“You are going to regret this,” Preacher snarls as he is led out of our room. “I promise you, you will regret this,” he screams.
The hatred in his eyes is something I will never forget. And I know he means every word. Will I always have to live in fear?
“And I promise you, if you come near her again, you’re a dead man,” Ford says, so silently I almost didn’t hear.
“HE’S NOT DEAD, TAZ,” Ford says, turning to me.
“But he- he said he killed him,” I counter, incredulous, as I hear a pair of cuffs clank on my soon-to-be ex-husband’s arm.
“If I’d been ten minutes later, the vet said he would have died. He also said it’s a miracle he survived.”
I sag into him, literally stopping myself from jumping up and down like a kid on Christmas morning.
“He’s going to make a full recovery. Once the fur grows back over his belly where he was stabbed, you won’t even know he was hurt.”
“Oh, I’ll know. I’ll always know,” I shiver. “Ford, I want to go home. Will you take me home?”
“Anything for you Taz. Anything,” I say, gathering her shaking form close.
EPILOGUE
Taz
“You’re like a butterfly that flits from flower to flower. Stop your flitting and come to bed, woman.”
“I’m coming,” I say, a smile lighting up my face. “And tell Yip to get off the bed. He knows better.”
“How do you know he’s even on the bed?”
“Because you let him on there every night?”
“Well I have to have some company in bed, since you take forever to get in here.”
“But I always make it worth your while, now don’t I?” I say, entering our bedroom in the farmhouse, that had become a home for two. Three; counting Yip.
“Well I can’t argue with that,” Ford responds, reaching out and yanking me down.
Yip jumps down from the bed. “And stay down,” I say, pointing a finger at him.
He saunters to his claimed spot at the foot of the bed and drops down on his haunches.
“He knows better,” I say.
“You are the lady of this house – ruling man and beast,” Ford grins.
“It’s more than a house, Ford. It’s a home. The life I had before ... I didn’t even realize the depths of my unhappiness until I escaped and came here. And then I fell in love with this town. And Yip. And you.”
“Say that again.”
“I fell in with this town—”
“Skip the town and the dog; get to the loving me part,” he says.
“I love you Ford Casek Burns. I love you with all my heart. You’ve rescued me in so many ways. My body. My mind. My soul. My heart.”
“I love you Taz Ophelia Palmer. And one day, even if I have to ask you a thousand more times, you will become my wife.”
“I’m still somebody else’s wife, unfortunately. I can’t believe that even after he was convicted and sentenced, he’s still fighting our divorce. His criminal trial took less time than our divorce is taking. Who woulda thunk?” I pout in frustration.
“We believe in speedy justice down here. Besides, it was kind of an open-and-shut case with your testimony, and how you looked when we found you.”
Ford shudders every time he thinks about it. Seeing the photos of her during the trial brought it all back; just how close he’d come to losing her. If he’d been thirty seconds later – not even a minute – she would have been gone. He forces his thoughts away from that reality. The thought of it makes his blood run cold. “But your divorce is in New York,” he says, trying for levity. “Y’all city slickers move a lot slower than we country bumpkins, apparently.”
“There is nothing country about you Ford Burns, except your pronounced southern drawl. You’re about as slick and cosmopolitan as they come.”
“Thank the Marines ... we do get to travel the world.”
“Hmmm,” I say, laying in the comfort of his arms. “Seriously Ford, I don’t know how much more of this I can take. My lawyer says that Preacher can draw this out for another six months, or even a year if he wants to.”
“The point is, baby, your divorce will come through. He’s just flexing because he has nothing but time on his hands, and a lot of money. Deadly combo. But his stalling is not stopping our life. You are my woman, no matter what a piece of paper says.”
“Your woman. I like the sound of that.”
“So do I. So put a period on your ex. That life is done.”
“You’re right. And I’m home. I’m finally home. It feels weird to be connected to blood; to my mother’s side of the family. It’s so funny that she’s buried so close to your sister. I wished I’d gotten to know her.”
“I know,” Ford says, his golden eyes soft as they look at me.
“I can’t believe how many people around here know my story. They knew who I was from practically the day I landed in town. I can’t believe nobody ever talked about it.”
“They did once you started asking questions. You said Chalice Bay would give up her secrets when she was ready. Apparently, she was ready.”
“I did say that, didn’t I? And I now have actual friends who live here; friends who are actual blood relatives. It feels weird, but right, ya know?”
“Uh hmm, I do know. And you know what else I know,” he says, sliding one hand under my short silk nightshirt, “it’s time for me and you woman.”
As his hands slowly creeps up my leg, my limbs turn to liquid, melting into him. One hand reaches the promised land.
“No panties. Sweet torture woman. You are sweet torture.”
I draw in a sharp breath as his eyes hold mine captive, messaging me that I’m not alone in this honeyed torture raging between us. The hardness of his hand against the softness of my womanhood make us putty in this mutual game of love.
I wonder if the sensation I feel every time he touches me will ever get old; if I will ever be able to resist the force that drives us together. As one of his fingers find its way inside me, I know I won’t.
I’ve had sex – good sex – many times. But what happens every time Ford takes me, I’ve never experienced. It’s so rare that I don’t even try to put a name to it. It’s just me and him; in a cocoon of us-ness. Our bodies join as a symbol of what resonates deep inside each of us separately, then finds and welds itself together, making us one.
I don’t want to ever name what transpires between us. It’s too precious.
“I LOVE YOU TAZ,” FORD whispers in a husky, almost-slumber, trailing kisses on my neck, over my shoulders, and down my back. His still semi-hard cock rests in the crest of my butt. I scoot closer to him.
