Throwback Thursday! ~ Trust Me Series - Serenity Lost

Can a man remain loyal to his brother, even if it means abandoning the love of his life when she may need him the most?

Their brief heated meeting one fateful night had singed itself into their minds. Not knowing of the other’s identity, but unable to forget, had sealed their fate. The fire smoldered quietly in each of them as they tried to move on with their lives.

Eric Stiles was in the middle of chaos, searching for a killer.

Hunted by an obsessed psychopath Rebecca Gailen was trying to be strong.

The world stopped for a moment as they looked up and saw the other standing just feet away.

His heart lurched, her armor shattered and the world started again as Eric’s brother, Charlie, appeared to take her hand.

Family loyalty isn’t a choice. When Rebecca’s stalker rages out of control, Eric’s decision haunts him and he struggles to stay away. Can he remain loyal to his brother, even if it means abandoning Rebecca when she may need him the most?

***

"Hey, thanks for coming."

“Thanks for the address.”

“What’s going on?’

“I think she got a visit from our friend this evening,” he replied, still looking for Rebecca.

“Really, when?”

“Not sure, that’s what I’m here to find out. Where is she?”

“Other side of the bar,” Donna replied with a small wince.

His eyes found her. She was sitting on top of the bar, laughing and teasing a group of men surrounding her.

“She started doing shots, as soon as she hung up on you.”

“Okay,” he replied with a deep breath and wondered how he was going to handle this. She looked like she was having fun, although his stomach clenched at the thought of someone else's arms around her. “Maybe I should just leave her be. She’s been through enough the past few days.”

“Which is exactly why you need to go over there,” Donna insisted. “She's not thinking straight. She isn't listening to me and Charlie isn't available.”

The comment wasn’t meant to, but it stung. He was third on the list. Fourth, if you counted Mindy. Eric nodded in agreement and walked around the bar to the engaging crowd. Perched on the bar, her long legs were crossed and wrapped in a mid-length black skirt. She wasn't flaunting anything, she was just smiling and laughing. The small gathering of men were making comments and even began singing to her.

Eric stood at the back of the group, waiting for her to see him. He couldn’t help but become lost in the sight of her. Since their unexpected reunion, he hadn’t really been able to just look at her, take her in and see once again how stunning she was. From her fiery locks to her thin ankles. His entire body began to pulse at the memory of her softness beneath him. He took a deep breath as her eyes caught his and instead of the expected scowl, she smiled and tilted her head as she had in the coffee shop.

“Look out, boys, the cops are here to rescue me,” she said as she leaned forward.

He pushed his way between her suitors until his chest brushed against her legs. “May I have this dance?” he asked as he looked up into her eyes.

“Depends,” she answered as her hands rested on his shoulders.

Eric grasped her waist and lifted her off the bar, resting her on the floor in front of him. “On what?”

“Whether you're here for business or pleasure.”

“Dancing with you,” he said in a low breath, as his body reacted to her softness against him, his hands still wrapped around her small waist. “Definitely pleasure.”

She looked up at him and the room seemed to disappear. A serenity that he'd only felt once before encompassed him. The weight of the world seemed to lift when he stared into the electric pools of her eyes, and he wondered how that could be.

“I wish that were true,” she said.

He saw doubt and pain flash in her eyes. “Rebecca…” he started when the popping of a champagne bottle startled her. She jumped away from him as her entire body visibly trembled. She ran her fingers through her hair, and he watched her look for something familiar. Her eyes found Donna and she walked past him to her friend...

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How to Survive a Psychotic Killer Stalking You

 
Some of you may be wondering, how do you keep from losing your mind when your entire life has been turned inside out and upside down? When everything once within the illusion of your control is now running amuck like a bull in a china shop. We here are a few tips, from someone who knows.

If you think you are in control just let go of that right now. The more you try to control the situation the worse it is going to get! If you do find yourself the object of affection for some psycho lunatic, let’s be honest, there really isn’t shit you can do.

Tip # 1 - Buy a Laptop

First, if you don’t have a laptop consider investing in one. Most are fairly cheap  and you will thank your credit card later. This wonderful device will soon become your only link to the outside world, via email, online content and the occasional Facebook posting (although I would limit your exposure). You will also hopefully be able to salvage the remains of your life. Continue to pay bills, work remotely, maybe even buy a new pair of shoes (although you will need to set up a separate destination for delivery as you won’t to give yourself away). Laptops are also portable and can pretty much handle anything you throw at them, and most are water proof for the occasional melt down.

Tip# 2 - Prepare for the Late Night / Early morning crawl.

