Excerpt

The hole in her heart, which had begun with Logan’s rejection of her, had grown since her grandmother’s stroke until it had become excruciating.

It took everything out of her.

She’d never known it was possible to be so tired.

So empty inside.

Dropping her head onto the bed, she kept her grandmother’s hand clasped in hers and let herself sleep.

Logan found her that way, the relief at finally finding her so intense, he paused just inside the door to look at her.

He moved closer, the low music coming from a small speaker on the bed both calming and depressing as hell.

It sounded like the music played in funeral homes during a funeral.

Katherine, sitting in a chair, her head on her folded arms on the bed, faced away from him, but he could see clearly that she’d lost a good bit of weight.

Furious that she’d kept this from them, he leaned against the wall, taking in the plain, colorless room, the monitors and the tubes running in and out of the old, too-pale woman sleeping peacefully.

He watched them for almost an hour, straightening when the left side of Eleanor’s body began to twitch restlessly and several of the monitors started beeping.

Katherine jolted upright, looking over when several nurses burst through the door, her already too-pale face paling even more when she saw him. “What’s going on?”

Her grandmother suddenly stilled, and the nurse took Kat’s arm. “You need to move.”

The nurse nudged the chair out of the way, and as they worked on her grandmother, Logan went to Kat and gently pulled her aside.

She gasped. “What are you doing here? Go away!”

Stiffening against him, she tried to pull away, but Logan held firm, pressing his lips against her ear. “Stop fighting me.”

He turned her toward him, holding her against his chest and watched the nurses’ faces and the monitor that flat-lined.

Katherine jolted and turned, shaking her head. “No!”

Another nurse and a doctor came in and after listening to her grandmother’s chest, the doctor sighed and met Kathy’s gaze.

Releasing her so she could go to her grandmother’s side, Logan followed as the doctor kept his gaze on Kathy’s. “I’m sorry. She had another stroke. It was more than her body could handle.”

Watching Kat wrap her arms around her grandmother, her sobs racking her body, Logan felt his heart break.

Nodding to acknowledge the doctor, he went to stand behind Kat, running a hand up and down her back in an effort to soothe her and to let her know she was no longer alone.

She cried so hard he feared she would make herself sick before finally straightening, a shudder going through her.

Kathy felt a sense of disbelief, feeling a distance from her surroundings, as if she was watching the incredibly sad scene play out in a movie. A kind of blessed numbness settled over her and made it possible for her to allow Logan to help her into her cardigan and lead her out of the room.

Voices around her faded into the background, the words jumbling together and unrecognizable.

She knew Logan spoke to the nurses at the nurses’ station, his deep tone one she could never forget, but it took too much effort to decipher his words.

His voice, deep and soothing, was enough.

God, she’d missed him.

She shivered, cold everywhere except the hand he held in his.

She went where he guided her, which allowed her to stop thinking altogether.

Logan led her to his car, the arm around her firm, warm, and solid. He paused at the passenger door, drawing her against him. “I’m here for you, baby. You’re not alone. Just lean on me. I’ll help you get through this.”

Pressing her face against his shoulder, she breathed him in, tears filling her eyes and spilling over. “She’s gone, Logan. I wanted her to get better. I didn’t want to believe…”

“I know, love.” He ran his hands up and down her back, his lips pressing against her hair. “I know how much she meant to you. Let me get you home.”

“I don’t have a home anymore.” The reality of it hit her hard. She got into the passenger seat, unmoving as he fastened her seat belt and closed the door again.

Staring out the window, she leaned her head back, still reeling with her grandmother’s death and Logan’s sudden appearance. She’d loved him for years, loved him so much that when he told her that things wouldn’t work out between them, it broke her heart.

Even now, when nothing else seemed to get through the fog surrounding her, her feelings for him did.

For him to show up so suddenly, just when she needed him most, was both a blessing and torture. Leaning on him gave her the comfort and strength she needed, but she knew it was temporary and her heart would break all over again when he left.

He would leave, and the loneliness would become unbearable.

“You shouldn’t have come. Why did you have to come?”

Reaching across, he took her hand in his. “If I’d known what was going on, I would have been here sooner.”

Too numb for embarrassment, she continued to stare out the side window. “I need you to go. I need to get over you.”

Logan stopped at a red light and turned her face to his, the warm firmness of his fingertips on her chin causing butterflies in her belly. “I can’t get over you, so why would I allow you to get over me?”