He chuckles. “You’re trying to kill me woman,” he declares, squeezing me to him as one of his hands roams between the center of my breast, over my stomach and back between my legs.
“Lord, nobody had better start a fire for at least four hours, because my dick has a mind of its own, and it only knows and wants one thing – you.”
“I will not be blamed for you not saving some old lady’s cat in a tree, or saving a child from a burning building. I’ll behave and let you get some sleep if you’ll do one thing for me.”
“Your wish is always my command, Taz.”
“Tell me again that you love me. That we have what it takes to last forever.”
“I love you Taz Palmer,” he says, suddenly serious. “You are mine. No one and nothing can ever take you away from me, or me from you. I promise you that.”
And his word is his bond. Ford is the kind of man who doesn’t make promises he won’t keep. It is one of the things I love most about him. If he says it, he means it. You can rely on it. You can trust your heart with it. And I trust him with mine. And I have never once doubted that decision.
In spite of my promise to be good, I squirm against him. A kiss of love and gratitude ignites into a bonfire of passion that only this firefighter can put out. And before I know it, we’re into that land of me, him, one, u
s, us-ness.
Perfect.
Together.
Forever.
The way it will always be.
Until death do us part.
Did you love Secrets of Chalice Bay? Then you should read An Accidental Island Wife by Yuwanda Black!
PREVIEW
After a car accident that almost killed him, Jack McCabe has finally figured out what he wants in life. And as he's recuperating, he realizes that it's not his recently proposed-to fiancé; expanding his already successful car customization business; or hobnobbing with his rich and famous clients.
His first love has always been writing, and he transforms his life so he can start to do just that. Only Lexa, his live-in girlfriend of almost seven years, isn't convinced. He had proposed to her the week before his accident and she can't accept that he no longer wants the life they planned.
"Jack listen," Lexa persisted, determined to make him see what a mistake he was making. "Do you think you should be making major life decisions like this after what you've been through? I know you're going to regret this, which is why I'm holding on so hard. I love you and I know you love me too. I believe that with all my heart. If I didn't, I wouldn't have followed you here."
In that moment, Jack realized that he had to resort to saying the one thing he really didn't want to say. "There's someone else."
"You're just saying that," Lexa immediately dismissed. "I know you Jack McCabe. If there was someone else, you would have told me long ago."
"I met her here on the island; she's …"
"Some little island whore?" Lexa lashed out. "You've barely been here a month. You really expect me to believe you're gonna marry some woman you just met, when it took you almost seven years to propose to me?"
Jack folded his arms across his chest and looked at Lexa with a 'that should tell you something' stare.
***
Bella knew she was a pawn in Jack's game, which is why she—on some level—felt sorry for Lexa. To love—and lose – a man like Jack McCabe wouldn't be easy for any woman, never mind one who'd loved him for seven years.
But Bella needed Jack. And even though she'd be his little "accidental island wife" as Lexa put it, she'd take it. The serene life she'd built on the tiny Caribbean island of Arbolina was about to come crashing down now that her abusive ex had found her.
Without Jack, she'd have to leave the home and business she'd built the last six years and go on the run, starting over someplace else. She knew she didn't have the finances to do it, but more importantly, she didn't know if she had the emotional fortitude to do it. She was so tired of feeling like she had to run ... and even more terrified of not doing it.
So when Jack made her an irresistible deal, Bella felt she had no choice but to accept. Help him kill two, maybe three birds, with one stone he said.
"I need to do something drastic to make Lexa get the message that it's over between us," Jack said.
"And marrying me is the drastic action you want to take?" Bella replied. "Maybe Lexa's right; maybe you did get a bump on your head. It's a ridiculous idea Jack. Ridiculous," Bella repeated.
"It's not ridiculous and I know you know how much sense it actually makes. ... Also, I'm almost 40. I'm ready to settle down, and I think we have the makings of something that could be very good. Then, there is the matter of your ex. Like I said, I can protect you."
But could he protect her heart from him, Bella thought.
Read more at Yuwanda Black’s site.
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Secrets of Chalice Bay
Watch for more at Yuwanda Black’s site.
About the Author
I've been a reader of romance novels since I was a pre-teen. I've read hundreds of them.
"Everybody wants to be loved."
This is the enduring theme of all romance novels. We all want to be loved and accepted for exactly who and what we are.
And that's the beauty of love – it keeps the hope alive in each of us that there is someone out there, somewhere, who will love what is unique about us. This is what keeps me reading romance, after romance, after romance.
Professional Background
I've been a freelance writer – for businesses – since 1993. More about my businesses can be found below.
A Romance Writer Is Born
I wrote my first romance novel in 2013 (3 Weeks 'til Forever). I decided to give this type of writing a try because the title popped into my head one day and just wouldn't let go.
After finishing up several more romances, I realize that I've finally found my calling. I love reading – and now writing and publishing – love stories.
In 2014, I formed Inkwell Editorial Publishing to bring as many stories to readers like you as possible. I hope you enjoy reading these novels as much as I enjoy bringing them to you – whether they’re written by me, or by one of our ghost writers.
My Businesses
New Media Words (http://NewMediaWords.biz) is my online writing company.
I also publish http://InkwellEditorial.com, the leading web portal for info on how to start a successful freelance writing career. I've self-published over 50 non-fiction ebooks, mostly on the business of freelance writing, self-publishing and internet marketing.
My writing online writing courses can be found at http://InkwellEditorial.Teachable.com.
My fiction titles (romance) can be found at http://InkwellEditor
ialPublishing.com.
Read more at Yuwanda Black’s site.
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