No Magic Moment (Secrets of Stone Book 4)
Read No Magic Moment (Secrets of Stone Book 4) Online
Authors: Angel Payne,Victoria Blue
Tags: #Romance
Secrets of Stone, Book 4
By Angel Payne
and Victoria Blue
No Magic Moment
Secrets of Stone, Book 4
Copyright © 2015 by Fin Mint Publishing, LLP
All Rights Reserved
ISBN: 978-0-9904137-7-6
Kindle Edition
If you have legally purchased a copy of this electronic book, thank you. This purchase allows you one legal copy for your own personal reading enjoyment on your personal computer or device. You do not have the rights to resell, distribute, print, or transfer this book, in whole or in part, to anyone, in any format, via methods either currently known or yet to be invented, or upload to a file-sharing peer to peer program. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. If you no longer want this book, you may not give your copy to someone else. Delete it from your computer. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.
Edited By:
Melisande Scott
Tracy Roelle
Beta Team:
Anna Chimenti
Shannon Hunt
Lisa Simo-Kinzer
Carey Sabala
Amy Kaneff-Rudolph
Cover Art:
Parajunkee Designs
Formatting:
BB eBooks
Marketing/Appearance Inquiries:
Shannon Hunt, Once Upon an Alpha
About
NO PRINCE CHARMING:
“Not a cookie-cutter hero…I found Killian to be a combination of smexy and sweet. Blue and Payne have a style that is like smooth whiskey…goes down hot and lingers for a while.”
The Jeep Diva
“Completely sigh-worthy…the heat they generated could have caused fissures to erupt in the earth’s core. An enjoyable read that makes us believe fairy tales very well could come true.”
The Romance Reviews
“It’s romantic, it’s beautiful, and Mr. Stone is incredibly swoon-worthy. I devoured this book in one night.”
Shayna Renee’s Spicy Reads
“A whopper of a read. There’s everything in this book to keep the reader hooked, And the description of THAT kiss…ohh, la!”
Noble Book Reviews
“Killian…wow…that boy doesn’t mess around. I really enjoyed this book and
loved
him!”
A Crazy Vermonter’s Reviews
About
NO MORE MASQUERADE:
“Exceeded my expectations. I was surprised at how emotional I became while reading the book. I was able to connect so much to these characters that I was concerned for their welfare. 5 bright and shining stars.”
A Thousand Lives Book Blog
“I absolutely loved this book. Suspenseful, nerve-wracking, and had me pulling my hair out! An excellent follow-up to a really great love story.”
The Romance Reviews
“An OMG page-turner that will blow your mind. I loved every minute!”
Paranormaly Yours Reviews
“Payne and Blue have taken the traditional fairy tale romance and made it perfect for our generation to dream and strive for. Thank you for a Cinderella we can all be proud of and a prince to rival all princes!”
The Book Fairy
“WOW. This book. Part of me doesn’t have words. Claire is a strong heroine with undying love. Killian is the tortured man we all swoon for. I really enjoyed this.”
Twin Opinions Reviews
About
NO PERFECT PRINCESS:
“Michael Pearson is hot-hot-hot—so very sexy, and right up there with my favorite book boyfriends. Margaux is cool, and I loved that we got to see her softer side. The cast of supporting characters is awesome! The love scenes nearly burned my Kindle out! These gals have given us a great book.”
Book Loving Pixies
“This writing duo took a seemingly ice-cold princess and showed her softer, human side without changing who she really is…and I also loved that Michael didn’t want to change her. He loved her for all her foibles while having his own issues to work through, with Margaux to inspire him. I will be thinking about this story long after I put it down.”
Sizzling Hot Books
“A can’t-put-it-down read…well-written with suspense, humor, and lots of dirty bedroom talk. It won’t let you go!”
DRC Blog
“Very well-written…great chemistry…a book that will leave you wanting more.”
Battery-Operated Book Blog
“Sweet. Funny. Quirky. Angsty. Sexy. A different change of pace…but easy to follow. Michael made the book for me…when he let his inner alpha come out—hello!”
Renee Entress’s Blog
Angel:
As always, for the man of my world.
Thomas, you and our girl make it all worth it…and teach me something wondrous every day.
Special thanks to amazing Elisa:
For knowing just what to say, and how to say it with your special love and humor.
I value you
so
much!
Victoria:
For Aunt Mary.
No, it’s not Hemingway, but it is from my heart—the exact place where all of my thoughts and memories of you are from, and what can be better than that?
Peace, happiness and pain-free days from now until eternity—wherever it is your angel wings have taken you. We love you.
And acknowledging:
The wonderful Scooby Gang on the Facebook Readers Page.
You guys make all the days so much brighter, and all the work worth it!
The bloggers who have been behind this series from “before the beginning.”
Your unwavering support has meant the world.
