Publication date: October 27th 2015
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult
Synopsis:
Broken…
Shattered…
How can you begin to live again when you’ve already been forced to…die?
Evangelina Ricci is trapped in a world that’s a never-ending nightmare, a constant ache in which consumes her every breath. Unable to bear the torture any longer, she does the one thing she can to take back control.
Run.
With her best friend Jace in tow, Evangelina attempts to escape her darkened past by leaving for college and diving head first into an aggressive schedule, determined with everything she is to make a name for herself. There’s only one problem—she can’t run away from the demons she struggles with. The demons that’ll forever be there, locked inside, battering her soul. Hiding behind a flawless façade, Evangelina faces her ghosts until her world is turned upside down, invaded by…him.
Blake Turner. Sweet, witty, flirtatious and drop-dead gorgeous, he finds Evangelina at every turn. Scared he’ll uncover the truth she keeps so well guarded, Evangelina tries her best to put on her act, deterring him like she has so many times before—only this guy’s different. He’s relentless. Utterly, absolutely and completely relentless. He sees her and he wants her and won’t stop until she’s his.
Will Evangelina succeed in pushing Blake away? Or will he break down her walls and be the person to make her realize life is worth living?
Short:
(350 words)
I drew my knees into my chest and began to sing. In
hysterics, my fingernails gouged holes in the flesh on my shins. The words
barely made it past my lips as salty tears invaded my mouth. Right here, I
wanted to forget the person who did this to me, who made me this way.
You were only waiting for this moment to be free.
God help me. I couldn’t do this anymore. I just wanted to
end it. That would be the only way to make it better. Free myself of the agony.
Living this way just wasn’t worth it anymore. I might as well finish myself off
all at once instead of shutting down one cell at a time.
I ripped the portals of torment from my ears and threw them down in
disgust. “Please, God. Give me a sign. Something. Anything. What am I
supposed to do?” I
shivered, a weeping lump of flesh.
The silence around me was deafening. The only sound was the sporadic hitch of
air that came from your chest after a good bout of hysterics.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Hitch.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Hitch. Hitch.
Frantically wiping up and down my face, I dragged myself off the lounge chair.
Going to the perimeter of the roof, I peered down, wondering what it would feel
like to free fall to the bottom. Take hold of my fate and say fuck it.
Break these chains and finally be free.
I pulled myself up and over the cold cement rail and settled
my back against it. Holding on, I stared down at the tiny cars as I inched up
on my tippy toes and leaned forward. Maybe I could fly like a
blackbird. Dragging my bottom lip between my teeth, I creeped further,
teetering on the edge. My stomach lurched, and I swallowed hard.
Pussy.
Another breath and I pushed back, unable to go through with it. That prick
wasn’t worth ending my life over. He’d already taken too much of me; I couldn’t
allow him that as well.
You were only waiting for this moment to be free.
Long: (1400
words)
By the time we reached the hallway in my building, all
awkwardness was gone and we were laughing and joking.
“Thanks for the help. If I fail another test, I’m gonna kill myself.”
He rolled his eyes. “Oh please, you’re such a drama queen.”
“Am not!” I
swatted at him playfully, but he skillfully dodged me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed a ginormous, skeevy monster dash out
from under a door. With its beady eyes and giant wings, it was raging at me,
fists flying.
“Ah! Oh my God!” I
yelped. Before I could think better of it, I jumped up and wrapped my legs
around Blake’s waist, nearly strangling him with my arms. “Kill it, kill
it, kill it!”
He secured me by my waist and spun around. In every attempt to keep my eyes on
the ferocious beast, my head flew to the right and left as he swirled and
whirled, trying to see past me to the ground.
“Calm
down, it’s only a water bug, sissy girl,” he said through his laughs.
I didn’t care. “Come on! Get it!” I screamed.
He twisted, maneuvering me on his hips, stomping his foot, trying to extinguish
the hideous demon. I shrieked into his chest. My body was jolted and shaken,
flying from side to side as Blake danced a jig, thrashing madly.
As the pounding died down, awareness prickled up my body. I suddenly realized
the severity of what I’d done. My face was buried in the soft hardness of his
chest, feeling his heart beat against my cheek with each rise and fall. My nose
taking in the scent that was just…Blake. My hands were buried in the hair at
the back of his head, and my legs securely wrapped around his…
Oh
my God!
I could feel his appreciation of me
spearing me in my girl parts. The skirt I’d decided to wear did nothing to
create a shield against his prodding tip. It tantalized me, teasing me, begging
to be set free and touch me without any barriers. Of its own free will, my body
opened up to him, welcoming him. Telling him to come inside and take a seat,
stay for a cup of tea. The feeling was so strong, I was nervous I’d leave
evidence of my own appreciation on his clothes through my thin undergarments.
Feeling him nuzzle his nose on the top of my head, all movement ceased, other
than his chest still heaving from exertion. At least, I thought it was still
exertion.
