Alaska Heins has no problem telling me exactly how messed up my priorities are. Calling me out is a death sentence to most, but I prefer to punish her when she’s on her knees before me. Begging for everything I’m unwilling to give her. It was a win for me, until a rival decided to try to encroach on what’s mine.

I’m dead. Murdered by the man Iris loved. She did everything she could. Begged for me not to take my final breath, for me to stay. I heard it, the plea she sent up, begging for me to be spared. All because they needed me. The love I had for them wasn’t enough to save me, But I pray it’s enough to save them.

One, two. Davie, I’m coming for you… I couldn’t protect them. The women he murdered, the ones he nearly destroyed. Trixie. Cricket. Wylde. My wife. But I will make him pay. For every life he has taken, for every minute of pain and fear he has caused my family. I will find him. And I will end him. And no one, not even the two people I’ve pledged my life to, can stop me.

One, two, Davie's coming for you... As sheriff, I live by a code of honor. A code that doesn't include defiling my little sister's best friend, no matter how badly I may want to. But then the bodies start piling up, turning my small town into a graveyard for a madman. And Trixie, the girl I'm not supposed to want, disappears. Screw the code. Trixie is mine, and there is nothing I won't do — no rule or law I won't break — to get her back. Even as I fight to save my girl, I’m forced to face a horrible truth: Evil has come to Theophilus. And we may not be strong enough to defeat it. This is a girl next door, best friend's brother romance with a killer reeking havoc in their small town.

Life is a series of choices, and I always seem to make the wrong ones. When my overbearing, overprotective brothers kept me from becoming a cop, I became a private investigator instead. And when fate thrust two hot, dominant men into my life, I knew exactly who I wanted. But my choices have caught up to me, and I’m fighting for my life against a madman. The choices I make now won’t just determine my career path or who I allow in my bed. Now my choices are life… or death.

As an FBI liaison, I was supposed to help the team at Master’s Inc solve a murder. But I couldn’t take my eyes off the curvy, sassy and confident computer tech. I was breaking protocol just to spend a few moments alone with her, but her need to be dominated combined with her friend’s distrust has me hesitating. I want to move past my reservations about the lifestyle and build a future with her, but doing so will require sacrifices I am not sure I can make.

I should walk away from Montana Soltin content with the knowledge that I saved her from the Theophilus Killer. However, when I discover she’s found solace at the bottom of a bottle, I make her an offer she can’t refuse. A distraction from her addiction. As her sobriety buddy, I’m more than happy to use my dominance to entice her submissive nature, but I soon find myself looking at the possibility of a life I never thought I would have the privilege of knowing. When Master’s Inc. finds information that suggests the Theophilus Killer wasn’t the head of the monster, I can’t help but wonder how safe she really is. I saved her once, so why do I feel such a strong need to do it again?

Five years ago, she ran away without a word. I threw myself into building my company into the success it has become, waiting for her to come back to me. Then I saw her. Beautiful as ever with a light in her eyes that I hadn’t seen since the accident that changed our lives. I made her happy once, before that tragic night, and I will do it again. The question is, can I convince her to face our past without running away?

Winner of: 2014 Gradiva Award for Poetry, National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis Both revelatory and sensuous, these poems convey passion that trumps death, beauty that shines through shame, and love that is everlasting. Venturing to the edge of the known world and beyond--bearing unflinching witness to the terrors and ecstasies to be discovered there--this compilation is a kaleidoscopic intertwining of the worlds of humans, nature, myth, and spirit. As it explores fragility and pain, it will interest both fans of poetry as well as those influenced by Jungian thought.