My eyes fluttered open, the familiar sight of my bedroom coming into focus through my disoriented mind. Warm, soft light filtered in through the curtains covering the windows, greeting me from my comfortable bed. It took a moment to recall what I’d been doing before I awoke, confused as to why I was asleep in the middle of the afternoon. A twinge in my abdomen when I tried to sit rectified that.Nathan had been there, inside me. It was better than the last time, the pain and stiffness when I moved a testament to his visit. He was rough and dirty, and I knew my body was ruined for any other man. No other could make my body sing the way he had during our encounters.The last words he said surfaced through my addled mind, playing over and over, looping until it was clear.“You should stay away from me, Lila. I’m no good for you. Run while you can. Run away from me and don’t look back. I’m not worth your life.”All I could think of was: why? Why wasn’t he “worth my life”? If he
Nathan continued his foul mood the rest of the afternoon, but once in a while I caught him looking at me again. Though I would almost call it a glare at that point. Kelly never made it back to continue her flirting, but she did stop by to tell me when my meeting was scheduled.It was almost six when I finished up the contract I was working on, and it seemed Nathan was almost done as well. It wasn’t worth getting started on another one, so I decided to call it a night, packing up and heading to the elevator. I left him working, without saying goodbye or waiting.It was just my luck, though, that when I was getting out of my car, his own pulled in three spots down from mine. I refused to acknowledge him as we entered the lobby. My eyes avoided Thorne as I greeted Mike, the night guard, and I stayed as far away as possible as I pushed the button to call for the elevator. The air around us was charged as we waited, making me anxious. The ping alerted us to the arriving elevator a
By Friday morning, I was still walking a little on the funny side, my muscles recuperating. With a coffee cup in hand, I headed to the break room, only to find Caroline filling up her own.“So, how’s it going today?” she asked, pouring the creamer into her cup and stirring.I rinsed my own cup out in the sink, then poured myself some. “He’s such a pain in my ass!” I tried to keep my lips from quirking up into a smile and present a pissed off demeanor. Inside I was laughing, knowing that one day he’d make it true in a literal sense.I couldn’t tell Caroline about that though. Not yet. I still didn’t know what we were anyway. She laughed before going over the evening plans. I was supposed to be out of the building by five to eat dinner before meeting her and some of our coworkers at eight.I headed home at the promised time and ate while I scoured my closet for something to wear. It’d been so long since I’d gone out for “fun” that it took me some time to dig out any going-out
We pulled up to our building, and I stumbled out of the car. My body lit up at his closeness, then I felt his hands on me, hoisting me up in the air and over his shoulder.“Nathan, put me down, damn it. I can walk,” I whined as he moved us into the building.I pounded on his back with my fists as he greeted the night guard, but my attention was diverted by the fine ass in front of me. I could not—and did not—want to contain the urge to grab it, so I did. He yelped in surprise as he stepped onto the elevator. I smacked it, and his grip on me tightened.I could feel the growl in his chest, there was no doubt about it. Wetness began to pool from the sound and the anticipation of what he might do to me this time.We arrived at the fourteenth floor, and he stepped out, walking a few steps—the keys rattled as he unlocked the door. As soon as we entered his condo, Nathan dropped me down onto my feet and had me pinned against the wall with his body, his lips hard on mine. It was a
It’d been a week since I admitted to myself I was altered. That Nathan had altered me. The growing feelings for him I’d kept hidden were out. The night after we left the club made me face that fact. How I thought and felt about him changed. He wasn’t the asshole I thought he was when I first met him. He was a broken man, and it made me wonder—can two broken souls make one whole person?He intrigued me, it wasn’t only sex anymore. Every time his guard dropped around me, I saw the real Nathan, and I liked him. I wanted him. Every day I needed him more. Any thought of leaving him and returning to the way we were was painful.One week had passed since he conceded to letting himself have something with me. It was undefined and not spoken about out loud, little different than it was in the beginning. The exception was that every night he was either in my bed, or I was in his. It started on Saturday night when he showed up at my door just before midnight and took me against the wall
It was almost eight when we rolled into the parking lot of our building. We walked up and greeted the night guard, then stepped onto an awaiting elevator. As we entered, Nathan pressed the buttons for our respective floors, indicating tonight would be the same as the previous nights. Denial would overpower our want until one of us broke sometime during the night.I should have grabbed him the second the doors closed, but I lacked the courage. Odd how his emotions ebbed and flowed like the tide, constantly changing the dynamics of whatever it was we were to each other. His moods always set our tone. At that moment he was rebelling against us, trying to ignore the pull we both felt. Did he feel guilty for giving in at the office?The air around us changed the second his stomach let it be known it wanted food, the grumble echoing around the elevator.A giggle escaped before I turned to grin at him. “Hungry, are we?”He visibly relaxed, a sheepish grin forming. It was new, and
Nathan never brought up my declaration in the following weeks. At least not in words. Sometimes I caught his expression flicker, like he was thinking about what I told him—about being his. It faded as soon as it showed up, and I figured that the thought of it made him edgy.Every day, his agitation grew. It was subtle, hiding in his perfected act, so most people didn’t notice, but I knew him better than they did. His fingers combed and tugged at his hair and neck more often, his leg bounced in an increasing tempo, and his fuse became shorter.All in all, he was a ticking time bomb.His nightmares shook the bed almost every night. His grip was bone crushing as he clung to me, trying to keep it all in. I soothed him as best I could, but I knew it would take more than me to fix him. He needed to let it all out, not keep it in. Purge himself of the emotions he kept tightly locked away. Pot calling the kettle, coming from me, but his pain was earth shattering compared to my own.
