Hearts insanity, p.1
Heart’s Insanity, page 1
part #1 of Angel Fire Rock Series
Heart’s Insanity
an Angel Fire Rock Romance
Ellie Masters
JEM Publishing
By Ellie Masters
Click here to visit Ellie’s Website (www.elliemasters.com) where you can view excerpts, teasers, and links to her other books.
Copyright © 2016 Ellie Masters
HEART’S INSANITY: an Angel Fire Rock Romance
All rights reserved.
This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this print book ONLY. No part of this print book may be reproduced, scanned, transmitted, or distributed in any printed, mechanical, or electronic form without prior written permission from Ellie Masters or JEM Publishing except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
Image/art disclaimer: Licensed material is being used for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted in the licensed material is a model. Interior chapter heading base images provided by Elias Raven.
Editor: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing, www.unforeseenediting.com
Cover Artist: Kari Nappi
Interior Design/Formatting: Ellie Masters
Published in the United States of America
JEM Publishing
This is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, businesses, 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.
* * *
ISBN: 978-0-9978450-1-3
Created with Vellum
Warning
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This story contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and might be considered offensive to some readers.
This book is for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country where you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely and where they cannot be accessed by underage readers.
Author’s Note
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my one and only, my amazing and wonderful husband.
Without your care and support, my writing would not have made it this far. You make me whole every day. I love you that much, which means from the beginning to the end and every point in between. Thank you, my dearest love, my heart and soul, for putting up with me, for believing in me, and for loving me as I brought these characters from my mind to the page.
Contents
Also by Ellie Masters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Sample Chapter: HEART’S DESIRE
First Chapters: ASHES TO NEW
Please consider leaving a review
Also by Ellie Masters
About the Author
Connect with Ellie Masters
Final Thoughts
Acknowledgments
THE END
Also by Ellie Masters
Sign up to Ellie’s Newsletter and get a free gift. https://elliemasters.com/FreeBook
The Angel Fire Rock Romance Series
each book in this series can be read as a standalone and is about a different couple with an HEA.
Ashes to New (prequel)
Heart’s Insanity (book 1)
Heart’s Desire (book 2)
Heart’s Collide (book 3)
Hearts Divided (book 4)
Romantic Suspense
Reap What You Sow
Twist of Fate
The Starling
Redemption
HOT READS
Changing Roles Series:
Book 1: Command
Book 2: Control
Book 3: Collar
Off Duty
Nondisclosure
Down the Rabbit Hole
Becoming His Series
Book 1: The Ballet
Book 2: Learning to Breathe
Book 3: Becoming His
Sweet Contemporary Romance
Finding Peace
~AND~
Science Fiction
Ellie Masters writing as L.A. Warren
Vendel Rising: a Science Fiction Serialized Novel
(January 2019)
To My Readers
This book is a work of fiction. It does not exist in the real world and should not be construed as reality. As in most romantic fiction, I’ve taken liberties. I’ve compressed the romance into a sliver of time. I’ve allowed these characters to develop strong bonds of trust over a matter of days. This does not happen in real life where you, my amazing readers, live. Take more time in your romance and learn who you’re giving a piece of your heart to. I urge you to move with caution. Always protect yourself.
When you find your partner, talk to him or her. Be open and honest about your needs, your expectations, and your limits, especially if you have any triggers. Never allow your partner to violate the tender trust you have put into their hands. Always remember, your lover can’t read your mind. It is your responsibility to talk to them, no matter how frightening that might be. In return, you must listen to what your partner has to say and understand their limits, as you do your own. Share your hopes, desires, and deepest, darkest secrets. Most of all, don’t be afraid to seek out who you are, become what you want, and share your journey with your partner.
Chapter One
THE COOL DECEMBER wind whipped through the air, piercing the thin cotton of Skye Summers’s scrubs. Spencer McAdams’s Queen Anne townhouse stood before her as she twisted the diamond ring he had placed on her finger last night.
Funny, how she found herself here. Her complicated life could have headed in any number of directions, but the broken foster girl of her past was finally seeing all her dreams come true. Skye was almost normal.
