by Mira Toria
“It’s not a big deal.” She pulled herself up to sit next to him. “But I am sorry that it has taken me this long to say happy belated birthday.”
Hale’s expression was hard to read as he opened the gift to reveal the Elvis record.
“If you don’t like, I can – I can resell it,” she said quickly. “I know there’s a chance you could’ve purchased it for yourself by now. It just didn’t seem right for me to open up the record I got you even after – ”
She didn’t get to finish because her back was on the bed and his hands were everywhere on her as his mouth teased hers open, silencing her with a toe curling kiss.
“You do realise I’ve had to stop you from going off on a tangent more than once by kissing you?” He spoke against her mouth and she felt the smile form on his mouth, making her grin in response. “Are you going to make a habit of it?”
“Maybe,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Do you like the record?”
His eyes bore into hers and Lyris felt her heart skip a beat as he leaned in close to her. “I love it.”
“Yeah?” She ran her hands along his back and smiled slightly when she felt the muscles in his right arm quiver from her touch. “I’m sorry it took such a long time for you to finally receive it.”
Hale placed a hand on the small of her back and kissed her below her ear. “You know that I will spend my whole life loving you.”
Her legs wrapped around his waist and they moved in synced, their bodies never questioning one another and in that moment, Lyris never felt so happy and at peace in her life. She felt right with where she was and who she was with and there wasn’t anything that crossed her mind that could make this better. This moment was what people strived for their whole lives, but only few succeeded in feeling the purity and euphoria of it in itself.
She pulled back and smiled, knowing that they were going to be alright. There was no doubt in her mind that he felt everything she was feeling as well.
“You know I’ll always, always, be loving you.”
Thank you my parents for bringing to the library as a kid and for paying the fees because my books were always late.
My sisters for keeping me calm and not killing me for the crazy amount of questions I asked.
Sandy, thank you for reading and editing the first horrifying version of this story on your vacation. I am eternally grateful for your insight and I owe you about 100 dinners.
Caoimhe, where do I begin? You were here with this story from the start and you never ever let me give up no matter what. Thank you for ripping me a new one when I got so insecure, my writing style changed for the worse. Most of all, thank you for threatening me with love when I said I wanted to give up.
Nikki, you may deny it, but your feedback was amazing. Thank you so much for not sparing my feelings at the beginning and telling me I needed to make the beginning grittier. You made my wobbly world safer with your support.
Eri Okita – you are my favourite book buddy and to think about the authors that you love, I am humbled that you would want to have me on your shelf. Thank you!
Linda and Cindy – our Michael will forever be wonderful memories. Thank you for so many things I cannot say on paper.
The MALICE girls – we have all shared sweat and will most likely share tears as we continue this crazy dream of ours. I love you all!
Thank you Emily and her team at E.M Tippetts Designs for the beautiful formatting.
Lastly, thank you. Thank you so much for reading this story!
Copyright © 2015 by Mira Toria
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes only.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Cover picture Copyright © konradbak @fotolia.com
Cover design by Mira Toria
Ebook designed and formatted by:
www.emtippettsbookdesigns.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Prologue
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
THE PAST
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
THE PRESENT
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty One
Twenty Two
Twenty Three
Twenty Four
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Copyright Notice