Final Debt by Pepper Winters
He grabbed my hand, squeezing my fingers tight. “I feel exactly the same way. Now, let’s go, so I can show you the next part of my plan.”
“The next part?” I laughed. “Careful, you might spoil me.”
He smirked. “You don’t know where I’m taking you yet. It might be an awful place.”
“I highly doubt it.” Tossing my hair away from my face, I smiled. “Tell me then. Where do you want to take me?”
Guiding me from the safe, he grinned. “You’ll see.”
“In here?” I looked over my shoulder as Jethro nodded.
We’d left Diamond Alley and driven into a bustling local town where knickknacks and tourists decorated the streets.
“Yep.” Jethro bit his lip to stop from smiling.
“You want me to go into a coffee shop?”
He moved past me, pushing on the door until the chime above welcomed us into the decadent smell of coffee and sweets.
“But I don’t even like coffee. You know that.”
He smirked. “I know.”
“Then why—?”
“Stop asking questions and get in there.” Grabbing my wrist, he dragged me over the threshold and beelined for a tatty couch in the coffee shop window.
The couch.
The coffee.
Oh, my God.
My heart stopped. “This…it’s similar to the café in Milan where I tried to kiss you when we first met.”
He nodded. “Exactly.”
I frowned, even as my heart thundered with love. “Why…why did you bring me here?”
He patted the couch, sinking into the soft cushions.
I followed, our knees touching as we faced each other. The softness of the settee cradled me as Jethro stroked my ring, his face alive and pensive. “That night I told you so many lies and hid so much from myself. I wanted you so much. I wanted to run the other way, to hide you, to never return to Hawksridge. But I didn’t. I let a lifetime of conditioning control me, and I made the worst mistake of my life.”
Looking around the tiny café—at the grandmother feeding a teacake to her granddaughter and the barista serving a couple—he added, “I’ve known you for months, Nila, and I haven’t once taken you out on a proper date. Never been to see a movie or eaten at a restaurant.”
My entire soul overflowed with affection. “You’re saying you want to do that?”
“Of course.” His back straightened. “I want to explore the world with you. I want to show you off and let people know I might’ve planted evidence saying you ran away with me at the start of this mess—that the media believed we’d had an affair well before we did—but now, it’s true, and I value you enough not to keep you all to myself.”
His golden eyes darkened to bronze. “You’re no longer indebted. You’re free to go wherever and whenever you wish; I want to be by your side for every experience you find. I want to be the reason you smile every day and the man you hold every night.”
Quick flashes of the doctored photographs and Flaw’s handwritten note to the press the night Jethro stole me entered my mind. I no longer suffered any hurt or annoyance because, in the end, that was life’s plan. To give me to Jethro so I could steal him in return.
My voice stayed soft, inviting. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying, I’ll be beside you no matter what you want to do. If you want to return to sewing, I’ll be there holding the fabric. If you want to travel and help me with diamonds, I’ll be there carrying your bags. As long as we’re together, Nila. I don’t care where we are.”
My heart galloped with longing and love and overflowing lust. “Kite…” Leaning closer, my eyes latched onto his mouth. “As far as I’m concerned, you come first. I might not be indebted anymore, but I have no intention of running far from you. I don’t care what we do as long as we do it together.”
He relaxed a little. “I’ll never get tired of hearing that.”
“Never get tired that I love you or that I won’t run?”
His smile turned into a sinful invitation. “If you run from me, I have the means to chase you. I’d find you and make you mine again.”
My legs twitched as my belly fluttered.
Inching closer to me, Jethro ran the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip. “Now, if you don’t mind, I believe I need to do something that I should’ve done that first night.”
My breathing stopped. “What should you have done?”
His breath fanned over my lips. “Kissed you. You owe me the kiss you so naively offered me moments after we met.”
“Naively?” My heart pounded as my core grew wet. The tension between us swirled and sparked. “Don’t you mean stupidly? I remember you calling me that a few times.”
His hand cupped my cheek; his thumb skimming from my lip to my ear. “Like I said. I told a lot of lies that night.” His eyes drifted to my mouth. “May I? May I take back that first wrong and make it right?”
I couldn’t breathe.
I nodded.
“Fuck.” His body fell forward, his mouth met mine.
I parted for him, welcoming his taste and control. Scooting closer, his arms banded around me, his knees bruised mine, and the coffee shop faded into obscurity.
I moaned into his mouth, melting into his embrace. I’d never been kissed so deeply or so selflessly. He poured the past and present down my throat, rewriting history and revoking everything that’d happened. In his arms, I only remembered how happy I was and not about the sadness still clinging to us.
