Ceaseless (27 page)

Coming October 23, 2012

JUST FOR NOW

Official SNEAK PEEK

*Warning this is a contemporary new adult romance. The scenes get very hot and descriptive.

Part 
one 
of  the
 
Prologue

              
“Well if it 
ain’t
 
lil
’ 
Manda
 all dressed up and coming out to play.”

              
The water I’d been sipping chose this moment to strangle me. Covering my 
mouth
 to muffle my hacking cough, I turned away from the warm breath against my ear. I had shown up here tonight for one reason: to see Preston Drake. Wasn’t it just my luck that when he finally decided to notice I’m alive, I started 
coughing
 up a freaking lung.

              
Preston’s amused chuckle as he patted my back didn’t help my humiliation any. “Sorry 
Manda
, I didn’t know my presence would get you all choked up.”

              
Once I was able to speak again, I turned around to face the guy that had been making a grand appearance in my late night fantasies for a couple years now. All the primping I’d suffered through so that I looked irresistible was pointless. Preston was grinning at me like he always did. I amused him. He didn’t see me as anything more than the innocent little sister of his best friend, Marcus Hardy. It was cliché.  How many bad 
romance novels
 had I read about the girl falling helplessly in love with her brother’s best friend? Countless.

              
“You startled me,” I wanted to explain my sudden burst of coughing.

              
Preston tipped a 
bottle of beer
 against his lips and took a drink while keeping his eyes cut toward me. “Are you sure it wasn’t my sexy-as-hell voice whispering in your ear that caused your momentary lack of oxygen?”

              
Yes that was probably it. But the guy knew he was beautiful I wasn’t going to add to his ego.  Crossing my arms over my stomach, I took a defensive pose. 
I never knew
 how to talk to Preston or what to say to him. I was so afraid he’d look me in the eyes and know that I closed my eyes at night and imagined doing 
very bad things
 to his body.

              
“Damn, 
Manda
,” he said in a low husky voice as his eyes lowered to my breasts. I’d worn a low cut white blouse tonight and a really good 
push up bra
 in hopes of at least getting Preston to see that my body was all grown up. Besides, I knew he had a thing for boobs. It was obvious by the girls he dated… well he didn’t really date. He just screwed them. My boobs were not big but a good push up bra and the right position and they weren’t too bad.

“That’s a real nice shirt you got on.”

              
He was really looking at me. Or at them but they were a part of me so it was the same thing.  “Thank you,” I replied in a normal voice that betrayed the fact I was breathing a little faster now.

              
Preston took another step toward me closing in the small area that had separated us. His eyes were still directed at the cleavage I had pushing up in full view.  “Maybe wearing a shirt like that 
ain’t
 real smart, 
Manda
.” His deep voice caused me to shiver. “Aw, hell girl don’t do that. No shivering.”

              
One large hand touched my waist. His thumb brushed against my stomach and gently pushed the hem of my shirt up. “I’ve been 
drinkin
’ since four, sweetheart. You need to push me away and send me packing ‘cause I don’t think I can stop this on my own.”

              
Small whimper. Oh, yes. Should I start begging now?

              
Preston lifted his eyes to 
meet
 mine. His long pale blond hair that girls everywhere wanted to get their hands in, fell forward over one of his eyes. I couldn’t help it. I reached up and tucked the loose strands behind his ear. He closed his eyes and made a small, pleased sound in his throat.

              
“
Manda
, you’re real sweet. Real fucking sweet and I’m not the kind of guy you’re supposed to let get this close.” His voice was almost a whisper now as his eyes bore into mine. I could see the slight glassy look that confirmed he’d had too much to drink. 
             

              
“I’m a big girl. I can decided 
who
 I let get close,” I replied shifting my hips so that he had a better view directly down my shirt if he wanted it.

              
“
Mmmm
, see this is where I think you might be wrong ‘cause untouched little bodies like yours all fresh and sweet shouldn’t tempt guys who are only looking for another hot fuck.”

              
Something about hearing Preston Drake 
say
 “fuck” out of those full pink lips of his was a major turn on. He was too pretty. He always had been. His lashes too long, his face too sculpted and you add that in with his lips and hair, you get one lethal package.

              
“Maybe I’m not as untouched as you think,” I said hoping he didn’t detect the lie. I wanted to be one of those bad girls he didn’t mind taking in a back room up against a wall.

              
Preston lowered his mouth to barely graze the skin on my shoulder that was revealed by the shirt I’d chosen. “You telling me that this sweetness has been played with?”

              
No
. “Yes,” I replied.

              
“Come take a ride with me,” he asked close to my ear as his teeth pulled gently on my earlobe.

              
“Okay.”

              
Preston moved back and nodded his head toward the door. “Let’s go.”

