Blurb:
‘He
was everything she needs and everything she can never have.’
Meticulous planning sees Ivy half way
across the world, with a new identity. But Blake is no ordinary
ex-husband, he is a corrupt private investigator with links to London’s
underworld.
Eric Prescott, a handsome and successful
property developer knows Ivy is hiding something, and from someone. At first Eric only wants to help, but soon
finds himself falling for this beautiful woman with the haunted eyes. In one
night of explosive passion, Ivy finally gives in. And discovers love, the way it’s meant to be.
Be Warned: bondage
Excerpt:
At precisely
seven o’clock, the intercom sounds, and I press the button allowing access to
the inner building. I cross the room to unlock the latches on the front door,
leaving it slightly ajar.
Dashing back
into my bedroom, I grab my clutch, phone and lip gloss. Quickly, I apply a
light spray of my favorite perfume. When I return to the lounge, the front door
is closed but the room is empty.
The picture on
the wall is now hanging straight.
My heart
gallops irregularly in my chest as I realize I didn’t check that it was Eric
before I pressed the button.
Could Blake be
here?
Breathe. In …
out … in … out. I order myself to calm. The horror of my marriage with Blake
returns in a single, sickening rush. What will he do when he finds me?
“Hello?” I call
out, but my voice is raspy, barely a whisper.
I desperately
hope for Eric’s easygoing greeting to ring out, but there is nothing but
silence. My blood runs cold, and I can’t breathe.
My mobile slips
from my shaking fingers. The thud as it hits the floor startles me out of
shock, and I bend down to retrieve my phone. My lifeline.
Gripping my bag
tightly, I estimate there are ten steps to the door. Silently I take the first
few steps. On my fifth step, a shadow moves to my left, and I bolt the last
distance and fling the door open with enough force that it bounces off the
wall. I run to the elevator instead of the stairs, hoping it will be faster.
I jab
frantically at the button. The screen indicates it has just left the ground
floor.
“Ivy!”
It’s not going
to arrive in time. I bounce up and down on the spot. Do I have time to take the
stairs?
I’ll have to
run past my front door to get there. Can I even run down the stairs in these
shoes? I won’t have time to take them off; they have tiny buckles. Irrational
thoughts flood through my mind, and I imagine myself stumbling and falling down
the stairwell, only to land in a crumpled heap at the bottom.
Hurry up, damn
it. The elevator has reached the second floor. There are six more to go.
Perhaps I
should take the stairs?
“Ivy.” The
voice permeates the fog of panic in my mind. It doesn’t sound like a sword
being drawn out of a scabbard, sending cold shivers down my spine. It sounds
soothing, like a cup of warm chocolate. The voice is calling for Ivy, not
Sarah.
My mind blanks,
and slowly, I turn towards the voice. The elevator rings, signaling its
arrival. I can escape now. I look at Eric’s concerned face and realize there is
no need to run. He puts a bottle of wine and a glass down on the ground just
inside my apartment door and stands in front of me, grasping my shoulders.
“Ivy, are you
okay? What is it?”
I realize how I
must appear, like a wild animal that has just been through the throes of a
chase from a predator. Eric pulls me to him in a powerful crush.
“Jesus, you are
shaking like a leaf.” He runs a hand up and down my back, and I can hear his
heartbeat, strong, calm, and reassuring through his chest.
Relief that
Eric is here and not Blake, hits me with a powerful rush. Pulling away, I try
to stand, but my knees wobble then buckle beneath me. When I hit the cold
floor, I start to cry from the reminder that this is still far from over.
I still live
with extreme fear that Blake will find me. And of what will happen when he
does.
Strong arms
lift me and through my sobs, and I hear the door shut. Finally, I begin to
quiet enough to hear his soft, soothing words murmuring against my hair.
As my strength
begins to return, I wriggle out of his arms. “Did you straighten that picture?”
I demand.
Eric shrugs.
“It was crooked.”
“Well, don’t …
just don’t touch my things, all right?”
“Okay.” His
face falls, and I immediately feel bad. He can’t possibly know that every day
for years I lived with Blake’s obsessive compulsion to have things absolutely
straight, and ordered the way he wanted it, right down to the cutlery in the
drawer and the type of food we kept in the fridge.
I glance
uneasily over to the vertical strip on the kitchen blind, and a shiver rolls
down my spine. I still think I would have noticed it at some point before
tonight. I have been living here for months now.
I can’t shake
an instinctual feeling that he has been here, and it’s what caused my apparent
over-reaction tonight. No matter how hard I try I can’t dislodge the thick and
heavy sense of foreboding that has settled over me.
“Can you tell
me what put that look of terror on your face and caused you to run for your
life just now?”
My eyes take in
the bottle of wine and empty glass on the floor. I realize Eric probably went
straight to the kitchen when he arrived, casually straightening the picture on
his way past. I cringe at how I must appear to him.
“You thought it
was him. You thought he found you.” It wasn’t a question, but I nod anyway, not
trusting myself to speak past the constriction in my throat.
“And the
picture, straightening it is something he would do.”
Once again, I
nod yes, and tears roll silently and unchecked down my cheeks.
“Oh Eric, I am
so sorry.” A huge sob escapes, resounding loudly in the small room. I look away
as embarrassment heats my cheeks.
“Sweet Jesus, what has that bastard done to
you?”
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Author Bio:
One day, she hopes to fulfil her dream
to write full time. In the meantime, she
hopes you enjoy her debut novel,
Desperate. If you follow the scent
of coffee and chocolate, you will find her busy working on the sequel. Desperate: The Price of Freedom.
The first novel of a new series, Sage will be coming in 2015. It’s a steamy romantic suspense with a
paranormal twist.
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