Fatal Temptation

  N.E. Stevenson

  Copyright © 2024 N.E. Stevenson.

  All Rights Reserved.

  Madness

  Edited by ApolloEditorialServices

  Cover by JD Villalino.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, places, people, or incidents is coincidental.

  While the author may use their own experiences with specific instances, the book is entirely fictional.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Blurb

  Authors Note

  1. Demon

  2. Jester

  3. Crow

  4. Crow

  5. Briar

  6. Crow

  7. Briar

  8. Jester

  9. Briar

  10. Demon

  11. Briar

  12. Demon

  13. Briar

  14. Crow

  15. Jester

  16. Jester

  17. Briar

  18. Demon

  19. Briar

  20. Briar

  21. Jester

  Epilogue

  Social Media

  Acknowledgments

  Blurb

  Demon, Jester, and Crow.

  Alpha team.

  Our team was hired to eliminate her, yet the longer we observe her, the deeper our obsession grows.

  The problem is we have never not completed a job, and we have no intention of breaking the streak we worked so hard to get.

  As the truth of who employed us surfaces, can we resist the allure of the enchanting woman who has ensnared our hearts and fulfill the mission we set out to do, or will the weight of our desire prove to be too much?

  BAGGAMHEHDLAGB

  Be a good girl and make him eat his dessert like a good boy.

  Authors Note

  This is a dark romance that contains the following fun list *cough* trigger warnings.

  Stalking

  Hitmen

  Talks of death

  Elective mutism

  Forced breeding

  Degradation

  BDSM

  Primal play – Reversed

  Mask

  Samantha?

  Suicide ideation

  Cock worship

  Gunplay

  Guess who?

  Humiliation

  Pregnancy

  Chapter 1

  Demon

  Iwatch her.

  I’m always watching her.

  I’m captivated by her presence, unable to quell the longing that she stirs inside of me, despite knowing I shouldn’t feel this way – that I can’t.

  None of us should be here tonight, but she’s defied my expectations the last six months, and we find ourselves drawn to her, wanting… needing a glimpse of her.

  Nestled within the cloaked darkness of the trees that surround her home, she remains blissfully unaware of the danger that lurks nearby.

  The threat to her life.

  The other two members of my team linger around the property, poised for the perfect moment to strike, but each day, the task feels increasingly more impossible.

  We find reasons to justify our delay to advance – perhaps the door remains locked, despite our particular skill in picking locks that we are hired to do on a regular basis, or her day has been good, and we don’t want to shatter the small piece of joy she got to experience.

  Then again, on darker days, we hesitate also, not wanting to make a shitty day even shitter.

  None of these excuses are valid – not one.

  We are hitmen, sworn to an oath where we deliver death to those who deserve it the most, yet this woman’s presence complicates everything.

  Months have slipped by, the seasons changing as we linger on the outskirts observing her.

  Waiting for the perfect moment.

  But yet… nothing.

  We must have uncovered every secret of hers by now; after all, it’s what we do best.

  It’s been months of watching.

  Waiting.

  We must know every secret of hers by now; it’s our duty to know her inside out. Yet here we stand out in the cold night air, teetering on the edge of obsession, spiraling into madness.

  “Why do we have to do this?” Crow whispers through the earpiece, echoing the question that has been lingering between us for six long months.

  “We can’t, Crow. You know the consequences if we don’t complete our job.”

  “But…”

  “No, Crow, no ‘buts’. We need to do this.” My voice is firm, cutting through the heavy silence that lingers over the earpiece.

  Crow falls silent, mourning the impending loss of our obsession.

  Jester, who we could never get to shut up, now rarely speaks, the weight of his feelings for her suffocating him.

  We cannot rescue her – not from this fate, and I wish we never took the contract in the first place, but knowing what we do now changes nothing.

  We entered into a contract, one that binds us until the job is completed, and there are so many excuses that I can use with the big boss to put this off for a few more days.

  We should have finished it months ago, but then she appears, her dazzling smile and golden hair, and we tumble down the rabbit hole of obsession once again.

  Our lives have become entangled with hers, every encounter leaving us more lost in our emotions.

  The men I call brothers are now shadows of the men they used to be – myself included, but each of us are lost as we grapple with our forbidden desires and regrets for the woman we have all watched for so long.

  There are nights when it’s my turn to rest where I find myself staring at the ceiling, wondering if there’s a way out of this.

  Her presence haunts us all; her enchanting laughter when her friends are visiting for wine night seems to echo in my mind when I close my eyes.

  We are bound by our word, by the ink that seals our fates, but in our hearts, that no longer matters.

