Title: Little Things
Author: Madison Street
Release Date: June 2, 2014
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Synopsis
Everything in Duke Grayson’s life was all he could ever ask for: A loving family, loyal friends, a beautiful girlfriend, and a scholarship to his top choice college. It’s his senior year of high school, and all he needs is to focus on his grades, lacrosse, and keeping his girlfriend happy. That is until Raya walks into his life.
From the moment they meet, Duke is drawn to her, not only for her natural beauty and her stunning crystal blue eyes, but because he’s aware there’s more to this girl than just his alluring pull to her. He senses secrecy and fear.
Throughout the year, their bond grows stronger, and his feelings for her become undeniable. Just when he is about to express his love, tragedy strikes and Raya disappears.
For six years, Duke is tortured by his struggles, as he’s unable to find her and blames himself for failing to protect her. Until the day, she’s found, and he’s given a second chance. Will Duke become her beacon of hope and make her see that it’s the little things that make life worthwhile? Can Raya overcome her fears and fight against the terrors that haunt her? Or will her dark and torturous past be too much for her to battle against?
*Warning: This book contains some disturbing situations, strong language and sexual content. Suited for 18 years and over.
From the moment they meet, Duke is drawn to her, not only for her natural beauty and her stunning crystal blue eyes, but because he’s aware there’s more to this girl than just his alluring pull to her. He senses secrecy and fear.
Throughout the year, their bond grows stronger, and his feelings for her become undeniable. Just when he is about to express his love, tragedy strikes and Raya disappears.
For six years, Duke is tortured by his struggles, as he’s unable to find her and blames himself for failing to protect her. Until the day, she’s found, and he’s given a second chance. Will Duke become her beacon of hope and make her see that it’s the little things that make life worthwhile? Can Raya overcome her fears and fight against the terrors that haunt her? Or will her dark and torturous past be too much for her to battle against?
*Warning: This book contains some disturbing situations, strong language and sexual content. Suited for 18 years and over.
Teasers!!!
Excerpt #1 (Sweet)
With a quick pace, I give Mrs. Robinson my test and race out of the class only to crash into Duke.
“Whoa!! Slow down!” He steadies me with his arms.
I chuckle, “Sorry, I’m just happy to get away from Jose. I’m happy this is the last class with him.”
“Me, too. He’s gotten in the way of a lot of things and I can’t fucking stand him. It’ll be alright, Raya. He won’t bother you anymore.” He caresses my arm for a few seconds and then pulls away, clearing his throat. “So, uhh, what did Taylor want?”
I glance away to avoid his eyes, “He asked me out on a date.”
“He finally did it, huh? Took him forever.”
My head snaps to look at him, “Wait. What do you mean?”
He laughs and shakes his head, “After the Halloween party, he asked me if he should ask you out and I told him to go for it. Honestly, I thought he would have asked you out weeks ago. I don’t know what took him so long.”
My heart drops and an unbearable sadness falls over me. “Oh, is that right?”
“You know he’s crazy about you. You should give him a chance. He’s a really good guy.”
I close my eyes and try to force back the tears that are threatening to escape. My heart aches at the loss of Duke’s affection. All I want is him and I know I won’t ever get it. “I’m not so sure. I like him, but not as much as he likes me. I don’t want to rush anything. Besides, I told him that I can’t make any promises. I’ll be very busy with work during the break and won’t have much free time.”
“Ehh, he’ll wait. He doesn’t have a lot going on anyway.” He glances at his phone and responds to a text message. “Okay, well I’m going to catch Melanie before she heads off to her next class. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Okay. Tell her I’ll see her in English.”
“I will.” He waves at me as he heads off to go get his girlfriend. At that moment, I realize that my feelings for Duke are purely one-sided and I need to get a grip on them. A single tear escapes and I quickly wipe it away. I promised myself that I wouldn’t stand in the way of Duke and Melanie. I’m not like that and I refuse to be the reason for a breakup. Their friendship means so much to me and I won’t ruin it.
Maybe I should go out with Taylor, but how can I with Craig being home? Hopefully, he has a conference coming up soon and will have to go out of town. I’m going to have to find a way to explain this to Taylor. I hope he’ll understand. I grab my cell phone and send a quick text to him.
Me: Meet me at work tomorrow.
I head down the hallway, making my way to endure the next final in line. A few minutes later, I hear my phone beep with an incoming text notification. I grab my cell to read the message sent from Taylor.
Taylor: So, is that a yes?
I laugh to myself. He always gets a head of himself.
Me: It’s a maybe. I’d like to take things slow so if you want come visit me at work.
Taylor: Of course! What time is your shift?
Me: From 11-7
Taylor: Okay, I’ll see you there. Maybe we can do lunch?
Me: Yeah, that sounds good. See ya tomorrow.
Taylor: See ya then sweetie ;)
I smile at his text and think about seeing him tomorrow. He really is a nice guy and maybe I should listen to Duke and give him a chance. My hopes and wishes are slowly diminishing and I can use any bit of happiness I can get right now. Maybe Taylor is just what I need.
Excerpt #2 (Dark)
A few minutes later, the doorbell rings again. With my muffled cries and my heavy breathing, the silent moments feel as though more time is elapsing than what truly is. I can sense Craig’s impatience and his temper rising. His hold on me grows stronger and stronger, making it difficult to breathe.
