Everything to Me

By K. R. Haynes

Since losing her husband in fatal car crash, Tahlia Rose is still coming to terms with the events that changed her life forever and shaped the woman she is today. So when she starts dreaming about a tall, dark handsome stranger instead of her deceased husband Benjamin, she begins to yearn for things she shouldn't yearn for. Things, her dream lover could give her. If only he belonged in the real world rather than in her dreams.
Enter her dream lover, Tarquin Thor.
Like a fierce thunderstorm, Tarquin bursts in her idyllic life and turns it upside down. He's all hard muscles, looks-to-die-for, brooding beast of a male. Tarquin looks every bit the immortal beast he claims to be.
At first Tahlia is reluctant to give in to the wanton desires Tarquin inspires. But when he offers her a chance to embrace a wild, untamed passion, she gives up all pretence of not wanting him and dives head first into the arms of a stranger who brings her sweet bliss.
A dangerous prospect, made even more precarious when Tarquin learns Tahlia is being stalked.
Tarquin is determined to do everything in his power to protect Tahlia and keep her safe. In order to do that he's forced into a situation that could destroy their burgeoning relationship.
Tahlia trust Tarquin to keep her safe. But who is protecting Tarquin when night falls and danger lurks deep in the forest.

• Language: English
• Publisher: K. R. Haynes
• Release date: Aug 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393531463

K. R. Haynes

K. R. Haynes is an author of love, life & romance. Based in Australia, she’s turned her love of reading romantic novels into a passion for writing her own novels that will tug at the heartstrings of her readers. Her debut series, In Her Eyes is a sexy-as-sin series that explores the fascinating world of BDSM and men in uniform. While her novella, His Dark Promise is a contemporary romance. Her latest release, His Royal Highness is a modern day contemporary romance about a prince determined to find the love of his life. But pressure from The Palace to curb his bachelor like ways could make the search for her all the more precarious. Coming soon in 2019, Everything to Me explores the mysterious world of paranormal events that will have fans around the world eager for the sequel, Love like Ours. When not writing and brainstorming new ideas for future novels, K. R. Haynes spends her downtime supporting her football team, the Adelaide Crows, catching up with friends and family and relaxing by the fire with her fur babies curled up beside her. Connect with K. R Haynes on Twitter @K_R_Haynes or visit her website krhaynesauthor.weebly.com 

Book preview

Everything to Me

K. R. Haynes

Chapter One

Held captive in her dream state Tahlia’s heart pounded hard against her rib cage while her core throbbed and tingled with wanted need. Keen awareness ran rampant in her veins like an addictive drug turning her blood into liquid lava.

Her recurring dream left her achy, breathless and in want for something she shouldn’t yearn for. And she damn sure shouldn’t want it from the mysterious male who starred in her dreams. That male had become extremely dangerous not only to her stagnant libido, but also to her fragile heart.

With ease, he teased her mind with his seductive words and made her body sing with sensations she longed to experience again and again. He alone aroused her darkest desires and awakened a fervour that longed to be tamed by him.

And his scent. The way it lingered on his skin reminded her of raw earth and crushed pine needles melded together with a hint of danger. The powerful concoction had the power to lure her in, until she became deliriously drunk on the scent of him.

Oh lord, did she need him.

As her dream pulled her deeper and deeper into her dream state the anticipation of seeing her dream lover intensified. All around her was quiet, too quiet. Not a sound could be heard other than her own deep breathing. The stillness in the room only ramped up her awakening arousal.

As the silent minutes ticked by the more her body began to tremble with the need to have his haunting touch caressing her, in slow sensual sweeps. 

In an effort to control the nervous energy coursing through her system, Tahlia fisted the satin sheets in a white knuckle grip and drew in slow, even breaths to calm her racing hormones. But any sense of calmness she felt soon evaporated when her dream lover prowled toward her.

His determined strides were a sight to be hold. His dominating presence commanded her attention, demanded it in fact. The sheer sight of him, all empowering and imposing had her craving to touch him in real life and not just in her dreams.

Her dream lover made her hunger for his unique taste on her tongue as she licked him from head to toe. He made her crave to trace every indentation on his muscular form and discover every sensitive spot he possessed so she could drive him crazy with desire in the same way he drove her crazy.

But it was just a dream.

He wasn’t real. He was just an imaginative figure she liked to dream about, a lot.

An involuntary shiver stole through her when her dream lover reached out to cup her face in his large, cool hands. He leaned forward to stare into her eyes, captivating her with his unusual golden orbs. In an instant she became lost in the hypnotic pull surging between them like an invisible current, pulling her closer and closer to him.

His nearness caused a warming sensation to seep deep into her veins and travel all the way down to her core where it pooled into a liquid heat. With every intake of breathe she breathed in his masculine scent that was all him. Every part of her being was acutely aware of his presence, yet he barely touched her.

Gazes locked, he murmured in a silky, rich voice, I’ve come for you, my dear. 

The truth in his words held her enslaved in a spell she couldn’t fathom how to undo. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. All the words she wanted to say were stolen away due to his proximity to her.

