Hearts of Darkness: A Valentine's Day Bully Romance Collection

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  I slam the door loudly, and she looks up. I’m slow and careful as I approach her. Our future is right here and now, in this moment. I could get everything I’ve ever wanted. I could get her.

  My driver pulls away from the curb.

  “Hi,” I say.

  “Hi,” she replies.

  “I looked everywhere for you. I thought you’d left.”

  She nods and a grim expression crosses her face. “You thought I left again.”

  I kneel before her and place my head in her lap. Her hands cradle my head and she caresses me. “Not again,” I say.

  “I was waiting for you because this time I wanted to make sure I didn’t leave without saying goodbye.”

  I pull back and stare at her. Oh no, she’s not leaving me again now that I know the truth. I don’t respond or react to her words. It’s nothing more than her fear talking.

  “Let me get you inside and warm you up,” I say.

  “I have to go, August,” she says.

  I scoop her into my arms and unlock the door. I carry her across the loft and up the stairs toward my room. I take her into the bathroom and turn on the hot water.

  “Take off that dress,” I say while I strip down to nothing.

  She doesn’t move.

  My shoulder’s fall. “Please.”

  ELODY

  2010

  I ROLL MY EYES AT HIM. “I’m not having sex with you. I’m taking the next flight to Florida to see if I still have a job.”

  He sighs, standing in front of me in only boxer briefs. His body is shivering like mine. He steps out of the room.

  I peel the dress from my body and wait for him to return. We stand across the bathroom from each other. His eyes travel from my face to my body then back to my face. He extends his hand to me and I take it. August steps into the hot bath and sits, I follow, and sit in front of him. It reminds me of the many times we sat in the hot tub together in the basement at the Aspen house.

  His arms wrap around me. The boy grew into a remarkable man.

  “Tell me what happened eight years ago,” he says.

  I shake my head. “I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to lie here and warm up with you. Can we do that?”

  “Are you still leaving me?”

  I nod, running my fingers up and down his arms. “I wish I could stay.”

  He wraps his arms around me tighter. The warm water is doing its job, and I don’t feel like my body is turning to ice anymore. I sigh and relax deeper into his arms. “It’s the same old story, August. Girls like me don’t get the happily ever after. I was born to work hard, struggle through life, and be alone.”

  He laughs so hard, the water gets riled up in the tub.

  “Okay, well if that’s true for you, then it’s true for me.”

  “How so? You were born with a trust fund that is probably the size of a small country. It’s different for me.”

  I feel him shrug.

  “I call bullshit. First of all, money isn’t what came between us, and I have never collected on my inheritance. It is sitting in a bank account as we speak.”

  I let my head fall back against his chest.

  “That doesn’t make us the same. You can fall back on that money whenever you wish. I don’t even have a place to live.”

  His fingers play with mine. “Well, as of today, I’m cut off.” He actually laughs when he says it.

  I twist around to stare at him. “Because of me? This is exactly what I mean. I’m no good for you or your bank account.” I push up out of the tub, but he won’t let me. He pulls me back into his arms.

  “Elody, I’ll tell you like I told my father after I punched him in the face. “I don’t need his money.”

  I shake my head. He deserves it.

  “Clyde’s dad is a genius investor and he taught us everything we were willing to learn. He even set up accounts for the two of us. Of course, my mother had to sign off on mine. Clyde and I made it a race to see who could grow the most money. We were both millionaires before we finished high school.”

  He was always a brilliant boy, so I’m impressed but not surprised. Still, privilege gave him the start he needed. “You had your parents’ money.”

  He sighs. “I get it, El. I was born into money and, sure, I had an edge over other kids because of wealth and influence, but not one dime of the money I made came from them.”

  I turn again. “Then how’d you do it?”

  He laughs at my expression and kisses my nose. “We didn’t always live in Aspen. I grew up here in Denver until the year before we met, but like a lot of rich people, we had an Aspen house. Clyde’s family owns one up there, too. Anyway, his father said he would teach us about investing, but we couldn’t use one dime of our parents’ money.” He sits up in the tub, and his face takes on an excited look as he falls deep into the memory.

  “You should have seen us. We walked dogs, ran errands for people, mowed lawns, and tutored kids. We were only thirteen, so we couldn’t get real jobs, but we did it on our own, like men.”

  I sit back at the opposite end of the tub and stare at him. He depresses a button so jets fire up and the water begins to warm again.

  “So, what you’re saying is, you’re self-made.” I smile proudly at the man he has become. A part of me loves him even more.

  “What I’m saying is that you could do the same thing. You have a degree, all you have to do is park yourself somewhere for longer than a couple of years. I can teach you how to invest if you’re interested.”

  I stare down at the moving water.

  “What?” he asks.

  I shake my head and blow through my mouth to cool my body and prevent the tears from falling.

  “Elody, what are you afraid of?”

  I flick my eyes up to his. He looks serious, hopeful, and his eyes turn an intense shade of blue.

  “If I stop moving, I’ll be alone.”

  “Do you want to be alone?” he asks.

  I shake my head.

