Sacred Waters

SACRED WATERS

McCullough Mountain Series 1

Lydia Michaels

Erotic Romance

Secret Cravings Publishing

www.secretcravingspublishing.com

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A Secret Cravings Publishing Book

Erotic Romance

Sacred Waters

Copyright © 2013 Lydia Michaels

E-book ISBN: 978-1-61885-761-3

First E-book Publication: July 2013

Cover design by Dawné Dominique

Edited by Elise Hepner

Proofread by Shannon Ellis

All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Secret Cravings Publishing

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:
This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER

Secret Cravings Publishing

www.secretcravingspublishing.com

Dedication

For Terri…

Readers like you make writing more fun.

And to the Dougherty girls…

For a beautiful day at the lake that inspired me to write again!

The Cravings e-book Club

The Cravings Paranormal e-book Club

Have you heard about the newest idea in ebooks, the ebook club? Secret Cravings Publishing has started two ebook clubs and we invite you to become a member of either The Cravings e-book Club or the Cravings Paranormal e-book Club. Join now and get two books absolutely free!

As a member, you will receive
Trouble With a Cowboy*
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Forget Me Not**
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*
Trouble With a Cowboy
, a western, erotic romance:

Can some slashed tires and an ornery bull bring two hard-headed people together for some fun in the sun and a little more?

**
Forget Me Not
, paranormal erotic romance:

A war is brewing, a war that could destroy an entire vampire race if left unchecked, and Julian Marino has been requested to participate in it.  He stops his search for a long time friend to go home and discovers there is more at stake than just his wants.

As a member of the Cravings Club, you’ll receive 4 books in a variety of genres every month. We will try to match your books to your preferences, however, if you’re a major paranormal fan, I suggest you join the Cravings Paranormal Club. Everything is the same, 4 books every month for $9.99 except that 3 of your 4 books will be paranormal. The remaining book will be of a different genre.

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To join and tell us your favorite genres and heat levels  plus which format works best for you, go to the Secret Cravings Publishing website (
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) At the bottom of the page you’ll see a button for the club. You can sign up there and share your preferences for genre, format and heat level with us. You will be charged, automatically, through PayPal, only $9.99 every month.  Your books will be shipped within 1 day after PayPal payment has cleared. You may cancel at any time by clicking on the “unsubscribe” button located on the Cravings Club tab at the bottom of our website and keep the FREE BOOKS as our gift.  

We hope our Secret Cravings books will delight you each and every month.

                                                                                                                        Best wishes,

                                                                                                                        Beth Walker

SACRED WATERS

McCullough Mountain Series 1

Lydia Michaels

Copyright © 2013

Chapter One

She was making a mistake, Samantha thought for the hundredth time that evening. She distracted herself with her phone as they headed over the interstate toward the darkening west. Braydon tapped out a beat on the steering wheel as the chiming sounds of Coldplay filled the car. Unlike Sam, he appeared to be suffering from zero misgivings about this trip.

The signal finally picked up on her wireless network and she quickly logged into her mobile email. Grades had to be posted by now.

“You get through?” Braydon asked at her sigh of relief.

“Yeah, let’s just hope it loads.”

“The closer we get to Center County the harder it’ll be to get a signal. I don’t know why you’re worried anyway. You know you got an A.”

Sam tapped her foot on the carpeted interior of his Passat with fidgety impatience. The chances of her getting less than an A were unlikely, but she wouldn’t be able to relax until she knew for sure.

“I probably wouldn’t be so concerned if it was a normal semester for me, but student teaching and senior seminar ate up all eighteen of my credits this semester. That one grade carries more weight than a typical three credit course.”

He shook his head in resignation. “Samantha, you showed up every day, your cooperating teacher loved you, the principal of the school requested you to forward your résumé directly to her when you graduate, and you’ve carried a four point oh GPA since you were a freshman. You shouldn’t be stressing over this.”

She pursed her lips as the swirled rotary image cycled on her phone. There seemed to be a cyber traffic jam at thirty percent loaded. “Come on.” Her phone suddenly let out three obnoxious beeps and informed her that the wireless connection failed. “Damn it!”

“When we get to the house you can use my parents' computer.”

“I don’t want to impose. Can we stop at a McDonalds or some other fast food place with wifi before we get there?”

Sam didn’t share Bray’s amusement when he chuckled. “Samantha, we don’t have fast food joints out here. Just let it go. Once grades are out there’s nothing you can do about them anyway. Put your phone away and embrace the fact that you have three weeks of vacation before you have to even think about college again.”

He was right. She sighed and slipped her cell back into her bag, but for some reason she still couldn’t relax. Rather than stress about her grades or the fact that she was only six credits away from graduating, she stressed about their journey.

It was the start of summer, yet to Sam it was the end of an era. Her flip-flops and shorts were only irrelevant accessories. Her mind was solely focused on the light at the end of the tunnel. As the air from the sleek black vent on the dash tickled her exposed knees, Sam imagined what the end of the summer would feel like. Such relief. By mid-August she’d be, if everything went according to plan, settling into her new classroom and zipping through textbooks and novels for her lesson plans.

She shouldn’t have agreed to go home with Braydon. She wasn’t sure why he even asked in the first place. The minute they pulled onto the highway, however, the belated acknowledgement that they were in a relationship set in. For some reason it never occurred to her to see their acquaintance that way. Sure they had a mild, mutual attraction and shared a few meals and kisses together, but as far as being a couple, well, Sam wasn’t quite there yet. She only hoped his family didn’t read too much into the significance of her visit.

The truth was she never would’ve agreed to join Braydon if her parents weren’t in Florida for the month. The idea of returning home to her mom and dad’s empty house seemed a depressing way to spend her summer break. It was the image of her watching played-out movies on basic cable, never once taking off her slippers, and destroying one pint of Ben and Jerry’s a night, that struck her as pathetic and had her quickly agreeing to spend her break with the McCulloughs. Now she was thinking she would’ve been better off returning home and waiting it out on her own.