My diamond ring weighed on my finger. My diamond bracelet decorated my wrist. And my diamond collar locked me forever as his. So much had happened. So much pain and debts and death.
But this.
A simple kiss in a simple coffee shop in a simple world.
This made it all worth it.
This made it all priceless.
His tongue danced with mine, slowly pulling away from me, leaving me needy and desperate for more.
Letting me go, Jethro reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. “It’s fair to warn you, Needle, that after that kiss I’m fucking rock hard and need you more than I can stand. I doubt I’ll have the self-control to order a coffee or watch you eat a piece of cake without needing to be inside you, so I’m going to show you this before I yank you out of this place and find a dark place so I can fuck you. Then, when the violence in my blood is sated, I’ll reward you by making love to you and showing how my love can both be a punishment and a play.”
My mouth fell open. His torrent lapped around me, licking my nipples with promise. “We can leave now. This very second.”
He shook his head, fanning out the parchment on the low coffee table. “No, we can’t. Not until I show you this.”
His eyes met mine, dark and delicious, his lips glistening from our kiss. “I never told you this, but the Sacramental Pledge I made you sign the night of Cut’s birthday—the one you signed after breaking in my office—I burned it before I came to get you in London.”
I shivered, remembering that night and what happened afterward. He’d kissed me. He’d fucked me. He’d let me win after watching me come apart. “Why?”
His fingers stroked the inked words. “Because I didn’t want the burden of owning your soul when I’d taken it so cruelly.” Spreading out the parchment further, working the kinks from the centre, he dipped into his pocket again and grabbed a fountain pen.
Holding it out for me, he said, “It’s not a quill, but this will have to do.” Sudden nervousness covered his features. “Would you? Will you sign another, now you know everything that I am?”
My eyes fell on the paper. That’s what this is?
A new Sacramental Pledge? A new contract trumping the Debt Inheritance and everything it stood for?
I took the pen without hesitation. “I’ve already agreed to marry you. I’ll agree to anything that puts your heart at rest and grants me you for eternity.”
He sighed, his knee
“And you gave me everything I ever wanted.” Kissing him gently, I whispered, “I’ll sign whatever you want me to sign, Kite. But…can I read it first?”
He chuckled, tucking fallen strands behind my ear. “Of course. I want you to read it. I want you to know what I need from you.”
Plucking the parchment, I held it within slightly trembling hands. The night of Cut’s birthday came back. The way I broke in his office. The cuts on my back killing me from the First Debt. This was so different. Our first ‘date.’ Our first normal outing together as lovers rather than debtor and debtee.
My eyes landed on the gorgeous calligraphy of Jethro's writing. The words were so similar to the other pledge I’d signed but at the same time so different.
Jethro Hawk, firstborn son of Bryan Hawk, and Nila Weaver, firstborn daughter of Emma Weaver, hereby solemnly swear this is a law-binding and incontestable contract.
Nila Weaver revokes all ownership of her free will, thoughts, and body and grants them into the sole custody of Jethro Hawk. In exchange, Jethro Hawk renounces his free will, thoughts, and body and grants them entirely to Nila Weaver to do as she pleases.
The previous incontestable document named the Debt Inheritance is void now and forever. No debt nor family decree will ever befall these two houses. This new agreement brings two enemies into one family where bygones are bygones and the future is bright for all.
Both Nila Weaver and Jethro Hawk promise neither circumstance, nor change of heart will alter this vow.
In sickness and in health.
Two houses.
Two people.
One contract.
One lifetime marriage and commitment.
I looked up.
My heart showered with countless droplets of adoration.
I kissed my future husband. “How is it possible that you keep making me love you more each day?”
His face shattered into tenderness.
Before he could reply, I scrawled my name and accepted everything—the past, the present, the future. The triumphs and tragedies. The deaths of good people. The demise of bad. The pain that’d ruled us for so long. And the treachery that allowed madness to rule.
But not anymore.
This was our new chapter.
Our new story.
And we would write every sentence together.
Nila Weaver.
Jethro Hawk.
Two houses.
One future…
…
One family.
“Life after death…love after debts…is it possible after so much pain?”
Find out in the bonus edition: INDEBTED EPILOGUE
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You don’t have to read Indebted Epilogue if you do not wish to. It’s a bonus book for Jethro and Nila to show life after the Debt Inheritance.
There is also a Question and Answer session in Indebted Epilogue, sneak peeks into Unseen Messages, Sin & Suffer, cover reveal for Indebted Beginnings (yes, you heard that right), along with a couple of deleted scenes from Final Debt including a sex scene that didn’t make it into the published copy.
