Embracing Fate: A Captive Hearts Novel Read online

  Embracing Fate

  A Captive Hearts Novel

  Ellie Masters

  JEM Publishing

  elliemasters.com

  Visit Ellie’s Website (elliemasters.com) where you can view excerpts, teasers, and links to her other books.

  Copyright © 2019 Ellie Masters

  EMBRACING FATE

  All rights reserved.

  This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this ebook ONLY. No part of this ebook may be reproduced, scanned, transmitted, or distributed in any printed, mechanical, or electronic form without prior written permission from Ellie Masters or JEM Publishing except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. This 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 person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Image/art disclaimer: Licensed material is being used for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted in the licensed material is a model.

  Editor: Erin Toland

  Proofreader: Rox Leblanc

  Published in the United States of America by

  JEM Publishing

  This is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, businesses, 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.

  * * *

  ISBN: B07XSLJN88

  Created with Vellum

  Warning

  * * *

  This story contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and might be considered offensive to some readers.

  This book is for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country where you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely and where they cannot be accessed by underage readers.

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my one and only—my amazing and wonderful husband.

  Without your care and support, my writing would not have made it this far. You make me whole every day. I love you “that much.” For the rest of you, that means from the beginning to the end and every point in between. Thank you, my dearest love, my heart and soul, for putting up with me, for believing in me, and for loving me.

  My husband deserves a special gold star for listening to me obsess over this book and for never once complaining while I brought these characters from my mind to the page.

  You pushed me when I needed to be pushed. You supported me when I felt discouraged. You believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. If it weren’t for you, this book never would have come to life.

  To My Readers

  This book is a work of fiction. It does not exist in the real world and should not be construed as reality. As in most romantic fiction, I’ve taken liberties. I’ve compressed the romance into a sliver of time. I’ve allowed these characters to develop strong bonds of trust over a matter of days. This does not happen in real life where you, my amazing readers, live. Take more time in your romance and learn who you’re giving a piece of your heart to. I urge you to move with caution. Always protect yourself.

  When you find your partner, talk to him or her. Be open and honest about your needs, your expectations, and your limits, especially if you have any triggers. Never allow your partner to violate the tender trust you have put into their hands. Always remember, your lover can’t read your mind. It is your responsibility to talk to them, no matter how frightening that might be. In return, you must listen to what your partner has to say and understand their limits, as you do your own. Share your hopes, desires, and deepest, darkest secrets. Most of all, don’t be afraid to seek out who you are, become what you want, and share your journey with your partner.

  Contents

  Amazon Links Also by Ellie Masters

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Please consider leaving a review

  Also by Ellie Masters

  Amazon Links Also by Ellie Masters

  Connect with Ellie Masters

  Final Thoughts

  THE END

  Amazon Links Also by Ellie Masters

  Sign up to Ellie’s Newsletter and get a free gift. https://elliemasters.com/FreeBook

  Contemporary Romance

  The One I Want Series

  By Jet & Ellie Masters

  each book in this series can be read as a standalone and is about a different couple with an HEA.

  Aiden & Ariel

  Brent & Brie

  Caleb & Caitlyn

  Dax & Dani

  Rockstar Romance

  The Angel Fire Rock Romance Series

  each book in this series can be read as a standalone and is about a different couple with an HEA. It is recommended they are read in order.

  Ashes to New (prequel)

  Heart’s Insanity (book 1)

  Heart’s Desire (book 2)

  Heart’s Collide (book 3)

  Hearts Divided (book 4)

  Dark Romance

  Captive Hearts Series

  each book in this series can be read as a standalone and is about a different couple with an HEA. It is recommended they are read in order.

  She’s MINE

  Embracing FATE

  Romantic Suspense

  Changing Roles Series:

  this series is about one couple and must be read in order.

  Book 1: Command

  Book 2: Control

  Book 3: Collar

  HOT READS

  each book is a standalone novel.

  Off Duty

  Nondisclosure

  Down the Rabbit Hole

  Romantic Suspense (standalone)

  each book is a standalone novel.

  Twist
of Fate

  The Starling

  Redemption

  HOT READS

  Becoming His Series

  this series is about one couple and must be read in order.

  Book 1: The Ballet

  Book 2: Learning to Breathe

  Book 3: Becoming His

  Sweet Contemporary Romance

  Finding Peace

  ~AND~

  Science Fiction

  Ellie Masters writing as L.A. Warren

  Vendel Rising: a Science Fiction Serialized Novel

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Please consider leaving a review

  Also by Ellie Masters

  Amazon Links Also by Ellie Masters

  Connect with Ellie Masters

  Final Thoughts

  THE END

  Chapter 1

  My lungs filled with my first deep breath in nearly five years. I didn’t look over my shoulder or watch my back. I simply took one damn breath, and on that breath, I tasted freedom.