Excerpt

With a sigh, Hunter rose to refill his coffee mug. “Baby, you don’t have any reason to be jealous. You know damned well that you’re the love of my life.”

“Our lives.” Remington smiled and ran a hand down her back as he dropped onto the stool next to her again. “Hunter told me about it, baby. He was going to tell you when you came home, but you were in a bad mood and he figured it would be better to find out what was wrong first. Nobody was going to keep something like that from you.”

Hunter turned from the counter and, seeing that Marcus had finished with the teething biscuit and getting fussy, started to clean him up. “Anyway, I doubt if I see her again. She said she wanted to apologize and that it would help her with her therapy. I’d rather just forget the whole thing. She’s not a part of our lives.”

“She had a hand on your chest. You were holding her arms.”

Hunter finished cleaning up and removed the tray to take Marcus out of the highchair. “She laid her hand on my chest, and I pushed her away. Don’t you trust me?”

She held out her arms for the baby, snuggling him close while Hunter prepared his bottle. “Did she kiss you?”

“Oh, Christ, Emma.” He scraped a hand through his hair. “She kissed me on the cheek, hence me gripping her arms to push her away. Please don’t make a big deal out of this. I wanted to punch her in the face for what she’d done to you, but I’m not violent toward women.”

He smiled and tested the warmth of the bottle. “You taught me that I never could be.”

“Did you kiss her?”

“Of course not! Hell. The only reason I didn’t boot her out on her ass was because she said she was getting help. I didn’t want to do anything to sabotage that. I just wanted her to get the hell out of there so I could lock up and get home to you.”

Emma nodded, believing him.

Taking the bottle, she started to feed her son, glancing at both men. “She confronted me.”

Remington’s gaze sharpened. “What? When? Where?”

Hunter slammed his coffee mug onto the island, his expression hard. “Son of a bitch!”

Remington took a steadying breath and let it out slowly. “When did this happen?”

“Tonight, when I left the restaurant. She confronted me in the parking lot.”

With a sigh, Hunter picked up his coffee again, trying to appear nonchalant, while inside his blood boiled. “She probably just wanted to apologize to you. I’m sorry. I should have anticipated that, but it surprises me that she did it so quickly.”

Remington nodded and glanced at Hunter. “You said she was in contact with the club. She was probably on her way there and saw Emma coming out of the restaurant. Probably wanted to finish with the apologies.” He smiled at Emma. “Is that what she did? Apologize to you?”

Lifting a brow, Emma gave Remington a look that usually meant trouble. “That’s what she said. She’d blocked my car in. I told her I didn’t want her apology. She tried to kill me. I told her to get the fuck out of my way and move the car before I moved it for her. Then she told me she wished she’d killed me when she had the chance.”

Remington frowned and ran a hand over her shoulder. “Baby, are you sure she wasn’t just trying to apologize to you?”

Hunter leaned toward her. “Maybe you misunderstood because you’re already afraid of her. I don’t want you to be afraid of her. If I thought she had any plans to do you any harm, I’d take care of it.”

Hurt, she sent Hunter a dirty look and rose to take Marcus to the nursery. “So you go ahead and accept her apology. I won’t.”

Coming around the counter, Hunter gripped her shoulder. “Baby, I’m sorry if she scared you. I’ll make sure she doesn’t bother you again.”

“She didn’t scare me. She pissed me off. The next time she comes anywhere near me, I’m gonna hurt her.”

She turned at the doorway. “And if either one of you decide to go see her at the club, you can pack your bags.”

“What the fuck?”

Shaken, more than she cared to admit, Emma left the two of them alone in the kitchen and went back to the nursery.

Hunter and Remington had a soft spot for women, like most of the other men who lived in Desire.

It appeared that softness extended to wanting to believe that the woman who’d attacked her now felt sorry for it and was getting help.

But Emma had seen the truth in the other woman’s eyes.

She’d heard the evil.

She’d heard it in Charlene’s voice.

Now, she just had to figure out what to do about it.

Excerpt

Submission to Desire

“So, you liked the fact that he wanted to hurt women. I knew it. Any men who would own a place like this must really hate women. I’m sure he fit right in. You people make me sick.”

She shot to her feet with the intention of getting the hell out of here before she threw something at their heads, but King moved fast for such a large man and caught her before she could even take a step.

With fire in his eyes, he gripped her upper arms.

“I don’t appreciate being judged by a woman who doesn’t know the first thing about me.”

