HIDING: Book 5, The Stranger Stand Alone Series, A Dark Romantic Suspense Page 21

  Despair for the horror she endured.

  Love, love, LOVE.

  Maria begins to walk slowly toward me.

  It doesn’t matter to me what she’s wearing, she could be in a pair of jeans, sneakers, and baggy t-shirt, and she’d still be the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen.

  But considering she’s a designer, her dress, veil, and all the other accoutrements were apparently a tremendously big deal.

  She and Elsie worked on her gown together. Elsie designed it. And it’s perfect for her. It’s a bustier mermaid style, with a high neck, sleeveless tulle overlay covered with intricate hand stitched pearl and rhinestone. I know this how? Because they made me remember, that’s how. Told me I wouldn’t be allowed in the church if I couldn’t recite it verbatim.

  Maria is a heavenly vision floating toward me on a white cloud. Her veil is long and drapes softly over her head and face completely. The bouquet is made up of white lilies and roses, and is huge. The only thing not white are her slender tanned arms.

  I don’t know if I breathed once as she approached. When they reach me, her mother takes Maria’s hand, then mine, then clasps them together.

  “My pride, my life,” the beautiful older woman whispers to me as the tears stream down her face. “You brought her back to me, you saved her. I give her to you now. Because I know you can love her and take care of her like she deserves.”

  Fuck.

  I can’t stop my own as they fall from my eyes.

  “Forever,” I promise her.

  Maria climbs the final step to stand by my side.

  The priest begins the ceremony.

  I hardly hear what he’s saying, I’m enraptured in the moment, in having her close, in becoming her husband and making her mine in the house of God.

  When it’s time for us to join together and exchange rings, Maria hands Elsie her flowers. I take her hand in mine, and give her my vows.

  “Maria,” I begin, “I feel like everything in my life has led me to you. My choices, my heartbreaks, my regrets. Everything. And when we’re together, my past seems worth it. Because if I had done one thing differently, I might never have met you.”

  My heart hurts so damn much from the love I have for this incredible woman.

  I can see her smile under the softness of her veil.

  I can hear people sniffling all around me, but the only thing I see is her.

  “Maria, will you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

  Her chin lifts as she gazes up at me.

  My heart seizes.

  “I will,” her voice is strong, just like her. “I believe everything happens for a reason, Rico. Since I met you…,” her body comes just a little closer to mine, “I believe it even more.”

  I slide my arms around her waist and hold her.

  That’s right.

  I don’t give a fuck.

  Crying is heard somewhere from the pews.

  “By the power vested in me by God, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

  A chorus of cheers erupts with a round of applause as I lift her veil and take her in my arms.

  She is my sunrise after a life full of storms.

  She is my new beginning

  I kiss her, and kiss her. And kiss her.

  And I’m never letting her go.

  The End…

  Sighhhhhhhh, I choke up every time I read that end.

  Thank you for taking this journey with me, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing Rico’s and Maria’s story.

  If you enjoyed HIDING, please do take a moment to leave a review.

  Indie authors cannot survive without them. Let me take this opportunity to thank you for taking the time, I sincerely appreciate it.

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  Keep going, there’s more…

  Canvas

  ROCCO

  Chapter 1

  Do you ever wake up and just want to fuck?

  Every shitty ass day.

  It’s a hell of a lot worse since she showed up.

  There’s no way I’m going anywhere near her.

  Lately, life’s been a little frustrating.

  Don’t get me wrong, I love my life, it’s my past I could do without. I don’t dwell on it, like they say, live today like it’s your last, don’t worry about tomorrow, it’ll take care of itself. I’ve got no one to answer to, I love my job, great friends, and I have no shortage of female companionship. If I choose. It was a long, tough road to get here, but now that I’m here, I’m not planning on changing a thing.

  But we’ve all got that one secret that no one knows, that one strange thing that really gets you hard, or if you’re one who prefers to call yourself politely reserved (uptight), makes you feel alive.

  Our kink.

