by K. C. Lynn
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book is dedicated to two special family members. First is my dog Chuckie who is now in puppy heaven. He was the best family dog a girl could have and I loved writing him in this story. Second one is my mom; because Sawyer is her favorite. Even though she drives me nuts sometimes and I find it very unnecessary for her to tell strangers about how proud she is of her daughter who writes romance novels (even though there is sex in them). I know it’s because she’s proud of me and that her heart is in the right place. I love you mom, thanks for supporting me so much through out this book. XO.
“If you could go back and change one moment in your life what would it be?” I expect him to say the week the three of them were held prisoner, but what he says next is something that I will remember for the rest of my life.
“It would be to find you sooner, because I would have never let anyone hurt you.” And that was the moment I gave Sawyer Evans my whole heart.
At 17 years old Grace Morgan had managed to live through what would be the worst day of her life. One would think this is where her torment ended, but then she was sent to live with him- the devil himself.
Three years later she finds herself in the beautiful, small town of Sunset Bay, South Carolina- a perfect place to start her life over. This is where she meets the best friends she will ever have, and one cocky, sexy, arrogant ex-Navy Seal whose heart turns out to be bigger than his ego. Right when things start looking up the worst day of her life comes back with a vengeance; ruining the peace she had just found.
Sawyer Evans is a strong, sexy, confident ex-Navy Seal who loves women just as much as they love him. His philosophy is: the more the merrier, with no strings attached. But all that changes the day he rolls into Sunset Bay, where he meets a sweet, sexy blonde with sad amber eyes, who smells like cupcakes and bakes the most delicious pies. The only girl who isn’t affected by his good looks and charm… or so he thinks.
But Sawyer is a fighter who is used to getting what he wants, and he wants Grace. Along the way of making that happen, he finds out she holds secrets, and a pain much deeper than he thought possible- and he has known pain like no other man has.
A year ago he made a life-altering decision that not only bought him a week in hell with men he considers his brothers, but also ended his career. It was a decision he will never regret, no matter the scars he bares, physically or emotionally. He refused to let that moment in his life break him or define him.
So when Grace’s life is threatened, he will make another decision, one to not only protect her, but also mend her broken heart.
**This is a New Adult Romance and is told from both character’s pov. Due to strong sexual content, coarse language and mature subject matter this book is not suitable for anyone under the age of 18.
This is Book Two in the Men of Honor series. If you like hot, tattooed, possessive alpha males than this is the book for you.
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading my second novel in the Men of Honor Series. I hope I did Sawyer and Grace justice and that you loved their story as much as you loved Jax and Jule’s. I loved writing about these two, especially Grace. My love of the movie Waitress was my inspiration for her pie making, and unique names. If you have not seen this movie I highly recommend it.
Although most things in this book are fictional, one detail wasn’t, and that is Grace and Lace. If you loved Grace’s alpine thigh highs then definitely check them out.
This is the link to their online store https://www.graceandlace.com/.
If you have time to leave a review please do so. I would love to hear your thoughts. Next in this series will be Resisting Temptation. Which is Cade’s book, as I’m sure you already guessed. My plan is to have it released in fall 2014. Feel free to find me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-KC-LYNN/ 575868539173061?ref=hl where you will get the latest news and teasers on this great series.
If you’re not on Facebook and have questions feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected].
K.C. Lynn
“Shoot!” After looking at my watch I break into a light jog, trying to juggle my backpack and cheer bag. I should have waited and caught a ride home with Tara. But when I saw my teammate talkin’ with Max Donovan, I knew she was going to be a while, and I was already running late.
When my phone dings with a text, I slow down and reach into the side of my backpack to pull out my cell.
Adam: Hey beautiful, just wanted to say good luck. Have a good weekend. I’ll miss you. I know you and your mom will win, bring me back any leftover pie. Love you babe. :)
I smile, and my stomach does a little flip at the sweet message. Dang, I just love that boy. Adam and I have been dating almost a year, and lately he’s been pushing to take our relationship to the next level. I appreciate how patient he’s been, considerin’ he isn’t a virgin. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I have decided when I get back from the fair with Mama I’m going to tell him I’m ready.
I send him a quick reply, lettin’ him know I’ll miss him too and that I’ll call as soon as we get home on Sunday. I hope he’s right about Mama and me winning the bakin’ contest. The prize money of $20,000 will help us start our dream; a dream we have been talking about for as long as I can remember. When my house comes into view, I pick up speed again and run up my front steps. By the time I open the door I’m out of breath.
“Hey, Mama, I’m sorry I’m late. Coach made us stay late at practice, but I’ll be quick. Just let me change, and we can start loadin’ the car.” I throw my backpack and cheer bag off to the side and walk into the kitchen. The pies are stacked and ready, but there’s no sign of Mama.
“Mama?”
Suddenly, a loud thump sounds above me, drawing my gaze up to the ceiling. Suddenly an eerie feeling hits me. I can’t say why, or what, brought it on, but I knew somethin’ wasn’t right. I slowly start walking towards the stairs, my pounding heart tellin’ me something is wrong.
