Birthright

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Birthright Page 44

by Shay Savage


  Offside

  I have to be the best. I am the best. I’m quick. I’m strong. I’m smart. I’m the star keeper of my high school soccer team, and I’ve got major leagues scouting me. As their captain, my teammates will do anything I say—on or off the field. Girls practically beg to be added to my list of conquests. As long as I manage to go pro for the best team in the world, I won’t have to worry about my father’s wrath.

  I’m Thomas Malone, and I’ve seen to it that the world revolves around me.

  There’s a new girl at school, and it’s just a matter of time before she gives in to my charm. This one’s just a little more stubborn than most—she won’t even tell me her name! She’s smart, too. Maybe too smart. I can’t let her in. I can’t let anybody in. I’m not too worried, but even I have to admit she’s interfering with my focus on the goal.

  Dad’s not going to be happy about that.

  Did I mention I love Shakespeare? Yeah, I know. I’m a walking contradiction. According to the Bard—“some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Somehow, I got all three.

  Now how is anyone supposed to live up to that?

  Alarm

  Safe and comfortable. That about sums up Chloe’s life. Meeting a tall, dark stranger covered in tattoos is not in her plans. Bad boys just aren’t her type—even if they are gorgeous and built like a brick wall. Her internal alarms warn her that Aiden Hunter is definitely on the list of men her mother told her to avoid, but she doesn’t listen. Instead, she finds herself drawn to Aiden and the excitement he promises.

  Near the beach in Miami, he occupies her days with thrills and her nights with passion she’s never experienced before. She knows he’s hiding something from her, but Chloe pushes away her concerns and embraces this new way of living.

  As Aiden teaches her to live life to the fullest, Chloe battles the internal warnings that tell her to be wary. By the time she realizes her fears may be justified, it’s too late.

  Aiden’s past is catching up to him, but is he the hunter or the hunted?

  Commodity

  A woman hunted by human traffickers.

  A hot and dangerous bodyguard.

  Utter destruction.

  The end of civilization.

  The beginning of a new form of currency.

  Women are now the highest COMMODITY.

  Specimen

  I awaken in a laboratory.

  I don’t know who I am.

  I’m inexplicably drawn to the doctor who cares for me. She tells me I’ve been altered, that I’m stronger and faster, that I’ll be a key component in a war that has all humanity at stake. She says I volunteered for this. She says I volunteered to be transformed, but I have no way of knowing if what she says is true.

  Something isn’t right. My memories have been taken, wiped clean, but dreams begin to slip into my conscious mind. I can’t let anyone know when that happens, or they’ll remove my memories again. Somewhere inside of me, I know I need to remember something important.

  I’m fighting a war I don’t understand, and the one woman I rely on can’t be trusted.

  Judging Books

  The debutante path is a fairly straight track: who you are, who you associate with, and whose label you are wearing become priorities. They define you. They are the aspects by which you are judged.

  Ashlyn’s world has been one of enlightenment and finesse, and now she is ready to take on the financial world at her father’s company just as he had always planned. Her future had been scripted long ago, but a chance meeting with a beautiful boy on a bicycle gives Ashlyn a new outlook on life.

  Ethan is far too young, far too tattooed, far too pierced—just far too everything—to ever fit into her world. He has issues, too—major ones. Ashlyn knows he will never be accepted by her friends, let alone her overbearing father, but there is something about his live-in-the-moment outlook that keeps drawing her back into his arms.

  Ashlyn must make a choice. Can she forgo the family dynasty and live life to the fullest with this fascinating but damaged young man?

  Outnumbered

  I’m not exactly the social type. After spending most of my formative years in prison, I prefer an isolated existence in the wilderness of Canada’s Northwest Territories, making what little cash I need guiding tourists to the best hunting grounds. I have no desire for company; I crave solitude instead, especially during the subarctic winter months, but what am I supposed to do when I come across a woman in distress? I can’t just leave her to die in the cold, and a storm is on the way.