“What’s this?” Nathan asked as I handed him the jagged piece of metal.“It’s a key to my condo.”“I don’t want it.” He thrust his hand back toward me.“Take the damn key,” I said. We stood at a standstill, neither backing down. “Look, my neighbor is getting annoyed at the late-night knocking, and we haven’t spent a night apart in three weeks.”He contemplated my words for a moment, the warring indecision etched onto his features before he conceded. “Fine.” Pulling his keys from his pocket, he twisted the metal piece on to the key ring.He held his hand out to me. “Here.”“What?” I asked, confused.“If I can molest you at all hours of the night at my will, you should be able to return the favor.” He smirked as he placed his key in my open palm.The next day, I yawned and rotated my shoulders, attempting to relieve some of the ache. I should have known not to tease Nathan. He made sure to prolong his own release to torment me.The day was over, and as soon as I entered m
Welcome to the Cameo HotelI get what I want.When I walked through the door of the Cameo Hotel I didn’t expect such a beauty to be working the front desk.The effect she has on me is intense, and I make her life a living hell because of it.I love her spirit, her internal defiance when completing the most inane task I assign her. My two week stay has turned into unending, just to be near her.She’s under my every command if she wants to keep me happy.There’s one last thing I want.Her.Find out more hereBecoming Mrs. LockwoodEvery girl has dreams of meeting Prince Charming, or at least I know I did.A fairy tale-like meeting of love at first site.Real life and fairy tales are very different.I’m just a small town Indiana girl that had a chance encounter with one of Hollywood’s golden boys. You may think you know where this story goes—not even close.Life is different. Marriage is hard. It’s even
K.I. Lynn is the USA Today Bestselling Author from The Bend Anthology and the Amazon Bestsellers, Breach and Becoming Mrs Lockwood. She spent her life in the arts, everything from music to painting and ceramics, then to writing. Characters have always run around in her head, acting out their stories, but it wasn’t until later in life she would put them to pen. It would turn out to be the one thing she was really passionate about.Since she began posting stories online, she’s garnered acclaim for her diverse stories and hard hitting writing style. Two stories and characters are never the same, her brain moving through different ideas faster than she can write them down as it also plots its quest for world domination…or cheese. Whichever is easier to obtain… Usually it’s cheese.WebsiteFacebookTwitterInstagramGet my Newsletter
Special thanks to:My husband, David, for his support and encouragement in my writing endeavors. Crystal, for without her friendship, support, and guidance I would never have entered this journey. Massy, for being the voice of wisdom and clarity. Stephanie, for sharing is caring. Kyla, for her sessions. Nyddi, for her unending encouragement and help through this process. Deborah for her support and teachings. Chrisann, for her perspective and love of lemons.Last, but very much not least, to SM for writing a beautiful love story that helped me find the passion in life I was missing, and the fandom for bringing me friends, family, and the courage to spread my wings.Words can never express my gratitude and love to you all.