My voice was muffled in the peaks of his chest. “Is it dead?”
“Yes, you’re safe.” He
smoothed his hand down the length of my hair, keeping me tightly clasped with
the other.
I lifted my head, then immediately regretted it. Our faces were so close, I
could see flecks of white mingled into his blue eyes. They flicked to my lips
and he took a deep, long swallow, then his gaze moved back to my eyes, seeking
approval. The tension in the air was massive, the pull to each other fierce. It
would be so easy to give in to what we both knew we wanted, what we craved. My stubbornness
was the only obstacle.
Abruptly, I wiggled and unhinged my legs, signaling he should set me free, but
his grip tightened, preventing me from hopping off. The corner of his mouth
raised and he slid me down excruciatingly slow, my body pinned to the front of
his, dragging down his length, feeling every—every—bit of his…length.
Fuck.
As I traveled down, his hands traveled up, feeling each
curve of my body, and coming to rest on my shoulders. I swallowed hard and
realized my hands were still rooted deep into his hair. That as much as I was
trying to tell my body to relinquish him, it was grasping at straws, defying
me.
I uncurled my fingers, one at a time and dropped my hands to my sides, willing
him to do the same. Realizing this would not be the time, a look of
disappointment came over him. He dropped his arms but didn’t back away.
“See. Drama queen.” His
voice was gentle now.
I smiled weakly. “Shut up.”
“Shut me up.” Typically
his eyes were wicked when he said things like that, but right now they were
devoid of any humor. Longing and desire replaced his usual snarky confidence.
Seeing another notch in my already strained resolve break away, he moved
closer, closing the small gap that remained between us. “Shut me up,
Angel.” He
brushed the pad of his thumb over my lower lip. “I dare you.”
My body was in flames. It took everything I had not to jump back into his arms
and burrow into his pores. But I couldn’t do that to him; he was too
important. I looked at him, trying to think of a witty response, but came up
empty.
In truth, that was all I really wanted to do anyway. Catch
his bottom lip between my teeth and slide my tongue over his. Learn the curves
of his mouth from the inside out.
“It’s impossible to shut you up. I learned that already.” It was a struggle to get the words out
when I could smell the mint on his breath. His proximity made the hairs on my
entire body stand at attention, and they all seemed to be bending toward his
electric current.
“Try me.” He
hooked his hands underneath my arms and slowly lifted me back up effortlessly
so we were eye level again. “Wrap your legs around me.”
I did as he said.
My body was aching to please him. To feel him. To surround
him and be consumed by him.
He kept one arm securely fastened around my waist and buried
the other in my hair before bringing his nose to the sensitive flesh beneath my
ear. “God, you feel so good wrapped around me. You were meant to be where
you are right now. Do you feel that?” He pressed his chest tightly against mine, and our hearts
beat against each others in rhythmic thumps. Aching to get to one another and
finally mesh into their other half.
I licked my lips and nodded. I couldn’t deny it.
His gorgeous blues followed the trail of my tongue. “You kill me when you
do that.” He
brought the pad of his thumb to the glistening trail, yearning in his eyes.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t ever be sorry to me. You have nothing to be sorry for. But I do suggest
you refrain from any gestures involving this mouth.” He tugged at my bottom lip while
staring at me with a fierce, carnal longing to claim me once and for all.
He saw the desperate look in my eyes, the shattering of my resolve. The aching
desire and need coiling and twisting like a wicked little tornado. “Tell
me it’s okay, Angel. Tell me what you want me to do. That you want this as
badly as I do.”
“I can’t,” I
panted out my words in forced gasps, my eyes watering under the pressure of
trying to keep it contained.
“Why not? Tell me why not. What’re you doing to us?”
I cupped the side of his face. “You’re a beautiful soul, Blake. I don’t
want to ruin that. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. You’re too good for
me. I don’t want you to feel the anguish I go through every day. It isn’t right
to drag you into that.” I
blinked as the tears swelled over my bottom lids and trailed down my cheeks.
“It’s too late. I’m already there, baby. Can’t you see that? I’m not scared,
and I’m not running. I’m right there along with you, whether you want me to be
or not. When you hurt, I hurt. You reside right here.” He took the hand still blanketing his
cheek and placed it to the center of his chest, each pulse reaching out to
touch me.
“You’ve
taken up permanent residency. Give it to me. Let me take it away from you.
Protect you. Be with me and I swear, you won’t hurt anymore.”
His words wrapped around my heart and clenched. Helping it beat in its weakened
state. I wanted so badly to believe I could do this. To believe it would be
okay. That I wouldn’t destroy him.
“Just be sure when this happens, you’re ready because you’ll be mine from that
moment forward. I don’t intend on letting you go—ever.” He slid one finger under my chin and
lifted my tear-stained gaze to his. “Be with me, Angel. Be mine. Be my
forever.”