              
That probably wasn’t such a good idea. If Rock, Dewayne, or any other of my brother’s friends saw us leaving together they’d stop anything from happening. And I wanted something to happen. Alone time under the covers thinking about Preston Drake was getting old. I wanted the actual man. I wonder why Preston hadn’t thought of that. Did he want them to stop us?  I glanced over at their usual 
table
 and Rock wasn’t paying us any attention. Dewayne winked at me then went back to talking to some girl.

              
I looked back at the bartender, “I have to pay my tab first.”

              
Preston nudged me toward the door, “I got your tab. You go get in my Jeep.”

              
Okay. Yes. I wanted to go get in his Jeep.  This would also have us leaving separately. Nodding, I hurried for the door thinking I may have just won the
lottery
.

              
Glancing around the 
parking lot
 I searched for Preston’s Jeep. When I didn’t see it out front I headed for the back of the building to see if he’d parked back there. Most people didn’t because there were no lights around.

              
Stepping into the darkness, I wondered if this was smart. A girl really shouldn’t be out here by herself at night. Maybe I should just go back to the part of theparking lot were it was well lit.

              
“Don’t you back out on me now. I’m already going half mad thinking about this,” Preston’s hands came around my waist and pulled me tightly up against his chest.  Both of his hands slid up and covered my boobs squeezing them then tugging on my top until it was low enough that he could feel the exposed skin of my cleavage.

              
“Sweet God almighty, real ones feel so damn good,” he murmured.

              
I couldn’t take a deep breath. Preston’s hands were touching me. I wanted him to touch all of them. Reaching up, I undid the buttons on my shirt and let it fall open. I found the front clasp of my bra and quickly unfastened it before I could back out. We were in the middle of a very dark parking lot and I was being a complete slut.

              
“Damn baby. Get your ass in my Jeep.” Preston growled as he pushed me forward a few more steps then turned me left by directing my hips. His Jeep appeared in front of us. I was pretty sure we couldn’t do this in a Jeep.

              
“Can we, uh, do this in here?” I asked as he turned me around to face him. Even in the dark his light hair stood out. His eyelids were lowered and those long lashes of his almost brushed his cheeks.

              
“Do what baby? What is it you 
wanna
 do? ‘Cause showing me these pretty 
titties
 has me going a little crazy.” He pressed me back up against his jeep as he lowered his head and pulled one of my nipples into his mouth and sucked hard before flicking it with his tongue.

              
No one had ever kissed my boobs. The immediate explosion that went off in my panties as I cried his name hadn’t been on purpose. My head was pressed back on the 
Jeep window
 and my knees had completely given out. Preston’s hands holding firmly to my waist had kept me from ending up a heap on the gravel.

              
“
Mother fucker
,” Preston growled and I started to apologize when his hands cupped my butt and he picked me up. I grabbed his shoulders and wrapped my legs around his waist afraid he would drop me.

              
“Where are we going?” I asked as he stalked deeper into the parking lot. Had I made him mad?

              
“I’m getting your sexy ass back here so I can strip off your clothes and burry my dick into that tight little pussy. You can’t go do shit like that 
Manda
 and expect a guy to control himself. It don’t’ fucking work that way baby girl.”

              
He was going to “fuck” me. Finally. Not exactly what I wanted him to refer to it as when we finally did it but Preston wasn’t one for roses and candlelight. He was all about the pleasure. I knew that already.

              
Preston reached out and opened a door behind me. We stepped into a dark and slightly chilly room.

              
“Where are we?” I asked as he sat me down on a box.

              
“Outside storage unit. It’s okay I’ve used it before.”

              
He’d used it before? Oh.

Existence

By 
Abbi
 Glines

Chapter One

Don’t look at him and he’ll go away
. I chanted in my head, as I walked toward my locker. It took an extreme amount of willpower not to glance back over my shoulder. Not only would alerting him I could see him be pointless but it would also be stupid. The halls were already full of students. 
Although, if he’d followed me inside the school I would have seen him easily enough through the throngs of people.
 He would stand out just like they always did, unmoving and watching.
 

“GAH! Have you seen Leif? I mean honestly can he get any hotter? Oh, yes he can.” Miranda 
Wouters
, 
my best friend
 since 
elementary school
, squealed as she grabbed my arm.

“No, I haven’t seen him. 
Football camp
 must’ve agreed w
ith him,” I replied, forcing a smile. I couldn’t care less how hot Leif Montgomery looked. Miranda rolled her eyes
 
and opened the locker beside mine.
 

“Honestly, Pagan, I don’t get how you can be so immune to such intense hotness.”

I managed a genuine laugh and slipped my bag over my shoulder.
 
“Hotness? You 
didn’t  just
 say hotness.”
 

Miranda shrugged, “I’m not an endless well of descriptive words, like you are.” 
 