I was having trouble concentrating on the document in front of me and decided perhaps a cup of coffee was in order. The smell of the coffee would help to override the permeating scent of Nathan.The hair-raising, cackling sound of the Boob Squad’s laughter could be heard before I made it into the break room. I didn’t want to see them right then, but the need for coffee prevailed. I wasn’t in the mood to put up with them.“Oh, hi, Delilah,” Jennifer said as I entered.I walked up to the cabinet and pulled out a clean cup. “Morning, Jennifer.”There were four of them standing around. I couldn’t help thinking they should be working.“So glad to see you finally decided to return to work.”All of the sudden, I felt like I was in high school, being ganged up on by the popular girls. The difference was that there was no stepbrother named Adam to lead them like when I was younger—just a warped sense of entitlement.Ignoring them, I poured the liquid into a cup. My hand reached f
Days.Minutes.Weeks.Years.Hours.I didn’t know how much time had passed, nor did I care. It was peaceful in the black.Voices called to me, whispered echoes surrounded me. I could make them out, if I concentrated. But I didn’t want to concentrate. I wanted the peaceful black.Most of their words were lost in the depth, mangled, but I could hear the murmurs all the same.Caroline, Andrew…and Nathan.I could make out the tenor more than the actual words. Nathan didn’t say much, for which I was thankful, but I could hear Andrew. He was angry, screaming and cursing while Caroline was pleading.I shook every time I heard Nathan. His voice threatened to pull me back.I didn’t want to go back. The calm darkness held the pain at bay. I didn’t have to feel my heart shattering in there.Though the pain came through anyway every time he spoke.It wasn’t often, but it was there. He stayed silent, and I couldn’t help but wonder why he was there. Didn’t he leave me? Break me?
The next morning, I was shocked into silence when Andrew walked straight up to Nathan in the parking lot and hugged him. Nathan hugged him back, and they exchanged what I could only describe as some secret man-look. No fists, no angry words, but an understanding and friendship budded in front of my eyes as Andrew vowed to stay silent about us.Over the next few days, they became lunch buddies, Andrew splitting between the two of us. It was almost like shared custody.“Really?” I asked Nathan a few days later, my curiosity getting the better of me. I stood in front of the stove, a skillet full of ground turkey, springing the question on him as he walked back in from changing clothes.“What?”I waved the spatula in my hand. “You hug, exchange a look, and suddenly all of the animosity that’s been boiling between you two for months is gone.”“That about sums it up.”“Men are strange creatures.”“Nothing had to be said. I told him to search; I knew what he was going to find.”
Nathan was always stiff and sore in the mornings. Some symptoms showed more than others. That day fell into the latter category. He literally rolled out of bed, and the limp in his leg was very pronounced.A few hours later, he popped more pills into his mouth, his hands moving to his temples, rubbing them in a counterclockwise motion.By two in the afternoon, he was on the third set of pain pills to numb the aches and migraine that plagued him. He had woken with a headache, and it increased as the day wore on. The medicine didn’t seem to help, and he skipped lunch, opting to lie down in a dark, empty office.He stood and continued to limp, heading to the break room. It was so bad that he was unable to walk it off.Throughout the day, I observed him as he wiggled in his chair and readjusted himself in an attempt to find a comfortable position. He’d give up, sighing in defeat, and settled for whatever position he found to be the most tolerable.It was easy to forget about h
“Oh, my God. Could you quit flaunting your tits around? I’m getting so sick of looking at yours, I can hardly stand to look at my own. And, by the way, if he hasn’t taken the bait yet, he isn’t going to.” Caroline was attempting to get the point across to two B.S. members, Kelly and Tiffany.I was having a very difficult time keeping my coffee in my mouth. It was threatening to fly out all over my desk, files, and computer screen. There was nothing worse than coffee-stained documents.I chanced a glance over at Nathan, also attempting not to laugh, his hand covering his mouth, concealing his upturned lips. His eyes betrayed him, laugh lines crinkling in the corners.Laugh lines.My addiction to seeing them was growing stronger every day. Each time he smiled, I wanted more.Caroline was living up our secret to the fullest by giving it to the Boob Squad.“Whatever, Caroline.” Kelly sneered, pulling me from my internal musing, before grabbing Tiffany’s arm and leaving our of
Later that week, thanks to the Boob Squad, we became aware of the accused offenders of the alleged affair: Sadie from our accounting department and Will from tax law. They were not only hiding a relationship, but were expecting.The story running rampant was Benjamin and his wife were at the OB/GYN for a checkup when they bumped into Will and Sadie. Benjamin’s wife told one of her friends about it, who told another, who told another, and so on, before it ended up in one of the biggest office gossip’s ear. You didn’t tell Sheila, Mr. Holloway’s assistant, anything that you didn’t want spread around.I felt bad for them, worrying about when the situation came to a head. I understood Holloway & Holloway’s policy and why it was in place. I was there during the Antonio and Karen blowup. The difference I found here was that Sadie and Will worked in separate departments and never interacted for work, while Karen had been Antonio’s legal assistant.Mr. Holloway could amend it so