by L. T. Kelly
LT Kelly
Falling from Grace
First published by L.T. Kelly 2020
Copyright © 2020 by LT Kelly
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
LT Kelly asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
LT Kelly has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within the book have endorsed the book.
First edition
ISBN: B08643DZ6S
This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy
Find out more at reedsy.com
For R.K. Pavia and Henry.
Both taken too soon…
RIP
Contents
Acknowledgement
1. With This Ring
2. Total Eclipse of the Heart
3. Love on the Rocks
4. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
5. Mr Brightside
6. Itchycoo Park
7. Baby Love
8. Girls Just Wanna’ Have Fun
9. When I’m Sixty-four
10. We Have no Secrets
11. Memory
12. Cry Me a River
13. Dancing on My Own
14. Help!
15. Walk Like an Egyptian
16. China in Your Hand
17. The Wonder of You
18. Secret Love Song
19. When You’re Strange
20. When the Ship goes Down
21. Wide Awake
22. I’ll Say Goodbye to Love
23. Breathe Again
24. Better Together
25. Make You Feel My Love
Afterword
About the Author
Also by LT Kelly
Acknowledgement
Falling from Grace is a book that was never meant to happen. After Falling into You was published in 2014 I decided to apply my efforts to contemporary romance.
That said, I missed Teagan so much, I felt a part of me died when I stopped writing about her. I missed her sass and spunk.
At the end of 2019 I thought about resurrecting The Falling Series as part of November 2019 NaNoWriMo. I had never taken part in NaNo before so I picked up my phone in order to go on Facebook to reach out and ask others their experiences with it. A notification flashed up that Beckie Pavia (Author R.K. Pavia) had shared a video to my timeline. This took my breath away because Beckie sadly lost her battle with cancer on 21st August 2016. There was no video, just the notion that perhaps Beckie was telling me to go for it and write the third book and do NaNo! So, you have her to thank!
This book flew out of me, I loved writing every word. The vast majority of the words were written with my beloved Maine Coon kitten, Henry, on my lap. It was with the greatest sadness that Henry was knocked down and killed outside my home on 30th December 2019. I was devastated and wasn’t able to continue the edits until February. Henry had already been written in Falling from Grace and I’m happy that a part of him is able to live on and I hope he’s happy with Teagan.
I hope this explains my dedication and I hope you loved the book as much as I loved writing it!
I can’t begin to explain how much I appreciate my beta readers, especially Morgan A Kilth. Morgan is an inspirational and talented story teller in her own right. Thank you, Morgan I truly appreciated your feedback. I must also thank another beta reader, Bryony Norman. Bryony helped assure me Falling from Grace wasn’t a complete pile of shit, which is always helpful!
Thank you to the amazing Lee Ching from Under Cover Designs for stepping in and creating the beautiful cover. Also, a huge thanks to Kim Young my wonderful editor.
One
With This Ring
The swish of thick satin resounded through the air as I moved closer to the podium set up in my old bedroom at the top of my house in Knightsbridge. The room’s occupants closely inspected my dress, causing an awkward amble to my destination. I inhaled deeply as my sparkly, ivory heel fell upon the wood. Gracefully stepping on in a sudden rush of confidence, I turned to the mirror, my muscles tight with anticipation.
My held breath escaped me, and if it were possible for my eyes to fill, they would have. The dress had been lovingly created, my vision executed with utter perfection. I had fashioned the garment inside my head, and it turned out exactly as imagined. I snatched my gaze away from the dazzling satin and lace covering my body to the man who created it. Ryan.
Ryan’s eyes travelled over my wedding gown, his fake-tan face beaming with utter pride before gentle creases fanned around his narrowed eyes. He rushed forward at vampire speed, wordlessly tugging at a scallop of lace that I must have accidentally ruffled beneath the hem whilst I dressed for the final fitting. He perched back on his seat in a blur and resumed his air of self-satisfaction.
I grinned at my reflection before focusing my attention back on Ryan. “You’ve done it.” I shook my head almost in disbelief of Ryan’s talent. “You haven’t just done it. You absolutely smashed it.”
He smiled smugly. Pearl and Alex studied the knee-length ivory gown with a sweetheart neckline in satin and lace covering the rest of my chest. The fabric tapered to my waist before flaring into a full skirt with lace framing the hem. It was breathtaking. Fifties clothing had always been my favourite fashion. It suited my rounded hips. I often kicked myself for not keeping more garments from that era.
I couldn’t help but notice Alex’s pinched features, and I wondered when I would suffer the next lecture about my proposed marriage. The wedding was set for two weeks away, but he hadn’t seemed to want to give up on trying to talk me out of marrying Bartholomew.
“You look amazing,” Pearl said in her usual soft tone.