Once Upon an Alpha: Shannon and Girls
Sizzling Hot Books: Marissa and Robin
The Book Nuts: MsKelley Kell, Kia, and Girls
Shayna Renee’s Spicy Reads: Shayna
Noble Book Reviews: Lil, Kat, and Angie
Romance Book Craze: Leagh and Team
Paranormaly Yours: Kim and Team
Smut & Bonbons: Sarah, Lena, Lizette
Bookalicious Babes: Karen and Team
Two Sassy Chicks: Jennifer, Tammie, and Amanda (We’re not questioning the math—really)
Twinsie Talk: Angie and Brenda
Sunshine Reads: Trish
Forgive us if we’ve missed anyone!
So many more of you have discovered the books along the way, too—and we are grateful for each and every one of you. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
Special Angel shoutie to all my new Obsessenach sistahs, who remind me why striving for the best in the work is worth it.
Tha gaol agam ort
, my friends!
Praise for The Secrets of Stone
Dedications / Acknowledgements
Other Book in The Secrets of Stone Series
Michael
I
f any moment
proved I was hopelessly in love with Margaux Asher, this was it.
Dirty water dripped down my face—technically,
up
my face, toward my hair—as I watched a water beetle scurry along the wall of the drain sewer off 5
th
and G in downtown San Diego. Yeah, the sewer I’d dived down head first, in the full suit I’d worn to dinner, still half-buzzed from the martinis I’d enjoyed at said dinner.
Thank fuck for those martinis. In some strange way, they helped with my inverted equilibrium. They sure as hell didn’t hurt.
This was about as low as I went.
Literally.
Laughing at my private joke wasn’t an option. I settled for grunting. Good compromise between breathing and passing out from the stench. “America’s Finest City” was a different world below the surface.
“What? What is it? Do you see it, Michael? Do you see it?”
In an instant, I forgot about the smell and the wet—and the fact that if Andre’s hold on my ankles slipped at all, I’d be reenacting the
Star Wars
trash compactor scene, minus the blasters and the
Dianoga
. Or so I hoped. But even facing a giant sewer snake would be worth it, to banish the dread in my woman’s voice.
“Andre,” I barked at the burly Jamaican, “
don’t
let go.”
“I got you, boss.”
Now wasn’t the time to tell him I hated that “boss” crap—and the laugh he surely intended as “reassuring”.
“
Michael
!”
Margaux’s cry was shrill. She’d been in this panic for at least ten minutes now, when our after-dinner walk had gone from relaxing to horrifying in the space of five seconds. Instead of gunshots, our black moment had been delivered in five
pings
: the sound of a small gold ring falling to the pavement then disappearing through the hole in the sewer cover.
“Do you see it?” She choked it out this time. Hell. My girl did
not
like bawling, despite how much she’d softened in the three months since our relationship began. She fought the tears with everything she had. Her conflict echoed down the sewer, shattering my heart and steeling my resolve.
Find the damn ring.
The jewelry represented a huge chunk of her past; the only part that had meant emotional safety for her. She wasn’t strong enough to lose it yet.
I knew it. She knew it. I just prayed Andre knew it too.
“
Michael
. Talk to me!”
I grimaced. “Not in a position to chat right now, sugar.”
“Just tell me if you see it.” Her breath caught again. “Please.
Please
tell me you—” A car horn cut her off, something sporty by the tenor of it. “Hey! The translation of
Maserati
isn’t ‘license to be an asshole!’”
Andre’s grip tremored from the force of his chuckle. I grimaced then swore. “Not funny, man.”
Margaux backed it up with a gritty girl-growl, a sound curling straight to my cock, which apparently didn’t care about its current setting. “Drop him and your testicles are mine.”
“Not until you’ve dealt with other testicles first,” I muttered.
“What?” she shouted.
“You mentioned testicles,” Andre explained.
“Oh, for—” She snorted. “You two want to focus with your
big
heads for once?”
Andre snickered again. I wanted to bark at him but was busy smirking myself. Goddammit if my princess wasn’t more irresistible with a pissy bee under her figurative crown. On top of that, envisioning her in the middle of the street above me, leaning over the manhole in the slinky dress and pumps she’d worn to dinner, still unsure whether to play out her stress with sass or penitence…
Yep, it was official. Even hanging upside down in a sewer, I had a hard-on for the woman.
The sooner I found the damn ring, the—
“Bingo.”
“What?” she shouted.
“Bingo,” I yelled back, curling fingers around the small gold circle that had, by a pure miracle, caught on a steel peg to my right. “Miracle” was putting it lightly. The band, not fancy, was sized for a child of nine—the age Margaux had been when she first received it. It never left her pinkie finger now—except, as we’d learned the hard way, on cold nights when her fingers contracted. It had become just as important to me once I knew the story about who had given it to her. I’d never forget the night she’d dug so deeply into her past, and all its pain, to give me the confession. It had been the start of our journey from friendship to passion, and finally love. The trust she’d handed over to me that night…still blew me away at times. It was a gift I’d never take for granted, and a responsibility I’d never diminish.
She meant so damn much to me.
More than I could screw up the courage to admit.