by G. Bailey
“It did, I’m still in shock I think,” I say and he laughs. His phone goes off and he gives it to me. I answer it, seeing that’s it’s an unknown number.
“Hey it’s Annie. There’s a problem at the club, we need you,” Annie says in a rushed tone and then the phone goes dead. What the hell?
“Who was it?” Kaiden asks as I scroll through his phone and find Annie’s number. I call her and there’s no answer.
“That was Annie saying there’s a problem at the club,” I say and he looks at me in confusion as we stop at some red lights. Todd’s car with Andre and Dominic in it, are way ahead of us now.
“She shouldn’t be there. It’s Tuesday and the club isn’t open.” Kaiden says as he pulls up on the side of the road after the lights turn green and he turns the car around.
“Send a text to Todd, letting him know where we are going and to come to the club. I don’t like it. Would you stay in the car when we get there?” Kaiden asks me.
“No, we go in together,” I say and he sighs. I’m sure it’s just a water or electric problem. I text Andre and sit back, rubbing my stomach as my little girl kicks away. Kaiden pulls up outside the club about twenty minutes later, I wait as he comes around the car and helps me out. It’s gotten hard to get out of the car with how big my stomach is now. Kaiden holds my hand as he unlocks the club and we walk in. Why would Annie be in a locked club?
“I don’t like this. Why would she lock it?” I ask Kaiden, he nods with a frown. I’m sure he’s thinking the same thing. We walk down the steps and right in the middle of the stage is Annie, strapped to a chair and standing next to her is Drew. Annie is passed out, blood trickling from her forehead onto the stage.
“Ellie, it’s about time you came. You’re just in time for the fun,” he says with a smirk. Everything seems to slow down as he lifts the gun in his hand and aims it at us. Kaiden pushes me out of the way, just as I hear a bang. I slide across the floor, slamming onto my side.
“Ahh,” I scream out when I feel a tightening pain around my stomach, just seconds before I feel my legs getting wet. Holy ducks, my waters have gone. I pull myself up into a sitting position, seeing Kaiden on the floor next to me, his lower stomach is bleeding. He pushed me out of the way to save me. I stand up shakily and walk over to him, holding my stomach and feeling more water pouring down my legs. I can’t focus on anything other than Kaiden, unconscious and bleeding on the floor. This can’t be happening.
“Time for us to leave,” Drew snaps next to me as I finally get to Kaiden and press my fingers to his neck. I feel a pulse and he moves a little. I scream when Drew lifts me up from behind and another contraction rips though my stomach.
“Put me down, you asshole,” I mutter and he laughs as he hold my arm tightly in his grip. I struggle to stand and his hand grips my upper arm harder as I bite my lip to stop myself screaming from the pain. The smell of smoke is the first thing I notice as he walks us away from Kaiden and towards the stairs out of the club. I glance behind us, seeing the flames on the stage behind Annie and she’s struggling to get out of her chair as her panicked filled eyes meet mine. At least she is awake now.
“No, don’t do this. Please don’t,” I beg Drew and he only laughs as I struggle to get his hand off my arm as he pulls me along.
“I suggest you put our girl down before I beat the shit out of you,” Andre’s voice says in front of us. I glance up the stairs to see him, Todd and Dominic standing at the door.
Drew only laughs as a response as he pulls the gun out of his pocket. I grab it and he doesn’t expect it. I pull the trigger as we both hold it and the bullet hits his foot. He lets me go as he screams out in pain and I step backwards, watching as he drops the gun and falls to the floor. Another contraction takes over and I start to feel a pressure to push as I cry out in pain. Holy ducks, not now.
“Ellie, it’s okay. I called the police and I’m taking you to the hospital, we don’t have time to wait,” Dominic says as he picks me up in a fire mans hold. I hold my stomach tightly as I focus on breathing for a second.
“Kaiden and Annie are in there,” I say and he nods.
“Todd is getting them,” he says. As we walk up the steps, Andre is punching Drew, who looks unconscious. He needs to help Todd.
“Andre, stop,” Dominic says stopping next to them and he does, straightening up and looking at me in worry. Andre rests a hand on my bump.
“The baby is coming and Kaiden has been shot, Todd won’t be able to get them both out. Go please.” I say, holding my stomach and he kisses my cheek before rushing back into the club. The cold air washes over my face as we step outside and Dominic puts me into the seat of his car and shuts the door.
I glance back at the club and pray that Kaiden is okay. I can’t do this without him.
Author’s Note
Hello and thank you for reading Strip for Me (Part Four).
