Marked By His Desire, Part One: The Man Next Door

By Emma Kincaid

*****This is a 3-part serial *****

He's a man with deep secrets that only he and the person closest to him knows.

She's a woman desperate to hold everything together for the sake of her and her son.

When he moves in next door to her everything is about to change.

The sprawling house at the end of Dunstan Drive has been empty for some time. That’s before mysterious, wealthy entrepreneur, Hadrian Blackthorne moves in. The dashing and carefree businessman is debonair, charismatic, suave and acutely aware of his affect on women. He can have any woman he wants, but has a fetish for forbidden women. There’s something very satisfactory to him about the power of luring a woman from the arms of her protective husband and romancing her the way she deserves to be. And as it turns out, Dunstan Drive is full of desirable, eager wives willing to share Hadrian's enormous bed. All except for the woman he really wants. The elusive Astrid Woodrow, who proves she isn’t such an easy catch.

Astrid Woodrow is a wife and mother struggling to maintain normalcy her life in the midst of her estranged marriage. But when her deadbeat husband’s gambling habit threatens the livelihood of her and her son and everything begins to fall apart, Hadrian’s doting and attention on her suddenly take on a whole new meaning.

Will Hadrian drop his guards and spill his deepest darkest secrets and allow his heart to make way for the love of one woman? Or worse yet, will falling in love with her mysterious next door neighbour prove to be a fatal mistake for Astrid?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Emma Kincaid
• Release date: Jan 7, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524250409

Emma Kincaid

I love telling stories. From when I was just a little girl, sneakily watching soap operas and reading romance novels behind my mother’s back, I’d always been fascinated with the imaginary worlds and characters some writer had dreamt up in his/her head. As such I became obsessed with the idea of writing my own stories and creating my own characters and imaginary worlds for them to dwell and exist in; I enjoy peppering their lives with conflict and drama and watch them come alive on the pages. There’s an indescribable joy that comes with watching it all unfold right before my very eyes. My head is always abuzz with new story ideas and I am excited about sharing them with all of you, so please stay tuned, and be sure to join my mailing list to keep informed of upcoming new releases!

Book preview

Table of Contents

The Man Next Door Serial | Marked By His Desire, Part 1

***This is a 3-part romantic suspense serial ***

The Man Next Door Release Schedule

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

The Man Next Door Release Schedule

Sign up for Emma Kincaid's Mailing List

About the Author

The Man Next Door Serial

Marked By His Desire, Part 1

Written by Emma Kincaid

***This is a 3-part romantic suspense serial ***

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without express written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please refer all pertinent questions to the publisher.

Be sure to join my mailing list for news on upcoming releases!

The Man Next Door Serial, Marked By His Desire, Part 1 © 2016 Emma Kincaid

The Man Next Door Release Schedule

Marked By His Desire, Part 1 (This book) – January 8, 2016

Enticed By His Embrace, Part 2 – January 30, 2016

Seduced By His Devotion, Part 3 – February 27, 2016

Chapter One

Everything's running smoothly so far, I presume...? Hadrian stood at the top landing of the grand staircase overlooking the great room and panned his gaze across the crowd of party guests.

Yes, boss, Nathaniel Greer nodded, standing at his side.

How many are here?

Nathaniel furrowed his brow in thought. Lost count after about sixty.

The lines of a smile slowly appeared on Hadrian’s face. He'd assumed a decent number would attend the party, but by all accounts way more than he had anticipated had showed up—and it pleased him.

He nodded thoughtfully. Not bad, he said with a grin, watching his guests move about the great room below.

Is it not fair to say you should have expected it? Nathaniel asked with a smirk. "You are the dashing new neighbour, after all. Naturally, everyone’s curious about you."

Hadrian looked over at him amid the sound of the live band playing oldies in the background. Nearly seventy years of age and never married, Nathaniel had been his assistant for almost as long as he could remember. The man knew him like a book, had been there through thick and thin, had helped him through some of his darkest times. He was Hadrian’s greatest confidant.

