Until We Fall (Trust Duet Book 2) Read online

  Contents

  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

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  ADVANCED READER COPY

  Until We Fall

  First Edition.

  Copyright © 2018 Edyn Michaels

  All rights reserved.

  No parts of this book may be reproduced in any form without written consent from the author. Except in the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a piece of fiction. Any names, characters, businesses, places or events are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, events or locations is purely coincidental.

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you are reading this book and have not purchased it for your use only, then you should return it to your favorite eBook retailer and purchase your own copy.

  Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Published: Edyn Michaels 2018

  Editing: Rachel Hoefing

  Cover Design: Danielle Dickson at Vixen Designs

  Interior Formatting: Abigail Davies at Pink Elephant Designs

  Chapter One

  Dane

  I was content.

  Happier than I’d remembered being in a ridiculously long time.

  All the pride I’d felt watching my small café grow, and in opening the new one didn’t come close to what I was feeling lying in my bed right now.

  Mari was mine.

  I wanted to hit my knees and thank every deity that had ever existed, and some that I was willing to make up just so I could thank them.

  Last night, Mari had come to me because of a stupid ass prank my brother, Phoenix had pulled. He sent her a note from the family’s property management company telling Mari that she’d have to vacate for two weeks while her small apartment was fumigated. Something about asbestos and mold and shit that had her running scared.

  I knew I should probably punch him in the left nut sack for doing that, but it sent her running to me, so I couldn’t be too pissed.

  I frowned a moment, still lying in bed with my eyes closed. I hated knowing that Mar and I had kind of stepped away from each other for a minute because of that ass bag biker she was banging. I couldn’t help but feel a little insecure, worried that at some point she would run into him in the streets and her panties would just disappear.

  But, I had to trust her. If this was going to work, we would have to be able to trust each other.

  I stretched, having decided it was time for my body to catch up with my brain and wake up the rest of the way.

  When I rolled over to pull my beautiful woman over to me, my arm felt nothing but sheets.

  Hmmm. Odd.

  She must have gotten up to pee again.

  I grinned to myself, enjoying that moment of intimate knowledge of her. She seriously had a bladder the size of an acorn.

  After last night, I had to say that she was more of everything than I’d thought she’d be.

  Okay, I’d waited long enough. I needed to go track down my woman.

  My woman.

  Mine.

  A stupid ass grin invaded my face as I got up to find her.

  The bathroom door was wide open, and she wasn’t in there. Okay, well, I’d guessed that one incorrectly.

  I walked out to the kitchen, and not only was she not there, but the lights were all off.

  A weird sinking feeling started creeping in on my happiness. An overwhelming feeling of emptiness, because I was realizing my house was empty. It was just me.

  “Mari?”

  I called out for her, hopeful that she was somewhere in my small apartment somehow unseen. Hiding from me, perhaps. Like, under the couch or in a closet.

  Now I was just being dumb as fuck, grasping at straws in hopes that she would miraculously appear.

  Maybe she’d gone out for breakfast? Maybe she was going to walk in that door at any second with a bag full of bagels and some cream cheese. Maybe she’d laugh about how stupid the person in line in front of her was, because they took for-fucking-ever to place an order, wanting to know the carb content of the bagel, and if they had a non-dairy cream cheese option.

  Maybe…

  My eyes caught sight of a piece of paper next to my phone, and my hopes stupidly lifted. I knew I shouldn’t hope. Notes left behind were rarely a good thing. But, maybe this time was different. She said she was going to try to make this work between us, so maybe this was a good note.

  Too many maybes. Not enough Mari.

  I eyed the piece of paper, not wanting to walk over to it, because if I stayed over here just looking at it, it would remain an innocent piece of paper. If I walked over, it would have the power to possibly tear me to shreds.

  Fuck.

  I shouldn’t be this wound up, I mean, why would she run? She swore to me last night that she was done running.

  I walked over to the counter and picked up the offending note.

  My eyes read the words, but it took a bit for my mind to catch up and comprehend what I was reading. For all my struggle, you would have thought I was reading a different language.

  You were supposed to be the one guy I could trust.

  But you’re just a liar like the rest of them.

  I will always love you, but I don’t think I’m strong enough to be in love with you, now that I know I can’t trust you.

  Oh, by the way, your brother sent you a few interesting texts. Congrats on the new job.

  Oh shit.

  I picked up my phone and groaned as I read through the messaged that dickhead had sent.

  Hey, Bro – I’m thinking you’ll be hearing from that hot little number of yours, I sent her a letter that we’ll be exterminating her apartment and dealing with ‘mold’ and stuff. You can thank me later.