After a long moment of strained silence, she managed to say, I- I’ve been waiting for you.

He caressed her cheek in a tender way that showed her words pleased him. It pleases me to hear you say that. Your eagerness to be my human donor humbles me.

She sighed as disappointment swelled inside her like storm clouds, dampening her mood. The need to have him in her life intensified with every dream she had. She shook her head to disperse those thoughts and focus her attention on him.

Are you primed for me?

Gosh, every time he asked her that question her body responded in the same way it always did. Her core quivered with unrelenting need, her pulse raced like she was running a darn marathon and her heart thumped a wild beat in her chest. The effect he had on her was overwhelming, frightening even. He eradicated any reservations she had about their impending coupling and spoke to the woman she longed to be.

To rein in her erratic responses to his nearness, she tore her gaze away from his and answered him. Yes, I’m primed for you.

Good. We shall proceed then.

Thank goodness for that!

Breath held suspended in her lungs, she watched him shrug out of his black leather trench coat and drape it over a nearby chair. He then teased her by making a show of removing his dark shirt, unbuttoning it one button at a time baring his chiselled chest and toned abs to her avid gaze.

Mouth parched, she licked her lips.

Her eyes roamed over his hard, strong form. A sigh of delight escaped her as she took her fill of him. He was so goddamn gorgeous it ought to be a sin to be that sexy. His hard, masculine body was a work of pure art with all its well defined muscles and contoured lines. The man belonged in a damn museum where art lovers and the likes could appreciate his magnificent form.

He mesmerised her. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from him.

A warm flush rose to her cheeks when she sensed him watching her. She lifted her gaze to his. His unusual golden orbs didn’t show any signs of disapproval from catching her blatant perusal of him. Only pure male satisfaction shone in his vibrant eyes, that alone triggered an urge to know how deep that satisfaction of his went.

With a wicked glint in his eyes, he prowled toward her, his toned muscles undulating with every calculated step he took. Inhaling a sharp breath, she clenched the sheets with her hands as the ache to reach out and touch him grew stronger and stronger. But she knew she needed to wait for permission to touch him.

Like a heat seeking missile his lust filled gazed locked on to hers. With a ruthless flick of his fingers, he unfastened the catch on his leather pants and eased the zipper down. But he didn’t lower it enough for her to glimpse the hard male treasure lying in wake behind the black leather.

The smug grin on his face told her he knew how he tempted her, knew what he did to her. The look in his eyes echoed his satisfaction at hearing her breathlessness. Damn him! He was heating her up from the inside out like a fast moving fire, and he was enjoying every minute of it, too! 

Her whole body quivered when his strong fingers found the thin straps of her nightgown. Inch by tortuous inch, he lowered the straps down her arms until her breasts were revealed to his predatory gaze. Her nipples hardened to tight, achy buds the moment the cool night air brushed across her breasts.

Breathe, Tahlia. Just breathe...

She forgot how to breathe when he pressed a hot path of moist kisses along her feverish skin. A shuddering breath escaped her as unwavering need unfurled low in her belly and deep in her core. Still, he continued his slow, seductive devastation on her trembling form with his oh-so-talented mouth.

The need to touch him became unbearable. She had to touch him, now!

With that need in mind, she uncurled her fingers from around the sheets and swept her palms over the broad width of his shoulders and down the length of his back. His physical reaction to her searching touch was one she would never forget. His toned muscles twitched and undulated beneath her hands.

In a brazen move, she swept her hands down to his leather covered butt and squeezed his firm cheeks. The growly response she received from him vibrated against the breast he was feasting on, causing a delicious shiver to come over her.

You’re treading on dangerous ground he warned.

His rumbled warning didn’t stop her from squeezing his butt again. Before he could reprimand her for a second time, she shifted her hands back up to his shoulders to tangle her fingers into his dark hair tied harshly at his nape.

She tried to untie the thin strip of leather binding his hair without him noticing it, but it didn’t work. He soon captured both her hands in one of his and lowered them back down to the mattress.

Golden eyes zeroed in on hers as he tapped the inside of her wrists, signalling for her not to move them before he released his hold. In the next breath, he grasped the white vintage lace of her nightgown and tugged. The fragile material easily ripped away, leaving her completely bared.

Under the heat of his predatory gaze, she was a quivering mess of aching need. A hot flush rose to her cheeks and her core throbbed as he took his time in inspecting every inch of her nudity.

Her eyes widened in alarm when he tore off a long strip of material from her now ruined nightgown. Head angled to the side, she peered up at him through lowered lids and watched in disbelief as he wrapped the torn material around her wrists before securing the ends to the nearest bedpost.

Bound and at his mercy her arousal rose higher, faster and more urgent than before. More moisture spilled from her core as it clenched in need to have his thick, ridged length pulsing inside it.

In an act of mercy she raised her hips up and begged. Please...sir.

He shook his head. Not yet.

The sly smirk he gave her made her toes curl. Goddamn it, she needed him inside her, right now! But he seemed more determined to unravel her composure by pressing butterfly like kisses down the length of her bounded arms.

