Tracy Wolff - Addicted

Addicted is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents either are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously.

A Loveswept eBook Original

Copyright 2014 by Tracy Deebs-Elkenaney

Excerpt from Have Mercy by Shelley Ann Clark copyright 2014 by Shelley Ann Clark

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States of America by Loveswept, an imprint of Random House, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.

L OVESWEPT is a registered trademark and the L OVESWEPT colophon is a trademark of Random House LLC.

eBook ISBN: 978-0-553-39438-2

Cover design: Lynn Andreozzi
Cover photograph: Claudio Marinesco

Author photograph: Kevin Gourley

This book contains an excerpt from the forthcoming book Have Mercy by Shelley Ann Clark. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content of the forthcoming edition.

www.readloveswept.com

v3.1

Wake up, sleepyhead. Ethan rolls over on top of me and kisses my cheeks and lips and forehead.

I smile sleepily, stretch a little. Youre the one who talked me into playing hooky today. I dont have to wake up.

No. I called Maryanne and told her I needed you for a very important project in the CEOs office today, he corrects me as he slips inside me.

I arch against him, moaning softly at how good he feels. Is that what you call this? An important project?

The most important.

Our lovemaking this morning is as tender as last nights was wild, as lazy as last nights was frantic. And I love every second of it. Then again, I love everything Ethan does to me. I always have. I always will.

And while a part of me feels guilty for ditching work today, I know that Ethan and I need this time. After everything that happened yesterday, Im not ready to be separated from him. I can tell by the look in his eyes and the possessive way he touches me that he feels the same way.

He moves slowly, gliding in and out of me in an easy rhythm that nonetheless stokes the fire that is always burning between us. Sweat breaks out on our bodies, tension builds, and it isnt long before were falling over the edge of the world together. Just like its meant to be.

Ethan cuddles me for long minutes, his body curved protectively around mine as he plays with my out-of-control curls and presses soft kisses to my shoulder and back. At first Im a little nervous about this positionmy back to his frontbut after everything that happened last night in just this position, it seems crazy to worry about it now.

So I do my best to let the fear and the panic go. Oh, I know Ill never be normal, know that there will always be a part of me that Brandon has a hold on no matter how much I wish it werent so. But for now, for today, I want to concentrate on Ethan and everything thats going right in my lifein our livesfor once.

Eventually his stomach growls, though, and he rolls out of bed with a laugh. Shower, then breakfast? he asks, reaching a hand down to help me up.

But Im feeling lazy and sated and I dont want to move. Not quite yet. The smell of him and me is on the sheets and I want to linger here for a few more minutes and just immerse myself in what we are together.

You go first, I tell him. Im not ready to get up.

He smiles indulgently. All right, then. Ill shower, then make you breakfast in bed. How does that sound?

Are you going to be in the bed with me?

He arches one of his brows in that way he has that makes me crazy. That can be arranged.

Then I say it sounds very good.

He bends down and gives me a quick kiss that becomes a not-so-quick kiss. But then my stomach wrecks it by grumbling, too. Ethan pulls away instantly. Ill take a quick shower and then feed you. While Im in there, decide what you want me to make.

But hes only been in the shower a few minutes before my plans for a lazy morning in bed get derailed. The doorbell rings, and while at first I ignore itthis isnt my housewhoever is outside is determined to get some response. And once it registers that whoever it is obviously has the code to Ethans gate, I reach for his robe and wrap it around me. Maybe his cleaning lady forgot her key or something.

But when I finally get to the front door and open it, terror slams through me, weakens my knees to the point that I have to reach out and grab on to the door frame to keep myself upright.

Hey, Chlo. Long time no see.

My world shatters. Because its not Magdalena on the porch waiting to be let in. Instead its my worst nightmare, Brandon Jacobs, whos staring back at me out of a face thats a million times more battered and bruised than Ethans is.

He steps forward and instinct takes over. I slam the door in his face, lock it, then turn and press my back against it like I need another barrier to keep him out.

As I do, I look upstraight into Ethans dark and tormented eyes. And I know that whatever secrets hes keeping are going to tear me apart.

Chloe.

Ethan reaches for me, his fingers wrapping gently around my arms.

I dont feel them.

I dont feel anything but the ice creeping slowly through me, skating along my skin, slicing through my veins, my blood, my soul. Freezing me, turning everything softeverything realinto the sharp, jagged edges of puzzle pieces that cant quite fit together.

What My voice breaks, the one word Im able to get out falling uselessly into the abyss that suddenly yawns, black and endless, between us.

Ethan doesnt answer. He just looks at me, his beautiful face battered and his blue eyes fevered.

The doorbell rings again. And again. And again. A never-ending cacophony that is only adding to the sense of unreality and confusion pressing in on me from every side.

Except it isnt unreality, is it? Because its happening. Its real.

I dont understand.

No, thats not true. Its that I dont want to understand.

I take a deep breath, try to think. Nothing comes.

Theres a part of me that wants to go back to bed, that wants to start the day all over again in an effort to wake myself from this nightmare Ive suddenly found myself in. But reality doesnt work like that. This isnt a dream and I cant wish it away, cant run away from it, cant hide, no matter how much I want to.

And still, even knowing thatunderstanding itIm determined to try.

Pushing past Ethan, I bolt for the stairs.

For his bedroom at the other end of the house.

For the chance to go back to how things were ten minutes ago, when life almost made sense.

As I run, theres an urgency inside me. A voice screaming for answers, screaming for the truth, and I know it wont be denied forever. But right now, for just this one, ice-drenched moment, I want to pretend I cant hear it.

I want to block it out like I blocked out Brandon and the rape all those years ago.

Like I blocked my parents out.

Like Im blocking that goddamn doorbell out even now.

But when I get to Ethans room, its not the sanctuary I want it to be. Not with the bed looking like a war zone. Not with our clothes crumpled on the floor. And definitely not with the memoriesour memoriescrowding in on me from every corner.

Chloe, Ethan says from right behind me, his voice hoarse and aching and ruined. Chloe, Im sorry.

My heartfrozen, fragile, fracturedshatters in my chest, the shards of what remains slicing through me until I am bleeding and broken all over again.

Ethan. His name is torn from me, for all that its little more than a whisper.