Passionate Hearts 1 (Romantic Drama and Mystery Collection)

By Sandra Ross

From the Publisher that brought you popular short story series Earthbound Angels, The January Morrison Psychic Files, , Ralph's Gift, Come With Me, A Halloween Awakening, One Wrong Step, Shadow Stalkers, and Friend Zone. and now, here is our two stories in 1 book!

Sandra Ross's Romantic Drama and Mystery Collection 1

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Hostile Hearts Part 1: The Mating
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She never knew someone like him would come...

Iliana meets Nickolas at the restaurant where she works as a waitress. He is beautiful, rich, witty—and beckons her for just one date. Yet her senses whispers a warning: "He's unpredictable." She will never know what to expect with him.

Nickolas woes her every day, nonstop, for a month. He brings her to his secluded castle, straight from the pages of a fairy tale, and dazzles her with a display of romantic lights like she's never seen before. All of this... for her.

He is the epitome of control, like a panther, but as a lover he is just as wild. He sets her body on fire, and it consumes both of them again and again. Sex with him is simply incomparable!

Nickolas is being just too good to be true. So she is sometimes afraid—of waking up. Of seeing the truth.

Because all her senses knew his secret. There is something to Nickolas that more than meets the eye, and it's what's tugging at her to wake up. To just open her eyes.

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Eve Snow Psychic P.I. Part 1: The Case of the Secret Admirer
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Someone wants Eve's head on a platter. How can she stop what she doesn't know is coming?

Everything has been falling into place for Eve Snow; Hunter Vale has found his way back into her life, and promises to share it with her forever. Now, they’re planning a wedding and venturing into Eve’s private investigation business together.

Then Eve is asked by her friend Det. Chad Morrison into investigating a murder that requires the help of her psychic abilities. What makes this case special is that the victim was one of her closest friends from college, Sara Cranston.

Little does Eve know that Sara’s murder is just the start of an elaborate scheme to lure her into a web of punishment, deceit, and bloodshed—all in the name of revenge.

Hunter has to stifle his worry as he watches Eve risk her life to solve the case, not knowing that as she gets more involved, she puts herself right where the Secret Admirer wants her.

What could this person possibly want from Eve? Will she get out of the ordeal alive?

If you wish to read more, download and find out what happens!

Other titles in Sandra Ross's Romantic Drama & Mystery Collection:

Passionate Hearts Part 2: The Taming & When Madness Strikes

Passionate Hearts Part 3: The Calling & Essence of the Crime

Passionate Hearts Part 4: The Yielding & Blood Paid in Full

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Sandra Ross
• Release date: Jan 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311941978

Sandra Ross

The moment Sandra Ross held her first romance novel when she was ten, she knew she was going to write romance. At thirty now, a prolific reader and a freelance writer, she's since then expanded her preferences from just romance to romance with a dash of now trending sub-genres—paranormal , fantasy, sci-fi even, and erotica. She loves challenging herself and would write on a dare. On a normal day, she would be found in her herb garden collecting spices for her kitchen or ingredients for her potions; in her huge eclectic Provencal kitchen with the big modern oven cooking pots and pans of food for her family of one husband and three kids (an ardent daughter and two boisterous sons) that'll probably last for weeks; in her library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and an e-reader in her hands as she reads the latest erotic hit; or scribbling pages upon pages of different erotic lifestyles, searching for the one that feels like it was inspired by just the right mix of passion, story line, and sex. Aside from these activities, the rest of the time she'd be found in front of her laptop typing the latest Sandra Ross concoction for her readers.

Book preview

Passionate Hearts: Romantic Drama & Mystery Collection 1

By Sandra Ross

Published by Publications Circulations LLC.

SmashWords Edition

All contents copyright (C) 2013 by Publications Circulations LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this document or the related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, companies and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.

The following story is for entertainment purposes only. This book contains sexually graphic scenes depicting consenting adults above the age of 18 engaging in passionate sexual acts. This story is intended only for persons over the legal adult age. By downloading and opening this document, you are stating that you are of legal age to access and view this work of fiction. Mature readers only. Reader discretion is advised.

Limit of Liability and Disclaimer of Warranty:

The publisher has used its best efforts in preparing this book, and the information provided herein is provided as is. Publications Circulations LLC makes no representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

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The Mating

Hostile Hearts Part 1

Chapter One

ILIANA'S HEART POUNDED as she walked towards the man at a table she waitressed. He should have been familiar by now, after all the times she had seen him, yet she still couldn't place his face. She didn't know anyone remotely like him. His soft, enigmatic eyes focused on her face. He wore black clothes: a black blazer, a black tie with a black pin, a black shirt, black pants and shiny, black shoes with black socks. Together with his dark hair, a little longer than Iliana liked it, he looked like a dark, inky blotch fallen upon the fabric of reality.

His name was Nickolas Benson. Or that's what one of Iliana's co-workers told her after she asked about him. He was supposed to be rich beyond compare. Whenever he came to the coffee shop, the force of his presence overwhelmed the quiet, convivial atmosphere normally present in the shop.

As Iliana approached him, his posture changed. He pulled his legs inward and sat straight up in his chair.

