The news broadcast was a local one. Gloria Styles stared into the screen, her expression intense as always. She was a piece of work, hired more for her breast size and tiny waist than anything else.
“This just in,” Gloria stated in a voice reserved for terrible news. “An urgent manhunt is now underway. Authorities say there may be a serial killer on the loose. According to police, several murders have now been connected, and there may be more. Let’s go to Paul Wesley on the scene at San Francisco General where he’s waiting with the latest update.”
How did they know? She hadn’t even finished up her last report. The image switched to Paul Wesley, a similarly plastic individual. He reminded her of a living Ken doll shoved in a designer suit. He smiled for the camera, flashing his bleached teeth in a grin which had always rubbed her the wrong way.
“Thanks, Gloria,” Paul said. “Paul Wesley here outside San Francisco General where a dispatcher from Swift Fleet, the rapid response private ambulance center, was brought in after being struck by a car shortly after receiving a call from a man who called himself…Simple Simon.”
Paul paused for theatrics and drew out the name for dramatic effect. Didn’t he know that would cause more panic on the streets? He would cause mass hysteria if someone didn’t shut him up.
“Police say the dispatcher, whose name has not been revealed, told detectives the caller whistled the children’s nursery rhyme ‘Ring around the Rosy’ before laughing and confessing to having killed multiple people.”
Sally brought her hand to her face and gasped, remembering the nursery rhyme inked on Ally Winter’s incredible 3D tattoo. The final phrase had been scrawled across the wall of her exam room. We all fall down. If that wasn’t a threat…but for whom? Her or Bruce? She wasn’t a woman who collected enemies. Sadly, that thought had her feeling terribly guilty because whoever Bruce had angered, he hadn’t deserved to die such a horrible death.
She gripped Derek’s arm. “This is bad. This is very bad.” She twisted around. “I need my phone. I have to make a call.”
Karl and Warren exchanged looks, arching their brows.
“What’s up Miss Sally?” Karl asked. “You don’t look so good.”
“You look a little pale, actually,” Warren added.
Indeed, she felt light-headed and shaky.
“Sally?” Derek’s deep rumble flowed around her, and he tugged her deeper into his embrace. “Do you need to sit down?”
On the tablet, the screen cut to a shot of yellow crime scene tape blocking off a dark alley where passersby were trying to get a peek inside.
Paul’s voice continued. “A source has told News 9 that the killer has been mutilating the bodies. Placing food items into the wounds of the victims. Police will not confirm that allegation, saying they cannot comment on an ongoing investigation, but the Police Chief did give a statement urging the public to be vigilant about personal safety.” Paul leaned into the camera. “Simple Simon met a pie man,” he said. “Is this an odd coincidence or a twisted take on a beloved toddler’s tale? This is Paul Wesley reporting for News 9. Back to you Gloria.”
“I need my phone,” she said with more urgency.
“What’s going on?” Warren asked.
Karl stared at her, and even Justine rose from her place on the floor. Ellen came over from the submissives’ lounge, her eyes questioning Sally’s agitation.
“I don’t know what I can and can’t say.” She made it a general practice not to spread suspicion and rumor, unlike plastic Ken-Doll, Paul Wesley, who kept running at the mouth. “Except,” she continued, “that newscaster knows way more than he should. I really need to speak with Mac. That alley looks familiar.” It looked like the one described in the on-scene report. “I’d have to double-check to be sure, but…” She gripped Derek’s arm, needing to feel his strength. “I’m scared, Derek. I’m really scared.”
Derek folded her into his arms, surrounding her within his protective embrace. “There’s no reason to be scared, love. I’m here. I’ll never let anything happen to you, even if it means keeping you in this dungeon forever.”
His words were spoken with such conviction she couldn’t help but believe they were true. Sally curled into him, while he soothed and reassured her of his love. She snuggled into his warmth, believing he would keep her safe.
For now, he wouldn’t make her a collared slave, but she had become something wonderful and special along the way. The road to becoming his would be a long, but rewarding one, and she was determined to see where their journey led.
“I love you,” she said, saying it with all of her soul.
He tugged her close. “I know.”
<<< END >>>
Learning to Breathe: A Collective Novel
Publisher: JEM Publishing, LLC
Released May 2017
Books2read.com/LearningtoBreathe
Blurb: A Contemporary Romantic Suspense/Thriller...
WORK. EAT. SLEEP. REPEAT.
Since her husband’s death, Sally Levenson’s life has become dull and monotonous. She’s the county Coroner, and while the dead reveal their secrets on the exam table, she hides from the living. But hiding isn’t working anymore. Sally is trapped in a bland, colorless existence. She can't breathe! She's suffocating and wants more, whatever that might be.
When the dark and mysterious Derek LeMark enters her world, he opens doors to new possibilities, reveals dark desires, and challenges her to take a second chance on life. He dares her to breathe again, and promises...more. But what he offers comes at a price.
Sally must choose: take the next step, or speak the one word which will end everything before it even begins.
Twist of Fate
Publisher: JEM Publishing, LLC
Released February 2017
Books2read.com/TwistofFate
Blurb: A Contemporary Romantic Suspense/Thriller...