Back arched, she gave herself over to him, surrendering to his wicked ways. The unexpected nip to her earlobe minutes later had her fighting to regain control of her rampant hormones.

Ohh sweet Jesus!

He was driving her crazy with wanton desire.

Like a horny teenager, she writhed around on the bed as sheer desperation to have him deep inside her turned into a turbulent storm of unrelenting need. Every muscle in her lithe form was strung tighter than strings on a violin. Beads of sweat bloomed on her flushed, feverish skin. Her whole body vibrated like a subwoofer set on high.

He did this to her.

God help her, she wanted more, no needed more of the out of control sensations that were clashing like a violent storm inside her. There was nothing more she wanted than to have him make her completely spent with satiation, giving her a reprieve from the bleak memories of a past that haunted her during the waking hours.

Please... she pleaded, knowing this time he would given in to her pleas, well she hoped he would. But as soon as the words passed her lips a rustling noise outside her bedroom window startled her out of her dream state and thrust her back into reality.

Noooo!

Skin flushed with awakened desire, body still humming with restless need there was zero chance of going back to sleep. With a deep sigh Tahlia glared up at the ceiling bathed in moonlight and wished, not for the first time, her dream lover was part of her reality and not some dream she had over and over again.

But not all dreams were meant to come true, right?

Chapter Two

The rough sound of a male grunting startled Tahlia. The rumbled sound echoed through the thin bedroom window pane, disturbing the peace she’d been cocooned in. Oh shit! Was someone trying to break into her house?

In sheer blind panic, Tahlia stumbled out of bed and rushed down the hallway to the back room where she kept her husband’s baseball bat. If she could get her hands on Ben’s bat, then she would have the means to defend herself should the bastard be successful in breaking in to her home. Her sanctuary.

Her want-a-be intruder deserved a bad case of bruised balls for trespassing on her property in the dead of night! And she damn sure knew how to swing a mean bat, too. The skills she learnt over the years from playing softball would come in handy now, especially if the asshole threatened her in any way.

A sigh of relief left her lips when her fingers brushed over the smooth tapered handle of the baseball bat. Not bothering to turn on any lights, Tahlia held the bat close to her chest and waited in the dark for her intruder to make his next.

* * * *

Tarquin Thor followed the pebbled footpath leading around the outer edges of a still lake and came to a complete standstill when the stench of a human male bombarded his senses. The menacing undertone he detected in the human’s scent indicated his ruthless nature, that alone stirred Tarquin’s protective instincts to life.

Who was this human and what did he want with the human female?

There was no time figure out the answers to those questions. So he dismissed them with a shake of his head and turned his attention back to the human male. With the cover of darkness shielding his movements, Tarquin closed in on the human male.

As the distance between them diminished a sense of urgency rose higher and higher inside him. With less than a few of hundred yards separating them, the human male stashed what looked to be night vision binoculars into a backpack slung over his left shoulder then bolted into the dense forest like the bats of hell were chasing after him.

For a split second, Tarquin thought about pursuing him. However, his concern for the safety of the human female, who resided in the house up on the rise, overrode any need to pursue the spying bastard.

Forgoing the safety of the shadows, Tarquin sprinted along the pebbled path that led all the way up to the rear porch of the timber cladded home. Heart thundering in his chest, he reached out to pound his knuckles on the door only to hesitate at the last second.

What if the human female had been injured in an earlier altercation? Then no amount of knocking from him would make her answer the door.

Left with no other choice, he stepped back and slammed his booted foot against the solid wood door. The feeble lock holding the door in place broke apart from the pressure he applied to it.

The sound of the door crashing open mixed with a female’s heightened shriek of terror startled an otherwise still night. The harsh sounds were loud enough to awaken birds resting in the nearby trees and scare off other nightly critters foraging in the undergrowth of the forest floor. 

Tarquin knew he needed to do something to show her he wasn’t a threat to her, so he held up his hands and said, Be at ease, woman.

When no answer came from her, he stepped inside. His eyes soon adjusted to the dim darkness surrounding him and he came face to face with a wide eyed, blonde female who managed to stun him momentarily with her natural beauty.

Christ almighty. She looked like she stepped right out of his dreams and wandered straight into his reality. 

Even wielding a mean looking baseball bat, she was breathtakingly beautiful and sexy to boot. The sight of her with that bat in her small hands left him with no doubt in his mind, she wouldn’t hesitate in using that long bit of tapered wood on him if he shifted any closer to her. So for now, he’d keep his distance from her. 

Be at ease, ma’am and lower your weapon.

She looked at him like he had lost his damn mind and flexed her fingers on the bat she was wielding. I will do no such thing. Who the hell do you think you are barging in to my home in the dead of night?

All of your questions will be answered in good time. Now lower your weapon.

I already told you I’m not going to do that, so stop asking me!

Should you refuse me I’ll be-

Stop right there, asshole she yelled as he stepped closer to her. The sound of fear echoing in her voice had his protective side rising up to take notice. But it was her next words that caused him to growl. "Don’t you dare move another