Prison Break

OceanCrest Series Reading Order

Novels

Awake
(Jeremy and Maggie's story)

Awaken
(Tyson and Sharisse's story)

Awakening
(Niyol and Vivian's story)

Novellas

Eat Mì / Eat Me
(An and Jessica's story)

Novelettes

Prison Break
(Mateo and Natalia's story)

Prison
Break

OceanCrest Series

Novelette

Jade Onyx

Copyright © 2013
Jade Onyx

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Except for use in any review, the
reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any
form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and
recording, in any information storage or retrieval system, is
forbidden without the written permission of the author.

This book contains content that is
not
suitable
for readers 17 and under.

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WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction,
sharing, or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without
monetary gain, is investigated by the
FBI
and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine
of $250,000.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places and incidents are either the product of the author's
imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual
persons—living or dead—business establishments, events or locales
is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of
America.

Books written by Jade Onyx can be obtained either
through the author’s official website:

www.JadeOnyxBooks.com

or through select, online book retailers.

To discover more about the books in this
series, see the
OceanCrest Series
at the back of
this book. For more about Jade Onyx, visit the
About the
Author
section.

Table of Contents

OceanCrest
Series Reading Order

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Author's Note

1 Dinner Break

2 Outbreak

3 Overseas
Friends

4 Visitation

5 Escape

6 Taking Flight

7 Old Flame

8 The Fling

9 Eye Candy

10 The Trail

11 The Call

About the
Author

Excerpt

OceanCrest
Series

This book is dedicated to my lifelong mentor,
D. I., and his wife, K.I., who both believed in me and continue to
inspire me to become the best me I can be. Thank you from the
bottom of my heart, in this lifetime and countless lifetimes to
come.

I also dedicate this book to the ones whose
passing this year made me realize that everyday is another day to
seize the day and contribute to our legacy, the unique vow and
mission that we alone can complete on this planet. Thank you for
helping me realize that HER ~ Healing Erotic Romance ~ is my gift
to the world.

In memory of:

Harvey Richard Walker

(April 27, 2013 - April 28, 2013)

Merlo Evans, Sachiko Sytz, Hideko Winquist

(Pioneers in Faith)

My first land pets—3 week-old sex-linked female
chicks

(May 15, 2013 – May 22, 2013)

My maternal grandmother, the last of my living
grandparents

(August 30, 1923 - June 23, 2013)

Finally, I dedicate this book to erotic
romance authors Shoshanna Evers and Kallypso Masters. In utilizing
your spare time to email me, you both helped me find my place.
Without you, this series would not exist. Thank you.

Thank you to my readers, especially my beta
readers. You all ROCK! Alexander L. Lee, your insight led me to
chop off major dips in action and insert an entire chapter into the
book. Melanie Thomas, your suggestion to include the excerpt anyway
completed this book. Thank you both for your honest feedback about
the last chapter, which helped me transform something “mechanical”
into something exciting for me to write. Thanks also to ThirdEye
Critique for a few more nuances to the last chapter. All of your
insights saved me from embarrassment and helped me make this book
and the characters stronger.

Thank you to my mate and my children for
permitting me, willingly and unwillingly, to enter my writer's
cave. Special thanks to my characters—for inspiring me and holding
me hostage at times to write about their lives. Thank you for
opening the curtains to your sex life and your hearts.

Last but not least, I want to thank erotic
romance authors Kallypso Masters and Shoshanna Evers. Kally,
partaking in a craft writers group and seeking a critique partner
was just what I needed! Shoshanna, you inspire me as a fellow mama
writer with a young one at home. Thank you for encouraging me to
write a series.

This novelette evolved from an excerpt from
Awake
(Book One of the OceanCrest Series), a full-length
novel. I was over two-thirds done writing the first draft for the
novel when I needed to take a “vacation” from the book length
project to write this novelette. This vacation practically started
as soon as I wrote the excerpt, which is entitled “The Trail” for
the second-to-last chapter in this novelette.

My screen went blank for the rest of the
novel, because Natalia and Mateo's story gripped me. They wouldn't
leave me alone until I gave them their happily ever after.
Actually, Natalia did not like being one of the lesser villains in
Awake
and had desired redemption in
Prison Break
.
More like, she really wanted to get laid and have the best of both
worlds—great sex and a great marriage. And she knew she was going
to get it from me, because I'm a sucker for a happy ending. :-)

By the time you finish reading this
novelette, you'll probably think Natalia bullied me into getting
her happily ever after. Not true. I had nothing but compassion for
her desperate plight, because I truly believe that misery
disappears in the presence of happiness. In other words, happy
people make others happy.

