Darkness is the only thing I see. Ever since the day
my life changed. The day that everything and everyone I held close to me ceased
to exist. The day I lost it all and the demons of my past consumed my every
waking moment.
I tried to keep others at arm’s length. Tried not to
let my darkness taint them. Ruin them. Harm them. And whether I want to admit
it or not, as much as I wish I could keep them locked out, they refuse to
leave. Refuse to let me suffer alone.
If I hadn’t been so focused on keeping those demons
from flying free, I wouldn’t have missed how one perfect angel was able to
sneak her way under my skin—refusing to let go. Making me want things I don’t
deserve.
She consumes me. Her beauty knows no end. The love
she promises tempts me every time she’s near. But that pure heart that makes
her MY Emmy is the one thing I’m convinced I’ll destroy if I ever let her
close.
I’m a broken man. A broken man with too much
darkness in his soul to ever let her light shine upon me. But even that doesn’t
stop me from craving her with every single breath in my body.
**This is the final book in the Corps Security
series. This book is not suitable for younger readers. There is strong
language, adult situations, and some violence.*
In the final book of the Corps Security series we finally
get to read all about Maddox Locke and let me tell you something it was so
worth the wait. I have read and reviewed
each book of the series from the start and with every book I keep saying the
latest is my favorite of the series so far.
But now I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Locke has blown them all away and will always be my #1 favorite
book of the entire series. Ladies and
gentlemen, Mr. Maddox Locke had me laughing, crying, my stomach flip flopping, and wanting
more and more. I could not put this book
down.
Like all of the men in the Corps Security series, they have
all overcome things in their past that has shaped them into who they are today
and Maddox is still overcoming some of the demons in his past. Maddox is always the one who has helped the
other couples open their eyes to love but why can't he do the same for himself? He thinks that is unworthy of love, that he
would ruin anyone good, like Emmy. He
has also overcome something that would cause even some of the strongest men to
break. Maddox had my heart breaking for
him because you could tell that he was fighting so much inside of him.
Emmy is an angel to Maddox, but she has a past of her
own. One that she ran from, one that she
wanted to return to and she also survived things that most women would not
have. She also saw Maddox, things he
tried to keep secret and the good that was inside of him. She loved him for who he was, and had her
heartbroken by his refusal to see what could be. Emmy was the light to Maddox’s darkness and
his savior all in one.
Locke was the
perfect ending to this series. Harper
Sloan has ripped our hearts out time and time again with this series and in a
way while she does it once more with Maddox, she also puts the pieces back
together with the way this has ended.
This reviewer is very sad to see the end of the Corps Security series,
but at the same time I am anxious to read what she has in store for us when she
releases Cohen’s book. Congrats Harper
Sloan on writing one of the best series I have read, one that only got better
the longer it went on, and one that will always hold a special place in my
heart.
Prologue—Maddox
Six weeks.
It’s been over a goddamn month since Emmy ran from me.
Just gone.
It took me three days to find her—thanks to
the tracking device I had placed on her car—down in some small Podunk town in
south Florida. Even if she had been
trying to hide, she’d done a shit job of it.
One search for her parents would have brought me right to her.
It took me longer to actually get eyes on her
than it had to find her. She was holed
up in some cheap-ass hotel for three weeks.
She called in her meals and never left the room. And unfortunately, I had to leave and rush
home when things out of my control needed attention and I again had to pull
Asher’s head out of his ass. Now I’m
back and I’m not leaving until I get my hands on her.
She doesn’t want to be found. I know that, but damn if I’m going to let her
run off and get away for good. I’ve
pushed and pushed her away. Every bone
in my body has screamed at me to take what she’s been offering for years. I’ve seen her, I know what she wants, but I
won’t let my demons hurt her. Not my
Emmy.
Since day one, she’s been the greatest temptation,
but I refused to take everything innocent that is Emmy and let my blackness
take her. Because that’s what will
happen. It will wrap around her soul and
slowly choke the life out of her. Just
like every other person I’ve allowed in.
