by Addison Jane
She was my baby girl.
The piece of my heart that I missed so fucking much these past few months, but also the part that had pushed me to fight through. I had to be better for her, I had to show her that sometimes things got tough, but with family and friends around us there was nothing that we couldn’t make it through.
Blizzard’s face lit up when he spotted me, and he lifted his fingers to his mouth, letting out a loud whistle that stopped both the girls in their tracks. They looked to him first in confusion, and then their eyes moved to me.
“Mom!” Harlyn screamed, her legs already carrying her as fast as they could toward me across the grass. Tears streamed down both of our cheeks as I knelt down just in time to catch her body in my arms. She clung to me tightly, the both of us unable to speak through our tears as we sat on the grass, wrapped in each other’s arms. I buried my face in her hair, brushing my fingers through it, trying to soothe her despite the fact I was breaking down too.
This was my life.
We stayed there for a long time until our cries subsided. I could feel eyes watching us, could hear sniffles in the background as they took in our emotional reunion.
A shadow fell across us, and I looked up to see Wrench, his eyes bloodshot but holding back the tears.
He dropped to his knees, and Harlyn finally turned her head to him. “Hey kid,” he said softly.
She didn’t say anything, just reached out her arm and hooked it around his neck, pulling him into our small huddle.
This was bliss.
Wrench’s arms wrapped around me and my daughter, our family surrounding us.
“You’re back,” Harlyn finally murmured, pulling back. Her eyes were red and her breathing unsteady from the amount of crying.
“We’re back,” I confirmed.
“I’m glad you’re okay now,” she said softly, my heart soaring in that moment. “Everything will be okay now.”
I nodded. “Everything will be okay now.”
I was home.
We were home.
“What about this dress, Chelsea?” I asked as I hauled a beautiful red mini dress to the back of the store. It had a slight sparkle, but nothing too over the top and the neckline dipped into a low V shape which would accentuate her growing breasts.
“Toss it over,” she called from the dressing room, and I lifted the dress over the top, hooking the hanger onto the door. She gasped and quickly unlocked the door, peeking out through a small gap while keeping her body hidden.
Chelsea had become a lot shyer since she’d had her two boys almost seven weeks ago. Gone was the body confident club girl, who couldn’t care less about others opinions of her and her body, and in its place was now a mother, conscious of her stretch marks and the slight roundness to her curves.
I knew what it was like to feel ugly and wanting to hide your body. I’d been taught for my entire life that my body was something to be ashamed of. I refused to believe that now, and I refused to let a woman as stunning as Chelsea believe that too. A woman’s body was beautiful, sexy and something to be treasured, no matter what it looked like.
She narrowed her eyes at me while I just grinned back innocently. “That is not going to fit me.”
I folded my arms across my chest and popped my hip out to the side. Working at Sugar’s store these past four or five months, I’d come to know a woman’s figure pretty damn well. I knew what would fit and what would look good, and with Sugar’s guidance over the past weeks after she and Wrench had returned, I was getting pretty damn good at figuring out how to put different pieces together to make a fabulous outfit.
“Don’t give me that,” I told her, rolling my eyes. “You’re basically the same size you were before you got pregnant. And that dress shows off your amazing legs and incredible boobs.”
“Sky…” she groaned, pouting like a small child.
“Just try it on,” I said before turning on my heel and walking away. “You have five minutes before I come in there after you and pull it over your head myself.”
I heard her huff, and the door slammed closed, making me smile brightly.
Tonight would be the first night that Optimus and Chelsea have spent together alone since the twins were born.
It had been touch and go with Oli and Jack. They’d come earlier than expected and the road to getting them healthy had been long, but with the boys thriving and happy and looking at coming home from the hospital finally in just a few days, their parents were ready to celebrate.
I was going to do everything in my power to make it special and to make sure that Chelsea felt strong, sexy and confident again. Chelsea had been a good friend to me since I’d arrived here. She didn’t have to give a shit about me, I was a club girl, the lowest on the totem pole so to speak and she was the queen, the president’s woman who was loved and adored by all.
The difference was, she had been in my place not so long ago, and she respected where I was now.
Becoming a club girl and servicing the boys hadn’t been at the top of my list of things I wanted to achieve in my life, trust me. My upbringing had taught me that sex wasn’t something to be enjoyed by women, but more that it was a duty that we had to our husbands in order to reproduce, and give them children that would carry on the legacy of our faith.
Up until a couple of years ago, I’d believed just that, and felt as though that was my future. Get married, please my husband, produce his children. That was all I had to look forward to.
You could say it was my love for sex that got me to where I was today. It was that that helped me to escape and to see through the teachings of our elders. But it was also that which had caused me to lose the one person who truly understood my heart.
I knew now why they tried to hide us away, to stop us from learning and growing, to keep us from enjoying any kind of pleasure—because the world wasn’t what they taught us, it was so much more amazing.
