by W Winters
Breathless
Merciless Series Book 3
W Winters
Contents
Author’s Copyright
Also by W Winters
About
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
Sneak Peek at Endless
Prologue
Chapter 1
Also by W Winters
About W Winters
Author’s Copyright
Copyright © 2018 by Willow Winters All Rights Reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations within critical reviews and otherwise as permitted by copyright law.
NOTE: This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author's imagination.
Any resemblance to real life is purely coincidental. All characters in this story are 18 or older.
Copyright © 2018, Willow Winters Publishing. All rights reserved. willowwinterswrites.com
Also by W Winters
Read Willow’s sexiest and most talked about romances in the Merciless World
* * *
This Love Hurts Trilogy
This Love Hurts
But I Need You (October 2020)
And I Love You the Most (December 2020)
* * *
An epic tale of both betrayal and all-consuming love...
Marcus, the villain.
Cody Walsh, the FBI agent who knows too much.
And Delilah, the lawyer caught in between.
* * *
A Kiss to Tell (a standalone novel)
They lived on the same street and went to the same school, although he was a year ahead. Even so close, he was untouchable.
Sebastian was bad news and Chloe was the sad girl who didn’t belong.
Then one night changed everything.
* * *
Possessive (a standalone novel)
It was never love with Daniel Cross and she never thought it would be. It was only lust from a distance. Unrequited love maybe.
He’s a man Addison could never have, for so many reasons.
* * *
Merciless Saga
Merciless
Heartless
Breathless
Endless
* * *
Ruthless, crime family leader Carter Cross should’ve known Aria would ruin him the moment he saw her. Given to Carter to start a war; he was too eager to accept. But what he didn’t know was what Aria would do to him. He didn’t know that she would change everything.
* * *
All He’ll Ever Be (Merciless Series Collection of all 4 novels)
* * *
Irresistible Attraction Trilogy
A Single Glance
A Single Kiss
A Single Touch
* * *
Bethany is looking for answers and to find them she needs one of the brothers of an infamous crime family, Jase Cross.
Even a sizzling love affair won’t stop her from getting what she needs.
But Bethany soon comes to realise Jase will be her downfall, and she’s determined to be his just the same.
* * *
Irresistible Attraction (A Single Glance Trilogy Collection)
* * *
Hard to Love Series
Hard to Love
Desperate to Touch
Tempted to Kiss
Easy to Fall
* * *
Eight years ago she ran from him.
Laura should have known he'd come for her. Men like Seth King always get what they want.
Laura knows what Seth wants from her, and she knows it comes with a steep price.
However it’s a risk both of them will take.
* * *
Not My Heart to Break (Hard to Love Series Collection)
* * *
Tease Me Once (September 2021)
Tease me once... I'll kiss you twice.
Declan Cross' story from the Merciless World.
* * *
Spin off of the Merciless World
* * *
Love the Way Duet
Love the Way You Kiss Me (May 2021)
Love the Way You Hold Me (June 2021)
* * *
With everything I've been through, and the unfortunate way we met, the last thing I thought I'd be focused on is the fact that I love the way you kiss me.
* * *
Extended epilogues to the Merciless World Novels
A Kiss To Keep (more of Sebastian and Chloe)
Seductive (more of Daniel and Addison)
Effortless (more of Carter and Aria)
Never to End (more of Seth and Laura)
* * *
Sexy, thrilling with a touch of dark Standalone Novels
* * *
Broken (Standalone)
Kade is ruthless and cold hearted in the criminal world.
They gave Olivia to him. To break. To do as he’d like.
All because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But there are secrets that change everything. And once he has her, he’s never letting her go.
* * *
Forget Me Not (Standalone novel)
She loved a boy a long time ago. He helped her escape and she left him behind. Regret followed her every day after.
Jay, the boy she used to know, came back, a man. With a grip strong enough to keep her close and a look in his eyes that warned her to never dare leave him again.
It’s dark and twisted.
But that doesn’t make it any less of what it is.
A love story. Our love story.
* * *
It’s Our Secret (Standalone novel)
It was only a little lie. That’s how stories like these get started.
But with every lie Allison tells, Dean sees through it.
She didn't know what would happen. But with all the secrets and lies, she never thought she’d fall for him.
* * *
You Are Mine Series of Duets
* * *
You Are My Reason (You Are Mine Duet book 1)
You Are My Hope (You Are Mine Duet book 2)
Mason and Jules emotionally gripping romantic suspense duet.
One look and Jules was tempted; one taste, addicted.
No one is perfect, but that’s how it felt to be in Mason’s arms.
But will the sins of his past tear them apart?
* * *
You Know I Love You (November 2020)
You Know I Need You (December 2020)
Kat says goodbye to the one man she ever loved even though Evan begs her to trust him.
With secrets she couldn’t have possibly imagined, Kat is torn between what’s right and what was right for them.
* * *
Small Town Romance
* * *
Tequila Rose Book 1 (Feb 2021)
Autumn Night Whiskey Book 2 (March 2021)
He tasted like tequila and the fake name I gave him was Rose.
Four years ago, I decided to get over one man, by getting under anoth
er. A single night and nothing more.
Now, with a three-year-old in tow, the man I still dream about is staring at me from across the street in the town I grew up in. I don’t miss the flash of recognition, or the heat in his gaze.
The chemistry is still there, even after all these years.
I just hope the secrets and regrets don’t destroy our second chance before it’s even begun.
