I shake my head, going back in, making love to her through a kiss. A sigh creeps from her, and I grudgingly break away, needing to be the brains of this operation. Sparks won’t stop. And if I don’t, she’ll end up getting it in the hallway of this hotel, against that wall over there, in front of Olar and Lana. “Stop it,” I drawl in a voice I know melts her spots. “You’re working on something.”
“I’m not the one who pulled me back.” She narrows her eyes, thinking she doesn’t care. But I know she does.
“Go ahead. I’ll come down there in a minute.” She walks around me. I stay faced the opposite direction of her, resisting the need to watch her and her ass walk away. I can’t get enough of her, no matter how much I take or how much she gives. I can be the entire Earth flooded by the entirety of her, and it still wouldn’t fill me.
“Can you accompany Tracey? We’ll meet you two shortly,” Olar tells Lana. Once the girls are in the elevator and the doors close, I turn back around. “What?”
“Don’t be a bitch about this.” I wait, because Olar may need me to kick his ass today about this shit with his mate. He glares at me as I continue, “Lunis just called me, said I took his prisoner and his sister, so I owe him two and my own.”
Olar’s cheeks rise and squints his eyes. His eyelashes practically touch his eyebrow rings with how tight his face pulls together in bemusement and animosity.
I lean against the wall, waiting for the fight within him to be over.
His hands shake and calms every five seconds. Growling, he punches the wall next to my head, then looks at me with hostility set deep in his face.
“Did that make you feel better?” I look at the hole next to my head and back to him. Pointing to it, I say, “You’re paying for this.”
His next words are slow and malicious, drawling, “I heard what you said, but I can’t understand it.”
“Do you want me to say it again?”
“No!”
I shrug. Personally. . . I don’t give a shit what he wants. I only wanted to let him know. “So Faye, that chick from the lounge. She was right. And once again, I have to go dig us out of this hole of a mess you made.” Probably the last thing he wants to hear, but I needed to say it. Olar’s always piling shit on my plate, and I’m always left eating it. But he’s the only person I can rely on, so I have his back. “I’m not leaving now. Maybe not even in the next couple of months. It’ll probably be after we are settled in the new house. But when I do leave, look out for Sparks.”
“Why go?”
“If I don’t, he’ll get Sparks and my mom. He knows about Ann and her relationship with Roehl, so my back is kind of against the wall.” Literally. I pat the wall behind me. “Thanks again, Olar.”
“And he said she’s his sister.”
“Yep.” I lean from the wall and head down the hall. “We’re leaving for Sparks’ house,” I say, walking through the door of the stairwell.
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”
Proverbs 27:6
Acknowledgments
To all of you readers, bloggers, reviewers, cover and interior designers, group supporters, author supporters, family, friends, agents, and publishers here’s another thank you from me, Felisha Antonette. I’d think thank you would get old, or maybe my mouth would fall off from saying those to words so often and so much. But it doesn’t. Writing these stories is the easy part. It’s when we publish them when things become hard, when they test our patients, when we realize how strong or weak we really are. And I don’t know about a lot of other authors, but if it weren’t from the support I receive from all of you, I’d probably be somewhere, in a corner, rocking back and forth with my arms wrapped around my knees, singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Okay, that’s a little exaggerated. But, you each make it all a lot easier and I’m grateful. So, again, thank you for this!
To you, specifically, who’s still reading. We all find ourselves in some pretty bizarre situations. We make decisions that make absolutely no sense to ourselves or anyone else. And some of that stuff is fine. But. . . What’s not okay is seeing something bad happening and refusing to do something about it. If you see it say it. You can save a life. Believe me.
Love Life’s Loves, FA.
Continue reading for an exclusive excerpt of the blind blowing follow-up to Three Times Torn
Two Times Slain
By: Felisha Antonette
1: Break Bad Habits
“Oh, Tracey. Honey.” Mom grabs me into another hug for the third time in this hour. “I am going to miss you more than everything I love.”
I return her hug, pressing my chin to her shoulder. “Me too, Mom.”
“You can still come with us. We can grab another ticket right now,” she declares, hugging me tighter. Her purse falls to the floor and both hands squeeze me harder.
