Control
An Everyday Heroes Novella
By K. Bromberg
1001 Dark Nights
Control: An Everyday Heroes Novella
By K. Bromberg
1001 Dark Nights
Copyright 2018 JKB Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 978-1-948050-38-8
Foreword: Copyright 2014 M. J. Rose
Published by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.
Book Description
Control: An Everyday Heroes Novella
By K. Bromberg
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author K. Bromberg comes a new story in her Everyday Heroes series…
Control is something Desi Whitman abhors. Why live life in black and white perfection when you can messily color outside the lines?
But when she comes face to face with SWAT officer Reznor Mayne, he’s about to show her just how good control can feel.
**Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you'll enjoy each one as much as we do.**
About K. Bromberg
New York Times Bestselling author K. Bromberg writes contemporary romance novels that contain a mixture of sweet, emotional, a whole lot of sexy, and a little bit of real. She likes to write strong heroines and damaged heroes who we love to hate but can’t help to love.
A mom of three, she plots her novels in between school runs and soccer practices, more often than not with her laptop in tow and her mind scattered in too many different directions.
Since publishing her first book on a whim in 2013, Kristy has sold over one and a half million copies of her books across eighteen different countries and has landed on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestsellers lists over thirty times. Her Driven trilogy (Driven, Fueled, and Crashed) is currently being adapted for film by the streaming platform, Passionflix, with the first movie (Driven) out now.
With her imagination always in overdrive, she is currently scheming, plotting, and swooning over her latest hero. You can find out more about him or chat with Kristy on any of her social media accounts. The easiest way to stay up to date on new releases and upcoming novels is to sign up for her newsletter (http://bit.ly/254MWtI) or text KBromberg to 77948 to receive text alerts when a new book releases.
Also from K. Bromberg
Click to purchase
Driven
Fueled
Crashed
Raced
Aced
UnRaveled
Slow Burn
Sweet Ache
Hard Beat
Down Shift
Sweet Cheeks
Sweet Rivalry
The Player
The Catch
Cuffed
Combust
Worth the Risk
Faking It
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection One
Click here to explore
FOREVER WICKED by Shayla Black
CRIMSON TWILIGHT by Heather Graham
CAPTURED IN SURRENDER by Liliana Hart
SILENT BITE: A SCANGUARDS WEDDING by Tina Folsom
DUNGEON GAMES by Lexi Blake
AZAGOTH by Larissa Ione
NEED YOU NOW by Lisa Renee Jones
SHOW ME, BABY by Cherise Sinclair
ROPED IN by Lorelei James
TEMPTED BY MIDNIGHT by Lara Adrian
THE FLAME by Christopher Rice
CARESS OF DARKNESS by Julie Kenner
Also from 1001 Dark Nights
TAME ME by J. Kenner
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Two
Click here to explore
WICKED WOLF by Carrie Ann Ryan
WHEN IRISH EYES ARE HAUNTING by Heather Graham
EASY WITH YOU by Kristen Proby
MASTER OF FREEDOM by Cherise Sinclair
CARESS OF PLEASURE by Julie Kenner
ADORED by Lexi Blake
HADES by Larissa Ione
DREAM OF YOU by Jennifer L. Armentrout
STRIPPED DOWN by Lorelei James
RAGE/KILLIAN by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright
DRAGON KING by Donna Grant
PURE WICKED by Shayla Black
HARD AS STEEL by Laura Kaye
STROKE OF MIDNIGHT by Lara Adrian
ALL HALLOWS EVE by Heather Graham
KISS THE FLAME by Christopher Rice
DARING HER LOVE by Melissa Foster
TEASED by Rebecca Zanetti
THE PROMISE OF SURRENDER by Liliana Hart
Also from 1001 Dark Nights
THE SURRENDER GATE By Christopher Rice
SERVICING THE TARGET By Cherise Sinclair
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Three
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HIDDEN INK by Carrie Ann Ryan
BLOOD ON THE BAYOU by Heather Graham
SEARCHING FOR MINE by Jennifer Probst
DANCE OF DESIRE by Christopher Rice
ROUGH RHYTHM by Tessa Bailey
DEVOTED by Lexi Blake
Z by Larissa Ione
FALLING UNDER YOU by Laurelin Paige
EASY FOR KEEPS by Kristen Proby
UNCHAINED by Elisabeth Naughton
HARD TO SERVE by Laura Kaye
DRAGON FEVER by Donna Grant
KAYDEN/SIMON by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright
STRUNG UP by Lorelei James
MIDNIGHT UNTAMED by Lara Adrian
TRICKED by Rebecca Zanetti
DIRTY WICKED by Shayla Black
THE ONLY ONE by Lauren Blakely
SWEET SURRENDER by Liliana Hart
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Four
Click here to explore
ROCK CHICK REAWAKENING by Kristen Ashley
ADORING INK by Carrie Ann Ryan
SWEET RIVALRY by K. Bromberg
SHADE'S LADY by Joanna Wylde
RAZR by Larissa Ione
ARRANGED by Lexi Blake
TANGLED by Rebecca Zanetti
HOLD ME by J. Kenner
SOMEHOW, SOME WAY by Jennifer Probst
TOO CLOSE TO CALL by Tessa Bailey
HUNTED by Elisabeth Naughton
EYES ON YOU by Laura Kaye
BLADE by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright
DRAGON BURN by Donna Grant
TRIPPED OUT by Lorelei James
STUD FINDER by Lauren Blakely
MIDNIGHT UNLEASHED by Lara Adrian
HALLOW BE THE HAUNT by Heather Graham
DIRTY FILTHY FIX by Laurelin Paige
THE BED MATE by Kendall Ryan
PRINCE ROMAN by CD Reiss
NO RESERVATIONS by Kristen Proby
DAWN OF SURRENDER by Liliana Hart
Also from 1001 Dark Nights
Tempt Me by J. Kenner
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Featuring stories
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Stacey Kennedy, Adriana Locke
JB Salsbury, and Erika Wilde
Table of Contents
Book Description
About K. Bromberg
Also from K. Bromberg
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection One
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Two
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Three
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Four
Foreword
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
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
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Five
Discover the World of 1001 Dark Nights
Discover More K. Bromberg
Special Thanks
One Thousand and One Dark Nights
Once upon a time, in the future…
I was a student fascinated with stories and learning.
I studied philosophy, poetry, history, the occult, and
the art and science of love and magic. I had a vast
library at my father’s home and collected thousands
of volumes of fantastic tales.
I learned all about ancient races and bygone
times. About myths and legends and dreams of all
people through the millennium. And the more I read
the stronger my imagination grew until I discovered
that I was able to travel into the stories... to actually
become part of them.
I wish I could say that I listened to my teacher
and respected my gift, as I ought to have. If I had, I
would not be telling you this tale now.
But I was foolhardy and confused, showing off
with bravery.
One afternoon, curious about the myth of the
Arabian Nights, I traveled back to ancient Persia to
see for myself if it was true that every day Shahryar
(Persian: شهريار, “king”) married a new virgin, and then
sent yesterday's wife to be beheaded. It was written
and I had read, that by the time he met Scheherazade,
the vizier's daughter, he’d killed one thousand
women.
Something went wrong with my efforts. I arrived
in the midst of the story and somehow exchanged
places with Scheherazade – a phenomena that had
never occurred before and that still to this day, I
cannot explain.
Now I am trapped in that ancient past. I have
taken on Scheherazade’s life and the only way I can
protect myself and stay alive is to do what she did to
protect herself and stay alive.
Every night the King calls for me and listens as I spin tales.
And when the evening ends and dawn breaks, I stop at a
point that leaves him breathless and yearning for more.
And so the King spares my life for one more day, so that
he might hear the rest of my dark tale.
As soon as I finish a story... I begin a new
one... like the one that you, dear reader, have before
you now.
Prologue
Reznor
“It wasn’t your fault, Rez.”
“Easy for you to say.” I look over to my supervisor, Harry, and take in the pained look on his face, but I don’t really care. “I made the call to breach. Their blood is on my hands.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” Laughter in the bullpen outside his office filters in, so he walks the few steps and shuts the door hard enough for the cheap metal mini blinds to make a noise as they bounce back against its glass. “It was the fucker who did this’s fault.”