Melissa is a victim, capable of attracting only the worst kind of man. She seeks redemption for crimes she did not commit.
CJ struggles to absolve himself of an unforgivable act. He seeks salvation through heroism, but fails every day.
Our prince, a man with the blackest of hearts and an endless capacity to inflict pain, seeks validation for his work. His corruption is absolute, but even he will sacrifice for love.
Meanwhile, a man of pure evil invades their lives, weaving his sinister threads and binding their futures.
But Fate has different plans for them all. As tornados tear through the town, their lives will be uprooted, twisted, and tangled beyond what any of them could foresee.
Sensual Secrets: Not Your Mother’s Coffee Table Book
Publisher: JEM Publishing, LLC
Released November 2016
Available in paperback and hardback: http://www.blurb.com/b/7438139
And as an ebook:
Books2read.com/SensualSecrets
Blurb: This isn't a novel...it's not a book of poems...it's something MAGNIFICENT!
Enter a world of luscious thoughts and decadent desires. Within these pages you will find a momentary escape from the real world as you sink into a sensuous reality, where fact and fiction combine to sweep you away in an unadulterated fantasy.
Why is it called "Not Your Mother's Coffee Table Book?”
Because, the stories and images inside this book are not fit for younger eyes. They are however, meant to inspire your imagination; to take you on a sensual journey into "what if" and "what may be." It's a key to the discovery of the soul, a path less taken, a road you will want to travel again and again. It's something to share with your lover. You'll want to keep it close at hand. Under your pillow might just be the perfect place!
The concept for SENSUAL SECRETS: Not Your Mother's Coffee Table Book came to me in the Fall of 2016. I enjoy writing erotic shorts, snippets of stories, kernels of revelation, simple moments where we can dip our toes into another place, a sensual realm where we can dream and play. Sensual Secrets is a compilation of my sinful sho
rts, passionate poems, and sexy short stories written this past year, all bundled into a visual feast for your enjoyment.
Ashes to New: an Angel Fire Rock Romance Prequel
Publisher: JEM Publishing, LLC
Released October 2016
books2read.com/AshestoNew
Blurb: Ashes to New, prequel to Heart's Insanity: An Angel Fire Rock Romance, is not a romance. It's a story about the fiercest kind of love. It's about enduring. Surviving. And never giving up.
Elsbeth and Forest are two teenagers trapped within an abusive foster home. They endure horrible abuse, but find there is light in the darkest places. And hope is as limitless as the summer sky. All they need is the love of one another to survive.
Heart’s Insanity: An Angel Fire Rock Romance
Publisher: JEM Publishing, LLC
Released August 2016
books2read.com/HeartsInsanity
Blurb: Skye Summers endured a tragic past. She wants what the past stole, and despite lingering scars, she’s surviving and thriving. Now she cures the sick, heals the wounded, and takes care of those clinging to life. The only person she can’t heal is herself, because Skye is too broken for love.
Ash Dean has it all: Fame, fortune, and the adoration of screaming fans. The constant parties, drugs, alcohol, and an endless string of one-night stands are taking their toll. He gives and his fans take, until he’s lost within the crowd. He wants someone to see him for the man he wishes to be rather than the one he’s become.
One fate…
Two lives…
Three Days…
No sex.
That’s the proposition…
It would be insane to accept and Skye’s a fool to agree, but she’s tired of playing it safe.
It’s time to take a leap of faith, besides what could go wrong?
Changing Roles
Publisher: Loose Id
Released March 2016
Books2read.com/ChangingRoles
Blurb: Kate Summers’s career on the Police Force came to an implosive end when the Mayor’s wife exposed her secret life as the Mistress of Pain. Kate lost not only her detective’s badge, but something much more valuable. She lost her confidence as a Mistress of men.
She now scrapes by as a private investigator, feeding off the misery of others. When the Mayor and his wife ask her to investigate the murder of their daughter, Kate faces a difficult decision. To follow the leads, she must reenter the world that destroyed her career and go undercover as a submissive to a noted Dom. Only Kate swore she’d never endure the submissive role again.
Yet Jake Davenport is the one dominant fearless enough to not only challenge her rules, but break them. While accepting her new role and the erotic thrill it brings her is difficult enough, Jake’s complicated past raises many questions. As her investigation progresses, the man she’s fallen in love with might just be her number one suspect.
Sample Chapters follow…
Off Duty
OFF DUTY
By Ellie Masters and Lucas X Black
Chapter I
Laura
The call came in two hours before my shift ended. The situation sounded bad, a five-year-old fell from a climber at a local playground. Keith and Tom, our best critical care transport team, took the call. It was wrong that I looked forward to their arrival. I’d snuck glances at Keith since I’d been hired into this position. But I was the attending trauma doctor and Keith was a paramedic. In our line of work, we were worlds apart.
Years of experience told me what to expect. I pushed thoughts of Keith aside, and grabbed Tim Sanders, one of the pediatric emergency fellows, to join me. When I had been in his shoes, no one had taken the time to teach me this part of the job. Books taught about disease and how to cure it. Clerkships, residencies, and fellowships honed our skills in patching together the worst the world threw at hapless victims. But this? No one taught us how to deal with what was about to come through that door.
