Imagine you are given two choices. Choice #1 gives you a stable life with little to no uncertainties. You can have a comfortable existence but you may never experience the thrill of falling in love or the satisfaction of taking that leap into the unknown. Choice #2 gives you all the thrills and all the satisfaction but you also have the possibility of heartbreak and failures along the way. Which would you choose? For Aurora Butler, this is the exact crossroads she has come to as she starts her Senior Year at a new school. Her head is telling her one thing but after meeting Owen Marshall, her heart is telling her something entirely different. Choices are made even more difficult as responsibilities take a toll on her and she realizes some choices requires sacrifices she just isn't able to make. Just when she thinks she has it all figured out, bodies of young women who look eerily similar to her start showing up as the town realizes there is a serial killer walking among them, one who has particular tastes when it comes to his next victim. Will Aurora's instincts lead to the right choices or will her choices have deadly consequences? Can she survive to have it all or will she lose everything in the end?
Lihat lebih banyakPROLOGUE
My hands trembled as I searched for the phone. I knew it had to be around here somewhere. She was never without it, always within reach, waiting for that next call. The call that would lead to either the next big hit or the means to an end. My hands felt blindly, frantically through the sheets. Not finding what I needed, in desperation, I ripped them from the bed. I breathed a sign of relief as I heard, no felt a thud on the floor next to me.
I was temporarily deaf. The pounding of my heart fueled the high amounts of adrenaline running through my veins, creating a dull roar in my head, an endless pulsing wave rolling back and forth, blocking out all other sounds around me. My heart beat was strong, albeit a little too loud and unnecessarily quick at the moment.
I scooped the phone off of the floor, my knees buckling as I flipped it over in my hands. Pain ricocheted through my legs as I hit the hardwood on impact, all strength leaving me as I collapsed to the ground. The screen glowed brightly in the dusky darkness of the room. Her background was a picture of me holding Nate, taken the day we had brought him home from the hospital. I became so immersed in the image that I lost all train of thought, feeling the numbness seep in as I stared at the screen, lost to everything else.
A single tear splashing against the glass shook me from my daze. I hurriedly swiped them away from my cheeks and dried the screen against my shirt. I could not show weakness, not now. That little boy needed me and I needed to do whatever necessary to keep him safe and keep us together.
I opened her contacts, fighting the angry flames of betrayal and the bile that rose in my throat as I scrolled past the many disgusting and perverse nicknames in her list of clients and otherwise. If the beer bellied swine on the police department in this godforsaken podunk town really cared about the drugs and the prostitution rings that resulted, confiscating her phone would be on the top of their list of priorities. They could take them all down in one fell swoop. But, of course, it would take an IQ higher than fifty or actually giving a damn about your job to begin with for that to happen so I knew better.
This town was just like all the rest. The police department was long ago bought and paid for by the highest bidder. All paid to look here, not there and don’t do anything to rock the boat. She was just another useless face, a snag in their otherwise picture perfect days. That arrogant prick in the living room would end his day most likely climbing on top of a woman just like her, hooked on the high the drugs promised and willing to sell anything and everything, including herself, to get that next fix.
I cursed as I scrolled, struggling to find the name I needed. Why couldn’t she have just been normal? That’s all I ever wanted. No riches, no luxuries. Just some semblance of normal in our lives. Thinking I could possibly go with “Paycheck”, I scrolled on further, just in case. Coming across “Sperm Donor”, I’m thankful that I did but scoff at her audacity and the pedestal she propped herself upon to think she was any better of a parent that he was in the short time I knew him. If he was “Sperm Donor” she was little more than “Birth Giver”.
I was the one that took care of that little boy since the moment he entered this world, making sure he was fed, clothed and bathed. Walking the floors with him when he was a colicky newborn. Making sure he was at every appointment he needed, including dragging her to the ones that ensured he had formula and everything else a baby needed to survive. Shoving cup after cup of thick, black coffee down her throat to sober her up enough to fake our way through whatever ring of fire the government agencies made us jump through to get the handouts and giveaways. All so Nate could be a happy little boy and never know the pain and heartache I have had to face.
Not that any of that would matter if I couldn’t manage to pull one more miracle out of thin air. The last sixteen months will be for nothing if he won’t take us in and play along. With that in mind, I stabbed at the contact number with a forceful finger and with baited breath and a still shaky hand, brought the phone up to my ear.
After just two rings, he answers.
“Dammit, Janet. I am not doing this with you today! I’m at work and I don’t have any more damn money to send you!”
“Janet’s dead,” is all I manage to croak out before my lower lip wobbles and the dam breaks.
After the longest pause, I hear him take a deep breath and roughly exhale again. “Rory?”
“Yeah.” I clench my eyes tightly shut, trying to stop the tears.
“Where are you?”
I told him where we were staying and heard him curse again. “That’s five hours away. It’ll be dark by the time I get there.”
“Okay, but you are coming, right?”
“Yeah, I’m coming. That’s my kid.”
“There’s one more thing, Phillip.”
“What’s that Aurora?”
“I told them you are my dad, too.”
