Falling Under

by Jasinda Wilder

  He chuckles, and I feel the tip slide in, but it's nowhere near enough. "You trust me, baby?"

  I nod and try to rock to get the fullness back. "Yeah, Oz, I trust you."

  He flutters his hips, giving me tiny, shallow, insufficient, teasing thrusts. "You wouldn't want to ruin my surprise, would you?"

  "No...no." I seek relief, unashamedly begging. "Please...please..."

  He's groaning, growling. "You were sneaky, Kylie. That was a very sneaky and devious thing you did."

  "I'm sorry...I'm just...I'm dying of curiosity."

  He pulls out, and I whimper, but then he rolls me to my back, lifts my heels over his shoulders and drives in, sudden, hard, and perfect. "You're afraid, is what you are."

  "Yeah, you've never kept any secrets from me."

  "I know. But this is a good secret."

  "A good secret?"

  He slides out and back in, and I'm whimpering abjectly. "Yeah, sweetness. A very good one. That's all the hints you'll get."

  "It almost worked, though, didn't it?" I ask, watching him through the "V" of my legs.

  He nods, eyes fluttering and shuttering closed. "Very...very nearly. Why do you think we're doing this on the floor? A few more seconds, and I would've told you."

  I groan, partly in frustration and partly in delighted pleasure as he starts to rock into me hard and fast. "Fuck, Oz. I almost had you?"

  He groans. "Yeah, baby. That sweet mouth of yours...oh, shit. I'm right there..."

  "You'd better not stop, Oz. You'd better not fucking stop..."

  "Hell no..."

  And then we explode together, my heels wrapped around his neck, and then he's leaning over me and my legs are clenched like vises around his back and we're gasping and trembling and rocking together, breathing together.

  A few moments of his weight resting on me, and then Oz stands up, lifts me in his arms, and carries me to his bed. "I can't believe you tried that."

  I laugh and curl into his arms. "What, tried to suck the truth out of you?"

  "Yeah. Is it that hard to just trust me?"

  I feather my fingers over his cock, needing more already. "Yeah. You've been acting really weird, babe."

  He huffs a laugh, then moans as he starts to harden in my hand. "God, Kylie. Insatiable, aren't you?"

  "Would you have it any other way?"

  "Fuck no! I'm the luckiest guy on earth, sweetness, and well I know it. But do you really think I'd ever do anything to hurt you?"

  "No," I say, throwing my leg over his hip and straddling him. "I just...I guess I still can't believe how much I love you, how happy you make me, and I don't--I don't want anything to change that."

  "Nothing can, Kylie. Nothing in the whole world."

  This time, it's slow and tender and gentle, and his eyes never leave mine, and as we implode together, his lips meet mine and our breathing merges and time stops and the heaven itself shatters through us, weaving our souls together.

  *

  Sunday, the day of the concert. Pre-show jitters have us all a little on edge. This is the biggest show any of us have ever done, even Mom and Dad.

  The Harris Mountain Boys go on first, Mom and Dad second, and Oz and I third. At the end of our regular set, Mom and Dad come out, and the four us play a few songs together, and then Amy, Gareth, and Buddy come out, and we all jam for almost half an hour, and the crowd is going crazy.

  Finally, the show is over. We're all saying thank you, bowing, basking in the wild energy of the crowd.

  The lights go down, and we all make our way off-stage.

  And then the lights go on, and Oz and Daddy are back on the stage, plugging their guitars back in.

  "Ya'll don't mind one more little song, do you?" Daddy asks into the mic.

  "NO!" comes the enthusiastic response.

  Mom and I glance at each other. This wasn't part of the planned set; this is the surprise.

  "Good, 'cause Oz and I here have a little surprise." He claps Oz on the shoulder.

  Oz seems really nervous. I can tell by the set of his shoulders, by the way he scuffs at the stage floor with the toe of his boot. "This surprise is for you guys," Oz says, "'cause ya'll are what make us able to do this, and we love you for it. But it's also a surprise for the girls. For Kylie, especially." He turns and waves me over. "Come on out, baby."

  Colt looks at Mom. "You, too, Nelly."

