Damaged Queen (Darkness Within Duet Book 2) Read online

  EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2019 Sam Crescent

  ISBN: 978-1-77339-906-5

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: Karyn White

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  To my amazing readers for giving me a chance. I hope you guys love this conclusion to my duet as much as I did writing it. You guys are the freaking BEST!

  DAMAGED QUEEN

  Darkness Within Duet, 2

  Sam Crescent

  Copyright © 2019

  Prologue

  Ten years later from The Initiation

  Draven was precise as he slid his blade across the man’s throat. No one in this world would ever be allowed to betray him. Not again.

  Anyone who even thought it, or if there was even a hint of a rumor, he was going to slit the person’s throat. No one would live to tell the tale of their betrayal, of how they made a fucking mockery of him.

  “Are you done?” Axel asked, taking a long drag on his smoke.

  “I’ll be done when I’m fucking ready.”

  Axel held his hands up. “You’re right. You’re the judge, jury, and executioner. You’re not going to find her.”

  Draven ignored his friend.

  Oh, he heard every single word, but he wasn’t paying attention.

  Not today.

  Not any fucking day.

  “I’m not looking for her.”

  He’d given up on finding Harper years ago. She’d gone from Stonewall, left without a backward glance. His father had kept tabs on her, always dangling that shit in front of him as if it was some kind of fucking victory card. Whenever he went to find her, she was gone, moved on, and his father always knew. Part of him wondered if his father expected him to keep him alive based on his knowledge of her. He had the biggest fucking surprise of his life then.

  So much had changed since Harper left. The town wasn’t the same.

  When the war started, it turned the streets red with blood. His father, Alan, had been planning to rid the world of everyone who opposed him, from Axel’s father to the politicians who were threatening to turn their secrets in, as they were tired of being blackmailed.

  Draven had been the one to make the final hit to Axel’s father, to land the blow that would put his father out on top.

  Even now, he still remembered the proud look on Alan’s face, how he’d been so happy to finally have his son be something.

  Alan never expected him to turn the gun on him.

  There was only one outcome with an all-out war, and that was for him to rid the world of monsters. The only problem? During the process, Draven knew the beast within him had finally been set free. The darkness hadn’t even been touched during this. From the moment he set about killing, about putting Alan as the leader, as the king, he’d been setting about his own father’s destruction. As if he’d allow a world where Alan ruled.

  Not on his watch.

  Cleaning off Jett’s knife, he pocketed the blade and stared over at Axel.

  “You’ve been looking for her since the day she left.”

  “Are you fucking deaf? I’m not looking for her.”

  “Then why do you still have guys on the lookout for her? Looking for any possible crumb she may have left behind?” Axel asked. “She’s gone, and she’s not coming back. You just can’t handle the fact you’ve been played. You were played ten years ago.”

  “I’ve got men out there looking for her because when I find her, and I will, I’m going to make sure she pays for everything we’ve lost. Everything she caused.”

  “Draven, let her go.”

  “No. I’m not letting her go. I gave her everything, and she threw it in my face as if I was fucking trash. Not going to happen.”

  Axel looked down at the dead bodies.

  Draven stared at the blood and found a sense of calm in all of the chaos. This was his world now.

  He watched as Axel pulled another cigarette from his pocket and lit it up. The scent filling the small room. The apartment block was rundown, filled with junkies and crack whores. Some of the women even tried to get him to buy them, to put them up for auction. They were used pussies, and his auctions only ever had virgins on them, especially now. He knew how much they fetched. The money was a more welcome price, and well, the bitches always stayed intact when he held them.

  “Call the cleaning crew. I’m out of here.”

  “When is all of this going to stop, Draven? You’ve won. You own everything. You’re the king! You’ve got everything your father ever wanted. Stonewall is all yours, all of this is yours. You own the cities, the MCs, it’s all yours.”

  Draven smiled. For a twenty-eight-year-old man, he certainly had a lot of power at his fingertips. He’d shown the world just how bad he could be, and some didn’t like it. They tried to bring him down, and others, well, they wanted to kill him, to own him.

  No one had ever won.

  He was evil.

  He heard the rumors. Men and women liked spreading rumors about him. Some said he was sired by the devil himself and they’d cast him out of hell as he was too bad even for that place. Others thought he was the boogeyman. Women were both excited by and afraid of him.

  He never corrected anyone, never made excuses. He was what he was, and no one could change him.

  Why hide it when people already thought the worst of him?

  “I’ll stop when I get what I want.”

  “What is it you want?” Axel asked. “Do you even know what you want?”

  He stared at his friend, waiting.

  Axel opened up his wallet and pulled out a picture.

  Draven didn’t need for him to open it to see.