Pepper Winters is a New York Times and USA Today International Bestseller. She loves dark romance, star-crossed lovers, and the forbidden taboo. She strives to write a story that makes the reader crave what they shouldn't, and delivers tales with complex plots and unforgettable characters.
After chasing her dreams to become a full-time writer, Pepper has earned recognition with awards for best Dark Romance, best BDSM Series, and best Dark Hero. She's an #1 iBooks bestseller, along with #1 in Erotic Romance, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary, and Erotica Thriller. She's also honoured to wear the IndieReader Badge for being a Top 10 Indie Bestseller, and recently signed a two book deal with Hachette. Represented by Trident Media, her books have garnered foreign and audio interest and are currently being translated into numerous languages. They will be in available in bookstores worldwide.
Her Dark Romance books include:
Monsters in the Dark Trilogy
Tears of Tess (Monsters in the Dark #1)
Quintessentially Q (Monsters in the Dark #2)
Twisted Together (Monsters in the Dark #3)
Indebted Series
Debt Inheritance (Indebted #1)
First Debt (Indebted Series #2)
Second Debt (Indebted Series #3)
Third Debt (Indebted Series #4)
Fourth Debt (Indebted Series #5)
Final Debt (Indebted Series #6)
Indebted Epilogue (Indebted Series #7)
Her Grey Romance books include:
Destroyed
Ruin & Rule (Pure Corruption MC #1)
Sin & Suffer (Pure Corruption MC #2)
Her Upcoming Releases include:
2016: Je Suis a Toi (Monsters in the Dark Novella)
January 2016: Sin & Suffer (Pure Corruption MC #2)
2016: Super Secret Series
2016: Unseen Messages (Standalone Romance)
2016: Indebted Beginnings (Indebted Series Prequel)
To be the first to know of upcoming releases, please join Pepper’s Newsletter (she promises never to spam or annoy you.)
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All other titles and updates can be found on her Goodreads Page.
Avicii Hey Brother
Madonna Ghost Town
Paloma Faith Only love can hurt like this
U2 With or without you
Adele Skyfall.
Jarryd James Do you remember
Stan walker Holding You
Rhiana Dimaonds
Imagine Dragons Roots
Avicii Addicted to You
Bruno Mars I’d catch a grenade for you
Halo Starset
Chris Isaak Wicked Game
Sam Smith The Writings on the Wall.
Adele Rolling in the Deep
Avicii Wake me Up
Shawn Mendes - Stitches
26th January 2016
Sin & Suffer (Pure Corruption MC #2)
"Some say the past is in the past. That vengeance will hurt both innocent and guilty. I never believed those lies. Once my lust for revenge is sated, I'll say goodbye to hatred. I'll find a new beginning."
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2016
Je Suis a Toi (Monsters in the Dark Novella)
“Life taught me an eternal love will demand the worst sacrifices. A transcendent love will split your soul, cleaving you into pieces. A love this strong doesn’t grant you sweetness—it grants you pain. And in that pain is the greatest pleasure of all.”
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Early 2016
Unseen Messages (Standalone Romance)
“I should’ve listened, should’ve paid attention. The messages were there. Warning me. Trying to save me. But I didn’t see and I paid the price...”
Get Release Day Alerts when this Book is Published
Early 2016
Super Secret Series Starting Soon
Please keep an eye out for the blurb and cover reveal early 2016. I’m beyond excited about this series and hope to deliver another epic tale.
“He has millions, but without her he is bankrupt.
And he’ll spend every dollar and penny to get her back.”
Get Release Day Alerts when this Book is Published
Tears of Tess (Monsters in the Dark #1)
“My life was complete. Happy, content, everything neat and perfect.
Then it all changed.
I was sold.”
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Quintessentially Q (Monsters in the
“All my life, I battled with the knowledge I was twisted… screwed up to want something so deliciously dark—wrong on so many levels. But then slave fifty-eight entered my world. Hissing, fighting, with a core of iron, she showed me an existence where two wrongs do make a right."
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Twisted Together (Monsters in the Dark #3)
“After battling through hell, I brought my esclave back from the brink of ruin. I sacrificed everything—my heart, my mind, my very desires to bring her back to life. And for a while, I thought it broke me, that I’d never be the same. But slowly the beast is growing bolder, and it’s finally time to show Tess how beautiful the dark can be.”
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Destroyed (Standalone Grey Romance)
She has a secret.
He has a secret.
One secret destroys them.
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Ruin & Rule (Pure Corruption MC #1)
"We met in a nightmare. The in-between world where time had no power over reason. We fell in love. We fell hard. But then we woke up. And it was over . . ."
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Thank you so much for reading.
Pepper Winters, Final Debt