{"id":320,"date":"2010-05-24T12:44:20","date_gmt":"2010-05-24T12:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shilohwalker.com\/website\/?page_id=320"},"modified":"2014-07-14T12:55:01","modified_gmt":"2014-07-14T16:55:01","slug":"chains","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.shilohwalker.com\/website\/bookshelf\/chains\/","title":{"rendered":"Chains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"chains\"<\/a>They weren\u2019t friends. They weren\u2019t enemies. The only thing the three girls had in common was the high school they went to in Madison, Ohio\u2014until one tragic night. Now, fifteen years later, they\u2019re returning home where passion\u2014and danger\u2014await\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Renee Lincoln was the homecoming queen\u2014with the perfect boyfriend and the perfect life. After that horrible night, she rebelled the only way she knew how: by submitting to her wildest fantasies\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Tall, blonde, and athletic, Lacey Talbot was a golden girl with a bright future. She\u2019s found success as a photographer, but no man has ever been able to satisfy her. No man but the bad boy she left behind\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Sherra Salinger has always looked like a princess out of some fairy tale. The books she writes, though, stem from the nightmare of that one night. And she shrinks from any man\u2019s attention\u2014especially the one stalking her\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

They\u2019re coming back to Madison\u2014and it won\u2019t be happy reunion. There are three men, all dangerous in a different way. And when each of them surrender their bodies to the heat, when they succumb to desire, they\u2019ll find the safety they desperately need\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

It took two tries before she could manage to get her jeans on and her fingers trembled so hard, she could barely fasten the button. Renee was cold, through and through, frozen to the core.<\/span><\/p>\n

The vicious, ugly destruction outside her house and into the foyer, all done so silently she’d never heard a sound.\u00a0 That she could be in the shower while somebody came in and cut into furniture, tore up her car, messed up the meticulous flowerbeds\u2014and she’d never known.\u00a0 Never heard them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ugly images of those stupid B movies started flashing through her head once more.\u00a0 The girl in the shower, never aware somebody was in her house, not until somebody grabs her from behind and slices her throat\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, God…\u201d she moaned and covered her mouth with her hand, trying to keep the whimpers silent.<\/span><\/p>\n

She\u2019d been handling it, though.\u00a0 She\u2019d been handling it fine until the sheriff showed up.\u00a0 Seth Salinger.\u00a0 Of all people.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t heard that he had taken over the job, and it wasn\u2019t something she would have thought would happen.\u00a0 Not in a million years. Right up until he opened his mouth and all his blatant dislike of her came pouring out, she\u2019d been handling things just fine.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the way he\u2019d spoken to her, the way he\u2019d looked at her, had ripped apart the shreds of her control.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure as hell doesn\u2019t say much about your taste in guys or the kind of person you are.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe person I was<\/em>,\u201d Renee muttered. \u00a0\u201cAnd I was just a damn kid.\u201d But it didn’t assuage the guilt.\u00a0 She’d blamed herself for JD, for the actions of her parents, for years and she’d thought she moved past it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously, she was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

There was no knock, no sound outside the door, but as she reached for the tank top, her skin broke out into goose bumps.\u00a0 Her stomach went tight and her breathing went shallow.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cutting her gaze to the door, she stared at it and swallowed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Deacon was out there.\u00a0 She didn’t even have to look.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOpen the door, Renee,\u201d he said quietly.\u00a0 Quiet, but firm as though he expected to be obeyed.\u00a0 And Renee guessed that was exactly what he would expect.<\/span><\/p>\n

Renee’s kneejerk reaction was to ignore him.\u00a0 But instead, she went to the door and opened it, stood there half naked before him, totally forgetting that there were still guys from the sheriff’s department wandering through her home.<\/span><\/p>\n

Deacon’s eyes narrowed.\u00a0 He stepped forward, forcing her to back up and then he closed the door behind him.\u00a0 Something flashed in his eyes, something that sent a shiver running down her spine\u2014it wasn’t lust, at least not yet, but it was…something.<\/span><\/p>\n

