Contents

  Primal Instincts Volume 6

  By Nicole Edwards

  Copyright

  Primal Instincts Vol 6 ebook

  1

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  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

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  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  23

  24

  25

  26

  27

  28

  29

  30

  More to come

  Acknowledgments

  About Nicole Edwards

  Connect with Nicole

  Nicole Edwards on Amazon

  PRIMAL

  INSTINCTS

  Volume 6

  BY NICOLE EDWARDS

  THE WALKERS

  ALLURING INDULGENCE

  Kaleb

  Zane

  Travis

  Holidays with The Walker Brothers

  Ethan

  Braydon

  Sawyer

  Brendon

  THE WALKERS OF COYOTE RIDGE

  Curtis

  Jared

  Hard to Hold

  Hard to Handle

  Beau

  Rex

  A Coyote Ridge Christmas

  Mack

  Kaden & Keegan

  Alibi (a crossover novel)

  Trey

  BRANTLEY WALKER: OFF THE BOOKS

  All In

  Without A Trace

  Hide & Seek

  Deadly Coincidence

  Alibi

  Secrets

  Confessions

  Bounty

  AUSTIN ARROWS

  Rush

  Kaufman

  CLUB DESTINY

  Conviction

  Temptation

  Addicted

  Seduction

  Infatuation

  Captivated

  Devotion

  Perception

  Entrusted

  Adored

  Distraction

  Forevermore

  DEAD HEAT RANCH

  Boots Optional

  Betting on Grace

  Overnight Love

  Jared (a crossover novel)

  DEVIL’S BEND

  Chasing Dreams

  Vanishing Dreams

  MISPLACED HALOS

  Protected in Darkness

  Salvation in Darkness

  Bound in Darkness

  OFFICE INTRIGUE

  Office Intrigue

  Intrigued Out of The Office

  Their Rebellious Submissive

  Their Famous Dominant

  Their Ruthless Sadist

  Their Naughty Student

  Their Fairy Princess

  Owned

  PIER 70

  Reckless

  Fearless

  Speechless

  Harmless

  Clueless

  PRIMAL INSTINCTS

  Vol 1 - 6

  SNIPER 1 SECURITY

  Wait for Morning

  Never Say Never

  Tomorrow’s Too Late

  SOUTHERN BOY MAFIA/DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND

  Beautifully Brutal

  Without Regret

  Beautifully Loyal

  Without Restraint

  STANDALONE NOVELS

  Unhinged Trilogy

  A Million Tiny Pieces

  Inked on Paper

  Bad Reputation

  Bad Business

  Filthy Hot Billionaire

  NAUGHTY HOLIDAY EDITIONS

  2015

  2016

  2021

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locals is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2023 by Nicole Edwards Limited

  This is a self-published title.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. For information, contact Nicole Edwards Limited, PO Box 1086, Pflugerville, TX 78660

  Nicole Edwards Limited, Nicole Edwards Limited logo, Because Naughty can be oh so Nice, and the series title are registered trademarks of SL Independent Publishing, LLC.

  PRIMAL INSTINCTS

  Volume 6

  NICOLE EDWARDS

  COVER DETAILS:

  Image: © doro (130015817) | 123rf.com Design: © Nicole Edwards Limited

  INTERIOR DETAILS:

  Formatting: Nicole Edwards Limited

  AUDIO DETAILS:

  Image: © doro (130015817) | 123rf.com Narrators: TBD

  ISBN: (ebook) 978-1-64418-075-4 | (paperback) 978-1-64418-076-1

  BISAC: FICTION / LGBTQ

  PRIMAL

  INSTINCTS

  Volume 6

  NICOLE

  EDWARDS

  1

  Monday…

  Journey

  By the time I arrived at work on Monday morning, my frustration had reached dangerous levels. There was nothing worse than a man who avoided you at all costs.

  If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought Nick was monitoring my calendar to ensure I couldn’t get five minutes of his time. It’d been over a week since Rhylee informed me that she and Nick had broken up. Nine days of me trying to chase that man down and getting absolutely nowhere. And that was with me tagging along to the gym with Hawk last Saturday because I was certain Nick would be there.

  Nope.

  He was good; I would give him that. But he wasn’t good enough to pull one over on me. Not today. Today, I was going to get him in a room and battle this out once and for all.

  Granted, I wasn’t sure what I would say if he confirmed what Rhylee told me, but at the minimum, we had to discuss this. It was hard enough for me to balance my relationship with three men. I didn’t need another important one in my life to overwhelm my thoughts. And that was exactly what Nicholas Weston was doing. He was making me crazy.

  It wouldn’t have mattered at all, except Nick was my boss, and he was also best friends with the three men I was currently dating, so it was inevitable that our paths would cross on a personal level at some point. I didn’t want it to be weird. For either of us. And I didn’t want to get between them. Nick shouldn’t have to avoid his friends because he was worried he would have to talk to me.