All of sudden, there is banging on the door and Duke screams my name. My instincts tell me to do everything I can to go to him, so I take my elbow and slam it into Craig’s stomach, causing him to heave over and gasp for air and lose his grip. I escape his arms and race for the door. Just as I’m about to get to it, Craig pulls on my dress, causing me to hit the floor, face-down.
He pulls me off the floor, “Come here, you little bitch.”
I screech and cry for help as my body thrashes about. Craig hauls me back into the kitchen, opens the door to the basement, and throws me down the stairs. I cry out as my body tumbles down the steps and my head slams into the cold basement floor. Feeling disoriented, I struggle to open my eyes and feel blood run down my face. Craig walks down the creaky wooden stairs and I quickly stagger away as fast as I can. My body screams in pain and I can’t move my arm. Shit, I think it’s broken.
I survey my surroundings to find a weapon, anything that I can use to fend him off. It’s completely dark except the dim light from the natural moonlight. Craig’s malicious laughs echo throughout the basement as he picks me up off the floor and slams me into the wall. I spit in his face and he immediately wipes it clean.
His furious eyes burn into mine as he takes his hand and slams my head into the wall behind me. His right fist hooks across my face and hits my bottom lip, causing me to almost hit the ground, but he holds me up.
At this moment, I taste blood on my lips and fear the worst.
I’m going to die tonight.
Excerpt #3 (Missing)
Craig’s villainous eyes bore into mine, “You’ve lost, kid. It’s been three years. You’ll never find her because she doesn’t want to be found. You’re in over your head. You might as well give up.”
“I will never stop trying.”
His wicked voice cracks, “Have you thought that maybe she’s dead? Perhaps she’s in a cold ditch somewhere and nobody notices that she’s missing. Or perhaps she’s on a bathroom floor completely fucked up and drugged out. Or maybe…she’s fucking someone right now.”
I suck in a breath as he says those words and he notices my unease and turmoil.
“Yeah, that’s right. She’s probably fucking some guy’s brains out and screaming his name as he pounds inside of her, thrust after thrust. Do you think she’s completely soaked for him? Perhaps she’s sucking him off instead? Do you think she begs for more? More lust, more craving, as she yearns for his dick to dive inside of her.”
My body begins to rage into a heated anger and my legs shake profusely. Melanie reaches over to stroke my arm to calm me down, but it’s no use. I feel sweat beads drip down my face as Craig continues to describe Raya being intimate with someone else. That’s it, I’ve had enough of this shit!
I jump out of my seat, grab hold of Craig’s jumpsuit, and hold my fist in the ready position. The guard jumps in and yanks Craig out of my grasp. Another guard grabs me and holds my arms behind my back, prepared to cuff them.
Craig’s loathsome laughs echo throughout the hall as the guards take him back to the holding cell.
“You will never find her!”
The guard pulls me out of the visitation hall and toward the exit. I glance back at Melanie who’s following close behind us. We arrive at the exit and the guard lets go of my arms.
“Next time, you’ll be detained. I would recommend that you do not return.”
I walk back to the Mustang and unlock the doors, helping Melanie into her seat before I walk around to the driver side and climb in. We sit in silence for a few seconds until I can no longer control my anger. I begin to punch the steering wheel and yell out in anger and disgust. The hatred I have for that man has completely doubled and all I see is Raya sleeping with another man.
I continue to punch the wheel, “Fuck…fuck..fuck! I hate that fucking asshole!”
Melanie reaches over to steady my arms and hushes me to relax.
“Duke, calm down. All you’re doing is letting him win. Can’t you see that?”
I stop punching the steering wheel and close my eyes, allowing myself to slowly concentrate on calming down. Melanie wraps her arm around my head and pulls it to rest on her shoulder.
She slowly soothes away my pain and anger as I breathe in and out. I don’t know what to do now. Perhaps visiting Craig was the wrong idea. What if he’s right? What if she moved on and met someone else? What if she completely forgot about me?
As I think about Raya forgetting about me, a stream of tears spills down my face and onto Melanie’s shoulder. I begin to sob quietly as my mixed and buried emotions crash to the surface. As I cry, she rubs the top of my head and consoles me with a nurturing tenderness.
We sit in the car for about ten minutes as I let everything out. Melanie doesn’t complain and takes it all in. She continues to nurse my inner wounds as my tears spill out until I have no more to shed. I lift my head off her shoulder which is now soaked with my tears.
She cups my cheek, “Are you okay?”
I let out a deep breath, “No, I won’t be okay until I find her.”
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About the Author Madison Street was born in New York City and was raised in the Bronx, where she resided until she was 17 years old. After 9/11, Madison joined the United States Navy to serve her country. During the deployments, Madison constantly wrote short stories and she discovered her passion for writing. You will find Madison always on the computer, whether she's on Facebook, designing websites, messing with Photoshop, or writing for her blog. Besides writing, her second passion is music and dance. Even though she's a terrible singer, she’ll still belt it out in the shower, especially if the song is her jam! She currently resides in Virginia with her husband of 8 years, 2 children, a dog, and a cat. She is so excited to start this amazing journey and is honored to be part of such a compassionate and loving community.
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/madisonstauthor Website: http://madisonstreet.me/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7536753.Madison_Street Google +: https://plus.google.com/+MadisonStreetauthor/posts
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