Hold On You - M. S. Brannon
2015 M.S. Brannon. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without written permission from the author. The exception would be in case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews or pages where permission is specifically granted by the author.
This book is a work of fiction and the events surrounding this book are fictitious. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any similarity to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons live or dead, is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Epilogue
About the Author
More from M.S. Brannon
prologue
“AHHHH!” THE SCREAM IS HORRIFIC. The boiling, hot blood pumping through my body instantly turns to ice as I witness the tragedy I am responsible for.
She was standing in front of me and then, a moment later, fell over the edge, disappearing from my sight.
“No!” I immediately fall to the ground, coming face-to-face with my self-inflicted hell.
I surge my frame forward, landing on my stomach, half my body leaning over the edge. In that moment, I am unexpectedly able to clasp on to her hand. The wind is furious, and the jagged cliff rocks are barely visible under the crashing waves.
She is dangling from the edge, holding on like hell to my outstretched hand. Any thought of my future plans vanishes the second I see her disappear. The moment my hand feels hers, I thaw in a mere second. I can feel the blood raging as it floods my veins with unyielding determination to help this woman.
“Nate! Oh, God, please don’t drop me!” she screams as she tries to pull herself up, using my arm as a fleshy rope.
My hand is sweaty from the adrenaline skyrocketing through my body, making my grip wet and slick. As she swings her body back and forth, she has no idea that, the more she struggles, the easier it will be to drop her.
“Stop moving!” I demand as firmly and loudly as I can.
“You have to help me, please! I don’t want to die, not like this. Please!” Her pleading gives me that much more strength to pull up.
I came up here for selfish reasons of my own, but soon discovered I was not alone. She wouldn’t stand for me to leave her behind, and now I am forced to stare into her blue eyes encased in terror. She only wanted to help, and look where that got her—a front row seat to her imminent death. I cannot allow it to happen. If anyone should die, it needs to be me, not her, never her.
“You’re not going to die, but you need to stay calm. Please…” I release a breath as I struggle to keep her attached to my hand. “I’m not going to drop you. I promise I will not allow that to happen, but you need to be calm. Do you hear me? Just keep your body as still as you can!” I shout back, digging deep and finding the strength inside myself.
The wind is whipping, getting stronger by the second. I have to get her up, and it has to be now, or the both of us will be falling over the edge.
“AWWWWWW!” I release a loud, gut-wrenching roar as I pull with all my power. I swear to God, if she goes over, I will go after her. I will not survive this life knowing this woman died because of me, because I was an asshole who couldn’t get past the pain of ten years ago.
“Nate!”
I keep my eyes on hers, seeing the panic oozing from them. She is pleading with me to save her life, a life I almost destroyed. If I don’t save her now, it will be destroyed.
“I’m slipping! Please, don’t let me go!”
Just as the words leave her mouth, a forceful gust of wind bounces off the walls of the cliffs and sends her body into the rocky side. Small fragments of rock fall from the edge and disappear into the rolling waves below. She could fall hundreds of feet down, and nothing but tragedy would follow. It would be my fault.
It’s solely up to me to save her, but the