  I saw three question marks were sent back in reply. Question marks I hadn’t sent because I had been sleeping off one of the best fucking orgasms of my life.

  His response though, holy hell, his response was the nail in the coffin of my fledgling relationship. This was what tore the small, thin fabric of trust that we were working towards in two, threw it on the ground, set it on fire, and then pissed on it to douse the flames.

  LOL, dude. I’m sure you haven’t gotten around to telling her that you are now the guy running McClellan, so she won’t put two and two together. Thank me later. Right now, put the phone down and get ready to get back in the saddle. Your epic and ball-shriveling dry spell is about to end. You’re welcome.

  Suddenly, all my internal justifications for not telling her the truth about my family and the family business sounded stupid as fuck. I knew she had trust issues. I knew that honesty meant the most to her, and yet I’d willingly withheld information from her.

  Mari had dealt with a scary stalker situation in college, one that had resulted in death threats and restraining orders. It was some guy she’d gone
on a date or two with, but because she had felt less than zero chemistry between the two of them she had called it off.

  Fuck.

  I wanted to throw my phone, throw the evidence far away from me that she now saw me as a lying ass because of my stupidity. And yes, I knew this was my fault, but I wanted to fucking kill my twat licker of a brother.

  Why the hell didn’t I have a passcode on my phone?

  Oh, yeah… I had gotten rid of it because I thought it was too much of a pain in the ass to have to punch it in every time I picked up my phone.

  I slumped in one of the stools, resting my head in my arms on the cool, stone surface of my counter.

  What now?

  Chapter Two

  Jamison

  Bitches.

  Seriously, they were too much fucking trouble for their own good.

  Like that fine piece of ass, Mari.

  My God, she was a great lay, and pretty much up for anything. So good, that I broke my number one cardinal rule and forgot to wrap my shit up before tearing into her tight pussy. Small miracle right there, the fact that her pussy was so tight. She was practically clawing her way into my pants the second we met, just like a cat in heat. Usually chicks that gave it up so easily had been around the block a time or two, and sometimes it took a little extra effort on my part to make it feel as good for me as I knew it felt to them.

  I wasn’t trying to be a conceited dick, but I also wasn’t one to screw around with false modesty. As much as I was sure that Mari had been around the block, I’d definitely been around it at least twice as many times. I wasn’t being a hypocrite. I honestly didn’t care if she’d screwed the entire defensive line of the New England Patriots. She was great in the sack, so it was a win for me.

  But it really bothered me that I blew my load in her. I’d never forgotten a condom before. Ever. Well, except for that one time, but it was high school and didn’t count. But with her ass high in the air in a bathroom stall, I lost my damn control. Fucking pissed me off, too. Maybe I could have handled it better, but why bother? I’d made it clear from the start that she and I were good for one thing and one thing only.

  Sex.

  Not even fuck buddies. ‘Buddies’ implies a relationship of some sort, and I was not open to any type of relationship, not even a friendly one.

  Because bitches became greedy little whores when they got a taste of the D.

  I pictured her sucking that shit off her friend’s fingers, that chick with the pink hair. My cock started to stir a little bit. Granted, the version playing in my mind involved both of them without a stitch of clothing on, and the juice on the friend’s fingers was her own, but it didn’t matter. It was hot as fuck and I’d played it in my mind once or twice while getting off with another nameless toy of mine.

  I know what you’re probably thinking, that I have some issue with women, hate them or some shit.

  Nope.

  I didn’t hate women at all.

  I liked them a lot. Some of my best friends were women. But, I was pretty good about separating my personal life from my physical life. My female friends were people I truly loved and cared about. I would consider cutting off my left nut if they needed it. I said I’d consider it, I probably wouldn’t actually do it, though. These amazing women, well, I could never fuck them because that would ruin everything that mattered to me. The women I shared my body with were just a great form of stress relief. I went to the gym fairly regularly, but I hadn’t found a machine that worked that muscle, nor made my stress float away quite as well as a woman clenching herself around me.

  I shrugged it off, already having had wasted too much fucking time on her. If she wanted to jump on this ride again, no worries, I’d let her on. But I wasn’t going to put any effort in. I was already uncomfortable with the fact that I felt the need to defend my actions.

  I never apologized.

  I never made promises.

  She knew who I was and what we were.

  Greedy little whore.

  But what if she had something?

  Fuck. I slammed my hand down on my desk, causing my employees in the cubicles near my office to jump out of their chairs a little bit. I wasn’t one prone to outbursts of any type, so their reaction was completely understandable.

  What if she fucking had something?

