Fifteen years ago thirty men, women, and children, were found in a
small California field. Now the only seven survivors are dying one by one.
Rachel Alton returned to Whitten’s Grove for one reason, to prevent a massacre. Her attendance at the local wedding of two of her
best friends was just for fun. She never expected her reaction to seeing Ben
Mitchell again. Without warning, he awakens her dormant heart, giving her hope
for the future and she struggles to turn away.
The clock is ticking, and as Rachel alone fights against the
inevitable, but when forces from beyond throw Ben into the middle of the fight,
will she walk away, or sacrifice herself to prevent a tragedy from happening
twice?
Excerpt
Sensing Ben’s
approach, Rachel glanced back, looking for Emily, and found her preoccupied by
Aisha and Ryan on the other side of the lake.
She took another deep cleansing breath, trying
to calm the foreign butterflies in her stomach. Being near him had awakened a
part of her she thought had disappeared long ago. The problem, her life, plain and simple. Over the years, she had
convinced herself ‘wants’ were unreasonable and now she wondered if she wanted more than a
cup of Starbucks to look forward to in the wee hours of the morning.
“Mind if I
join you?”
“Be my guest,”
Rachel covered her eyes from the sun. “Is that for me?”
Ben handed
her a sweating bottle of water before taking a seat next to her. “Yep.”
“Thanks, I
was feeling a little parched. I forgot how beautiful it is here.” His focus was
on the lake and she wondered what he was thinking.
“Yeah, so
beautiful, I could fall asleep.”
“See what happens when you
relax, but I guess relaxing might be a new concept, huh?”
“I relax.”
“Yeah, when?”
Rachel challenged with a grin. “When was the last time you were so relaxed you
fell asleep in a field?”
“Well, maybe
not in a field.” His face lit up with a broad smile “But I go for jogs on the
beach and the occasional midnight movie.”
“Not relaxing, preoccupation.
When was the last time you were able to let go of your day, your worries and
your work. Sit back and relax.” His gaze settled on her and she shifted,
feeling heat rising to her cheeks.
“I guess it’s
been a while.”
“Yeah, well,
I’m just as guilty,” she smirked with a shrug of her shoulders. “There just
seems to be no time, everything else it too important.”
“That’s the point, isn’t it?”
Ben gently pushed back. “Places like these are here to remind us what is
important, right? There are always excuses for not taking time to take care and
relax, to spend time with our friends and family, but when it’s all said and
done, they are the only ones who are left behind. If we lose them now, we will
have nothing in the end.”
Rachel
stared at him for a long while, a small smile creeping upon her lips. “Wow,
Mitchell, you got all deep and stuff. That was, like, amazing,” Rachel said in her best valley girl accent,
making him laugh aloud.
“Are you
laughing at me?”
She laughed
harder and he grabbed her by the waist, pulling her down into the grass. He
tickled her and she squealed. She squirmed in delight against him and quickly
grabbed his hands, holding them above her chest.
“Still
ticklish, I see.”
His hands
intertwined effortlessly with hers. “You always were the only one who could
tickle me.”
A small grin
formed in the corners of his mouth, his mind obviously preoccupied as he lay
against her. “What can I say, I have the magic touch.”
“Magic
touch, eh? I never knew—” Rachel started in a whisper, but became caught up in
his body against her. Solid and strong, his arms surrounding her felt like a
cocoon of safety and warmth she wanted to lose herself in. Bending her arms
slightly, he moved close enough to for her to feel his breath on her face. “I
think you need to cool off, cowboy.”
Rachel
shifted from beneath him and rose to her feet. She looked back before stripping
out of her clothes, revealing her trim body and new blue bikini. There weren’t
a lot of positives about her job, but her body was one of them. She looked back
and found him staring at her, his mouth slightly gaping.
“Shut your
mouth, Mitch, your girlfriend is watching.”
“What? I—”
Before he could finish, she dove into the lake, leaving him behind.
Rachel broke
the water with a grin. She shouldn’t be smiling, but it was nice to have someone
look at her with hunger. A woman to be desired.
She heard a
shout and a splash behind her and turned to see the ripples of water.
Continuing to swim toward the rock wall of mountain ahead, Rachel felt Ben,
hard body beneath her legs. She dove under, out of grasp, passing him
underwater. He chased her to the wall until they finally broke the surface,
panting for air.
“She’s not
my girlfriend.”
“You dove in
and chased me halfway across the lake to tell me Emily is not your
girlfriend?”
Rachel grabbed one of the outbreaks in the wall of stone and turned, finding he’d
summarily cornered her.
“Yes.”
His gaze
locked with hers and she felt herself beginning to melt. God, I can’t do this…not with him… She moved to pass him and he
stopped her with his arm.
“Where you
running to, Alton?”
“I’m not
running.”
“Yes you
are.”
“No, I—” He
silenced her with a kiss, powerful and yet tender, taking her breath away. When
it broke, she felt dizzy and breathless.
“Don’t run
from me.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Don’t lie
to me either.” His eyes were intense and focused solely on hers. His strong
heated arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her against him.
“Ben…” His
breath played against her lips, sending spasms of need up her spine. She couldn’t
resist him. Putty in his arms, she let go of control. His lips came down on
hers, juicy soft, and his tongue teased the inside of her mouth. She sighed and
pulled his tongue into her mouth, sucking on the tip. His smooth hands scorched
lines down her body, the muscles quivering uncontrolled beneath his touch. She
climbed up his body, needing to feel his strength against her hot skin.
Come Find Me!
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