Free Double Dragon Seduction by Kali Willows

 
     
    Chapter One
     
     
    Mr. Jamison Trembley and his fiancé, Katrina Harlan, will exchange wedding vows at her parents’ estate in Niagara Falls on the eve of December first .
    The doorbell startled her and she wobbled on the high kitchen stool. A wave of hatred flooded her and the newspaper burst into flame in her hands. She dropped it on the floor then extinguished it with her slipper.
    The shrill chime sounded again.
    “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming already.”
    Gwen peeked through the side window curtain then grinned and opened the door. “Hey.” She spun and headed back toward the kitchen.
    “So, I guess I’m too late?” Cindy joined her.
    “You are? For what?” Resuming her seat at the island, she drummed her nails in irritation.
    Cindy stepped over the pile of smoldering ashes and grimaced. “I was hoping to steal your paper before you found it.” She pulled two glasses and a bottle of amaretto from the cabinet, poured double shots, and handed one to Gwen.
    “Even if you had, you couldn’t stop the gossip.” She gulped back the sweet liqueur and slammed the tumbler down, wishing for another.
    “Subtlety has never been his strong point.” Cindy sucked back her own shot.
    “No…it isn’t.”
    “Getting married on your birthday, though, that’s low, even for him. What an asshole.”
    “Cheers to that.”
     
    ***
     
    An hour, and three quarters of the bottle later, Gwen sat beside Cindy sat on the leather couch in her den, staring at the sputtering flames of oak in the fireplace. She tried to let the soft crackling, and dark shadows dancing across the walls and ceiling soothe her—with minimal success.
    “So, what are you gonna do, sunshine?” Cindy’s sympathetic tone grated on Gwen’s nerves, as did her practical message. “He’s clearly moved on. Are you ready to let go?”
    The liquid pain killer was kicking in, smoothing the rough edges of her anger and grief. “I have no idea what to do. I mean, ten years together—how do I just give that up?”
    “If you could take him back, would you?”
    She gasped. “Are you crazy?”
    “No, but I would have thought you were, if you wanted him back.” Cindy tucked a leg under her and faced Gwen.
    “I know I’m better off without him, but it doesn’t make it any easier, you know?” She hated the tears that choked her voice.
    “Yeah, I understand, but one day soon, you’ll discover something I’ve known about you all along.”
    “What’s that?”
    “You’re stronger than you think. Look what you’ve survived.” Cindy reached over and patted her hand. “You’re amazing, and I’m proud of you.”
    Avoiding her friend’s eyes, she propped her feet on the glass table, knocking a pile of books over.
    “I got it.” Cindy laughed and collected them from the floor. “I can see what you have been doing lately. How much time have you been spending reading this smut?” She held up a book with a demon and angel illustration on the cover, the blurb touting a lurid tale of erotic passion.
    “Gimme that.” Gwen grabbed it.
    “No wonder you’re depressed, reading all these…these…romances with monsters?”
    “I read it because I’m depressed . I need something to distract me while he’s living it up with that slut.”
    “But it’s just fantasy. None of it’s real.”
    “That’s the beauty of it, Cin. If you know it can’t be real, you don’t get caught up with the roses and champagne, the farce of what real love could be , blah, blah, blah.”
    “Honey,” Cindy reached for the book, but Gwen pulled away, clutching it to her chest like a life preserver.
    “Leave me my fantasies. They’re not real anyway.” She lifted her chin. It was little enough to ask, after all.
    “Whatever works for you, sweetie.” Cindy’s gaze softened as she reclined into her seat.
    “Joshua, the hero of the story, may be a demon, but at least he has a soul, unlike that selfish bastard.”
    “Okay.” Cindy snickered. “No need to get