  Everyone is confused. Mom and I go back out on stage, and two stagehands bring us stools. We sit three-quarters turned, facing the stage and the guys.

  "If anybody out there is old enough to have watched Nell and me play when we were first starting out, ya'll might remember a particularly memorable night in New Orleans." Daddy's looking at Mom with eyes that speak of their love, that speak of the secrets of twenty years of marriage. "I played a song that night. A very special song. One we haven't played live in...oh, hell, ten years? Anybody remember that show? Which song I played?"

  Oz is fiddling with the tuning knobs of his acoustic guitar, fixing a capo onto the strings. I watch him, and his eyes meet mine. The nerves are obvious in his eyes, and I smile, trying to reassure him.

  The crowd is restless, muttering, and I hear a single voice shout from way in the back, "'Falling Into You'!"

  Daddy nods. "That's the one. Ya'll are about to hear a very special version of that song. Oz and I tweaked it a bit for this occasion, so now we're calling it something different. This is 'Falling Under.'"

  He taps the flat of his guitar to count out the beat, and then they both start playing. Mom is watching, hand over her mouth, and then she turns to glance at me, and her eyes are already wet. She's twisting her diamond ring on her finger. Oh. Oh. Realization hits me as Dad and Oz start in on the first verse.

  "All my life it seems

  I've been barely keeping

  My head above the water

  And then I saw you

  You saw all the pain

  Hiding in my eyes

  And you wanted

  To take it away

  But I had no words for you

  'Cause I was falling under

  And I am falling, falling under with you

  I can't resist you, baby

  I'm falling, falling under with you

  Your love healed me

  Fate has intervened

  Conspiring to draw us close together

  And tangle our lives

  The siren of your song

  And the music of your heart is calling

  Whispering my name

  And now I have the words for you

  'Cause I'm falling under with you

  Now I'm falling, falling under with you

  I can't resist you, baby

  I am falling, falling under with you

  And I'm falling still

  I'm falling still

  Now that fate has intervened

  And drawn us close together

  Past our fears and all the pain

  Behind our eyes

  Despite the ghosts trailing around us

  Like a fog of haunting souls

  You're still trying hard to heal me

  To take my pain and make it yours

  Your beautiful eyes are smiling

  Into mine

  Now I'm falling, falling under with you

  I can't resist you, baby

  I am falling, falling under with you

  And I'm falling still

  I'm falling still

  I'm falling still

  Falling under with you."

  Dad keeps playing, but the sound tech turns the volume down, so the melody is a faint refrain, a soundtrack for what's about to happen. Oz swings his guitar around by the strap to hang from his back, turns toward me, grabbing the mic off the stand.

  "Kylie...this is it. Are you ready?" He grins at me, stands in front of me. I can only nod and try to breathe. "Twenty years ago your dad played that song for your mom. I wanted a special way to do this for you, and your dad thought thi
s might be perfect. I actually watched a video of that proposal, and I don't mind admitting to being jealous of your Dad's awesomeness. I'm just grateful he doesn't mind me stealing his idea, and even conspiring to help me make it that much more perfect."

  He takes a deep breath, reaches into his hip pocket. "I love you, Kylie. You're it, for me. You saved me, you know. Life had me running. Had me by the throat, and I really was falling under, losing hope. And then I met you, and you gave me a reason to keep my head above water. You taught me to swim. You taught me to live. And instead of giving up, I fell in love. I fell under your spell, Kylie, and every single day since, I've fallen further and further under for you."

  I'm crying, unabashedly weeping, and I don't care who sees. I stand up and reach for Oz, but he falls to one knee at my feet, holding up a ring. It's a small ring, simple, a thin white-gold band and princess-cut diamond but, to me, in that moment, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Except for Oz's face and the love in his eyes.

  He looks up at me, clearly struggling with his own emotions. "Kylie Calloway, will you--"

  I don't let him finish. I fall to my knees and lunge into him, crash my lips to his. We fall backward to the stage, and the crowd is going crazy, howling, cheering, clapping. Oz kept hold of the ring and the mic so, with me lying on his chest, he lifts the mic to his lips.

  "I take it that's a yes?"

  I hold up my left hand, and he slides the ring on. I take the mic. "Yes, Oz! Of course yes. With all my heart yes."