With her stomach fluttering, she searched for her key. The day Spencer had given it to her, she’d nearly toppled over, but she rarely came here without him. Within a year, it would be their key.
Today, she planned on surprising him.
His favorite music played through the surround sound speakers, drowning out her grand entrance. A smile ghosted her lips. She would greet him with a kiss and finish with something more.
His shoes littered the marble entryway, and she placed her backpack beside the mess. Spencer had perfected the disorganized clutter of the quintessential bachelor. The tie he had worn last night dangled over the back of a chair, and his dress shirt was draped over the couch. It lay precisely where she’d tossed it last night after ripping it off his body. His tailored pants were still sprawled across the hall, exactly where he’d kicked them off in his rush to get her to bed. The man was such a gorgeous mess.
She snuck down the hall and twisted her ankle as she stumbled over something. A red stiletto? Her stride faltered, and her gaze cut to a silk blouse lying in a crumpled heap. She grabbed the wall for support and stepped over a lacy bra. Another scrap of fabric was bunched on the floor not two feet away. It was a flimsy thong she would never wear.
She fisted her hand against her belly, her palm slick with sweat. With her heart banging against the cage of her chest, beating so feverishly she thought it would explode, she tiptoed. Discordant notes blared through the house, covering the sound of her footsteps. With each step forward, she feared what she would find, but she had to see for herself.
The cries of a woman spilled out of Spencer's master suite. She peeked inside. Spencer had his back to the door, his naked ass gyrating in a primal rhythm as he plunged into the woman sprawled on the bed. Skye’s nails bit into the flesh of her palms as she curled her fingers into impotent fists.
He panted while the woman’s staccato cries rose in counterpoint to his guttural moans. Long, slender legs were wrapped around Spencer's waist, and the woman writhed in orgasmic ecstasy.
Skye wanted to claw the bitch’s eyes out. She wanted to scream, kick Spencer in the ass, stomp on his nuts, or cut off his dick. But she did nothing, not until Spencer looked over his shoulder. Only then did she gasp, mortified that she’d been caught spying.
He didn’t stop fucking, but he did slow his pace. “What are you doing here?” His voice was filled with accusation, as if she had no right to be in his home.
She should have picked up one of those stilettos. Then she could have thrown one at his head. Instead sh
“Don’t you dare leave!” Spencer called out.
He had his dick buried in another woman, the cheating ass, and he wanted her to stay?
The trail of discarded clothing mocked her as she staggered through a veil of blurred tears toward the front door. She grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder, desperate to escape. Her hands shook so hard that she could barely open the front door, but she made it outside where she stopped cold. Her emotions billowed in a turbulent flow. A normal person would have been filled with rage, but humiliation and resignation were much more familiar emotions. She embraced those.
As she stood on Spencer's front stoop, she pulled the diamond ring off her finger. She had half a mind to leave it inside, but she wasn’t setting foot back in that house. Maybe she should toss it in the bushes?
The ring wasn’t hers. Not anymore.
For now, she placed it in the deepest pocket of her scrub pants. She’d give it back later.
Wasn’t it enough that Spencer had shredded her heart? Now, the biting cold was also stealing her warmth. Icy tendrils pierced her flesh and delved deep to brush against her heart. She adjusted her backpack and snuggled deep into her heavy winter coat. The frigid wind clawed at her and then moved on in search of other victims. She was too numb to care, but she was determined to make it through the day, albeit mechanically and in an emotional fog.
To survive her upcoming twelve-hour shift in the emergency department, Skye made a list of things she needed to do. It was a coping mechanism she’d mastered years ago.
Hot cocoa.
Ride Metro.
Work.
Finish her shift.
Home.
Collapse with a movie and a gallon of coffee ice cream.
Pack for trip.
Shit. Spencer was supposed to join her on her mini vacation. Now, she’d have to go alone, and she hated traveling by herself. Like the ring, she’d deal with that later, too.
First, she had to make it to the coffee shop.
She slipped her hand into her pocket and clutched two carats of broken dreams. A symbol of love and trust, the ring was now nothing more than a shattered promise.