Since Argentina is Natalia and Mateo's
homeland, I want to point out that the PFA is the Argentinian
equivalent of the FBI. Other terminologies unfamiliar to the
English reader are used in context so that the reader will pick up
terms related to food and sexuality.
Machismo
, for example,
is hypermasculinity or aggressive manhood.

Some questions may remain for you as the
reader and I hope that
Awake
will answer them for you,
especially Jeremy and Jessica's relationship as siblings and Jeremy
and Maggie's blossoming relationship as lovers.

To stay tuned about Jeremy and Maggie's
happily ever after in
Awake
, sign up for my email list at
www.JadeOnyxBooks.com
.

The handcrafted dining table was warm with
carbonada criolla
and potato and beef
empanadas
.
However, Natalia Varela felt anything but warm sitting across the
dining table, under the cold scrutiny of Mateo Varela's
coffee-colored eyes.

She sipped some of the stew to help her heat
up, but to no avail. Their evenings for the past year were equally
cool and distant. An ominous question dangled as visibly as the
chandelier hovering over their meal.

Every month for the past two years, the same
question surfaced. The first year, the question remained unspoken.
The second year, the question became audible. Tonight was one of
those nights. Although she expected the question to arise, what
made the question unbearable for Natalia was exactly when the
question would spring.

The air grew thick, so thick she felt she
could not breathe. Avoiding Mateo's gaze, her throat tightened. She
swallowed carefully, trying not to choke on her food. Her breath
became shallow. She became painfully aware of a thick band of pain
in her chest, in her heart. God, she needed air. She needed room.
She needed space.

“Natalia, will you bed with me tonight?”
Mateo asked.

The question. Again.

Her jaw froze mid-chew. She swallowed her
mouthful of stew. “Why does everything have to sound like a
transaction to you? I don't feel like it.”

“This is the best time,” he said. “Our
doctors confirmed we are both fertile. If we don't have a child
soon, people will question our marriage. Some already think you're
a gold digger.”

“Just because Papá raised me on a single
income as a cab driver does not mean I'm a gold digger. He taught
me enough to make money of my own.” She glared at him. “Your father
came from humble beginnings, too, and worked his way up the
political ladder. You're living off his legacy right now. And
thanks to the Taxi Drivers Union strikes, we're here today.”

Mateo sighed. “I just want to protect you,
stop the rumors before they start. That's all.”

“Another transaction,” she grumbled. “So you
want it because you want a baby? And you want a baby just so you
can
protect
me?” she scoffed. She felt warm, but it was not
from the food. She shook her head. “I'm sorry, Mateo, but I just
don't feel like bedding tonight.”

He set down his silverware and brushed back
his thick black hair. “Maybe you can tell me then.” Leaning
forward, he asked, “Are you...are you
lesbiana
?”

“No! That's ridiculous!” Natalia fumed. A
wave of heat rushed up her spine, prickled through her dark brown
hair and flooded her cheeks. Fire shot from her dark brown eyes.
“After two years of marriage, you question me?!” She had lost her
appetite.

Mateo's dark brows furrowed. “You just don't
seem to enjoy it, like it's an obligation. A duty you have to
perform for me, only because you are my wife.”

She looked away. She didn't want to hurt him
by telling the truth—that he never got her to come. God, Mateo made
a great husband, just not a great lover. At all. She wished she had
both in one man.

“I'm just not into it,” she mumbled.

“Then teach me.” Desperation—or was it
determination?—seeped into his voice. “Show me how to get you into
it.”

She squirmed. He just wasn't good in bed, not
like her last lover—the one who still haunted her dreams. Mateo was
handsome enough, like her last lover. Although not a good lover,
Mateo was a good man and she didn't want to hurt his feelings. “I
can't. I don't know how. I just—”

Ding-dong.

Mateo stood up. “I'll get it.”

Natalia struggled to eat some more, but found
her attention on the door. Who could it be, visiting this late in
the evening? They had not expected any guests.

Mateo came back, jaw set, and gave her a
quick kiss on the cheek. “It's the PFA. They want to ask me some
questions at the police station. I've called my lawyer. I may not
be home tonight.”

Something in his voice alarmed Natalia. Why
would the PFA want to take him in for questioning at this time of
night? “What do they want to ask you?”

“Something about work.” Politics.

“You're not coming back, are you?” she
asked.

“It may be several days.” Another guarded
answer.

“Did someone set you up?” Mateo was a
gentleman, an up-and-coming politician. The big wigs probably had
it in for him as the fall guy, especially since Mateo was partial
to the workers who voted him in and did not concede to big
money.