But I Need You (This Love Hurts Book 2) Read online

  But I Need You

  This Love Hurts Book 2

  W Winters

  Contents

  Also by W Winters

  But I Need You

  Prologue

  1. Delilah

  2. Marcus

  3. Delilah

  4. Marcus

  5. Marcus

  6. Delilah

  7. Delilah

  8. Delilah

  9. Marcus

  10. Delilah

  11. Marcus

  12. Delilah

  13. Delilah

  14. Marcus

  15. Delilah

  16. Marcus

  17. Cody

  18. Delilah

  19. Marcus

  20. Cody

  Sneak Peek at Merciless

  Chapter 1

  Also by W Winters

  About W Winters

  Copyright © 2020 by W Winters

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover Design: Lori Jackson Design

  Also by W Winters

  Read Willow’s sexiest and most talked about romances in the Merciless World

  This Love Hurts Trilogy

  This Love Hurts

  But I Need You

  And I Love You the Most (December 2020)

  An epic tale of both betrayal and all-consuming love...

  Marcus, the villain.

  Cody Walsh, the FBI agent who knows too much.

  And Delilah, the lawyer caught in between.

  A Kiss to Tell (a standalone novel)

  They lived on the same street and went to the same school, although he was a year ahead. Even so close, he was untouchable.

  Sebastian was bad news and Chloe was the sad girl who didn’t belong.

  Then one night changed everything.

  Possessive (a standalone novel)

  It was never love with Daniel Cross and she never thought it would be. It was only lust from a distance. Unrequited love maybe.

  He’s a man Addison could never have, for so many reasons.

  Merciless Saga

  Merciless

  Heartless

  Breathless

  Endless

  Ruthless, crime family leader Carter Cross should’ve known Aria would ruin him the moment he saw her. Given to Carter to start a war; he was too eager to accept. But what he didn’t know was what Aria would do to him. He didn’t know that she would change everything.

  All He’ll Ever Be (Merciless Series Collection of all 4 novels)

  Irresistible Attraction Trilogy

  A Single Glance

  A Single Kiss

  A Single Touch

  Bethany is looking for answers and to find them she needs one of the brothers of an infamous crime family, Jase Cross.

  Even a sizzling love affair won’t stop her from getting what she needs.

  But Bethany soon comes to realise Jase will be her downfall, and she’s determined to be his just the same.

  Irresistible Attraction (A Single Glance Trilogy Collection)

  Hard to Love Series

  Hard to Love

  Desperate to Touch

  Tempted to Kiss

  Easy to Fall

  Eight years ago she ran from him.

  Laura should have known he'd come for her. Men like Seth King always get what they want.

  Laura knows what Seth wants from her, and she knows it comes with a steep price.

  However it’s a risk both of them will take.

  Not My Heart to Break (Hard to Love Series Collection)

  Tease Me Once (September 2021)

  Tease me once... I'll kiss you twice.

  Declan Cross' story from the Merciless World.

  Spin off of the Merciless World

  Love the Way Duet

  Love the Way You Kiss Me (May 2021)

  Love the Way You Hold Me (June 2021)

  With everything I've been through, and the unfortunate way we met, the last thing I thought I'd be focused on is the fact that I love the way you kiss me.

  Extended epilogues to the Merciless World Novels

  A Kiss To Keep (more of Sebastian and Chloe)

  Seductive (more of Daniel and Addison)

  Effortless (more of Carter and Aria)

  Never to End (more of Seth and Laura)

  Sexy, thrilling with a touch of dark Standalone Novels

  Broken (Standalone)

  Kade is ruthless and cold hearted in the criminal world.

  They gave Olivia to him. To break. To do as he’d like.

  All because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But there are secrets that change everything. And once he has her, he’s never letting her go.

  Forget Me Not (Standalone novel)

  She loved a boy a long time ago. He helped her escape and she left him behind. Regret followed her every day after.

  Jay, the boy she used to know, came back, a man. With a grip strong enough to keep her close and a look in his eyes that warned her to never dare leave him again.

  It’s dark and twisted.

  But that doesn’t make it any less of what it is.

  A love story. Our love story.

  It’s Our Secret (Standalone novel)

  It was only a little lie. That’s how stories like these get started.

  But with every lie Allison tells, Dean sees through it.

