Nora Roberts Year One Series Novels & Stories

Nora’s POV “Do not move. Do not make a sound.” Marcus Hale’s voice stayed low and absolute against the back of my neck. His cock remained buried to the hilt inside me. My palms stayed flat on the polished conference table. The master key had already turned. The door handle began to move. City lights still glittered through the glass walls, throwing our joined reflection across every dark panel. I was Nora Blake, twenty-seven, the associate who had spent two nights learning exactly how little control she still owned on this floor. The thin fabric of my skirt sat bunched around my waist. My bare cunt clenched once around him in pure fear and he answered with a single warning press of his finge

"I said panicking. Yes, Adya started working earlier than me as I was not in the right state of mind back then. The dreadful incident happened to me when I was in my final year. So I took a break for a year. "Sir why do they want this? First, they preponed the meeting, and now this demand?" Adya asked.

She was no doubt in love with Eden Cross. She didn’t say it out loud. She just thought it, quietly, in the dark of her room, and then sat with it the way you sit with something broken, not panicking, not moving, just understanding the shape of the damage. Because that was the other part. The part that made the first part worse. The contract. One year. She had always known the terms. She had signed them. She had been sensible and clear-eyed and completely certain she understood what she was walking into. She just hadn’t known she would feel like this when the knowing actually mattered.

He stated handing them a sheet of paper and pointing to their destination on the map. “Team one is the only seven man team so the rest of you lucky guys and gals get to be responsible for the newbies, one per team.” He pointed to the wall where I knew that the five newbies were waiting for their orders. I don't know what the hell was wrong with me but I actually kind of hoped my team was assigned Clara. It was weird, unexplainable, She had drove me up the wall for the last three years but all of a sudden I was interested. There was a lot more to her than meets the eye. And I swear I actually got a boner watching her during her graduation fight. The girl could move. It was fucking confusing.

Four months later . . . Matt Kirby worked on next year’s budget when someone knocked on the glass of his office door. “Come in.” The door opened. It was Mindy Pandock. She had golden blonde hair and the biggest smile in town. “Hi, Sheriff, I hope I’m not disturbing you. Deputy Williamson said it was okay for me to come on back.”

Her mother, by the wall, had the expression of someone who had feared a specific thing for thirty years and was now having it confirmed in a room with enough other people in it that she was not going to fall apart. "The one year," Claire said. "On the nursery wall. That wasn't about you." "No," Mara-Lena said. "I left the ONE YEAR message. But I was not the only one who left a message that night." She looked at Claire. "The second message — the smaller letters, the shakier hand — that was not mine. I do not know who left it. But its content was accurate." She paused. "One year until the cold ones complete their approach. That timing was set the night Nora was born. We have—"

I hadn't. But it didn't matter. This wasn't a fairytale. I didn't want her worry or her pity. I wanted her to be a silent partner until the contract hit the one-year mark. "Is that it?" I took a predatory step toward her, my jaw tight. "You want to know why I bought a year of your life? Is that what is keeping you awake?" She nodded, swallowing so hard I could hear the click in her throat. I turned and dropped onto the sofa across from her. I crossed one leg over the other, trying to look relaxed while my blood was still simmering. Fine. She wanted the truth? I’d give her enough to shut her up.

I nodded in defeatedly and walked past him. I know that he followed me because I can hear his footsteps and I can see in his eyes that he was expecting something violent from me. "Hey! What was that for?" he suddenly yelled. I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face him, "you'll see," I smiled at him before leaving him alone. As I close the door behind me, there’s only one person who I want to see and It’s Nate. Nate is like the mom and dad of our circle. He understands each one of us and he is not taking sides yet he gives us advice on what’s right or wrong.

“Just give me one year. One more year, and you can have everything, Ray.” My voice broke on his name. This place wasn’t just an office. It was where everything started. I was nineteen when I first walked into this space, back when working from home no longer made sense. This was where my career took shape. Where I grew into myself, and him, Ray had been part of all of it. The first flowers he ever got me were delivered here. I could still remember the way he stood awkwardly by the door, pretending it wasn’t a big deal, while I couldn’t stop smiling.

I stuffed the last piece of clothing into the suitcase and snapped it shut, then I looked around the apartment. Having lived here for five years, my presence was everywhere, from the paintings on the walls to the throw pillows on the couch and the plants on the balcony. Now, those very details felt like a cruel joke. I wheeled my suitcase toward the living room and paused to look at the calendar. New Year’s Day was tomorrow. A fresh start and a brand-new year. Without hesitation, I reached for my phone and reserved a seat on the first high-speed train heading to Cedar Hollow, my hometown.