You
Loved Me At My Darkest
You Loved Me #1
by Evie Harper
Genre:
Dark Contemporary Romance
SYNOPSIS
Lily
Ripped from Heaven, Burned in Hell.
Caught and caged in beauty.
Beauty comes at a cost.
One man holds the key to our survival, to our
freedom.
Find out how I lived and lost the greatest thing
on earth.
Love.
Jake
I didn't see her coming and that will be my
downfall.
She will ruin me, take everything from me, and
give me everything I can't have.
I can't help her. I won't.
She is innocence. She is strength.
She is my piece of heaven in hell.
I’m not letting her go.
PROLOGUE
Hopelessness
wraps around my body like a tight cord. Alone and beaten, each breath comes
quicker. My eyes are almost swollen shut, with only tiny slivers of light
shining through to let me know it’s daytime. Thick, rough rope scrapes harshly
against my wrists. A dirty white dress, held up on my shoulders by thin straps,
covers my shaking body.
What
have I done? I failed in my escape, caught in the grasp of evil again. Have I
failed Lily too? Will I die down here—never being able to let my sister know
how thankful I am that she did everything she possibly could do to save me? I
would give up anything in this world to tell her how much I love her, and to
tell her to keep fighting.
So
many hits to the head has left it pounding like it never has before. I've
vomited twice already. I dread more may be coming up. My lip quivers and my
chest expands heavily. Tears squeeze through my swollen eyes and spill down my
face.
I
hear the door opening, and I sense movement near my body. Hot breath heats my
cheek letting me know someone’s there. "Sasha, you need to reveal to us
who helped you, or things are only going to get a lot worse for you." A
gruff voice I know all too well causes bile to rise and threatens to empty
again.
I
turn my head away and say, “I will never give up who helped me.” Only my words
come out all wrong and slurred. What's wrong with my speech?
He
sighs. "Fine then, the hard way it is."
I
laugh in my mind. Given what I have already been through, I thought that
already was the hard way.
I'm
pulled upwards by the ropes around my wrists, and he begins walking. I fall to
my knees as soon as I try to take my first step.
"Get
up," he growls.
My
hands are yanked up, and my shoulders scream from the pain. A whimper tries to
escape but can't get past the lump in my throat. He grips my elbow and pulls me
along with him.
Light
explodes between the tiny cracks in my swollen eyes and heat from the sunshine
hits my skin. I realise I’m outside. I smell the salty ocean air and feel the
chilly breeze. He continues to walk me for a moment, and then stops. I'm pushed
to my knees, and then my hands are lifted above my head and tied to something
round. I feel it with my fingertips; it’s hard and rough, and feels like a
wooden pole.
"Now,
boys, watch and learn. This is what we do to slave girls who try to escape and
protect traitors." I can hear the sick excitement in his voice. He has
been gunning for me ever since I arrived.
My
head is still thumping painfully, and my chest is rising and falling fast,
waiting for the first punch to come. Trying to predict from which angle, so I
can brace for the pain, I feel it.
A
scream is ripped from my throat as a searing sensation runs down my back. I
arch in response to the blistering pain. I sob when I realise he's whipping me.
I
try to move forward to get away. When I feel it again, I scream. My back forces
itself forward, trying uselessly to get away from the attacking whip.
Trying
to force my hands out of the ropes to defend myself has caused my wrists to
throb with pain. I want to crawl into a ball and try to protect what piece of
untouched flesh I have left.
I
scream again as the whip slashes through my thin dress and skin. The pungent
smell of metallic fills my nose. The sliminess of my blood as the whip flicks
down my back, seeps downward. The pounding in my head is growing. My eyes are
begging me to open them to see, to escape. My body arches again along with a
piercing scream from another strike.
Tears
overflowing through my swollen eyes, I can taste the saltiness on my lips. My
head sags to my chest, my breathing heavy. I sense my body going faint. I'm so
tired. The promise of unconsciousness whispers on the edges of my mind.
Darkness begins to envelope me.
All
of a sudden, I hear screaming in the distance. I recognise that voice. It's
Lily. She's getting closer. Oh, thank God, I can tell her how much I love her.
How much she has been the best big sister anyone could ever ask for, and demand
that she keeps fighting.
Suddenly,
I'm turned over. I hear her sweet voice talking to me; she's crying. Lil's arms
feel so warm around my body. Home. I'm finally home. I love you, Lil. I
try to say except my mouth won't move. I scream it in my mind to her. I
love you, Lily! These are my last thoughts as darkness surrounds me
and the light drifts away.
Evie Harper is an Aussie author who releases her
debut novel, You Loved Me At My Darkest on the 28th of August 2014.
Book #1 will be followed by You Loved Me At My
Weakest releasing Nov 2014 and, You Loved Me At My Ugliest releasing February
2015.
Evie is a bookaholic and is never found without her
kindle, if by chance she doesn’t have it, she has severe separation
anxiety. When Evie isn’t writing or reading, most of the time you can find
her playing Uno, Trouble or Monopoly with her husband and two children.
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