  She didn't know what would happen. But with all the secrets and lies, she never thought she’d fall for him.

  You Are Mine Series of Duets

  You Are My Reason (You Are Mine Duet book 1)

  You Are My Hope (You Are Mine Duet book 2)

  Mason and Jules emotionally gripping romantic suspense duet.

  One look and Jules was tempted; one taste, addicted.

  No one is perfect, but that’s how it felt to be in Mason’s arms.

  But will the sins of his past tear them apart?

  You Know I Love You (November 2020)

  You Know I Need You (December 2020)

  Kat says goodbye to the one man she ever loved even though Evan begs her to trust him.

  With secrets she couldn’t have possibly imagined, Kat is torn between what’s right and what was right for them.

  Small Town Romance

  Tequila Rose Book 1 (Feb 2021)

  Autumn Night Whiskey Book 2 (March 2021)

  He tasted like tequila and the fake name I gave him was Rose.

  Four years ago, I decided to get over one man, by getting under another. A single night and nothing more.

  Now, with a three-year-old in tow, the man I still dream about is staring at me from across the street in the town I grew up in. I don’t miss the flash of recognition, or the heat in his gaze.

  The chemistry is still there, even after all these years.

  I just hope the secrets and regrets don’t destroy our second chance before it’s even begun.

  Contemporary Romance Standalones

  Knocking Boots (A Novel)

  They were never meant to be together.

  Charlie is a bartender with noncommittal tendencies.

  Grace is looking for the opposite. Commitment. Marriage. A baby.

  Promise Me (A Novel)

  She gave him her heart. Back when she thought they’d always be together.

  Now Hunter is home and he wants Violet back.

  Tell Me To Stay (A Novella)

  He devoured her, and she did the same to
him.

  Until it all fell apart and Sophie ran as far away from Madox as she could.

  After all, the two of them were never meant to be together?

  Second Chance (A Novella)

  No one knows what happened the night that forced them apart. No one can ever know.

  But the moment Nathan locks his light blue eyes on Harlow again, she is ruined.

  She never stood a chance.

  Burned Promises (A Novella)

  Derek made her a promise. And then he broke it. That’s what happens with your first love.

  But Emma didn’t expect for Derek to fall back into her life and for her to fall back into his bed.

  Valetti Crime Family Series:

  A HOT mafia series to sink your teeth into.

  Dirty Dom

  Becca came to pay off a debt, but Dominic Valetti wanted more.

  So he did what he’s always done, and took what he wanted.

  His Hostage

  Elle finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. The mafia doesn’t let witnesses simply walk away.

  Regret has a name, and it’s Vincent Valetti.

  Rough Touch

  Ava is looking for revenge at any cost so long as she can remember the girl she used to be.

  But she doesn’t expect Kane to show up and show her kindness that will break her.

  Cuffed Kiss

  Tommy Valetti is a thug, a mistake, and everything Tonya needs; the answers to numb the pain of her past.

  Bad Boy

  Anthony is the hitman for the Valetti familia, and damn good at what he does. They want men to talk, he makes them talk. They want men gone, bang - it’s done. It’s as simple as that.

  Until Catherine.

  Those Boys Are Trouble (Valetti Crime Family Collection)

  Collections of shorts and novellas

  Don’t Let Go

  A collection of stories including:

  Infatuation

  Desires in the Night and Keeping Secrets

  Bad Boy Next Door

  Kisses and Wishes

  A collection of holiday stories including:

  One Holiday Wish

  Collared for Christmas

  Stolen Mistletoe Kisses

  All I Want is a Kiss (A Holiday short)

  Olivia thought fleeting weekends would be enough and it always was, until the distance threatened to tear her and Nicholas apart for good.

  Highest Bidder Series:

  Bought

  Sold

  Owned

  Given

  From USA Today best selling authors, Willow Winters and Lauren Landish, comes a sexy and forbidden series of standalone romances.

  Bad Boy Standalones, cowritten with Lauren Landish:

  Inked

  Tempted

  Mr. CEO

  Three novels featuring sexy powerful heroes.

  Three romances that are just as swoon-worthy as they are tempting.

  Forsaken, (A Dark Romance cowritten with B. B. Hamel)

  Grace is stolen and gifted to him; Geo a dominating, brutal and a cold hearted killer.

