Avery (Shattered Love Duet Book 1) Read online

  Avery

  Book 1 of the Shattered Love Duet

  Natalie Hill

  Contents

  Books by Natalie Hill

  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

  Epilogue

  Ready for more?

  Acknowledgments

  Avery

  First Edition published in 2019

  Text Copyright © Natalie Hill

  All rights reserved.

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  Cover Design by Abigail Davies of Pink Elephant designs.

  Formatter Rachael Tonks of Affordable Formatting.

  Editing by Paige Sayer of Paige Sayers Proofreading.

  Proofread by Gemma Woolley of Gem’s Precise Proofreads.

  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), nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without the prior written permission of the author. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Books by Natalie Hill

  The Shattered Love Duet.

  Avery

  Dominic

  “If I had to choose between breathing and loving you, I would use my last breath to tell you I love you.”

  - Unknown

  They say it takes a whole village to raise a child. This was my baby and I can't thank enough the people who helped make it possible.

  This one's for you all.

  The front door opens, a sound I’ve been waiting all day to hear.

  “Honey… I’m home.” His voice is a deep, sharp whisper, full of that all-American sarcasm.

  I smile at the sound of his approaching footsteps, the briefcase being dropped to the floor, keys being put on the counter. He wraps his thick arms around me as I stir the meatballs. “Something smells nice.” He says, in a whisper that tickles my neck.

  My breath hitches, heart thumping to the beat that belongs to him. Moving my hair over to the other shoulder, exposing enough skin for him to bury his face into the crook of my neck. I feel the tenderness in his lips as he begins a small line of kisses down my skin, drifting with slow desire to my shoulder—twists of pleasure knotting in my stomach.

  He reaches around me, turning the gas down with a quick twist of the wrist. In the same movement he’s shifting me around to face him, bringing us closer together. I blink up at him through my lashes, the weight of dark mascara and undefined want making them flutter all the more. “Dominic.” I say, more of a sigh than a statement.

  He doesn’t say a word, those green eyes of his drinking me in.

  The intensity behind that gaze darkens as it flickers to my lips, biting his own slightly before darting back. I hoped in this small moment that he never stopped looking at me like this.

  One of his hands finds its way into my hair, caressing the back of my neck, where he squeezes slightly. He drifts in like a slow morning, and finds my mouth in the midst of our tension, provoking me enough to become submissive entirely.

  A kiss had just been a kiss until Dominic Stone.

  Demanding and passionate.

  You would think after five years I would be accustomed to his touch, but every brush, tickle and peck is like I’m experiencing it for the first time.

  We break apart, trying to control our breathing. His lips tilt up on the side, a crooked grin that brings out the boyishness in his face. “Hey, beautiful.”

  “Hey you.”

  Those green eyes don't move from mine, as if he’s searching for an answer that only my eyes can give. His whole body relaxes when he seems to find it. Leaning up I place a quick kiss to his jaw, loving how his stubble feels.

  “Go have a shower. Dinner’s nearly ready.”

  I lean my hip against the countertop, feeling the lack of pressure as he disperses, leaving me alone in the kitchen with my undeniable need and these damn meatballs. Just as he reaches the stairs, he turns, looking over his shoulder, his lips turn up into that sexy smile I love so much.

  Dominic was the bad boy from the other side of the tracks—the wrong side. He didn’t shy away from where he came from, he owned it, walking to his own beat with a deep swagger, chin lifted slightly, daring anyone to say anything. He’d had that dark intensity about him that drove girls crazy. He was intoxicatingly ferocious, a man I couldn’t believe was mine.

  On the topic of me… I was the nerd. Always had my head in a book and never thought for a second that Dominic knew my name.

  Rumors from the hallways were that he’d only dated college girls and that high school just wasn’t game enough for him. Looking much older for his age, the stories of the wild parties he attended were believable; he didn’t have a baby face or that lanky awkwardness that most teenagers go through. No, he was defined and cut like a photo shopped image right out of a magazine. A body created only in imagination, a jaw as chiseled as his cheekbones. This brought precise symmetry to his face. Eyes that could change from an arrangement of colors, from forest green to emerald. Almond shaped and fanned by inky black thick lashes. His midnight black hair styled effortlessly.

  He demanded attention when he walked into a room, even though he seemed to hate it. There was something about him that just mesmerized a crowd. To watch him, to listen to his every word when the teacher asked him a question… he was hypnotizing...

  Imagine how I must have felt the day he stopped in the hallway and asked me—no, told me—that I was going to the prom with him. He didn’t talk to anyone and here he was asking me to prom in the school hall. I remember looking down the empty hallways, convinced I was on Punk’d. He was Dominic Stone and I was, well, just me. Avery Carmichael.