“Mama?” I call her name again as I start up the stairs. “Mama, are you up here?” When I make it to the top, I see her bedroom door slightly ajar. As I walk closer to her room, every instinct I have is yellin’ at me to run, that there’s big trouble.
With my heart in my throat I push open the door and see her room in disarray. Suddenly the closet door flies open, and Mama barrels out onto the floor, naked and bleeding.
“GRACE, RUN!” she screams, just as a big guy rushes out after her. Without a second thought that’s exactly what I do.
“Fuck! Hurry and grab that bitch.”
I make it halfway to my room before someone grabs a fistful of my hair and yanks me off my feet. My breath gets knocked out of my lungs when I land painfully on my back. As I struggle to regain my breath I look up and see a big, scary guy who doesn’t look much older than me. His greasy jet-black hair hangs in his dark, glossy eyes- eyes that lack any emotion and are so dark they appear black. He grins down at me maliciously, sporting yellow teeth. “You’
re just as fuckin’ pretty as your mama. I can’t wait to fuck you too.”
Oh no… Mama!
“No! Leave her alone, please let her go,” Mama begs hysterically.
Oh god, I have to get us out of here; I have to get to the phone. The guy yanks me to my feet by my hair. I barely feel the painful sting because of the amount of adrenaline that’s rushing through my veins. He keeps one hand tangled tightly in my hair and wraps his other around my waist, pulling me against him. Then, before I have time to register what he’s about to do, he crashes his disgusting mouth to mine. I cry out against the brutal force and try to push him away. Instinct has me bringing my knee up and nailing him between the legs.
“FUCK!”
The second his grip loosens I shove myself away and bolt into my room. Slamming the door, I click the lock in place and race to my bedside phone. I quickly dial 911 and start pushing my dresser towards the door to barricade myself in. All the while I can still hear my mom screaming.
“Oh god, Mama,” I sob.
A forceful pounding starts against my door, almost throwing it off its hinges. I rush into my closet.
“911. What’s your emergency?”
“This is Grace Morgan, I live at 917 Lakeland Point. Two men have broken into my house, and they are hurting my mother.” My mom’s screams become so loud and painful, it’s all I can hear. “Oh god, please, you have to hurry! They’re hurtin’ her real bad.” I’m sobbing hysterically, but somehow manage to get the words out.
“All right, honey, I want you to try and stay calm, the police are on their way. Stay on the phone with me, all right? How old are you, Grace?”
“Seventeen. Please…” Suddenly, the pounding on my door gets louder, and I hear the wood start to splinter. “Oh no! Please hurry, he’s almost in my room.”
My closet door flies open.
“Ahhhhhh!” I scream just before the guy yanks the phone out of my hand and smashes it against the wall. I race out past him in the split second that it takes for him to throw it. He tackles me from behind, and I face-plant into the hardwood floor right next to my bed, splitting my lip open. “You stupid bitch. You’re gonna fucking pay for that.”
I scream and kick against him as he pummels my back. Reaching out in front of me, I try to grab the cord of my lamp, hoping to use it as a weapon, but before I can reach it, he flips me over and strikes me across the face. Black spots dance before my eyes, and my mouth pools with so much blood I almost choke on it.
He begins pounding me with fast fists, hitting me in the stomach, arms, face, anything he can reach, and then suddenly stops.
“Uhhh,” I groan in pain, trying to remain conscious. Big, rough hands grab the V- neck of my shirt and rip it open, exposing my white lace bra. He gropes my breasts painfully and grinds his erection against me.
I start to snap out of my painful haze when he fumbles with my spandex cheer shorts, trying to pull them down. I buck, attempting to fight him off, but have little success.
“Stay still bitch; this will be over quickly.”
When I don’t submit to his command, he backhands me again. The painful force makes my ears ring and has my head snapping to the left. It’s then I see my pink baseball bat from Little League lying under my bed. He doesn’t notice me reach for it, since he’s too busy tryin’ to force my clothes off. As soon as I’m able to grasp it, I firmly wrap my hand around the rubber grip, and drag it out from under my bed. Bringing it up, I swing with every bit of strength I have left and make solid contact against the side of his head.
Grunting, he falls to the side. Quickly getting to my feet I swing again, bringing the steel against his back.
“Shit, Emilio, man, we need to get the fuck out of here. Cops are coming, I can hear the sirens.” The other guy rushes into my room with a bloody knife and sees his friend on the ground, struggling from my blow. “You stupid fucking whore,” he screams while charging at me. Before I can swing the bat at him, he punches me in the side of the head. I catch sight of a tattoo on the inside of his wrist before the force of his blow sends me flying into the wall.
He stares at me in rage as I struggle for breath. I can tell he wants to finish what he’s started but knows he doesn’t have time. Turning around, he quickly helps his friend to his feet. “Come on, man, pull it together. We have to get the fuck out of here.” They quickly stumble out the door, Emilio practically being carried by his friend.
