Uninvited (Fate #7) Read online

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  Lila (2016)

  Uninvited

  (Fate #7)

  Elizabeth Reyes

  Uninvited

  Elizabeth Reyes

  Copyright © 2016 Elizabeth Reyes

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Edited by Theresa Wegand

  Cover designed by Amanda Simpson of Pixel Mischief Design

  To my Royal Sisters, thank you for your continued love, enthusiasm, and support!

  #TeamReyesForever!

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1: Stranded

  Chapter 2: The Real Intruder

  Chapter 3: One of Those Girls

  Chapter 4: Snowed In

  Chapter 5: If You Were Mine

  Chapter 6: Flaunting It

  Chapter 7: Unreasonable Entitlement

  Chapter 8: Driving Me Fucking Crazy

  Chapter 9: Something You Should Know

  Chapter 10: Banging in the New Year

  Chapter 11: Scott

  Chapter 12: Mine—and Only Mine

  Chapter 13: Lovesick Sap

  Chapter 14: Tell Me About Him

  Chapter 15: Answers

  Chapter 16: Block Him

  Chapter 17: Setting the Precedent

  Chapter 18: The Slip

  Chapter 19: The Flirt

  Chapter 20: Beyond Mortifying

  Chapter 21: The Surprise

  Chapter 22: Pity Party

  Chapter 23: Fuck This Shit!

  Chapter 24: Betrayal

  Chapter 25: Digging Deeper

  Chapter 26: End of the World

  Chapter 27: And It Thickens . . .

  Chapter 28: Mixed Suspicions

  Chapter 29: The Decision

  Chapter 30: You’re in Danger!

  Chapter 31: Billie Hoag

  Chapter 32: Perfect Forever

  Epilogue

  Also by Elizabeth Reyes

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Aiyanna

  It was happening.

  Even as Jace spread Aiyanna’s legs gently, kissing her long and deep and making her quiver shamelessly, she still couldn’t believe it was really happening. It was the right decision. Jace was the right one. They’d been together for over three months now and friends for even longer. He’d been beyond patient, and she was ready for this—more than ready. Her entire body waited anxiously in anticipation and slight apprehension; though she squelched the latter.

  Gasping as he slipped his hand between her legs, Aiyanna clutched his back even tighter. This was as far as they’d ever gone, but she was ready for more now. Ready to feel him inside her.

  “I want you so bad,” he whispered breathlessly against her ear.

  “I’m ready,” she whispered back. “Do it, Jace. I want you inside me. Make love to me.”

  Without the slightest hesitation, he was on her, pulling her panties off, spreading her legs even wider, and readying himself to do what she’d planned so meticulously for. Her heart beat so hard against her chest she hoped he couldn’t hear it.

  A loud pounding from the front room interrupted her thoughts and they froze. “Jace!” a woman’s voice called out. “I know you’re in there, Jace! You should know me better! I’m not gonna let you just ignore me, you lying stack of pig shit!”

  Just as Jace jerked his head up, Aiyanna pushed him away, feeling the utter mortification inundate her. “Who’s that?” she asked, already pushing herself to the side of the mattress.

  “Irma,” he said, jumping off the bed. “Stay here.”

  Feeling the instant knot in her throat, she got off the bed, looking around frantically for her clothes. Jace pulled his jeans on, not bothering with underwear, and turned to Aiyanna, even as the pounding continued in the front room. “Aiyanna, please,” his words and expression pleaded. “Just give me a second. I’ll get rid of her.”

  Aiyanna ignored him and continued collecting her clothes off the floor in a hurry. He left the room as she pulled her panties on and then fumbled with her bra, the very set she’d so excitedly bought special just for tonight. Now she felt like a complete idiot.

  Irma was Jace’s ex-girlfriend, one he was supposedly completely done with and didn’t even speak to anymore, according to him. Aiyanna could hear them arguing, but he’d obviously stepped outside, instead of letting Irma in, and closed the door so Aiyanna couldn’t make out what the girl was screeching about. All Aiyanna knew was a girl that angry, pounding on a guy’s door with such obvious entitlement, could only mean one thing.

  “You should get yourself checked, sweetheart!” Irma yelled. “Because he was just in my bed last weekend. No telling how many others—”

  Jace had opened the door, but Irma’s continued yelling obviously made him close it again, and their words were muffled once again. Aiyanna sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her boot on as fast as she could. The mortification had now morphed into rage. She pulled the zipper up on her boot roughly, enraged by the tear that dripped off the tip of her nose. Swatting away another infuriating tear, she picked up her other boot just as Jace rushed into the room again.

  “Let me explain, please.”

  “You were in her bed last week?” she asked, without looking at him, and continued to pull her boot on.

  “I had too much to drink and . . .”