Royce came to his feet, no longer smiling. “Or what we do here. We kept Donner close to watch him. We all talked to him over and over about the way to treat women, and Blade, our partner, even went out to meet with him. We were afraid that he would be a danger to women in the club in Virginia, and even went so far as to warn the owners there.”

King gestured toward the sofa, leading her back to it. As she sat, he braced a hand on the arm and loomed over her.

“We knew that there was a woman he was fixated on, but we didn’t know who you were. We’re very sorry that you had to go through that. We do not promote abusing women.”

Breathing a sigh of relief when King stepped back, and watching the play of muscle as he perched on the arm of the chair across from her, Brenna fisted her hands on her lap.

“You’re Doms, right?” Even if she didn’t know that they owned this place, she would know that they were. Something about their presence reminded her of the Dominants she’d met back in Virginia. It was in their posture, in their eyes, and in the way they looked at a woman, as though not wanting to miss a single weakness that they could exploit at their leisure.

The confidence, and arrogance, couldn’t be mistaken.

King inclined his head. “We are.”

Expecting that answer, and the cool tone, Brenna nodded. “So, are you going to try to tell me that you don’t use whips on women? You don’t hit them? Hurt them? Isn’t that how you get your kicks?”

Royce shot to his feet, but King waved him back, the calculating gleam in his eyes sending off all sorts of red flags. “If you’re really curious, I’ll be happy to answer all your questions, but I’m not about to sit here and argue with you when you’ve already made up your closed mind about us and what we do here.”

The disappointment and censure in his tone made her feel like a heel, but remembering Donner and his cruelty infuriated her all over again.

“I’m not buying it.” She jumped when Royce came close and squatted down in front of her, stiffening when he ran his fingers over the back of her hands in a caress she assumed should have felt nonthreatening. Alarmed at the rivulets of heat that ran up her arm, she forced herself to remain still, shaken by his intense stare and the cool calculation in his eyes.

Royce smiled knowingly and ran his fingers up her arm, sharpening the tingling sensation.

“I’m afraid I’d have to agree with King. If you really want to understand, we’ll be glad to answer all of your questions.” He lifted a finger when she started to speak.

“But, we’d like to show you. That’s the only way you’d truly understand. The only way you’ll be able to see the way we live is to experience it for yourself.”

Brenna pulled her hand away and scooted as far as she could away from him. “Sure. Sign me up and make me pay an exorbitant amount of money for you and all your customers to beat me. I don’t care what you call it, it’s just an excuse to hurt a woman. Even those men in the club carried whips with them. The women thought it was sexy. I didn’t.”

Hoping he didn’t see the lie in her eyes, she lifted her chin, silently daring him to call her a liar.

Royce’s gaze sharpened, his eyes becoming the deepest green she’d ever seen.

“So, you’re a submissive? Do you go to clubs regularly? Do you belong to someone?”

Bristling at the bite in his tone, she shot to her feet and started forward, only to have King come to his feet and block her again.

“Belong to someone? What’s with you people and that belonging crap? I don’t belong to anyone and I only went to that club once. And no, I’m not a submissive and I don’t ever plan to be. Frankly, I just don’t get why any woman would want to be.”

Royce came to his feet and moved in behind her, the fingers he ran up and down her arm making her shiver.

“Maybe you are. Maybe you’re not. Maybe you don’t want to know for sure because you’re afraid of the answer. You went to that club for a reason.”

“That’s ridiculous.” She jerked out of his hold and started for the door, both relieved and disappointed when neither man made a move to stop her. “Just because you’re surrounded by women who let you do what you want to them, you think every woman you meet is the same. I’m not. I think you’re all assholes.”

Proud of her exit line, she turned the knob and yanked, cursing when it didn’t budge. Whirling, she fumed. “Open the fucking door and let me the hell out of here.”

Desire Unleashed

His handsome features, so beloved, softened as he trailed his fingers over her hair. “I’m sorry, baby. I sure as hell didn’t mean to scare you. Keeping her hand in his, he turned away, leading her into the living room. “I’ve been pretty scared myself. Give me a minute. I have no fucking idea how to begin.”

Nat allowed him to pull her down to the sofa, but instead of snuggling against him the way she normally did, she slid to the opposite end and turned toward him, needing to see his face. “Well, you’re going to have to figure it out. You’re pissing me off.”

Jake didn’t smile the way she’d expected, and even more alarming, his eyes didn’t light with anticipation the way they usually did when she confronted him with her temper.

