Auctioned to Him 9_Wait

by Charlotte Byrd

  But when we attend a lavish party in Maine, everything that was going so right, suddenly starts to go wrong. Suddenly, there’s no way out. Or is there? Can our love survive this?

  WARNING: This is a HOT, modern-day, dark erotic romance with a bad boy alpha billionaire for fans of EL James, Kira Blakely, and Pepper Winters. It contains light bondage, NO CHEATING, No Cliffhanger and a Happily Ever After, for now.

  Auctioned to Him 5

  If you haven’t read Auctioned to Him 5: Her Addiction, you can get it for FREE on Kindle Unlimited. Here are the links:

  Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2j9przh

  Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2oz3sHF

  Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/Auctioned-Him-5-Her-Addiction-ebook/dp/B0764F3C7Y/

  About Auctioned To Him 6

  The hotly anticipated 6th book of the Auctioned to Him series continues the sensual saga of Ellie and Aiden.

  “Whenever you’re not around, it’s all I can do to think about you. I crave you…You make me want to be a better man, Ellie.” With these words, the beautiful and damaged Aiden Black asked me to marry him.

  He has made me the happiest woman in the world, even though our life together is far from perfect. My best friend needs justice for what happened to her in Maine and Aiden is now unemployed after his billion dollar company was stolen from him. Will all this turmoil make us stronger or will it just make us fall apart?

  WARNING: This is a HOT, modern-day, dark erotic romance with a bad boy alpha billionaire for fans of EL James. It contains light bondage, NO CHEATING, No Cliffhanger and a Happily Ever After, for now.

  Auctioned to Him 6 also contains free BONUS, steamy, standalone, billionaire romance novels.

  Auctioned to Him 6

  If you haven’t read Auctioned to Him 6: Damage, you can get it for FREE on Kindle Unlimited. Here are the links:

  Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2Awbdih

  Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2CKnJQV

  Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/Auctioned-Him-Damage-Charlotte-Byrd-ebook/dp/B078HDT4BP/

  Auctioned to Him 7

  The hotly anticipated 7th book of the Auctioned to Him series continues the sensual saga of Ellie and Aiden.

  “I’m going to do bad things to you,” I say after a moment. As much as I love her, I also crave her. This trip to the Caribbean is going to be so much more than a trip for us to get to know each other. No, I need to blow off some steam. Way too much shit has happened recently to both of us. And we deserve some time to…get to know each other in another way.

  “Oh, really?” she asks, her eyes twinkling in the starlight. “Like what?”

  “Mr. Black is coming back. With a vengeance.”

  Her body quivers, but she doesn’t budge. I inhale deeply. This is something I’ve been thinking about for quite some time. But other things have come up, gotten in the way. And now, well, the timing couldn’t be better.

  “I need you to sign a contract.”

  “What kind of contract?”

  “A contract that will make you mine.”

  She looks surprised, appalled even. But then a small smile forms at the corner of her lips.

  WARNING: This is a HOT, modern-day, dark erotic romance with a bad boy alpha billionaire for fans of EL James. It contains light bondage, NO CHEATING, No Cliffhanger and a Happily Ever After, for now.

  Auctioned to Him 7

  If you haven’t read Auctioned to Him 7, you can get it for FREE on Kindle Unlimited. Here are the links:

  Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2FxgXfe

  Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2EiMRir

  Auctioned to Him 8

  The hotly anticipated 8th book of the Auctioned to Him series continues the sensual saga of Ellie and Aiden.

  Ellie never wanted a child or a husband. She didn’t spend her childhood dreaming of those things. But when the pregnancy test comes back positive, Ellie has some decisions to make. She loves Aiden, but is she ready to marry him and have a family with him? Especially, since she’s busy adjusting to a surprise visit from her sister and trying to sort out what happened to Caroline?

  WARNING: This is a HOT, modern-day, dark erotic romance with a bad boy alpha billionaire for fans of EL James. It contains light bondage, NO CHEATING, No Cliffhanger and a Happily Ever After, for now.