  She stopped listening after that. A strange relief inundated her, washing away the anger she’d felt just moments ago. Thank God for Irma’s most excellent timing or Aiyanna might be sitting there having just lost her virginity to this asshole while she listened to his bullshit. She finished zipping up her other boot then stood up and slapped Jace so hard it stung her hand. Never before had the sting of physical pain felt so good.

  He didn’t even attempt to stop her as she grabbed her things and bolted out the door, grateful that she’d driven herself to his place. The tears didn’t come again until she was in bed back at her apartment. She had to be quiet for fear of waking her roommates, especially Scott. He’d want to know all about how it went, and Aiyanna was in no condition to discuss it. When the tears came, they flooded her eyes in torrents until she finally passed out, exhausted and completely disheartened.

  Chapter 1: Stranded

  Nathan

  It
was supposed to be a fun and exciting last-minute New Year’s Eve getaway. Nathan Romero had decided to take off on a whim. It was the bullshit story he fed his family anyway. Already he’d skipped out on Christmas with the family, but at least he had work to blame for that time. Firefighters don’t have the luxury of having every major holiday off.

  Nathan had been determined to ring in the new year with a positive attitude: start fresh and prove to his family he was over what he kept insisting he was over. He really was, but, between the accident he had to deal with this past year and Isaiah nearly losing his life, everything had been a blur for a few weeks. All he’d wanted was for his brother to get better. At the time, he’d been willing to do and say anything if it’d help Isaiah recover faster. It wasn’t even until Isaiah’s Halloween surprise proposal to Kelli that the reality and guilt set in. His brother had obviously been in love with Kelli from the beginning but forfeited his feelings for her for Nathan’s sake.

  All Nathan had ever felt for Kelli was a stupid challenge, but when they so happily announced on Thanksgiving that she was also pregnant now, it was a little too much. They could’ve been together a lot sooner if it hadn’t been for his dumb ass. He needed a breather from that reminder, not to mention the awkwardness he’d begun to feel being around them. They both thought he’d felt so much more for her than he actually had. Knowing they’d been willing to sacrifice their love for him, he wasn’t ready to be around them for the holidays. Next year for sure. But this year it was still too soon. He’d asked for the week of New Year’s Eve off, certain he’d be ready to take off somewhere; he just hadn’t planned on where. So when a couple of his buddies told him about spending New Year’s partying up with the snow bunnies in Aspen, he figured it was the perfect opportunity.

  His flight was so last-minute he didn’t mind not being able to get a flight directly into the Aspen airport. The Denver airport was just a little over three hours away, and he was counting on the drive to help clear his mind. But he hadn’t bothered to check what the weather would be like. He figured it’d be snowing, but he also thought a city like Denver was well-prepared for that kind of weather, so he didn’t think there’d be any issues.

  The attendant at the car rental place told him they were expecting one of the biggest storms they’d had in years to blow in within the next hour or so and that he should get on the road ASAP so he could at least get halfway to Aspen before having to stop for the night.

  “They stop plowing the highway after dark. And trust me; you don’t wanna be on the road with this storm. That snow will bury you in minutes, and it could be days before anyone finds you.”

  It sounded overly dramatic, but then what did Nathan know about living in the snow? The drive started off well enough. Even once the snow started and it began to get dark, things got a little slower, but they were still moving. The last sign he’d passed said Aspen was still over a hundred miles away. He was probably pushing it, considering how much snow was coming down now, but he’d hoped to get a little closer tonight so he could meet the guys for breakfast the next morning.

  Nathan had been called stubborn plenty of times in his life, but even he knew when to call it quits. After the second scary moment when a sudden gust of snow gave him zero visibility for what felt like forever, he took the very next exit off the highway. He drove along a small road for a while with nothing in sight. The snow was beginning to come down even harder, so he started getting nervous.

  God damn it. Why hadn’t he pulled off sooner? No way could he drive and check his phone in these conditions. So he pulled over to look up where the closest hotel was. He stared at the screen, willing the browser to not time out for the second time. It did. “Shit,” he muttered, hitting the refresh button again.

  Beginning to feel slightly panicked because one glance out the window and he knew the storm was in full swing now, he dialed 411. Maybe they could give him the name of the closest hotel. The last thing he’d passed was a ski area called Love something. They could probably find it. The call immediately dropped. Nathan’s head jerked to look at the screen. No service.

  “No fucking way! With a ski area no more than fifteen minutes away?”

  Feeling even more alarmed, he put the SUV into drive, glad he’d gotten one of these big suckers instead of a regular car. His heart nearly gave out when, for a moment, the wheels spun with no traction, but then suddenly the truck jumped out of whatever hole he’d nearly been stuck in. Breathing deeply, he began to drive slowly along the desolate road, leaning against the steering wheel as he peered out into the white snow his headlights reflected. It was the only thing he could see ahead of him.

