by R. S. Elliot
That’s been, in part, thanks to Peter.
“Yes, love is in the air.”
I smile to myself, turning back to face my reflection. This smile, it’s an act. Good God. How am I going to walk out there? There have to be hundreds of people. All wondering about the woman who snatched the billionaire playboy from the beautiful blonde heiress and caused him to turn his back on the family business for good.
No pressure.
Damn.
Why do I do this to myself? I need a distraction. “So what about you, Lyndsey? When are you going to find Mr. Perfect?”
“Don’t try to marry me off just yet. I actually enjoy being a free spirit,” Lyndsey says, appearing behind me in the mirror. She slides the veil on the crown of my head, careful not to mangle the creative masterpiece my hair stylist designed. “I’ll just stick to the whole matchmaking aspect of true love. You know, kind of like how I helped you two get together.
“Say what now?” Marianne moves beside Lyndsey, her eyes issuing a clear warning.
I hold back a laugh, failing miserably in the process. “You got us together?”
“Of course. I was your guiding force,” Lyndsey explains, clutching her chest innocently. “I had to get you loosened up to even take that chance.”
“No, no.” Marianne waves a finger in the air. “I’m pretty sure I helped them get together. I was the one who told her to confront Zach about being a stubborn ass and where to find him outside of school.”
“Don’t I get any credit in all of this?” I ask.
“Yes, of course, sweetie.” Lyndsey strokes my shoulder. “This is your big day. You did it all on your own. No help from your loving friends who only support and push you equally.”
My hands flatten against my stomach. I smooth the invisible wrinkles with my palms. I can do this. Who cares what any of those people think? The ones who matter will know my heart is in the right place. They will look at me the same way they do any bride. No judgment, just love, and happiness.
And Zach will be there.
I can just look at him and know everything will be alright.
The door swings open.
Zach leans in, trying to shield his eyes the best he can. “Pardon me, ladies, but I need to borrow my bride for a moment.”
A series of shrieks echo throughout the room as Lyndsey and Marianne try to shove him back out the door.
“You’re not supposed to see the bride before the wedding, Zach.” Marianne swats him with her hand. “It’s bad luck. Get out!”
Zach sighs and pushes his way inside, shutting the door behind him. “I’m not worried about bad luck.”
His eyes find mine, and I have to resist leaping into his arms. He looks so handsome in his tuxedo. It’s not the first time I’ve seen him in one, and yet this looks entirely different. All amusement fades from his face, the arrogant smile fleeing his lips. His eyes stroke along the length of my dress, and instantly my body flushes with heat. I’m imagining every place he’s ever touched me, how that touch will be mine alone for the rest of our lives.
But what’s more, the sheer dreamlike state he’s in warms my cheeks and incites a prickling at the base of my eyes. Stunned, he stares across the room at me as if I somehow transformed into a mythical creature. Something awe-inspiring and magical. He certainly makes me feel that way.
“I’m already marrying the love of my life,” he says, his eyes never leaving me. “I can tackle any curse the universe plans to hurtle at me.”
“You guys are sickeningly sweet,” Lyndsey says. “I mean, it’s adorable. But stop.”
“What was the emergency?” I ask, trying to retract the tears cresting along my eyelids. If I ruin my makeup, I really won’t survive walking out onto the aisle.
Zach steps closer, reaching out and taking my hands in his. His fingers stroke along the length of mine, and I shiver. “Derek lost the rings.”
A growl sneaks past Marianne’s calm composure. “I’m going to kill him.”
“No one needs to die.” Zach holds a hand outward for peace. “Please, it’s my wedding day. I have a spare, and I’m pretty sure the real ones are back at the hotel.”
My eyes narrow suspiciously. All this trouble just to say something that could have been written in a text message? “So why are you here?”
“Well, with Derek and the other groomsmen being distracted, I was able to slip away and see you.” His hands slide around my waist, pulling me tighter against him.
When his lips brush against mine, all the fears and inhibitions swirling around my head fade away. I can face anything when I am in his arms. Nothing matters except for the life we have ahead of us. They could print a horrible feature story about our wedding online, critiquing everything from the catering to the candlesticks to the shade of white I’ve chosen for my dress. I wouldn’t care. I’d still have my happily ever after. I could even trip on my way down the aisle, and I know Zach would be there to help me back up again.
He pulls back, pressing his forehead against mine. “I just wanted to give you a little incentive to make it down the aisle.”
I smile as his eyes whisper messages only I can interpret. He knows, even without me telling him, how nervous I’ve been. He can read all the thoughts racing through my mind, that I needed one last boost to ease my anxieties.
“You’re risking a lifetime of bad luck for one last kiss?” I tease.
“I would risk a thousand lifetimes for you.”
Lyndsey groans.
The door swings open again, this time Derek poking his head inside. He ignores Marianne’s scowl and turns to Zach instead. “Dude…your dad’s here.”
The muscles in Zach’s body tense beneath my hands. He looks from Lyndsey to Marianne, then down to me. “What were you saying about bad luck again?”
“He’s been making an effort.” I release him and push him toward the door. “Maybe it’s time you should, too. After all, he gets nothing out of being here other than to support you and your marriage.”
“Unless he tries to stop the wedding.”
He’s teasing, but a small part of me forces my body to tighten. It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing that’s going to stop me from marrying this man. “He won’t.”
Zach backs up against the wall, pinned between me and the solid wood frame behind him. “How can you be so sure?”
