by Elin Peer
Maximum had seen it and came running to make his own bomb and soon Damian and Nathan followed with impressive splashes of water.
Charles and I watched them with goofy smiles on our faces. “They’re crazy.” I laughed.
“Yes, but the good kind of crazy.”
“Aww, look at how happy the kids seem.”
“I know. It must be because they have the world’s coolest adoptive parents in the world.”
“If we say so ourselves.” I squeezed his hand just as he bit my earlobe and whispered into my ear, “I need to show you something.”
“Okay. Now?”
“Mmmm…” Charles stood up and offered me a hand. Kit and Damian were having fun with the kids in the pool and even Lumi was allowing Nathan to put her on his shoulders and throw her into the water.
“Liv and I will be right back. We just need to look over some papers that have to be signed.” Charles led me through the house and up the stairs. I recognized the look he gave me. It was pure desire and lust, and as always, it gave me butterflies in my stomach.
“We’re not signing papers, are we?”
“Nope.”
The laughter from outside reminded me that everyone in that pool was capable of looking out for themselves. I could steal a moment with Charles, couldn’t I?
Like two naughty school kids, we intertwined our hands and ran up the stairs and into the bedroom, where we locked the door and laughed together, like we had pulled off some great escape plan.
“Come here.” Charles kissed me while nudging me to the bed. “I’ve missed you all day, and coming home to see you in that bikini made it hard for me to think. Wanna know why I placed myself behind you?”
I smiled when he took my hand and placed it on his hard erection.
“Wow, is that all for me?” My laugh was swallowed by our kissing.
“Every inch is yours.” Charles growled low and removed my bikini top. “God, you’re so tempting.”
“So are you.”
He looked into my eyes with a serious expression. “I can’t tell you what this last year has meant to me, but I know that you feel it when we make love.”
My face softened. “I do!” Kissing him slow and enjoying his soft lips on mine, I admitted, “The truth is that sometimes you still make me shy and nervous, like I can’t believe I scored the guy out of my league.”
“I was never out of your league. If anything, you were out of mine.”
We looked deep into each other’s eyes and then he kissed his way from my mouth to my earlobe and then down across my neck and collarbone. With a small moan, I leaned my head back in surrender. Charles was a master at seducing me and sure enough, his thumb ran down over my throat just as a reminder that he was in control.
“This bikini looks amazing on you, but I still prefer you naked.” He pushed the fabric of my bikini bottoms down and they landed next to my top that he’d already removed. Heat spread at my core and I fisted my hands into his dark hair, when he bent down to lick and suckle on my nipple.
Right then his tics came out and in response, I tightened my grip on him. “I love you so freaking much. Do you know that?”
Charles responded by picking me up and placing me on the bed where he pushed me down on my back and got nose to nose with me. “I know it, but I’m still not sure I understand it. You’re like a dream come true with the way I can be myself around you. I never have to hide my issues or my tics.”
“And I can be open about my weird fetish.”
He rolled down next to me on the bed before lifting his hand to my throat with his dominant smile that made my body vibrate with lust. Pushing myself against him, I lifted my thigh to his hip.
“Mmm.” He growled low against my ear. “There’s something amazing about two quirky people finding each other and making it work.”
“Are you calling me a weirdo?”
“A sexy weirdo.” He licked my lip. “My sexy weirdo.”
I gave a seductive smile. “How about I show you how sexy a weirdo I can be?”
“I was hoping you would.” Biting my shoulder with just the right amount of pressure, he moved to position himself between my legs. “But first let me taste you.”
The warmth of his breath on my pelvis bone made my most sensitive parts tingle with anticipation.
“Liv… are you in there?” The doorknob wiggled.
We both stopped moving and I called out, “Yes. What’s wrong, River?”
“I can’t find my blue bikini. I’ve looked in Lumi’s room and my own. I’ve even looked through the laundry. Can you help me?”
Charles closed his eyes and moved onto his back, letting go of me.
“Just a minute, sweetie,” I called back to her before turning to him. “We signed up for this. Five children, remember?”
“I know, but I’m so fucking horny for you.”
Taking deep breaths, I tried getting my breathing under control. “How about we let Damian and Kit move in here while we go away for a few days? They’ve offered several times and we need it.”
“Yes! When?”
“Maybe tomorrow? I’ll talk to them.”
I was rolling off the bed, when Charles reached for my arm and made me look at him. “I can’t wait for some wild undisturbed sex.”
The door handle wiggled again. “Liv?”
“I’ll be right there love.” I put my bikini back on, and just before walking out of our bedroom, I looked back at him. “Are you coming?”
“I’ll need a moment alone first.”
My eyes fell to his mid-section with longing, but there was a child on the other side of the door. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Saffron, and I still think you’re the most precious spice in my life.”
