Heaven in Hell: Box Set Episodes 1-4

by Dia Cole

Tears of joy ran down my face. “Yes. It’s me.”

  The side of her lips curled in the ghost of a smile. Tears glistened in her eyes.

  “Oh shit, Sarge. Grady is regenerating.” Darcy’s voice sounded miles away.

  I didn’t care about Grady. Or anything else for that matter.

  My sister’s back, and I’ll never let anything happen to her again.

  “Eat dirt, Lee,” Dominic shouted behind me.

  Realizing his intent, I shouted, “No,” and spun around.

  It was too late. His blade was in the air.

  If I moved even an inch, it would impale Eden. I couldn’t let that happen.

  It’s your job to protect her.

  The knife whistled toward me.

  I had a second to dig in my heels.

  My life for hers.

  The blade speared my skull.

  As I fell back, I heard Eden’s howl over Dominic’s anguished cry.

  Then nothing.

  12

  “Wake up, baby.”

  I tried to turn away from the hand gently shaking me. “Just a few more minutes, Gran.”

  The sound of deep masculine laughter had me opening one eye. The world swam into focus. A wooden cross loomed over the altar in front of me.

  Am I in a church?

  The light from a stained-glass window bathed the large man standing over me in a rainbow of colors.

  It took me a moment to realize that it was Dominic.

  “I’m not Gran.”

  Isn’t that the truth?

  Even the dark shadows under his eyes and the bandages on his arms couldn’t detract from how gorgeous the soldier looked.

  Damn, he rocks that tight black T-shirt and jeans.

  I, on the other hand, had on nothing but a large white shirt that barely hit the tops of my thighs. Although not normally modest, I reached to tug the hem lower.

  Panic surged through me when I realized I couldn’t move my hands. I twisted and turned, jerking the metal cuffs around my wrist. They were tethered around something above my head. “What the hell?”

  Is this some kind of sick joke?

  “Stop fighting. We’re in the school’s chapel. I handcuffed you to a pew…” He scrubbed the week-old-looking scruff on his normally clean-shaven jaw. “As a precaution.”

  Okay. This is getting weirder and weirder.

  Why would our fearless leader cuff me at all?

  At least I now knew where I was. The lingering smell of frankincense baked into the maroon carpet and mahogany paneled walls should’ve been an immediate giveaway.

  Dominic leaned back against the railing that separated the pews from the altar. “You’ll be happy to know that the accelerant did its trick. Hippie healed completely. Rosie got the meds in time and she’s recovering. Corporal Ross nearly gutted me over my decision to break the rules and bring you back here.” He bared his teeth. “But I pulled rank.”

  I shook my head in confusion.

  What is he talking about?

  Seemingly unaware that he’d lost me, Dominic continued on. “We brought the boy with us and I sent Hunter to pick up Grace. I know you don’t think much of her, but I’ve thought more about what you said back at Grove Estates, and it’s the right thing to do.”

  “Have you been drinking?”

  His lip curled up slightly. “You know I don’t drink.”

  Now I did.

  I tugged on the cuffs again. “Can you let me go?”

  A wicked grin transformed his face from handsome to drop-dead gorgeous. “I think I like you this way, baby.” His gaze skimmed my body, lingering on my bare legs.

  Okay. So the guy who can’t bear to share oxygen in a room with me is suddenly flirting?

  That didn’t compute. Slowly it occurred to me that this was likely one of Dominic’s stupid field tests.

  Of course. It’s just like him to do something asinine like kidnap me in the night and drag me out here. He’s probably playing the role of creeper as part of the drill.

  I glared up at him.

  Now what do I do?

  I tugged on the metal cuffs again. “What’s the test?”

  He shook his head as if he had no clue what I was talking about.

  Bullshit. There’s always a test. I’m probably supposed to break out of the cuffs or something.

  Putting a little muscle into it, I gave the cuffs a hard yank.

  Wood splintered.

