Taken By Ezra

  Taken By Ezra

  Caroline Peterka

  Taken By Ezra Copyright © 2018 by Caroline Peterka

  All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this book. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without written permission from author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblances 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.

  Published in the United States of America

  First Printing (2015)

  ISBN-13: 978-1721865109

  ISBN-10: 1721865101

  Warning:

  This book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. Please keep in mind so not to be accessed by under-aged readers. Thank you, and enjoy your book!

  Dedication

  To Jo, my biggest fan. I couldn’t have done this without your love and support.

  Acknowledgment

  I want to thank everyone for helping on this project. My family for letting me feed them cereal two nights a week because Mom had to do her “thing.” I am especially thankful to Loose Id for liking this book and wanting to publish it. A huge thank-you to my editor Kierstin for all she has done for me. There are so many people who helped make this possible, and I’m grateful to each and every one of you.

  Chapter One

  Moral Support

  “I want one of those,” my best friend Claudia whispers next to me, her arm nudging me as the two of us openly gawk at the family photo sitting on the counter of the tattoo place we are at.

  The photo is of six men ranging between early thirties to late twenties. Each of them has strikingly beautiful blue eyes and dark brown hair that almost looks black, but the difference is the way they wear their hair. They are all smiling and laughing happily while surrounding an older couple in the middle who I assume are the parents, but not one of them looks ugly or short. The men are extremely handsome with model-perfect tones and chiseled jaws like the older man, built strong with thick muscles that are visible through the stretched fabric of their shirts.

  Holy hotness!

  I recognize one of the men right away as Azriel Lanphear, the owner of No Fear Tattoos who has many tattoos, most of them covering his arms as sleeves. The two of us met him last week when Claudia decided to set up an appointment with him after hearing how wonderfully gifted he is at inking. He was even the centerfold of Tattoo Weekly for three months straight, which is another reason my friend picked this place.

  Claudia has decided to get a tattoo after debating it for the last three months. She had wanted to get one after she read some novel where a handsome man is always showering his lover with calla lilies, and today is the day she is marking her skin permanently. She dragged me here on my day off to be at her side so she doesn’t chicken out. The girl is a freaking awesome nurse, but the thought of someone piercing her porcelain skin makes her queasy.

  Hence the reason I have to be here.

  “I’m not sure you want my family tattooed on your beautiful skin, sweetheart,” a deep raspy voice says behind us.

  Crap. Clearly the hot tattoo artist caught us gawking at his photo.

  Claudia grips my hand, and the two of us turn to face Azriel, both of us looking at him with our mouths wide open. Our gazes take in his faded denim jeans that cling to large muscular thighs and travel all the way up his tight shirt that reads Badass on the front, finally landing on the face of an Adonis.

  “Um… I just…” Claudia fidgets, which is not like her because she is the queen of out-talking anyone for miles. She has always been the sociable one of the two of us. She says it’s due to the fact she is a fiery redhead and has a mind of her own, and no one is going to change that. But here she is speechless as we look at the man who is going to be doing her ink.

  Azriel winks at her, and I swear we swoon into each other, his sexy mouth twisting up into a wide grin. “Are you ready for your tattoo, Claudia?” he asks, and it makes him sound even sexier.

  Claudia nods like an idiot, her hand still clutching mine tightly when he leads us back to his room, both of us watching his ass as he walks in front of us. She glances at me and fans herself with her free hand.

  “I drew up some sketches for this lily you wanted, sweetheart.” Azriel’s smooth voice rolls out when we reach his small room. There are tools on a table near a leather bench where I’m sure he does the inking, and soft-rock music is playing in the background. Everything looks clean and sterile in here, and the walls are littered with different pictures of tattoos.

  “This is wonderful,” Claudia squeaks, and I finally glance to the paper she is holding in her hand. The tattoo sketch is beautiful, and I can’t wait to see it on her skin. Her face is lit up as she takes in the drawing, and I imagine she is picturing what the final look will be. “Will I have to cover it tonight when I go out?”

  “It should be fine. I’ll give you the aftercare directions when I’m done, but definitely don’t go swimming,” Azriel says.

  I smile, stifling a laugh when Claudia nods again. I don’t know where my mouthy friend has gone, but this is classic. I should be videotaping the fact that Claudia Thorton has been rendered speechless. I know when the two of us go to our friend’s bachelorette party tonight, I will be informing everyone about this. Even if the man has the body and face of a model, it is too funny to see Claudia sputter and have nothing to say.

  Claudia pulls off her shirt while Azriel begins to explain the procedures of getting a tattoo to her again, going over the details of what it will feel like and even explaining that she needs to hold still. He has her lie on her stomach so he can reach the area where she wants her tattoo, which is her right shoulder blade—easy to hide, but visible when she wears certain clothes.

  I’m there for moral support, and that is what I give her the whole time it takes for her to get her tattoo. I listen to the loud gun as he marks my friend’s skin, and I squeeze her hand occasionally to reassure her. Soon enough, before my eyes Azriel has drawn the outline of a lily. It takes several hours for him to complete his masterpiece, but he truly is gifted.