“I’ll see you downstairs at the pool.” I was just about to open the door when I paused and whispered to him, “It’s so hard to leave when I’m dying to finish what we started.”
Charles had a look of pure devotion on his face when he whispered back, “You and I will never finish; I’ll always want more of you. Always.”
I felt like a schoolgirl with a huge crush when I smiled back and walked out the door.
River was waiting on the stairs and looked up when she heard me. “How come you look so happy?”
I walked over and gave her a sideways hug and led her down the stairs. “Why wouldn’t I be? I’m surrounded by people I love. I feel very lucky that I get to be here with you, Charles, and the others.”
“You mean that?”
I gave her a genuine smile. “One hundred percent. Now let’s find that bikini, shall we?”
This concludes Charlie – Cultivated #1
Thank you so much for reading Charles and Liv’s story. If you liked it, I hope you’ll take a moment to leave a review on Amazon and spread the word to your friends.
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When I first had the inspiration to write the Cultivated series, I wanted to focus on survivors of a cult. I realized, however, that it made sense to get the back story to understand what it was like in that cult. That resulted in Charlie, the book you just read, which was supposed to a be a short prequel, but turned out as full length book. For some reason, I don’t know how to write short stories. It’s the second time I try and they always end up the same length as my other books.
In the next book we’ll jump ahead eleven years and see things from Atlas’ perspective. As a bonus to you, I’ve included the first chapter from his book on the following pages.
Atlas – Cultivated #2
Jolene is a clinical psychologist down on her luck. With bills to pay, she accepts a job at a test center but quickly realizes that her boss, A
tlas, might be handsome and mysterious, but he’s also eccentric and obsessed with finding answers to why people follow narcissistic liars so blindly.
Afraid that he might use this information to mind-control innocent people, Jo starts her own investigation into his person and what she learns shocks her. His father was the leader of a cult and Atlas has severe traumas from his past. The psychologist in her wants to help him heal his mental wounds, but in order to do so, she must find a way to make him open up to her. But is that even possible for someone as guarded as Atlas?
Atlas is the second installment in Elin Peer’s contemporary romance series, Cultivated. For the best reading experience and to avoid spoilers, it’s recommended that you start with the first book in the series, called Charlie.
Elin Peer is the author of the popular series, Men of the North, Clashing Colors, and the Slave Series. Her books are fast-paced, thought-provoking, and always offer humor and a solid romance story at the core.
If you like stories with authentic characters that will stay with you for a long time after you’ve finished reading, get this book today!
Click here to buy your copy of Atlas – Cultivated #2
By getting it on pre-sale, you’ll save money and get it delivered straight to your e-reader the minute it goes live on December 7th.
BONUS
Read the first chapter from Atlas – Cultivated #2
CHAPTER 1
Red Manor House
Atlas
Complete silence filled the car the moment we drove into Howth. Nathan was driving and from the way his knuckles turned white around the steering wheel, I could tell he felt as tense as me. I was in the passenger seat and took a quick look at the back seat where Maximum sat between Lumi and River. All three of them had solemn expressions on their faces as they looked out the window.
The gravel driveway leading up to the house had once been a beautiful sight with the pruned trees creating a canopy above, but now the trees were overgrown and some of the branches scraped the top of Nathan’s Jeep as we drove through.
“Look at all the weeds,” Maximum said from the back.
My eyes fell to the ground lit up by the headlights of the car as he continued in a low mutter:
“I used to love using the flamethrower to burn weeds from the gravel.”
“You were probably the last one to do it.” River’s tone was dry as she leaned forward to see the manor come into sight in front of us.
When Nathan stopped the car, all five of us got out. No one spoke as the sound of car doors closing filled the night. We gathered in front of the stairs leading up to the main entrance.
For a moment we stood shoulder to shoulder and then I felt a hand in mine. River was the youngest of us and even though she was twenty-three now and no child, I squeezed her hand.
“Why did we have to do it at night?” she whispered. “The house looks scary, and we haven’t even gone inside yet.”
I answered her in a calm voice hiding that my heart was beating fast too. “Because we don’t want anyone to see us. We don’t need a stupid article about how the five surviving children from the suicide cult in Howth returned to confront the demons of their past.”
River sighed. “No, you’re right.”
“Come on!” It was Lumi who took the first step and we all followed up the stairs, watching her unlock the double doors.
Stepping inside, Nathan turned on the light so we could see, and it made me gasp. The entrance that led into the living room had always been bright and welcoming with fresh flowers and a constant scent of home-cooked food. Now the place looked like a squatter’s house. Only a few pieces of furniture stood around, and walls and floors had been painted with graffiti.
We were quiet as we moved further into the house and it was only then that I realized that it wasn’t graffiti. “It’s markings from where the bodies were.” I counted the outline markings of the twenty-eight friends and family members whom we lost that night.