Her saddened presence bombards me and I want to squeeze her, to feel the tightness in my own hug, but I can’t. I squeeze her tight enough for her, until I hear her oomph.
She attempts to pull away and I can’t bring myself to let her go. “I know, Honey,” she soothes, keeping her arms around me. “I know.”
“Don’t hog her, dear. We only have thirty minutes until the plane leaves and it’s going to take me at least forty-five.” Dad steps to Mom’s side, rubbing her back. His hand bumps and brushes over mine. I grab it, firmly pressing it between my hands as they press against Mom’s back. He wraps in our hug and kisses the top of my head before turning his cheek to rest there.
The tears from my eyes mix in with Mom’s that’s been rolling down my cheek with our faces smashed to each other’s. I inhale, saving Mom’s lavender scented shampoo to memory. “I’m going to miss you both,” I mumble, trying to keep Mom’s hair from being sucked into my mouth. I break out of our hug and wrap my arms around Dad’s lean waist.
He kisses the top of my head again. “Ladybug, you be good. I’ll be making frequent visits here to check on you.”
“Do that, Dad. Whenever you want. Bring Mom with you.”
“We can get you a ticket right now, and instead, you can make frequent visits here.”
I chuckle softly, wanting to let off I acknowledge his humor but that I’m also upset to see them go. “No, I’ll stay. It’s just hard seeing you leave, knowing you won’t be here, around the corner.” It’s easier for me to say goodbye to Dad than it is to depart from Mom. It was hell pulling away from her to hug him. But Dad would complain and draw attention to us from everyone in the airport if I didn’t.
He rubs my back and I step back to look in his face. His red eyes prove he’s fighting back the tears Mom and I had no problem shredding.
The intercom announces, “Gate twenty-two. Now boarding.”
“No,” Mom sings, rocking us in another hug. “Just five more minutes.”
“Just five more minutes,” I utter in her hair, matching her beg. I could leave with my parents, but I don’t want to. I just don’t want them to leave either. Undeniably, I’m going to miss them. Mom especially.
They’d pushed back their move by a month because, honestly, neither of us are ready for this change. But months later, saying goodbye is still as hard.
“Come on, dear, before we miss another flight,” Dad urges, patting Mom’s shoulder. It was his fault they missed the first one. And today’s a repeat of yesterday. Dad couldn’t take the goodbye and wouldn’t stop hugging Nathan and me. Mom was the same, and somehow, when the intercom had announced their flight was boarding, it’d went unheard. When we’d finally ended our hug fest, the passengers had boarded and we were the only group standing at the gate. I had laughed, watching the airplane pull away from the terminal. The four of us had headed back to the empty house and slept in sleeping bags and pallets on the floor. This was the third next available flight out this evening and if they missed it, the next one out wasn’t for a couple of days.
Mom breaks out of our embrace as Nathan’s hand moves comfortably
across my back, filling the empty that was preparing to overtake me.
Mom steps over and hugs him. On their release, Dad pulls him into a manly hug. They pat backs as Dad murmurs his daddy will get you if anything happens to my baby warnings in Nathan’s ear.
“We’re going now, Tracey. Call me when you need anything.” Mom dabs her nose with a tissue. She packed her purse full of them this morning. “Anything, okay?” Her perfectly arched brows almost touch her hairline as she looks upon me as her two-year-old, instead of her adult child.
“Okay, Mom, I will. Promise,” I reply, much like a child.
Dad cuffs his arm around her back, grabbing her shoulder for comfort. “Nathan, look out for my daughter.”
“Of course, James.”
“Gate twenty-two. Now boarding.” The intercom rushes us.
“Okay, you two turn away first, and then it will be easier for me to walk away and get on that plane.” She sniffles, dabbing her mascara smeared tissue under her eyes.
“Come on dear, we’ll be back next month to check on them.” Dad turns her around to walk to the line of people waiting to board the plane. She tries to fight it, turning back to look at me every step.
Nathan and I stand together, watching them board. I wave and blow kisses, trying to keep my tears from falling. Mom smiles, tears streaming down her made-up-face. A part of me feels bad I’m not going with them. But that small part is easily accommodated as a warm hand rubs along my back, soothing my sadness.