  I had no clue he even knew that I existed, we shared some of the same classes together, he was always sat at the back, hood pulled up covering his features, looking straight ahead with a frown between his dark brows. I bumped into him once in the hallway, he leapt back like I had burnt him, before walking away, slamming the door so hard I swear the whole building could feel it. There were stolen glances on my part as my eyes constantly found their way to him. In those rare instances where our eyes locked for just the briefest of moments, I felt him. He seemed to see right inside of me, the way my whole body would break out in goosebumps under his stare, the way his eyes would soften for the briefest of precious seconds.

  The whole night at the prom, he looked uncomfortable, like he would rather be anyplace else, his eyes constantly darted to the exit, his whole body as tense as steel. Jaw popping underneath the skin. He wasn’t a talker. Barely saying a few words to me all night, he knew all eyes were on him, it was making him even more uncomfortable, the way his dark brows pulled deep, the darkness in his eyes almost seem lethal. I asked him if he wanted to leave, not giving an answer he just turned and raced for the doors as if the devil himself was following him. Naturally I followed him, he was pacing outside. Wanted to run, I could see it, he looked like a wild animal trapped, about to bolt, get away from a world he never wanted to
fit in, but had come to because of me, not knowing that I didn't belong in the high school world either. He stopped pacing, looking up as if feeling my presence, our eyes locked, that tension that claimed every muscle loosened. Walking towards me with a look in his eyes I have never seen before in anyone else’s; it was a look that sparked something inside of me. Every step he took towards me had a purpose. Capturing me, placing thick arms around my waist, moving us from side to side, under the moonlight with no music, we danced. It was then in that very moment I gave a piece of myself to Dominic, I wasn’t under any illusion, I knew that he held the power to hurt me, already knew I cared too much for a boy that was known for wild ways, came into school with bruises and knuckles raw.

  We walked home in silence, his coarse hand dwarfing mine, I couldn’t stop stealing glances, when we arrived at my house, he stopped on the bottom step of the porch, looking up, with an odd look, when he looked at me there was a war behind his eyes. I could see it swirling in his deep greens. I watched his foot move backwards, he was going to leave, the war was winning, before he could leave I gripped the black hoody between my fingers, hanging on with everything I had. Knowing if I left him to walk away now, whatever he was fighting behind those forest green eyes would win. I would never see him again. That thought made my stomach twist and my chest tighten.

  Standing on tiptoes I forced my lips hard against his, his whole body tensed, lips unmoving, as I pulled back. Something changed in him, right in front of me something came alive, broke free, he grabbed my face and kissed me, it was hard, punishing, angry leaving my lips swollen and bruised. It was the kiss of all kisses. Then he ran his bruised knuckles down my cheeks, before placing a gentle kiss to my forehead, my eyes, lips. It left my heart racing and belonging to him.

  I swear, he imprinted himself on me that night, After I saw no one but Dominic.

  We got to know each other, on our own he opened up more, he still wasn’t a big talker but slowly was allowing me in, somehow I had gotten under his skin.

  He was still guarded, presenting the world only his perfected mask of arrogance and strength. Nothing could shake him; fearless, dark and dangerous. But when he removed that mask, letting me have a glimpse of who he really was. The most beautiful person I had ever seen.

  Loyal, protective, had the heart of a lion.

  He managed to maintain his grades, refusing to allow his junkie parents to stand in the way of bettering himself. He still came into school with bruises, bust lips and raw knuckles, never told me where they came from but now I had my suspicion that they came from closer to home than the street fights everyone assumed. Instead of going against the law as everyone expected, Dominic joined the police force.

  He told me once, from the moment he first saw me, he knew that he shouldn’t have touched me, that I was too pure, innocent. Scared that he would take that all away. Should have stayed away, if he was less selfish he would have, but he wanted to be the man he saw in my eyes. Come to be the man he thought was worthy of me—of my love.

  Only I wish he could really see himself through my eyes, and then he would understand to me he was the greatest man in the world and that I was the unworthy one, the lucky one.

  It’s what made me completely and utterly, crazy in love with him. It wasn’t the romantic song kind of love or the gentle summer breeze love, it was just… Dominic.

  Fierce, demanding and owning.

  I sigh at the memories, a faint smile on my lips and the heat of Dominic’s hands still on my waist.

  I set the plates on the table just as he walks in.

  Hair disheveled and damp from the shower, his shoulders wide. Grey sweatpants hanging low on his narrow waist, decorated with intricate ink showing off the holy grail of ‘V’s.’

  Licking my lips shamelessly, knowing just how he tastes when I flick my tongue over the lines.

  His eyes darken like he can follow every thought. Lips pull up on one side, as if promising to make my deepest, darkest fantasy come true. Oh, he is still that same bad boy, that wildness still roaming free.

  I placed down our dinner before taking my seat. “Carter says thank you, Molly got the flowers you sent for the RSVP and said they were beautiful.”