  “Morning, Kurt,” I greeted cheerfully, flashing my id badge as I walked through the main employee lobby.

  “Morning, Journey. Looking chipper today.”

  “It’s going to be a good day,” I told him with a grin.

  I kept the smile firmly in place as I strolled through the coffee shop, the atrium, then into the executive building’s lobby. There was no flashing of badges allowed here, so I stopped at the security desk so Dave, the morning guard, could scrutinize my badge to ensure I wasn’t pretending to be someone else.

  What you don’t know won’t hurt you, Dave.

  “Have a good day, Ms. Zeplyn.”

  “You, too, Dave.”

  I took the elevator up with three others, but they all exited on different floors. When I reached the seventh floor, the weird instrumental music in the elevator had changed to another song. All this time, I’d thought it was the same humdrum tune playing all day and night. I wondered whether I could convince Nick to get them to change the soundtrack until the Decades Dance. Some eighties rock would go a long way to keeping our event on everyone’s mind.

  “Morning, Bree,” I greeted as I approached the two executive assistants.

  “Good morning,” she said with a smile.

  “Morning, Diane.” When she looked up, I raised an eyebrow. “Is he in?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’ve already apprised him of his eight o’clock,” she said with a wink.

  “I guess I shouldn’t keep him waiting.”

  Diane laughed. “Good luck.”

  “I don’t need luck, Diane. I’ve got determination on my side.” That and a secret identity. Today I was playing the part of Mr. Thomas McMillan, the owner of a small gym franchise looking to work with Primal Instincts to upgrade his equipment throughout his California locations.

  In my defense, it was the only way I could get time on Nick’s calendar. The blasted man had declined two of my meeting requests claiming he had conflicts.

  Not today, Nick. Not today.

  “You can let him know his eight o’clock is here,” I told Diane as I swung the glass door open and stepped into the inner sanctum.

  Duke was sitting at his desk, looking prim and proper in his fancy three-piece suit. A three-wick candle was burning on the credenza behind him, and the space smelled like eucalyptus and mint. On the corner of his desk were three small succulent plants in little white vases. On the other side, three small crystal wands resting on a charging plate.

  How was it I was only noticing his preference for things in threes?

  I stopped beside his desk and peered down at him. “Good morning, Mr. Mitchell.”

  He looked up, and I swore he was trying to hide a smile. I would win this man over; I was sure of it.

  “Did you get a haircut?” I asked before he could respond with a pleasantry.

  “I got them all cut,” he said, deadpan.

  The quip caught me off guard, and I barked a laugh. You never knew which personality you would get when dealing with Duke Mitchell, the executive assistant to the big boss.

  “Dad jokes on a Monday, Duke. You’re making progress.”

  “Good morning to you, too, Ms. Zeplyn.”

  I reached Nick’s office at the same time his door opened. He appeared, presumably to greet the fictitious Mr. McMillan, when I stopped directly in front of him.

  “Hi,” I said with a cocky smirk.

  His whiskey-brown eyes flashed his surprise, but he masked it quickly. “Good morning.”

  “Ready to chat?” I asked, stepping toward him.

  He took a step back. “I’ve got a meeting. I’ll find you after.”

  I flashed my pearly whites. “I’m your eight o’clock.”

  His eyebrows dipped, then slowly crept back up. Process the surprise, then concoct an argument.

  Not today, Nick. Not. To. Day.

  “No,” I said, pushing my way into his office. “You do not have an emergency, there is no conference in Oregon or Chicago or Jersey, an inventory count is not needed at the Sacramento location, and you are not having breakfast with the governor. You used up all those excuses last week.”

  I placed my bag in the extra chair, then took my seat across from his desk. I crossed my legs, put my hands primly on my lap, and waited.

  “Journey…”

  “Sit down, Nick.” My tone softened as I peered over at him. “We’re going to talk about this right now.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Too bad.” I faced his desk and waited patiently for him to sit in his chair.

  I would wait all day if I had to.

  Thankfully, he didn’t force me to. A minute later, he appeared in my line of sight, straightening his royal blue tie, which popped against the light gray of his shirt as he sat in his black leather chair.

  “No wonder I couldn’t find anything on Thomas McMillan,” Nick muttered, shaking his head.

  “I’m flattered you looked him up. I knew you would. That’s why I made up a name. It took effort, let me tell you.” I waited for him to look at me. “There are a lot of Thomas McMillans, but none own a gym franchise that I could find. I was going to say I was George Brackenridge, but he is real, and I didn’t want you calling him up to discuss anything on the phone. It would’ve been weird for you.”

  His eyes glittered with amusement, but he didn’t smile.

  “Kinda like this is weird for me,” I admitted, getting to the heart of the matter.

  Nick’s back was board straight, and he was doing a good impersonation of Duke when Duke was in one of his stick-up-the-ass moods.