Instead, he sighed. “I know, and I’m sorry for it. I haven’t given you what you need from me these last few months, have I, baby?”

His lips twisted. “My only excuse is that I’m scared, Nat.” Holding her gaze, he sighed. “I’m scared to death of losing you.”

“That could never happen. I can’t imagine not loving you.” Too nervous to sit still, she started to get up, cursing when Jake grabbed her arm and pulled her to land heavily against him.

Overcoming her struggles with frustrating ease, Jake pulled her onto his lap. “You’re not going anywhere. Let me finish, damn it!”

“Then finish!” Nat’s temper dissolved at the anguish on her husband’s face. “I’m sorry. Tell me, Jake. Please.”

“Don’t you think I’m trying?” He scrubbed a hand over his face in a rare sign of frustration. “I’m probably going to screw this up, but you’re staying right where you are until I get it all out.”

“Fine. Just do it.” Shaken by her usually controlled husband’s demeanor, Nat waited, her nerves stretching to the breaking point as she watched his inner struggle.

Jake sighed again, his sharp gaze holding hers. “Hoyt’s retiring.”

A gasp escaped before she could prevent it, and it took every ounce of willpower she possessed to show only mild interest.

At least she hoped she only showed mild interest.

The jolt to her system made her heart pound furiously and affected her breathing. She fought to hide it, ashamed of herself for still having feelings for the man who’d been out of her life for years. “Is that who all those private calls and text messages have been from? What the hell does that have to do with us?”

Hoyt.

Her first lover.

Her son’s father.

The man who’d held a piece of her heart ever since he’d first captured it.

The image of the way he’d looked the last time she saw him rose in her mind—her stomach fluttering when she remembered the pain and resignation in his eyes.

Jake’s eyes sharpened. “There it is.”

Running a hand over her hair, he lifted her face to his, tightening his hold when she would have pulled away. “You would never have said anything about it, but it’s there. It hasn’t dimmed at all, has it, baby?”

Ashamed of herself, she averted her gaze, fighting the surge of panic that made her stomach roll. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Nothing mattered except what she had with Jake. Nothing could ever be allowed to come between them.

His lips thinned. “You know Hoyt and I have always been close. We’ve spoken on and off over the last several years, but much more in the last few months.”

Nat frowned, fighting not to show any emotion as she struggled to understand where this was going. “Oh?”

Jake rubbed his hand up and down her back, the way he did when she was upset about something. Lifting her chin, he regarded her steadily, his hand still moving in a slow rhythm as if he worked to loosen the tight muscles in her back she hadn’t wanted him to know about. “He used to come and visit every chance he got, but he stopped coming a few years ago.” His eyes sharpened on hers. “You’ve never mentioned it—never asked about it. That’s not like you. The more I thought about it, the more it shook me. You want to tell me why you never mentioned it?”

Sitting on his lap, she found it difficult to avoid his gaze—a maneuver she recognized well. Spinning her wedding ring around her finger, Nat shrugged, trying not to think about those visits from Hoyt—visits that had been both heaven and hell for her. “I figured he stopped coming by because he got busy. I assumed he had a girlfriend.”

She’d lost a lot of sleep thinking about Hoyt in the arms of another woman, something that both shamed and infuriated her.

He used to visit every chance he got and especially made a point to visit at the holidays whenever possible. Over the last three years, he hadn’t spent his vacation time with them, and had missed every holiday.

Holidays had been hell for her because she’d imagined him spending them with another woman.

Leaning forward, Jake took her left hand in his, staring down at it as he ran his thumb back and forth over her wedding band. “No. He doesn’t have a girlfriend.” Lifting his gaze to hers, he lifted a brow. “I think you know why he stopped coming around. The fact that you haven’t discussed it with me has given me quite a few sleepless nights.”

Her stomach fluttered, nerves making her too restless to sit still. Yanking her hand out of his, she jumped to her feet. “I have no idea why he stopped coming around. Hey!”

Jake tumbled her to the sofa, covering her body with his, and lying full length over her. “Be still.” Using his weight to press her to the cushions, he ran his fingers through her hair, his eyes hard and cool. “We’re not done here.”

Excerpt

Marissa began taking items from the box, carefully checking them on the invoice before hanging them. “I already told you that Jimmy got visitation rights.”

“Yes, and I told you that we’ve already gotten you a new attorney. Jimmy does drugs and has no business being around either one of you.”

