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  Sinful Truth

  Regina Cole

  Bryerly Keats just wants a fresh start. Instead she discovers a group of men who prey on women, devouring them to gain powers and immortality. When the men set their sights on Bry, she’s rescued by Verum the Truth Keeper, an ancient being who sees all, knows all and bears the ugly truths of the world on his broad, lonely shoulders. He’s willing to rescue Bry if she’s willing to pay a price—not just hours of mind-blowing, orgasmic bliss, but a lifetime of sharing his burdens. Including the ability to read minds and see the past.

  In a town where men do horrible, unspeakable things, being able to hear the darkness of their thoughts is more curse than gift, but Bry is willing to do anything if it means ending the carnage…and staying with Verum forever.

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing

  www.ellorascave.com

  Sinful Truth

  ISBN 9781419939143

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Sinful Truth Copyright © 2012 Regina Cole

  Edited by Carrie Jackson

  Photos and cover design by Syneca

  Models: Rodney & Shannon

  Electronic book publication April 2012

  The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  The publisher and author(s) acknowledge the trademark status and trademark ownership of all trademarks, service marks and word marks mentioned in this book.

  The publisher does not have any control over, and does not assume any responsibility for, author or third-party Web sites or their content.

  Sinful Truth

  Regina Cole

  Dedication

  To the best editor a girl could ask for. Thanks for sticking with me, Carrie!

  Chapter One

  He drove too fast when he was mad. And I’d just made him really, really mad.

  “What the fuck do you mean?” Rafe’s jaw tightened in the dim orange light of the dash, his grip on the steering wheel white-knuckled.

  I shifted in the passenger seat, wishing I hadn’t worn such a damn short skirt. I’d done it to please him. It hadn’t worked and now I felt too exposed. Vulnerable.

  “It seems like we’re kind of growing apart, you know? I mean, I’m busy with work and you’re always off with Frankie and Davis, doing whatever you guys do. And that’s fine, that’s really fine. I don’t want to be clingy. I thought maybe you’d be happier if we weren’t…together.” I wished I’d kept my stupid mouth shut.

  But honestly, Rafe frightened me. He wasn’t the same guy I’d known my whole life. He’d changed while I was gone to college. And the change terrified me. I’d never regretted resuming our relationship more than at that moment.

  “Bry, you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Shut up before you really piss me off, all right?”

  I bit my lip, tugging on my skirt, trying to make it cover a little more of my pale legs. “I’m not trying to piss you off. I think it might be better for us, both of us, if we—”

  Rafe reached over. He gripped my knuckles, caressing the skin almost tenderly. His voice lowered, chasing my heart into a ragged, galloping thump. “For us? Or is it really for you? I’ve seen the way you act toward some of those guys you work with. You think they look better than me, don’t you?”

  I wanted to jerk away from him but knew better. “No, I don’t.”

  “Yeah, you do. If I let you dump me, how long would it be before Thomas Campbell’s in your panties, huh?”

  Anxiety penetrated me to the bone. I tried to keep my breathing under control, tried to steady the trembling in my fingers, which had turned ice-cold under his touch. “No, Rafe, I don’t want Thomas Campbell. I don’t even know him, really.”

  “Josh Hugh, then. Tell me your cunt’s not wet for him.”

  The engine roared underneath us, the back roads of Percee County winding dangerously fast beneath the sports car. Rafe didn’t release me. I gripped the armrest on my right side, whispering desperate prayers in my head. I need to calm him down. Come on, Bryerly, get him calm.

  “No, it’s not.”

  Rafe jerked the wheel as we rounded the curve in the road by the Strotham farm. “Vince? Brad? Kevin? All of them? Every single fucking one wants you, Bry. And you’re trying to tell me you haven’t noticed? That’s bullshit, you fucking liar!”

  His tender touch turned instantly cruel. My knuckles cracked in protest at his crushing grip.

  “Stop, Rafe, you’re hurting me!”

  He squeezed even harder and tears sprang to my eyes as I cried out in pain. With a cruel laugh, he released me. “No. I don’t think so. Whether you like it or not, you’re mine. Those fuckers won’t ever see this body.” Rafe reached across the seat to grab at my breast but I turned my torso toward the window, blocking him.

  “I am not. Pull over. I’m getting out of this car right now.” I crossed my arms and glared over my shoulder. No matter how scared I was of him, I was tired of being treated like his personal sex toy.

  His voice got quiet. “Oh, bitch, you’ll pay for that.”

  His cell phone’s ring stifled my retort and I couldn’t help but be glad for that. Rafe had become increasingly violent over the last few weeks. I needed to put distance between us. I wasn’t going to be one of those poor, battered women like my mother. I’d promised her before she died that I wouldn’t ever stay with a man who laid his hands on me. No matter how pissed Rafe got, it was the right thing to do.

  “Hello? Davis, it’s not a good time.”

  Rafe drove even faster now. The moonlit woods whipped by so fast it made me dizzy.