  One step.

  That’s all that separated me from my past. As to my future? I could forge a better future.

  Closing my eyes, I savored my first few moments outside prison walls. I swear the air tasted sweeter out here.

  I’d been sentenced to twelve years, and while I resigned myself to serve each and every day of my sentence, freedom found me years ahead of schedule.

  Atonement would come later, if at all. There was a penance to pay. It had been a rough few years and I didn’t expect that to change now that I was free.

  Nothing good could be said of prison, and I had plenty of experience behind bars. I endured two years in a Thai jail, surviving a living death.

  The time I spent in an American prison had been a cakewalk compared to the daily threat of death, dismemberment, and worse during my stint in an overseas jail. Americans didn’t know how easy they had it. They were pussies when it came to surviving.

  I scuffed my boots over the gravel which littered the empty parking lot, feeling a need to stamp out the past, but my past refused to be dismissed.

  My frustration grew.

  Most ex-cons had someone waiting to take them where they needed to go at the end of their time served.

  I had no one.

  The parking lot was empty because I’d violated my family in the worst way imaginable.

  “Get along!” The gate guard behind me shifted foot to foot. “You got a ride coming?” The scowl on his face reflected zero compassion.

  “No.” My reply came out harsher than I intended.

  I allowed my gaze to wander over the heat-baked asphalt. In five years, with the exception of my lawyer, I had had zero visitors; not my brother, and most definitely not Kevin, my brother-by-another-mother.

  Kevin, Jake, and I had once been inseparable growing up. As my only living family, they should’ve been here, except I’d done horrible things to them.

  They hated me and rightfully so.

  As much as I’d like to think they cared if I lived or died, I had to face a sobering truth.

  Nobody was coming to take me from this hellhole.

  “You need to make a call?” The guard snapped to attention and his scowl deepened.

  I gave a shrug. There was no one to call.

  “Well…get on.”

  Instead of replying with a snarky comment, I debated my next move.

  “There’s a bus stop down that-a-way.” He jerked a thumb down the road. “It’s a bit of a hike.”

  “Yeah?” I could handle a bus.

  If it weren’t for the small fact of needing to check in with my parole officer before the end of the night, I’d hop on that bus and keep on riding.

  I’d head west, not stopping until I hit the coast. Maybe I would hook north and escape into the vast Alaskan wilderness where I could disappear and reinvent myself.

  That would be a good place for a man looking to start a new life.

  In another seven years, I might just do that. Parole meant freedom from prison, but not from the legal system. The state of Georgia owned me until the balance of my sentence was served.

  I’d been paroled, not forgiven. I might be free, but my sins shackled me just as surely as those prison walls.

  “How far is it?” I asked.

  The muggy summer heat didn’t care about my newfound freedom. It attacked me with relentless determination and sapped my strength. The sweet, southern Georgia air smothered me with its oppressiveness. The surface of the asphalt shimmered as it baked beneath the sun and heat slammed into me making me wish for the stale air-conditioning of my cell.

  Almost.

  “About five miles, give or take.” The guard spat on the ground.

  Five miles? In this heat?

  “Shit!”

  The guard pointed again. “You should get to walkin’.”

  My only ride waited five miles down a road baking in the summer heat. What would he do if I asked for a ride?

  He’d probably shoot me.

  It wasn’t like I expected a congrats-a-fuck-ulations on your release, but he could’ve switched out his scowl for a frown. I was free, after all. My debt to society had been paid; at least as far as my parole papers said.

  I could go wherever I wanted, as long as I stayed within the borders of the great state of Georgia.

  I guess, that meant hiking five miles to the bus stop.

  Good thing I had boots. I wore what I brought with me into this hellhole; sturdy boots, a faded pair of jeans, and a ripped T-shirt stained with blood.

  The sum of my possessions held the sins of my past. I’d been arrested in these clothes, and they’d been returned in their original condition. There had to be some sort of karmic justice in that.

  I wore her blood; Kate’s blood.

  The fuckers hadn’t even washed my clothes.

  A sniff brought the scent of her flooding my senses; her tears, her pain, and her ineffable defiance. My lids slammed shut as memories of that night flooded my mind. I wanted nothing to do with those memories, but there was no escape from my sins, or the pain in my brother’s eyes as I betrayed him.

  Betrayal was a harsh mistress, and I’d fucked her with a grin on my face and evil in my heart, but she was a sneaky and resilient bitch.