“Why are most of them in a line?” Nathan had frown lines on his face as he took in the twenty-five markings in one long line and the three that were spread out in the living room.
“You don’t know?” I asked him.
“Why would he?” Maximum walked closer to Nathan. “Some of us had no interest in seeing pictures or reading articles. Nathan and River were led out of the house without getting a look at what happened here, or did you forget that detail?”
My brother, Maximum, hadn’t wanted to come tonight and his tone told me he was pissed that I’d pressured them until they agreed for us to go together.
Lumi stood with a stern expression looking at the drawings on the floor. “Conor had them sit in a long line, like a human train on their way to the next destination. My mom fell down over here, and those two markings are of Conor and Ciara.”
I took a step closer to her, placing my hand on her shoulder. Of the five of us, only Lumi and I had been in the room that night eleven years ago, when the emergency response unit had stormed the house and saved us from my father’s madness.
“If any of you want to see photos, I have copies.”
River looked up at me. “You have copies?”
Nathan shook his head at me. “You can keep them. I’m happy the guards made sure we didn’t see the bodies then, and I have no need to see it all now.”
I shrugged. “No one is forcing you to.”
Maximum walked around the living room and stopped by the dusty French doors to look into the darkness of the garden. “I wonder how it looks out back. The garden is probably overgrown.”
“Yeah, probably,” I agreed.
His hand rested on the doorframe and his eyes glazed over. “The garden was my favorite part about this house. The bonfires in the evenings, the tennis court, and the hours of playing Petanque with Carlos.” Maximum turned to us. “He always cheated, but I still played with him.”
“I want to see our old room, but I don’t want to go alone.” River stepped over to Nathan. The two of them had shared a room when we lived here. He gave a short nod before moving to the staircase. We all followed.
“My heart is beating so fast right now,” River whispered when we got to the second floor and began walking down the long corridor.
Mine was too, but I’d always been the leader of our group and even though Lumi was technically older than me, I took on the same role as I had back then. “It’s going to be fine. It’s just an empty old house.”
“With lots of memories,” Nathan added. “My heart is trying to climb out my throat. I fucking hate this.”
“It wasn’t my idea to come back here,” Lumi muttered.
Letting out a deep sigh, I spoke: “I never said it would be fun, but we need to face our fears of this place. When we leave, it will no longer matter to us. We’ve been here, seen it, and we can move on.”
“Speaking of moving on; am I the only one who feels like we’re not alone? It’s like someone is watching us.”
“No, I feel it too.” River reached for Lumi’s hand and looked scared.
“Now you’re just riling each other up. There’s no one here but us,” I scolded them.
We had reached the end of the hallway when my brother challenged me, “How would you know? Twenty-eight people were killed because of a crazy man. If ever there was a haunted house, wouldn’t this be it?”
“No!” I shot him a you’re not helping look, but he persisted:
“I’m with Lumi and River. I feel it too. There’s something in this house. What if it’s Dad and he’s still crazy? What if he tries to trip us up so we fall down the stairs and break our necks? He was a cold-blooded killer when he lived, and if he’s the one haunting this place, I don’t think we should be here.”
“Enough!” I opened the door and walked into what had once been River’s and Nathan’s room.
“What happened to the furniture?” River asked.
“It was sold in the estate sale,” I told her.
River walked
further into the almost empty room and touched a dresser that had been left behind. “How come you and Maximum never sold the house?”
I snorted. “And have it turned into a tourist attraction as a haunted bed and breakfast? I don’t think so.”
“But leaving it to rot like this…” Lumi didn’t finish her sentence. The way her hands peeled at the water-damaged wallpaper spoke for her.
The sound of a creaking door made me look over to see Maximum opening the adjacent door leading to what had once been our father’s room.
With hesitation Lumi and River followed and entered while Nathan stayed in the doorway.
“It’s not in there,” I told him.
“I know.” Perspiration formed on his forehead and his upper lip.
“Snakes don’t live that long, and someone would have removed it back then.”
“It’s not like I’m scared of a snake anymore.” Nathan’s words were contradicted by his wide eyes and shallow breathing.
“You want to see this,” Lumi called from the other room.
Giving my adoptive brother a reassuring look, I nudged Nathan into the room.
“The closet is still here.” Lumi was standing in front of the closet we had opened eleven years ago when we all decided to snoop in Conor O’Brien’s room.
We’d been shocked to find a terrarium inside with a large yellow snake. For years, Nathan had suffered from nightmares of a yellow snake in his bed, and it turned out my sick father had been behind it.
“Is that the dead snake?” Lumi pointed but didn’t walk closer.
Maximum lifted a long gray snakeskin. “No, this is just skin that it shed. I wonder what happened to the snake and what kind it was.”
“It was a yellow corn snake.”
They all turned to me and stared.
“Charles told us. You just don’t remember.”
“When did he tell us what kind of snake it was?” Nathan asked.