  “I can’t. Bryerly’s with me.” He paused, tooling around another curve. “I don’t care. Frankie will have to take care of it.”

  I rubbed my sore fingers, trying to swallow the bile of anger and fear.

  “Goddammit, Davis.” He hit the steering wheel with the heel of his palm. “I’ll be there in five.”

  He tossed the cell into the cup holder between us and slammed on the brakes, throwing my torso forward against the seatbelt. Running off the pavement on the right side, he executed a wide U-turn in the middle of the dark country road.

  “Where do you think you’re going? My house is that way.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder, trying like hell to keep my nerves stable.

  “Change of plans. I’m meeting Davis. You’ll stay in the car.”

  “No, I need to go home. Right now. Turn around, Rafe. I’m not kidding.” The nervous, high pitch of my voice shamed me. Strong. Be strong and get out of this.

  He didn’t even look over as he backhanded me. “Shut up.”

  Blood filled my mouth. He’d knocked my teeth against my lip, laying it open. My eyes fi
lled with stunned tears and an anxious knot tightened my throat as I wiped the blood away. Keep quiet and don’t piss him off. Once you get home you never have to see him again.

  He pulled off the road, down a bumpy, dark path into the woods. Long grasses whipped the side of the car as we jounced along. The tree trunks made weird shadows in the blue-tinted headlights.

  Rafe turned at a knobby old oak tree and parked the car alongside Davis’ white pickup. He cut the engine and looked over, dark brows angry slashes across his too-round face.

  “Stay here. Don’t you fucking dare get out of this car.”

  I stared at him, my face tense, without saying a word.

  He lunged, fist cocked as if to strike, and I flattened myself to the seat in alarm. He paused. With a low chuckle and a cruel smile, he lowered his hand and got out of the car. The slam of the door behind him made me jump. The keys swayed in the ignition where he’d left them.

  “Jackass,” I whispered aloud once he was gone. It didn’t make me feel better.

  The visor squeaked as I flipped it down and looked into the lighted mirror. My eyes were puffy from tears and my lip was swollen. I looked like my mother had. Pale, frightened and wounded. In disgust, I snapped the mirror closed. Not anymore. I was done.

  The bottom of my brown leather purse was cold on my bare legs as I riffled through it to check my cell. The battery icon flashed red. I thought about using the last of the juice to call one of my coworkers to pick me up but I had no idea how to tell them to get here. And besides, with as pissed as Rafe had been, I didn’t want to get anyone else into trouble with him. A mixture of worry and anger numbing me, I let the bag slide to the floorboard.

  As the minutes passed, my anxiety grew. Where was Rafe? What the hell could Davis have needed help with at nearly midnight on a Friday night out in the woods? I scanned the surrounding trees but it was so dark. The weak, watery moonlight made it impossible to see more than a few feet away. I closed my eyes and rested my head against the seat, trying to calm my breathing.

  He’ll be right back and then he’ll drop me off and then tomorrow I’ll change the locks. Everything will be fine.

  I repeated that mantra three times before the first scream pierced the quiet woods.

  “What the hell was that?” I gasped, desperate to see if my ears still worked. They worked, all right. Three seconds, four and another bloodcurdling shriek ripped the night in two. My heart pounded, adrenaline burning in my veins. The sound was nearer now than it had been before.

  “Holy shit.” The seat-belt buckle gave way under my frantic fingers. I scrambled for the latch and yanked it open. The crisp autumn wind whipped around my bare legs as I lurched to my feet. I looked around wildly, dead leaves crunching beneath me. The screams had stopped.

  Heart thumping in my ears, I leaned on Rafe’s car, straining to hear anything, anything at all. Only the creaking of the nude branches in the breeze was audible. If someone was in trouble, wouldn’t they keep screaming? Wouldn’t they be running, crashing through the dark woods, looking for help?

  Ducking my head, I reached into the car for my purse. The police could lock a GPS position from my cell. I’d tell them what I’d heard. As I pushed the button to connect the call, the phone died completely. My shaking fingers dropped the silent hunk of plastic, letting it fall into my purse.

  Damn it. What can I possibly do to help now? Scanning the darkened woods, I wished Rafe would hurry up with whatever he was doing and get me the hell home.

  A small rustling to my left caught my attention and I took three steps toward it before remembering what Rafe said. Don’t you fucking dare get out of this car.

  My lip throbbed with the memory of his blow. He’d meant it. If he caught me outside the car, he’d probably do worse than a split lip.

  I turned, about to get into the car, when the scream came again.

  Unthinking, I ran toward the sound, my ballet flats providing minimal protection from the sticks and roots of the woodland floor. My pulse pounded in my throat, almost drowning out the frantic cries in the distance. The fear choked me, drove me toward the sound like a demon mercilessly whipping me.

  Bryerly, no, don’t come any closer. My mother’s voice echoed in my memory, complete with an image of the last time I saw her. I’d come home from an outing with a friend and found her there, lying on her bed, blood in her auburn hair as the curls spread on the pillow. I knew my stepfather was responsible. It wasn’t the first time Harold had left her bloody.