  Auctioned to Him 8 also contains free BONUS steamy standalone billionaire romance novels.

  Auctioned to Him 9

  The hotly anticipated 9th book of the Auctioned to Him series continues the sensual saga of Ellie and Aiden.

  Attacked and nearly killed, I am still standing. I’m a fighter. A survivor. This baby in my belly is going to have a mother who is much stronger than she ever imagined she could be. But what about Aiden? He has been shot for trying to protect me. He’s lying in a hospital room. Everything is going to be okay, right? But what if it’s not?

  WARNING: This is a HOT, modern-day, dark erotic romance with a bad boy alpha billionaire for fans of EL James. It contains light bondage, NO CHEATING, No Cliffhanger and a Happily Ever After, for now.

  Prologue - Aiden

  When she’s all I dream about…

  I hear her talking. Her voice sweet and sensual, reminding me of home. She’s here. Her presence is undeniable. And yet, she is also far away. Drifting. Fighting to get to me, but being held back by something that’s bigger than both of us.

  I feel her outstretched arms pulling toward me. I try to lift my hand, but it’s all to no avail. I try to lift my hand, but I can’t. It’s like I have something large and incredibly heavy pressing down on my chest, making it impossible for me to move even an inch.

  “Ellie!” I yell on top of my lungs, but don’t hear a single sound come out. I don’t have a voice.

  “Ellie! Ellie!” I try again. But again, nothing comes out. She is yearning for me, tears are running down her face, but she can’t hear me. It’s like we are separated by one of those two-way mirrors in police stations. I can see her, but she can’t see me. I can hear her, but she can’t hear me.

  I don’t want to give up. I don’t have a choice. I lie back down in bed, leaning against the tough hospital pillows, and watch her. Her hair cascades around her shoulders. Her face is puffy with tears. Her eyelashes, waterlogged with droplets, frame her almond-shaped eyes, which are wise beyond their years. She’s holding my hand. Her nails are brittle and bitten down, a sign of nervousness. Hair is falling into her face and I would do anything to get up and push it away. I would give anything to touch her cheek again, press it against mine, and tell her that everything is going to be okay.

  Somewhere in the distance, doctors gather around to discuss me. Tears run down Ellie’s face and she buries it in her hands. One of the doctors, the younger one, puts his hand around her shoulders to comfort her. What did they tell her? Why can’t I hear them? Why can’t I move?

  My mind starts to drift. I try to remember how I got here in the first place. My memory is blurry. I remember only bits and pieces. The flashing lights of the emergency vehicle. The hurrying men and women in uniform who gather around me. All the equipment beeping around me as they put me onto a stretcher and drive off. The bright lights of the operating room. More people milling around. Everyone talking at me, but not to me. Someone saying, “Is that really him? Aiden Black?”

  But earlier than that? What of those memories? There’s Ellie tied to a post on my yacht. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I craved her ever since the first moment that I saw her. There’s Ellie swimming in the turquoise Caribbean waters in her bikini. Her wide hips and gorgeous breasts, like two temples, moving like molasses up and down as she runs toward me. For once, she isn’t wearing a cover-up and covering up every one of her delicious curves.

  There’s walking with Ellie hand in hand through the woods in Maine. The smell of falling leaves drenched in November rain. Her fingers were freezing, looking for warmth in mine. Things changed for us that night. Life came at us at full force and tried to knock us off our course. But it
didn’t.

  What else do I remember? The way her hair smells of lavender, and hope, and summer. When she smiles at me, I know that nothing bad can ever happen and even if it does, we will be okay, no matter what. Like now? Right? She’s not standing far away from me, but I can’t reach her. She’s crying and she can’t stop. She’s choking on her tears. They’re coming faster and faster. She can barely keep up. I want to touch her. Put my arm around her. Tell her that it’s all going to be okay. But there’s a thick curtain separating us. It’s not real; it’s all in my head. Or maybe it’s not. I don’t really know.

  “Ellie!” I try again. “Ellie!”

