Sick Remedies (Pretty Lies, Ugly Truths Duet Book 2) Read online

  It gave the me a different perspective of what I was seeing. The rabbit would always be a rabbit, and the wolf a wolf.

  Hunted.

  Wanted.

  A carnivore and a beast.

  This was a us.

  “I like this one better.”

  The sound of his voice had me jumping out of my skin. I whirled around with paint smudged hand to my chest.

  “I thought you weren’t coming back until tomorrow night.” I crossed my arms, quelling the urge to run and tackle him. I wasn’t sure he was ready for that yet.

  “I didn’t want you to be alone.”

  I smiled shyly. I could only imagine what I looked like. I’d lost track of time as I usually did when in the zone.

  “And I forgot to give you this.”

  Belatedly realizing he was holding the same file folder from the other day, I accepted it from him, cognizant of my paint smeared hands. I flipped over the front flap, skimming over an I.D, passport, and a birth certificate. I read over my new name twice just to be sure I wasn’t delirious.

  “Oh, hell no! You seriously named me Princess?” I glared up at him. No wonder he claimed I’d get used to it.

  “I love your name too much to actually change it.”

  How could he say things like that with such a straight face? I hid a smile, pretending to study the contents of the file again. “That’s actually really sweet, but Princess. Princess Barron.” I tested the name out together, feeling it roll off my tongue. “I guess its not the end of the world. I mean, I’m not actually dead.”

  “I prefer Nova Barron myself; we can come back to it in a few years. I was tired of waiting.”

  “Waiting for…” I trailed off, looking up to see a giant ruby ring pinched between his fingers. “Oh, shit.”

  How had I not seen this coming? There were so many hints dropped.

  “I couldn’t get you an ordinary ring when you’re anything but.”

  Why was he so sure he wanted to marry me? “Rhett—Rhys—are you sure you want to do that?”

  “I’ve already changed your name and bought the ring. Does that answer your question?”

  “We have so much to learn about each other, and you don’t even know what I’m really like. You’ve never seen--.”

  “And all we have is time. I know who you are Nova. In fact, you’re a lot like the butterflies you’re so fond of.”

  I glimpsed down at necklace.

  “Butterflies can’t see their wings; they don’t know how incredibly rare and beautiful they are. That’s what I’m here for. Even on your darkest days, I’ll remind you.”

  I shook my head, blinking away tears as I retreated to the other side of the room, placing the file folder on the desk.

  “Stop being poetic to get your way.”

  He followed me, ever the patient hunter.

  “I got my way awhile ago. I was simply missing the ring. Don’t you remember?”

  I shook my head again, peering up at him.

  He reached out and took hold of my hand. “You said it’d always be me and you. And you wanted it to be a lie, but let’s face the facts. You’ll never get over me, and I can never let you go. Our fatal attraction was fated.” The ring slipped on, fitting snug, but not too tight. “See, a perfect fit.”

  I stared at the gorgeous ruby, trying to get a handle on my emotions, wadding through the sea of them. This was so damn insane, it made sense. We’d gone from strangers, to lovers, to strangers that knew a little too much about the other.

  It was absolutely terrifying to feel the way I did about him.

  There were no words to describe what it did to my insides. I’d never felt anything like it before. Simply being, I’d never been in love until him. I’d never needed another person the way I wanted to need him. Maybe it was sick to make him my personal remedy. I didn’t care anymore. Everything about him was utterly intoxicating. I refused to give up the lethal addiction that came with loving this magnetic force of a man.

  Now how did I put all of that into words?

  “I have this huge speech in my head, and I feel like I need to say something equally poetic to top everything you just said, but I’m not as good with words as you are,” I sniffed.

  “You’re so damn beautiful.” He swiped my tears away, a genial smile on his face. “You could say yes. You don’t actually have a choice, but I’d still like to hear it.”

  I giggled like a girl, throwing my arms around him. “Then yes, I give you my consent to make me marry you.”

