Love Of A Lifetime

by Murphy, Riley

Which left her grinning right up until he spilled and then she was gasping for a different reason. “They can’t do that to the poor girl. It’s against the law and you’d let them—?”

  “Shh…”

  “B-but—”

  “Trust me.”

  “Where have I heard that before?” she grumbled. She really wasn’t on board with their asinine plan.

  “I believe it was when I was doing this.”

  He pressed his palm intimately against her and she moaned.

  “Or it could have been when I was doing this.” He licked at her throat.

  “Maybe it was when I…”

  The seductive slide of his teeth sinking into her neck made her groan and when she fit her fingers in his hair and flexed her hips into him she didn’t care where she’d heard it before. She trusted him.

  He bit down deep and she shivered. Her last coherent thought?

  Yeah, she did. With more than just her life. She trusted him with her soul.

  “Jack…”

  “Breathe, babe. Just breathe.

  Coming Soon...

  Love Of My Every Lifetime

  Chapter One

  Only one more mile to go until the exit.

  Bernadette Feye gripped the steering wheel tighter and kept her eyes peeled on the dark road ahead. The deserted lanes should have given her some peace of mind because she hated driving in traffic, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something big was about to happen to her. And not in a “Yay, I just won the lottery,” kind of way. More like “Congratulations, you’ve just landed the starring victim role in Law & Order, so when your car breaks down please get out of the vehicle and let the psychopath have some fun”.

  You’re going to get into an accident.

  She hated, absolutely hated, that inner voice that piped up and preyed on her worst fears because it usually spoke the truth. And that truth at the moment was screaming, where are all the other cars? There hadn’t been one car on either side of the causeway for a good five minutes. It was surreal. As if she’d driven right into the fifth dimension or the twilight zone. Maybe she had. Maybe this was—

  “Well, hello there,” she whispered, letting out a relieved breath the second she spotted a car in her rearview. She rolled her shoulders and was just about to sink back against the seat but the glare of the car’s headlights expanded. Checking the mirror, she frowned. “You’re going awfully fast. What’s your hurry?” Flicking on her indicator, she moved from the left to the right-hand lane. When the speed demon did the same she used the steering wheel to pull herself up straighter. Recalling bits and pieces from her defensive driving course, she paid attention, hoping the jerk wasn’t intoxicated. After all, it was three a.m.

  Every few seconds her gaze shifted to check her driver’s side mirror. Was the rapidly approaching car swerving? No—she let out a deep breath—and checked again. Still no, but now it had eaten up most of the distance between them. Any second it would be right up behind her.

  She kept her Mazda close to the construction barriers on her right, hoping that Mr. Aggressive would take the hint and pass. There were only the two of them on the road. What was his problem?

  You’re going to get into an accident.

  Her heart hammered.

  Stay calm.

  Contrary to that silent admonishment, she squeezed the wheel and her sweaty palms slid.

  Easy.

  She squinted against those high beams. Turning aside from the nasty stark-white light that burned her eyes. But it was no use. The glare was relentless.

  Easy, she repeated, only this time the silent order was screamed.

  She was strangling the steering wheel now. Trying to escape the shine that lit the car’s interior in a candescent glow. Unable to see the road ahead. God, she was going to hit one of those barriers if she wasn’t careful. She couldn’t—all of a sudden the light disappeared and her instant relief was short lived when the first kiss of that car’s bumper hitting hers threw her into panic mode. Her heart rate tripled as a massive shot of adrenaline spiked through her so fast she gasped. This wasn’t happening.

  But it was.

  Calm down and breathe.

  Bang! The car rammed her again and this time her Mazada lurched forward. She had to work fast not to lose control as it swerved to the right.

  Bang! The hits were too well timed. This was no mistake. No accident. The driver behind her was intentionally doing this.

  As soon as she sped up, attempting to get away, she realized this was exactly what the maniac wanted because he continued his pursuit, forcing her to step on the gas.