Two minutes out and my trauma team was ready. Tim looked too eager, bouncing on the balls of his feet, probably thinking about all the procedures he’d get to do.
Time to reel him in. “Tim!” My sharp voice cut through the ordered chaos of a waiting trauma bay.
“Yes, Dr. Peters?”
“Five-year-old, witnessed fall. Top priorities? Go!”
The bouncing stopped. Every case was a learning opportunity in my world. “Airway, breathing, circulation.”
“Obvious. Then what?”
“Secondary injuries.” He ran through our standard barrage of tests.
“The kid fell. What do we need to be most concerned about?”
My first year fellow stared blankly. The wheels in his head were spinning.
“You don’t have time to think,” I snapped. He flinched at the bite of my words, but I had no patience for those not at the top of their game.
Nancy, our senior trauma nurse pointed at her head, pantomiming head trauma, trying to give the poor guy a clue.
“Cervical spine immobilization?” Tim asked.
In the world of trauma there was no room to question the next move. “Wrong,” I snapped again, losing my patience. “Head CT. Think subdural, epidural bleeds, and brain swelling. Call your specialists the moment you get this kind of call. Think about the mechanism of trauma and pre-plan the next step.” I’d alerted the neurosurgeons to be on standby. Radiology already had the CT scanner waiting. This wasn’t my first rodeo.
Sirens sounded outside, announcing the arrival of our patient. My team surged forward.
Keith and Tom off-loaded the stretcher, a tiny body lay on the adult-sized bed. Tom squeezed a self-inflating bag, breathing for the child and rattled off vital signs to Tim.
My mouth gaped as Keith straddled the small form, squatting on the stretcher while he pushed on the child’s tiny chest, performing CPR. We’d never really spoken, but his eyes cut to mine, a simmering sadness reaching out to me. In that look, he told me all I needed to know. This wasn’t one we’d be saving. I stepped aside, my gaze zeroing in on the mother climbing out of the ambulance looking scared, lost, and traumatized.
I gave Nancy a jerk of my chin, and without words she understood. Nancy flagged down Janice, a junior nurse, to join me.
I offered my hand to the mother. “Hello, my name is Dr. Peters, I’m the trauma attending and I am going to do everything I can for your child.”
The woman sobbed. “Thank you. My husband will be here soon.”
I put a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “What’s your son’s name?” First lesson, knowing patient’s names showed the family I cared, their loved one wasn’t some nameless diagnosis to me. Names had immense power.
She looked at me, red-rimmed eyes swelling. “Caleb. His name is Caleb.”
“This is Janice,” I introduced Janice. “She will explain what is happening. I’m going to take care of Caleb. Janice will take you where you can see everything we’re doing for Caleb.”
Except everything wasn’t possible. Caleb returned from the CT scanner, the results the worst I’d ever seen, a large bleed and his brain was swelling. The neurosurgeons didn’t have any options. Caleb’s heart stopped beating coming out of radiology. We brought him back, stabilizing him, but his heart showed signs of slowing again. It was time.
“Tim, we need to talk with them.”
I explained my process. How I set up the room, the words I used. How I looked parents in the eye to deliver bad news, telling the truth. I told him the importance of using names, of not using too much medical lingo, but speaking clearly, allowing for silence to stretch—sometimes for as long as it needed to. I told him not to forget to bring in tissues. I even admitted I usually cried, and to expect I would this time too.
“Um…Dr. Peters,” he said, “I’m not really comfortable talking to parents.”
“No one is, but we’re going to go in there and do it as best we can. This is their son.”
Caleb’s father looked at the clock. “Ther
e’s nothing you can do?” He hadn’t taken his eyes from the clock since I delivered the bad news. He couldn’t look me in the eye.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry, no.”
His mother stroked Caleb’s head, her crying stopped for now. “Is he in pain?”
Another shake of my head. “No.”
“Can I hold him?” Her voice pulled at me, a mother needing to provide comfort.
“Of course you can.”
“I don’t want him hooked up to tubes.” The man hugged his wife, who gave him a nod, some deep communication passed between them.
I sensed something happening.
Tears pooled at the corners of his eyes. “Do you think there’s any possibility he’ll survive?”
For the third time, I shook my head.
Her husband stood, pulling his gaze from the clock. “We want to take him off life support…to die a natural death. We discussed…” He cleared his throat, then continued. “If possible, we’d like to donate Caleb’s organs so another child can live. Can we do this?”
They both looked expectantly at me.
I grabbed the box of Kleenex and pulled out a wad, dabbing at the tears in my eyes. “Yes, yes of course. And you can definitely hold Caleb.”
“Thank you,” the wife said. She grabbed a piece of paper from her purse and scribbled a note. Her hands shook. “Is it possible to give this to—to…” She pulled Caleb into her arms and broke down crying.
I found Dr. Sheldon, the transplant surgeon, at the end of my shift, staying over to find out if they’d found a recipient for Caleb’s organs. To my surprise, a child in our hospital was a match.
Becoming His, Learning to Breathe: Part Two - The Collective - Season 1, Episode 8 Page 22
