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𝘼𝙨𝙝𝙡𝙚𝙮
𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩? 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘹 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.
𝘈 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦. 𝘏𝘦’𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘵.
𝘏𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯.
𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘺.
𝘾𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙠
𝘈𝘴𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘪𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘍𝘢𝘦.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬.
𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘈𝘴𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦.
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵.
𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧'𝙨 𝙉𝙤𝙩𝙚: 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 & 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘏𝘐𝘎𝘏𝘓𝘠 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳!!
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴.
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“Look,” I said more softly. “This shouldn’t be so hard. You and me … we’re like gasoline and an open flame. I really appreciate what you did earlier today, but maybe it’s best if Lochlan finds someone else to work with me.”
Casek infiltrated my personal space, a roaring inferno of pissed off energy looming over me. “I told you once, and I won’t say it again. Don’t you fucking go near any of my brothers.”
“You said you didn’t want me to feed from them. That’s not the same as training,” I argued.
“The hell it isn’t.”
I stomped my foot, so frustrated I was seconds from devolving into a childish tantrum. “You are freaking impossible.” Why limit who I could work with if he was just going to avoid me and make things difficult? Was this some kind of twisted game to him?
Casek’s hand clamped around my neck, his fingers at the back and thumb lifting my chin to bring my gaze to his. “I’m not impossible. I’ve lost my fucking mind, and it’s your goddamn fault.”
He stared so intently into my eyes that I swore he could see down to the very depths of my soul. While we waged a silent battle, his lips mouthed silent words, and heat seared the back of my neck. I yanked away from him when the feeling tinged on painful, unsure what had happened.
Panic engulfed me.
Had my magic responded to him? Was it trying to infiltrate his memories again? Why had it hurt so much?
I placed my hand over the heated skin and peered at him warily. “What was that?”
He only lifted his chin defiantly, making me reconsider my assumptions.
Why the fuck did he look so smug?
I rushed to the gym mirror and lifted my hair but was unable to see the back of my neck. “What the hell did you do?”
“I solved a problem—looking out for myself, remember?”
I grabbed my phone and took a photo of the back of my neck. When I saw what he’d done, words escaped me. My lips parted with wordless huffs of breath. “You … you…” I brought my incredulous stare back to him. “You fucking marked me?”
What looked like a letter in a foreign alphabet was now scrolled in black on the back of my neck. I was speechless. Bewildered and mystified. What could have possibly possessed him to do such a thing?
“Essentially,” he said casually. “Now there’s no confusion.”
Was he serious? I was nothing but a blurry swarm of confusion.
“No confusion about what?” I gaped.
His answering smirk was dipped in venomous delight.
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Read the First Chapter HERE!
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Jill is a Texan, born and raised. She manages the hectic social calendars for her three active children and occasionally spends an evening with her dashing husband. Aside from being an author and a mom, she's a travel junkie and loves to read when she is not lost in her own stories.
With Jill’s books, you can count on confident heroines, plenty of steamy tension, and deliciously assertive leading men. There are no guarantees in life, but with her books, you know everything will work out in the end. However, a perfect ending would not be nearly as satisfying without a seemingly insurmountable challenge. Jill loves to add plenty of adversity in her stories, creating unforgettably dynamic characters and sneaky plot twists you will never see coming.
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