“He said he never did drugs and was holding them for a friend.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” Sloane clenched his jaw, his frustration and anger about the entire situation difficult to contain. “Just because he fathered Sammy doesn’t make him his father.”

Marissa glanced at him and continued her task, the unshed tears in her eyes like a fist around his heart. “The judge didn’t see it that way, and I don’t want you paying for a different lawyer. It’s going to make things look worse.”

Jimmy had been arrested for assaulting Marissa while she was pregnant and had just gotten out of prison months earlier.

Scraping a hand over his jaw, Sloane watched Marissa fold and hang items to put them on display, her hands shaking. “I can’t believe he got visitation rights. I can’t believe, after assaulting you, that he can visit in your home. Unsupervised! This new attorney is better than yours. He’ll make sure Jimmy doesn’t get custody.”

Marissa bent her head, a sob escaping. “The judge took Jimmy’s attorney’s word that his anger management classes taught him how to deal with his anger. Jimmy told them about us. Now the judge thinks I’m a whore because I started a relationship with three men..”

He strode quickly to her, her sob ripping him to pieces. “Don’t ever call yourself that again. Jesus, Marissa. We haven’t even had sex yet.”

She was so skittish and scared of confusing Sammy that Sloane and his brothers hadn’t wanted to rush her, worried that they’d scare her away.

He knew what other people thought and had moved to Desire, Oklahoma, with his brothers to have the kind of relationship where such things were respected.

They’d found the woman they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with, but Jimmy was causing problems they couldn’t ignore.

In a very telling gesture, she leaned into him before pushing away again. “And we won’t. We can’t. You and your brothers have to stay away from me.”

With a sigh, Sloane clenched his fists at his sides in frustration. “We want you, Marissa. We’ve made that clear. We’ve also made it clear that we’re gonna do whatever it takes to have both you and Sammy in our lives. That includes making it clear to anyone watching that you’re in a relationship with me, and Cole and Brett are just friends. It hurts to do that, but we’ll do whatever it takes.”

Shaking her head, Marissa eyed him again, her features pale. “Please. I’m afraid the judge will see through it. You, Cole, and Brett need to stay away from me. I can’t risk losing Sammy.”

Sloane pulled a business card from his pocket. “This is the lawyer. Anna Markinson. She’s already getting all the information on your case and is expecting your call.”

Leaning close, he took her hand in his and placed it on his chest, needing the contact. “In the meantime, it’ll appear that you’re just dating me. No one will think anything of my brothers coming around to check on you or being seen with you. I’ll talk to them and make sure neither one of them acts like your lover in public.”

Marissa’s pale features reddened. “We’re not lovers.”

Sloane saw no reason to hide his own feelings for her, and frustrated that she tried to push him away when her growing feelings for him shone in her eyes, Sloane bent forward and touched his lips to hers.
Filled with satisfaction when she sobbed and threw her arms around him, he deepened his kiss, keeping it tender and allowing only a touch of the passion he felt for her.

They’d had passionate kisses in the past, and when he’d caressed her breasts, her response had been even more passionate.

The same had happened with his brothers.

She wanted them, and knowing her as well as he’d come to, he realized that she wouldn’t feel that passion if she didn’t have feelings for them.

Reluctantly breaking off his kiss, he lifted his head to look down at her, seeing the love for him she so desperately tried to hide glimmering in her eyes. “We haven’t had sex yet, baby, but we’ve kissed and I’ve touched you. So have Cole and Brett. We’re lovers.”

Amused at her deep blush, he smiled and pushed an errant curl back, taking the opportunity to caress her silky, soft cheek. “Don’t look so surprised or embarrassed. Did you think Cole, Brett, and I don’t talk about you? There are no secrets between us, baby. There can’t be. We want this to work.”

Marissa’s eyes went wide. “I can’t.”

Her voice broke, sending a chill down his spine.

Closing his hands on her shoulders, he pulled her closer, holding her gaze. “I don’t trust Jimmy, and I’m sure as hell not leaving you to deal with him alone. What did he do to upset you today?”

She clenched her fists on his chest and abruptly dropped them and moved away. “Nothing. I can handle him. I can’t risk losing Sammy. Please. Just stay away from me.”

Not wanting to upset her any further, Sloane mentally sighed and nodded. He knew she was lying to him, but pushing her would just put more distance between them. “I’ll go for now, but this isn’t over between us, Marissa.”

“It has to be.”