“Mm-hmm.” I keep my eyes on my hands, but with her scream so loud in my head it could be blood on my cuticles and not the grease from working on my motorcycle earlier that I stare at. “I need some time off. A month or two. I don’t know.”
His chuckle is dismissive. “Guys like you don’t take time off, Reznor. You’re a throwback. You’ve been doing this, what? Twelve years?”
“Fifteen.”
“Fifteen. How many times in my tenure here have I heard you say you want time off only to come back the next day?”
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is I’m asking now.” I roll my shoulders because I was right. He was going to fight me on this.
“You’re the team leader. You just can’t—”
“Paul will do just fine stepping into my shoes for a bit.”
“He’s not you though. In case you haven’t noticed, it seems like we’re in a wave of serious shit right now. One fucking thing after another. The calls aren’t stopping…Christ.” He puts his hands on his hips and stares at the guys in the pen. They’re ribbing each other and laughing when fuck if I know how long it’s been since I’ve gotten a solid night’s sleep. “They depend on you.”
I nod, the guilt already eating at me that I’m going to let my men down. “I know.”
His sigh is heavy and weighs down the room. “I can’t do it right now. I can’t let you step away so you keep reliving everything that went down. You’re going to get in your own head over it, and that’s gonna fuck you up further. You’ll walk away.”
“I won’t walk away.” The thought has crossed my mind more times than not these past few sleepless weeks.
“We have shrinks here you can talk to. Department ones who know the stress you’re going through.”
“I’ve been there, done that.”
“Not with this case you haven’t. C’mon. I’ll make you an appointment.” He moves to the phone and picks it up as if he’s calling.
“Shrinks who will take everything I say and use it against me to put me in some desk in the gun locker or file archives.”
“I wouldn’t allow that.”
“Doesn’t mean it wouldn’t happen.”
“Rez—”
“If you don’t give me time off, then I quit.”
The speed at which his head whips up tells me he heard me loud and clear this time. “What do you mean, you quit? That’s fucking hilarious.”
I shove up from my seat, and that sudden wave of panic, which feels like a constant part of me these days, rises up and threatens to take over. His smile fades and his eyebrows narrow when he sees I’m dead serious.
“Rez, what’s going on?”
I shove a hand through my hair and shake my head. “I don’t know.”
But I do know. It’s the constant doubt that I messed up and my fuck-up took someone else’s life.
Children’s lives. Innocent kids who had a lifetime of possibilities stretched before them.
“I’ve never seen you step away. You’re always taking extra shifts. You’re always here even when you’re off training the newbies. This is your place.”
“That’s the saddest statement I’ve ever heard.” I chuckle, but it just sounds desperate…when I’m not a desperate man. “Maybe I do need to quit, so I can get some kind of life other than wanting to hang out with this bunch of assholes.” I look out the window at my crew. I know them better than some of
their wives do. I trust my life with them and to them.
But fuck if that drive within me isn’t gone, and I have no clue how to find it again. And for a long time, that was all I needed. All that motivated me.
“Don’t quit, Rez,” he says. He holds up his hand for me to wait, while he sits behind his massive desk that looks impressive but would probably fall apart with one solid slam of the drawers.
“Why? People get killed on my watch, Sarge.”
“You’ve had a bad string of crazies. They aren’t your fault.”
“No, but not saving lives is.”
“Are you doubting yourself?” His eyes bore into mine and make me want to look away, but hell if his words aren’t the truth right now.
Hell yes, I doubt myself. And why the fuck wouldn’t I?
“Just give me some time.”
Harry doesn’t relent, because he knows what’s going on. He knows the more time I take away, the more likely I won’t be able to find my way back.
He shuffles some papers, and when he finds the one he’s searching for, he takes a minute to read it through. He twists his lips as if he’s trying to figure something out for a moment before lifting his eyes to meet mine. “I have an offer for you.”
“I won’t take it.”
A raise won’t fix this.
“Just hear me out.” He holds up his hands in front of him, telling me to be patient. When I don’t move from the chair, he continues. “It’s a change of pace. A change in scenery. It’s all right here…”
Chapter One
Desi
Men are on women.
Women are on women.
Grunts and groans fill the air.
There is cheering from the sidelines as bystanders watch them writhe and buck and try to get the other off them.