  I don’t want you to see me like this. Go. I’ll be fine.

  “No,” I hissed through gritted teeth.

  The screams sounded again. Whoever this was, unlike my mother, she still lived. I could help her. I would. Putting on an extra burst of speed, I inwardly thanked the moon for peeking out from behind the clouds. I could move faster now, seeing the trees before I was on them. About thirty yards ahead, a flashlight bobbed, its yellowish beam sweeping over the ground.

  The screams faded to hoarse sobs. I ducked behind the trunk of a large pine and waited. Leaves crinkled as the sobs came closer. It was definitely a woman’s voice. She wasn’t carrying the flashlight because I could see her now, silhouetted by the wide beam.

  The bark of the pine dug into me as I rounded the trunk and flattened myself to the side of it. She was on all fours, coming closer to my hiding place, only fifteen or so yards away now. Her ragged, gurgling breaths were so easy to hear. I looked up at the sky, praying inwardly to whatever would listen that whoever was after her would leave her alone.

  “Davis, would you fucking do it already?” said an all-too-familiar voice.

  My nails dug into the bark behind me even though I knew he’d be involved. Rafe.

  “Aw, come on. You’re so much better at it than I am.” Davis’ voice was giddy and it nearly made me sick. The gurgling breaths came faster now, panicked squeaks emanating from near the ground.

  I turned, afraid to look but more afraid of not seeing a threat coming my way.

  Davis’ back was propped on a young tree. He’d trained the light on a bloody, mangled female. Hanks of brown hair were matted with blood and as Rafe yanked the form onto its knees, bile rushed to my throat.

  I didn’t know her name but I’d seen her at the grocery store in town a million times. She’d worked there for as long as I could remember.

  Rafe grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled it back, forcing her head to lie across his bent knee. Blood poured from her mouth and her eyes were wide, white with panic.

  “Any last words, dumb cunt?” Rafe laughed. The glow of the flashlight shook as Davis joined the cruel revelry.

  The woman moaned, painful sobs racking her body. Her words were unintelligible but she had to be begging for her life. Indecision and fear immobilized me.

  “Didn’t think so.” Rafe smirked and a knife I hadn’t seen until that moment went up, red-stained blade glinting in the moonlight.

  Shattering my invisible prison, I ran toward the three, a no poised on my lips. But then the knife fell, its bloody blade disappearing into the woman’s chest. Her scream cut short as Rafe jerked the knife downward, opening her chest and abdomen. Blood covered the knife, his hand, the ground, shining dully in the glint of the flashlight.

  I skidded to a halt, unable to process what my eyes were showing me. Rafe dropped to his knees beside the now-dead woman and ripped the remnants of her shirt open, baring her bloody breasts. Davis crossed the crinkling leaves until he reached them, then he and Rafe lowered their heads to the wound. I turned away as the wet sucking noises started and my feet pounded the earth without my brain saying go.

  The woods got darker as I ran, my panicked breaths too loud. Quiet, Bry, they’ll hear you! If they hear you then you’ll be next!

  But I couldn’t stop the desperate sob that burst from my chest when footsteps started pounding behind me.

  “You fucking bitch! I told you to stay in the goddamn car!”

  Tears streamed from my eyes as I
ran, jumping over a fallen log just in time to avoid tripping. A muffled curse behind me indicated Rafe might not have been so lucky.

  My lungs burned and my legs ached but I couldn’t stop running. Which way was the car? If I could get there first, I could get the hell out of here. I shouldn’t have gotten out of that damn car in the first place. I should have stayed put. But then would I really know what he was capable of? Oh god, what could I do? He’d killed someone and he knew I saw him do it. He’d kill me next.

  The fickle moon hid behind another cloud, making it impossible to see more than a few inches ahead. I knocked into trees, branches grabbed at my exposed skin, the stinging pain lashing me forward. I was lost, so very lost. I couldn’t hear what was behind me. I couldn’t tell what was in front of me. Terror drove me on for three more steps.

  Unseen hands gripped my arm and clapped over my mouth, smothering my scream before it began.

  Chapter Two

  I kicked and flailed but whoever had me was too strong. My fists and feet landed several solid blows before the words made sense.

  “Sssh, hush, Bryerly, calm yourself. Relax. I’m not going to hurt you.” The man’s unfamiliar voice was quiet but urgent, his breath blowing against my ear.

  I stopped fighting, willing my terrified limbs to be still.

  Keeping a soft grip on my arm, he removed his hand from over my mouth. “Quiet now, they’re still looking for you.”

  “Who are you?” I whispered, my limbs shaking with leftover adrenaline.

  “There will be time to answer your questions later. I can help you escape from Rafe and Davis. Will you pay my price?”

  I turned, trying to see the stranger. It was impossible to place that voice, deep, masculine, with a hint of a foreign accent. Where was he from? Was he part of whatever Rafe and Davis were doing? If so, why was he offering to help me? The darkness prevented me from making out any of his features.