  We devolve into kissing, heedless of the thousands of people watching.

  I hear Daddy talking. "I can't ask you to marry me again, Nelly baby, but I can tell you how perfect the last twenty years have been. I can tell you that I love you now infinitely more than I did then. And I can tell you that I'll spend every moment of the next twenty years loving you that much more."

  The crowd can't even handle it. They're completely wild, apoplectic with glee. Finally, Oz and I have to pull away before it gets too heated.

  Mom is crying, too, and she grabs the mic from Oz. "You know what's funny is that I didn't let Colt finish his proposal, either. Like mother, like daughter, huh?"

  She looks at Oz. "Your last name isn't Calloway, but Oz, you are so much like my husband that it's a little scary sometimes. And I really couldn't think of anyone better to marry my daughter than you."

  Her attention goes to Colt. "Baby...you're so perfect it makes me dizzy sometimes. I love you so much I don't even know how to express it, and I really never have. I've spent my life trying to show you how much I love you, and I've never been able to get it right. And I'm just thankful I've got the rest of our lives to keep trying."

  I snatch the microphone from Mom. "My turn. Ya'll are so romantic it's almost sick. But I love you. Oz, all I can say is I'm just as much under your spell, and I'm so glad you didn't let me seduce this secret out of you." Mom and Dad both roll their eyes at this, but I keep going. "Mom and Dad...just thank you. For everything. And to you guys, our fans? Thanks for sitting through all this. For supporting us on this tour, and for demanding this amazing hometown show."

  The crowd hasn't stopped cheering all this time, but now they ratchet up the intensity until it's deafening. The four of us stand up and take hands, face the crowd, and bow together, and it takes a full ten minutes before the crowd seems ready to let us go.

  We're all giddy and overwhelmed with adrenaline as we make our way off-stage, and as soon as we're out of sight of the audience, I turn and leap into Oz's arms.

  "I can't believe you!" I bury my face in his neck. "That was perfect. So perfect."

  He just laughs. "I wasn't sure you'd like it. But your dad assured me that you're enough like your mom that you'd appreciate a proposal like that. I just didn't think a proposal over dinner would be as special."

  "I loved it."

  He grins, and then lets me down. "I have one more surprise for you, actually."

  "You do? What?" I can't imagine what else there is to be surprised by.

  He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a set of keys. "You know that little house we saw?"

  Before the tour started, Oz and I were taking a drive together. We ended up getting lost in the suburbs, and we came across this adorable little house for sale. I got out and peeked in through the windows, and got all girly about it. I had this fantasy of us buying it, and even tried to convince Oz that we should. He seemed to brush it off, saying we weren't ready for that yet, and I let it go. Mostly. I may or may not have looked at it online every so often over the past few months, stalking it on Zillow to see if it was still for sale.

  "Yeah?" I ask, feeling excitement thrill through me.

  He puts the keys in my hand. "It's ours."

  "Really?" My voice is shockingly shrill, and I have to rein it in. "I mean...ahem, really? You bought it?"

  He shrugs. "Yeah. I had...help, though."

  Daddy comes over. "Happy engagement, baby."

  That Oz let my dad help him buy me a house...it's...unbelievable. I don't know who to hug first, so I end up hugging them both. "You two...I love you so much."

  "Love you too, babe," Oz and Dad say in perfect sync.

  I can only laugh, and try not to cry for the third time in less than twenty minutes. "When do we move in?"

  "I've got a truck rented for tomorrow to get my stuff from my apartment and whatever you need from home," Oz says.

  Kate appears beside me, pulls me into a hug. "I'm so happy for you two. It'll be lonely in that apartment without Oz."

  Oz rolls his eyes and tugs his mom to him. "You know we'll visit, Mom. And you know you're always welcome. Just not...you know, too often."

  Kate sniffs and pats Oz's chest. "I know, baby."

  After that things get crazy, with the crew congratulating us and Andersen trying to shake everyone's hand at once, and the promo manager telling us we've got a massive lineup for autographs waiting. Through it all, I can't stop looking at the ring on my finger, and imaging how amazing it will be to live with Oz all the time.

