Tortured Embrace Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Praise for TORTURED SOUL

  Tortured Embrace

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  A word about the author...

  Thank you for purchasing this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  Stepping in front of him, her head bent back. Jason balled his fists at his sides, demanding them not to move and caress her silken cheeks.

  “Can’t you feel how much I want you? You want me too, don’t deny it.” She moved ever closer, backing him up further against the door. In a second, he was going through the damn thing.

  “Serena, stop.” He shouldn’t be here. He needed to leave, but he had a feeling she’d set off the fire alarm or bust a pipe just to get him to come running back.

  “I need you, Jason.”

  Oh God…

  “Stop fighting me. I know you want to touch me. Do it. My body burns for your touch. Show me what it’s like to be caressed by a man.”

  The urgency in her gaze stunned him. She had no idea what her words were doing to him.

  She glanced down, eyes blazing.

  Okay...Guess she did know.

  Serena reached for his chest, but he caught her wrists, holding them suspended in front of him. Staring for a moment at her delicate fingers, his control began to slip with every aching moment. God, he’d wanted to touch her for so long, really feel her in his hands…arms…

  Very slowly, he brought his gaze to her breasts straining under her shirt, watching her chest rise and fall. How long had it been? He’d imagined this very moment, pictured him loving her, kissing her, moving inside her.

  Damn it!

  He had to try it, needed a taste of what he’d denied himself for so long.

  Praise for TORTURED SOUL

  Book One of the Tortured Series

  “Truly and utterly brilliant. I was so sad it finished.”

  ~Coco Diaz

  ~*~

  “A great story, well written and I enjoyed from the first to the last page.”

  ~Jenny P.

  ~*~

  “Thrilling from beginning to end.”

  ~Ary Figueroa

  ~*~

  “It has mystery, action, suspense, steamy scenes, love, hardships, and it completely won me over.”

  ~Jessica Mercedes

  ~*~

  “I applaud Julia Laque and her wonderful debut novel.”

  ~Kat in Chicago

  ~*~

  “Looking forward to the next book!”

  ~Nicole K.

  ~*~

  “This concupiscent love story has left me yearning for more!”

  ~Dedee Degante

  Tortured Embrace

  by

  Julia Laque

  Tortured Series

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Tortured Embrace

  COPYRIGHT © 2015 by Julia Laque

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Contact Information: [email protected]

  Cover Art by Diane Carlile

  The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  PO Box 708

  Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

  Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

  Publishing History

  First Black Rose Edition, 2015

  Print ISBN 978-1-62830-758-0

  Digital ISBN 978-1-62830-759-7

  Tortured Series

  Published in the United States of America

  Dedication

  For Savannah,

  my greatest accomplishment.

  Love,

  Mami

  Acknowledgements

  I’d like to thank my family and friends for the outpouring of love and support they’ve shown as I continue on with my writing career. I really could not do it without you.

  A huge thank you to Lill Farrell for being such a wonderful editor and putting up with my constant need to toe the line.

  Jesi, without your help I don’t know where the Blacktails would be…

  And, to Yani Sandoval, Diana Carlile, and Debbie Taylor for the coolest book cover I’ve ever seen. Well done!

  Julia

  Chapter One

  1987

  What the hell is she doing?

  Light shone across the yard, illuminating the dark night as a door opened and a little girl stepped out from the back of her home. Jason Linus watched as the tiny figure carefully tiptoed out of the yard, taking anxious glances over her shoulder toward the house as she went.

  It was only a matter of time, thought Jason. The shouts from within the house grew louder and before long, the seven-year-old sister of his best friend stopped looking over her shoulder and walked with determined strides around the house and down the street.

  Coming out of the Midewin prairie where he’d positioned himself hours ago, Jason followed Serena Perez, curious as to where she thought she was going at one in the morning with just a backpack fixed on her shoulders.

  Serena’s gait slowed as she neared the park up ahead, and her tiny shoulders slumped as though all the energy had been knocked out of her.

  Slowing as she did, Jason watched as she reached the secluded park and sat roughly on one of the three vacant swings. For a moment, he thought she was going to cry, but instead, Serena straightened her back, tucked a lock of her light brown hair behind her ear, then swung her bag in front of her and took out a book. Placing her bag at her feet, she opened the paperback and began reading, rocking herself gently on the swing, her shoes digging into the woodchips as she moved.

  Jason stopped near the monkey bars and folded his arms. Leaning his shoulder on the cool metal, he gave her the space she needed.

  Serena’s brother, Adam, was in Chicago, managing his family’s construction company. Over the years, Perez Construction had amassed to a lucrative business under Adam’s careful administration. Serena’s father, Xavier Perez, alpha of the Blacktail werewolf pack had been lax in his leadership in the company, causing Adam to pick up his father’s slack.