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Please keep reading for a small excerpt from Accacia’s Curse by Bea Paige…
As soon as I get home, I lock all the doors and windows and pour myself a large glass of red wine. I gulp it down and pour another, this time sipping it slowly. My heart feels as though it is about to explode from my chest and I’m shaking so badly that I must make myself take deep breaths. As soon as I am able, I call Pat, the lab manager and tell her what happened. I miss out the man coming to my rescue part and just say that, eventually, Roland had a change of heart and let me go. She promises to bring this to the attention of human resources and the board of trustees in the morning then hangs up. I am tempted to call the police, but figure I should wait to see what happens at work first. Besides, police mean questions and questions could lead to me telling them about the man. For some reason, I don’t want to draw attention to that part.
I glance at my wristwatch, it’s half-past nine. I’ve missed my favourite soaps on TV and I am not at all hungry. Deciding a long soak in the bath is what I need the most, I head upstairs to the bathroom.
Frothy bubbles form on the surface of the water as the bath fills. I remove my watch, placing it on the vanity unit. It is only then that I notice the ring on my finger. I can’t believe I’d forgotten about it. I try to pull it off, but my attempts are halted when a burning pain sears my skin at the attempt. “What the hell is this?” I say out loud. My scientific brain kicking in, I peer more closely at the ring. When it had first appeared on my finger, I could have sworn that red, cursive, writing appeared across its surface. Now there was nothing. It was just a plain gold band about quarter of an inch thick. It looked old, the gold faded and scratched. I couldn’t understand why it was on my finger, and more to the point, why I couldn’t take it off. Giving it one last yank and finding myself with more agony, I decide to ease myself down into the bath instead. Perhaps the water would help me slide it off my finger.
I must have nodded off to sleep because when I awake the water has gone cold and the bubbles have mostly dispersed. Telling myself off for falling asleep in a bath, I get out and grab a warm towel form the rail and dry myself thoroughly. Then I wipe the mirror so I can take the days make-up off. Despite my awful condition, I cannot deny that I have been blessed with beautiful, flawless skin, even if that skin turns into painful blisters the moment the sun touches it. I suppose it is both a blessing and a curse. More curse, than blessing though. My mother used to call it alabaster, and I suppose it is. I’m very pale, not being able to go out
in the sun has that affect funnily enough. My straight hair is naturally long and black, making me look paler still. My eyes are a dark brown and currently lined with smudged mascara. My only saving grace are my lips. I’ve never had any need to wear lipstick as they are naturally a bright red. Kissable lips, my mother used to say. Sadly, for me, the only kissing lately has been unwanted. The thought of what Roland might have done had that man not come along makes me shudder. I’ve had very few relationships, most not lasting longer than a few weeks. All the men I’ve dated in the past dumped me the moment they found out I didn’t like to go out during the day. It wasn’t much fun spending all day inside when you lived by the coast, especially during summer. They also had an issue with the fact that I was a workaholic. Most of the time, once they’d got what they wanted from me, I was pretty much old news anyway. They’d all been deadbeats in one way or another.
Picking up the toner and cotton wool, I remove the last of the mascara then smear my face in cream. Even though I am the wrong side of twenty-five, I don’t look much older than twenty. No sun equals no lines. I try once again to remove the ring, but get another burning pain for my effort, so I give up resolving to try to figure out what to do about it in the morning.
I head into bed, not bothering to put any nightclothes on and drift off into a fitful sleep…
A warm hand strokes down my arm as my eyes flutter open. Sitting on the bed next to me is the man from the carpark. He smiles. “Are you feeling better?” he asks. I nod my head suddenly unable to speak. “I am glad of it. You won’t have any problems with that man anymore. I made sure he will never touch you again.” I hear the words he is saying but find myself completely distracted by the fact that he is still caressing my arm. His touch is doing strange things to my imagination, and my body, as my skin tingles pleasantly under his touch. I find my mind wandering to where I’d like his touch next.
His eyes darken as an involuntary moan slips from my mouth. I turn my head towards the side pressing my face into the pillow. I can feel his gaze on my neck, and the faint sound of warning bells ring in my head. I wonder why I feel the need to bare my neck to him, wonder why part of me is afraid whilst the rest is desperate for more than his touch.
“Accacia, don’t do that,” he whispers. The warmth of his hand is removed, and I feel bereft.
“Wait,” I say, grabbing onto his arm. “Don’t go.” I don’t know why I am asking a stranger to remain in my bedroom, or why his touch has such a profound effect on me. Then I realise I must be sleeping and relax into the dream, content that the only danger is my imagination, and right now I’m enjoying every bit of it.