I’ll taint her. I’ll ruin her. And in the end, it will destroy her.
One smile from her made me fall. So I pushed her away. I told her that she would never be what I
need—that I would never want her. God, if
she only knew. I crave her and
everything she keeps trying to hand me.
I crave her and everything she could give me. My very being calls out to her, and I work
daily to refuse it.
So I pushed.
Until she ran.
But that ends right now.
Looking up at the gaudy neon lights thrown on
the top of this hellhole, I know that was my first mistake.
SYN.
A motherfucking strip club.
This is not a place where my angel
belongs. Just the thought of her inside
this club makes my skin crawl. I can
feel my anger becoming a force of its own as the blackness in my soul threatens
to burst through. It’s burning inside my
veins and demanding blood. My nostrils
flare, making my breaths come in loud pants.
My fist clenches—demanding something to pound into, something to
destroy. My skin feels tight. Every vein in my body is pulsing with each
wild beat of my heart.
I’m going to explode.
The bouncer doesn’t even give me a second
thought. He gives me a brief glance as I
pay the twenty bucks to gain my access into the hellish place. I immediately rip my sunglasses off, taking
in every inch of the room. Black walls
with dim lighting, stereotypical red carpeting and leather booths lining the
room. They have the name right with the
smell of this place—sex and sin with a mixture of smoke and sweat. There are three stages set up around the
room, the center one being the largest and two smaller ones to the left and
right, with a bar against the back wall and one on the top floor.
The whole top-floor bar area is set up on a
glass floor, giving these douchebags around the room the perfect view between
the barely dressed servers’ legs. Taking
my eyes off the top floor, where the bartenders are clearly working the glass
floor to their advantage, I scan the room again, squinting my eyes to see through
the dim lighting and heavy smoke.
That’s when I spot her.
“What. The. Fuck,” I snarl under my breath.
The anger I felt earlier burning through my
body starts to boil. It’s almost as if
my body becomes a force of its own. The
monsters inside me wanting free.
There she stands, not even five feet away,
looking exhausted, wearing next to nothing.
Her skirt—if that’s what you want to call it—is more like a napkin
someone cut in half. From the way she
stands—slightly to the side—I can just make out the perfect roundness of her
ass peeking out the bottom of the hem.
Her pert tits are pushed together and held in a tight bikini top, the
fabric so thin that I can see the outline of her nipples clear as day.
My eyes take in every inch of her exposed
skin and I want to roar with rage.
No one should see her like this. No one but me. And even though I don’t have the right to
feel this way about her, there isn’t a damn thing that can stop me now.
She hasn’t seen me yet, so I stalk over to
where she’s standing. She turns right
when I’m about to reach out for her and her eyes go wide, shock and alarm clear
in her beautiful, honey-brown eyes.
“Wha—”
“What the fuck are you doing, Em?” I bite
out.
She shrinks back at my tone before she
catches herself and goes stiff. I can
tell instantly that I’m not going to like anything she has to say.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me, Emmy. What in the hell are you doing in this
place?”
She tilts her head slightly, taking me
in. Her eyes leave mine and roam the
room before she gives a stiff nod. When
she turns her focus back to me, I go stock-still at her words.
“I’m exactly where I should be, Maddox. I’m home.”
Her tone is submissive, and that fury inside me goes from a boiling fire
to ice cold.
With that, she turns and stalks off towards
the bar. And I see that not only is her
ass hanging out, but so are her hot-pink boy shorts.
“Dude.
She’s a fine piece of ass, right?”
The man she was just talking to speaks in awe.
“Shut your fucking mouth,” I growl, feeling
that rage return like a switch has been flipped.
“Ah, you’re new here. Just sit back, my friend, and get ready for
the show.” He laughs, takes a deep pull
from his beer, and turns his attention back to the main stage, where the
current entertainment is doing her best to swallow the fucking pole with her
pussy. She’s working so hard for it that
she might as well be fucking the damn thing.