  His mouth hit mine, hard. He tightened his grip on my face, kissing me with a sense of carnal urgency, lifting me up onto the desk. There were hardly any words exchanged between us. I spread my legs, undoing his slacks and lowering them just far enough to remove his cock. He reached beneath my skirt, tearing away the underwear I’d decided to wear for once.

  I grabbed one of his hands, placing it at the base of my neck. “Wrap your hand around my throat, and don’t let go until I’m done coming.”

  “You really are perfect for me,” he laughed, pushing into me with one solid thrust. I grabbed hold of his ass and pulled him deeper. The intrusion burned in the best possible way.

  I filled entirely, feeling him throbbing between my walls. I wondered if it would always be like this between us, the endless need to twist our bodies together. Finding his lips again, I kissed him as he fucked me fast and hard. My nails sunk into his ass, and he went deeper. His cock hit every one of my sweet spots.

  “Come for me, baby” he groaned thrusting as deep as he could go, cutting off the air supply to my lungs. My eyes started to water, the moans built in my chest, unable to pour from my mouth. My muscles locked as an orgasm rocketed through me.

  He was far from finished. He lifted me from the desk and changed our positions, bending me over the desk. I cried out as he slammed back inside me. Gripping my hips hard enough to bruise, he forced me to take every punishing thrust.

  The bottle of the tequila rolled and hit the floor, its contents spilling out and forgotten as he gave me all I needed.

  OPAQUE MELODIES

  Alaric Schuyler.

  Enigmatic, cocky, and my new brother-in-law.

  He had cerulean blue eyes and a smile so beautifully devious it could entice the devil to do his bidding.

  We were never supposed to happen.

  One night changed everything, tying him and me together in a sordid twist of fate, trapping me in his dark, chaotic world.

  The lucid dreams and sick fantasies followed.

  He became the star of my nightmares, always lurking in the shadows.

  I became his muse, a part of everything he did.

  He awakened my demons one esoteric melody at a time

  He would be the death of me.

  And in the end, I wanted nothing more.

  OPAQUE EXCERPT

  The annoyingly consistent buzzing prevented me from going back to sleep.

  I reached blindly towards my nightstand, skimming my fingers over its surface until I found my cell. Rolling onto my back, I stared at the screen through squinted eyes to combat the bright glare.

  It was the same number I had ignored not five minutes ago. Unknown and calling from California. I contemplated sending whoever this was to voicemail again, but then they could call right back, and I wasn’t up for playing a game of telephone tag. I swiped up, placing the phone on speaker, too lazy to hold it to my ear.

  “Hello?” slipped out amid a yawn.

  “Is this, Catalina Haven?”

  I don’t know if it was the sound of his voice that had me waking up a little more, or the fact he used my first and last name.

  Either way, he’d successfully captured my full attention.

  “Uh, yeah,” I cleared my throat, “This is she.”

  “Were you sleeping? Did I wake you?”

  “It’s almost twelve-thirty in the morning.”

  “Right.” A slight pause, but no apology followed. “This is, Alaric Schuyler.
I’m calling about your sister.”

  “My…sister?” I questioned slowly.

  Another pause.

  “Catalina,” he stated my name confidently this time, “Jonathon Penn is your father, correct?”

  Unfortunately. “Yes.”

  “Then that makes you my wife’s sister.”

  His wife?

  “Oh! You’re calling for Megan?”

  He sighed. I mentally slapped myself on the forehead. I was so glad he wasn’t in front of me.

  The man probably thought I was an idiot. I’d forgotten Meg was even married. I sat up a little taller and took him off speaker. “Is everything okay?”

  Of course, it wasn’t. I already knew that. Nothing good came from calls received after midnight.

  “Things are…” he expelled another small breath. “There’s no easy way to tell you this. Megan—your sister—she’s dead.”

  This is an erotic, twisted story that contains explicit dark themes, crude language, and contains scenes some readers may find objective. Reader discretion highly advised.

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