Next I would suggest you get familiar with Late night TV. Now I am not talking 11 pm David Letterman or Jimmy Kimmel. I am talking 230 AM TCM Abbot and Costello or my personal favorite, Tom and Jerry on Cartoon Planet. Rule of thumb, there is ALWAYS a Law and Order on somewhere. Also, just because it is black and white doesn’t mean it sucks. Best channels for late night / early morning are going to be, TCM, TNT,USA , and Cartoon Planet (does anyone else see a pattern here?). If you go cable you are going to run into soft core and since you probably not getting any at the moment probably not the best idea. 

A second option for your sleepless night dilemma’s is going to be your trusty DVR.  I would suggest, if you can, recording your favorite daytime soap or talkshow that you haven’t been able to watch in years. That will kill at least an hour with commercials. Now you may be thinking that you shouldn’t be prepared for the occasion of insomnia. Trust Me it will happen and better to be prepared than get stuck watching infomercials.

*Note - Do not try and work at 3 AM! First off, people are going to think you have fallen off the deep end. Second, although your eyes are open and your mind is spinning, how coherent are you really? Do be stupid and try to ‘keep up’, you don’t need to be sending drunk emails to your boss. (They found that people who drive after being awake for 17 to 19 hours performed worse than those with a blood alcohol level of .05 percent.)

Tip# 3 - Keep the little constants in your life alive and kicking

Moving on, try and keep some fragment of your life stable. (Impossible, right?) They say that children need a schedule for a sense of reassurance. Believe it or not Adults do as well. So obviously if you go running every morning you are going to have to put it on hold for a while (yes I know it totally sucks!) but things, small things, like your favorite creamer in the fridge or keeping up with you favorite blogs online. Even something as small as having Taco’s on Wednesdays can make all the difference in your ability to cope with the upheaval.

Lastly, and most important, DO NOT GIVE UP, it will end eventually. As you are already realizing, your friends and family are going to be supportive and wonderful but the fact of the matter is, you are going through this, not them.

So, do not give up, give in or let go of anything you want, wish and hope for. Those are the things that will keep you going. Things are never completely hopeless. There is always a glimmer of hope smiling back at you when you look into his eyes…hold onto the warmth of the memory, the sliver of belief that if it is meant to be it will happen.

God please make it meant to be…

So here are your tips to survival. I could go on and on but these are the must have’s in my opinion everything else is negotiable.

Stick to your guns and as Scarlett said…tomorrow is another day!

Author Amy Romine writing as Rebecca Gailen the Heroine of Trust Me Book 1 - Serenity Lost available at Amazon.com

Come Find Me!

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Suspense for the Romantic Heart - Jaded Promises Excerpt

Eric Stiles has everything to lose and no matter how hard he fights he can feel his life slipping away.

Rebecca Gailen thinks that the love of her life is dead and only the vigor of revenge keeps her fighting to survive.

When a secret reveals more than anyone expected, it changes Eric and Rebecca’s lives forever. The devastating truth puts the couple at odds. Can they overcome their clashing conclusions and learn to trust each other again? Or will they let it rip them apart?

Excerpt

The stairs creaked with each step as he looked into the dimness below. The humid musty area was cold and damp. He swallowed hard. Gray concrete, jagged walls and dust surrounded them and a chill raked up his spine.

"We found it over there." The same officer descended the stairs behind them. The beam of his flashlight landed to the right of where they stood. Eric reached for a flashlight, and his eyes landed on Charlie who scanned the room. An officer offered his and Eric stepped toward the area. His hand brushed against the cold concrete but his mind still refused to accept it.

Not here…not like this…

Eric’s eyes fell on a spatter of blood and his chest flooded with an unrecognized pain.

She was here

Unable to push the image away, all the air left the room as his entire body clenched at the suffocation. He ascended the stairs into the sunlight, fighting for control. He began to unhinge, mindlessly entered one of the side rooms.

They didn't find her which means she's still…

Keep it together Stiles…falling apart isn't going to help anyone

The sewn seam around his emotions threatened to tear, and he couldn't move. The paralyzing agony that spiked from the core of his body was relentless. He fought back in vain. He knew it wouldn't stop until she was in his arms, safe.

"Eric, what’s going on?"

Eric wiped an unexpected wetness from his eyes. He leaned against the wall to face his brother. Pure disbelief stared back at him. 

"I've never seen you like this."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, you never…"

"Yeah well, things change." Eric moved to exit the room.

He found the front door and pushed through it hearing Charlie just behind him.

"Since when?"

"You still don't get it do you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Have you really convinced yourself that all of this…what happened, was just some kind of joke?” He stopped to face him. “That Rebecca and I didn’t mean anything we said when we told you that we never wanted to hurt you?" 

"I don't know what the hell you meant to do and to be honest, I don’t really care."

