Addicted (Addicted Trilogy Book 1)

Addicted

S. Nelson

Copyright © 2015 S. Nelson

All rights reserved. No part of
this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or
by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical
methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case
of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the publisher’s
imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric
purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses,
companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

Addicted/
S.Nelson
.
-- 1st edition

This book is dedicated to all of the wonderful bloggers
out there who tirelessly work to promote authors.
 
I honestly don’t know where most of us would
be without your love and support.
 
I’ll
be forever grateful for the amazing people I’ve met along my journey.

Acknowledgements

Thank you
to my husband for being patient with me as I released one book after another,
spending countless hours locked away in my office.
 
Thank you for giving me the time I needed to
get these characters out of my head and onto paper.
 
I love you!

A huge
thank you to my family and friends for your continued love and support.
 
I don’t know what I would do without you!

To the
ladies at Hot Tree Editing, I can’t say enough great things about you.
 
You continue to amaze me and I can’t wait
until our next project together.
 
You
have been truly fantastic!

I would
also like to thank
Clarise
at CT Cover
Creations.
 
Your work speaks for
itself.
 
I’m absolutely thrilled with
this book cover.
 
It’s beyond gorgeous!

To Beth,
Nicole and Renee, my new Beta team.
 
You
were the first to read Addicted and you allowed me to breathe a little easier
with your wonderful feedback on Alek and Sara’s story.
 
I promise I’ll get you Shattered very
soon.
 
I love you ladies!

To my other Beta readers, the kind words you’ve
shared with me about Addicted mean more to me than you could ever know.
 
Thank you so much for your support and I
promise you’ll find out what happens next for Alek and Sara very soon.

And last
but not least, I would like to thank you, the reader.
 
I hope you enjoy this book half as much as I
enjoyed writing it.
 

Sara

Holy Hell! What in God’s name happened?

Cotton mouth, throbbing temples and a nauseous
stomach had me instantly regretting the previous night. Rolling onto my stomach,
I put more pressure on my bladder than I’d wanted. I was desperately trying to
get into a more comfortable position but the only thing I managed to do was
aggravate my poor little organ, so full I thought I was going to have an
accident. Deciding I didn’t want a mess to clean up, I turned over and slowly
swung my legs off the side of the mattress, my head spinning the moment I sat
upright. I took a minute before standing up, desperately hoping the feeling
wouldn’t last all day.

Carefully walking around my bed, I ventured into
the short hallway. I slowly made my way toward the bathroom, my eyes adjusting
to the darkness with every step. After I’d taken care of business, I quickly
washed my hands and headed back to my room, still a little groggy.

It was super-early, or super-late; whichever way
you wanted to look at it.

As I pushed my bedroom door open wider, I saw the
bright green light of the alarm clock. 4:22 am.
I’m going with super-early
. I didn’t feel like walking all the way
around only to climb onto my side of the mattress. Actually, there was only me,
so I wasn’t sure why I even deemed the left side as
my
side. Either way, I didn’t want to walk any further than I had
to, the warm covers beckoning to me, waiting and ready to envelop me in
plushness. As I placed my hands on the bed, my knee following me as I clumsily
climbed on top, something stopped me.

It was hard.

It groaned as my knee came down on a very sensitive
area.

It was a man.

Scrambling for my footing, shock and terror ripped
through me as I stumbled backward and fell flat on my ass.
Thud!
My head caught the edge of the wall, instantly bringing tears
to my eyes.

So much for my
headache going away.

As the pain invaded, I clutched the back of my
skull, cursing out loud as if I was by myself.

But I wasn’t by myself.

Someone was in my room with me.

In my bed.

“Jesus Christ!” a gruff voice exclaimed. “Are you
all right?” Before I could answer, the light flicked on, blinding me instantly.
It took me a good minute to be able to adjust to the blaring intrusion, my eyes
opening and closing so often I looked like I had some sort of nervous twitch.

The mystery man, a guy I’d not even looked at yet,
reached down and gripped my arms. He pulled me to my feet and held me steady as
I collected myself. Once my eyes adjusted, I shrugged off his hold and took a
step back.

I should have been more afraid than I was. I should
have been screaming and running for my life. But I wasn’t. There was something
about his presence which calmed me, as weird as it sounded. Still trying my
best to be cautious, I took another step away from him and finally made eye
contact, a smug smile on his face as my mouth dropped open in shock.

What the hell
is he doing here? In my bed nonetheless?

“What are you doing here?” I asked as my eyes
slowly scanned him from head to toe. I felt his warmth enclose me when he helped
me to my feet. What I didn’t realize was the heat radiated off his naked body. Well,
he had on black boxer briefs, but otherwise…he was naked.

The fine lines of his torso called to me. I wanted
nothing more than to run my fingertips over his hard form, imagining gripping
his broad shoulders as he pinned me to the wall behind me. His thighs were
thick and muscular, his ass no doubt perfection, as well.

Plopping back down on the bed, he nestled in and
crossed his arms over his chest. I had no doubt he was settling in for the long
haul. My eyes were so busy studying him, I missed what he said. I heard a faint
sound, but I couldn’t make out the actual words. Once my eyes connected with
his, I faltered. “What did you say?” I asked, still a little lightheaded from smacking
my head.

“You asked me what I was doing here, and I answered
you.” The corners of his lips turned up, revealing a perfect, white set of
teeth. His dark hair was a tad unruly but in a run-my-hands-through-it type of
way. Stubble was already starting to form on his jawline, his need to shave
every day was most likely quite a hassle.

“And what was your answer?” I almost missed what he
said again. It wasn’t my fault, though. I was only human, after all.

