Capture (Siren Book 1) (12 page)

Torture

Siren #2

At first, it seemed easy. Capture those who've profited from our suffering, and let
them
suffer. Let them starve, or fall, or burn. But ever since I entrapped Calder Roane, my plans have gone to shit. He's too clever by half, and unless I pretend to suffer by his side, his death will be meaningless, unwitnessed. But how can I stay by his side when he's so close to seeing through me?

Maybe it's an urge to lead, his urge to comfort. But with his attention on me more and more persistently, I'm walking a knife's edge playing to his expectations. If I push him away, he might discover I'm the reason he's in this deathtrap. But do I dare pull him closer, when his gentlest touch inspires revulsion?

Torture
is now available for
preorder
, and is coming to a kindle near you, August 2016.

Torture (Siren #2)

One

Milla Greenwich, Present Day

“I never saw myself as a killer.” My low voice doesn’t rouse Calder. He’s out of it. I’m safe enough for honesty.

“I never meant it to go this far. I never meant to learn the give of a knife sinking into flesh. I never saw myself watching a man’s face as the light in it died, as his eyes went sightless and glassy. I saw myself as, well, not a tool of
god
, persay, because god has better things to do than fuck around with the little people, but close enough. An agent of fate or karma, working from a distance, pulling the strings, but never seeing her hands dirtied and slick with blood.

“I’d expected to feel… I don’t know…
something
. Guilt, or remorse. Even adrenaline. But instead there’s nothing. The only time something bleeds through is when you touch me. When you touch me, I know the enormity of it. All of the pain, and the horror, and the disgust. The frustration of deceiving you.

“You think you care for me, but you don’t
know
me. You don’t know where I’ve been. How can you love someone who’s more a reflection of you than a complete version of
themself?

“Only seeing myself through your eyes, seeing where you went wrong, could I
truly
know who I am. I am a monster. I am exactly who I chose to be. Exactly what I wanted to be.”

Calder’s breath hitches. He’s having a nightmare again. I only have a few minutes left.

“I’m not going to ask for your forgiveness. Even if you could give it, it wouldn’t help. For what I’ve done—what I
will
do—I deserve to bear some remorse. Because my ability to feel guilt, my ability to torment myself, it’s what separates us. Did you ever wonder what you were doing or why? Did you ever look at your family, and say ‘I have to get away from these people before they poison my soul?’ No. You kept quiet, and played your role.

“I may be a monster stained by her victims’ blood, but I’ll let you in on a secret:
you
aren’t any different. The only difference is your hands are clean.” And pretty. With callouses and quiet strength. Calder’s got the kind of hands to set a woman’s blood alight, and make her body hum with joy. I rest my hand over his.

“I wish you were
always
the man that you were with me. I wish I didn’t know what was beneath the surface, and could believe in your goodness. Sometimes, I see these flashes, and I just
know
—you’re a man a woman could love. Die for. Kill for. Go to hell for. It’s a charade. We both know that you belong here, same as me.”

I slide away from him, bracing his head with my hands so I can ease my leg out from under him. He can’t see me alive, can’t see the full picture that I whisper to him in the wee hours of the morning, as his companions sleep and he tosses and turns with nightmares.

“It’s kinder that I’m dead to you. That you never know who’s pulling the strings. And it’s kinder to me. This—
us
—it shouldn’t exist. We both deserve all the pain I can heap upon us. And mark my words, Calder—
there will be pain
.”

Preorder your copy of
Torture
here
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From the Author:

Hey, guys! Thanks so much for tagging along with Siren, my first doggy-paddle attempt to swim in the deep, murky pool of Dark Romance.

From the first sample scene I wrote out when I was testing the concept, I've felt at
home
. I hope that these stories bring you the joy and angst they've brought me. Once I started writing them, I couldn't bring myself to stop. I've got another series coming after Siren concludes, that I'm all atwitter about. I can't wait to start telling you guys about Black Roses, and I can't wait for you to meet the leads in that series, Asphodel and Oleander.  But first, we've got to finish following Camilla and Calder.

Camilla and Calder have a ways to go, and a rough road ahead of them. Things are gonna get
really
dark here, soon. Dark enough that even my man-beast writer partner couldn't talk plot with me. Dark enough that they gutted me to write, and left me shaking like a chihuahua during a thunderstorm. Dark enough that a part of me is still surprised I got them onto the page. Dark enough to put my previous “darkest thing I'll ever write” novel
Edgeplay
to shame. And it felt like coming home.

Dark Romance is one of those things I just fell into.
Never
had I dreamed that romance could encompass the emotional roller coaster offered by my favorites in the genre. I'm excited to add “teller of extremely twisted stories” to my list of titles.

Follow Katie's Twitter:
@delongkatie

Follow Katie on Facebook:
Facebook.com/KatiedeLong.author

Also by Katie de Long

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He'll do anything to make her his. If he doesn't lose her in the process.

Edgeplay

Life is made of patterns, repeated over and over. And mine are violence, abuse, near death experiences. I hate lying to him, but if I tell him the truth, he'll never give me what I need.

N
o matter the consequences, the danger, I'll tell him, and myself, that this is only a roleplay, just for fun.

And if it all goes wrong, c'est la vie, right?

Love and Lapdances (Novellas)

Party Lights
(1)

Step Back
(2)

The Hunt
(3)

Double Dance
(4)

Strangers
(5)

Unplanned
(6)

The Chase
(7)

Love and Lapdances Volume One
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Teach Me
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Plan B
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Fallen
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Bet You
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Party Girl
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Love and Lapdances Volume Two
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Mated in Hell, cowritten with Rebecca Hamilton

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About the Author

USA Today bestselling author Katie de Long lives in the Pacific northwest, realizing her dream of being a crazy cat-lady. As a kid, Katie flagged the fade-to-blacks in every adult book she encountered, and when she began writing, she vowed to use cutaways sparingly. After all, that's when the good stuff happens. And on a kindle, no one asks why there's so many bookmarks in her library.

Katie de Long writes dark fantasy and paranormal romance as K. de Long, and contemporary romance, romance suspense, and dark romance as Katie.

For more information on Katie's work, visit
delongkatie.com
.