  Claudia’s face lights up when he finally announces he is done. She is brimming with excitement to see it, her green eyes sparkling as she sits up. She takes the hand mirror from Azriel and goes to look in the one on the wall. “Oh, my God! It is amazing, Azriel,” she gushes happily, focused on the red area where her new tattoo sits proudly.

  “I’m glad you like it.” Azriel steps up to her, towering over her five-foot-eight. It is in the mirror that I see the way his eyes soak in the exposed flesh of her back, his fingers trailing over skin near her tattoo.

  Oh, wow. It looks like a scene out of one of my romance novels where the guy is hungry with lust for the heroine, but both of them know they have to keep themselves in check because they are in public. My friend is too enamored with the tattoo to see the man ogling her, licking his lips like she was a lollipop.

  Holy hotness!

  “Thank you so much, Azriel,” Claudia beams, turning around and hugging the giant man for no reason, which causes him to visibly tense for a moment. “This is the best tattoo ever. Look, Lanee!” She releases him and comes over to me, her face lit up like a kid’s on Christmas Day.

  “It’s wonderful,” I say happily, glancing back to see Azriel watching us with a wide grin.

  My chatty friend is back, gushing on about the beautiful lily on her shoulder blade, and I remember that it was her spu
nkiness that drew me to her in high school when my family moved from Elk Point to Crestview. The two of us have been inseparable ever since, even going to the University of Chicago when all our friends moved states away to attend other colleges. Both of us earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing so we could work at the Kane County Hospital here in town when we graduated.

  Azriel barely gets a word in through her prattling speech, but he doesn’t look annoyed where most men would. He smiles that sexy side smile at her, his hand lingering on hers a little longer when they shake, and the whole time my friend is missing the signals he is sending her that he is interested in her.

  Yep, that’s my Claudia.

  “Have a good time tonight, ladies,” Azriel says with a wink.

  “We will,” Claudia says, taking my hand and dragging me out the door behind her. Her insistent chatter continues all the way to the car and back to the apartment the two of us share.

  I smile contentedly while she rambles on, knowing that later I will have the pleasure of teasing her about the guy she just blew off in the tattoo shop. I know our other friends we are meeting tonight will get a kick out of the fact that she was speechless, but the part where she was oblivious to the man who was openly checking her out is priceless.

  Chapter Two

  Fight Club

  The party is going off without a hitch. There are several of our friends with us celebrating the last weekend Tonya Baker will be single. Next weekend she will be Mrs. Brian Dooley. Everyone is dressed up in their sexiest outfit, hair done, makeup immaculate, and we’re ready to party all night long in Number Six, the club Tonya picked out. At first I had my doubts about going someplace named after a number, but the club is booming with music and lights while people dance wildly. It is definitely the place to be on a Saturday night in Crestview.

  Claudia and I arrived with the rest of the group in a limousine that Trinity Rockwell, Tonya’s maid of honor, reserved for the bachelorette party tonight. We mingled with the rest of the girls, sipping on champagne, slamming down shots, and dancing in a large circle in a VIP area that was reserved for us.

  I don’t go out much, so this clubbing thing is new to me. I’ve spent my last several years going to college and then working my butt off at the hospital for twelve-hour shifts. I’m the quiet one in our little group, deciding to live my life vicariously through Claudia or reading my erotic romance novels and wishing I could be a little more outgoing like the heroines in those pages.

  So walking into Number Six feels strange to me with the hundreds of people dancing, drinking, or even socializing over the loud music, but I want to fit in with my friends for a change. I’m even playing the part tonight, wearing a black dress Claudia bought for me. It just reaches my tan thighs, clinging to the curves of my body, the tight bodice enhancing my large breasts, and my brown hair up in a twist to stay off my back in case it gets really hot in here later. The four-inch stilettos are a pain in the ass, mostly because I’d rather wear my chucks or tennis shoes, but they do show off my runner’s legs very nicely.

  “Isn’t this great?” Tonya slurs, her petite frame leaning on me as it gets closer to midnight.

  “It is,” I agree, hoping she doesn’t knock the two of us over with the way she is swaying. I wore the damn heels for Claudia after she claimed I needed to add height to my five feet, four inches. She even went so far to say that I was the shortest one in our group and I needed to stand out with how sexy I looked. The things I do to please my wild best friend.

  “I love your tattoo, Claud,” Trinity says loudly over the music.

  “It’s wonderful, but you should have seen the hottie that put it there.” Claudia is definitely drunk and now gushing about Azriel and all his beautiful glory, but leaving out the part where we were both speechless. She is animated with her hands as she talks, her beer bouncing until it bumps into a girl and spills down the front of her dress. “Oh, shit!”

  “What the fuck!” This is from the girl who is now wearing Claudia’s beer. Her silver dress is drenched, and she is wiping angrily at the material as she looks up at Claudia. “Can’t you control yourself, you bitch?”

  “Excuse me?” Claudia glares at her. “It was an accident.”

  The girl is shorter by half a foot, but she looks fierce when she steps into Claudia’s space. The tension is building, and Tonya tries to calm the situation before it gets out of control.

