I’ve been screwed.

It started the day I was conceived.

When I was eleven, life crushed me into grotesque, mangled fragments. I glued the shards of myself into a mosaic fitting of a child. I learned one important thing from that experience.

Control.

Controlling your destiny keeps the vultures at bay. Control keeps my life from disintegrating. It keeps my life on the path to the woman I want to be.

Not who they say I am.

As time goes on, life hits and smashes and I take it. Every snide word, every crack in my heart, every self-righteous glance again and again.

Screw that.

I’m done.

It’s my turn to screw.

After the run, we stand at the steps, catching our breath.

I start to say, “Later,” but before I get the L out, his eyes focus on my temple and follow a path down my cheek, my chin, and then down to my cleavage.

“What are you doing?” My voice snaps.

His eyes shoot to mine. They’re tense but also burning. My skin tingles, and I lean away.

“Just remembering a time when I could do something about the salt dripping down that beautiful body.”

My mouth pops open. The memory of me spread wide on my counter, him eating me after a run, flashes through my mind. My pussy clenches before I snap my mouth closed.

“That’s just as gross now as it was then.”

He grins, the intensity leaving his eyes, and he winks. “Not gross, babe. It’s hot. Something primal about having the natural taste of you, all worked up with adrenaline pumping, after watching your body move.”

My tits swell.

He continues, “I don’t think you minded too much then.” He leans closer and slides his tongue across his bottom lip before his teeth make the same path. “I bet you wouldn’t mind now either.”

My entire body trembles.

Control.

Before I can decide how to play the situation, one side of his mouth tips up. “Not yet, sweets. We’re not ready.” His eyes drop to my cleavage and then come back to my eyes. “I’m looking forward to it though.”

Not wanting to lose the upper hand, I put my hands on his chest, roll up to my tiptoes, hood my eyes, and lick my lips. His eyes drop to my mouth, growing heated, before he looks back at me.

I keep his gaze as I whisper, “Don’t hold your breath.”

I pull away, grinning, and he grabs me by the waist and hauls me close. “That wasn’t very nice.”

My heart thumps in my chest. “Never said I was nice.”

Anna lives every day the best she can while struggling against the demons that threaten to consume her and drag her back into the darkness of her very troubled past. The last thing she needs right now is a guy, especially one as sweet and sexy as Jed. When the attraction becomes too strong to resist, she gives into it. Even when she knows it’ll only end in disaster and leave her even more her scared and broken than she was before.

Jed wants to find the right woman and he’s drawn to Anna by carnal magnetism, but she also brings out an Alpha side of him that he’s never known. When his alpha rears its head, it triggers memories in Anna and her carefully crafted wall of protection begins to show cracks.

When fate and misunderstandings threaten the already delicate relationship, can they survive? When Anna’s demons threaten to be unearthed and Jed’s inner alpha only seem to make them worse, can they overcome?

Is it even worth it?

Warning: This book contains graphic violence, sex, and adult language

Nicki DeStasi was raised in a small town in Massachusetts. She attended Fitchburg State College and studied Early Childhood Education. As a child, she enjoyed reading, but only recently began doing it again. She has always had an inventive imagination and finally decided to put those ideas on paper for others to enjoy. Worth It was Nicki’s first self-published book. A few personal facts: Sloth from The Goonies is her third cousin, she acted and stared in several plays throughout high school and college, and she can play four different instruments. Nicki’s philosophy is to appreciate the good things in life. If we didn’t make mistakes and have bad things happen then we wouldn’t know how truly wonderful the good things are. No matter how difficult life is sometimes, if we look to the people that love us, then we can get through them and on to the good stuff.