Faded

Faded Without You: Book 3 Copyright © April 2023 by C. A Mariah Cover Design: AJ Wolf Graphics Interior Formatting: AJ Wolf Graphics Editing Services: Nice Girl Naughty Edits All rights reserved. Faded is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are either a product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance of actual persons, living or dead, occurrences, or location is entirely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form without the written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address: [email protected] T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S Copyright Author's Note Content Warning Dedication Definition Playlist Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-One Chapter Thirty-Two Chapter Thirty-Three Epilogue Bonus Epilogue A Note From Me Acknowledgments A U T H O R ' S N O T E This book contains material that may not be suitable for all readers as it has dark themes that may be triggering to some. Those triggers include, but are not limited to, situations of verbal, mental, and substance abuse. This story is a dark romance with heavy themes and triggering subjects. The situations portrayed in this story are not to be taken lightly. C O N T E N T W A R N I N G Drug Use Self-Harm & Thoughts of it Sexual Assault (Rape/Forceful Touching/Forceful Kissing) To those who smile through their overflowing agony, pretending it doesn’t hurt to breathe. I’ve held it in, too. I’ve heard my heart break. I’m with you. D E F I N I T I O N Faded: Verb. past tense: faded; past participle: faded gradually grow faint and disappear. Adjective. To be diminished, defeated… These are only a couple of definitions of the word. But when I chose this title, only one thing came to mind. To be lost. To be so far gone in your pain, you couldn’t find a way out. P L A Y L I S T Worst Luck- 6Lack Hate That I Love You (feat. Ne-Yo)- Rihanna For The Lover That I Lost- Sam Smith Long Nights- 6Lack A Little More- G-Eazy & Kiana Ledé Body Say- Demi Lovato Easy (Unplugged)- DaniLeigh Falling- Harry Styles Let Me Love You Like A Woman- Lana Del Rey Adore You- Harry Styles Hard- Dana Williams I Wanna Be- Kehlani Put It All On Me (feat. Ella Mai)- Ed Sheeran Better Off- Ariana Grande Exhale- Sabrina Carpenter Starting Over- Niykee Heaton Honeymoon Fades- Sabrina Carpenter Now or Never- Halsey This Love- Camila Cabello Next To Me- Imagine Dragons Strawberries & Cigarettes- Troye Sivan Used To This- Camila Cabello Thinkin Bout You- Ciara Lights Down Low- MAX Naked- Ella Mai Feels- Kehlani Leave Me Lonely (feat. Macy Gray)- Ariana Grande If You Leave Me Now (feat. Boyz II Men)- Charlie Puth My My My!- Troye Sivan Save Your Tears- The Weeknd & Ariana Grande Lovesick- BANKS First Love Never Lasts- Kira Kosarin WILD- Troye Sivan Could Cry Just Thinkin About You- Troye Sivan Talking to the Moon- Bruno Mars Follow Me- Muse That Was Just Your Life- Metallica Crash- PLAZA Escape- Kehlani Such a Whore (Baddest Remix)- Jvla Closer- Nine Inch Nails Cockiness- Rihanna Digital Bath- Deftones Woo (Sped Up)- Lewis Hanton Sorrows- Bryson Tiller Man or a Monster (feat. Zayde Wolf)- Sam Tinnesz With Myself- Winona Oak Contaminated- BANKS Escapism- RAYE & 070 Shake No Less- G-Eazy & SG Lewis x Louis Mattrs Ceilings- Lizzy McAlpine Girls, Girls, Girls- Mötley Crüe Nonchalant- 6LACK Nft- Wall Black Beauty- Lana Del Rey 1950- King Princess Florida Kilos- Lana Del Rey I Only Have Eyes for You- The Flamingos ASH P R O L O G U E Saturday | January 1st, 2022 The stars don’t look the same without you. You always said nighttime was the best part of the day. It was when the world came alive, and the souls that usually sleep flourished under the welcoming eye of the moon. The darkness welcomed everybody. But it isn’t welcoming me anymore, Yasi. It screams with the voices of the past. The cries that weed used to silence are louder than ever. Even the thunderous roar of L.A. traffic can’t drown out the rasp of your voice. I’m desperate to shut you up. And yet, here I am, underneath the twinkling sky, blowing smoke into the frigid, frosty air, thinking of you. How did you stop your voices? Ecstasy? Cocaine? Oxy? I could do that, and maybe then you’d stop? Yeah. Then you’ll stop. Happy New Year, Yasmine. I love you, even in death. ASH C H A P T E R O N E monday | february 14th, 2022 I thought head was supposed to be pleasant. Its main fucking purpose is to drive me to a mind-numbing release while almost relaxing me enough to sleep. But even Danielle’s warm, wet mouth can’t drag my thoughts out of the past. I know she senses my lack of interest. Her sucking becomes more vigorous, aggressive, almost to the point of pain, but no matter how deep she takes my cock down her throat, it doesn’t keep me hard. “Ash…” I know. I know. It’s been almost half an hour, and I’m no closer to blowing my load than I was when I first shoved inside her. “Come up here, Dani.” I sigh, pushing the edge of the blanket down so she can crawl underneath the fluffy grey comforter next to me. Usually, the feeling of her thick thigh squeezing in between my legs is a comfort I