Vandal
Carian Cole
She takes my breath away; she is so beautifully damaged.
Yes I had broken her, ravished her life, destroyed her happiness. I brought her to ultimate despair. I was responsible for all the pain and suffering that now brought her to her knees in front of me.
Broken.
Hopeless.
Reckless in her agony.
She is a mirror of my own tortured soul.
But what I took away I can give back.
In ways she cannot even begin to imagine.
She is everything right in all my wrongs.
She loves me. She needs me.
She has no idea I’m the one who wrecked her life.
Happy Thursday! Well, we are almost to the weekend, right?! It will be here before you know it. But today I have Vandal for you, book 2 in the Ashes and Embers series! Don't forget to tell me what you think below in the comments!
Excerpt
He’s not
on the couch this morning, though, or anywhere in the house from what I can
see, and for a moment I panic, thinking he left me here. But then I see him
outside, sitting on the dock, playing a guitar. I slide the glass doors open
and walk across the woodsy yard. The music he’s playing is beautiful and
haunting, the kind of sound that goes straight through you and awakens your
emotions and gives you chills. It’s the kind of music that I would play on
repeat over and over and over again until it was impossible to unhear it.
My heart skips a beat as my eyes rove
over him from behind. He’s shirtless, his wide, muscled shoulders flexing as he
plays the strings, his long black hair hanging down to the middle of his spine,
covering the tattoos that adorn his entire back. His head is tilted down
slightly as he plays. I sit next to him and just watch him, his fingers gliding
effortlessly over the strings, the song drifting over the lake. He is such an
enigma, this rock-hard man with the bad attitude creating this ethereal,
soul-touching sound.
When he
finishes the song, he opens his eyes very slowly and meets mine.
“That
was incredible,” I say in awe. “I didn’t know you played the guitar.”
He puts
the instrument off to the side. “That’s an acoustic bass.” He gives me a
crooked cocky grin.
“Well, I
know nothing about musical instruments, but whatever it is, I seriously have no
words for how beautiful that was. It was just . . . wow. Seriously.”
“Thanks.
Music is a big part of my life. If you want to hear beautiful, you should hear
Lukas play the violin.”
“The
violin? Really? I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone play the violin in
person.”
“He
fuckin’ rocks it. He can play metal songs on it too. It’s pretty wild.”
“I hope
I get to hear him play someday. Maybe you could play some more for me?”
He
cracks his neck to the side with an audible pop. “Yeah. Maybe later.”
“Do you
feel better? Your headache, I mean.”
“I do.
How do you feel? Are you sore?”
“Sore?”
I’m not sure what he’s asking me.
He bends
his knee up and leans his arm on it. “Yeah. I rammed you pretty hard last
night.”
My pussy
immediately quivers at his words. Sweet Jesus. Who asks questions like
that?
“Um, a
little bit, but it’s all right.”
He
stares at me intently and chews on a toothpick he’s got hanging out of his
mouth. “I’m not good at slow and easy.”
“Maybe
you just need to practice.” The words come out before I consider that he’ll
take that as a challenge.
An evil
but sexy smile spreads across his lips and I know that’s exactly what he’s
thinking.
“Soon
your gifts will be here, and I’ll have a lot in store for you.”
“More
ramming, I assume?”
He
throws his head back and laughs. “You’re such a little smart-ass, ya know that?
I’m starting to like it. And yeah, there will be some ramming, but a lot more
than that.”
I’m not
sure if I should be worried about this or not. I’m definitely intrigued.
“I’ll
have some rules,” he says.
“Such
as?”
“For
starters, you should kiss me good morning every day and thank me.”
“Thank
you for what?”
“Ramming
you the night before,” he half teases, quirking one eyebrow up.
I can’t
not giggle at him. I’m starting to like our little sarcastic talks and the way
he makes me laugh even when it’s the last thing I want to do.
“I see,”
I say. “Should I start now?”
He leans
into my neck. “You want to kiss me, don’t you?” he whispers in my ear, his
breath hot against me.
I turn
my face towards his. “I do,” I whisper back, my heart beating faster. The way
he makes me feel when he is near me is indescribable and beyond the usual
butterflies I have felt in the past when I met someone new and exciting. I feel
as if I have known him so much longer than just two days, as if there is some
kind of timeless connection between us.
He
touches my cheek and runs his thumb across my bottom lip. “Kiss me then. Make
me feel like you mean it.”
Swallowing
nervously, I tilt my head and kiss his lips. I don’t want it to mean anything,
but it’s starting to. I just don’t know exactly what that meaning is yet.
“What
are you doing to me?” I ask him softly, looking into his dark eyes, our noses
touching.
His hand
tightens at the back of my neck. “Everything.”
I’m
tumbling fast and hard into the web he’s weaving, clinging to the hope that he
really is bringing me out of my depression, making me want to feel and live
again. What’s scaring me is he’s making me want him so much. My lips
meet his again and I kiss him the only way I can right now—soft, questioning,
searching. His breathing grows heavier and he wraps an arm around me, holding
me against him. I move my lips down to kiss and gently suck his neck and he
groans, his hand sliding down to squeeze my ass. Kissing my way back up to his
lips, I pause and peek up into his hooded eyes.
“Fuck,
darlin’. You’re killing me.” He sighs.
a Rafflecopter giveawayI have a passion for the bad boys, those covered in tattoos, sexy smirks, ripped jeans, fast cars, motorcycles and of course, the sweet girls that try to tame them and win their hearts. My debut series, Ashes & Embers, follows the lives of rock band members as they find, and sometimes lose, the loves of their lives.My first novel in the Ashes & Embers series, Storm, published on September of 2014. Vandal, the second novel in this series is publishing in February of 2015. I currently have approximately nine books slated for this series, as well as an MC series in the works, and a few stand-alones coming in 2015 onward.Born and raised a Jersey girl, I now reside in beautiful New Hampshire with my husband and our multitude of furry pets and spend most of my time writing, reading, and vacuuming.Buy it!