  “Hey, it was an accident, chick. I’ll buy you a drink.” Tonya is the peacekeeper, always keeping calm among people, but from the look the girl is giving Claudia, it doesn’t appear to be working.

  “This is a four-hundred-dollar dress your skanky cow just ruined, so a drink isn’t going to cut it, bitch.” The girl is in Tonya’s face, and I glance over to see Claudia turning red. Claudia isn’t fat, but she isn’t a stick figure like this girl who is ruining our fun tonight.

  Seriously? Why can’t people understand that accidents happen? There is no reason for this girl to be so pissed off, and for the record, the silver dress does nothing for her pale skin. I hear snickers and gasps next to me, and I know at that moment I just said the latter part out loud.

  Oh, fuck! Damn alcohol!

  I don’t have time to react because the girl lunges at me, knocking the two of us to the floor. She is on top of me with her hands slapping at my face like I insulted more than her lousy dress, and the taste of metal reaches my mouth. I try to shield myself from her, but she has long fake nails that feel like cat claws scraping my skin.

  “What the fuck is going on here?” A loud voice booms over the music.

  The angry girl has a handful of my hair but stops at the voice, which I’m thankful for because my head is pounding and I’m sure more than my nose is bleeding now. She is pulled off me, and I let out a deep breath, relaxing my head on the dance floor while my friends stare at me in shock.

  “This bitch insulted me, and that one over there spilled her nasty beer all over me!” the crazy girl screeches.

  My eyes close, and I know I’m smiling on the floor as I hear how awful she sounds, whining like a two-year-old. I groan when large hands lift me up off the floor, and my head spins. I think the alcohol is really catching up with me now that I have stopped moving. I clutch one hand to my head, feeling something drip down, and the other one lands on a hard muscular arm that is holding onto me.

  “Are you okay, miss?”

  “I’m…yeah…” I open my eyes lazily to see Azriel, but a younger version of him. I smile stupidly at the Azriel lookalike, squeezing his bicep again before I gather my thoughts to speak. “I’m not sorry because her dress looks like shit on her pasty skin.”

  “Bitch!” Crazy Girl screams, but someone is holding her back because I can hear someone snap the words, “Knock it off, Roxy” at her.

  “Um…we’re really sorry here. I spilled my drink accidentally, and things got a little escalated with her when my friend blurted out something. That’s when Roxy jumped my friend.” Claudia leans in to take me by the elbow, turning me to look at her. She winces when she takes in my face. I must look rough, given the way she stares at me. “We’re just out celebrating our friend’s last weekend of being single before she ties the knot.”

  The Azriel lookalike doesn’t seem to care about that. His tan hands are on his hips, and he looks pissed off to the max. He shakes his head and points to me before speaking loudly. “Take her upstairs to my office so we can clean up the blood. The rest of you are out of here. I don’t like fights in my club, and I don’t care if you’re a bunch of drunken women.”

  Holy hotness! He is even sexier with his ice-blue eyes glaring at the crazy girl and me. His nostrils flare when he sees me lick my lips quickly. He looks at the other girl and tells her to leave the club permanently too.

  “But…” she begins but stops when he turns his back on her.

  My mouth waters at the sight of his sexy body starting to prowl away from us. His ass is just like Azriel’s, fitted tightly in his jeans.

/>   “But we have to wait for our friend here,” Tonya chimes in, her brown eyes full of concern when a tall bulky man with Security written on his shirt starts to escort me away from the crowd.

  “You’ll wait for her outside the doors,” the Azriel lookalike barks, snapping his fingers so the bouncer can follow with me. He doesn’t turn around once the entire way and takes the stairs two at a time with his long, strong legs.

  I’m definitely drunk because all I can think about are the muscles he must have underneath all his clothes. The man is built like a freaking wall and has to be over six-foot-three with hair that reaches his shoulders. It would be so easy to compare him to some of the Vikings I’ve seen displayed on that TV series. He is that large!

  I follow him down a dark hallway, the security guard following behind. A smile ghosts my lips. The hall reminds me of the novel I just finished. The heroine was taken down a hall much like this where the hero ravaged her until morning and expressing his undying love once it was time for them to separate. I would love to have his large arms around me, his pink, plump lips devouring me until we are both breathless. I’d love to hear him whisper sweet words into my ear.

  But this isn’t a romance novel… I’m not being led off by my large Viking friend to be pillaged for the night. I fucked up and let my mouth speak before my brain could register the mistake. I’m wounded by the crazy woman from downstairs, and this man is just bringing me to his office to help clean me up.

  Real life sucks. This is why I’m quiet. Nobody gets hurt when you’re quiet and timid. Life goes on around you and nobody gets hurt. Here I am being led into an office to be fixed up after I was assaulted over a silly spilled beer.

  Once upon a time I was outspoken, and it caused a lot of pain for me, which is why I decided to be quiet and reserved now, but now the pain in my head is starting to get stronger. I don’t think I have a concussion, but that crazy girl pulled my hair like it was going to solve her problem.