  The only question is… can we save the woman we are all obsessed with? Or am I doomed to be the one to end her?

  Chapter 2

  Jester

  She appears just as the dawn rises over the horizon.

  The spot I chose specifically in this tree gives me the perfect view of her as she moves around her bedroom, getting ready for another mundane day at work.

  If she were mine – if she knew who I was, she would never have to work if she didn’t want to. I would let her chase her dreams of being whatever she wanted to be.

  She brushes her golden hair away from her shoulder, and the sweet, creamy skin between the juncture of her neck and shoulder is bare for me to see from where I’m perched.

  I want to bite her – to claim her.

  But that’s not possible, not when the guillotine of death hangs over her neck, something she’s blissfully unaware of.

  Crow and Demon bicker over the private line we have, but I stay mute, refusing to say a word when I know it’s no use when we cannot save her.

  “There has to be something we can do. She doesn’t deserve to die!” Crow bellows, the feed cutting off as he loses his shit once again.

  “She’s a contract, Crow,” Demon hisses, “There’s nothing we can do.”

  I can hear the rustle of clothes as Crow exhales heavily, and then silence cuts through where there was once static, signaling that he’s disconnected our link.

  Demon sighs deeply, “I swear he’s going to get us all killed.”

  I sit alone for a while longer, waiting for her to leave for work.

  My thoughts churn, the grim reality of our situation hitting me like a ton of bricks – we were never supposed to fall for the target; we were meant to end her.

  How did it go so wrong?

  “Shift change. Go home, Jester. Get some sleep.”

  I click my fingers against the earpiece once, letting him know I’ve heard him, and shuffle down from where I’m perched.

  Her white Audi revs out of the driveway, and I debate whether or not I should follow her to work even when the others will be doing the same.

  Shaking my head, I refuse to obsess over her any longer, not when she’ll be gone from this world soon enough.

  The line clicks back on, and Crow’s voice sounds over the line, “What’s our next move?” he asks.

  “We complete the contract,” Demon replies.

  “Fine, but then I’m done,” Crow says, his voice cold and detached.

  “What the fuck do you mean you’re done? There is no done Crow. We’re a team. You don’t fucking abandon your team,” Demon grits out.

  “She’s innocent, D.”

  “She’s a job.”

  There’s a stretch of silence, and I can imagine Crow’s defiant shake of his head as he tries to think of a way to argue our way out of this, but there’s none of that this time.

  Her name and our signatures on the piece of paper are set in stone, and saving her life forfeits our families. We signed her death with three tiny scribbles, and it feels like there’s a way to untangle ourselves from the web we’ve woven.

  The sh arp beep of the private line tells me Crows switched over, and I follow suit, “I’m going to save her,” he declares, “Don’t try to stop me.”

  I grunt in response, trying not to trip over the broken branches in the forest as hope flickers to life inside of me. I stay silent, not trusting myself not to break when I open my mouth.

  If anyone is going to find a way to save her, it’ll be Crow.

  Chapter 3

  Crow

  My eyes never leave her silhouette, framed perfectly in the window of the café she regularly visits.

  “Are we really going to go through with this?” my voice cracks as I ask the same question I’ve asked a hundred times now.

  “We have to,” Demon sighs.

  “But she’s different,” I lean forward in my spot, narrowing my eyes on the man approaching her with an overly friendly smile on his face, “There’s something about her… she’s captivating. How can you feel the same and not want to save her?”

  Demon doesn’t say anything for a moment, and I have to resist the urge to go into the café and pull the man who is now sitting down at the table with her away and down into the alleyway.

  “We can’t let our personal feelings interfere. We have a job to do.”

  I run my hand through my shaven hair, “What if we find another way?” I suggest, “We could warn her. Maybe she could disappear?”

  “And risk everything? Risk Charlotte?” he shoots back harshly, “We cannot afford not to, and the boss is getting impatient.”

  I fall silent, and my jaw clenches as frustration burns through me.

  I know the stakes are high, but as I watch her laugh and smile at the man in front of her, longing and… jealousy twists in my chest.

  She’s more than a target now – she’s my everything… my obsession and I can’t let her die because a piece of paper says so.

  I’ll pay the fee for her life, no matter how high the cost.

  As the day drags on and we follow her, I begin to formulate a plan.

  It’s risky, perhaps even reckless, but the thought of losing her is unbearable.

  If I can buy us some time to find a loophole to save her life, then we can have a chance.

  Introduce ourselves to her – let her get to know us.

  Demon falls into step beside me, silent but watchful.