  Keep your eyes on the road and remember to relax.

  “What?”

  That wasn’t her voice. “That wasn’t my voice.” She needed to repeat the sentiment out loud so she knew she wasn’t going crazy, even though she feared she was.

  “Oh, my God.”

  Seconds ticked by but they passed like hours as she tried to stay focused. A number of things came to her then. Steven. Her father. This idiotic route the two of them had mapped for her so she could go and sell her only form of independence, her car. The time of night. Her fiancés odd behavior when he’d seen her off.

  He checked your seatbelt. Why? Forget that. Why did he hug you, when he’d never done so before?

  To say goodbye.

  That ominous thought was punctuated by the car crashing into hers again and the drunken swerve her Mazda took slammed her into auto-pilot, stealing all her thoughts but one. Surviving. Her reactions became instinctive as her mind went into protective lockdown.

  She managed to gain a modicum of control, careful not to overcorrect and that’s when she spotted lights up ahead. A car coming toward hers on the opposite side of the road. She needed to pull herself together. She needed help. She kept one hand on the wheel while her other fumbled around looking for the knob for her headlights. If she clicked them on and off, she’d get the approaching car’s attention.

  Bang!

  She was almost glad that another hit came. Surely the driver traveling toward them could see what was going on? And would—

  “No!” The approaching car veered over the center line and crossed the left-hand lane, heading right at her.

  You’re not going die. You got this.

  She did. Pushing herself back in her seat with hands cemented to the wheel, she slammed both feet down on the brakes. The car fishtailed as tires squealed, while she drove around the large orange and black construction barrels that lined the closed lane to her right.

  She headed between them, skidding and sliding in front of the makeshift rope-fence that cordoned off the one side of the bridge. She was drifting, tires and brakes seizing, but she thought that she’d be okay. There was plenty of room between her car and that sagging barrier for her to come to a complete stop. Yes, she knew she was going to be okay now that she was slowing down.

  Bang.

  She was slammed from behind and this time her car burst forward, heading straight for the side of the bridge and the deep water below.

  Were those her screams dying in a distant echo? Everything cut to half speed and moved in slow motion. The flickers of light around her, strobe at lazy, but steady intervals, reminding her of an old-time camera with an automatic flash. The inconsistent flares were almost comforting until her insides were hurdled into a freefall as her car catapulted off the shoulder and sailed through the air. The journey smooth and the vehicle weightless somehow made the airborne trip peaceful. It was odd, but with the screech of the tires gone and the panic of the moment behind her, she was settled. Ready as the worst of everything she had been trying to prevent from happening had now presented itself. Staring at it with vivid clarity, she finally breathed. Was this how the moments before death present themselves? Broken down to the most basic human function of gaining air in one’s lungs?

  Relax.

  She wasn’t even sure that was her inner voice or someone else’s, but it didn’t matter. In this it
was correct as there was nothing left for her to do but watch the projection of the headlights shoot out across the choppy, onyx water. Their twin beams highlighting the wave-caps made each quick crest twinkle like a tiny star. The eerie moment stretched and crystalized into a suspended snapshot, until the scene was shattered by an ear-splitting boom as a brilliant light burst in front of her face.

  She was jammed back against the seat and realized it had been the air bag exploding when her car hit the water. Then blackness. She must have lost consciousness for a few minutes because the next thing she knew, the car was fully submerged and sinking. Water sprayed in through several places and when she tried it, her seatbelt wouldn’t release. The buckle was stuck. She was determined to remain calm so she could undo the catch, jiggling the metal clasp and turning it until she noticed something. A clear kind of substance that covered the button. At first she thought it was liquid, water maybe, but when she tried to wipe it off it was hard to the touch. It wouldn’t depress and the car was plummeting now at a rapid pace. The Mazda was diving forward, engine-end down and sinking further into the murky green mass until it hit bottom.