“You would say that.” I offered her a bright smile and waved a hand at her.
Pearl and I met under unsavoury circumstances. I owed her my life in some respects. Pearl was the member who admitted to having relations with a werewolf eighteen years ago. The admission she made could have sentenced her to execution for breaking the law, too. Back then, it was expressly forbidden to even speak of werewolves, let alone be involved with one in any way. Pearl vouched for me. Werewolf blood does some pretty funky stuff to vampires. A relaxant, a hallucinogenic… What I can imagine heroine is like for humans. Addictive and dangerous, more for the wolf than the vampire. I had been a victim of the law, having unwittingly fallen madly in love with Marc Romano, the next in line Alpha male for the Romano pack.
“It’s nice,” Alex finally said. We all turned to gawp at him. “What?” he exclaimed in response to the reaction. “It’s just a dress.” Alex shrugged and went back to inspecting his fingernails.
Sharp intakes of breath sliced through the room. I wanted to tell him to fuck off, to get
out of my house if he couldn’t at least pretend to be happy for me. I was marrying the man I loved after almost eighteen years of us being together. Alex’s constant diatribe was not going to stop that from happening.
Ryan interrupted the shitstorm I was about to bestow upon Alex with a high-pitched squeal. “Nice?” He glowered at his boyfriend.
Pearl, ever the peacekeeper, chimed in with her low, lilting voice. “Come on, Alex. That’s not quite a befitting word, is it?”
A rap on the door caused the tension to rise. My future husband was due to arrive any moment, and as with every bride, I didn’t want him to see my dress before the big day. I dashed off the podium and pressed myself into the corner.
“Can someone get that, please?”
Ryan nodded, seeming to understand my superstitious notion. “What the fuck do you want, mate?”
“Teagan is being summoned by Bartholomew,” I heard Bruno, Bartholomew’s right-hand man say.
“Well, he ain’t ‘er fuckin’ husband yet, is he?”
I figured Ryan would unleash holy hell on Alex when they got home judging by his foul mood.
“Ryan, do you think you need to make any more adjustments?” I asked gently, knowing the answer already. This dress fitted the contours of my body with unfathomable perfection. I offered a politeness I soon regretted.
“Do you?” he snapped.
“Not at all, but if Bartholomew has requested to see me, I want to find out what he wants before we all head out for food and cocktails.” I revealed my teeth in what I hoped looked like a dazzling smile.
“Lets be ‘aving you out of it then, babe.”
I sighed with relief as he slammed the door in Bruno’s face and tugged at the zipper of the dress, leaving me standing in my strapless Basque and heels. “Oh, thanks, Ryan.” I grabbed my dressing gown from the chair beside me and tugged the belt tight, kicking off my shoes as I walked to the door.
“What’s wrong?” I asked Bruno, who waited outside the room for me.
He shook his head, his expression the same amount of grave as always. You could present this man with a litter of cute kittens, and he would appear as though the world was about to end at any moment.
“I guess I’ll have to wait then.” My brows quirked up as I made my way downstairs, leaving Bruno to linger outside the bedroom.
I met Bruno on the same horrendous day I first met Bartholomew. I can’t begin to explain how surprised I was to fall in love with that man. It had been almost inconceivable. Once, I hated him with all of my being. But now, the thought of living without him forced a hollowness within my stomach that inspired nausea. I figured he would be in the drawing room, in front of the crackling fire, his hands behind his back as he paced.
I smiled, watching him from the doorway, him doing the aforementioned, wondering if it were Bartholomew’s predictability or simply that I knew him inside and out.
“You’re not going to be happy, my darling.”
That wiped the smile from my face. “Why?” I breathed, moving to him in an instant. His hands snaked around my waist.
“What are you wearing beneath this robe, my darling?” His brow arched and lips pursed.
I stifled a giggle. He was distracted by me, which drove me crazy for him. His sparkling green eyes bored into mine as he studied me.
“My wedding underwear. It would spoil it if you saw it.”
He let go of me and stood next to Thomas’s old chair with his hands behind his back. “Who’s here?”
“Alex, Ryan and Pearl.”
“Then they can hear us.”
All the vampires upstairs had super-hearing and sight. I couldn’t imagine they sat waiting for my return without wondering what was going on below and listening in, especially Alex in his mission to get me to call off the wedding.
“There’s been an issue.” He paused, and I didn’t press him to divulge any information because I could be sure he wouldn’t disclose anything with the ears above. “I have to go to the Scottish border and resolve a conundrum.”
“Scotland?” My stomach rotated, and I fiddled with the belt of my dressing gown in an attempt to disguise the tremble of my fingertips.
His head dipped and came back up in affirmation. What if he failed to get back in time for the wedding I’d been planning for a solid year?