  If only I could pretend Nicholas Weston wasn’t gorgeous, this would probably be easier. However, Nick was hot whether he was wearing one of his power suits like he was now or dressed down in workout gear the way he had been at the gym. He reminded me of Paul Walker. The younger version—after Varsity Blues and She’s All That, and before Into the Blue when he shaved his hair. When he had curls and a heartbreaking smile.

  Yes, that was Nick. He could make girlie parts stand up and take notice with his wavy dirty-blond hair, neatly groomed eyebrows that highlighted his sparkling honey-gold eyes, and the scruff that lined his jaw and accentuated that breathtaking smile. I was sure women everywhere were throwing themselves at his feet. I recalled the first time I saw him in the conference room when he showed up to do the first-day orientation. He was the only reason I’d made it through that day without falling asleep.

  “Why did you and Rhylee break up?”

  He didn’t respond but didn’t look away from me either. I wasn’t sure if he were formulating an answer or hoping I would go away. The longer he made me wait, the better the chance I would run. This had seemed like a much better idea in theory. Now that I was here, I wasn’t sure what I was going to say if he confirmed what Rhylee had told me.

  “Do you love Nick?”

  “What?”

  “Nick. Do you love him?”

  “He’s my boss, Rhylee.”

  “And he happens to be in love with you. He told me.”

  I didn’t believe it for a second, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t true. And no matter what, I couldn’t stop replaying that conversation over and over in an attempt to figure out the joke. When I was forced to take this temporary position as event coordinator because that jackass Wayne apparently had my bosses by the short and curlies, I worked closely with Nick for several days. We spent hours and hours together during the day, but the only conversations we shared were work-related. How could he possibly have feelings for me?

  “Did it have something to do with me?” I prompted, trying to find the right question to get us closer to a resolution.

  His eyes showed a glimmer of reaction, but his face remained impassive.

  “Unless you plan to fire me,” I told him firmly, “we need to discuss this. I can’t keep working for you if you’re going to avoid me all the time. We’ve got too much to do for the Decades Dance. Twenty-seven days and counting.”

  Nick exhaled, his eyes still on mine. I didn’t want to acknowledge that it was kind of hot the way he refused to look away. I didn’t know Nick all that well, but I had interacted with him enough to know he was as dominant as they came. He was like Creed in that regard because he rarely softened his demeanor behind humor the way Garrison and Hawk did.

  “While I appreciate your trust in me, Nick, I can’t do it without you.”

  “I don’t plan to fire you.”

  “Good.” I brushed a non-existent piece of lint from my skirt and clasped my hands in my lap once more. “And I don’t plan to quit. That’s a start.”

  His gaze drifted down for the briefest of seconds. He wasn’t looking at my cleavage because the dress I was wearing today didn’t reveal any. The neckline of the simple black dress was straight, cutting across at the center of my chest and ending in off-the-shoulder cap sleeves. Since I didn’t have much in the boob department, it wasn’t all that flattering from the front, but I bought it because I liked the wide straps that crisscrossed in the back, leaving a bare section above the waistline. The skirt hung just above my knees. Paired with glittery strappy sandals, it was perfect for the office.

  But as lovely as the dress was, Nick wasn’t interested in it. He was looking at the bruise on my neck. The one put there by the sinful, sexy Alpha who rocked my world anytime we were in the same room. Since Creed had a penchant for biting my neck whenever we had sex, the bruise had become a permanent fixture. One I no longer tried to disguise behind turtlenecks and collars.

  “I don’t want things to be weird between us,” I admitted when he continued the mute routine.

  Those pretty brown eyes lifted to meet mine again. “It’s not weird.”

  “No?” I put both feet on the floor and leaned forward, stacking my arms and resting them on his desk. “Then why are you avoiding me?”

  I wanted to smack him when he didn’t answer.

  “Is it because you watched me?”

  Finally, there was a reaction. His jaw bunched, and his eyes narrowed. I wondered whether he was thinking about the morning when he had watched Creed and me in the kitchen. I wished I could say that his presence hadn’t made it hotter, but that would’ve been a lie.

  “Did you enjoy watching me?” I asked, hoping to incite him enough to get an honest answer.

  I wasn’t all that comfortable discussing things like this, but one tended to become more vocal when they were dating three men who insisted on it. Especially when it came to sex.

  “Yes.” His jaw muscle flexed again.

  I wasn’t sure that was progress, but it was honesty. A flame lit under my skin, heating me slowly but efficiently.

  Nick’s smooth, rich voice dropped an octave when he said, “Did you enjoy me watching?”

  And that right there was the sexy dominance that I had recently learned I had an affinity for. Creed had ensnared me with it the day I met him. Hawk and Garrison used theirs frequently to turn me into a puddle at their feet. If Nick turned up the heat on his, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.

 

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