  It was the picture of the five of them together, taken during the night they stayed in the woods.

  Him, Harper, Axel, Buck, and Jett.

  All of them together.

  When he made plans for a future that would never see the light of day.

  “Do you still want to kill her?” Axel asked. “Give up. Let her live her life, wherever it is, because she’s not worth your time or effort to drag this out.”

  Draven took the picture from him and stared down at her smiling face. Her head was pressed against his chest. Even though this had been ten years ago, he still felt her head as if it was only yesterday, leaning against him. The citrus scent of her. The smile that had called to him. The sweet cry of his name on her lips as she came. He’d truly believed she belonged to him. All of her, his.

  It hadn’t been the case.

  Taking out his lighter, he put the flame to the picture and watched as it went up.

  “Draven, what the hell?”

  He didn’t give it back to Axel even as he reached for it.

  The only place this deserved to be was up in smoke like all of his plans and dreams. Harper, wherever the hell she was, better hope he never found her.

  If he did, her life was his, and he intended to make her pay for everything.

  Chapter One

  Harper smiled against her pillow as kisses trailed down her back. The touch was so delicate and intimate, driving her need higher as she woke.

  “Hello, sexy lady,” Ethan
said.

  She rolled over as he gripped her hips and sighed. He skimmed his fingers down her thighs, and seeing him do this reminded her of another time, so long ago.

  Sitting up, she pushed him to the bed, changing positions. “I want to be on top.” Pushing the memories back, she smiled down at her boyfriend. She met Ethan when he came into the florist shop two years ago. He’d been buying flowers for his mother, and they’d hit it off. She hadn’t realized he’d been flirting until it was pointed out to her.

  After that, she tried flirting back, giving him back what he gave her, but it didn’t feel right. No matter what she did, she always felt … fake.

  Anyway, one night after drinks, one too many, she’d ended up back at his apartment, and they’d slept together. Since then, they’d been going steady until six months ago, when he asked her to move in. She didn’t have a good enough reason to say no, and so, here she was, still living with him.

  It’s not that she didn’t care about him. She did.

  There wasn’t a spark between them. She knew he cared about her, maybe even loved her, which was why she tried so hard to forget everything else and to just focus on him, on what he meant to her.

  His cock was already hard as rock. He certainly was insatiable when it came to fucking.

  Running her hand up and down his length, she smiled at him. Deep in her heart, she wished it was someone else. Another time. The time when she was eighteen years old and willing to take on four men, just to have the one. To be part of their group and have the void filled within her heart that had been left vacant with her mother’s death. Only, it had all been torn away from her. Held hostage at Alan’s deadly hands. The thought of never having Draven, Axel, Buck, and Jett in her world had nearly destroyed her. They didn’t deserve to die because of her.

  The threat of death and violence was what kept her away and would always hold her back. She didn’t want Draven to die because of her, nor any of the guys. She wasn’t worth their lives.

  Not for the first time, she wondered if another initiation had begun. If they had a woman between them who bore their names. The thought of another holding their names, of them falling for her, filled her with jealousy. That was supposed to be her, not anyone else. Alan had fucked that up, and she hated him for it. She’d hoped Draven would one day figure it out, and come and find her. Only now, after ten years, she hoped he was living a good life.

  Ethan had once asked about the ink at the small of her back.

  She’d lied. She’d told him it was the names of pets that had passed. He’d thought it was cute and weird.

  He didn’t need to know it was the name of the guys she once belonged to.

  The same guys she’d turned her back on at the threat of one of their fathers. So many times, she wanted to get on a bus and go back to town. To call Draven and tell him what happened. To let him know she was still there, still wanted him. Each time she lifted the phone, the threats would ring around her head and scare the fuck out of her.

  So, she never called back.

  For a time, she had gone to Europe, traveling around there before finally coming back and getting a job at the florist shop. Alan had demanded her time in Europe. He wanted her out of the country and had paid her to do it. For a few years, he’d even forced her to contact one of his men, who would make her complete a series of tasks. She tried not to think about those tasks she’d been forced to do. Luring young women to these men to be put up for sale. Alan had been sure to hold a great deal of leverage over her head in order for her to do everything he wanted. No matter where she went, there was always someone watching. Someone who reminded her of home. Alan had stopped calling her personally years ago, but his memory always lived on. She hadn’t seen or heard from someone in a couple of years, and so, she’d tried to find a life for herself, and not to think about the women she’d hurt in the process. She’d been in Europe for nearly six years—five of those years with Alan calling her, making his demands. There came another year, where she didn’t hear from him, but someone was always there, making sure she followed through on the task. Then, after being free for a month, with no one there, then another, followed by another, she finally felt it was time to head back to the States, which was exactly what she’d done. Since then, she’d been trying to work hard to forget all the damage she’d done.