The grey doors close, sealing the terminal. I rush to the wall-sized window of the airport, searching the windows of the plane for Mom’s face.
“Twelfth window from the front. She’s waving.”
I spot her and smile, waving back.
Nathan and I stick around until the plane takes off. “That was better than yesterday,” I say, pulling myself away from the cold glass.
“Yes, much better. Your dad only hugged me twice.” Nathan nudges his head to our right, motioning for us to head out.
“He did.”
“That was weird.”
I chuckle. “It was a little.”
“You going to be okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’ll miss them, but I’ll be fine.”
“So, where you want to go?”
Now, we have no place to live but the hotel with the rest of the family. After the house burned down, everyone went to a hotel over an hour away. It was the biggest and nearest place to us to house all the Newcombs. Nathan and I have been sleeping at my parent’s house until today, and with the options limited, we’re pretty much stuck at the hotel. It’s only thirty minutes from the airport but I’d like our bed to sleep in, to be comfortable. Dad was right when he said I’ve never been anywhere, it’s because I hate sleeping in unfamiliar places. I’m not sure what’s in those beds, I’m confined to one room, and I dislike traveling.
“Home,” I answer.
“Two more weeks, Sparks.”
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A Burdened Novel Series
Tracey Warren has her last year of high school mapped out--stay focused, graduate in a few months, and get the hell out of Bennington, Virginia. Everything is working out in her favor. Life has finally started to level out, until a car accident sends her plans spiraling out of her control.
Her pedestrian reality crashes around her after an innocuous encounter with a diabolically handsome stranger. Nathan Newcomb has her head and her world altering minute by minute. Soon, she discovers the only cure for the uneasy feelings and abrasive pain is Nathan himself. A man whose very existence balances between violent chaos and rigidly controlled dangers.
Nathan knows the life of a woman mated to a Burdened Sephlem is destined for peril beyond a human’s reckoning, that he’ll be required to literally hand over his heart to her. But Tracey calls to his desire to experience love in spite of the hazards. And Nathan’s impossibly potent magnetism draws Tracey into a bonding that will put her in mortal danger again and again.
Once the pair becomes one, the threat escalates and nowhere is safe. There are enemies that lurk behind every corner. But the greatest danger may be in the bloodlines that course through Nathan’s veins.
Can their love survive or will their burdened souls surrender and fade away?
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Living for someone has never been this literal. Tracey's fun and free life has taken a nefarious turn. Since releasing her heart to Nathan, the repercussions for choosing to love a Burdened Sephlem have been deadly, daunting, and more dangerous than she ever predicted.
If life only allowed her a moment to breathe, to break away from her tainted father and chaotic friend, the injurious bonding may be easier. But there are sentiments rushing through her veins that is twisting her through a whirlwind of bliss and chaos. And a breath of fresh air only resides in one place. . . Until he's changed. . .
Someone who lives to destroy Tracey's mate, Nathan, has the perfect concoction for tragedy and Tracey is his primary ingredient. Influenced by the sinister intentions of Roehl, Nathan's half-brother, Tracey's outlook on her bond has faltered. She will be required to choose again, and all signs point in the wrong direction; for her and her friend.
Can bonds tied to the soul be broken? Or will a Burdened Sephlem have to bare his soul to keep his mate.
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Coming Soon:
Two Times Slain: A Burdened Novel Book 3
Some Secrets Hold Lies
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Once Time Passed: A Burdened Novel Book 4
Agape. Philos. Eros.
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Time Stolen: A Burdened Novella
A Glen and Scott Spin-off
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Other Books By Felisha Antonette
About The Author
Felisha (Peiri) Antonette writes heart-throbbing young adult and new adult romantic suspense, paranormal, science fiction, and contemporary romance with compelling characters who stick with you long after you turn the last page.
When she's not writing, Anotnette spends time with her beautiful daughter, staying cool in Arizona, considering mountain climbing, and finding a way to get back to her hometown Chicago. With a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Creative Writing, she can pick apart a person's motivations to create a believable character, but she has yet to master time management.
Visit www.felishaantonette.com for more!
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