Stay by Emily Goodwin
Publication date: May 19th 2014
Genres: Adult, Romance,
Synopsis:
“I felt like I was walking to the end of a plank precariously hanging over shark-infested water. When I jumped, sharp teeth would rip into me and the cold water would steal my breath away. The monsters would take everything from me, leaving me shivering and naked in the water. The only difference was that tonight I would be pulled from the icy darkness and forced to do it again. There would be no release from death, only pain.”
Home after her first year of college, Adeline Miller is looking forward to a stress free summer filled with reading, working on her blog, and spending time with friends. But all that changes in an instant when she is witness to something terrible, something she wasn’t supposed to see.
Beaten, drugged, kidnapped.
Adeline Miller is ripped from her innocent and carefree life and thrust into darkness, into a world full of pain and horror. As a sex slave, she is forced to do horrible things, and have horrible things done to her. One of her captors has a past as dark as the world she is now living in. Will getting close to him mean freedom? Or will he pull her deeper into the shadows?
Home after her first year of college, Adeline Miller is looking forward to a stress free summer filled with reading, working on her blog, and spending time with friends. But all that changes in an instant when she is witness to something terrible, something she wasn’t supposed to see.
Beaten, drugged, kidnapped.
Adeline Miller is ripped from her innocent and carefree life and thrust into darkness, into a world full of pain and horror. As a sex slave, she is forced to do horrible things, and have horrible things done to her. One of her captors has a past as dark as the world she is now living in. Will getting close to him mean freedom? Or will he pull her deeper into the shadows?
STAY
©2014 by
Emily Goodwin
Excerpt
“Don’t touch
me,” I said through gritted teeth when Zane grabbed my arm, yanking me forward.
I pulled my arm back, trying to break his hold. I wasn’t strong enough. All I
ended up doing was causing the first layer of skin to twist and tear.
Zane laughed
and jumped in front of me. His fingers tightened on my arm, the pain biting
into me until I was sure blood pooled under the half moon marks left by his
fingernails.
“I like it
when you fight,” he groaned. With his free hand, he reached up and took a fist
full of my hair and stepped closer, brushing his waist against mine. Jackson
turned around, face blank. He didn’t care what happened to me.
Then Zane
let me go. He laughed and turned his back to me, purposely flashing the silver
gun tucked into his pants. My heart was in my throat. Nerves tingled throughout
my body, and my teeth chattered.
“Come on,”
Zane ordered and paced ahead.
I looked at
the ground, blinking back tears. Jackson waited until I was a few feet in front
of him to follow. The invisible wall of the cage closed in on me. I was
sandwiched between Zane and Jackson. Their body heat suffocated me. Mixed with
the humid air, it was nauseating.
The gate
slammed shut behind us. A useless sense of hope fluttered through me. I wasn’t
fenced in. I could run away.
And get
shot.
There was
nothing I could do. There was no escape. I felt like I was walking to the end
of a plank, precariously hanging over shark-infested water. When I jumped,
sharp teeth would rip into me and the cold water would steal my breath away.
The monsters would take everything from me, leaving me shivering and naked in
the water. The only difference was that tonight I would be pulled from the icy
darkness and forced to do it again. There would be no release from death, only
pain.
Thinking of
a plan of escape, I closed my eyes and continued to move forward, my pace
subconsciously slowing down. Lily had said that Jackson and Zane would go back
to the house while I worked. I had to run then. What other choice did I have?
Zane jerked
me forward. The toe of my shoe caught on the uneven path and I stumbled and
tripped.
“Seriously?”
Zane huffed under his breath.
My throat
tightened with fear and I blinked back tears. Zane scuffed his shoe, sending a
cloud of dusty dirt into my face. I coughed and turned my head. He stepped
away, laughing.
Jackson
stopped next to me and extended a hand. I traced my eyes up from his fingers.
He had a bruise just below his elbow in the shape of a large handprint, as if
someone had grabbed him and twisted his skin. Did he do Nate’s dirty work and
that was why he was always injured? Maybe he collected unpaid money and got in
a lot of fights. The black t-shirt he wore was faded and worn, and his dark
eyes glazed over, hiding back his emotions. The emptiness on his face
frightened me.
Ignoring his
offer, I put my hands on the ground and pushed myself up. Jackson’s eyebrows
pushed together and he studied a vine of poison ivy that twisted around a maple
tree. He stepped away from me and bit his bottom lip. Zane grabbed my arm and
pulled me forward again. I didn’t fight him. Really, the sooner I got into the
trailer, the sooner I could put my plan into action. I took a deep breath and
tried to steady myself.
Zane kept a painful hold of my arm as Jackson
knocked on the door. The blood drained from my face. It was as if I was waiting
to see the face of my executioner, but he wouldn’t kill all of me. Only part of
me would die and I would be forced to carry the black and festering hole with
me for the rest of my life. It would be a constant reminder of what was
painfully taken from me.
AUTHOR BIO
Emily Goodwin is the author of the award winning Contagium Series published by Permuted Press as well as many independently published novels, including the internationally bestselling novel, STAY. Emily writes in a wide variety of genres, from horror to romance. She holds multiple degrees in psychology and nursing and has worked in mental health and general healthcare. Emily resides in Indiana with her husband, daughter, and German Shepherd named Vader. Along with writing, Emily enjoys riding her horse, designing and making costumes, and Cosplay.Author links:
www.emilygoodwinbooks.com
facebook.com/emilygoodwinbooks
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