  There was no way for her to call Draven. After ten years, she still didn’t want to risk killing him by disobeying Alan, and she also didn’t want to draw Alan’s attention to herself. He had so much dirt and evidence from all the work he’d forced her to do, that there was no one in the country who would believe she was being blackmailed.

  She was over ten hours away from Stonewall, the closest she’d ever been to home. Part of her was tempted to drive on through, but still fear kept her back.

  “What’s wrong?” Ethan asked.

  “Nothing.” She kept working her hand up and down his cock, aware of his gaze on her. “You’re not liking what I’m doing?”

  “I like it, a lot.”

  She leaned forward, taking his cock into her mouth, staring up at him, distracting him as the taste of his pre-cum flooded her tongue. She swallowed him down, licking and flicking the tip for more. Ethan groaned. His hand gripped the back of her head, pulling her down to take more.

  She stopped fighting and let herself go, taking his cock into her mouth, closing her eyes, and thinking about someone else.

  Even as she sucked Ethan off, she couldn’t stop thinking about Draven.

  Ten years was a long time to be without someone, and yet, she found herself thinking about him at the most inappropriate times.

  His touch.

  His mouth.

  His eyes.

  She missed them all. Wanted them all. Craved them all.

  They’re not yours anymore.

  “Oh, fuck, baby. I’m going to come.”

  With her eyes squeezed shut, she swallowed down his cum without making a sound. When he was done, she pulled away, wiping at her eyes that were already watering. This was a weakness he couldn’t see.

  “Babe, you blow my mind.”

  “Good morning to you too.”

  He chuckled, his hand going to her thigh, and she knew what he wanted to do.

  “I’ve got to get ready for work.”

  “What about you?” he asked.

  She still hadn’t turned toward him. “I’m fine. You can make it up to me later.” She didn’t look back. Going into the bathroom, she closed the door. Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she grabbed her toothbrush and worked the taste of him out of her mouth.

  The tears fell down her cheeks, and she hated this, hated feeling so alone.

  “You okay?” Ethan asked, calling through the door.

  “I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute.” She finished her teeth, washed her face, brushed her hair, and when she looked normal, she stepped out of the bathroom.

  He caught her hips, trapping her against the door. “Have you been crying?”

  “No, of course not.” She kissed his lips. “I hate to cut this short, but I’ve really got to go, babe.” She pulled away and quickly worked her pants on, followed by a large shirt. She tucked her raven hair into a bun at the base of her neck, and didn’t even bother with makeup. She rarely did.

  “I was thinking we could go around to my parents’ house this weekend,” he said.

  His parents were really judgmental and always asking questions. She tried to avoid them as much as possible.

  That wasn’t true, and Harper hated herself for thinking it. They were kind people, sweet, and they deserved to have a daughter-in-law who cared for their son and loved them. It looked like she wouldn’t be getting her wish of avoiding them. There were only so many excuses she could make.

  “Of course. I’ll stop by the grocery store today on my way home.”

  She grabbed her bag and rushed back to the fridge.

  “Love you,” Ethan said.

  “You too.”
>
  She rushed out of the apartment, and instead of going to the elevator, she went straight to the stairs, releasing a breath as she broke out onto the busy city street.

  Rain was already rushing down, and she pulled the hood of her jacket over her hair and headed in the direction of work.

  She stopped off at a coffee stand, grabbing herself a pastry and too-bitter coffee. Still, she didn’t have to linger at the apartment, and whenever thoughts of Draven entered her mind mid-cock suck, she always felt the need to get the hell out of dodge, to avoid questions. To avoid everything.

  Her life with Draven was nothing more than a memory.

  A few short months that changed her life, and yet, she was no better now than she was back then.

  It’s not like she could go and visit her mother’s grave. She’d not been in contact with Ian, her father. All her life had changed because of Alan Barries and his threats. He’d torn her away from what she loved. She could give up her father—she fucking hated him anyway. The others, that was the hardest thing she had ever had to do in her life.

  The thought of being in a world that didn’t have Draven had killed a part of her. Even though her life was a good one, she knew deep down something was missing. Draven, Axel, Buck, and Jett. They were all missing from her life, and there was no way of getting that back.

  She finished her pastry, throwing the wrapper in the trashcan, followed by the coffee. There was only so much bitterness she could stand before it became too much.

  Checking the time, she saw she had ten minutes before getting to work, but decided to be there early. There was nothing wrong with waiting to open up the shop.

  Shoving her hands into her jacket, she bowed her head, watching her feet and those around her so she didn’t bump into anyone.

  The days were getting darker, shorter. It wouldn’t be long before winter was upon them. It was already cold.