  Hold on, I don’t get my rocks off playing Hannibal the Cannibal, no fucking way. I’m not sick and deranged. But looking at me, a tough guy, tattoo artist, and yeah, I’ve got my piercings, (chicks love those too), I’d probably get my ass kicked by the other guys in the shop, and the broads might even call me gay. Except for the few I’ve indulged with. They keep coming back.

  Ever since the sweet little piece of ass opened her coffee shop next door to the tattoo shop, my mind has been consumed with getting my kink on with Tinkerbell, the owner.

  Fuck!

  I’ve been a miserable son-of-a-bitch since I first laid eyes on her.

  My balls have suffered the worst, a constant shade of blue.

  Fuck!!

  There she is now.

  I watch her through the plate glass window. She’s outside cleaning the tables. My jaw clenches as the wind whips up a little and blows her loose top around her body, baring her creamy pale stomach. It’s not tight from a hundred crunches, but looks soft and feminine. My mind doesn’t see her flesh white, but what I would do to it. The wispy fringes of bronze, gold, and brown hair around her face that fell from the messy bun tickle her lips. Those pouty fucking pink lips. They’re moving.

  Is she singing?

  She bops her head up and down, and wiggles her hips a little. Just a little bit. It wouldn’t have been noticeable to anyone glancing at her, but I’m not glancing. I’m staring. Studying her. And I don’t even realize it. Then she smiles. It’s a ray of fucking sunshine burning down on me, heating me right to my crotch, and swelling my already hard dick to throbbing.

  I grab my cock and squeeze, willing it to go down.

  I don’t realize I’m doing that either.

  “Dude, why don’t you just go out there and fuck her already before you come all over yourself.”

  I stiffen.

  Busted.

  “Yeah, because you sure as hell wouldn’t get twenty feet next to her before she screamed from your ugly ass face,” I throw back at him, squeezing my dick one more time for good measure.

  I’m not giving shit away.

  Bull, one of the tattoo artists in my shop, and my brother from another mother, is at his station checking his supplies. It’s Monday, the day after the usual busy weekend. Everyone comes in shit-faced after the bars Friday and Saturday wanting some ink. If you’re legal and got the cash, we don’t give a shit.

  Bull swivels his stool around and leans back against his client table, stretches out the tree trunks he has for legs, crosses his thick arms across his chest, and grins at me.

  Ah, shit!

  “Would you like to make a bet, Rock?”

  Rock, short for Rocco. And I must be dumb as a damn rock because I just flashed a huge red flag with that woman’s face all over it in front of Bull.

  Shit’s about to get real.

  Bull’s a damn addict. It’s not drugs or booze, but betting. He lost his ass and everything he’s ever owned to it, but he can’t seem to shake it. He bets on everything, and will stop at nothing to win.

  “No I don’t want to make a bet, asshole. Leave her the fuck alone.”

  Or I’ll kick your as
s.

  The thought of Bull touching Tinkerbell in any way, shape, or form, makes my blood boil.

  He laughs at me. That sadistic sound he always makes when he’s ready to throw down.

  Shit!

  “Why should I leave her alone? I’ll win, Rock, I guarantee it. And you can’t stand that idea. It’ll be a win/win, dude. I can give Sugar Tits the opportunity to ride the Bull. They always come back for more once they climb on. You know things really get good then, Rock. Everyone wins.”

  They do. And it does.

  Which is exactly why I don’t want him, or any of the other guys, going anywhere near her.

  Trying to distract him, I quirk an eyebrow and ask, “Sugar Tits?”

  “Yeah,” he drags his fat tongue, (everything about Bull is big), across his lips, “because I’m sure they’re going to be sweet and melt in my mouth when I suck on them.”

  A roar explodes in my brain. This girl, this fantasy I’ve been obsessed with, I don’t even know her damn name, nor have I had any intention of finding out, is messing with me.

  “No, they’re fucking not, Bull. She’s not our kind,” I grit out between clenched teeth.

  He throws his head back again laughing. Then he rubs his dick.

