consequences.

  How Does Heroin Affect the Brain?

  When it enters the brain, heroin is converted back into morphine, which binds to molecules on cells known as opioid receptors. These receptors are located in many areas of the brain (and in the body), especially those involved in the perception of pain and in reward. Opioid receptors are also located in the brain stem, which controls automatic processes critical for life, such as blood pressure, arousal, and respiration. Heroin overdoses frequently involve a suppression of breathing, which can be fatal.

  After an intravenous injection of heroin, users report feeling a surge of euphoria (“rush”) accompanied by dry mouth, a warm flushing of the skin, heaviness of the extremities, and clouded mental functioning. Following this initial euphoria, the user goes “on the nod,” an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Users who do not inject the drug may not experience the initial rush, but other effects are the same.

  Regular heroin use changes the functioning of the brain. One result is tolerance, in which more of the drug is needed to achieve the same intensity of effect. Another result is dependence, characterized by the need to continue use of the drug to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

  Injection Drug Use and HIV and HCV Infection

  People who inject drugs are at high risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis C (HCV). This is because these diseases are transmitted through contact with blood or other bodily fluids, which can occur when sharing needles or other injection drug use equipment. (HCV is the most common blood-borne infection in the Unites States.) HIV (and less often HCV) can also be contracted during unprotected sex, which drug use makes more likely.

  Because of the strong link between drug abuse and the spread of infectious disease, drug abuse treatment can be an effective way to prevent the latter. People in drug abuse treatment, which often includes risk reduction counseling, stop or reduce their drug use and related risk behaviors, including risky injection practices and unsafe sex. (See box, “Treating Heroin Addiction.”)

  What Are the Other Health Effects of Heroin?

  Heroin abuse is associated with a number of serious health conditions, including fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion, and infectious diseases like hepatitis and HIV (see box, “Injection Drug Use and HIV and HCV Infection”). Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, constipation and gastrointestinal cramping, and liver or kidney disease. Pulmonary complications, including various types of pneumonia, may result from the poor health of the user as well as from heroin’s effects on breathing.

  In addition to the effects of the drug itself, street heroin often contains toxic contaminants or additives that can clog blood vessels leading to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain, causing permanent damage to vital organs.

  Treating Heroin Addiction

  A range of treatments including behavioral therapies and medications are effective at helping patients stop using heroin and return to stable and productive lives.

  Medications include buprenorphine and methadone, both of which work by binding to the same cell receptors as heroin but more weakly, helping a person wean off the drug and reduce craving; and naltrexone, which blocks opioid receptors and prevents the drug from having an effect (patients sometimes have trouble complying with naltrexone treatment, but a new long-acting version given by injection in a doctor’s office may increase this treatment’s efficacy). Another drug called naloxone is sometimes used as an emergency treatment to counteract the effects of heroin overdose.

  For more information, see NIDA’s handbook, Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment.

  Chronic use of heroin leads to physical dependence, a state in which the body has adapted to the presence of the drug. If a dependent user reduces or stops use of the drug abruptly, he or she may experience severe symptoms of withdrawal. These symptoms—which can begin as early as a few hours after the last drug administration—can include restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea and vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps (“cold turkey”), and kicking movements (“kicking the habit”). Users also experience severe craving for the drug during withdrawal, which can precipitate continued abuse and/or relapse.

  Besides the risk of spontaneous abortion, heroin abuse during pregnancy (together with related factors like poor nutrition and inadequate prenatal care) is also associated with low birth weight, an important risk factor for later delays in development. Additionally, if the mother is regularly abusing the drug, the infant may be born physically dependent on heroin and could suffer from neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a drug withdrawal syndrome in infants that requires hospitalization. According to a recent study, treating opioid-addicted pregnant mothers with buprenorphine (a medication for opioid dependence) can re
duce NAS symptoms in babies and shorten their hospital stays

  There are real life heroes, and there is hope and help.

  http://www.abovetheinfluence.com/

  Go to the website. Make a difference by supporting the cause.

  Do better. Be better.

  “I’m going to take that chance and I’m going to do better. I’m tired of the roller coaster I’ve been on. I’m tired of all the lies, especially the ones I’ve been telling myself. I really thought I could quit whenever I decided. I realize now that’s not true.” – Lace Lowell

  ENTICING INTERLUDE

  A brief romantic or sexual meeting or relationship; a short piece of music that is played between the parts of a longer one

  CHAPTER ONE

  Justin

  It had been a wild night.

  The skin of the woman in bed with me shone pale almost luminescent in the growing light of a Vancouver dawn. I trailed my fingers softly, sliding the sheet away to reveal her naked curves. She stretched and turned over at my touch, her large tits swaying as she rolled toward me.

  Holy hell!

  The rack was nice, but the face…

  The face was one scary ass mess.

  Thick black streaks of mascara were smeared beneath her eyes and the bottom half of her face was a mishmash of bright red from her lipstick and light pink from the abrasion of my stubble.

  Heath Ledger’s Joker came to mind.

  Ok, maybe that was a little too harsh.

  Sunlight now began to stream unmercifully through the crack in the heavy brocade curtains of my Sutton Place apartment revealing a riotous kaleidoscope of color staining the pillowcase beside her head. Garish blue eye shadow. Heavy beige foundation. That lipstick. It framed a black tangle of hair that would make a Rastafarian proud.