Hello, what can I get you today? Iliana asked him.

She suppressed a shiver, trying not to show any outward signs of discomfort. She had to be the always-present, always-smiling nameless woman whose primary job was to refill drinks and ask if everything met with the customer's satisfaction. Her wages depended on that image. Any show of fear might put the customer off; even a customer like Nickolas, who appeared not to care about much of anything.

He answered her with his usual deep voice, Coffee. Black.

She scrawled his order on her pale green notepad. She tried not to look directly in his face when she replied, Yes, thank you. We'll have it ready for you shortly.

She felt his stare burning into the middle of her back as she walked to the bar to get the order ready. She wanted to run, even knowing she couldn't. Just how would that look, a waitress rushing out the front door just because one man, no matter how unusual, kept looking at her? She imagined herself taking off her heels and just running, running anywhere. The destination didn't matter as long as she could get away from his eyes, those twin magnifying glasses set deep in his skull which seemed to uncover every fact about her existence. She thought that, just by looking at her, he could tell that she had woken up in the morning with cramps and moon blood. He knew it, just by looking. She would have done anything, grabbed at any excuse to leave.

Anthony, her co-worker, smiled when Iliana sighed in front of him. Let me guess, he said. Coffee. Black. Right? Did we at least get a hello or something more today? Or just the usual silence?

A thousand replies sprang into her mind all at once. The words jumbled together in an incoherent babbling from which only a few phrases could be recognized. She opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again when she realized she had absolutely nothing to say about him. Nothing she could say to Anthony, at least. She didn't answer. She couldn't answer. Even while Anthony poured fresh coffee into a cup, Iliana felt Nickolas's eyes on her. She felt as though someone had thrown her into a bonfire.

Delicious fire, she thought to herself. If only he wasn't so handsome. Too handsome.

He had the kind of dark magnetism that she could not resist. She could not deny it to herself, much as she wanted to do so. She knew very well that Anthony and the other workers could see what unfolded. Everyone but Iliana enjoyed the hour Nickolas spent in the shop every day, drinking his coffee, watching her struggle with her emotions. They especially enjoyed Nickolas leaving a huge tip afterward.

It had all started a month ago when Nickolas entered the shop with a man no one at the shop recognized. Iliana remembered his eyes locking onto hers that first day, as well as the rising heat in her own body when he caught her staring back at him, not a single thought in her mind. Since then, he came every afternoon. He ordered coffee and stayed for precisely one hour.

She wondered about his discipline. She had never seen him look at his watch. This quality of his, the way he somehow knew the time without being told, added to his air of mystery. He never appeared to be off balance in anything he did; not that Iliana noticed. He gave off the aura of panther at rest, stretching out its muscular body.

Anthony's teasing whisper intruded on her thoughts. Oh... if I were in your place, love, I would have gotten a date by now. A god like him, coming to the shop every day just for me, sitting for an hour with a coffee he never drinks... starting at me constantly... and then leaving the biggest tip I might expect to see all day long... hell, not just a date. He would already know how big my bed is.

Iliana said under her breath, Right, and next morning you will be found in some gutter with your throat cut like a country chicken. Or maybe...? She frowned. As far as we know, this guy could be the next Ted Bundy. He's rich and he's good-looking. What could he possibly want with a waitress from a coffee shop at the edge of the city. It's not like I'm some model or famous person.

Anthony looked her up and down. Honey... how many times have I told you? You are a piece of candy with that red hair of yours. I mean... that dreadful ponytail you have! And not even a hint of makeup!

Iliana straightened her blouse and form-fitting trousers. I'm fine the way I am, thank you very much, she said.

This wasn't the whole truth, however. The whole truth proved a great deal more complicated. No matter how much she might feel attraction towards him, she knew very well what he intended. She had been down that path before. She had been able to walk away. She didn't want to go back to that life-not if she could help it. Perhaps more importantly, she didn't want to go back to his table to deliver his coffee, even when Anthony put it into her hands with a whispered admonition.

A moment passed before she found her legs moving on their own. She brought the coffee to his table, trying not to look at his face. She blushed as she turned away to attend a middle-aged woman who had just walked through the door. Or, at least, she tried. His eyes bored into her back at every turn. As resolved as she was to ignore him, she still felt nervous. She took orders from customers twice, only to realize that she couldn't understand what she had written down.

She found herself going back to a table to retake the order. This wasn't like her. She felt irritated. The black heels she wore pained her legs, adding to her irritation. To make matters worse, the shop's owner had picked this day to come to the coffee shop. He considered her with aspersion. Iliana did not know how aware he might be, if at all, of her daily encounters with Nickolas. She noticed, however, how he became sensitive to everyone's actions once he observed the lone man at one of her tables.

Iliana knew she couldn't afford mistakes with the owner fidgeting about with an unoccupied cash register, frowning as though caught up in a difficult problem. He wasn't above docking her pay, meager though it was, if he suspected her of performing her job poorly. Iliana's stomach twisted at the thought. She couldn't afford a deducted paycheck and neither could she afford to walk off the job right there in that instant with no prospects awaiting her elsewhere. At