  “How do you know?” he asks, still laughing at me, palming himself.

  He knows exactly which buttons to push to irritate the piss out of me, like they’re tattooed on me in bright red. Push here, ‘jealousy,’ here for ‘horny’ (the redhead he brought around worked really well), here for goddam ‘rage.’ That button right there he just found has Tinkerbell’s name all over it. Once he starts, he never stops. I’ve learned how to avoid his aggravating harassment. He’s like a leach, once he’s latched on, he keeps going until he sucks you dry. This time, I was the one who shoved his bloody fangs into me, walked right in, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it now. It’s going to be hell when the rest of the guys get here.

  “I just know.” It’s the best I can come up with, lame and pitiful.

  There’s a gleam in his eyes. A fucking glimmer.

  “Take the bet, dude, if you’re so sure.”

  “No bet, Bull.”

  He’s pulling me in, dammit!

  “’Cause I’ll win. I’m a persistent bastard, you know it. Remember the redhead, Rock? Wore her down, ‘til she was begging…” that fucking glimmer’s a goddam spotlight now!

  “Tinkerbell’s nothing like that redhead, Bull. NOTHING.” It’s taking everydamnthing for me to keep my cool.

  “HAH! Tinkerbell, huh? Already gave Sugar Tits a nickname. I bet that fairy dust is going to feel pretty sweet all over my cock.”

  SHITSHITSHIT!

  “Drop it, Bull,” I grit out tightly.

  He continues, “Take the bet, dude. Broads love bad boys, especially the good girls. I think they love the thrill of being bad, maybe they even get off on being used, taken, you know? Rough and hard and dirty.” His smirk is wicked and sleazy.

  Hooked! Damn him!

  I shove to my feet, fists clenched at my sides. “Yeah, but they don’t like sleazy scumbags, which is exactly what you are.”

  “Why don’t we find out? I’ll let you know what she says,” he smirks as he starts to stand.

  “Sit the fuck down,” I growl with a hand at his chest, stopping him. “If anyone’s going to find out, it’s me. No. Fucking. Body. Else. I’ll prove she’s not our type.”

  You can get CANVAS right here on Amazon.

  Keep going for a peek inside BLACK INK.

  His darkness

  Consumed me and

  Branded me like…

  Black Ink

  1 CHAPTER

  Gemma

  Desperate. I was absolutely desperate. I only prayed my nervousness wasn’t visible and they couldn’t see me shaking. I needed this job. No one would see me, not until now. I was being punished, black balled, because of something I didn’t do.

  That only made me want to fight harder.

  After Malcolm was arrested, the Feds took everything, seized the bank accounts, my house, the one my money mostly paid for, and took the cars. I lost everything. I was left with only my personal belongings. And a shitload of his debts.

  I couldn’t believe that I had to start from scratch…again. A polished, educated, professional woman, after years of building an impressive reputation, it was all destroyed by one man. My husband.

  Now I have the nerve to come to the man who had suffered the most from my husband’s actions, his extortions and embezzlements, and ask for a position with his company. It was all I could do to sit across from this kid who’d probably just gotten out of college and kiss his ass when I knew I could do his job better than he could, and prove to him, not that I would be the best choice for his assistant, but that I wouldn’t make him look like a fool because he knew he should be mine. The truth is I’m happy to have the opportunity to be here. There is no way I’m going to fuck this up. I would tell him whatever I had to, do whatever I need to do, to be this kids assistant.

  I had to force myself to keep from looking at the imposing figure who had built this empire, Alexander Black, standing in his glass enclosed throne room watching me. I could feel the weight of his stare bearing down on me. I’d never met him personally but I knew everything about him, his ruthlessness, that he grew up bouncing from one foster home to another, had minor scrapes with the law when he was a teenager, and his broken engagement in college from that Texas oil tycoon’s debutante daughter. After that, the only information about him read like a resume’. Until ten years ago when Black Inc. was born. From that point he hurled through the business world like a tornado, consuming everything in his way. If he didn’t take it over, he destroyed it.