Possessiveness, maybe.\u00a0 Another kneejerk reaction, but this one was totally unexpected.\u00a0 Instead of her normal reaction, which would have been derisive amusement, she found herself liking it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Enough that she just might have done something to bring it out a little more, tease him with, taunt him\u2014but she was still shaking so hard, she was almost sick with it.\u00a0 Glancing down, she found herself staring at her semi-exposed breasts with a little bit of dismay.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her shirt.\u00a0 Forgot her shirt.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHere.\u201d\u00a0 Deacon spoke gently, softly, reaching out and taking the shirt from her and then he pulled it over her head, dressing her like she was a doll or some small child.\u00a0 He caught the long ends of her hair and eased it out from under the shirt, smoothed it down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then he cupped her chin in his hand, angled her face so that their eyes met.\u00a0 \u201cAre you okay?\u201d he asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI’m fine,\u201d she said automatically.\u00a0 Pride, years of manners drilled into her head, they wouldn’t let her say that she really wanted to get out of this house, and maybe even fall apart a little.\u00a0 Stupid, though, wasn’t it?\u00a0 It wasn’t like she was hurt.\u00a0 It wasn’t like she didn’t have the money to repair the damage or replace what couldn’t be fixed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seth\u2019s scathing voice echoed in her ears. That car of yours is going to cost some money to get fixed. Of course, I don’t suppose that’s a problem for you<\/em>. Instinctively, she flinched.\u00a0 Plenty of people had given her grief for being born to money.\u00a0 It was nothing new.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, it stung.<\/span><\/p>\n

Deacon\u2019s fingers tightened, drawing her attention back to him. \u00a0\u201cDon’t lie to me,\u201d he said, an underlying current of steel in his voice.<\/span><\/p>\n

She rolled her eyes and sneered at him.\u00a0 \u201cFine, then.\u00a0 I’m doing pretty damn shitty.\u00a0 Somebody busts open the front door, cuts up furniture, tear up my mom\u2019s flowerbeds, tears up my car<\/em>, all while I was blissfully unaware in the shower.\u201d\u00a0 An edge worked its way into her voice\u2014she couldn’t help it, couldn’t help but sound a little bitchy as she added, \u201cThen I see this guy that I fucked six different ways to Sunday, and find out it’s somebody that used to date one of my best friends.\u00a0 Oh, I’m just peachy, Deacon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A grin curled the edges of his lips.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, you’re going to be just fine.\u201d\u00a0 Then he slid his arms around her waist and eased her against him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just holding her.\u00a0 Simple, comforting-and devastating.\u00a0 There weren’t many people in her life who had ever been big on offering simple comfort.\u00a0 Not her parents, not JD, not even Billy.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was her undoing.\u00a0 A harsh sob escaped her lips, followed by another, and another.<\/span><\/p>\n

Deacon held her until the storm passed and then he eased her back, sat her down on the toilet, again treating her with the same care he’d use on a small child.\u00a0 He rooted through the cabinets until he found some washcloths and he ran the water until it warmed.<\/span><\/p>\n

All the while, Renee sat there staring at him, watching the play of muscles under his shirt, staring at his profile and comparing the harsh lines there to the features of the younger man from her memories.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was there\u2014plain as day, she could see it now.\u00a0 Perhaps now that she was looking, she could see it. The hair shorter, a little darker. The dimples in his cheeks had deepened to deep slashes that bracketed his mouth. The lean, lanky lines of his body had filled out.<\/span><\/p>\n

She hadn\u2019t ever said more than a few words to Deacon, even though they\u2019d grown up across the street from each other.\u00a0 He ran in a different crowd and her mother hadn\u2019t cared for the Cross family\u2014common<\/em>\u2014that was Claudia\u2019s outlook, even if they did<\/em> have money.<\/span><\/p>\n

It had been fifteen years since she\u2019d seen him.\u00a0 That night.\u00a0 Too many of her memories from that night weren\u2019t exactly what she could consider clear.\u00a0 Before that, she hadn\u2019t seen him much at all since he\u2019d graduated high school. Understandable, she guessed, that she hadn\u2019t recognized him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, she also didn\u2019t remember him being so damned domineering, either.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even as her body went all weak and soft, thinking of his domineering<\/em> the other night, she tensed when he turned and tried to wash the tears from her face. Renee turned her head and reached for the rag.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBe still,\u201d he ordered brusquely.<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrowing her eyes, she said, \u201cA night in your bed didn’t turn me into your pet, Deacon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That same, sardonic grin appeared on his lips.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, that’s a likely image.\u201d\u00a0 Then he cupped her chin in his hand\u2014his skin was rough, but so warm… Shivering, unable to stop herself, she moved a little closer, seeking his warmth. \u201cJust let me help, okay, Renee?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

BAMM<\/span><\/a> |\u00a0B\u00a0&\u00a0N<\/a><\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0Book\u00a0Depository<\/span><\/a> |\u00a0IndieBound<\/span><\/a> |\u00a0Amazon<\/span><\/a>\u00a0| iBooks<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They weren\u2019t friends. They weren\u2019t enemies. 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