Stealing Her Heart: A Kindred Tales Novel (Brides of the Kindred) Read online

  Stealing Her Heart

  A Kindred tales

  novel

  Evangeline Anderson

  .

  * * * * *

  PUBLISHED BY:

  Evangeline Anderson

  Brides of the Kindred

  Copyright © 2020 by Evangeline Anderson

  License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com or Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  *Cover content is for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted on the cover is a model*

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  Author's Note: This New Years I took to Facebook to ask what you, my readers, would like me to write about. I invited you all to send me your ideas and promised I would dedicate a book to you if I used your idea. Well, I got so many good responses, I was overwhelmed! Some of you need to be writing your own books--that's for sure. : ) I kept the idea that my muse liked best in a file and several of them made their way into this book. So without further ado--the dedication!

  Dedication: This book is dedicated to Terri Webb for her idea of a girl in bar wearing an expensive dress that got torn which she was going to return, stood up on Valentine's Day. Honorable mention to Melisa Tharrington Davis for her idea of Kindred overpopulation causing the Kindred to decide to build another Mother Ship (I just touched on this) and to Marie Whelen who asked for a Mature heroine whose kids are already away at college. Thank you all for your wonderful, creative ideas and for continuing to love the world of the Kindred as much as I do!

  Love,

  Evangeline

  Also by Evangeline Anderson

  Brides of the Kindred series (Sci-fi /Action-Adventure /Romance)

  Claimed (Also available in Audio)

  Hunted (Also available in Audio)

  Sought (Also Available in Audio)

  Found (Also Available in Audio )

  Revealed (Also Available in Audio)

  Pursued (Also Available in Audio)

  Exiled (Also Available in Audio)

  Shadowed (Also Available in Audio)

  Chained (Also Available in Audio)

  Divided (Also Available in Audio)

  Devoured (Also Available in Audio)

  Enhanced (Also Available in Audio)

  Cursed (Also Available in Audio)

  Enslaved (Also Available in Audio)

  Targeted (Also Available in Audio)

  Forgotten (coming soon to Audio)

  Switched

  Uncharted

  Unbound

  Surrendered

  Vanished

  Imprisoned

  Twisted

  Deceived

  Kindred Tales series (side stories in the Brides of the Kindred which are outside the main story arc. These can be read as STAND ALONE novels.)

  Mastering the Mistress (Also available in Audio)

  Bonding with the Beast (Also available in Audio)

  Seeing with the Heart (Also available in Audio)

  Freeing the Prisoner (Also available in Audio)

  Healing the Broken (a Kindred Christmas novel) (Also available in Audio)

  Taming the Giant (Also available in Audio)

  Bridging the Distance (Also available in Audio)

  Loving a Stranger (Also available in Audio)

  Finding the Jewel (Also available in Audio)

  Bonded by Accident (Also Available in Audio)

  Releasing the Dragon (Also Available in Audio)

  Sharing a Mate (Also Available in Audio)

  Instructing the Novice (Also Available in Audio)

  Awakened by the Giant (Also Available in Audio)

  Hitting the Target (Also Available in Audio)

  Handling the Hybrid

  Trapped in Time

  Time to Heal

  Pairing with the Protector

  Falling for Kindred Claus (a Kindred Christmas novel)

  Guarding the Goddess

  Stealing Her Heart (a Kindred Valentines novel)

  Born to Darkness series (Paranormal/Action-Adventure/Romance)

  Crimson Debt (Also available in Audio)

  Scarlet Heat (Also available in Audio)

  Ruby Shadows (Also available in Audio)

  Cardinal Sins (Coming Soon)

  Dessert (short novella following Scarlet Heat) (Also in Audio)

  Alien Mate Index series (Sci-fi /Action-Adventure /Romance)

  Abducted (Also available in Print and Audio)

  Protected (Also available in Print and Audio)

  Descended (Also available in Print and Audio)

  Severed (Also available in Print and Audio )

  The Cougarville Series

  (Paranormal/Action-Adventure/Romance/)

  (Older woman/Younger Man)

  Buck Naked (Also available in Audio)

  Cougar Bait (Also available in Audio)

  Stone Cold Fox (Also available in Audio)

  Big Bad Wolf (coming soon)

  The Institute series (Daddy-Dom/Age Play Romance)

  The Institute: Daddy Issues(Also available in Audio)

  The Institute: Mishka's Spanking

  The CyBRG Files with Mina Carter

  (Sci-fi /Action-Adventure /Romance)

  Unit 77: Broken

  Unit 78: Bred

  The Swann Sisters Chronicles

  (Contemporary Fairy/Funny/ Fantasy/Romance)