I chanced a peek over my shoulder. The halls were full of normal people, living people. They were talking, laughing, and reading over their schedules. It was all very real. I let out a sigh of relief. This was the first day of my senior year. I wanted to enjoy it.

“So, what class do you have first?” I asked, relaxing for the first time since I’d spotted the dead guy lounging outside on the picnic 
table
 staring directly at me.
 

“I have Algebra II, blah! I so enjoyed Geometry last year.
 
 I hated Algebra
 
my freshman year and I can already feel the negative vibes coming from my textbook.” Miranda’s dramatic flair for life never failed to make me smile.

“I’ve got English Lit.”
 

“Well, we all know you’re loving that. OH, look, look, look, there he is,” Miranda managed to squeal in a hushed tone while nodding her head toward where Leif stood talking to other 
football players
.
 

“Hate that I can’t hang around and bask in the presence of greatness with you, but this is my stop.”
 
 Miranda glanced back at me, rolled her big brown eyes, and gave me a wave before making her way over to Leif.
 

Empty rooms were places I usually avoided at all cost. Given the fact the bell wouldn’t ring for five more minutes, this room would no doubt remain empty for the next four minutes. 
 
If I’d stayed out in the hall, 
I would have been dragged by Miranda
 over to where Leif stood surrounded by his chosen few. I knew without a doubt he wasn’t interested in talking to Miranda. We’d been going to school with Leif since we were eleven. Since his move from somewhere up north to the coastal town of Breeze, Florida, never had he acknowledged either of us. Not that I minded. He wasn’t my type. I walked over to the desk closest to the window and put my bag down.
 

A movement, out of the corner of my eye, caused the hairs on my arms to prickle. I’d known better than to stay in this empty room. But I was here now and running would make it worse. I turned to face the same soul from outside sitting in a chair at the back of the classroom with his feet propped up on the desk in front of him and his arms crossed casually over his chest. How had he known I could see him? I’d given no indication outside. Normally ghosts needed a little clue from me to realize I wasn’t as blind as the rest of the world.  Something was different with this one. I dropped my gaze and started to turn around. Maybe I should go join Miranda and the jock squad out in the hall.
 
If I acted like I didn’t see him and casually made my way back into the hallway then he might think he’d made a mistake and float away or walk through a wall or something.

“You don’t really want to subject yourself to such pointless company do you?”
 
a cold, smooth voice broke the silence.

I gripped the hard plastic chair beside me so hard that my knuckles turned white. I fought down a startled little cry—almost a scream—in the back of my throat. Should I ignore him? Should I respond? Alerting him that his hunch was right might not end well. But ignoring this was going to be impossible. He could speak. Souls never talked to me. From the time I realized that the strangers who frequently watched me or appeared in my 
home
 and wandered the halls were not visible to anyone but me, I’d started ignoring them. Seeing dead people wasn’t a new thing for me but having them talk to me was definitely a new twist.

“I pegged you with more guts. Are you going to let me down too?” His tone softened. There was a familiar drawl in his voice now.
 

“You can speak,” I said looking directly at him, I needed him to know I wasn’t afraid. I’d been dealing with wandering souls, which is what I like to think of them as, all my life. They didn’t frighten me but I liked to ignore them so they would go away. If they ever thought I could see them, they followed me. He continued to watch me with an amused expression on his face. I noticed his crooked grin produced a 
single
 dimple. The dimple didn’t seem to fit with his cold, arrogant demeanor. As much as his presence annoyed me, I couldn’t help but admit this soul could only be labeled as ridiculously gorgeous.
 

“Yes, I speak. Were you expecting me to be mute?”
 

I leaned my hip against the desk. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I was. You’re the first one who has ever spoken to me.”

 
A frown creased his forehead. “The first one?”

He appeared genuinely surprised he wasn’t the first dead person I could see.  He was definitely the most unique soul I’d ever seen. Ignoring a soul who could talk was going to be hard.  However, I needed to get over his ability and get rid of him. Talking to invisible friends could hinder my social life. I’d end up looking like some crazy chick 
who
 talked to herself.

“Pagan Moore, this must be my lucky day.” At the sound of 
my name
, I spun around to see Wyatt Tucker sauntering into the room.
 

I forced a smile as if I hadn’t been speaking to an empty room. “I guess it is.” I tilted my head back to meet his eyes. “You just keep growing, don’t you?”
 

“Can’t seem to stop it.” He winked and then slung a long leg over the chair across from mine before sitting down. “What have you been up to this summer? I haven’t seen much of you.”

I chanced a peek back toward the soul to find an empty chair. A mixture of relief and disappointment washed over me. Wanting to ask him more questions wasn’t exactly a good idea, but I couldn’t help it.  I'd asked other souls questions before like, "Why are you following me?" or, "Why can I see you?" and they always remained mute. Often times they disappeared when I began asking them questions.
 