My fingers clutch onto his lapels and yank him toward me. “Because there’s no way in hell I’m letting you leave this place a single man.”
I lean up onto my toes and kiss him.
These three-inch heels do nothing to absorb the distance in height between us, but I’ve learned to be resourceful. I move away and quickly shove him out the door.
“Now, go.”
When I turn back toward Lyndsey and Marianne, they regard me with those same knowing smiles I’ve come to love with all my heart.
The ones that remind me I am a hopeless romantic, that I’ve fallen so desperately in love with a man I never thought would be mine.
A man whose love I deserve and will spend a lifetime returning.
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Forbidden Firefighter
“Would Lyndsey get her own love story?”
This is one of the most common questions I keep getting asked from my beta readers.
I hope you remember Lyndsey, Aly’s roommate.
So here it is…
Forbidden Firefighter is Book 2 and is the story of Lyndsey and Hunter. This book is available for Pre-Order at below link.
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Turn the pages to get a Sneek peak into this book..
Lyndsey
My body slammed back against the wall, Hunter’s large frame instantly falling over top of me. His lips captured mine, hungry, unrestrained—possessive.
I couldn’t
even deny it anymore.
I was his.
Completely and without a care for the consequences. I would sort it all out later. My feelings, the business, my future—everything came secondary to this.
“Lock the door,” I whispered against his mouth. He reached across the small room and turned the lock.
Once it became clear our little endeavor under the mere blanket of darkness would easily be discovered without a more discreet location, we found a small waiting room attached to the dance hall. The room looked like something a bride would freshen up in before making her grand entrance into the ballroom. It was easily accessible from both the outside and the inside, which meant there was no reason to push past a hundred half-drunk party-goers and investors to reach our secluded little spot.
That didn’t mean we couldn’t still be discovered, or that no one had witnessed our moment of weakness outside on the benches. It was a reckless move led by feelings and desires that overcame my better judgment. But I would not apologize for one moment spent in Hunter’s arms.
Not anymore.
My palms glided up the front of his chest, wanting to feel more of his body pressed into mine. His skin flush against me, hot and burning with a passion only he ignited. My fingers trembled as they worked the buttons of his shirt. This was far from my first time, and yet I felt completely lost. I’d never been with a man like Hunter, one I cared about enough to risk everything for.
Making love to him meant potentially losing my job, losing my inheritance, and ultimately my grandmother’s home.
Was it worth it?
Was one night of explosive bliss worth giving up everything I never knew I wanted? I didn’t need a billion dollars to make me happy. I would be just as happy finding my own way working odd jobs to support a trip backpacking through South America.
And yet, losing my family home, the one I deemed a burden only weeks ago, would be my biggest regret.
Hunter was worth it.
He was worth every bit of the risk. Though, it didn’t make giving in any easier.
His shirtsleeves parted before me, and I tugged them down over his arms. The man was pure temptation, made solely for the pleasure of women. And he was all mine. I scraped my fingernails lightly along the taut sinew of his arms. His muscles twitched beneath my touch, revealing their muscular definition. The man had lifted me into his arms like I weighed nothing at all. He was built like a freaking linebacker, and yet he’d only ever been gentle with me.
Even now, his hands trailed over my skin with a feather-light caress, driving me mad with the numbing sensation. His lips moved to my throat. Every kiss awakened a new pulse of pleasure, pulling deep between my thighs until the tension grew just short of torture. I rocked my hips forward, pressing my sensitive sex against his rock-hard erection. A bolt of sheer electric warmth shattered through me.
My God, he felt wonderful.
I needed him now.
Needed all of him.
But the ravenous beast from only moments before subsided to a man content to make me wait. It was payback, I supposed, for all those times I’d pushed him away. I deserved this delay in gratification.
And I would gladly play his game.
Hunter kissed the space where my jawline met the sensitive spot beneath my ear. A shiver of heat spiraled through my body, setting my skin alight like the soft kiss of sunlight. One hand traced along the edge of my dress, teasing the swell of my breasts at the top. His other skimmed beneath my sleeve with his lips following its trail as he tugged it down my arms.
The cool air grazed my exposed nipple, tightening it to a soft peak at the center of my breasts. His mouth closed over me, the hot, wet sensation rippling through my core. He ravaged my body with his lips, sucking and circling the tender bud with each flick of his tongue.
I moaned, unable to suppress the bubbling of feelings within me. I bucked into him. A low grumble vibrated past his lips. His hands clamped over my hips, holding me in place.
“Patience.” His words feathered across my breast, eliciting a whole new string of titillating bliss.
“Hunter, please.”
I barely recognized the sound of my own voice. I’d never wanted anyone so badly in my whole life. I’d always been the one in control. I’d always been the one to take what I wanted. Only now, I’d given Hunter the reins, allowed him to take charge. It was both erotic and liberating, if not completely terrifying.
He rocked into me, the firmness of his erection pressing into me through our clothes. I writhed beneath him, still trapped between his body and the wall, still yearning for him to end this madness.
“Tell me,” he whispered against my cheek. “Tell me what you want.”
“You know what I want.” My words were a breathless sigh. How could he not know?
“I want to hear it from you,” he said, his hands already raising my dress over my hips.
He clenched the sides of my underwear in his fists. “I need to hear that you want this.”
“Dammit, Hunter.” I groaned. “Yes. I need you inside me. Now.”
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