My insides shook violently. My whole body went numb, both unfeeling and feeling
everything at the same time. All I had to do was say yes.
Three little letters.
One word.
Yes.
Excerpt 3 (840 words)
Staring at my booklet, I was oblivious to the fact he’d
inched closer to me during our testing session.
His warm breath at the soft spot below my ear made my belly clench. He pressed
his chest against my side and pointed to the page in front of me. “Also,
see right here where you keep using the same words over and over? That’s called
an echo. You need to find other words and substitute them. It’ll flow better
and be easier to read,” he
whispered, burrowing his nose into my hair.
My head tilted into him, his pull on me as magnetic as ever. I swallowed long
and hard, willing my lungs to cease their need for oxygen so I didn’t have to
breathe in his intoxicating scent. “You’re in my personal space.” Damn my voice for sounding so shaky.
He brushed his nose down the side of my neck. “I just wanted to be sure
not to disturb anyone else. We are in a library, after all.”
“I can assure you, you don’t have to be that close in order for them not to
hear you.”
He chuckled, the sound deep and sensual. “True, but it was a good excuse
to get close to you for as long as I could get away with it.” He dragged his lips up the length of my
neck and nipped my earlobe.
I gasped. “What’re you doing?”
“It’s Tuesday.” He
smiled and chomped down on his jaw, reminding me of when we’d first met and
that he too bites on Tuesdays.
Although my body was reeling, I covered it up with a burst of laughter, then
quickly stifled it under my palm. “Remind me to steer clear of you on
Tuesdays then. Sheesh. I didn’t know I needed to take you seriously if I didn’t
want to become your next meal.”
He leaned dangerously close, forcing me to bend back so far in my chair the top
of it bit into my shoulder blades. “Angel, I would make you the appetizer,
main course and dessert if you’d let me. You have no idea what
my mouth is capable of. I would devour you inch by delicious fucking inch, and
lick my fingers clean afterwards.”
I was wordless, unable to form a coherent thought. Even here, in a library, he
had my heart pounding and my hormones raging. I itched to plunge my fingers
into his hair and pull his mouth to mine. This attraction was all-consuming and
it was becoming harder and harder to say no.
“You just let me know when you’re ready.” His eyes flicked to my lips, and my cheeks turned to flames.
“Why do you do this to me?” My voice gave away my weakness.
His serious gaze never faltered. He almost looked pained and the sincerity in
his words shocked me. “I need you to know how I feel, Angel. I’ll try
every chance I get to convince you you’re made for me. No regrets. I’ve never
felt this way about anyone before, and I can’t just ignore it. Whether you
admit it or not, I can tell you’re drawn to me, too. You just keep fighting
it.” He
moved closer still, pinning me to the pressed wood at my back. “Give into
it, to this.” He
brushed his fingertips along my jaw and my eyes fluttered closed.
I took a fortifying inhale but didn’t move from his touch. “Why don’t you
stop? You’re relentless.”
“I
can’t, I told you. As long as you’ll have me around, I’ll never stop. Not until
you're mine. You should just accept that you want me already so we can move on
from here.” With
a confident smirk, he ghosted his fingers down my arm and squeezed my hip.
How did he always get the upper hand? I swallowed hard and my voice came out in
a barely audible whisper, “You forget I have a—”
“Boyfriend?” He
scoffed. “Yeah, I’ve heard. You forget, I don’t really
care. Let me ask you this, where is he, Evangelina? Not a very worthy adversary
if you ask me. How can he go weeks on end without seeing you? Hell, I can
barely stay away from you now. I’d rather not hear about your poor excuse for a
man anymore. You need a real man.” He snaked his hand through the hair at the nape of my neck
and inched me close. “One who’s right here. Flesh and blood. Who can take
care of you.” He
dragged his knuckles along my cheek and scraped his thumb across my bottom lip.
Lost in the weight of his eyes, and the possessiveness of his touch, I fought
to tear my gaze from his. Looking down in my lap, I toyed with a thread hanging
from my shirt. “I told you … He’s away.”
His focus darted from my pouted lip up to my eyes as he analyzed me. A
disbelieving humph escaped his lips. Then he backed away,
taking his heat with him, and didn’t say anything more.
Purchase:
AUTHOR BIO:
Celeste Grande grew up loving words. From an early age, it was easy for her to open her heart through pen and paper and come away with something poetic. She never thought anything more than releasing her emotions would come of it though. A workaholic that can’t keep still, in her ‘real’ life, she’s a Certified Public Accountant who dreams of writing sexybooks all day long. When she isn’t working, she’s reading, writing, mommying and being a wifey to the love of her life.
She lives in New York, still putting pen to paper and anxiously awaiting the debut of her first novel, Live Me, a new adult romance, in October of 2015.
She lives in New York, still putting pen to paper and anxiously awaiting the debut of her first novel, Live Me, a new adult romance, in October of 2015.
Author links:
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