  I smile as I think of Dominic’s partner, Carter. He was the complete opposite of Dominic, always smiling with a carefree attitude and constantly telling awful jokes that you couldn’t help but laugh at. He was like family to us.

  Molly, his fiancée, was made up dark raven hair and a big, brown gaze. She was beauty incarnate, though a spitfire only he could handle. Carter was enamored with her, and had been that way since they had met a few months ago.

  I didn’t want to send the usual card RSVP for their wedding, which was in a few weeks; so instead, I sent them a bunch of flowers.

  “I’m so glad she liked them.” I mused, delving into dinner.

  Dominic’s eyes soften to a warm jade as he laces his fingers with mine. “Baby, you go out of your way for everyone.”

  Molly was preparing a wedding in weeks instead of months, she had to be stressed. “Weddings are a stressful time; especially a big one like Carter was talking about.”

  Rubbing his jaw, he studies me. “Do you wish we’d done the whole big wedding?”

  I frown instantly, shaking my head.

  “I loved our wedding. Marrying you was everything I ever wanted.”

  A little concerned with his raising question, I push my food around the plate a little. We had a store-bought cake on the day, and the only people we had in attendance were Carter and my friend Cecelia. It was a small ceremony at the edge of the water. The sun was just setting, shooting pinks and purples into the sky. I’ll never forget the day. The smell of the ocean, the waves breaking, the sun making its way across the horizon as if it had been painted. It was beautiful. Then seeing Dominic at the end of the aisle waiting for me as Daughtry’s “Start of Something Good” played—he had picked it himself—it was perfect for us.

  My parents didn’t agree with my relationship with Dominic. The Stone name had a bad reputation around town and everyone knew Malcolm and Jillian, his parents. They came from the roughest trailer park and lived up to their junkie stereotype. People would often see them around town, drunk and shouting in the streets.

  My parents automatically assumed he was the same. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. They didn’t give him a chance, no matter how happy I was, he was always going to lose where they were concerned. Then my dad gave me a choice - Them or him.

  There was never a choice for me. Only him.

  We sent them an invitation, but they refused to come, but not even their absence spoiled the most amazing day of my life—the day I became Avery Stone.

  I hear the chair scrape across the floor before his shadow falls over the table.

  “Baby, look at me.” He says softly.

  Keeping my head down, picking my nail varnish. I know he’ll take one look at my eyes and see the truth. I can never hide anything from him.

  “Avery, I said look at me.”

  Like my body is commanded by his demanding voice, my gaze shoots to his.

  He squats down to be eye-level with me, cupping my chin gently, moving my face from side to side, as he searches for the answer he wants. “Fuck.” He says below his breath. In the next, he’s taking me into his arms and bringing me in the air. I yelp in surprise, my legs automatically going around his waist and my arms around his neck.

  “I’ve never been good with words… you know that.” He begins, “But I know how to make you feel what I feel, until you forget that stupid question.”

  I let out a deep sigh. I knew I was overreacting; my emotions seemed to be all over the place lately.

  “It wasn’t stupid. It’s just that I loved our day and I thought you did, too.”

  Cursing, he sets me to my feet, caving me in with his arms against the wall, his nostrils flare and the muscle in his jaw ticks. Those green eyes bore into me. “Bullshit….”

  His
tone is low, sexy and dangerous, all rolled into one. Making my stomach quiver.

  He presses his forehead against mine. His whisper instantly makes my body ache for him. “You know I didn’t care who was at our wedding or how big it was, as long as at the end of it, you became my wife. You were mine from the moment you said ‘yes’ to me in the damn school hallway. Fuck! Even before. Ring or no ring, you are mine!”

  His lips slam down onto mine, punishing, demanding and claiming. His hand finding the nape of my neck, holding me prisoner so I can do nothing but feel him.

  Breaking the kiss, the tip of his nose tickles over my cheekbone. Next, my stomach is tightening, making my fingers grip harder on his shoulders, nails digging into his skin as my head falls to the side, giving him access to my neck.

  “My girl, my wife, mine.” His teeth sink into my ear, eliciting a moan. The stroke of his tongue licks away the pain. “You’ve possessed me, from before you even knew. I didn’t approach. You weren’t ready for me.” His breath whispers over me, sending a shiver down my spine and goosebumps across my skin as his green eyes hold me prisoner. What this man can do to me, with just a touch, a look.

  “As soon as I knew, I came after you. There was never an option for you. I am not a good man. A good man would have walked away but I wasn’t letting you go. Nothing could take you away from me. I think about you all the fucking time—you fucking consume me.”

  He says it somewhere between a curse and a plea, causing my breath to catch, as something in his eyes changes, a shadow appears. This makes me want to reach out to him, my fingers instantly tracing his jaw. Studying him through my lashes, I plead, “Dominic.”