  She actually experienced the vehicle bounce against the spongy ocean floor a couple of times prior to settling into the swirling sand. The headlights had remained on, making a freaky neon-green colored, debris filled, water show outside the windshield while everything inside was blanketed in darkness. She snapped around and checked behind her. The back window was cracked and this was where the majority of water entered to pool into the interior. The level was quickly climbing in the cab while she fought with the seatbelt. Cold liquid gushed around her feet, her knees. Oh God, to her waist, her chest and shoulders. The air was shrinking so fast she was going to drown.

  Stay calm.

  Right. First, she needed to get away from the rubber of the air bag. It was nearly impossible as it moved like an octopus, flicking and folding over her limbs while she stretched, attempting to reach out and feel her way around the passenger seat for her purse. She needed something, anything to cut the belt with. Dear God, where was it? She couldn’t find it. She was going to die. Panicked now, she pulled and yanked at the belt. Slipping under the rising water, choking, screaming and crying.

  “Help me! Please.”

  The adrenaline surged through her veins like an electrical current while she desperately sought to free herself. But it was no use. She was pinned by the belt so drowning was inevitable.

  That’s when she saw it. A shadow. A shape. It was a man.

  He swam to her driver’s side door. She didn’t question why or how he came to be there, only that he was. But then her monumental relief vanished when the headlights popped off because everything went dark and she couldn’t see him. She beat against the glass as the water rose around her. She’d have more time if the seatbelt wasn’t caging her in. Horrible seconds passed. These were worse than any of the moments that came before because she thought she might have had a chance with his help. She stretched and strained to keep her mouth and nose above the waterline, hoping he’d come back to get her. Oh God, would he be able to find her now that the headlights were out?

  Splaying her hands on the ceiling, she pursed her lips and sucked in the last bit of oxygen available to her while she worked up the courage to die. Knowing there was no way anyone would find her now, she resigned herself to a watery death. Funny, after all her father’s fire and brimstone sermons she couldn’t find one prayer to utter. Not one divine phrase to ease her journey into the afterlife.

  Chocolate.

  Chocolate? She closed her eyes and would have laughed if she could. Because surely she was going to hell with that forbidden ecstasy as her last thought.

  “Take one more breath, Bernadette.”

  She stiffened and opened her eyes. She knew this wasn’t possible, her head was tilted back submerging her ears so, how could she hear someone speaking to her? Was it the man from earlier, had he returned so soon? Was she dead already?

  No, a dead woman wouldn’t notice when the water level increased another quarter inch. A dead woman wouldn’t be able to act. Bernadette didn’t want to die, not yet. She couldn’t leave this world without someone to miss her. This idea gave her a renewed purpose and as idiotic as that one reason was, it was enough to make her put aside her fears and confusion and do as the voice directed. Taking one last deep breath she sank beneath the water and eased down in her seat. The moment she did, everything changed. The car door opened in one fluid motion and the man dove in. He reached over her and efficiently ripped the strap of the seatbelt out of the way. Once she was free, he turned to look down at her. His dark hair swirled around stunning features that seemed too perfect to be real. He was calm and determined when he took hold of her, grabbing her hand as he pulled her effortlessly away from the debris of the interior.

  Instantly her perception changed. The water moved past her so quickly, that it was as if this liquid world had melted and meshed together in one continuous blur. The only solid thing she could see when she dared to open her eyes, was his strong hand as he held on to her, propelling her through the water at a phenomenal pace. It was like traveling within a kaleidoscope of measured amounts of darkness, where some pockets were blacker than others. Had she lost consciousness, she wondered? It was only a few seconds between the time that he’d rescued her and when they broke through the water surface and yet, they were quite a distance from the site of the accident. She sputtered and gasped for breath under the seclusion of the distant pier they rested beneath. She looked back toward the bridge thinking how impossible it was that they could have come so far, but then she saw the dark figures in a boat. A man diving into the water before punching back up to the surface and yelling at the two men waiting above.