  So now we are confined to my secluded cabin, and I quickly realize there’s something not quite right about Seri—or is her name Netti? She switches moods faster than a snowshoe hare changes direction. In fact, I’m starting to think there’s more than one person behind the mystifying woman’s intense, green eyes.

  Physically, only two of us are trapped inside the rustic cabin, but I still feel outnumbered.

  Win Some, Lose Some

  For Matthew Rohan, every day is a struggle. Each task others complete without thinking is a challenge for him. Recently orphaned, he has to finish the last few months of high school and take care of his disabled sister on his own.

  When Mayra comes into his life, his comfortable routines implode. Matthew can’t handle change, but Mayra is unrelenting in her quest to understand him, to show him acceptance and maybe even love. When she breaks through his shell, Matthew’s world will never be the same again.

  An awkward boy with Asperger’s Syndrome, a persistent girl who pulls him out of his isolated existence, and a lottery ticket that will change their lives forever.

  Socially Distanced

  Locked away in an isolation facility in Atlanta, Sean exists but doesn’t really live in his silent, bleak environment. When Kendra moves into the quarantine pod next door, Sean finds meaning in his life again. Separated by a wall, they can only communicate across a balcony, and she helps him find some creative ways to relieve the tension and monotony. Together, they’ll find a new normal.

  Worth

  An injured Roman Tribunus finds comfort in the touch of the slave commanded to tend to his wounds. As a slave, her value is measured as a couple of coins, but as Tribunus Faustus learns more about her, he begins to understand her true worth. Still, a man of his station can never acknowledge feelings for a slave, and she is already owned by another man.

  Savaged

  Four tales never before published by USA Today bestselling author Shay Savage.

  An executive in need of some temporary release. A Dom looking to cleanse his soul. A twisted college encounter. A PA and a terrorist’s unlikely meeting during an office building takeover. Four alpha males just waiting to fulfill your fantasies in these hot short stories.

  Are you ready to be Savaged?

  Includes:

  Same Time Tomorrow: Executive Julian Reddick is tired of his brand of hand lotion but doesn’t have time to date. What’s the solution? Call in a “nooner” from a high-class company of ill-repute. Valerie Woods is exactly the distraction he needs.

  Cleansing Bonds: A Dom who had hurt the one he loved and an abused sub looking for release. Both are sure they will never be able to find what they need, but they find healing with each other.

  Encounter: On a weekend night near campus, a college girl walks home alone from the local bar. Who is watching her from the shadows, waiting to take advantage of the situation?

  Want No More: Olivia’s new job takes an unexpected turn when terrorists take over her office building. Olivia is taken hostage, but Adam, the sexy head henchman, seems to be exactly what Olivia desires.

  BONUS STORY

  What I Want (Want No More from Adam’s POV): Adam Lebourn’s life for the past three years has lead up to this point, but to exact his revenge on the man who ruined his life, he is going to have to rely on a decent amount of luck. He never expected his good luck charm to appear in the form of a beautiful, submissi
ve PA.

  Savage Kinkster Series

  One Night in a Storm

  Two university students thrown together in the midst of a raging storm, one a Shibari expert, the other an instinctive submissive.

  As the flood waters rise, so does Kasinda’s panic. When she allows Cree to use his expertise to ease her fears, she finds herself healing from the trauma of her past.

  The floodwaters may soon subside, but their passion for each other is just beginning to grow. Cree may be the rigger, but it’s Kas who has his emotions in knots.

  One Night in a Dungeon

  Rocco, isolated by his horrific past and imprisoned in the impenetrable cage of his own mind, knows how damaged he is. Resigned to a lonely fate, he finds solace in the bonds of a shibari rigger’s ropes.

