He knew how to swim.
He’d survived fists and kicks and pain.
He has to be alive.
Please, God, let him be alive.
Nothing in this world made sense anymore.
There was nothing keeping me sane. Nothing to fight for. Nothing to understand.
The man holding me murmured French nothings under his breath.
I despised him.
Turning me to face him, he cupped my cheeks with such tenderness, he flayed open my already threadbare heart.
His thumbs soothed my scalding tears; remorse filled his face, kindness replacing the killer in his eyes. Shame and regret almost twin mirrors of Elder’s whenever he’d done something to hurt me.
“Shush, girl,” he whispered. “It will all work out, you’ll see. You’re free now. You’re safe.”
I was ice cold.
I was frozen solid.
I was borderline catatonic with grief.
Shaking my head, I begged him to understand. To save Elder. To fix the damage he’d done. “Don’t you see? I was free. I was safe. I was with him. I love him.” Sobs clogged my throat. “I love him. I love him, and you killed him!”
The man shook his head sadly. “You think you love him, but you don’t. Men like that twist minds. They hurt women and make them believe it’s normal.” His lips pulled back into a feral snarl, terrifying me all over again. “He won’t do that again. You have my word.”
“You don’t understand!” I struck him. I slapped him. I wanted to rake my fingernails over his sinning awful face. “He saved me from that. He wasn’t—”
The other man tapped him on the shoulder. “Q, we’d better go.”
“Tu as raison. Allons-y. We’ll sort her out when we get home. Tess will know what to do.”
“No, I’m not going anywhere with you!”
I had to get to the water.
I had to get to Elder.
“Let me go!”
Something pricked my arm, sending warmth and harsh stinging through my blood.
A needle glinted in the moonlight.
Convulsive vehemence filled me as my eyelids fluttered. “You—you drugged me?”
The man who smelled of lemon and sandalwood smiled sadly. “Je suis désolé. But it’s for your own good.”
Nothing was for my own good.
This was everything against what was good for me.
They’d taken Elder.
They’d taken me.
They’re taking...
My mind skated and slipped as if ice skates were now my foundations and a frozen puddle my brain.
I wobbled, my knees forgetting how to hold me up.
I felt sick.
I felt woozy.
I felt lost.
Cursing him, I collapsed into his arms, dangling in his embrace as my body vanished from my control and a bone-chilling lethargy crept over me.
I cried for Elder.
I cried for me.
I cried for everything we were so close to claiming.
I couldn’t let him do this.
I couldn’t let this stranger steal everything I ever wanted.
He had to have a name.
I had to know him.
So when I woke up, I could curse him and hex him and make him feel a tenth of the despair he’d caused me. “Who...are you?” My ability of speech was waning. “Why are y-you doing this?”
Just before the clouds crept over me, just before the moonlight blotted out on the worst evening of my life, the man cuddled me close, stroked back my hair, and gave me the answer to the question I’d carried for weeks. “My name is Q Mercer, and I’m saving you from the life you were sold into from the QMB. I’ve been hunting the men who bought women and giving them back their life. You’re the last one.” He scooped me into his arms, my ballgown whispering over his arms. “You were the last, but now you’re found. No one is going to hurt you again. Je promets.”
No one will hurt me again? But you are...
This dark avenger who thought he’d rescued me had totally destroyed me.
This was the man who’d accessed my file at the police station.
This was the man hunting me not the Chinmoku.
This was the man I would hate for eternity.
My mind blanked out.
My body disappeared.
I remembered no more.
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Pepper Winters
www.pepperwinters.com
PLAYLIST
Kesha - Learn To Let Go
Rag'N'Bone Man - Human
Rag'N'Bone Man - Skin
Clean Bandit - Symphony feat. Zara Larsson
Sia - To be human
Ed sheeran - Shape of you
Alessia Cara - Stay
Martin Garrix, Troye Sivan - There For You
Shawn Mendes - Mercy
Scars to your beautiful - Alessia Cara
Don't Let Me Down- The Chainsmokers ft. Daya
Rag'N'Bone Man - Life In Her Yet
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
After chasing her dreams to become a full-time writer, Pepper has earned recognition with awards for best Dark Romance, best BDSM Series, and best Hero. She’s an multiple #1 iBooks bestseller, along with #1 in Erotic Romance, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary, and Erotica Thriller. With 20 books currently published, she has hit the bestseller charts twenty-eight times in three years.
Pepper is a Hybrid Author of both Traditional and Self-published work. Her Pure Corruption Series was released by Grand Central, Hachette. She signed with Trident Media and her books have sold in multiple languages and audio around the world.
On a personal note, Pepper has recently returned to horse riding after a sixteen year break and now owns a magnificent black gelding called Sonny. He’s an ex-pacer standardbred who has been retrained into a happy hacking, dressage, and show jumping pony. If she’s not writing, she’s riding.
The other man in her life is her best-friend and hubby who she fell in love with at first sight. He never proposed and they ended up married as part of a bet, but after eleven years and countless adventures and fun, she’s a sucker for romance as she lives the fairy-tale herself.
For more information on Pepper and her work please follow:
Facebook: Peppers Books
Instagram: @Pepperwinters
Facebook Group: Peppers Playgound
Website: www.pepperwinters.com
OTHER WORK BY PEPPER WINTERS
Pepper Winters is a multiple New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today International Bestseller.
All Pepper’s books are available in e-book, paperback, & audio.
DARK ROMANCE
New York Times Bestseller ‘Monsters in the Dark’ Trilogy
“Voted Best Dark Romance, Best Dark Hero, #1 Erotic Romance”
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Tears of Tess (Monsters in the Dark #1) CLICK TO BUY
Multiple New York Times Bestseller ‘Indebted’ Series
“Voted Vintagely Dark & Delicious. A true twist on Romeo & Juliet”
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Debt Inheritance (Indebted #1) CLICK TO BUY
GRAY ROMANCE
USA Today Bestseller ‘Destroyed’ CLICK TO BUY
“Voted Best Tear-Jerker, #1 Romantic Suspense”
SURVIVAL CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
USA Today Bestseller ‘Unseen Messages’ CLICK TO BUY
“Voted Best Epic Survival Romance 2016, Castaway me
ets The Notebook”
MOTORCYCLE CLUB ROMANCE
Multiple USA Today Bestseller ‘Pure Corruption’ Duology
“Sinful & Suspenseful, an Amnesia Tale full of Alphas and Heart”
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Ruin & Rule (Pure Corruption #1) CLICK TO BUY
SINFUL ROMANCE
Multiple USA Today Bestseller ‘Dollar’ Series
“Elder Prest will steal your heart. A captive love-story with salvation at its core.”
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Pennies (Dollar Series #1) CLICK TO BUY
EROTIC ROMANCE
Brand New Release ‘Truth & Lies’ Duet
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Crown of Lies (Truth & Lies #1) CLICK TO BUY
ROMANTIC COMEDY written as TESS HUNTER
#1 Romantic Comedy Bestseller ‘Can’t Touch This’ CLICK TO BUY
“Voted Best Rom Com of 2016. Pets, love, and chemistry.”
UPCOMING RELEASES
For 2017 and beyond titles please CLICK HERE
RELEASE DAY ALERTS, SNEAK PEEKS, & NEWSLETTER
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SOCIAL MEDIA & WEBSITE
Facebook: Peppers Books
Instagram: @Pepperwinters
Facebook Group: Peppers Playgound
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THANK YOU FOR READING!
Pepper Winters, Thousands
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