Mine To Hold

MINE TO HOLD

CYNTHIA EDEN

This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to
real people, places, or events are not intentional and are purely
the result of coincidence. The characters, places, and events in
this story are fictional.

Published by Cynthia Eden at Smashwords.

Copyright ©2013 by Cynthia Eden

All rights reserved.

Cover art and design by: Pickyme/Patricia Schmitt

Proof-reading by:  JRT Editing

Prologue

The gun pressed into the center of Claire
Kramer’s forehead. She didn’t move, not an inch, too afraid to even
breathe as she knelt in the middle of the old, rickety wooden
dock.

It was her grandfather’s dock. Her
grandfather’s fishing cabin. Her haven.

She should have been safe there. Instead, it
seemed she was about to die there.

“Why did you leave me, Claire?” Ethan
Harrison asked her as he held that gun to her head.
“
Why?”

Her gaze darted to the right. His bright, red
sports car gleamed in the nearby parking lot, sticking out like a
sore thumb.

Please, please, someone notice that car.
You have to see it.
But there just weren’t any people out then.
No one was there to help her.
If someone would just pull into
the lot. If someone would just come—

“I love you, Claire,” Ethan whispered, his
voice actually sounding sad as he stared down at her with his
soulful green gaze. “You know that.”

Claire was sixteen, but she still knew that
love didn’t involve a gun. It also didn’t involve hitting,
punching,
hurting.
Her parents had wanted her away from
Ethan.
She’d
wanted away from him.

But in Alabama, escaping from a Harrison
wasn’t exactly easy. The cops hadn’t believed her story about
Ethan’s attacks. His daddy was a state senator. Ethan was old
money. Power.

And she…she was the girl kneeling on the
dock, with a gun to her head.

My family believed me.
She’d been
trying to get her parents on the phone just moments before Ethan
had surprised her. He shouldn’t have been able to find her. Only
her parents, her sister, and her grandfather knew she was at the
little cabin on the water.

“
Why did you leave?”
Not a whisper
this time, but a bellow.

Claire flinched. Her hands were twisted
behind her, her fingers fisted, and her nails sank deep into her
own palms. “I-it was over, Ethan. You said you-you didn’t want me
anymore.”

The sunlight glinted off his blond hair. “I
will always want you, Claire.” Ethan never eased his grip on the
gun. “You’re my one and only.”

My one and only.

“You shouldn’t have run. Never run again,
understand? Because I can find you anywhere, Claire.”

A tear leaked down her cheek. “Don’t hurt
me.” She was begging. She knew it. “Please, don’t.
Please.
”

He smiled. Once, that wide grin had made her
heart melt in her chest. Now it just made her body ice with
fear.

“I like it when you beg me, Claire.”

She knew he did.

She also knew that he liked to hurt her.

This isn’t the way love is supposed to
be.

She’d seen her parents together. Her dad
loved her mother so much. He would
never
hurt her mom. But
Ethan wasn’t like Claire’s father.

Claire still had the bruises from Ethan’s
last attack on her skin.

Ethan exhaled slowly. “Begging won’t work
this time. You shouldn’t have left. You knew that you belonged to
me.”

No, I don’t.
Claire shook her
head.

His handsome face twisted with fury.
“
You’re mine!”

And he pulled the trigger.

Claire screamed. The frantic cry burst from
her throat as her eyes instinctively squeezed shut. She knew that
she was dead. She’d never see her parents again. Never see her
sister, Sara. She’d never do anything but—

He was laughing at her.

I’m still alive.

Her eyes opened. More tears coursed down her
cheeks.

“Oh, Claire, I forgot to mention…I already
used the bullets that were in this gun.”

The chill on her skin got worse. So much
worse.

He glanced toward the phone that had fallen
from her fingers when he’d surprised her before. The phone sat on
the edge of the dock. “You were trying to call your parents, right?
Sorry, sweetheart, but they’ll never be answering you again.”

I already used the bullets that were in this
gun.

He pulled the gun away from her head. Numb,
she could only kneel there and gaze helplessly up at him.

Ethan tucked the gun into the back of his
jeans. Then his head tilted to the right as he studied her. His
hair fell loosely over his forehead. The good-looking college boy.
The heart breaker. “You have a choice,” he told her flatly as that
good-looking veneer twisted with rage. “You can be mine, or you can
be dead. Because I swear…
you will never leave me for
another.
”

She hadn’t been leaving him for another boy.
She’d been afraid of him, and she’d fled. For her own survival.
“I-I didn’t—”

Claire couldn’t say any more. His hands were
at her throat. Squeezing so tightly. “Mine or dead, Claire. Mine.
Or. Dead.”

Her fingers flew up. Her nails clawed at his
skin.

He jerked her, twisting her body, and hauling
her down the dock with his fierce grip on her throat.

He was going to take her away. This was the
end for her. No matter how hard she fought, Claire couldn’t break
free. Her throat hurt so much—

A gunshot rang out. The bullet sank into
Ethan’s thigh, just a few inches away from Claire’s face. Blood
sprayed onto her.

Ethan screamed and he let her go.

Claire jumped to her feet. She ran for the
end of the dock even as Ethan bellowed her name. She didn’t stop.
Faster, faster.

Then she saw them. Men in uniform who were
coming from the woods near the small parking lot. Their badges
gleamed. They had their weapons out.

“
Keep my boy alive!”
That shout, it
was familiar. Her gaze whipped to the left, and she saw Senator
Colby Harrison standing behind a uniformed officer—that officer had
a rifle in his hands.

“Claire, it’s okay now.” The sheriff came
toward her. Jim Brady’s face was lined with concern. “We’ve got
you.”

Jim hadn’t believed her when she’d tried to
press charges against Ethan. But…but the deputies were all there.
They all
had to
believe her now.

