by Keary Taylor
My heart which has been racing the last few moments has calmed and grows steady and sure.
This is insane. This is crazy. Me, who is so head strong, has found a way to let her defenses fall. She’s let her heart open back up.
“I love you, Julian,” I say. “It’s been true for a long time. But I figure I should say it at least once before we do something too crazy.”
He laughs and his eyes drop away for an endearing moment. But then they fix on mine again and are bright and beautiful. “I love you, Sage. I think I have from the moment I sat across from you quite by chance at that banquet.”
A smile spreads on my face and I can’t help the delighted laugh that bubbles out of my chest.
Julian bears his own smile and his eyes stare intently at me.
“I get so damn tired of not being with you every moment,” he says in a low voice. “Will you do something totally crazy and something that makes absolute sense to me? Sage McCain, will you marry me?”
A coy smile curls on my lips. There is a hurricane building up inside of me and it is glorious and powerful. It is something that will wreck and destroy anything that dares to get in its way.
“You bet your ass I will.”
That night, I walk out of a tattoo parlor with an elaborate key tattooed on my right breast. Julian bears the lock.
He may be the one who bears the heart on his skin, but he will always be the key to my own.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
THREE MONTHS LATER
“I swear these girls have doubled in size since we left,” Julian says as he bounces baby Quinn gently in his arms. I can agree as I rock Afton.
“You guys were gone for two weeks,” Drake says as he closely watches us with the twins.
“I’m still slightly grossed out letting you touch my children just hours after coming off your honeymoon,” Kaylee says with a cringe. “Have you two like, even showered yet?”
“Oh my gosh,” I say with a roll of my eyes. “I hate this family sometimes.”
“I swear I can smell s-e-x on the both of you,” Drake wrinkles his nose as he spells out the word to protect little ears that are running around Mom and Dad’s house.
“Wow, I chose to join this family?” Julian says in mock disbelief as he hands Quinn back to Kaylee when she starts fussing. “What was I thinking, choosing to put up with this ridicule?”
“You were thinking you wanted to bone my sister,” Kale says casually as he wanders out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. He is, of course, without a shirt.
“Okay,” I say as I hand Afton off to Drake and stand. “It’s obvious you all are going to be completely unbearable to be around for a few months, so I think my husband and I are going to go.” I reach for Julian’s hand and pull him up from the couch.
“You two leaving already?” Mom asks, darting out of the kitchen. “But you’ve all just barely gotten back.”
“Sorry, Mom,” I say as I give her a hug. “Your sons are being immature.”
“Boys,” she scolds them, but she’s fighting a smile. “You be nice to your sister.”
“Only if Julian promises to be nice to her tonight,” Drake keeps it up.
“We’re leaving!” I bellow as I grab Julian’s hand once again and drag him to the door. He awkwardly turns and waves goodbye.
“Goodnight Mr. and Mrs. Dohring!” they all call just as the door slams closed.
“Let’s just go back to Tahiti,” I say as we walk to the Land Rover. I lean against the passenger door and grab a fistful of Julian’s jacket and pull him toward me. “Just until they all chill out and stop pestering us and being stupid about all this.”
“Mrs. Dohring, is your family getting to you?” Julian says with a smug smile. “Not many people affect you, you normally think you’re above them, but your family has you using words like stupid and chill.”
“Shut up,” I say with a chuckle as I pull him closer to me and press my lips to his.
“I feel like I’m slipping back into middle school,” he continues to tease and smiles through my kiss. “She’s telling me to shut up now.”
“You won’t be thinking about middle school in about twenty minutes when we get home,” I growl into his throat and nip at his skin with my teeth.
“Get in the car, now Sage,” he says, suddenly all business. He holds the door open and starts shooing me inside. I give a victorious ha as I climb in and buckle.
Julian traces patterns on my leg as we drive back home. We are quiet and the air is full of the events of the past, present, and future.
We were married at Thornewood Castle, a mansion of a house turned event venue in Lakewood. It was classic and elegant. There was family, all except Lake, who was unable to get leave. There were friends, new and old. And there was half of Digit.
Avia was my maid of honor, Mic of course was Julian’s best man. It was sad, the fact that his parents weren’t there, and that he had no other family. But that was part of what marriage was about, gaining more family. He was getting more than he could chew with mine.
I looked fantastic in my dress. It had an open back and tight fitting lace that hugged my hips and fanned out in a mermaid cut. But I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face when I saw Julian in his dark grey suit. His eyes blazed as I walked down the aisle toward him and then there was not a second’s hesitation when we both said “I do.”
We danced that night. Julian and I practiced our rumba routine for weeks. It was intimate and sensual, and I couldn’t help but grin like a fool. I didn’t care that all our family and friends were watching us. When I was being led by Julian, held firmly in his arms, I knew he would never lead me wrong.