He considers me for a moment, but he doesn’t place his hand back on my bare skin even though I want nothing more than for him to do so.
“I came to see if you were ok, that is all. I need nothing else from you right now,” he says running a shaking hand through his hair. I sense his need to leave, but I don’t want him to go. I sit up in bed and reach out to him, my hand pressing against his cheek. “Stay,” I whisper.
His eyes trail over my body and I realise that my duvet has slipped down revealing my breasts to him. “I cannot,” he says, standing abruptly. I know he wants to, I can tell by the way he is devouring me with his eyes.
I surprise myself when I trail a hand over my breast, cupping it gently. His eyes darken, and I can see his body sway, unsure now. “Stay,” I say, as I slide a finger over my hardened nipple.
He seems to shake himself, and I am not certain who is in a trance, him or me. “I cannot.” He raises his hand and before I know what is happening, I am falling back onto the pillow my eyes closing once again.
I wake with a start, sitting up in bed. My breathing is heavy, laboured, and I feel strangely tense as though I am on the verge of something. A tiny moan escapes my lips as the full force of the dream comes back to me. I realise what it is that I need and I feel my face heat at the thought. The fact that I was dreaming of that strange man has me feeling all out of sorts. I mean, he was terrifying, and handsome. “I need a coffee,” I say to myself shaking those thoughts aside.
Stepping out of bed, I see daylight trail through the curtains and realise I have overslept. It’s just as well Pat gave me the day off to get over my ordeal. Tomorrow is the weekend so I have three lonely days to looked forward to, trapped in these four walls. Great.
Trying to be positive, I think about all the research I can do and resolve to get myself out of this brewing funk before it incapacitates me entirely. In the past I’ve been so miserable that depression has kept me in bed for days on end. Those days were the hardest. But not today, despite it all I won’t allow the depression to swallow me. I had direction now, I was determined to find a cure. In three years, I would turn thirty and there was no way I was going to remain trapped like this, not if I could help it.
It is surprisingly bright for a winter’s day, and I do my best to avoid the stream of light peeking through the curtains. I stand in front of it ruminating on how I should pass and decide
to just go for it. The sunlight catches the skin on my bare shoulder burning me there. “Bugger,” I say, covering up my nakedness and newly forming blister with a robe. Looks like I am staying put today, at least until after dark.
Heading downstairs I see Mr Tickle, my Burmese cat, run straight up the stairs like he’s just seen the devil himself, “What’s up Mr Tickle?” I call, but he’s already headed into my bedroom and under my bed. I’ll deal with him later, coffee first.
Since I inherited this house from my mother I’ve had some adaptations, funds permitting, to help me live better with my condition. My kitchen is a large, open plan space with floor to ceiling windows. Great if you loved the sun, not so great if the sun was trying to kill you. After my first real close call as a child, I was banned from coming into the kitchen until it was after dark. Now I have remote controlled blinds that close the moment dawn breaks and open again once the sky is dark. They work so well that I must turn the kitchen light on the moment I open the door otherwise it’s pitch black.
Grabbing this morning’s paper from the mat by the front door I push my bum against the kitchen door and flick the light switch on. I head straight for the pot of coffee percolating on the work top and pour myself a cup. I like it strong and black, no sugar.
“Good morning, Accacia,” I hear behind me.
I spin around, the fright causing me to drop both the cup and the jug of coffee on the floor. They shatter splashing hot coffee up my bare legs. It burns.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” I say, before losing my balance, the pain of the coffee burn making me feel dizzy.
The man from last night, the man from dreams, is by my side in an instant scooping me up into his arms. “Whoa, take it easy,” he says.
I consider his sapphire eyes, then pass out.
About Accacia’s Curse
Born with a rare blood disorder that means she cannot go out in daylight, Accacia has learned to live in the dark, even if it has been incredibly lonely. Determined to find a cure that will finally allow her to walk in the sun, Accacia has spent her days and nights holed up in her laboratory doing just that.
After a freak encounter with a tall, dark and ridiculously handsome stranger, Accacia might just have found her cure, but not in the way she expected. Drawn into a parallel world of paranormal creatures and a Queen who wants her dead, Accacia has to put her trust in three vampires who, seemingly, want to devour her in more ways than one.
Accacia's Curse is book one of the Sister of Hex - reverse harem series. The first three books will follow Accacia and her vampire suitors; Rhain, Ezra, and Devin.
Buy Accacia’s Curse
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