  Knowing his father’s violent behavior, Adam asked Jason to keep an eye on things at his family’s home in Wilmington, Illinois, while he was away. His best friend’s concern was right on the mark. Moments ago, Xavier stumbled shit-faced into his home and not too long after, Jason heard a glass shatter and his alpha’s voice raised at his wife.

  The things Serena must see at home made him wince. She was so young and innocent. As far as they knew, Xavier had never put his hands on Serena, but he wasn’t exactly kind to her either.

  “I know you’re there, Jason.” Serena’s tiny voice chimed as she turned the page, her eyes never leaving her book. Seeming at ease now, alone and away from her house she continued, “Mom said that my senses will be heightening now the clos
er I get to my transition and I can kind of smell you.”

  Jason smirked and pushed himself off the metal bar, striding slowly toward her, his broad arms swaying at his sides. “That bad, huh?”

  She scratched her nose as she focused on the page in front of her. “No, you smell like the woods and aftershave.”

  That was pretty impressive for a werewolf her age, especially when she hadn’t phased yet.

  Taking a deep breath, she closed her book and stared down at the cover. “Adam told you to watch me, didn’t he?”

  There was no reason to lie to her. “Yes,” he said, simply, and sat facing her on the low concrete wall surrounding the set of swings in a half circle. He clasped his hands in front of him and crossed his legs at the ankle.

  Nodding, she peered up at him and in a small voice, asked, “What about Mom?” Her little shoulders heaved up and down, and he knew she was trying to control her nerves. As horrible as her father was, Serena maintained a calm and sweet persona. Not once had he seen her cry or throw a tantrum, and he’d been around since before she was born. Having grown up with her brother, he was as close to the Perez family as anyone could get.

  After Serena’s birth, Adam made it a point to stay close to home to watch over her and that included Jason. He’d do anything for his best friend and his kid sister but, unfortunately, he couldn’t do much for her mother. She was married to his alpha, and there was no way Jason could go against him. He didn’t want her to worry over her mother, but telling her this seemed insensitive.

  His silence was answer enough for her. She let it go and they just sat there for a while, listening to the nighttime resonances of their quaint town.

  “You don’t talk much do you?” Serena asked after several minutes of just the sound of cicadas chirping their song.

  He turned from his surveillance of the area, a bit startled by her stare. Had she been looking at him the whole time? “Uh...Not really...”

  Before he could say anything else, she said in a low voice, “He scares me.” Her dark brown eyes were not those of a seven-year-old. They were fearful and all too knowing for one so young.

  At that moment, Jason felt cold hatred slip into his gut. His alpha didn’t deserve his status. He didn’t deserve his family.

  He didn’t deserve to live.

  If it weren’t for Adam and Serena, Jason would have been gone years ago. Sure, he loved his pack and would defend it to the death, but he couldn’t stand the things Xavier put his family through.

  “I don’t want you to worry, little one.” He shook himself, the gravity of her troubles weighing hard on his chest.

  A tear slipped silently down her plump cheek. Her eyes round, she whispered, “You promise…you promise nothing bad will happen to me?”

  Her words sent a jolt down his stomach, but not as much as his reply. “I promise, Serena.” His voice was deep and measured as he vowed to protect her. “I will never, ever let anything bad happen to you. I’ll always be here when you need me.”

  Serena’s sweet face smiled.

  ****

  Present Day

  Jason shot up out of bed, instantly awake. A sheen of sweat covered his entire body as he gasped for air, jerking his head from side to side, looking anxiously around for…what?

  His bedroom was pitch black except for the white glow of his alarm clock on the nightstand.

  He froze in the act of his futile search and pinched his lids with trembling fingers. Shit. Did he really expect to see her there in his apartment?

  Ripping the sheets off the lower part of his body, Jason stepped barefoot out of bed and headed to the bathroom in his boxers. Reaching the sink, he turned the knobs of the faucet, stuck his hands under the cool water, and splashed his face three times.

  Taking a deep breath, he placed his hands on either side of the sink, the muscles of his arms rippling as he squeezed the porcelain that was sure to shatter in his tight grip. His shoulder-length hair, dripping with water, curtained his face as he tried to get a hold of himself.

  Night after night Jason dreamed of her, Serena, as a kid in a ponytail, as a teenager with her nose stuck in a book, as a woman…

  Fuck.

  Pushing himself off the sink, he turned back into his room checking the clock. It was four A.M. Great. He didn’t have to be on the construction site till six. He might as well go for a run. It had become a routine of sorts, a way to keep busy during the early morning hours. Every time he fell asleep or found himself sitting idle, images of her would creep into his mind and a cannon ball would erupt in his chest.

  His best friend’s sister had been missing for nearly three months, and they were no closer to finding her now than they were back in July.