I think Julian and I were the most stressed out about us leaving for two weeks. We’ve done incredible things with the company ever since the Red Door was launched. With us and Mr. Maxwell working together as an invested team, we’ve taken over the financial security industry worldwide.
It was difficult for us to take two weeks off from our gigantic child.
But then we were in Tahiti, and Digit was the furthest from my mind.
I had known Julian was nervous leading up to the wedding. Neither of us had forgotten how I’d reacted in Toronto that first night when things got too serious, and then the night I told him my reasons for my abstinence pledge. I knew it was in the back of his mind, the fear that I wouldn’t be able to overcome the past once we were married.
He had nothing to worry about.
We had fourteen wild, blissful, crazy days and nights.
The best days of my life.
Now we are home and everything in me thrills at the thought of it being ours. Together.
It was hard to sell my condo. After being on the market for two weeks, a nice couple made me a full price offer. The deal closed while we were on our honeymoon. Kale found some roommates to move in with.
The night before the wedding, I wandered through the condo quietly on my own, recalling all the happy memories that had been made there.
But I smile even more thinking about all the ones Julian and I are about to make in his house.
Avia agreed to make it our house while we were on our honeymoon. I had a very long meeting with her before the wedding and then handed the keys to the house over to her.
I’m both nervous and excited to see what she’s done with the place since we’ve been gone.
The security guard lets us through the community gate and Julian pulls forward into the neighborhood. We wind between trees and houses and eventually the road drops down toward the water.
We pass three, four, five houses, and then there is the gate.
Julian enters the code and the metal gate rolls back into the bushes. He pulls forward and parks the Land Rover in the driveway.
For a second, I am about to ask him why he didn’t park in the garage. But then I remember that this is the first time we have been home since the wedding.
A smile spreads on my face as Julian climbs out and walks arou
nd to my door. My heart starts racing and heat pools in certain places of my body. Julian pulls the door open and before he can wait for me to climb out, I grab his jacket again and tug him toward me.
He wedges himself between my legs and molds himself to the shape of my body. His eyes dance with fire and a smile curls on his lips before they meet mine.
I let my hands slide under his shirt and my fingers work their way up over his abs first and then to his chest. I let my fingers stop generally where that intricate lock is forever tattooed to his skin.
Reciprocating the move, Julian’s hands slide up my own shirt. His palms are warm as they slide up my sides. And then one hand sneaks under my bra. His fingers and palm slide over my breast and he lets his fingers rest on my key.
We both have rings on our fingers. They were expensive and they’re glitzy and glamorous. But to the both of us, our tattoos will always be the real symbol of our commitment to each other. A ring is easy to take off or lose, but the ink on our skin will never be removed.
Julian slides his arms underneath me and hauls me out of the car and I give a delighted squeal. In a dramatic move, he literally runs to the front door and stands in front of it for a long moment.
He looks down at me and I tell myself not to think about what is going to happen in about sixty seconds. For right now, I want to savor this moment, because I will never get to experience it again.
Each moment of Julian has led to the next. This won’t be the best one, I know that. And I hope that I never get to a point where I can define what the best one was.
Every moment of Julian is a moment of joy.
“I love you,” I say as I place a hand on his cheek. “Thanks for being a little crazy with me.”
“There was never anything crazy about this,” he breathes back, his eyes burning with intensity. “You and me make perfect sense.”
I push my lips to his, letting them linger, barely touching, and breathe him in. Even after all this time, his scent still reminds me of that first night at the banquet when I fell with him into the back of my car for a crazy night of hands and lips and lustful sighs. He still smells crisp, and clean, and sophisticated.
Julian reaches a hand out and twists the door knob.
“Welcome home, Mrs. Dohring,” he says.
ACKWNOLEDGEMENTS
In all honesty, this book came about when I decided to let go of all the stress that comes with trying to write a book with readers and sales and all the outside forces. I just plain and simply wrote it the way I wanted to write it and decided not to care about anything. At least in the first draft.
But I wouldn’t be able to do this without some amazing readers and some amazing friends.
Thank you to David, Valarie, and Rose for combing through this and pointing out its flaws and the things that were working. Beta readers are a unique gem that you really can’t have an appreciation for until you need some. You are all awesome and I am in your debt.
And thank you to YOU for continuing to support me in living my dream.
KEARY TAYLOR grew up along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where she started creating imaginary worlds and daring characters who always fell in love. She now splits her time between a tiny island in the Pacific Northwest and Utah with her husband and their two children. She continues to have an overactive imagination that frequently keeps her up at night.
Please visit www.KearyTaylor.com to learn more about her and her writing process.