* * *
Contemporary Romance Standalones
* * *
Knocking Boots (A Novel)
They were never meant to be together.
Charlie is a bartender with noncommittal tendencies.
Grace is looking for the opposite. Commitment. Marriage. A baby.
* * *
Promise Me (A Novel)
She gave him her heart. Back when she thought they’d always be together.
Now Hunter is home and he wants Violet back.
* * *
Tell Me To Stay (A Novella)
He devoured her, and she did the same to him.
Until it all fell apart and Sophie ran as far away from Madox as she could.
After all, the two of them were never meant to be together?
* * *
Second Chance (A Novella)
No one knows what happened the night that forced them apart. No one can ever know.
But the moment Nathan locks his light blue eyes on Harlow again, she is ruined.
She never stood a chance.
* * *
Burned Promises (A Novella)
Derek made her a promise. And then he broke it. That’s what happens with your first love.
But Emma didn’t expect for Derek to fall back into her life and for her to fall back into his bed.
* * *
Valetti Crime Family Series:
A HOT mafia series to sink your teeth into.
* * *
Dirty Dom
Becca came to pay off a debt, but Dominic Valetti wanted more.
So he did what he’s always done, and took what he wanted.
* * *
His Hostage
Elle finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. The mafia doesn’t let witnesses simply walk away.
Regret has a name, and it’s Vincent Valetti.
* * *
Rough Touch
Ava is looking for revenge at any cost so long as she can remember the girl she used to be.
But she doesn’t expect Kane to show up and show her kindness that will break her.
* * *
Cuffed Kiss
Tommy Valetti is a thug, a mistake, and everything Tonya needs; the answers to numb the pain of her past.
* * *
Bad Boy
Anthony is the hitman for the Valetti familia, and damn good at what he does. They want men to talk, he makes them talk. They want men gone, bang - it’s done. It’s as simple as that.
Until Catherine.
* * *
Those Boys Are Trouble (Valetti Crime Family Collection)
* * *
Collections of shorts and novellas
* * *
Don’t Let Go
A collection of stories including:
Infatuation
Desires in the Night and Keeping Secrets
Bad Boy Next Door
* * *
Kisses and Wishes
A collection of holiday stories including:
One Holiday Wish
Collared for Christmas
Stolen Mistletoe Kisses
* * *
All I Want is a Kiss (A Holiday short)
Olivia thought fleeting weekends would be enough and it always was, until the distance threatened to tear her and Nicholas apart for good.
* * *
Highest Bidder Series:
* * *
Bought
Sold
Owned
Given
From USA Today best selling authors, Willow Winters and Lauren Landish, comes a sexy and forbidden series of standalone romances.
* * *
Bad Boy Standalones, cowritten with Lauren Landish:
* * *
Inked
Tempted
Mr. CEO
Three novels featuring sexy powerful heroes.
Three romances that are just as swoon-worthy as they are tempting.
* * *
Forsaken, (A Dark Romance cowritten with B. B. Hamel)
Grace is stolen and gifted to him; Geo a dominating, brutal and a cold hearted killer.
However, with each gentle touch and act of kindness that lures her closer to him, Grace is finding it impossible to remember why she should fight him.
* * *
View Willow’s entire collection and full reading order at willowwinterswrites.com/reading-order
* * *
Happy reading and best wishes,
W Winters xx
About
Breathless
Book 3
* * *
Her lips tasted like Cabernet and her touch was like fire.
I was blinded by what she did to me. I so easily fell for something I thought I’d never have.
* * *
I was weak for her and should have known better. I should have known she could never love a man like me.
* * *
She brought out a side of me that I wish had stayed dead.
* * *
I won’t make the same mistake twice.
I don’t care how much she begs me.
I don’t care that I crave her more than anything else...
* * *
This is book 3 in the Merciless series. It picks up right where book 2, Heartless, left off. They must be read in order.
Dedicated to Bethany.
* * *
Thank you for reading my cards.
And everything that came with it.
xoxo
* * *
A special thanks to my editing team and betas who make my books what they are.
Donna, Chris, Becca, Teresa, Katie, TJ, and Sophie – I couldn’t do this without you.
#TeamWillow
Chapter 1
Carter
* * *
It’s been a long time since someone has dared try to kill me in my own home.
Even longer since someone has pointed a gun at me and lived to tell the tale.
I can barely hear a damn thing due to the ringing in my ears. I’ve waited for this moment, but this isn’t how I thought it would go.
She loves me, I remind myself. She fucking loves me. I know she does.
Aria’s face is flushed, and her hand trembles as she fights to hold the gun steady.
I take one step toward her and she cocks it. The click fills the room. Whatever remaining semblance of a heart I had shatters in my chest, the small shards shooting waves of pain through my body.
The sick grin on my face wanes even as I struggle to hold it in place, focusing on those gorgeous hazel eyes. Eyes that drew me to her, that begged me for mercy, that made me feel more than I’ve felt in years.
Eyes that fooled me.
“Drop your guns,” Aria demands, her voice shaky but clear and loud regardless. It’s fucking insane that in this moment she strikes me as utterly gorgeous. In her strength, she’s at her most beautiful.
“Drop them!” she calls out more strongly and the gun wavers. It’s obvious she’s never held one before, or at the very least, never fired one.
Yet, she’s pointing it at me. It could go off accidentally, killing me. Would she regret it? I question and feel a strong tug in my chest. A well of emotion threatens to break my composure. Every inch of skin is numb as I stare at the barrel, feeling everything crumble around me.
