“A joke! It was a joke. Shhh. Settle down, woman, or the tail will fall out.”
“Oh.” I rested my head on his thigh, one ear muffled. “You, sir, are a bastard.”
“Of course.” But he kept chuckling.
Sherlock Holmes had made a joke. My goodness.
I smiled to myself. I would scribble a note about this in his pretty columns of data when he wasn’t looking.
Mr. S. Holmes made a joke today.
I wondered how long it would take him to find it.
Tomorrow, probably. Hmmm.
I should hide all the hypodermic needles… just in case.
Kiss & Tell - Sneak Peek
Prologue
Salina
Being a mother changes your perspective on things. Things that once brought me shivers of exhilaration, are what terrify me the most now. I’d been born into a life of opulence but I had never truly lived. Locked away in a mansion until I turned eighteen, surrounded by my siblings and family only. Until him. Avi Shah had introduced me to life. He showed me a world that was no longer flat and colorless. There were hues of wonder and I believed that in every single shade, I’d discover a whole new world. Avi was all there was. The beginning of everything. But now, so much has changed. This life is no longer what I want to bring my son into. It wasn’t an arranged marriage like most people believe it was. I was entranced by him the moment I’d set eyes him. He was charming and charismatic and I was looking for adventure. I found it. Danger and disastrous situations were what drew me to Avi in the first place. I revelled in the darkness as much as he did. He awakened something in me, something I needed to extinguish.
Everything changed, the day I found out I was pregnant. What should have been the happiest day of my life, became the opposite. I gained a life inside me, but lost my husband. He wasn’t pleased at our news. He was outraged. He called it a betrayal. Avi became more distant, less interested me, or the baby. There was a darkness that cloaked the man he used to be. A darkness that continued to grow and fester. It terrified me, and so, I was left with no other choice.
I pull on a black cloak with a hood large enough to cover my face, almost completely, and my now swollen belly. The midwife had warned me against leaving the house at this late stage of pregnancy, but he’d offered me something Avi could never provide. Freedom and safety for both me and my baby.
He preferred to remain anonymous and I haven’t seen his face in all the months we’ve been communicating. The world my husband lives in is one of blood and betrayal and I cannot continue being a part of it, not with the responsibility of a child. I will remain the wife of a ruthless criminal until the end. I can’t not abandon him or the vows we took. But I have to protect my child, and he promised me that. I didn’t have the details, but any ounce of security at this point was sufficient.
It is cold when I reach the docks, a layer of mist makes it difficult to see the yachts that I know line the harbour. One of them my own, a gift from my husband on our first wedding Anniversary. I wrap my cloak tighter around me to keep the chill out. The short walk from the car left me feeling slightly out of breath. I feel a cramp in my pelvis but think nothing of it. I have at least two weeks to go before my son is born. I looks around the area, and then sit on a bench, far enough away from the main walkway to not be seen.
I feel him more than see him.
“Salina. Not even the darkness can shroud your beauty.” His voice sends shivers down my spine, not the welcome kind.
“What is it that I have to do?”
He sits next to me, so close, his coat and mine touch. I move an inch. “There is no need to be afraid.”
“What is it that I have to do?” I ask again, my teeth chattering slightly from the cold.
“It is simple.” He says casually. I don’t dare turn my head to see his face. It is said that once you do, you’ll never live long enough to tell the tale. “A life for a life, a soul for a soul, grant yours to mine, and his will be whole.”
“What does that mean?”
“Your life, Salina, your soul. If you offer to me, your son will live.”
“What is the catch?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” His laugh fills the air. I hold my belly, the ache is far too much to bear. “An answer.”
“You can have it, all of it, just save my son.”
I remember arms wrap around me.
I remember the darkness swallow me whole.
I remember the voice.
I remember the cold.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my wonderful beta readers Janine Peta, Emma Rose, and Louise Hallet.
Afterword
Find all my books on Amazon here
For some of my other dark scifi romances…
Try THE STEAMWORK CHRONICLES for a trilogy boxset of kinky (retro-scifi) steampunk romances, where airships rule the skies
Or for something darker, try the MACHINERY OF DESIRE BOXSET
About the Author
I love to hear from my readers.
If you enjoyed Clockwork Stalker, please consider leaving a review on Amazon or your favorite website.
Cari Silverwood is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling writer of kinky darkness or sometimes of dark kinkiness, depending on her moods and the amount of time she’s spent staring into the night. When others are writing bad men doing bad things, you may find her writing good men who accidentally on purpose fall into the abyss and come out with their morals twisted in knots.
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Dark Hearts Discussion Group
This is a link to my website where I list my books from light to dark
Also by Cari Silverwood
Beast Horde Trilogy
Vargr
Rutger
Cyn
Ruled – Dark Sci-fi romance
Condemned – Dark Reverse Harem Sci-fi Romance
Dark Monster Romance Boxset
(pansy-dark scifi romances – aka not really that dark)
Prey
Steel
Blade
Preyfinders Trilogy (kinky alien invasion scifi)
Preyfinders: The Trilogy boxset
Precious Sacrifice
Intimidator
Defiler
Preyfinders Universe
Cyberella – a spin-off from the Preyfinders series
The Machinery of Desire
(post-apocalyptic star wars-esque series with kink, and dubcon/ noncon)
Machinery of Desire – the complete boxset
Acquired Possession
Claimed Possession
Fated Possession – a novella first published in the Alien Alphas boxset
Branded Possession
Exquisite Possession
The Steamwork Chronicles Series
(similar to The Machinery of Desire series)
The Steamwork Chronicles Boxset – all three books in one volume
Iron Dominance
Lust Plague
Steel Dominance
Pierced Hearts Series
(contemporary BDSM and dubcon/ noncon series)
The Complete Pierced Hearts Boxset – all six books in one volume
Take me, Break me
Klaus – a novella
Bind and Keep me
Make me Yours Evermore
Seize me From Darkness
Yield
Dark Hearts Trilogy
(Dark Romances. Contemporary BDSM and dubcon/ noncon series)
Dark Hearts Boxset – contains Wicked Ways, Wicked Weapon, Wicked Hunt
Wicked Ways
Wicked Weapon
Wicked Hunt
Wolfe – a spin-off novel from the Dark Hearts trilogy
Used – an er
otic horror novella in the Dark Hearts world – NOT a romance
Mesmer – a Dark Contemporary Romance cowritten with Jennifer Bene and based on my Dark Hearts series
Squirm Files Series Boxset
(tentacle sex spoofs of erotic romance and monster stories)
Squirm – virgin captive of the billionaire biker tentacle monster
Strum – virgin captive of the billionaire demon rock star monster
The Well-hung Gun – virgin captive of the billionaire were-squid gunslinger monster
Cataclysm Blues
Cataclysm Blues
(A free kinky scifi novella)
Others
Nightmare Rising – a dark contemporary paranormal story cowritten with Nicolette Hugo
Rough Surrender – a BDSM-themed, historical romance set in Cairo in 1910
31 Flavors of Kink
My Romance Curse (romcom)
Santa with a K – A Naughty Xmas Fairy Tale
Fan Anonymous – a semi-autobiographical spoof
Blood Glyphs – a fantasy horror story
Magience series (epic fantasy with some eroticism)
Magience
Needle Rain
The Badass Brats Series
(contemporary BDSM romances with Mff)
The Dom with a Safeword
The Dom on the Naughty List
The Dom with the Perfect Brats
The Dom with the Clever Tongue
Clockwork Stalker: The Dirty Heroes Collection Page 19
