Enter a realm of passion and danger, where desire thrives in the shadows. In After Dark, meet heroes who play by their own rules, from mafia enforcers and rebellious bad boys to motorcycle club kings, dominant lovers, ruthless hitmen, and cunning assassins.

Including stories from: Stephanie Morris, Courtney Dean, Bella Emy, Charmaine Louise Shelton, VK Holt, Euryia Larsen, Rachel Radner, Darah Lace, KyAnn Waters, Euryia Larsen, Dilana Rose, Courtney W. Dixon, A.N. Boyden, Ali Rivers, Tizahmi

https://books2read.com/AfterDarkAnthology

Falling into Darkness
By Darah Lace

The cartel’s golden rule—no loose ends, no witnesses.

Elizabeth Archer

All I wanted was sand, sun, and sin on my vacation in Mexico. Yet, here I am, running from a cartel execution with no phone, no shoes, and no way to warn Alex they’re coming for him. To a lieutenant in the Castillo cartel, I’m an obligation. But I don’t want his protection. I want his heart.

Alejandro Castillo

When my best friend died, I promised to protect his sister, not stalk her. I never expected to find my obsession in the crosshairs of a rival cartel. I have no choice but to break rank. I know better than most, my enemy will never stop looking for her.

 An excerpt from

“What are you doing here?” Iwhispered. “They’ll kill you if they find you.”

“They won’t.” He pried his shirt from my death grip as if my touch repulsed him. “Vámonos.”

“Wait. I have to tell yousomething.”

“Not here. We need to move.”

I wanted to stamp my foot. Iunderstood the immediacy of the danger we were in, but why was he acting likethis? “You don’t understand.”

“No, you don’tunderstand,” he snapped. “There are at least seven more men in front of us, andI’m low on ammo. I can’t spare the bullets. We’ll need them when we cross thebeach.”

The beach? Washe fucking kidding? “Are you crazy? There’s no cover there.”

He grabbed my upper arms andlowered his face within inches of mine. “I swear to god, Elle,” he gritted out,“I’m trying to save your pretty little ass, but you’re making it fuckingdifficult.”

Though I bristled at hispatronizing tone, my heart tripped over the compliment. But I wasn’t the samefoolish girl he’d left behind.

I lifted my chin and uttereda complete contradiction to my earlier thoughts. “I don’t need you to save me.I can take care of myself.”

He snorted and released meas if I were contaminated. “Tell that to the trail of dead men I left behind.They were right on your ass, and we can’t wait around for more to catch up.”

Fuck.Alex was right, but his irritation drove home my role in his life, and thiswhole situation only added to the burden I’d become. He’d come for me, though,and I couldn’t—wouldn’t—let my pride get him killed.

Swallowing the hurt wellingup inside me, I nodded and followed Alex deeper into the darkness, back towhere this nightmare had begun.

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