I’m no stranger to strip clubs. Back when the guys were all single, we would
hit some local ones around California.
No better way to let off some steam from the shit that is constantly
swirling around in my head than to sit in a room full of naked woman. Where the music pounds into your body, the
drinks are always flowing, and the pussy is in abundance.
One thing’s for sure: This isn’t a place for
Emmy. Hell no.
Without taking my eyes from Emmy, I drop my
body into the nearest booth. She’s in a
heated argument with the bartender and an older man who looks about as run-down
as this fucking town. She throws her
hands in the air, her head moving wildly, and if I had to guess, her stunning
eyes are burning bright. She points over
to me a few times, and all the older man does is shake his head, obviously not
giving her what she wants. I just scowl
at them from the booth, waiting for her to walk her ass back over here so I can
explain to her that it’s time to go.
“Hey there, handsome,” a raspy voice says to
my right. “Looking for some fun
tonight? I bet a big man like you would
be up for something wild.”
“No.”
I don’t even look at her. My eyes
never leave Emmy—who is now looking at me.
A mix of ire and hurt is written all over her face. Even with the shit lighting in this place, I
can see it…and I hate it.
Fucking hurt?
Is she serious right now? Pissed
I can understand. She didn’t want to be
found and I found her.
“I won’t bite, baby. That is unless you want me to.” Her hands snake around my neck and down my
chest.
Turning my attention away from Emmy, I look
at the bleach-blonde hair, weathered skin, and fake tan of this bitch in front
of me. I’ll give her credit—she tries to
hide it with more than enough makeup for about ten women, but this piece of
work in front of me has to be pushing fifty.
“I said no, woman. What part of that didn’t you understand? And for the last time, do not touch me.” I reach up and pull her hand off my stomach
before she can go any further.
Moving my eyes back to where I last saw Emmy
has me coming up empty. What the hell? I scan the room but she is still nowhere to
be found.
“Ah, sweet cheeks. I know what you want. Good luck with that one. Rose doesn’t play around, and honey, why
would you want her when you can have me?
After all, I taught her everything she knows.” She leans down and, before I can guess her
intent, licks my neck, clearly taking my distraction at her words to her
advantage.
I turn swiftly and move into her space,
making sure she doesn’t mix this shit up in her head to think that I would
somehow ever want her ass.
“Do. Not. Touch. Me. You got that, sweet cheeks?”
She looks me in the eyes for a few beats
before throwing her head back and laughing.
The sound of it hits my ears like nails on a chalkboard.
“Your loss.”
When she walks off, I start my scan of the
room again. No Emmy in sight. I run my hand over my buzzed scalp before
settling in for the wait.
Thirty minutes later and I still haven’t
found her. The crowd is getting
restless. The chicks taking turns on the
stage now haven’t been impressive and they undoubtedly want more. The pole humper has moved on to one of the
smaller stages. The last act on the main
stage was slightly better, but all she did was basically finger-fuck herself on
the stage before fumbling to get to her feet on her ridiculous heels.
Jesus Christ.
I wait, determined not to leave until I have
her with me. Another thirty minutes and
two more rotations on the stages have my frustration levels going up even
higher. How the hell did she just
disappear? I know she didn’t leave. The tracking device on her car, which is
sitting right next to my truck in the parking lot, hasn’t alerted me of any
movement. I’ll be damned if she takes
off on me again.
After signaling over another server, I order
a beer and check my phone again to make sure the tracker isn’t
malfunctioning. I’m just putting my
phone in my pocket when a deep voice cuts over the music.
“Gentleman of Syn. It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for. The one your dicks have been begging for all
fucking night. The Princess of Syn
herself. The one and only, Rose!”
The Princess
of Syn? What an idiot. I laugh to myself, placing my beer to my lips
for a long pull. The music starts and
the first few notes of Lollipop by Framing Hanley fill the air. Got to give this chick props—at least she
picked a good song.