I accomplished what I set out to do, Hadrian said, letting out a sigh. I wanted it to be a big party...and here it is... He stood poised and confident, handsomely dressed in a black designer suit and crisp, white shirt minus a necktie. He almost never wore a necktie. Clothing could be stuffy enough at the best of times without the added restriction of some ugly paisley or striped piece of fabric tied like a noose around one's neck. He supposed it spoke to this character more than anything. He liked to think of himself as a relatively laid back guy, so the notion of restrictions regardless of the form they came in, were a turnoff to him.

That said, he fancied himself a man of sophistication, and he’d wanted his housewarming bash to be reflective of that. As such, his invitations had requested that everyone come in formal attire. And looking around right then he realized most everyone had complied; it was good to know his new neighbours had enough class to know the difference between formal and casual dress.

Can I get you to check with the catering staff to make sure things are running smoothly in the kitchen? He was a stickler for detail and needed things to be run just-so. He needed the impression he left others with to be one they would fondly remember. He thought it important that his guests experience the highest quality he could offer, so he’d given his part-time chef, Scott, the night off and had hired one of the best catering companies in all of Windermere.

Will do. Nathaniel nodded, turning and immediately making his way down the grand staircase to carry out Hadrian’s request.

After he was gone, Hadrian once again busied himself with observing his party guests. With the evening just getting underway he wanted to get a sense of his neighbours before formally introducing himself to everyone.

By all accounts they seemed to be an eclectic mix of both middle-aged and younger couples. There was a festive mood in the air and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, the wine, the finger foods and the live band he’d hired for the evening. Some of the couples had already broken away from the main cluster of the crowd and were dancing together as the band kicked the music into high gear with some old Motown classics. He’d intended for it to be housewarming party to remember and by the looks of it, things were shaping up to be just that.

It went without saying that in a crowd this size there would be good looking women to ogle and as he took in his surroundings, he realized his new neighbourhood offered a vast array of them.

Of course, it was worth nothing that most, if not all of them, were married but that didn’t mean he couldn’t feast his eyes on them, or that he couldn’t lust after them. He couldn’t help it if he had a knack for attracting married women. He was, after all, very single; and as a single, wealthy thirty-five year old bachelor he had the freedom to do as he chose and the power to have what his heart desired. It wasn’t his job to worry about the vows they’d taken to their husbands. Let them worry about that. He was simply looking for a good time. And if any of them were willing to show him one, then so be it.

At this stage of his life, he wasn’t looking for love. Love wasn’t in the cards for him, and it wasn’t in the cards for him because he didn't want it to be. Love was a bother. Love was pain.

To hell with that. He was about living in the moment, about enjoying the luxury of having everything at his fingertips—especially women.

His bedroom had always had a revolving door and he was sure his bedroom in this house would be no different and he was intent on experiencing his first sexual romp in the new king-sized bed he’d had the interior decorators install in his lavish bedroom.

His attention was captured just then by the small cluster of women who had noticed him looking out over the crowd of guests. He nodded at them, his mouth curving into a grin as he stood peering down at them. Two of them smiled giddily at each other, apparently thrilled to have captured his attention, and he was all too happy to appease them. He knew the power he wielded with his looks, charm and wealth, and used it to his advantage—often.

A very wealthy man, he owned an ever growing string of various companies, including a tow-truck companies and his most lucrative venture in hospitality services. His penchant for business had all started about a decade ago. He had been a recent computer science graduate working a fair paying job as a computer programmer, he’d become discontented with his chosen field and decided to take his inheritance money to purchase an ailing motel chain on the brink of closure. He turned the motel chain around, got the company turning profit again and thus Blackthorne Enterprises had been born. He soon expanded the chain into some of the larger cities in North America which only increased his thirst for wealth. And now he was taking his biggest leap yet—expansion into overseas markets where he had every intention of making enormous strides.

It went without saying that it was his drive and determination that had brought him