Turning my attention back to Wyatt, I forced a smile before 
replying,
 “I stayed up in 
North Carolina
 all summer at my Aunt’s 
horse ranch
.”
 

Wyatt leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “I just don’t get why people would want to leave all summer when we live on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.”

For me it hadn’t been a choice really but I didn’t want to explain the reason to Wyatt or anyone else. More students started entering the room, followed by our 
English Literature
 teacher, Mr. Brown.

 
“Wyatt, what’s up, Slim,” Justin Gregory called out as he made his way toward us. He plopped his bag onto the desk across from Wyatt. For now, Wyatt’s attention was off me thanks to Justin’s interruption. As I turned toward the front of the class, my eyes once again found the soul. Leaning against the wall directly diagonal to my desk, he stood watching me. I glared at him and he seemed to find my obvious dislike entertaining. His dimple appeared and I hated the fact I found it sexy. This wasn’t a human, well not anymore. It took extreme willpower to turn my gaze away from him and focus my attention on the board where Mr. Brown had written our assignment. I’d always ignored these pesky souls before and they’d gone away. I’d just have to get over the fact this one could talk to me. If I didn’t ignore him I’d be stuck with him stalking me.

* * * *

“Hate it, I mean, like hate it in a big way,” Miranda grumbled as she dropped her lunch tray down on the table with a loud clank. “If I have to sit through Algebra and Chemistry all morning, you’d think that I at least could’ve a little eye candy in one of my classes. But 
noooooo
! I get Gretchen with her relentless sniffles and Craig with his gas issues.”

I choked on my sandwich and grabbed my bottle of water to take a quick gulp in order to wash down my food. Once I felt sure I wasn’t going to choke to death, I glanced up at Miranda’s concerned face. “Do you have to say things like that when I’ve got a mouth full of food?” I asked. 

She shrugged. “Sorry, I’m just 
sayin
’ is all. I didn’t mean for you to forget to chew your food.”  She reached over and squeezed my arm. “There goes his perfectness now. Do you think he’s going to hook back up with Kendra this year? I mean they really had a bad breakup last year with all the cheating and stuff. Surely he’s going to move on.”

I took another bite of my sandwich, not wanting to answer her question. I didn’t care who Leif Montgomery hooked up with but, yes, I felt most certain he would hook back up with Kendra. They happen to be the ‘golden couple’. Everyone knew this and expected it. Their type always lived up to their name.

“Pull your tongue back in your mouth, Miranda. You look like a dog in need of water.” Wyatt sat down across from us, chuckling at his own joke while Miranda scowled at him.

“I don’t have my tongue hanging out, thank you very much.”

Wyatt winked at me and shrugged. “Looked like it to me. What do you think, Pagan, was she drooling or what?”

I crammed another bite into my mouth. I wasn’t getting in the middle of this one. Wyatt started laughing as I pointed to my overstuffed mouth. Miranda elbowed me in the side. “Don’t go taking his side. He’s just mean.”

With a large gulp of water I washed down my food, and then stared pointedly at Miranda.  “You two can hash this out all you want but I’m not getting into this. Ever since you decided to take friendship a step further last year and it came crashing down around you, all 
ya’ll
 want to do is take cheap shots at each other. Not my fight.  Leave me alone.” I quickly took another bite so I wouldn’t be asked to say anything else.  When the two of them realized that they drove each other nuts because they hadn’t gotten over one another, it would make my life easier. Then again, I’d be the one alone. My boyfriend, Jay Potts, had moved away months ago and I hadn’t spoken to him since before I’d left for my Aunt’s this summer. 

“That’s not what this is about! I could care less that he couldn’t keep his tongue out of Katie’s throat when I wasn’t looking,” Miranda said angrily.

“I didn’t have my tongue down anyone’s throat but yours, Miranda, but you don’t believe me and I’m tired of defending myself.” Wyatt stood and yanked his tray of untouched food up before stalking away.

“Asshole,” she murmured, watching him relocate to the jock table.

I hated seeing them like this. The three of us had been friends since third grade. Back 
then,
 Wyatt had been all arms and legs. Now, he towered over everyone with his long, muscular body. Miranda hadn’t been immune to his sudden stud qualities last year. Now, she couldn’t stand him.

“Listen, Miranda, I was thinking, maybe if you two talked about what happened without you accusing him, things might work out.” I’d tried this before and she always ignored me.

Sure enough, she started shaking her head causing her brown curls to bounce back and forth. “I know what happened, Pagan. I don’t want to talk it out with him. He’s a big, cheating liar.” She took a violent chomp out of her Granny Smith apple and continued glaring in Wyatt’s direction. “Look at him acting like he fits in over at that table. I mean, really, who does he think he is?”