I already used the bullets…

Claire grabbed Sheriff Brady’s shirt-front,
clenching it beneath her fists. “My…my parents…”

Other deputies rushed past her. They raced
toward the dock. Toward a still-screaming Ethan.

Sorrow flashed on Sheriff Brady’s face.
“Claire, I’m so sorry…”

No, no
. Her body started shaking. “I-I
need to call my mom.”

Sheriff Brady shook his head.

“I
have
to call my mom!” Now she was
screaming.

Sheriff Brady wrapped his arms around her.
“They’re gone, Claire. He…he got to them first.”

And at that moment, Claire broke.

Chapter One

I can do this.

Claire Kramer stared up at the tall, imposing
lines of York Towers. The building seemed to touch the sky, and
windows—far too many to count—gleamed as they reflected the bright
sunlight back on her. The Towers were located in the heart of New
York, and the streets were packed with people.

So many people. Their bodies brushed against
her as they passed her on the sidewalk.

Claire took a deep breath. That breath was
supposed to fortify her. She’d come this far. She had to go inside
the building. It wasn’t like she had much of a choice at this
point.

Her savings were gone. Her apartment—um, she
didn’t have one. She had nothing but a hotel stay that would last
for two more nights.

She was desperate, and desperate times sure
called for desperate measures.

After one more glance up at York Towers,
Claire straightened her shoulders. She smoothed down her jacket for
what had to be the tenth time. Fall had hit the city, and the brisk
air chilled her skin. Or maybe that chill just came from the fear
she felt.
What if he doesn’t help me?

Going to York Towers…it was her last
option.

So do this.
With her chin up, Claire
approached the entrance to the hotel.

The rich and famous usually stayed in places
like this one. Claire wasn’t rich, and she sure wasn’t famous.

Just infamous back home.

But New York was a long, long way from
Fairview, Alabama. No one knew her in this city. No one but Noah
York. The man who
was
York Towers. Young, dynamic,
mysterious…Noah York was a powerhouse in this city and around the
world. He had dozens of luxury hotels and getaways.

He was also the sexiest man Claire had ever
met. That sexiness made him dangerous. The last time Claire had
fallen for a good-looking, rich boy, she’d lost everything.

This time, I have nothing to lose.

A doorman hurried to open the door for her.
He tipped his hat, a friendly smile on his face. Claire found
herself nervously smiling back. She’d worked in plenty of other
hotels during the last few years. It wasn’t as if she was totally
out of her element.

She’d seen gleaming marble floors before.
She’d seen other lobbies filled with complimentary welcome
champagne and roses.

It was just that…this was Noah’s hotel. And
Noah made Claire very nervous.

She headed toward the concierge desk. The
woman there immediately stood to greet her. “May I help you?” she
asked. Her ID listed her name as Janelle.

Claire cleared her throat. “I’m here to see
Noah York. My name’s Claire—”

The woman’s brown eyes lit with curiosity.
“Of course! Mr. York told me that you’d be here for a meeting this
morning.”

Because she’d broken down and called him last
night. She and Noah had met a few months ago. They’d both been
caught in a terrible nightmare in Chicago. She’d been stabbed. He’d
been shot.

They’d both survived.

Sometimes, Claire felt like that survival had
linked them. Or maybe it was just the odd, instinctive awareness
that she’d felt for Noah since the first moment that they’d met.
When he was close, Claire was hyper-aware of the man.

An elevator dinged behind her. She heard the
doors slide open.

And goosebumps rose on Claire’s arms.

Instinctive awareness.
Almost like
prey, sensing danger.

Claire glanced over her shoulder. Sure
enough, Noah strode from the elevator. His golden eyes were locked
on her. Such unusual eyes—they reminded her of a lion’s. Noah was
certainly a top notch predator, both in the boardroom and, judging
by the gossip columns, in his personal life.

As she turned to fully face him, Noah smiled,
a flash of his perfect, white teeth, and his steps quickened as he
approached her. “Claire, you’re late,” he chided as he closed
in.

She shook her head. “I…it’s only nine.”

“Five minutes after nine.” He raised one dark
brow. “And here I thought you’d be more punctual.”

Oh, crap. What a way to begin a job
interview. Claire felt her cheeks sting with embarrassment. How did
she go about explaining that she’d actually been outside of the
hotel for thirty minutes? She’d just been trying to work up the
courage to step inside the place.

Noah scares me.

Her gaze drifted over his face. He was too
handsome. Handsome men were dangerous. That was rule one in her
book.

Rule two went something like…
Never trust
handsome men.

And Claire didn’t trust Noah. The man was too
much of a mystery for trust to enter the equation. But then, Claire
didn’t actually trust anyone. Not completely.

Noah’s cheekbones were high, sharp slashes.
His nose was straight and strong. His jaw was perfectly square. His
lips appeared hard but sensual. His hair was midnight black and his
eyes—

They were like a lion’s. A deep, beautiful
gold.

Those eyes seemed to be looking right into
Claire’s soul then.

Nervously, she pulled at the sleeves of her
jacket, making sure they covered her wrists. Then she stopped,
catching herself.

Noah reached for her hand. “Come along,
Claire.” He nodded to the concierge. “Morning, Janelle.”

“Sir…” Janelle said, giving a quick nod.

Then Noah pulled Claire toward the elevator.
A private elevator, she noted, because he had to use a keycard to
get the control panel to function. Once they were inside, he
pressed the button for the top floor.

She knew that floor would house the main
luxury suites.

The elevator doors closed, and they were
sealed inside. The space seemed far too small to her, or maybe Noah
was just too big. His broad shoulders stretched the tailored suit
that he wore, and the guy had to be at least six foot two, maybe
six foot three. A raw power clung to him.