  Despite his harsh words, I know he understands. He’s been in this game longer than either me or Jester has, but I don’t think he’s ever had desire and duty collide.

  We move through the crowded streets, following just a few paces behind her. Weaving our way between people who are oblivious to the danger that lurks between them.

  When she reaches home, the signature click from Jester signals that he’s perched in his spot in the trees, and Demon nods as he turns to leave.

  I move into the shadows of the treeline, stepping over rotting leaves and broken branches, the phone in my hand feeling like a bomb about to explode as I weigh up my decisions.

  I click his contact, and the phone rings twice before the familiar timber of his voice cuts through, “Is it finally done?”

  “Not yet, but there may be a complication,” my hands turn clammy as the lie easily slips through my teeth.

  “What now?” the boss snarks, “What could it possibly be now? You’ve been there six months, Crow.”

  I inhale through my nose, preparing to lie for the last time in an attempt to save her life, “She’s pregnant.”

  The sharp inhale is the only tell that he’s heard me, “You’re sure?”

  “Positive.”

  “Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck!” the sound of his fist connecting with his desk echoes through the phone, “How far along?”

  “Early. Very early,” I lie, well, not really. If I have my way, she’ll be pregnant by tonight.

  “Don’t make any moves. We don’t harm children, even if it’s the unborn kind,” he says, hanging up before I have the chance to reply.

  I sigh in relief, feeling like everything is going to be ok now, but I have a plan to make and follow through with, and hopefully, by tonight, she’ll be ours.

  Chapter 4

  Crow

  The bass thumps in my chest, a steady heartbeat that matches the rhythm of the music and the way everyone sways to the music.

  I lean against the bar, nursing a whiskey neat, my eyes scanning the room for her.

  This is my kind of place – dark, loud, and filled with people who have secrets they’d kill to keep.

  Hopefully, tonight can stay murder free because I’m here for one reason and one reason only.

  Her.

  She moves like liquid fire through the crowd of bodies, her hips swaying dangerously to the music, and her golden hair cascades down her back in loose waves.

  She wears a dress that clings to her curves, the deep red fabric shimmering under the strobe lights.

  I may need to rethink that no murder thing because my obsession looks fucking killer, and I want nothing more than to kill any man that looks at her.

  My breath catches in my throat as she turns, her eyes locking with mine for a moment before she disappears into the crowd.

  I push off the bar, my drink long forgotten, and follow her.

  The air is thick with sweat and perfume.

  I weave my way through the dancers, so many bodies pressing in on me, but none of them matter.

  Only her.

  My gaze never leaves her, ensuring I don’t lose her, and I follow until she slips through a door marked ‘Staff Only.’

  I quicken my pace, slipping past, grabbing hands, and catching the door just before it closes behind her.

  The hallway is dimly lit, the walls lined with old posters, and I can hear her heels tapping softly against the floor ahead of me.

  I follow – of course I do.

  My heart pounds wildly in my chest as I get closer to her.

  This is reckless… dangerous even, but I don’t care.

  I need to see her, to be close to her, but most importantly, I need to save her, and this is the only way.

  She stops at the door labeled ‘Restroom’ and glances over her shoulder.

  Her eyes widen when she sees me, but there’s no fear there, only lust.

  “What are you doing down here?” she breathes, her voice low and husky.

  I step closer, crowding her against the wall and loving how she feels against me.

  “Looking for you,” I say, my voice rough with desire. I reach out, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, my fingers lingering on her skin like I can’t bear to pull them away, “I saw you and was captivated, and I just had to follow you down here to introduce myself.”

  “Well then, hi,” her lips curve into a smile, but there’s a challenge in her eyes. “What now?”

  “What do you want?” I murmur, stroking her cheek.

  She tilts her head, her gaze dropping to my mouth, “A little fun.”

  “Only a little?” I tease, “I can be a lot of fun in the right circumstances.” I lean in, my lips hovering inches from hers, “Where can we get a little privacy?”

  Her breath hitches, and she presses herself closer, her hands coming up to rest on my shoulders. “In here,” she says.

  I glance at the door behind her, desperate to feel her around me, “Why not.”

  She pushes the door open and steps inside, and I follow like a good boy because this woman could ask me for anything, and I’d give it to her.

  I close the door behind us, locking it for privacy. The bathroom is small, with just a single stall and a sink, but it doesn’t matter because she’s in front of me, and she’s perfect.

  Chapter 5

  Briar

  The sound of the lock clicking behind me has my breath hitching and lust rushing through me.

  “You are so fucking beautiful,” the man in front of me murmurs, his hands cupping my face in his hands.

 

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