  Wishful Thinking (Also available in Audio)

  Be Careful What You Wish For (Also available in Audio)

  Nocturne Academy

  (Young Adult Paranormal/Action-Adventure/Romance)

  Lock and Key (coming Jan 2020)

  Fang and Claw

  Stone and Secret

  Compendiums and Box Sets

  Brides of the Kindred Volume One

  Contains Claimed, Hunted, Sought and Found

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Two

  Contains Revealed, Pursued, and Exiled

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Three

  Contains Shadowed, Chained, and Divided

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Four

  Contains Devoured, Enhanced, and Cursed

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Five

  Contains Enslaved, Targeted, and Forgotten

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Six

  Contains Switched, Uncharted, and Unbound

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Seven

  Contains Surrendered, Vanished, and Imprisoned

  Kindred Tales Volume One

  Contains Mastering the Mistress, Bonding with the Beast, Seeing with the Heart

  Kindred Tales Volume Two

  Contains Freeing the Prisoner, Healing the Broken, Taming the Giant

  Kindred Tales Volume Three

  Contains Bridging the Distance, Loving a Stranger, Finding the Jewel

  Kindred Tales Volume Four

  Contains Bonded by Accident, Releasing the Dragon, and Sharing a Mate

  Alien Mate Index Volume One

  Contains Abducted, Protected, Descended, and Severed

  Born to Darkness Box Set

  Contains Crimson Debt, Scarlet Heat, and Ruby Shadows

 
; *One Hot Halloween

  Contains Red and the Wolf, Gypsy Moon, and Taming the Beast

  *Have Yourself a Sexy Little Christmas

  Contains Kidnapped for Christmas, Cougar Christmas, and Seasons's Spankings

  *Bound and Determined

  Contains The Punishment of Nicolett and His Ward

  Stand Alone Novels

  (Sci-fi OR Paranormal Action-Adventure/Romance)

  Purity (Now available in Audio)

  Stress Relief

  The Last Man on Earth

  Anyone U Want

  Shadow Dreams

  Hunger Moon Rising

  Cougar Christmas

  Planet X (Also available in Audio)

  Deal with the Devil (Also available in Audio)

  The Sacrifice (Also available in Audio)

  Blood Kiss

  The Pleasure Palace

  The Last Man on Earth

  Blind Date with a Vampire

  Eyes Like a Wolf (Foster Brother romance)

  *Defiled

  *Ceremony of Three

  *Str8te Boys (M/M romance)

  * Forever Broken (M/M romance)

  * Red and the Wolf

  *Gypsy Moon

  *The Last Bite (M/M romance)

  *The Assignment (M/M romance)

  *Sex with Strangers

  *A Spanking for Valentine

  *The Covenant

  *Tandem Unit

  * denotes books that are only available at Evangeline's Aliens and Alphas Bookstore

  Naughty Tales (Short Reads to get you Hot and Bothered)

  *Sin Eater

  Confessions of a Lingerie Model

  When Mr. Black Comes Home

  Speeding Ticket

  *Putting on a Show

  YA Novels

  The Academy(Now available in Audio)

  Click HERE to join my audiobook newsletter.

  Table of Contents

  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

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Chapter Thirty-six

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-one

  Chapter Forty-two

  Chapter Forty-three

  Chapter Forty-four

  Chapter Forty-five

  Chapter Forty-six

  Epilogue

  Fang and Claw: Book 2 of the Nocturne Academy Series Sneak Peek

  Bonus Content: Deleted Chapter from Guarding the Goddess

  Give a Hot Kindred Warrior to a Friend!

  Also by Evangeline Anderson

  About the Author

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  Chapter One

  Victoria Erickson sat at the Last Call Bar nursing her third strawberry daiquiri and looking down at the rip in the skirt of her expensive Teri Jon dress. She had no idea how she had gotten it, but there it was, staring at her like a bad omen.

  The Teri Jon was a sexy red wrap dress and Vicky had gotten it at Saks especially for tonight—for her Valentine’s date. It hadn’t been on sale, either. In fact, it had cost an ungodly amount—almost five hundred dollars—which she could ill afford on her high school teacher’s salary. But it had looked so good and made her feel so sexy, she’d decided to do something she normally wouldn’t—get the dress, wear it once, and then return it the next day.

  No returning it now, whispered a little voice in the back of her head as she examined the rip. Nope, no way—absolutely not. You just blew your savings on something you couldn’t afford in the first place. Now what are you going to do the next time the Civic breaks down or the AC goes out?