Silence. Complete silence to the point that I pull the phone away just to make sure we have not been disconnected. He’s still there but he says nothing for what seems like forever.
“Fine. I’ll deal with it when I get there. Anything else I might need to know?”
“No.”
“Be packed and ready to leave. I have work in the morning.”
One by one, photo after photo, the entire football team was introduced. This included first, the Junior Varsity followed by the Varsity team. As much as I loved getting the photographs, I was getting impatient, wanting to finally get a glimpse of Owen. I now understood why the school allowed an entire hour and fifteen minutes for this pep rally. The introductions alone looked to be taking up the first hour. Still, I clicked away. Click, focus and move, click again. Sometimes the players would see me and pose for the camera. Those were shots that would be the money makers, the ones their parents and adoring girlfriends and fangirls would want to purchase.Speaking of fangirls and girlfriends, I managed some amazing shots of Danny when he came out. One in particular that I knew Vanessa would love was of his flexing those massive biceps. I managed to get at least a dozen really good shots of him before the next player was announced and I was forced to move on to them.If these photos tur
I wasn’t even upset as the alarm went off, rolling over to shut it off after seeing Owen still beside me in the bed. The first time we had woken up together. The second I had killed the obnoxious sound, he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back to him and peppered kisses all over my hair and neck until I was nothing but a giggling mess in his arms, begging him to stop so I could breathe.He bit my shoulder playfully before he planted a big kiss on my temple. “I could get used to waking up like this every morning.”“It is kinda nice.” I admitted as I reluctantly pulled myself from his arms and sat up.“Not gonna give me any more snuggle time than that?” Owen asked with a pout in his voice.“I would but where we took our showers last night, I set the alarm a little later than I normally would. It’s seven so we only have an hour to get to school.”“Plenty of time for me.” He answered with a yawn. “Actually, I can sleep another thirty minutes.”“Well, good for you, my love but it
Owen’s love and tenderness didn’t stop in the bedroom. He made sure I was taken care of while we were in the shower, too. He washed my hair, gently massaging my scalp as I stood in his arms. I washed his hair at the same time and there was something so loving, so intimate about it, especially given what we had just shared, that made it feel so special.He lathered up the shower pouf and the smile that crossed his face made me wonder what he was thinking. He must have seen the questioning look on my face as he booped my nose with suds.“The mystery of your peaches and cream scent has been solved.”I giggled and kissed him, sharing the suds back onto the tip of his nose. “I love anything peach scented so my body wash is peach scented but so is my lotion and even my body spray. I hope you like it.”“I love it. Your whole body smells like peaches and you are especially sweet to taste, too.” He replied in a husky whisper that sent a thrilling electric pulse through my body.“Stop that!” I
Aurora POVI thrashed, I moaned, I panted, I gripped the sheets tightly in my hands and I screamed his name as Owen brought me sweet release. My first release was just at the mercy of his skillful mouth and tongue but as he coaxed the next one out of me, he slowly added first one finger and then another, letting me adjust to this slowly as he readied my body for what was soon to come. It was a foreign sensation but nothing unpleasant and given the state of need he had worked my body into, I was begging him to please take me, to make me his and for us to find that bliss, chase that high together.He gets up and grabs another rubber from his wallet along with the towel and I watch as he takes it out and carefully pulls it on, rolling it along his length as he walks back to the bed and climbs between my legs again. He carefully slides the towel underneath me and makes sure I am comfortable. He shifts so that he is closer to me, raised just above me and looking down into my eyes. I see no
Owen POV continuedI wasted no time pulling it off of her and tossing it behind me as my thumb and forefinger created cups encasing both perfect mounds just as the underwire of the bra had just moments ago. I spent a great amount of time in worship of this perfect area of her body, my mouth, tongue and teeth appreciated every supple inch of perfectness that I could touch and taste. Whether it was her natural fragrance, her lotion, her perfume or a combination of all, her flesh and body held a scent that was rich with the smell of peaches and vanilla, a scent that had become my addiction. Everything about her was perfectly delicious and all mine.“Owen, I need you so badly.” She whispered against my ear, having gripped my head in her hands as I treasured and appreciated her amazing perky twins.“Patience, baby.” I murmured against the beating of her heart as I nuzzled my nose in that sacred valley again and planted a soft kiss. “I’ll get you there in just a few minutes but I am a long
Owen POV“I know. That’s why I want it to be you and I want it to be tonight. Make love to me, Owen. Make me yours in every possible way.”I can’t believe what I am hearing as this rush of love, lust and all things her just hits me. My heart is full to busting and at this point, it’s not even about desire or arousal. It’s knowing that I almost lost the most amazing woman in the world and she is not only giving me a second chance but she is wanting to give herself to me completely. She is trusting me with her most precious gift, the one thing she considers to be valuable above all else.I search her face for any signs of doubt, any nervousness at her decision but I find nothing in those large, chocolate eyes but love and trust mixed with desire and sincerity. In this moment, my heart skips a beat and I find it hard to catch my breath as I realize that I not only love this woman but I will do anything to make her happy and want to spend the rest of my life with her. She is everything I
Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.
Komen