  “Ahh.” I ducked as part of the pew broke off and smacked me in the head.

  The wood must be old and rotted.

  “Stop that,” Dominic ordered.

  Triumphant. I held the cuffs up in front of me. “I did it.”

  The sour look didn’t leave his face.

  Maybe I’m supposed to get completely free.

  I studied the cuffs. They felt heavy, but they had to be fake. Dominic wouldn’t handcuff me with real cuffs. That would be sick, even for him. If they were anything like the ones that Reed ran around with as a kid, there should be a switch along the side that’d free my hands. I didn’t feel anything.

  Well, fine then.

  I pulled my hands in opposite directions and the chain broke.

  Dominic cursed.

  “What? Didn’t I pass your test?”

  He crouched down in front of me. His jaw worked furiously on the gum in his mouth. “This wasn’t a test. You’ve been out for days. I didn’t know…if you’d come back.”

  I didn’t know what he was talking about, but his proximity was making my hormones go haywire. My insides tightened and my nipples beaded against the fabric of my shirt.

  His gaze dipped down. His pupils dilated and his breath caught.

  I waited for him to bolt the way he’d always done before.

  Instead he moved closer.

  It was my turn to forget to breathe.

  Our gazes clashed and I was lost in the harrowing emotion reflected in his jet-black eyes.

  Before I could ask him what was wrong, he gathered me into his arms and rocked me back and forth.

  “I nearly lost you, baby.”

  “What’s going on?” I glanced up to see wetness on his cheeks. The most alpha of alpha male soldiers was crying?

  Has sleep deprivation finally gotten the better of him?

  Not sure what to do, I let him hold me until he slowly pulled away.

  I opened my mouth to ask him if he was okay. Before I could utter a word, he dipped his head and claimed my mouth with his.

  The shock of his kiss scattered every thought in my mind.

  He licked the seam of my lips, and I parted them instinctively. He kissed me like a starved man getting his first taste of food. As his mouth and tongue plundered mine, my body came to life as if it’d been waiting for this moment forever.

  My breasts grew fuller and tremors shot through me, leaving me helpless to the erotic onslaught of his lips.

  His mouth trailed down my neck, paying homage to the sensitive spot near the base of my ear.

  I moaned, inhaling his delicious scent. I’d no idea what had come over him, but this was amazing. I didn’t want it to end. Ever.

  His hand slid up my leg.

  I gasped at the sensation of his fingers closing in on my heated flesh. My thighs shook uncontrollably as pressure built between my legs.

  “I can’t wait to be with you again,” he murmured against my ear.

  As his words penetrated the haze of desire, my hormones shrieked and slammed on the brakes.

  What the hell did he mean again?

  He was obviously confusing me with someone else. I slammed my thighs together and gave him a push.

  He flew into the nearby pew.

  Marveling at my unexpected strength, I looked down at my hands.

  Dominic’s laughter was even more surprising. “Christ, I’ve forgotten how strong you are.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. “First of all, we’re in a church if you haven’t noticed.” Not that I was
religious, but getting it on in a house of worship seemed wrong.

  “And second of all, we’ve never been together. In fact, you’ve done everything in your power to avoid me.” I schooled my face into a neutral expression, refusing to let him know how much that bothered me.

  He stared at me for a moment, slack-jawed. Then his dark eyes narrowed. “What’s the last memory you have?”

  I drew a blank for a second. “Umm. Crawling into my sleeping bag at the safe house last night.”

  Dominic’s face lost color. “Then you don’t remember you and m…uh, the bite? Reed? Your sister?”

  At the mention of my family, my head snapped up. “What about Reed and Eden? Where are they?”

  They better be safe inside the school.

  The tic in his jaw flickered. “Reed’s…fine. He’s been asking to see you.”

  “Eden?”

  He shook his head. “I’m sorry. She’s gone.”

  My heart pounded.

  Surely he didn’t mean gone gone. Right?