"Charlie…whether or not you choose to believe it, we did try to walk away.” Charlie’s eyes diverted in anger. "Jesus, Charlie she went through hell and all she could think about was how she couldn't hurt you!" 

"So once again this is my fault!"

"No…I am just…" Eric’s chest turned to stone, unwilling to allow him to hide. "As your brother, your friend, I tried to forget about…everything. But that night. That first night in Dallas, everything changed. We did everything we could to ignore it, make disappear but it didn't. It only got stronger…can you try to understand that?"

"You really expect me to…"

"I expect you to believe that I tried! I expect you to realize that this had nothing to do with you. To remember that until that moment, I've never betrayed you."

"So because you’ve always tried to be the good big brother you want me to be okay with this? To just accept what you did and move on?"

"Yes."

'Why?"

"Because you’re my brother and I need you to." Eric’s watering despite his continued battle against it. "Charlie, I'm in love with her."

"I loved her too!"

"Okay Charlie,” Eric clenched his jaw. “Where did you see things heading with her? Let's say we never met, what then?"

"I don't know. I never got the chance thanks to you!"

"That’s the difference!" Eric’s fists balled in frustration. "Six weeks ago, and the two months before that, hell even in Dallas. I knew this was different. I knew she changed everything. Even when she left without a word and I didn’t even know her name, I couldn’t get her out of my head! I look at her and see everything I never knew I wanted. She's woken up this person inside me that I didn’t even know was there! The one who wants a house and a family. The person who needs to see her every morning and hold her every night, because when I don't something is missing and the world doesn't make sense. "

"Eric…"

"The difference is that the moment I met her, she became my whole world," Eric explained as he struggled to keep his furious heart under control. "I know that you loved her. That was one of the reason's I stayed away as long as I did. It might not seem like much but…she needed me and I couldn’t turn my back anymore. Now she's gone and I can't…If we don't…if I can't find her..."

"We're going to find her, Eric.” He saw the first glimpse of understanding in his brothers eyes.

Come Find Me!

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Character Blog Post - The Hysteria of Tchaikovsky

Author Amy Romine writing as the STALKER in the Trust Me Series.

 

Hello my dearest Aurora,

I have watched you for hours, I know your face by heart, your twinkling eyes, subtle smile and your enchanting laugh. You and all of your wicked charms excite me, entice me and make me…want…

They all pretend to be you now, starving for my attention they mock your regalia and are easily destroyed in your defense. Their tears become the water of life for you to drink at your leisure.

Ah the yearning of a place of warmth within your embrace. Within the solace of your eyes. He looks at you now. The other looks upon you fondly, behind the text of muted words and stolen thoughts. He wants you as I do, we are brothers in that regard, linked by a shared rising of hope. Will-less to your whims we sway within your breath, within the curve of your supple body begging for the smallest brush of fate to push us together.

The fates, I have learned are cruel innuendos for retribution, revenge and jealousy. You were marked by them long before my soul reached for you and now I am forced to endure their demands. They have suffered and therefore you must suffer.

You must scream, weep, beg and collapse motionless into oblivion before they will be satisfied and even then the hatred will only hibernate for so long. The demands of the damned are never ending as is the self imposed nightmare they endure.

You see your suffering gives them hope, lifting them out of she blackened pit they have thrown themselves in. Only you can save them, Rebecca. Only your spilt blood can lift them out of he blackness completely.

In this is my drive, my plight and I know if you knew the truth you would offer yourself up willingly, cut through your own skin to lessen the tortured of another. Alas it is not to be an easy cause and thus you are made to suffer as the damned.

I stand here now, once again covered in the sacrifice of the wicked. Anticipating your gasping horror like a erected cock being stroked by a glove of sand. It is torturous and yet highly delightful in its ability to confuse the senses and turn the pain into pleasure. Building until expulsion and lustful gratification.

I am a shadow in the light of your sun Aurora and I will bask in the glory of your glowing seraphic body until the end of days.

Your worshiping minion.

~

Serenity Lost Blurb:  Their brief heated meeting one fateful night had singed itself into their minds. Not knowing of the other's identity, but unable to forget, had sealed their fate. The fire smoldered quietly in each of them as they tried to move on with their lives.
Eric Stiles was in the middle of chaos, searching for a killer.
Hunted by an obsessed psychopath, Rebecca Gailen was trying to be strong.
The world stopped for a moment as they looked up and saw the other standing just feet away.
His heart lurched, her armor shattered and the world started again as Eric's brother, Charlie, appeared to take her hand.
Family loyalty isn't a choice. When Rebecca's stalker rages out of control, Eric's decision haunts him and he struggles to stay away. Can he remain loyal to his brother, even if it means abandoning Rebecca when she may need him the most?

Get Serenity Lost Now!

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