Title: Love in Darkness (Shattered Castles, #2)
Author: E.M. Tippetts
Release date: May 21, 2013
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Alex had everything when he was with
Madison. But the darkness within him wouldn't go away. After two years apart,
he returns to Pelican Bluffs and to the girl he never wanted to leave.
Madison wants to give their love
another chance, but Alex can't fight fate. He is what he is. Ruined. Crazy like
his mother. And Madison deserves so much more. When his secrets spill out into
their small town, Alex has a choice to make. Hide away in the darkness forever,
or let love in.
Excerpt
I push through the
glass doors and step out onto the asphalt of the parking lot, right into
Madison. I put my hands up to shield myself and she does an awkward sidestep to
avoid collision.
For a moment we just stare
at each other and I lower my hands slowly, unsure of what to say.
“Sorry,” is what she
says. Those pale eyes of hers stay fixed on my face. Her hair’s still a little
damp from the shower and the smell of her herbal shampoo perfumes the air.
Those lips of hers are a soft pink and shine from a fresh application of lip
gloss, and she scowls a little, like she always does when unhappy.
“No,” I say, “my fault.
I didn’t look.”
She bites her lip.
Standing this close,
she’s irresistible. I want, so badly, to put my arms around her. What’s worse
is that encounters like this will happen, and keep happening as long as we both
live in town.
She drops her gaze to
the pavement.
Yeah, this isn’t
working. “Can we talk?” I ask.
A wordless nod is her
only reply and we turn and walk back towards her subdivision.
I touch her arm to make
her look up at me, then regret it. Even just a touch sends electricity up my
arm. “I’m sorry, okay? For ending things the way I did.”
“You sure there’s no
chance for us?”
“I’m sorry.”
“How can you just throw
away the last three years? I mean, that’s it? You’re not interested, end of
story? I’ve waited two years for you, and it’s like you don’t even care.” At
least she’s angry and not sad.
This is torture. My
body aches, physically, for the feel of her. I want to taste those lips and run
my fingers through her hair and feel the cool dampness of each strand. I want
to take her home and see if I remember how to kiss her neck so gently that she
tips her head back, eyes closed, surrendering to my touch.
Alex, I think, quit it.
Not appropriate. I stop and turn.
She locks her gaze with
mine. “I want to be with you. There’s no one else I’ve ever felt this way
about.”
It feels natural to
step in for a hug, but I stop myself and clench my fists instead. “I’m an
unemployed high school dropout with a psychotic disorder. You can do better. In
fact, it’d be hard for you to do worse.”
“But-”
“I never wanted to lose
you, but there’s nothing I can really do about that. You’re out of my league.”
“We could try to work
things out,” she pleads.
“All the trying in the
world won’t change my condition.” And with that, I hit the limits of my
control. I’m being gazed at by the love of my life and I need to get out of
here. Worse, I sense the voices jabbering away on their plane of existence, and
I have to remind myself, they don’t have any plane of existence. They don’t
exist. Here I go again, though. I wonder how long I have until my next
breakdown.
Like I said, I always
knew I wasn’t the greatest guy, but walking away from Madison feels like a new
low for me. I try to hold onto the thought that I’m doing this for her.
Anger rushes in my ears
like a windstorm. Any second I expect to hear her run after me and feel her
hand on my wrist or shoulder, but that never comes. I make it to the corner of
Main Street and Ridge Road, and when I look, no one is behind me, which makes
me even angrier, even though I know that’s not fair.
About the Author
Emily Mah Tippetts writes romance under the name E.M.
Tippetts and science fiction and fantasy under the name Emily Mah. Originally
from New Mexico, she now lives in London with her family. Before she was a
published author, she was an attorney who specialized in real estate,
contracts, and estate planning, especially literary estate planning.
Author
social media links:
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