  Casey is determined to use her newfound rope skills to break through to the flawed, submissive Rocco. She knows her dominant personality and newfound expertise will benefit the young man, but her own childhood trauma may jeopardize teaching the anxious, introverted virgin the more intimate ways of rope and endanger the promising relationship between them.

  One night in a dungeon, two broken souls will be bound together.

  Surviving the Storm Series:

  Surviving Raine

  As the captain of a schooner catering to the elite on the Caribbean Seas, Sebastian Stark does his best to avoid any human encounters. Interacting with people isn’t his thing, and he prefers the company of a bottle of vodka, a shot glass, and maybe a whore. There’s no doubt he’s hiding from a checkered past, but he does well keeping everything to himself…

  …until the night his schooner capsizes, and he’s stuck on a life raft with one of the passengers.

  Raine’s young, she’s cute, and Bastian would probably be into her if he wasn’t suffering from alcohol withdrawal. As the days pass, DTs, starvation, and dehydration become the norm. Even the most closed person starts to open up when he thinks he’s going to die, but when she realizes their traumatic pasts are connected, it’s no longer the elements that have Bastian concerned.

  He has no idea how he’s going to Survive Raine.

  Also available as an Audiobook!

  Bastian’s Storm

  Sebastian Stark just isn’t cut out for normal life with a girlfriend in the hot and humid city of Miami. All in all, he’d rather be back on the island where it was just the two of them, and he could keep everything in balance. The bar down the street tempts him daily, but he’s determined to remain strong. Adjusting to normal life is difficult, but Bastian is doing his best to keep himself together and the nightmares away. Raine’s happy, and that’s what matters to him the most.

  But not all nightmares can be driven away.

  When Bastian’s former mentor comes into the picture and presents him with an ultimatum, Bastian slips into old habits. Though he wants to shield Raine from the truth, the shady circumstances of his past form into a hurricane he can’t control. In an effort to protect her, Bastian has no choice but to throw himself back into his old job—death match tournaments—just one last time.

  Dropped into the arctic wilderness with weapons loaded, Bastian has to compete against representatives of major crime lords from all over the States. He’s studied his competition; he knows their weaknesses, and he’s ready to battle for the woman he loves. There’s only one opponent in the mix that causes him any concern. In order to guarantee Raine’s safety, Bastian will be pitted against the key hit man for Chicago’s largest mob family—a guy who’s known as one hell of a shot.

  A guy named Evan Arden.

  Also available as an Audiobook!

  Evan Arden Series:

  Otherwise Alone

  Former Marine Lieutenant Evan Arden sits in a shack in the middle of nowhere, waiting for orders that will send him back home—if he ever gets them. Other than his loyal Great Pyrenees, there's no one around to break up the monotony. The heat is unbearable, but he makes do with the little he has. He’s accustomed to harsh conditions and simply exists as best he can. The tedium is excruciating, but it is suddenly interrupted when a young woman stumbles up his path.

  She’s lost; she’s cute, and he can’t resist the temptation of luring her into his bed. Why not? It’s been ages, and he is Otherwise Alone.

  Otherwise Occupied

  Evan Arden is a hit man for a Chicago mob boss and moves through life with darkness in his soul and a gun in his hand. Those who know him for what he is fear him, and those who find out the hard way never get a chance to tell anyone else. The few people who get a glimpse inside his head wish they never had. A merciless killer, his only loyalty resides with his employer, the man who calls the shots that rain from Evan’s weapon.

  As a POW of the Gulf War, Evan spent months in captivity, and the memories of his confinement combine with thoughts of the woman he left in Arizona. He lives his life day-to-day with little more than the company of his dog, Odin. As insomnia overtakes him, he seeks comfort from an unlikely source, but will confiding in her be his undoing?

  He’s struggling to forget his past and to keep himself Otherwise Occupied.