  I yell her name over and over until my throat is parched and dry. But she can’t hear me. No one can. I’m all alone. Unreachable.

  Chapter 1 - Ellie

  When everything’s not okay…

  Everything is supposed to be okay. Blake is gone and I’m okay. Badly shaken and somewhat hurt, but not really with any scars that will last too long. And yet, everything is wrong. Aiden is here, alive, but not really. I see him lying in the hospital bed and he’s not really present. He’s breathing. It looks like he’s sleeping, but he is far away from me. The doctors don’t know what’s wrong. They have put him into a medically-induced coma. They are debating as to when they should take him out. The older doctor thinks that the sooner they take him out, the better. The younger ones aren’t so sure. They think his body needs time to rest. Recover. None of them know what he will be like when they eventually take him out. I can see fear in their eyes. They aren’t saying it, but they are huddling around, whispering. They don’t want to tell me the truth. My heart is sinking. I wait and wait and as more and more time passes, the less hope I have.

  “Everything’s going to be okay now, honey,” I whisper with tears running down my face. I’m holding his hand. I can feel him here with me. His body is frail. His face is alabaster white. His long eyelashes and hair have lost their luster. His skin is dry in patches and I apply moisturizer, but it doesn’t do much. The harshness of the hospital lights makes everything worse. More bleak.

  I tell Aiden that everything’s going to be okay over and over again until I believe it myself.

  “Ellie.” Brie comes over and puts her hand on mine. I look up at her.

  “You’ve been sitting here all day. Maybe you should get out. Get some fresh air.”

  I shrug. Maybe, but that’s not exactly what I want to do. I shake my head.

  “No, I can’t. I want to stay here. With him.”

  “I know you do, but he’s…asleep.”

  That’s an unusual turn of phrase. Neither of us wants to say that Aiden is in a coma. It sounds so medical. So surreal. Unreal. Like something that only happens in fictional stories. This is real life. Real people don’t go into comas, right? They aren’t put into comas, right? Wrong. Of course.

  I look at Aiden. He looks tired and worn out and asleep. But then…a movement!

  “Oh my God!” I say, grabbing Brie’s hand. “Oh my God! He’s moving!”

  I press the call button on his bed. “He’s moving, Brie! He’s moving!”

  Brie leans over me. We both watch his face. His eyes are moving under his eyelids. His fingers give mine a squeeze. One squeeze. Then another and another.

  “Aiden, Aiden. Can you hear me?” I whisper, wiping the tears running down the outside of my cheek.

  “You’re going to be okay, honey. I’m here for you.” I press the call button over and over again. “Where’s the nurse? Why isn’t she coming?”

  “I’m going to go find one,” Brie says, running out of the room. When she returns a few minutes later, she brings not only the nurse, but also two students and one of Aiden’s younger doctors. Dr. Briggs.

  I move out of the way as they hover around Aiden’s bed. They take his vitals and check the equipment.

  “What’s happening?” I ask eagerly. My heartbeat is going so fast, it feels like my heart is about to burst out of my chest. I clench my fists in anticipation. The jagged edges of my nails dig into the palms of my hands.

  “I’m sorry, Ellie,” Dr. Briggs says after a moment with a sullen expression on her face. She’s not meeting my gaze, casting her eyes at the floor instead. “What you saw there is something that is pretty common in coma patients. They look like they’re waking up, but in fact it’s just an involuntary reaction. They are alive and their neurons are just firing, making them have these movements.”

  “No, no, no.” I shake my head. More tears flow down my face, only these are tears of anger and sadness instead of hope. Brie wraps her arms around me. Dr. Briggs continues to talk, to explain more and more about Aiden’s condition. But she’s not so much talking to me as to the nurse and the students. I can’t bear to listen. I bury my head in Brie’s arms and cry.

  When I finally come up for air, everyone is gone. It’s just Brie, Aiden, and me once again.

  “I’m going to get some coffee,” she says. “Are you going to be okay?”

  I nod and ask her to bring me a cup of hot tea.