A full-on laugh escaped him as he kept his eyes on
me. “I said, you were very drunk last night and I needed to make sure you got
home okay.” A few more minutes passed before either one of us spoke. I was
still in some sort of daze, wondering not only what the hell happened but how
he came to bring me home.
And why did he
stay?
“Sara, are you okay? Is it your head?” he asked, looking on with
concern. I remained silent, for longer than was comfortable.

When still I didn’t utter a word, he broke the ever-growing
tension. Sort of. “Why are you staring at me like that, woman?” he grunted. “You’re
making me think things. Bad things.”
Is
he teasing me? Or tormenting me?

“I’m not staring at you,” I lied. Bringing my
fingers to my forehead, I started to rub. “I just don’t understand. What
happened last night?” Admittedly, I was rather embarrassed I’d let things get
out of hand, not remembering a goddamn thing. I made a promise to myself a long
time ago to never let anything interfere with my well-being, to always be aware
of my surroundings.
I guess I really
messed up.

As I moved around the other side of the bed, I
realized my state of undress, with only a white T-shirt and cotton panties
covering the most intimate of places. Diving under the comforter to cover up,
embarrassment stole over my skin, something which he found amusing.

My awkwardness quickly disappeared, irritation
taking its place. “Are you ever going to tell me what happened, or are you
going to just sit there and laugh at me?” I quipped, the tone in my voice a
little more than harsh.

“Sorry,” he mumbled before he began the tale of the
previous evening. “Considering how drunk you were, I’m not surprised you don’t
remember anything. Although,” he continued as he put his hand over his heart,
“I’m a little upset you don’t remember what happened between us.”

Taking a deep breath and preparing for the worst, I
slowly opened my mouth to speak. “What do you mean?” I crouched further down
the bed, regret slowly weaving its way through me. “Please don’t tell me we had
sex.”

“Why, would that be so awful if we did?” he asked,
looking offended.

 
The thing
about being in a surprising situation was sometimes your mouth didn’t filter
what your brain was thinking. My response was one such example. “Yes, it would.
I’d like to remember my first time.” I brought the blanket up to cover my mouth
as if the simple gesture would erase what I’d just said.

Yes, I was a twenty-six year old virgin. While some
would consider my age too old to still be inexperienced, there was a good
reason I chose to stay away from men.

A past which killed my trust in people.

When I heard him suck in a breath of air, I turned toward
him, my eyes lingering a little too long on his mouth. “
That’s
what you’re comment meant,” he said, the look on his face
priceless, as if he’d just discovered the meaning of life.

“What comment?”
Oh,
God, what the hell did I say?

“Last night. When we were in the hallway, you told
me you wanted me to be your first. I thought you were talking about a one-night
stand.” He rolled onto his side and leaned in closer. “I have to admit, while
the thought of you picking me for your first one-
nighter
,
or so I thought that’s what you meant, was flattering, it was also upsetting.” When
I knitted my brow in confusion, he explained. “Going home with some random
stranger is very dangerous, Sara. You really need to be more careful. Actually,
scratch that. You don’t have to worry about ever doing that again.”

“Why?”
Oh,
now I’m really curious.

“Because.”

“Because why?”

Air escaped his tempting mouth, his frustration
beyond obvious. “Because I’ll keep a better eye on you. Make sure you never
drink that much again. That’s why.”

Satisfied he’d had his say, he rolled onto his
back, staring straight ahead as if he was carefully choosing his next words.

My pulse quickened. My heart picked up pace,
ramming hard against my chest. I literally felt my face become red in anger.
Who does this guy think he is trying to
dictate what I do or don’t do from now on?

Never mind he was completely right. My actions the night
before
were
careless. I knew it. But
I’d never admit that to him.

“What makes you think you have any say over what I
do?” I scoffed. “I’m a grown woman who can make her own decisions. Good or
bad.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” he
retorted. “Never again, Sara. I mean it.”

It was then I realized he’d said my name a few
times and I didn’t even know his. Or at least I didn’t think I did.

Before I could think of a comment to his ludicrous
statement, he jumped out of bed and started getting dressed, pulling on his
jeans first before throwing his shirt over his head. Sitting back down on the
edge of the mattress, he leaned down and reached for his shoes. After he’d
finished, he stood to his full height and locked eyes on me once again.
 

“Are you leaving?” I asked, sounding a little
desperate. I didn’t even wait for him to answer before I fired off another
question. “I thought you were going to tell me what happened last night.”

“Oh, yeah,” he smugly said. Without missing a beat,
he dove right in. “What do you remember? Anything at all?”

“I remember going out with my friends and having a
few drinks, but other than that…no.” I turned my head, embarrassed I couldn’t
recall any other details.

“Well, I saw you there. At Throttle. I helped you
carry drinks back to your table before you casually dismissed me.”
There’s that offended look again.
A few
moments of silence passed before he continued to speak.
 
“Anyway, I saw you again on your way back
from the bathroom and then we…” he trailed off.

“We what?”

“We had a little moment in the hallway.”
That’s it? That’s all he’s giving me?
I
wanted to scream but I kept my temper in check.

“Seriously? You aren’t going to tell me what
happened?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

“We had a moment,” he repeated before he made his
way toward the door. “Oh, and by the way…I’m Alek
Devera
,”
he offered.

I guess I hadn’t known his name after all.

As he pulled the door open, he briefly turned
toward me, a weird expression appearing out of nowhere. Trying to decipher the
look on his gorgeous face was too much so early in the morning.

So I just gave up.

It didn’t matter, though.

I’d never see him again anyway.

Or so I thought.