  Vicky didn’t have answers for those questions—all she knew was that she’d paid an awful lot to look nice and the effort had been completely wasted. Her date hadn’t even showed.

  “Stupid app,” she muttered, staring resentfully down at her phone. “Should have known trying to start dating again at my age wouldn’t work.” Not after over twenty years of being with the same man, anyway.

  It had been her older daughter Jodi’s idea to get her an account on Second Time Around, the premier dating app for divorced people in their forties and fifties.

  “Dad’s moving on, Mom—you should too,” she’d said when Vicky had admitted to being lonely.

  It had seemed like a good idea at the time. It had been almost a year since her youngest daughter, Melinda, had gone off to college and Vicky’s husband of twenty-six years had announced that he was leaving.

  In fact, both events had happened on the very same day. Vicky had still had tears in her eyes from seeing her baby off to USF when Kevin had announced that he’d “had enough of this shit” and he was leaving immediately.

  “He already had his bags packed,” Vicky murmured to herself, taking another sip of her daiquiri. “Couldn’t wait to get away.”

  As it turned out, her ex had only been waiting until both kids were gone so he couldn’t be forced to pay any kind of child support. And it further turned out that he’d been having an affair with his secretary for the past three years. And to cap off the sad, stereotypical story of her husband’s infidelity, his secretary—who was now his new wife—was pregnant.

  So Kevin was starting all over again while Vicky was just left there in the dust, middle aged and alone with no one to love her and no one left to love—at least, no one at home, since all her chicks had flown the nest.

  Oh, stop being so maudlin, Vicky scolded herself mentally. You’re not usually like this—it must be the alcohol talking.

  Well, that and the fact that she’d been stood up on Valentine’s Day. Which sucked—honestly, there was no way around it.

  The worst thing was, Vicky was fairly certain she’d spotted Ted—the man she was supposed to meet—earlier in the crowded front of the bar. She’d seen a man who seemed to match his picture—well, sort of, since he was a lot shorter than the 6’2 he’d listed and had a beer belly and was balding. But all the same, he’d looked like the photo on the app.

  Vicky had seen him looking—scanning the bar for the woman in the red dress. She’d felt so sexy earlier, messaging him with that little bit of information. “I’ll be the one with a silver streak in her hair and a low-cut red dress,” she’d typed and had felt a tingling between her thighs she hadn’t felt in years.

  She and Kevin had been in a sexless marriage for the last five years together and tonight she’d imagined she might finally have a little fun for the first time in ages. So she had waved at Ted—or the man she thought was Ted—trying to catch his eye behind the thick glasses he wore.

  Ted—if it had been Ted—had sized her up with a quick up and down glance, then turned and headed right back out of the bar. He hadn’t waved back, or come up to give any kind of explanation, or anything. He just left—as though what he saw when he looked at Vicky wasn’t enough to tempt him—wasn’t even enough to warrant any common courtesy.

&nbs
p; Vicky had tried to tell herself it was the wrong guy, that it hadn’t been her date at all that she’d seen looking at her and leaving. But the minutes had ticked by and Ted never showed. He never even messaged her on the app to let her know he wasn’t coming or answered the short message she’d sent, asking if she was at the right place. (She knew she was—she’d double checked twice.)

  So that was her Valentine’s Day in a nutshell. The torn dress, the empty barstool beside her, and the two empty daiquiri glasses—soon to be three—said it all.

  Why didn’t he stay? What did he see that made him just leave like that, with no explanation? Vicky wondered morosely. Yes, she was over forty—she was forty-six and a half to be exact—but she hadn’t hidden her age. And yes, she was on the curvy side, but she hadn’t hidden that either. She had marked the “more to love” box on her profile, indicating she was plus-sized.

  Maybe Ted hadn’t liked the streak of pure silver that ran through her dark hair, highlighting her face. But that was in her profile picture too and Vicky refused to dye it. Likewise, she wasn’t going to get Botox or spend her meager teacher’s salary on expensive skin treatments to get rid of the faint crow’s feet around her eyes. She had earned every one of her wrinkles and she was proud of the fact that she had a lot more lines from laughing than from frowning.

  Basically, she wasn’t going to pretend she was twenty because she wasn’t twenty, damn it! She had some life experience under her belt. She’d raised two daughters to be lovely human beings and she’d taught more kids than she could count at Woodrow Wilson High School to speak passable Spanish and French, as well as coaching the Drama Club.

  Why didn’t anyone appreciate age and wisdom in a woman? Was the fact that she wasn’t a skinny young virgin really going to keep her single and alone for the rest of her life?