As soon as I hear them land at the bottom of the stairs, I manage to pull myself up, on shaking legs, and race to my mom’s room as quickly as my beaten and broken body will allow me. My vision is blurred from the blows to my head, and the tears that cloud my eyes.
I falter as soon as I enter my mother’s room. My heart shatters and bile fills my throat when I see her lying naked on the floor in a pool of her own blood.
“MAMA? Oh god, oh no!” Racing to her side, I slip in all the blood, landing on my knees. I reach down and cradle my mother’s lifeless body to my chest.
“It’s okay, Mama, just hang on, help is on the way.” I sob hysterically. My tears fall into her beautiful golden hair that’s now stained red from blood. Even though I plead with her to hang on, and tell her that everything is going to be okay, I know it isn’t. Deep down I know she is dead, but my heart refuses to believe it.
“Oh God, Mama, I’m so sorry, so sorry. I love you so much.” Leaning down, I kiss her bloodstained forehead and bury my face into her hair while I rock her. Seconds later, chaos erupts around me.
At seventeen years old I had managed to live through what was the worst day of my life. One would think this is where my torment ends, but it doesn’t, because I was then sent to live with him… the devil himself.
Three Years Later…
“Order up!” My tired aching feet scream at me as I rush over to grab the two hot plates filled with burgers and fries.
Lord, it’s only lunch and my feet are already givin’ up on me. Probably doesn’t help that I worked a twelve hour shift yesterday.
“How are you doing out there, darlin’?” Mac asks, as he flips burgers.
I give my boss a bright smile, “You know me, I’m doin’ great. No problems here.”
He grunts, “Yeah I do know you, and if you weren’t okay you still wouldn’t tell me. I’m scared that one day I’m going to look out there,” he points his massive flipper to the diner behind me, “and find you passed out, sleeping on my damn floor.”
“Now, Mac, I barely get any sleep in my own bed, there’s no way your floor is gonna cut it for me,” I tease.
He grunts again and shakes his head. I take that as my cue and walk away to deliver the waiting couple their meals. I know Mac is worried about me, with how much I’ve been workin’. But he needs the help, and I need the money. So it’s a win-win situation for us both. Even though this is definitely not my dream job, I am lucky to have it, and to have met Mac. The big, rough-looking man with dark hair, brown eyes and a bunch of tattoos, is nothing more than a giant teddy bear. I’m grateful for everything he has done for me.
After I deliver the couple their meals, I walk to a few other tables and refill their drinks. Out of the corner of my eye I see two people walk in and take a seat at the back.
My heart skips a beat and awareness strikes deep inside of me. The room suddenly feels smaller and the air becomes hotter. I already know who it is before I look over… Sawyer.
Damn! Why does the arrogant, sexy son of a gun have to come in here and eat all the time? Why can’t he go somewhere else? Feelin’ frustrated at myself for caring, I pull it together, and try not to look directly at him; otherwise I will only make a fool out of myself for the deep blush that will take over my face. As I make my way over to their table I look only at Cade. Not that he isn’t sexy too, because boy is he ever, but he’s also darn scary. He also doesn’t make my heart pound, like it wants to fly out of my chest, the way Sawyer does.
Damn Sawyer!
“Hi y’all,” I greet quietly, as I re
ach for my pad of paper. Not that I need it, but it will help distract me from making goo-goo eyes at Mr. Sexy Ass.
“Hi, Grace,” Cade replies, with his usual small nod.
“Well hiya there, Grace. Fancy seeing you here again, I didn’t know you worked today.”
A slight shiver runs through me at the deep, smooth baritone of Sawyer’s voice.
Get a hold of yourself, Grace.
I roll my eyes, attempting to hide how much he affects me. “Sawyer, I work pretty much every day, which you know, since you’re in here every day.”
“I don’t come in here every day.”
I scoff and drag my gaze up from the floor to his face. I immediately regret it when I connect with the sexiest pair of green eyes I have ever seen.
Crap! I feel heat creep up my neck, and turn my face to the color of a tomato. It’s exactly what Sawyer wanted to happen, if his sexy smirk is anything to go by.
I narrow my eyes at him, “Yes, you do.”
His smirk turns into a beautiful, full-on arrogant smile; a smile that girls drop their panties for in a heartbeat. “Nope, just on the days you’re working, Cupcake.”
I glare harder when he uses the nickname he gave me a few weeks ago at Jaxson and Julia’s wedding. After watching the new bride and groom lovingly feed each other one of the beautiful cupcakes I had made for their weddin’, Sawyer had yelled out, “That’s not how you’re supposed to do it! You’re supposed to do it like this.” He grabbed a cupcake, coated my nose and mouth with the pink frosting, and then proceeded to try to lick it off. Of course I escaped before he could. Lord only knows what would have happened if I let him get those sexy lips anywhere near mine. I probably would have embarrassingly mauled the man in front of everyone. As soon as the traitorous thought snaps into my head, my eyes latch onto those perfect lips.
Gah! Snap out of it, Grace.
I pry my gaze away and look over at Cade. “What can I get you, Cade?” Sawyer chuckles from my apparent dismissal.