“Are you sure about this?” Chelsea’s soft voice asked from behind me.
I spun around to see her standing outside the dressing room, her chin held high despite the apprehension in her voice. And that was why she was queen bitch.
“Holy shit,” I murmured as I rushed toward her, my jaw almost dragging on the floor. “Optimus is going to have a fucking hernia when he sees you.”
She laughed, her face lighting up as she twisted her body back and forth, checking herself out in the mirror. Her dark hair flowed in waves around her shoulders, and her tanned skin was almost glowing.
The door dinged behind me, but I ignored it for the moment.
“I’m waiting,” I smirked.
Chelsea flicked her head at me and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you were right.” She waved her hand around and walked back into the dressing room, and I started back toward the front of the store with a beaming smile on my face.
That was until I saw who was standing just inside the front door.
My eyes went to Deacon first. He was the head of the local police department and a friend of the club. While it was strange to see him step inside a woman’s clothing store, it was the person standing beside him that sucked the air from my lungs and brought tears to my eyes.
Her inky black hair hung in a tight braid that fell down over the front of her shoulder. The long sleeved baby pink dress that I knew so well was ripped and dirty, shredded and drenched in mud at the bottom like she’d spent hours running through the forest.
And if she was here, I knew for a fact that she indeed had.
Because I had made the same desperate escape just a few years ago.
“I’m going to guess by the look on both your faces that I got this one right,” Deacon said softly, taking a slow step forward as if he was approaching a wild animal. “You know who this girl is, Skylar?”
Tears streamed from the girl’s mesmerizing green eyes—eyes that could never be duplicated. She held still, frozen on the spot, her hands clasped in front of her tightly and her knuckles were white. She was being obedie
nt, she was being the woman we’d been raised to be.
“Yes,” I whispered, my hands shaking as I took a wobbly step forward.
A sob escaped Emerald’s throat, and I rushed forward wrapping my arms tightly around her. She latched on to me, shaking and quivering in my arms, struggling to find her breath. We rocked back and forth, tears streaming from my own eyes as she clung to me to as though I was her lifeline.
If she was standing here with me, that statement could damn well be true.
Emerald’s breath brushed my ear. “I escaped,” she whispered, her voice trembling.
“Hey, is everything all right?” Chelsea’s soft voice asked.
I looked up to see her taking in the situation around her, eyeing Deacon with concern.
Chelsea’s eyes met mine and they softened, seeing the despair on my face. “Who is this?” she asked cautiously when no one replied.
I cleared my throat. “This is my sister.”
Check out these books by authors
Addison Jane and KE Osborn
Deceit (The Vindicated Series Book One)
Addison Jane and KE Osborn
Click here to purchase
Covert, stealthy, cunning—I'm trained as a weapon. A lethal killer. I do what needs to be done in order to protect those who can't protect themselves.
I’m never the same person twice.
It’s never been an issue.
But I underestimated her.
The beautiful woman next door. There's something sexy about the way she watches me, eyes wide with an innocent curiosity. I find myself aching for her attention. I want her to look at me, but not when I'm covered in the blood of the man I just killed.
I live in the dark. She could be my light. I want her. And I know she feels it too.
When what I do puts her life in danger, everything changes. And I start to realize that maybe not all is as it seems. Every part of me screams to save her...
But what if I'm wrong.
What if she's the one saving me?
This novel ends on a cliffhanger.
Liberate (The Vindicated Series Book 2)
Addison Jane and KE Osborn
Click here to purchase
Lies, deceit, betrayal—everything has changed from the life I had. From the life I knew. I lost my team. I lost my livelihood. I never thought it could come to this.
I vowed to protect her.
I failed.
But it’s not over yet.
The agency made a mistake when they decided to take my life. Now I was free, and a man who answers to no one is a man who should be feared. I'm fueled by revenge, seeking justice for her, for me, and for the innocent lives I unknowingly destroyed.
Lily drew me from the shadows. She burned so brightly. She made me see clearly and filled me with warmth. But her flame was smothered and she was cast into the darkness.
I won't let that be her end. I need retribution. I will take nothing less.
They may have won the battle, but I'm about to start a war.
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Addison Jane is a born and bred kiwi girl with a passion for romance and writing.
When she gets the chance she enjoys the little things in life such as reading, dancing, music, and Facebook, but her world really revolves around the little girl who calls her Mum. It’s an awkward balance between alpha males and Disney princesses, but it works.
Growing up on a small farm next to the beach will always make her a country girl at heart. But since moving away to a small town close to the city, she’s discovered a dangerous love for shopping.
Writing stories has been something that’s come naturally since she was young, and with the massive support of her friends and family, she finally decided to step out of her comfort zone and share them with the world.
She enjoys bringing her books to life with strong female leads, sexy, passionate men and a rollercoaster of twists and turns that lead to the happily ever after that her readers desire.