  “Then what the fuck, Elody? I’m here for you. There has only ever been you. I had my mind made up when you left; if it’s not you, then it’s no one.”

  We stare at each other without moving. His eyes darken further; I can see that he is getting upset with me.

  “Do you need a grand gesture or proof that I will never leave your side? What more do you need from me? Am I not good enough for you?” He rises from the tub, sending water over the sides, wraps a towel around himself, and stalks toward the door. I can feel his bristling energy bouncing off of his sculpted body. He stops at the door.

  “I’d give you the world if you’d just let me. We never have to be alone again. All you have to do is say yes.” He walks out the door, leaving me stunned.

  I could do it. I could settle easily into a life here with August. He is warm and loving and intense, but what if things didn’t work out between us? I’d survive. It’s different from the foster homes. I had no love there, but this man loves me from my head to my toes. I feel it when I look into his eyes. He gave up his parents for me.

  To wake up in his arms every day would be an answered prayer. I don’t need a grand gesture. I only need August Mitchell every single day.

  I pull my body from the tub and grab a fluffy towel. When I step into the bedroom, he is gone. I look around, find my tiny purse, and retrieve my phone. I send him a text, only three letters.

  Yes.

  It takes a couple of minutes for him to respond.

  “Are you serious?” he shouts. I can hear his feet on the stairs.

  When he makes it to the bedroom door, he looks like a sixteen-year-old boy again. His eyes are light and bright like he can take on the world. His smile makes me feel warm. I put that smile back on his face. Not wealth, status, or power. Just plain love—something we’ve both been a little low on.

  “Are you serious?” he asks again. I swear, if I had X-ray vision, I could see his heart racing.

  I bite my lip and smile. “Yes.” />
  A sob tears through him and we run to each other to embrace. We have love and hope and a bright future. We are August and Elody, and this time it’s forever.

  The End

  Enjoyed this story? Be sure to leave a review! You can also preorder Eclipsed Sunshine,

  book 5 in the Seven Chamber Series.

  About the Author

  D.W. MARSHALL IS A dark romance author, who moonlights as a college instructor. When she isn’t writing or teaching, she is binge watching super hero shows, her favorite being The Flash.

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  Read More of D.W.’s Books

  Stolen Flame

  Weeping Violet

  Shattered Sapphire

  Poisoned Ivy

  Eclipsed Sunshine

  Dominic

  Door-to-Door Sales Volume 1

  Door-to-Door Sales Volume 2

  Door-to-Door Sales Volume 3

  SWEET & SOUR STEPBROTHERS

  Megan J. Parker & Nathan Squiers

  About Sweet & Sour Stepbrothers

  You’d imagine having a therapist for a mother would make Mina’s life stress-free, but when a new stepdad and stepbrothers come into the mix a list of problems arise that therapy can’t begin to fix. When the uncomfortable attraction to her mother’s troubled patient becomes an even more uncomfortable attraction to a troubled stepbrother, boundaries will be crossed and walls will be broken.

  The newlywed parents are hoping that their kids can get along, but when going across the hall is so much easier than going across town, getting along may get a whole new meaning.

  Part One

  It had been three long, excruciating weeks before I even was able to feel remotely comfortable in the new house. After my mother remarried, we were invited to move into my new stepfather’s house with my new stepbrothers, Kade and Jace. Though we’d met a few times before, it had mostly been in passing when my mom and their dad had been heading out on another date. They wanted us to use that time to bond, but between how scary Kade was and how boring Jace was I was always quick to find anything else to do. Now that we’d be sharing a home, however, I no longer had that option.

  The initial shock of the polar opposite identical twins wore off long before. After all, when you’re stuck in the room with an out-of-control fire in one corner and a gray Crayon in the other, which would you keep your attention on? Jace, the “older” of the twins—if by only a few minutes—had been living away from home and working on a degree while managing the local grocery store. He’d only come back for our parents’ wedding and, it seemed, was sticking around more for his father’s sake than anybody else’s. And while Jace may have been as exciting as a housefly’s eulogy, I had to hand it to him: he had his priorities together, and he was definitely nicer than his brother. Unfortunately, his brother was the one I was going to be stuck living with.

  Kade was everything his brother wasn’t: rude, unforgiving, and, though I hated to admit it, sexy. When we’d first met, I’d always had to struggle to want to get away from him, but, in the end, his personality was more than enough to drive me away. It had been easier then, though, for me to see him like that; the sexy, dangerous renegade—an easy fantasy. Everything about him screamed sensuality and control, and it wasn’t long before he started occupying my thoughts when my boyfriend and I got together.

  My mother, in some ways, was partly to blame for the initial fantasies. As his therapist, she’d been listening to his dark thoughts for months before she and his father had started dating. Now, I’m no therapist myself, but I’ve often wondered just how great their father must be to get my mother to overlook his psychotic son. In either case, after they’d started dating, my mother wasted no time in warning me about how dangerous Kade could be, and how I shouldn’t be ashamed to go to her if he ever “tried anything.” She hadn’t said anything more, and she hadn’t needed to. “Tried anything.” It was enough to get my mind running over and over with the possibilities. And with the sex that Brent and I were having starting to get boring and forced, “tried anything” was a world of curiosities that I’d begun craving.

