Dark and Damaged Hearts

The moment I took him to bed, I knew I was in for one wild ride. In the past, I've only known how to do two things: run and start over. Justin has something I long for, I crave. Safety. He makes me feel cherished and believe for the first time in my life happily ever after is possible. He's won me over. He knows my past, and promises me a beautiful future. With a damaged heart so much like mine, I'm drawn to him like a moth to a flame. The connection between us so intense, I risk burning my wings just being near him. With him, I'm ready to embark on new adventures both in and out of the bedroom. But my damn lack of trust keeps rearing its ugly head and making me doubt what I shouldn't. Love takes two hearts to make it work, and my history and his secrets make me question whether he feels as strongly as I do. I don't want to run away from love, but he may leave me no choice. And if I do, there's no turning back.**WARNING** Although not a menage, this book does contain scenes of explicit f/f/m and f/f/m/m sex.***Trigger warning: self-harm talk, talk of past r*pe, miscarriage

At twenty-six I've had my fair share of drama. Well, drama is putting it mildly.My past is more checkered than a chessboard.I'm tired of being treated like I'm less than I'm worth. Like I'm dispensable.I want a man who knows what he wants-and that's me.From that very first handshake in the bar, I knew James was going to become an addiction.And like a true addict, the more of him I get, the more of him I need.His proposal of a no-strings, no future, no love arrangement sounds perfect. If he's as good between the sheets as he is at kissing, then sign me up.But before I know it, I'm in too deep and have fallen hard for this older man.However, James has secrets.Demons.His heart is surrounded by a ten-foot wall with barbed wire on top, and a crocodile-filled moat at the bottom.And Prince Charming won't put down his drawbridge to let me in.Fear digs its claws deep, telling me that my own tumultuous history and whatever haunts James are what keeps our happily ever after forever out of reach.

Sexual Bliss! That's how I would describe my life right now. Oodles of orgasms, deep love and pure, unadulterated joy. James is everything I've ever wanted in a man. He adores me for who I am, makes me feel safe, respected and beautiful. Our no-strings plan ended before it began, and now we're in this thing hard, hot and hungry, creating an obsession on both sides. All-consuming. Intense. Perfect. Almost. The only thing that could rock this steady ship is... the one thing that does. The blight on my past. The secrets that haunt his. Danger, distrust, and revenge threaten to shred our wonderful life to pieces, unless I can show James that I'm all in body and soul, and he tears down that last brick from his wall, bearing himself to me, utterly and completely.

Eight years ago, Garret Banks swept me clear off my feet, catching me before I fell on my ass.Our love was instantaneous, all-consuming and intense. We never thought the flame would die down, let alone extinguish.We have everything we've ever wanted. Successful careers, a beautiful son and a rock-solid marriage. We're living the dream. Right?But how quickly dreams can turn into nightmares. Garret's job is taking its toll on him, my whole world seems to be in shambles, and now I've got to deal with a blast from my past I thought I'd long buried. And that past wants answers-answers I'm not willing to give.We grab quick and dirty sex when we can, but that just doesn't seem to be enough and our marriage feels more tested and strained than ever before.I was sure that I'd found my knight in shining armor, my happily ever after, my forever, but my marriage is being forced to bend more than it should-more than it can. So much so that I'm afraid it might just snap.

The seven-year itch. Where the passion fizzles, the arguments take over and the kids are everywhere-always.But not us.We're over seven years into a love so raw, so real, so incredible we'll still be this crazy about each other when we hit the seventy-year itch.Until the unimaginable happens.Until our family is threatened.Secrets and lies, exes and bitter rejection plow through our lives, wreaking havoc on our fragile happiness, leaving us vulnerable to a threat that we never saw coming.We're drowning.Treading water with weights on.Garret and I need to find our way back to each other before it's too late.Back to the surface, to the sizzling passion we once shared before our marriage takes its final breath and sinks to the bottom never to see the light of another day.

Secrets, they always come back to bite … everybody.And the secrets my husband kept from me bit me hard enough to leave scars.In fact, they took a huge chunk right out of me.I thought I'd lost everything the day Ted died, until I discovered the mess he left behind-the people he left behind.He wasn't the man I thought he was, and now I'm left to deal with his enemies-as if my life wasn't chaotic enough.And then there's Jake.He's younger than me, and our first couple of interactions have us butting heads, but boy oh boy does he make me feel things I never thought possible again.And as much as he annoys me, I crave him even more.Jake wants to help me.He also wants me.But I don't want anybody else to get hurt.Too many people already have.So as much as it's agony on my heart to push him away, I must-for his own safety.Until he gives me no other choice but to fall hard, fast and madly for him, then we're in this disaster together, up to our eyeballs and hoping that Ted's demons don't destroy the last shreds of happiness I'm fiercely holding on to.

What's life without a splash of chaos?At least that seems to be my new moto. In the blink of an eye my once boring, mundane life has turned on its head and I'm suddenly at the center of criminal case that threatens all the people I've come to love dearly.And that includes Jake.He brought me back from the brink of despair, loving me harder than I've ever been loved before.Now we're forced to face the enemies together-head on, but when Jake's own life takes an unexpected turn and he's left questioning his entire identity, I fear I might not be able to help him when he needs me the most.We're being pulled in too many directions. Our lives are in turmoil. The sea is too rough, and we're in nothing but a cracked canoe.I need to help him find himself again in time, otherwise, the danger and drama that surrounds us both might end up being too much for our love to handle … or survive.

Here comes the bride …We're getting married!Yes, you heard that correctly. I am marrying the James Shaw; sexy, brilliant, successful millionaire who loves me more than I ever thought I could be loved.What could be more perfect?How about a romantic honeymoon on a live-aboard yacht in French Polynesia?Yes, please.James has already turned my world upside down, introducing me to his dark and dirty side in the bedroom. I can only imagine what he has planned for our honeymoon.Our age difference has never been a problem before, but suddenly with James, it seems to be an issue, and once the honeymoon is in full swing I see a side of him that tests our relationship like never before.I need to find a way to come to terms with his demands and expectations while not backing down or letting go of my own convictions, otherwise, we risk ruining our first (possibly last) vacation as husband and wife.