Recessed in the corner of her mind, a lingering doubt remained. Maybe Spencer had been right. Was it possible she was too damaged for love?
Enough!
Up ahead, the coffee house beckoned. Skye quickened her steps. Her breath coalesced in the frigid air and drifted away in the swirl of a passing breeze, disintegrating, like her relationship and the future it had promised.
The small coffee shop had been her refuge during a grueling residency and still was today. It was a place where she had gathered with a small group of fellow residents who were coffee lovers. Leading up to their board exams, they’d crammed everything they needed to know about medicine while indulging in their favorite addiction—caffeine. With her residency finished, she still stopped in every day to get her favorite piping hot beverage.
Of course, she’d met Spencer there, too.
Maybe she needed new dreams and a new future?
Chapter Two
As Skye approached the coffee shop, two black Hummers pulled up alongside the curb. The drivers jumped out and rushed around their respective vehicles to open the passenger doors. Five men spilled out, two from the lead vehicle and three from the rear, laughing and joking, shoving one another toward the entrance. Despite the frigid temperature, they wore nothing but T-shirts and beat-up blue jeans.
Two ladies with snow-white hair approached the shop as well. Unlike the men, the women were hunched in their heavy jackets with scarves wrapped tightly around their necks as they shivered against the cold. The men scampered around the women, yanked on the door, and filed inside. The last man, tall and slender, kept the door from slamming shut while the women ducked under his arm.
Skye hurried to catch the door and snagged her toe on the uneven sidewalk. The man steadied her, gripping her arm. He stared down, his eyes a piercing forest green.
“Well, hello, beautiful.” A cocksure smile brought a mischievous twinkle to those eyes.
Skye shrugged herself free. Spencer's betrayal was too fresh, and her emotions were too raw for her to engage in any sort of flirtation.
With an unfriendly glare, she said, “Thank you.”
Skye gripped her backpack and moved quickly over the threshold to the back of the line. The invigorating aroma of brewed coffee washed over her, and she breathed deep. The welcoming warmth dispelled her chill, and she shrugged off her backpack, unzipped her heavy coat, and draped it over her arm.
The men from the Hummers had taken over her favorite corner by the fire, filling the plush leather couches with their large frames as well as the one chair she generally claimed as her own. They sprawled out, like they owned the entire store, taking up more room than they needed, despite the morning rush.
The place was packed with a standing-room-only crowd. Couples and singles buried their noses in their cell phones and tablets. A few people worked on laptops. And, sprinkled here and there, the rare newspaper or book found itself clutched in the hands of a reader engrossed in the magic of the printed word.
Skye basked in the normalcy of the pleasant atmosphere and let her shoulders drop as she exhaled in a desperate effort to keep herself together.
She glanced at the clock hanging behind the barista station. If she got her cocoa and left immediately, she could take the early train. Her boss would appreciate her relieving him a few minutes early.
Boisterous laughter exploded from the corner by the fire. By their casual postures and open expressions the men were more than simply good friends. They teased one another in a nonstop barrage of verbal put-downs and animated conversation, acting like frat boys but appearing a few years older than the standard college crowd. The decibel level of that part of the room rose at least ten points.
They sported a variety of hairstyles from a close-cut buzz to rocker-style long hair. One with curly dark hair caught her staring and winked. She couldn’t see the one who had held the door.
The elderly women moved to the front of the line, and Skye shuffled behind them.
One of the women spoke, and her jowls wobbled with her shaky enunciation. “Frieda, can you see the menu? I don’t want any of that fancy stuff.”
Her friend obliged and read the drink choices out loud.
Skye waited for the women to navigate the menu, and her thoughts turned to Spencer's clenching ass while he pumped into the unknown woman sprawled on his bed, the same bed where he’d made love to Skye the night before. An upwelling of indignation surged forth, seeking an outlet, but she found none.
The barista called out a name, something Skye didn’t catch, and placed a cup on the counter. The man who’d held the door claimed the steaming beverage and returned to his friends as the two older women completed their order. They settled the bill after arguing over whose turn it was to pay.
Skye took a step forward as they moved off, still twittering about the bill.