  “What do you mean?” When he didn’t answer right away my voice rose a few octaves. “Where did she go?” She hadn’t left the school since her soldier boy headed out on his doomed mission. I’d made sure of that. My stomach sank. “She didn’t go after Mike, did she?”

  I took his silence as an affirmative.

  Oh, crap. “I just knew she’d go and do something stupid like this. Love makes people crazy.”

  Dominic studied my face. “Yes, it does.”

  I eyed him warily and jumped to my feet. “I’m going after her.”

  “There’s no need. Corporal Ross is tracking both Eden and Grady as we speak. The two are traveling together.”

  I released a breath. If anyone could hunt down Eden, it was Darcy.

  Why the heck is my sister with that asshole redneck? “Are they close by?”

  He gave me a strange look. “You could say that.”

  As if waiting on cue, a mournful howl sounded in the distance. A heartbeat later, it was joined by another deeper-sounding howl.

  Wolves?

  Dominic stiffened, his hand coming to rest on the handle of one of his sheathed knives. For the first time, I realized he wasn’t wearing his tactical vest.

  Odd.

  I don’t think I’ve ever seen him without it. Not that I was complaining. His tight shirt did little to conceal his toned muscles. It took all my concentration to tear my gaze from his chest.

  He is a distraction you don’t need, I reminded myself.

  “Ross can take care of your sister and Grady. I’ll need you here helping with the move.”

  “Move?”

  “I’ve decided to relocate the safe house. It’s too dangerous and our location isn’t defensible.”

  My mouth fell open in shock.

  How many times had I begged him to move? Forty? Fifty?

  “What about your orders?”

  “Screw my orders.”

  “Whoa. Who are you and what have you done with Dominic?”

  He stood and closed the distance between us. “Someone helped me to see the light.”

  I had to crane my neck to look up at him. “Really?”

  “Yeah. She’s a real piece of work. Stubborn as hell. Reckless to a fault. And she can’t follow an order to save her life.”

  “Sounds like my kind of girl,” I said, my voice going husky.

  He grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips. “Mine too.”

  The feeling of his lips on my knuckles weakened my knees and my resolve. I could barely handle my reaction to the man when he ignored me. How could I resist him when he was looking at me as if I was the most precious thing in the world? “I really can’t handle this.”

  Did I just say that out loud? My face heated.

  He grinned. “You handled me just fine the other day.”

  “What other day? Dominic, you’re not making any sense.”

  He let out a heavy sigh.

  I pulled my hand away. “Look. I don’t have time for this. I’m going after my sister.”

  “Wait. I need to tell you about our last mission.”

  When he didn’t say anything for a minute, my frustration built. I planted my hands on my hips and glared up at him. “Well, spit it out already.”

  “You’re such a demanding little thing, you know that?”

  “So I’ve been told. Tell me what the hell is going on, Sergeant.”

  “Is that an order?” he said, cupping my chin.

  My heart rate sped up. “Yeah.”

  “The correct reply is yes, sir.”

  For some reason, his words heated my blood. “Yes, sir.”

  “Then let me jog your memory,” he said, his lips closing in on mine.

  THANKS FOR READING

  If you enjoyed this book please leave a review on Amazon or any other reader site or blog you frequent. As a new author it is tough getting reviews to attract new readers so every review is incredibly valuable.

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  HEAVEN IN HELL: EPISODE FIVE - Coming Fall 2017

  Hidden truths are unspoken lies…

  It's been three days since Lee woke with no memory of the events leading up to her near death. The safe house is under attack from a terrifying enemy and Lee is struggling to understand her new abilities and overwhelming craving for Dominic. Instead of providing answers, the sexy soldier keeps his distance allowing her friend Reed to launch a passionate bid to claim Lee for his own. With tension rising between them, the men join Lee on a dangerous mission to rescue an orphaned little girl from a fate worse than death.