  “I love you, Aiden,” I say when we are all alone. “I’m going to be here no matter what. Until you come out of this coma.”

  His eyelids move again, giving me only a glimmer of hope. At least, he’s still alive. At least, he’s still there.

  “Come back to me, Aiden,” I whisper. “Come back to me.”

  ***

  Hours pass and darkness falls. I don’t even bother looking at the time anymore. Brie goes home, but I stay. I pull the chair closer to Aiden’s bed and recline. It technically unfolds into something resembling a couch, but I don’t have the energy to deal with it. Instead, I curl up and watch something stupid on my phone. When my eyes grow tired, I put on an audiobook. Outlander. The narrator’s soothing voice with the beautiful English accent lulls me into a state of serenity. The faraway land with all of its foreign conventions and old fashioned traditions allows me to drift away, escape from reality.

  I see him. His cocky grin. His unforgiving eyes. He’s trying to grab for my knife. He’s overpowering me. He’s stronger than I am; I feel my life slipping away. Everything flashes before my eyes. My parents playing with me in a baby pool. Walking down the aisle at my mom’s wedding. Visiting my dad at his house and watching game shows silently in the dark. Standing before everyone at the auction. Feeling Aiden’s gaze on me. Feeling his warm body next to mine. Watching him reach the heights of ecstasy as he plunges deep inside of me. Then, there’s Blake again. He’s on top of me, overpowering me. I kick his gun away. He slams my hand onto the counter. Shooting pains run up and down my arm. And then, he wraps his strong hands around my neck. Choking me. I can’t breathe. My arms flail around, looking for a way out. Darkness is descending and all I see is Aiden before me, asking me to marry him.

  No, no, no, I hear myself yelling. Light is disappearing around me, but I have to fight on. I have to prevail. My breaths are becoming more arduous. I keep trying to inhale but no air gets in. I’m wheezing as Blake’s hands get a firmer grip around my throat. My eyes start to feel like they’re about to bulge out of my head. Everything starts to feel fuzzy and far away. My life is slowly draining out of me. But my fingers continue their search. There has to be a way out of this. Finally, I stumble upon a possibility. Something smooth, but hard, also long. I wrap the fingers of my right hand firmly around the object and, with one swift motion, bring it up to his face. I plunge it into his neck. Warm blood rushes out, covering my face. And finally, his strong grip around my neck relaxes. But I don’t give up. I don’t have another chance. I wrap my fingers even tighter around the object. It’s slippery now and I feel like I’m about to lose it. This time around, I plunge it even deeper. Blood splatters everywhere and he falls to the floor. Gasping for breath, I wake up.

  Chapter 2 - Ellie

  When she shows up…

  Two days later, nothing much is different. The doctors come around, check on his progress, note that he’s not really making any, and leav
e. Nurses and nursing assistants come around to check on his vitals and write down what the printouts from all the beeping monitors say. Brie stays with me until she gets bored and then wanders around the hallways looking for something to do. But I stay put. I don’t really know what else to do. I don’t want to go home. It’s still a crime scene. And I’m afraid of being there. I can’t go to my mom’s house. It’s too far and too sad. So, instead, I park myself in his room and wait. And wait. And then I wait some more.

  A detective comes to speak to me about what happened with Blake. He listens, scribbles notes down in his little book, then comes back later that day with more questions. The neighbors corroborate my story. So far, they are not interested in pressing charges. But they will be doing more investigating.

  “You can go back home,” he says when he’s about to leave. “It’s no longer an active crime scene.”

  I nod as if any of that makes sense. My home - an active crime scene. I don’t want to go back, so Brie goes alone. She comes back with my laptop, a notebook, and some clothes. I look through the stuff she had brought. There’s a pair of jeans, but that seems to be too ambitious of an undertaking. Luckily, there are also two pairs of yoga pants and some loose-fitting t-shirts and a hoodie. Perfect. I won’t need anything else. Except maybe some makeup so I don’t look like I’m half-dead. That’s a bad joke to make in a hospital. I know that. So, I keep it to myself.