  Alexander and Malcolm had begun what was called a merger, which was really a take-over, of Malcom’s software development firm. It was too late by the time Malcom’s Ponzi scheme was revealed and Alexander had lost three million dollars.

  I wasn’t involved with Malcolm’s company, never had been. I worked for a prestigious law firm in mergers and acquisitions. And when the shit had hit the fan with Malcolm, I got hit right between the eyes. I was fired before Forbes magazine released the details and my house was padlocked and surrounded by yellow police tape. My office had been cleaned out and boxes were filled with my personal belongings and were waiting for me downstairs at security the next morning when I entered the lobby.

  I was humiliated.

  Now, here I sit, my spine straight, across from this snot nosed brat, determined to clear my name and prove myself once again. The only way I was going to do that was working for Alexander Black. I had to kick some serious ass to disassociate myself from Malcolm. Alexander Black was the only way I could.

  And he knew it.

  “Let’s cut to the chase, Mrs. Stevens...,” the punk was saying.

  “Gemma. Gemma Trudeau. I’ve never used my married name,” I corrected him unwaveringly.

  Yes, lets, I’m tired of pussy footing around.

  I didn’t get my reputation by being intimidated, my poker face was securely in place.

  “How can you possibly think Mr. Black is going to hire you?” he said smugly as he sat back in his chair.

  “Mr. Davis, Alexander Black is a smart man. I’m good – very good - and he knows it. I would be an asset not only to you, but more so to him.” I was known for being shrewd, sometimes ruthless, but always successful.

  It was simple. I knew it, Alexander Black knew it, this kid was the only one who didn’t.

  The real question is, how is Black going to play?

  I felt his eyes penetrating me through the glass wall across the room. I didn’t flinch under the weight. I lifted my gaze to look directly into those eyes that I knew hadn’t left me while I sat patiently during my time with this newbie who’d, I’m sure, recently finished his internship.

  My breath caught in my throat.

  I’d seen pictures of Alexander Black on occasion but nothing
had prepared me for him. The words ‘formidable and hard’ would be how I would have described him, and fucking gorgeous.

  Even from where I sat across the room, he hit me like a freight train and I’m sure my body showed the impact. I could feel the rush surge through me enflaming my face and igniting my every nerve ending. I hadn’t had sex in so long, I thought my vagina had stopped working but it, too, roared to life.

  I could tell he was tall, very tall, with wavy chocolate brown hair a little on the long side, close cut facial hair that was too long to be scruff but not long enough to be a beard and mustache, a perfectly tailored black pinstriped suit with a vest, a crisp grey shirt and pink tie. He had one arm across his broad chest with the other raised as his finger and thumb stroked his jaw. Danger and power. While he studied me.

  I knew the young man across from me was talking as he sat back in his chair. I saw his mouth moving out of my peripheral vision, but I didn’t hear a word he said.

  The world had been sucked into a vacuum of only Black and me.

  He was stunning. Too beautiful for words. His features were strong and chiseled, defined cheekbones, arrogant brow and eyes, square jaw, full, deliciously full lips. His body was not lean but not bulky, well defined, even hidden inside those obviously very expensive clothes. If I had to bet I would say the suit was tailor made Brioni. I should know, I had bought enough of them for Malcolm. His shoulders and chest were broad, his waist lean, and I could tell his legs were not thin within his slacks. I immediately envisioned thick braided, muscular thighs, the kind that a beautiful ass rested above with the cheeks dipping in at narrow hips. My mouth went dry and I had to clench my jaw to keep from licking my lips. The thing that truly took my breath away was the intense savage energy that emanated from him even with the distance separating us.

  I sucked in a breath when a corner of his mouth lifted in a cocky smirk. He lowered the hand that had been at his jaw and reached for the phone at his side and broke our gaze.

  I was relieved to be released from the hold he’d had on me. My eyes returned to Davis sitting across the desk as the sound of his voice was turned on in my ears once again.