The house lights go down, plunging the room
into darkness, before a spotlight hits the main stage. The smoke clinging to the air gives the stage
an eerie glow. I take my eyes off the
action and attempt scan the darkness of the room again for Emmy. Movement by the back corner catches my
attention at the same time that the crowd goes electric. Idiots start throwing their money left and
right, calling to this Princess of Syn
to take them.
What morons.
I focus on the corner again and see the
blonde from earlier smiling her wicked smile at me before pointing to the
stage. Turning back to the stage, I
watch as a woman, who I assume is this so-called princess, spins effortlessly
on the pole, her movements all but blurring her body from the men wishing she
were spinning on their dicks. It doesn’t
take me long to see why the bitch from earlier is telling me to look.
With one quick spin, her hands are placed at
the center and her legs are spread wide and parallel to the pole, showing off
her barely there G-sting, I see my Emmy.
It takes a second for the shock to wear off, and in that second, she
gracefully drops from her spin with a guarded smile to the men crowding the
stage. Lifting her small hands from her
side, she drags them up her flat stomach to take her tits in hand and jiggles
them.
Fucking jiggles them.
I can’t control my body at this point. I’m focused on one thing—the best way to get
her off that stage and out of this place.
She reaches up and, in a move that is
obviously practiced, removes her top, throwing it in to the crowd. There she dances with her body on display,
caressing her naked tits until her nipples pebble. Turning her back to the room, she bends at
the waist and starts to slowly pull her G-sting down her long, toned legs.
This is when the reality of this situation
hits me. I’ll fucking kill all of these
motherfuckers in the room.
Then she drops to her knees before getting on
all fours and crawling towards the end of the stage.
Hell. No.
I’m on my feet in seconds, stalking through
the crowd, pushing any man who stands in the way of my woman and me. I don’t even lift my arms from my side. I just barrel through the bodies with one
goal in mind.
She doesn’t see me coming since she’s back on
her feet and walking to the pole again.
With a leap that would make my high school track coach proud, I’m on the
stage, and a second later, I have a naked Emmy thrown over my shoulders before
I jump off the stage. The sharp pain up
my leg does nothing to extinguish my determination.
I can see the bouncers coming, and with one
hand on her slick ass, I reach out and punch the first one in the face, taking
great pleasure watching him instantly buckle to the floor. The other one comes at me from the side, but
he doesn’t get far before I pick up the chair to my left one-handed and crack
it against his fucking head.
Emmy is struggling with such vigor that I’m
forced to put her down. She looks up,
ready to spit fire at me, before snapping her mouth shut when she sees the
expression on my face. I have no doubt
that I look just as feral as I feel.
“Don’t you open that sweet fucking mouth,
Emersyn. I swear to Christ, now is not
the time to fucking piss me off any further.”
I rip my shirt off and roughly pull it over
her head. She struggles and puts up a
fight, momentarily distracting me from the third bouncer coming at full
throttle. His fist takes me by surprise,
but not for long. Grabbing her wrist so
she doesn’t get away, I turn to the motherfucker stupid enough to get in my
way.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” I seethe.
He goes to punch me again, but I duck and pop
up before he realizes he failed.
Bringing my head forward, I head-butt him right between the eyes and
almost smile when he falls instantly.
I’m stopped at the door by the last bartender
she was speaking with earlier. He goes
to make a move but pulls up when he sees the look in my eyes. I’ll fucking kill and I’m sure it’s written
clear as day on my face.
“Do it.
I dare you.” My tone leaves no
room for argument. I’m leaving with her
and there isn’t a person on this Earth who can stop me.
Additional books in the Corps Security Series
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Harper
started using writing as a way to unwind when the house went to sleep at night;
and with a house full of crazy it was the perfect way to just relax. It didn't
take long before a head full of very demanding alphas would stop at nothing to
have their story told.
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