Love After Never

love after never EMPIRE BAY BOOK 1 MELANIE KINGSLEY contents A Note to Readers 1. Layla 2. Layla 3. Layla 4. Layla 5. Layla 6. Gabriel 7. Gabriel 8. Layla 9. Gabriel 10. Layla 11. Gabriel 12. Layla 13. Gabriel 14. Layla 15. Gabriel 16. Layla 17. Gabriel 18. Layla 19. Gabriel 20. Layla 21. Layla 22. Gabriel 23. Gabriel 24. Layla 25. Layla 26. Gabriel 27. Layla 28. Layla 29. Gabriel 30. Layla Afterword More Books by Melanie Kingsley About the Author Love After Never © Copyright 2023 Artemis Girl Publishing LLC Copyright notice: All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. 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Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. love after never Even the blackest souls need love… Seedy underbellies and dark depravities don’t scare me. I’ve seen the worst and survived. But I’ve never seen a man like him before. Gabriel Blackwell, the raven-haired demon of the underworld,. He’s the sickest bastard of them all. He might also be a murder suspect. If I’m going to do this job and see him behind bars, then I need to use my wits. I do not need to let him slide beneath my defenses the way his hand slips under my shirt. I can’t stop myself. And if I don’t, then I won’t make it out the other side of this case. My life hasn’t been anywhere close to easy. He wants me for his own. And a piece of me, the chaotic and traumatized part I barely acknowledge, wants him back. I’m not sure which one will be harder to resist. 18+ Romance. Love After Never is a full length dark romance with enemies to lovers themes, featuring a psychotic tormented hero and a badass heroine. Contains darker themes and lots of steamy scenes. The first in the Empire Bay duology. a note to readers The following story contains mature themes, strong language, and sexual situations intended for adult readers. Those with triggers are encouraged to proceed with caution. Triggers may include: extreme violence, strong language, dubious consent, and sexual situations. ONE layla The fleeting orgasm is the first one I’ve managed to chase down in weeks. There and gone in the span of seconds with the shrill ring of my cell phone ripping me out of the fantasy. ”Sinclair,” I growl into the phone, stilling my movements on top of the male beneath me. I slam a palm down to the middle of his chest when he resists, bucking against me in a clear demand for me to continue. Weeks of this bullshit back-and-forth and lying to the beta beneath me about being absolutely great…only to have it come to this? My glare has brought down stronger men but this one pays me little mind. “We’ve got a situation,” the voice on the other end of the phone says. Simple. Harsh. “I need you to get your ass out of bed.” I know what it means. “How do you know I’m in bed?” “Because no matter how much you hate it, you are a creature of habit, and it’s about that time. You’re not going to want to waste time. Layla…this one is bad.” “How bad?” I ask my partner. I keep my answers short now. Curt. Still crouched above the Sub with my legs on either side of his hips, an inch separating my cloth-clad core with the erection he’s forced to keep in his pants. Forced until I give him permission to release it. The Sub I’ve been playing with for weeks groans underneath me and shifts his hands up to my nipples. He grabs the globes of my breasts and squeezes. “Please,” he begs. A world’s worth of need in one syllable. “Please.” His groan turns into a panting and whispered plea. Mental note as I smack down on him to get him to stop: If I keep playing with this Sub then I’ll need to restrain his hands. He should know better than to touch without my permission. It’s one of the rules we set out whenever we first started playing with each other. “It’s bad,” my partner replies simply. “Get your ass over here, Detective.” “Where are you?” The Sub groans. “Are you going to talk on the phone the whole time I’m here?” I’ve been calling the Sub Bill because I know it’s not his name and it’s another level of control between us. Or so I thought when we first met each other. He agreed to play by my rules when we got into this relationship of sorts, but if he’s going