  The Fighters, Blacktail members who protected the werewolf pack, had taken it in shifts to comb the area, but their efforts were fruitless. It was obvious she wasn’t anywhere in or around Wilmington. There were five Fighters in town, including himself, and not one of them managed to find a trace. The six Fighters in Chicago were also hitting dead ends.

  For a while, they were sure the Vampire King of North America had taken her. The pack had stirred up shit a couple months ago when Serena’s brother Adam, now alpha of the pack, kidnapped the king’s fiancée. To their utter disbelief, the piece of shit didn’t have her.

  Jason sat roughly on the edge of his bed, placing his head in his hand, elbows digging into his knees, waiting for the agonizing sting in his chest to subside.

  Where the hell was she?

  He knew she was still alive. Some inane part of him simply knew this fact because he refused to think the worse. There was no way she was…God could not be that cruel.

  No. He’d promised her years ago he’d never let anything bad happen to her, a heavy promise to make to a little girl. Of course, he couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t get hurt emotionally, but he was sure he’d be around to protect her from physical harm.

  He’d failed.

  But as soon as she was back, safe and sound, he was going to spend the rest of his days making up for his failure.

  She was alive. Of that, he was sure. He just hoped to God she wasn’t hurt. So help the bastard who took her. If he hurt her…The headache he’d had the past several months returned, partly because he continued to bite down so hard on his molars. Trying to relax only stressed him out more though, so the grinding gave him something to do.

  Jason sat in the dark, sparsely furnished room, letting the pain engulf him. Better for him to let his emotions run wild while he was alone and away from his pack. Although, werewolves, especially Fighters, were known to pick up each other’s emotion from miles apart. He wouldn’t be surprised if his pack members were up right at this moment, cursing him for waking them this way.

  Sure enough, his phone rang, and he knew before he checked the caller ID it was Adam.

  He answered instantly. When your alpha called, no matter how shitty you were feeling, you picked up. “Hey,” Jason answered, his voice groggy from lack of use.

  Adam’s baritone rumbled on the other end. “Hey, J.”

  Serena’s brother didn’t say anything for a while, the two of them at a lost for words. Jason wasn’t much of a talker as it was. Anyway, what would he say? I’m fucking dying inside without her. I miss her so much. Jason didn’t even know how his alpha felt about his feelings for his sister. He really didn’t want to go there now.

  “Did you get any sleep?”

  Jason cleared his throat. “Some…”

  “Mmm…” Adam muttered. “Take the day off. Get some sleep. You can go on rotation after Nick.”

  “Can’t,” Jason replied.

  “J, I know this is rough. I’m going out of my freaking mind too, but you’re no good to me half dead on your feet.”

  Jason didn’t respond, staring dejectedly at the hardwood floor of his room. As beta of the Blacktails, he had never disobeyed or refused an order from his alpha. A very small part of his brain wanted to apologize for being a hard head.
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  Instead, the image of Serena’s parting smile the last time he saw her surfaced and the ache at his core was unbearable, crushing his insides like a meat grinder.

  “Jesus, Jason…” Adam’s voice was stunned, feeling the same ache Jason felt just then. He wouldn’t be surprised if the entire Blacktail population was up right now.

  “Sorry,” Jason said, wearily. “Look, I need to keep busy. I won’t go to the site, but I need to join you on rotation. I’m going for a run, and then I’ll meet you at your place in an hour.”

  “Right,” Adam said, morosely. “See you in a bit.”

  Jason punched the end button and tossed the phone on the bed. Getting swiftly to his feet, he marched back into the bathroom, running the shower icy cold. Slipping out of his boxers, he flung them on the floor and stepped into the standup.

  He welcomed the cool water on his hot skin, letting the freezing shards of liquid sting his flesh. Whatever pain he inflicted was nothing compared to what his Serena was going through. He’d welcome a beat down if it would take away the suffering she must be enduring.

  “Serena,” he moaned, bracing his arms against the mosaic, hanging his head.

  He’d fallen for her unexpectedly years ago. Realizing you were in love with your best friend’s little sister was like getting hit by a semi. You see it coming at you, but you’re powerless to stop it and know the outcome will be a complete disaster.

  For years afterward, he’d kept his distance, or at least tried to. As a Fighter of the race, the alpha’s sister was off limits. But he’d always kept an eye on her. It was hard not to. On occasion he’d run into her at her family’s home or in town, content to just see her smile, hear her voice, anything.

  He knew Serena had a soft spot for him too, which made their non-love affair even more depressing. Anytime he’d pick up on Serena’s feelings for him, he’d keep his distance for a few months, hoping against hope she’d forget about him. But the instant he’d see her again, it was as if their feelings had grown stronger, sprouting more intense emotions they had no idea how to handle.

  “Serena,” he whispered again, aching to see her smile.

  I’ll find you, little one, he thought, squeezing his lids tight.