  His heart fluttered when he saw a light in the distance to his left. Making sure there was no one behind him through his rearview mirror, Nathan slowed almost to a stop. Using his thermal’s sleeve, he wiped the side window to see if he could make out what it was. Whatever it was, the small road he’d have to turn onto appeared less kept up than the slightly bigger one he was on now. But when he turned back to look ahead, he saw nothing but darkness with white snow coming down even harder. He’d never been in so much snow, much less a blizzard, but this sure as hell felt like one. Which was the bigger risk? Taking the chance that the light to the left could be a house or someplace where he could at least get directions to the nearest hotel? Or stay driving on this road with no light in sight.

  He turned left and immediately knew it was either not paved or hadn’t been plowed in days. As a trained firefighter, Nathan had been in many dangerous situations. This by far felt like the worst. The light up ahead was at least a mile away. Walking in this storm would feel a lot longer than a mile. If his SUV got stuck, he was screwed, so he drove slowly but not so slowly that he’d get stuck. He needed to get close enough that if he had to walk he’d make it there. Visibility was at nearly zero now, and Nathan had never felt so scared, not to mention stupid, in his life.

  How many times had he gone on rescues where he and his coworkers talked shit about idiots who got themselves in such unnecessarily dangerous situations? He kept having visions of the several hotels he’d passed up miles back. Why the fuck hadn’t he pulled over then?

  Then it happened.

  The truck hit a hole or something and stopped moving. Nathan pushed down on the gas all the way until the truck jumped out of the hole and he nearly lost control, but thankfully he didn’t, and the truck was moving again. The light was getting closer, and Nathan could see it was some kind of cabin or building: maybe a utility building of some kind. Whatever the hell it was, Nathan was now in survival mode. He knew he had a chance to make it through the night if he got stuck in the SUV all night, but he’d have a better chance if he could get inside a building of some kind.

  The closer he got he could see it was some sort of cabin, and he prayed they had a landline they’d let him use. With no cell service around here, it’d make sense they’d have to have a landline. For the second time, the truck got stuck, and Nathan hit the gas again, only this time the truck didn’t budge. “No!” he groaned as he hit the gas again. “Fuck!”

  No matter how much he tried, he knew he was done. This was as far as he was going in the SUV. He banged on the steering wheel and cussed at the top of his lungs for a while before remembering he needed to move fast. With a deep breath, he gathered his thoughts. First things first. He needed to get his snow jacket and boots on.

  Second, in case he was going to be stuck at this place overnight, he needed to grab some of his things out of the back. He’d packed enough to stay a week, so after walking to the back of the truck and nearly being blown away by a few of the gusts, he grabbed his carryon but left his full suitcase. For all he knew, he’d be hiking back to the SUV and spending the night there anyway.

  Never having been in this kind of cold environment for more than a few times when he’d gone skiing and he’d been in full gear, he did not get how some people chose to climb those treacherous snow-covered mountains.

  He’d left the head
lights on because it was the only thing that lit up the pitch-black night. He’d have to worry about getting a jump later. The SUV got stuck about half a mile away from the lighted cabin, so the light would help him find his way.

  About a hundred yards from the cabin as he trudged through the near knee-high freezing snow, the light he’d been driving toward turned off. “Oh, you’re kidding me,” he said, catching his breath.

  Was it possible it was just a sensor light a squirrel had set off or something? No, it had been on for too long. Maybe whoever was in there had just called it a night? He could only wish. The light on the SUV was a little too far, but it still illuminated his way a tiny bit. Struggling because he was literally dragging his carryon, he was happy for the amount of training he did on the job. In the last year, he’d gone from just working a regular shift to training the new hires in the academy. It involved a lot of running and training out in the hills.

  When he finally made it to the entrance of the small cabin, he knocked softly. He realized whoever lived out here wouldn’t be expecting company, especially on a night like this. He wasn’t looking to startle anyone. After a couple of minutes, he knocked again.

  “Hello?” he called out again, trying not to be too loud, but it was fucking freezing. Even his toes, which were in a pair of the most weather-resistant snow boots on the market, were as frozen as all his other extremities now. “Hello?” he called out a little louder. “Anyone in there? My truck’s stuck in the snow about a half mile from here, and I just need to use your phone to call a tow truck. I have a cell phone, but I have no service out here.”

  Nothing.

  He leaned his forehead against the door. Before he’d trudged all the way here, he considered the possibility he might have to hike it back to the SUV and sleep there, but there was no way that was happening now. The visibility was literally zero now. He could barely see his hand in front of him when he’d been hiking there, and the storm had only gotten worse. It was do or die now. If there really wasn’t anyone in this cabin, he was going to have to get in somehow. He had to. He walked around the side until he found a small window he knew he could fit through. He didn’t want to break it because he wouldn’t want the cold getting in once he was in, so he tried sliding it open. To his surprise, it budged.