  Pretty amazing, I think.

  In the car, finally alone, I stop Oz from putting it into drive. "You've made my life perfect, Oz. I know you said I rescued you, but...you rescued me, too. Now I get to live with you? How can it get any better?"

  "I don't think it can," Oz says. He kisses me. "Oh...it can. Let's go home, and I'll show you."

  PLAYLIST

  "Monolith" by Stone Sour

  "We Stitch These Wounds" by Black Veil Brides "Home Sweet Hole" by Bring Me the Horizon "Life of Uncertainty" by It Dies Today "Breaking Out, Breaking Up" by Bullet for My Valentine "I'm Still a Guy" by Brad Paisley "Goodbye Town" by Lady Antebellum "Four on the Floor" by Lee Brice "Hell on Wheels" by Brantley Gilbert "The Sadness Will Never End" by Bring Me the Horizon "In Place of Hope" by Still Remains "A Beast Am I" by Amon Amarth "Freedom Hangs Like Heaven" by Iron & Wine "Come On Get Higher" by Matt Nathanson "Kiss Me" by Ed Sheeran

  "Cannery River" by Green River Ordinance "Down" by Jason Walker

  "Set Fire to the Third Bar" by Snow Patrol (feat. Martha Wainwright) "She Is Love" by Parachute

  "Love Is a Verb" by John Mayer "Let Her Go" by Passenger

  A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  This book was somewhat tricky to write, in a sense. It takes place when the children of Nell and Colt and Jason and Becca are grown. Obviously, then, it takes place about eighteen years after the events of Falling Into You and Falling Into Us, making it the theoretical future. But, in order to follow the pattern of the first two books, I had to include music, which is vital to the core of these stories. I had to use music that would capture the personalities of the characters, capture the heartbeat of the story, match the prose and the rhythm. The songs referenced in this story, then, are from our time, the present. Inventing pop culture and indie songs from "the future" wouldn't have had the same effect. They had to be songs that you could look up on YouTube, iTunes, Grooveshark, Spotify, or wherever. They are meant t
o feel like current references to songs Oz and Kylie would have been familiar with, however anachronistic this may technically be.

  As for Oz's music...it may not be for everyone. It's far from the style of music I typically use in my books, so I know some--if not most--of my readers may not enjoy it, or understand it. It's heavy metal and various subgenres thereof. It's Oz's music, important to him, central to the way he emoted through most of the book. Including it was necessary for me, as the author, to get into Oz's head, into the soul of who he was. I have to extend thanks to my brother-in-law for the band suggestions, even though I know he probably won't ever read this book, or this note. Thanks anyway.

  Continue reading for an excerpt from

  ALPHA

  Coming in April from

  Jasinda Wilder

  "Miss St. Claire. Come in, please." My boss, Mr. Edwards, waved a hand at the two chairs facing his desk. "Have a seat, Kyrie." He says it wrong, as always, pronouncing it Kye-ree.

  "My name is Keer-ee," I couldn't help correcting him for what must be the eighteen thousandth time.

  Mr. Edwards slid into his modern black leather desk chair, and then unbuttoned his suit coat. "Yes. Of course." He tugged at the cuffs of his pressed white button-down shirt, cleared his throat. "Well, Miss St. Claire, I'll cut right to the chase. We're letting you go, I'm afraid. It's nothing to do with you -- it's simply that we're streamlining our workflow, and as the newest, and least experienced, member of our team...well, your services have become somewhat superfluous."

  I blinked. Twice. Three times. "I'm...what?"

  "Superfluous. It means--"

  "I know what superfluous means. I just don't understand how this is happening. Just last week Don said I was next in line for a permanent position--"

  Mr. Edwards cut me off with a raised hand. "Don was incorrect, and I do apologize for the misunderstanding. You see, Don had a rather unfortunate habit of making promises he had no authority to make, and no wherewithal to keep them. He, too, has been let go." A discreet clearing of his throat indicated the subject was closed. He opened a drawer and withdrew an envelope. "Your final paycheck, Miss St. Claire. It includes a two-week severance allowance. You'll clear out your desk immediately. Should you require a referral, you may submit a request in writing through the appropriate channels."