  Then our parents had to go and turn my fantasies into the things lunchroom jokes are made of and make us step-siblings. My journal was officially full of incest erotica after that day, and, to make things worse, the subject of those stories was living right across the hall!

  “Are you just going to stand there?” Kade narrowed his dark-green eyes at me.

  Jostled from my thoughts, I moved away from the fridge. As I sipped at my iced tea, I looked over at Kade, who only wore a pair of low-riding jeans, which wasn’t helping my pseudo-incestuous dilemmas. His broad chest rippled, shifting the series of tattoos that decorated his torso, as he bent forward into the fridge, and the thick chain he wore around his neck—its silver gleam contrasting against his tan skin—swung like a limp phallus, sending my mind deeper into the gutter. I watched as he took a swig directly from the orange juice container before putting it away and turning to meet my gaze.

  “What? You got something to say?”

  Oh god! Had he caught me staring at his nipple ring?

  “N-no!” I stammered, “I was just...”—I swallowed the cocktail of fear and arousal and tried to look disgusted—“Y-you could use a glass you know!” I frowned, realizing just how pathetic my response was.

  “Whatev,” he shrugged, moving his hand through his hair and pushing it back.

  “Mina, did you remember to walk Rex?” my mother called out from the other room.

  Finishing my drink, I tossed the bottle into the recycling bin and turned away from Kade, trying my best to ignore the unnerving way just his gaze made me feel. I had no idea how I was going to last living here before college. I still had five months of high school and I had originally planned to live at home and commute to college. Obviously that plan had to change. At the sound of my phone, I looked down to see a text from Brent.

  Hey bby. Im out front 2 pick u up. ;)

  “Yeah, I already walked him thirty minutes ago,” I called out as I grabbed my purse and made my way to the door. “I’m going out with Brent. I might be home late; we’re going to see a movie at the drive-in and we might stay for the double-feature.”

  “Oh?” the disappointment rang from my mother’s voice all the way from the other room, “I thought we could do a family thing today. This is the only Saturday both myself and Kevin have off...”

  “Then you two can do something on your own, ‘cuz I’m going out, too,” Kade said, obviously not caring how my mother felt towards the situation.

  “But...” my mother’s voice grew louder as she stepped into the kitchen.

  “Don’t worry, sweetie,” Kade’s dad smiled, coming up behind her and wrapping his arm around her waist. “We can leave these kids be and have our own day.”

  I smiled as my mother calmed instantly from Kevin’s embrace. He winked over at me as he held my mother.

  “Gross,” Kade grumbled as he took another swig of orange juice before walking away, leaving the carton on the counter and the fridge door open.

  My mother and stepfather ignored him—a reaction that had become routine for everyone but me—and I looked at them for some idea of how to respond.

  “You go have fun now, I’ll take care of your mother,” he smiled.

  Gross is right, I thought to myself, but instead I forced a smile and nodded. “Thanks, Kevin!” I chimed, heading out to Brent’s car.

  THE DATE WITH BRENT went by in a blur, and I was relieved for the first time in a long time to not be around Kade. As Brent pulled up to th
e house, I turned to face him and watched as he leaned forward to kiss me goodnight. While Brent’s kisses were nice, they didn’t spark within me like they used to, and I was hellbent on changing that. As his lips pressed to mine, I let out a soft moan and wrapped my arms around his neck, wanting to feel more of a connection; a connection that would remind me of how things used to be and, perhaps, make me forget about wanting to fuck my new stepbrother. Taking my movement as encouragement, I felt Brent’s hands begin to move up my waist and moaned at the feel of his hands on my breasts.

  “Mm! Brent...” I gasped. “Right here? Out front like this?”

  “Why not?”—he confused my words for concern, not realizing it was what I wanted—“It’s dark, no one will see,” he smirked, moving my seat back as he began to pull my shirt up.

  I moaned and arched up to meet his touch, wanting to feel his hands on me. I clenched my eyes shut as Brent pulled up my bra and brought his mouth down on my nipple. As his tongue and teeth assaulted the one, I felt his fingers move to the other and begin to work it into a hard point. I moaned, lifting up against the seat to feel more of his touch.

  “Son of a—”

  Too sudden for my liking, I felt him pull away, and I opened my eyes to see Kade’s narrowed gaze locked on us through the car window.

  “K-Kade?” I cried out, quickly pulling my shirt back in place.

  I opened the door to the car after making another adjustment to my bra and glared at my stepbrother, who glared right back. Looking back to Brent, who was still struggling to catch his breath from the scare of being caught.

  “Y-you’re lucky I’ve got better places to be, asshole!” Brent huffed at Kade through the driver’s side window.

  Kade stared back at him with a cold, unimpressed gaze. “Yeah,” his voice gave no hint of his intentions, “I guess I am.”

  The two held the other’s glare for a moment, Brent noticeably shaken while Kade was uncomfortably still, before Brent finally looked away to start his car.

  “I’ll see you Monday at school, I guess,” he said in a low tone before peeling off, barely even looking at me before he did.