  I grabbed my cell, about to ask her if she was clean, but stopped myself before I hit send.

  Shit.

  I grabbed my keys and pocketed them, striding out of the office quickly.

  “Jan, I’ve got to go take care of an issue. I’ll be back in about an hour.”

  “’Kay, boss-man.”

  My assistant winked as I walked by, openly admiring my ass as I passed her.

  Yeah, yeah, I realized that this was probably borderline sexual harassment or some shit, but I wasn’t about to go all hashtag ‘me too’ and cry that I felt victimized. As a matter of fact, I gave the ole cheeks a couple squeezes to make them dance for her, and heard her sharp intake of breath as my reward. That gave my spirits a much-needed boost.

  I was glad I brought the Harley to work, because my blood pressure was threatening to blow a vein at this point. Second to bending a woman over and taking her, riding my Harley was a great way to get my stress levels under control. Third was getting a new tattoo.

  I searched on my phone for a clinic that was at least fifteen minutes away. Although Boston was small, the intermingling between neighborhoods was smaller, so the chances of my flying under the radar were better if I went outside of the immediate area.

  The STD gods were obviously in my favor, because I managed to find parking within a short distance from the front of the clinic.

  “May I help you, sir?”

  The guy behind the counter pressed his fingertips to his chest, with a little bit of southern belle charm. I smirked, not offended, but just mildly amused at his reaction.

  It wasn’t the first time a guy had openly eye-fucked me, and in a way, I hoped it wasn’t my last. I didn’t swing that way, and didn’t give a shit who did. Appreciation was appreciation, and it would always brighten my day.

  “Yes, Brad, you may.”

  I swore, his pupils dilated when I let his name roll off of my lips like I was talking to a lover. Thank God for whoever invented name tags, they made my life a hell of a lot easier.

  “You see, I need your special confidential services, to make sure that I haven’t gotten myself into a little bit of stupid trouble.”

  I narrowed my eyes slightly, giving a hard edge to my words. I knew that chicks loved a guy that was all rough edges and things to ‘fix’. Whether or not Brad felt the same way would be clear soon enough.

  “Well, I think it would be safe to say that I’m happy to perform any service you desire. Meanwhile, here’s an information sheet I need you to please fill out. Bring it back to me when you’re done, gorgeous, and I promise to take phenomenal care of you.”

  Shit, had I come to a clinic or a brothel?

  “Thanks, man, appreciate it.”

  I grabbed the clip board and pen, and proceeded to start scribbling in my information, cursing my own stupidity with each stroke of ink.

  I was going to be stuck getting a swab up the third eye because I didn’t think before splitting her in two.

  I handed back the clipboard, and then slunk back to the chair that was mine for the next few moments.

  I’m going to have to take a swab up my junk because of you. Hope you’re happy.

  I finally gave into my juvenile impulses and shot her a text, putting one hundred percent of the blame on her for my predicament.

  No bitch was worth this shit.

  Chapter Three

  Mari

  Fucking asshole.

  No, make that two. Two fucking assholes.

  This was like a grown up visit with the Count from Sesame Street. Two fucking assholes, count them, one…two. Ha ha ha.

  I could hear that reverberating in my mind in the Muppet’s T
ransylvanian vampire voice.

  It normally would have made me laugh, but no way in hell was there going to be laughter today.

  I looked at my phone again, daring the words to change. Instead, they taunted me.

  I’m going to have to take a swab up my junk because of you. Hope you’re happy.

  That fucking, cock-sucking, rat bastard excuse of a human being accused me of possibly passing on a creepy crawly dick disease to him.

  Maybe next time you decided that you’re going to piss your ownership on a woman you don’t actually want to own, and forget to be a man and wrap your dick up, you’ll think twice, you worthless piece of shit.

  I jabbed my index finger so hard on the word ‘send’ that I was surprised there wasn’t a permanent indent on my screen.

  I inspected my nail for a second, just to make sure I hadn’t cracked it, but fortunately, the only damage was a slight sting from hitting the screen too hard.

  I was so done with men. So. Freaking. Done.

  I wished to God that I could just be a lesbian like Kaylie, but just the thought of lapping around a woman’s roast beef looking flappies gave me the dry heaves.

  Maybe I could get a girlfriend and just tell her that based on religious reasons we could never get it on, but that I would be awesome for a good meal, great laughs and some companionship.

  I sounded about as exciting as one of those home health care ads.

  I looked at my phone, only to experience the all too familiar drop of disappointment when there was nothing to see on the screen. No notifications, no new messages, no invites to cuddle on a couch and eat Swedish fish.

  Nothing.