  Otherwise Unharmed

  After Evan Arden was imprisoned by the enemy for a year and a half, he returned from the desert as a military hero. He’d suffered some minor injuries during his captivity, was discharged from the Marines with a touch of shellshock, but was considered otherwise unharmed. Now he wonders how he ended up where he is—incarcerated in Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center for using his sharpshooting expertise to take out the neighborhood park with a high-powered sniper rifle and multiple rounds of ammunition.

  Lia Antonio, the woman he rescued from the desert heat the previous year, is the only person who can bring him out of his sleep-deprived psychosis and mounting PTSD. When she does, Evan knows he can’t just let her go again. He’s never considered leaving the business before—who retires from the mafia?—but he’s determined to get both Lia and himself out of harm’s way.

  Evan faces overwhelming forces from multiple directions as a deal to get him out of jail turns more dangerous than he imagined. With a mob war on the horizon and the feds holding evidence over his head, Evan has no choice but to throw himself into the middle of another warzone.

  In his efforts to make things right, Evan crosses the wrong man and finds himself on the business end of the crosshairs. With his acute perception and intelligence, he tries to stay a step ahead of his former co-workers, but this time, it isn’t just his own life on the line—he’s got to protect Lia from the man who once called him son.

  Isolated

  Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome. The mantra is good enough for the Marines; it’s good enough for me. Improvise . . . Near the top of the world, I fight for my life against my opponent, Sebastian Stark. He has the upper hand in strength, but I have the cunning to turn the tables on him. I battle the elements, my demons, and him until Stark and I manage to strike a deal to ensure freedom for us both—and the women we love.

  Adapt . . . Being alone comes naturally to me. I’ve spent most of my life alone. Sharing my experiences, opening up to another human being, developing a relationship—all these things are foreign to me. Sometimes I wonder if it’s even meant to be.

  Overcome . . . I’ve been away from Lia for far too long, yet I still have commitments I must keep. When I make my way home, I will tell her I have decided to end the life I have led and move on to become the man she needs. I can overcome my demons; I must. But will Lia be willing to wait?

  Irrevocable

  Have you ever made a mistake?

  A big one?

  I’m back in Chicago and back in business with my boss, Rinaldo Moretti. So much for my run at a normal life. There are some new faces in the organization, and someone’s been cooking the books. Personally? I think they’re after more than a just little cash. If I have any hopes of flushing out the traitor, I’m going to need to find a good hooker to help me sleep at night.

  As the bodies pile up, I
find solace in Alina. There’s something about her, something different. She understands me without asking a lot of questions. It’s as if she’s known me for years, yet we’ve only just met. If I weren’t so distracted by business, I’d try to figure out her story. She’s the only one keeping me grounded as my world spins out of control.

  I’m going to lose the one man who has ever meant anything to me – the only man to ever call me son. I want to deny his request, but there is no avoiding what awaits me. I never wanted any of this, but I’m out of options, and time is running out.

  Some choices have unforeseen consequences, and some choices are simply irrevocable.

  Uncockblockable

  Nick Wolfe is famous in Chicago—or is that infamous? He’s not only known as the illegitimate son of Mafia boss Rinaldo Moretti, but also as an unstoppable ladies’ man. He always seems to get the girl in the end, even when everyone around tries to plot against him. He’s a party guy, doesn’t work, and spends all his time picking up women and making notches on his headboard. He's the ultimate ladies’ man...or is that man-whore? However, his days of infamy come to a startling halt when he meets her, and she turns the tables on him.

  Caged Trilogy

  Takedown Teague

  This is not made for TV. This is the raw, brutal underground of no-holds-barred combat. Inside the cage there is nothing but me and the pain I inflict on those who dare enter. In the cage, I never have to worry about anyone but myself. Yet, when she began standing outside of the cage, everything changed. I was no longer fighting for the money or the glory – I was fighting for her.

  Trapped

  Bizarre rituals on a remote island in Maine.

  My crazy neighbor lying naked in the produce section of a grocery store.

  The sting of a knife as it slices through my flesh.

  Now I know why they say life is never easy.

 

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