  However, with each gentle touch and act of kindness that lures her closer to him, Grace is finding it impossible to remember why she should fight him.

  View Willow’s entire collection and full reading order at willowwinterswrites.com/reading-order

  Happy reading and best wishes,

  W Winters xx

  But I Need You

  Some love stories are a slow burn. Others are quick to ignite, scorching and branding your very soul before you’ve taken that first breath. You’re never given a chance to run from it.

  That’s how I’d describe what happened to us.

  Everything around me blurred and all that existed were his lips, his touch…

  The chase and the heat between us became addictive.

  Our nights together were a distraction, one we craved to the point of letting the world crumble around us.

  We should have paid more attention; we should have known that it would come to this.

  We both knew it couldn’t last, but that didn’t change what we desired most.

  All we wanted was each other…

  This is the second book in the This Love Hurts trilogy and This Love Hurts, book one, must be read first.

  To my husband.

  My hero and my love.

  “It’s so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.”

  - John Steinbeck

  Prologue

  Marcus

  Twenty-one years ago

  It’s warmer in the barn. Here in the corner, nestled in the hay, it’s far warmer than it is outside. More importantly, in this back corner, there’s not a place for the brutal wind to slip in. The tips of my fingers could just as well be pieces of ice tucked under my chin as I hunker down in the hay. It smells like dirt and pigs, but the warmth is more comforting than anything I’ve felt in days. By the looks of it, there hasn’t been a soul here in quite some time.

  I spent the past three nights outside. Last night I dug into the ground to try to hide from the vicious wind that whipped through my tattered clothes. The hard earth was like a brick of clay and it took far too much energy to dig deep enough. It helped, but my throat is sore, my body is weak and I don’t know that I’ll ever get my hands warm again. There’s only one thing I’m certain of: I can’t keep going on like this. Something has to give.

  Late fall in the northeast turns frigid sooner than most cities. My teacher used to refer to all the backwoods towns off the highway outside of New York City as Podunk. So that’s what I’ve been calling them all, the Podunk towns. I don’t even know where I am other than somewhere deep in the woods but to the left of the farms. It’s open fields out there, wide open with nowhere to hide.

  This barn looks abandoned, a lonely decrepit place, and perfect for one night. Just one night to close my eyes and get the strength to keep moving. I don’t know how far I’ll run, but he told me his home was past the Podunk towns and that’s where mine used to be … if only I can find it.

  When I close my eyes and ignore the smells, all I can hear is his voice. I try to forget the worst parts and only think about the stories he told me. He had so many good ones about his mother and how she was going to find us and save us. I remember how sure he was whenever he said we were safe. It was the only way I could sleep although I would have never admitted that to him. I was the one who was supposed to be protecting him, not the other way around. Safety surrounds me for a moment; a long enough moment that my eyes feel heavy and my body sags against the barn wood, begging me to give in to much-needed sleep.

  Every muscle still burns from running. Even worse so because I ran up the mountain and into the thick, dense forest when I heard the cars coming. I won’t let them get me too. I’ll never be caught again. Each little cut stings and seems to sear the memories into my skin with every small movement, but I focus on the stories … the good ones he told. The ones that almost made us smile, the ones that made us forget where we were.

  Sleep nearly takes me … almost there.

  Until a sudden creak forces my tired eyes wide open and my heart races, listening to a man pry open the doors of the barn.

  Delilah

  My father always told me to trust my gut. He also said when someone shows you who they are, believe them. It’s always made sense to me, as has most of my father’s wisdom, and from the day he gave me that piece of advice until now, I’ve lived by that motto.

  Right now, though, as I stare into Cody’s eyes, listening to him reassure me that I know everything he does about the cold cases and about Marcus, I doubt myself. I thought I knew him. I thought wrong. The man I know Cody Walsh to be is nowhere around and a stranger stares back at me.

  I find myself in his home feeling anything but secure. He’s lying to me. It’s the only thing I’m certain of and I can’t even begin to process how much it hurts. Of everyone I’ve worked with t
o solve these cases, I trusted him the most. I’ve leaned on him for years and right now, I question everything.

  Men have secrets, my mother used to whisper. Back then I thought she was the crazy one. Now I’m wondering if I inherited that trait as well.