  About the Author

  Dia wanted to be a writer from the time she could hold a pencil. A lover of science fiction, urban fantasy, horror, and paranormal romance, she writes action-packed stories featuring kick-butt heroines and the alpha male heroes who fall for them.

  Subscribe to Dia’s newsletter for giveaways and email updates on new releases.

  You can follow Dia on:

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  Books By Dia Cole

  Heaven Before Hell

  Heaven in Hell: Episode One

  Heaven in Hell: Episode Two

  Heaven in Hell: Episode Three

  Heaven in Hell: Episode Four

  Heaven in Hell: Box Set (Episodes 1-4)

  Lover in Hell

  Heaven in Hell: Episode Five - Coming Fall 2017

  Excerpt Lover in Hell

  1

  The creature watched me with unblinking glowing eyes.

  I crept toward it trying to ignore the rattling moans of the zombies outside the car repair shop. Two months ago, before the apocalypse hit, I might have curled into a fetal position at the sound.

  But not now.

  The cacophony of the dead harmonized with the drizzle of rain on the dust-covered skylight above me and became white noise. If not for the bone-chilling scrape of skeletal claws against the metal bay doors on my left, I could almost forget the monsters were there.

  But the monsters are always there.

  Even this far north of downtown Saguaro Valley, with only a few high-end businesses and a smattering of luxury homes nestled in the foothills, a handful of them had found us.

  The cat in front of me let out a rumbling growl.

  I froze, willing my eyes to see through the dim light.

  There. Next to the air compressor.

  I slowly reached for the small shape.

  “Eden, hurry. Your soldier is coming,” whispered a female voice.

  In a flash of movement, the cat darted away.

  I turned and glared at the small woman behind me. “Trish, I said you had to be quiet if you wanted to help.” I pushed my long dark hair out of my face. “And for the last time, Mike is not my soldier.”

  And he will never be.

  Trish was nineteen like me, but he
r pixie-like stature and the way she twirled her wooden spear around like a baton made her look much younger. “Then why do you look at him like he’s the last morsel of chocolate in the world?”

  My face heated. “I do not.”

  Do I?

  She grinned. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

  “Keep your voice down.” I furtively glanced around to see if the handsome Sergeant was in earshot.

  Thankfully, he was talking with Trish’s older brother, Jared, at the back of the warehouse-sized garage.

  Trish made a god-awful noise by scraping her tongue ring against her teeth. “I don’t get it. He’s interested in you. You’re interested in him. So, what’s the problem?”

  “I’m not interested,” I said much too quickly.

  She gave me a knowing look.

  My face warmed. So what if Mike’s possessive gaze heated my blood? There was no room in my life for dominating alpha male soldiers. If I was ever able to trust a man enough to get into a relationship, it would be with someone gentle and laid-back like my best friend, Reed.

  “So you’re saying he’s fair game?”

  For a moment I saw red. “Enough. Keep your eyes open, mouth shut, and be ready with this.” I tapped my foot against the pet carrier I never left the safe house without.

  She glared at me.

  Who cares what she thinks?

  She was my older sister’s friend not mine.

  More than likely Lee had her go on this mission to keep an eye on me.

  I gritted my teeth. My sister thought I needed protecting at all times.

  If she only paid attention, she’d see what I was capable of.

  Like the other civilians in the safe house, I trained for hours every day with Mike and the rest of his squad. The soldiers taught me everything I needed to know about defending myself from the undead. Dominic, the deadly knife-throwing sergeant who led our group, had even said my progress was impressive and he wasn’t a man who gave compliments lightly.

  I jogged in the direction the cat had run, past a slick-looking Porsche that sat high up on a car lift. A twitching tail near the front bumper of a pearl-colored BMW told me I was on the right track. The vehicle was up on a jack, a front tire missing. I pushed a tire iron out of the way and lay down on the ground. As I reached under the vehicle, I smelled a whiff of blood over the faint odor of motor oil.