“I’ll be back for the wedding. I promise,” he assured me, as though able to hear my thoughts. He moved so his hand rested on my hip once more. He’d fed before he came to see me because his palm warmed the spot. I closed my eyes in a bid to rid myself of the common vision of him feeding from a beautiful woman, becoming aroused by her. The scent of his sandalwood soap mixed with the smell of burning coal helped. He was here with me, wasn’t he? What more could I want?
I peered at him once I banished my troubled vision to where it belonged…at the back of my mind. His lips curled at the corners and his eyes offered me a melting look. This man had me hook, line and sinker. His white-blond, shoulder-length hair brushed against my face, making me press my body closer to him. I never wanted to be away from him, let alone the few weeks before our wedding.
I nuzzled against his palm as he ran it over my cheek.
“My darling, I would hope by now that you would trust me. I know how important our official union is to you.”
So, it was important to me, but not to him? My body tensed, but I didn’t challenge him. He would soon be leaving, if he were to make Scotland by daybreak, and I didn’t want to cause an argument.
“Now, let’s give them something to listen to.” He shot me a wicked grin, scooping me up and forcing a yelp to escape my throat.
I entwined my legs around his waist as his mouth crushed against my lips, his huge hands cupping my ass. My sex would surely explode with the fine lace of my panties moving over my swollen clit, driving me delirious. His tongue thrashed against mine with the intense passion we’d shared since our first kiss. Nothing had subsided between us over the years.
“I love you, Teagan,” he said breathlessly. I lost myself in his eyes, flashing with the depth in his words.
“I love you, too,” I replied without a slither of hesitation.
He lay me down on the long sofa across the room, his eyes lingering over me, devouring me. His deft fingers parted my dressing gown, his erection bulging through his grey trousers. He hooked a finger through the gusset of my panties and slid them off with rough precision, then discarded them across the room. My breath hitched, and I opened my legs, ready for him. My body knew I needed him even before my brain had the opportunity to register my desire.
“Take me now,” I groaned, the ache for him unbearable.
His zipper ripped down and his length sprang out of his trousers. He moved in a blur until his body was positioned between my legs, the tip of his manhood teasing at my entrance. I couldn’t wait for him to finish his torture. I grabbed his tight, muscular ass and drove him inside me, momentarily delighted when his mouth fell agape with startlement. The size of him stretched me blissfully in a burst of fire as I moved against him, unable to snatch my gaze from his beautiful face.
He tugged my gown open. Fuck the surprise wedding underwear, I thought. He savagely pulled at the cups of the lacy Basque and grabbed my breasts, as though they were fistfuls of dollar bills, before spinning around, taking me with him as he sat upright and positioned me on top of him.
“Fuck me, Teagan. I want to watch you come hard for me.” His fingers delved to my engorged clit. I squeezed my core, preventing myself from coming undone too soon. I sped up, increasing the pressure of his pads rubbing on my nub.
His head bent, taking my nipples into his mouth, swapping between them at a pace I could hardly bear. My stomach lurched, my body burned, and I fought away my orgasm. Bartholomew slapped one hand hard over my buttock with his free hand, and I was gone. The eruption pulsated through me in electrical waves. I continued to thrust my hips, feeling his milky hotness release inside me, our intermingled moans a sweet symphony
in the room.
We stayed united, my head resting on his chest as we both came down from the moment. I breathed in his scent, warning myself to commit it to memory, as I always did before he left me.
“I don’t want you to go,” I confessed, knowing it wouldn’t make a difference. As the Chairman of The Assembly, it was his duty to tend to matters in the United Kingdom, and I’d most likely have to suffer this level of loneliness for centuries to come. I already struggled through it for so long. But I still hated the way I ached for him. The longing to be with him caused a physical pain I’d never before experienced. When I expressed such hatred of him leaving me alone, he’d snap and remind me coolly of his duties to our kind. But this time, he smoothed his palm over my long, ginger locks, down to my waist, and squeezed me closer to him.
“I know, my darling. I would rather not go, either, but this situation is very complicated and personal to me.”
I moved away in a blur until I stood before him, my dressing gown closed again, covering my physical vulnerability at least. My skin tingled and jaw clenched painfully. No matter how hard I tried, I failed to conceal my emotions.
“So this isn’t Assembly business?” I bit out.
Bartholomew sighed heavily and avoided my scrutiny, placing his glance on the fire instead. “Why must you always question my motives for everything? I’ve done everything to make you happy, yet your mistrust of me continues.”
My fists balled. He was really starting to piss me off. “On the fucking contrary, darling,” I retorted sarcastically. “I’m the one who has made sacrifices and hurt to be with you. Do you know I’m relieved I didn’t sell this house, despite the fact you refuse to move in? Have you ever considered how that makes me feel? How much your lack of commitment crucifies me?”