Coming Home

By N.J. Walters

Kansas Fielding and Tobias Slater had always been friends, so when the two indulged in a kiss out of simple curiosity, the depth of the passion they ignited caught them both by surprise, and left them with an insatiable hunger for more. But the next day Tobias was gone, disappearing into a secret life Kansas knew nothing about. Now, two years later—years Kansas has spent building a life and forgetting Tobias—he’s returned, disillusioned and uncertain of his future.

Despite the unanswered questions hanging between them, neither can ignore the deep longing stirred up by that one long-ago kiss, and they recklessly surrender to the intensely erotic feelings. And while Kansas knows she’ll do whatever it takes to make Tobias admit his true feelings for her, it’s Tobias who will have to trust in himself to know he’s come home for good.

This is a revised edition of a novella that originally appeared in the Taming the Alpha boxed set.

Praise for the Summersville Secrets Series by N. J. Walters:

“A fast-paced, fun, and sexy read, the characters and their chemistry are great with steamy sex scenes.” (Goodreads)

“Wicked good fun!” (NetGalley)

“Another fun and steamy read by NJ Walters.” (Goodreads)

About the Author:

N. J. Walters is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks all vie for her attention. N.J. enjoys hearing from readers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Beyond the Page Publishing
• Release date: Feb 8, 2017
• ISBN: 9781946069184

N.J. Walters

N.J. has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it. You can find N.J. online at njwalters.com.    

Book preview

Cover

Coming Home

Kansas Fielding and Tobias Slater had always been friends, so when the two indulged in a kiss out of simple curiosity, the depth of the passion they ignited caught them both by surprise, and left them with an insatiable hunger for more. But the next day Tobias was gone, disappearing into a secret life Kansas knew nothing about. Now, two years later—years Kansas has spent building a life and forgetting Tobias—he’s returned, disillusioned and uncertain of his future.

Despite the unanswered questions hanging between them, neither can ignore the deep longing stirred up by that one long-ago kiss, and they recklessly surrender to the intensely erotic feelings. And while Kansas knows she’ll do whatever it takes to make Tobias admit his true feelings for her, it’s Tobias who will have to trust in himself to know he’s come home for good.

Title Page

Copyright

Coming Home

N. J. Walters

Copyright © 2014 by N. J. Walters.

This is a fully revised edition of a novella originally published in the Taming the Alpha box set in 2014.

Cover design and illustration by Melody A. Pond.

Published by Beyond the Page at Smashwords

Beyond the Page Books

are published by

Beyond the Page Publishing

www.beyondthepagepub.com

ISBN: 978-1-946069-18-4

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this book. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without the express written permission of both the copyright holder and the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are 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. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

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Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Books by N. J. Walters

About the Author

Chapter One

Tobias Slater sat in his truck and stared at the dark vacant house near the end of the street. There was no real front yard, but there was a small patch of grass out back. A slightly battered chair sat on what passed for a porch.

Not for the first time, he wondered what the hell he was doing here. It was almost eleven o’clock and the street was pretty much empty this time of night. This was a working-class neighborhood with houses built tight together like boxes in a row. Many of the homes had been passed down over several generations.

Which was why he was here. While he’d been off playing hero and trying to save the world, his grandfather, the man who’d raised him, had passed away. Tobias hadn’t even been informed of the news until he’d finished a deep-cover assignment that had lasted way longer than it was supposed to.

A year and a half. He’d lost eighteen months of his life.

He raked his fingers through his hair and let out a breath. That part of his life was over. It had taken him another six months to extricate himself from his job with the DEA, but he’d finally done it.

He was home.

Except he wasn’t the same man who’d left here all those years ago to pursue a career in law enforcement. He didn’t know if he could fit in here anymore. He knew he damn well didn’t fit in any longer with his buddies at the Drug Enforcement Agency. The world was no longer black and white for him. There were too many shades of gray.

And sometimes the darkness threatened to overwhelm him.

Yes, his bosses told him he was officially on leave. They’d given him six months to think about things, but Tobias knew the truth—he wasn’t going back.

Sitting out here in his truck wasn’t going to change anything, but he wasn’t ready to go inside just yet. It might be cowardly but he didn’t give a fuck. It didn’t seem possible that his grandfather wasn’t inside waiting for him.

Tobias pressed his thumb and forefinger against the corners of his eyes. His chest tightened, so he took a deep breath. Then another.

He yanked the keys out of the ignition and climbed out of the truck. The overhead lamp in the cab had been disabled so there was no light to alert anyone that he was here. He also closed the door without making a sound. Old habits died hard.

He was about to step around the hood of his vehicle when he heard voices off to his left. He froze and his hand went to the small of his back, where he’d hidden his gun. When he realized what he was doing, he pulled his hand away. Instincts, finally honed after months of living among people who would have killed him in a heartbeat if they’d found out his real identity, couldn’t be forgotten overnight.

The last thing he wanted to do was shoot some poor guy who’d run out to the store for a six-pack. Still, he pulled back and blended with the shadows. Better to watch and wait until they were gone.

His gaze narrowed as he watched a woman striding toward him with two men dogging