  Her heart pounded and the blood rushed in her ears. She wasn’t going to faint.

  Breathe.

  She gulped in air, all the while thinking that one of the men in the boat looked like her father and the figure diving into the water and calling out to him? Well, he sounded very much like her fiancé, Steven.

  Of a sudden, her limbs went numb and her eyes got heavy and yet her head felt light and tingly, just before she slipped into oblivion.

  *****

  “Good morning, sweetheart.”

  Bernadette opened her eyes and pulled the blanket away from her face. She stared at the strange bedding, trying to focus, and when the familiar sound of that voice registered, she gasped. It was the guy from last night. Scooting over to the far side of the bed, away from him, she groaned. Her whole body felt bruised and every inch of her ached. When she attempted to sit up, she couldn’t. The most she was capable of managing was a furtive glance in the direction of the voice.

  “Careful, Bernie, remember what Dr. Albergo said.”

  Dr. Albergo? What did this stranger know about her doctor? And who was he to call her by her nickname? Only her mom had called her that and sadly she had died six years ago. Never mind this type of familiarity, her thoughts raced, one colliding into the next. What was this guy doing in her bed? She examined the sheets. No, this wasn’t her bed, where was she?

  As if the stranger had read her thoughts, he sat up and asked, “Are you confused? Stuart said it could happen like this. You were pretty shaken up after the accident.”

  Stuart? Just how well did this guy know her doctor, and what was this accident he was talking about? Her mind worked furiously, trying to assimilate all the questions until an eerie vision of her car submerged in black water popped into her head. This hadn’t been a dream. A nightmare. It had really happened. Who was he?

  She knew she was scowling as she eyed the stranger’s profile, but it couldn’t be helped. She was doing her best to place him in her sleep induced haze. There was something—?

  “I know you,” she whispered when it finally came to her. The gorgeous giant sitting nonchalantly and draped in the luxurious white sheets was none other than her Mediterranean God. Well, that’s what she secretly called hi
m when he’d come into the library where she worked. He used to sit in the northeast corner of the room and read the paper. Sometimes she would catch him staring at her. He had the greenest eyes she had ever seen. These combined with his heavily muscled body, dark hair and swarthy complexion caused even a good girl like her to think bad things. “You’re the guy from the library. The one who reads the paper and annoyingly stares at me.”

  “I should think I’m more than that,” he chuckled. The sound of his voice so pleasing and inviting that she nearly smiled, but then he flashed his left hand with an ornate gold band and she blinked. It took her a moment to realize the significance but once she did, she gasped again. Pulling her own hand out from under the covers, she eyed the matching ring.

  “We’re married?” she fairly shrieked. Bolting up, unmindful of the pain that instantly tore through her body, she pulled the covers along with her while she squashed her back up against the wicker headboard, moving as far away from him as possible.

  “Of course.” His gorgeous face was quizzical. The sheets had fallen down around his waist. The hard, tanned length of him that was left naked and exposed from head to lap, was almost as shocking to her as his reply had been.

  “I was not in my right mind last night. It must have been the accident—”

  “Last night?” He leaned against the headboard and raised one leg under the covers, to drape a casual arm over it. “You may have been released from the hospital yesterday, honey, but the accident happened a little over two weeks ago, now.”

  Bernadette was busy trying to inconspicuously investigate the lower part of her body for any unusual feelings. Had he taken advantage of her? Wait, did he just say over two weeks ago?

  She saw his face and wanted to scream. What was going on here and why was the giant smiling? A secret kind of a smile, too. Like he knew something she didn’t. “I don’t understand. When were we married?”

  “Last year.”

  There was no hesitation with his answer and that bothered her. “This isn’t possible. I am engaged to Steven Warner. We—” she was going say that they planned on having a small wedding ceremony and reception on Honeymoon Island and then hoped to have enough money to take a trip to England when he interrupted.