Our Lives Entwined - Entwined Book Two
Title Page
Foreword
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
Our Lives Entwined
Entwined Series
Book 2
by Lilliana Anderson
Copyright 2014 Lilliana Anderson
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
All rights reserved
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means without the prior written permission of the author of this book.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is purely coincidental. Any actual places, products or events mentioned are used in a purely fictitious manner. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various places/products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission and is by no way sponsored by the trademark owners.
Dedication
My husband and kids, for putting up with me! Love you!
Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.
~ Emily Bronte
Foreword
A LITTLE over a year ago, I wrote a book called ‘Alter’. It was all about a twin who didn’t know she was a twin and thought she was going crazy when her friends were telling about things she couldn’t remember. It was such a fun book to write and the plot was so complicated and it took a while for readers to take a chance on it.
Eventually, I changed the title to Our Hearts Entwined because I had readers thinking that it was paranormal with the original title, and the Entwined Series was born.
Now, the second and final instalment is finally finished so readers can see what happens with Cayd, Mia, Eric, Natalie, Louise and Josh.
It’s a complicated story and one that I really enjoyed working on.
Enjoy!
Lilliana xoxox
Acknowledgements
I’D LIKE to say a huge thank you to Tammie, Kandice, Kristine, Crystal and Billy for dropping everything to read this for me and give me speedy beta feedback. I appreciate every moment of your valuable time that you give me. Thank you!
Thank you to my editor, Maria Johnson, you always do a brilliant job!
Thank you to my family for always understanding my deadlines. I am the WORST procrastinator in the world, and you all love and support me regardless.
Thank you to my street team for sharing teasers and everyone who participated in the countdown on my page.
I’d also like to thank the wonderful team at Apple and Smashwords, who set up all of my preorders and trust me to upload my books on time – I truly appreciate your support!
Thank you to all of the beautiful authors out there in Indie Author Land who share for me and keep me company. I love chatting randomly to you all throughout my day to help keep my sanity in check!
And to the Misfits – you rock my world while holding my hand.
Thank you to my kids. You are all so patient and understanding of your work-obsessed mother – you’re all beautiful!
And of course, thank you to all of my readers - especially those of you who have been here since the beginning. Without you, my characters would be nothing more than a daydream.
Mwah! xoxox
Chapter 1
STANDING IN front of the fog covered mirror, Natalie swiped her hand across it so she could see herself more clearly. She found herself staring. It was something that she had done often in the year since she had returned from Melbourne, as her appearance was changing every day – right before her own eyes.
Gone was the pink glow of her cheeks, the rose of her lips, and the shine in her hair. All that was beautiful about her had been replaced with sallow, lifelessness that sucked against her bones and showed the world the darkness that she felt resided in her soul.
Her parents had been worried about her as she wasn’t eating, she wasn’t working, and she was barely even talking.
They offered her counselling, (which she immediately refused – fat lot of good it did her last time) and put it down to the shock of her discovering she had a twin. They knew that Natalie felt a great disappointment over her twin, Mia, refusing to have anything to do with her.
Although, Natalie wasn’t in the position to cry ‘poor me’. Mia had very good reasons for disliking her. A year ago, Natalie had insinuated herself into Mia’s life, drugged her, and ruined her relationship with her then boyfriend, Eric, instead of doing what any normal person would do and simply introduce herself.
Mia was a good person, and didn’t deserve the trouble Natalie caused in her life. If Natalie had knocked on her door and explained how she found her then she would have welcomed her – gotten to know her. Instead, Natalie acted selfishly, she acted secretly, and she ruined everything there could have been between them. She ruined their chance of being sisters, and she ruined Mia’s chance at having a family.
In Natalie’s mind, her actions were never intentional. She did it all because she fell in love. But the problem was, she fell in love with Eric. She’d seen Mia with her boyfriend while observing them, (she insisted that she was only watching to see what kind of a person her twin was…) but there was something about Eric, something that drew her to him and made her feel as though she would do anything to be with him.
The day he mistook her for Mia, it was an accident. She’d gone out, hoping to run into him, but she never considered that he would think she was her sister. It was silly really, and she should have just told him who she was then and there. But, thinking she was Mia, he kissed her and there was a connection and… well, you know the rest.
She fell in love with Eric, and believing that all is fair in love and war, she did what she felt she had to do – she pretended to be Mia, even though she knew it was wrong. And ever since everything came out in the open, she was suffering. She couldn’t figure out how to live without him. She couldn’t move on.
Eric… His name was always on the tip of her tongue. His face, always at the edge of her mind, his voice, the only sound she heard when no one was around, and his touch – it was the only thing she craved. That is why she’d become so ill. She was pretty sure it was called being ‘lovesick’. There was no cure – not for her anyway.
The sickness had started the moment she left Melbourne to return to Sydney, and it hadn’t gone away since. She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t continue like this.
She’d tried in vain to contact him – to somehow explain. But every attempt went unanswered. The silence was deafening, and she’d never felt so lonely in all her life.
Natalie firmly believed that Eric was her soul mate. And how does one live without their soul mate? It seemed an impossible feat to her. Her chest ached without him, her stomach couldn’t stand the idea of food, and that spark of energy that gives one purpose in life was gone. Everything was gone.
Letting out a shaky breath, she stared at her reflection and wiped at her blotchy red face. She needed to stay strong. To
get through this, she needed every last ounce of strength she had. She was going to end it. She didn’t want to live anymore.
Sliding the razor out of its white paper package, she held it over her wrist before looking at her reflection once more. Tears filled her eyes as a sob escaped her lips. She hated herself, just as she was sure that others hated her. She had ruined everything. She had lost her sister, her hope, and the only chance she ever had at love.
Clenching her teeth, she pressed the razor against her flesh and wincing from the pain, she cut from her wrist, upward. As the blood spilled from her wound, and despite her promise to herself that she wouldn’t cry – her tears flowed, making it harder for her to see as she readied the blade at her other wrist.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she sliced down blindly, gasping this time as the blade went deeper than the one before. Immediately, she dropped the razor in the sink, before leaning up against the tiled wall, crying over all that she had done wrong in her life and wishing she could go back and somehow make things better.
Slowly, as her limbs grew heavy, she eventually lost her strength and slid to the floor. In the quiet of the locked bathroom, she sat – alone and growing cold as she sobbed quietly and watched the deep red leave her body, streaming its way toward the drain in the centre of the bathroom. Slowly, her vision blurred, and the red faded, becoming nothing but an empty black.
Chapter 2
GRABBING A hold of his cock through his jeans, she pressed her mouth next to his ear and practically yelled so Eric could hear her over the nightclub’s throbbing music.
“I’ll show you how good I am.”
With both hands on his chest, she pushed him through the crowd and into the shadows, until they were pressed up against a wall. Around them, other couples did exactly what they were about to do, as the thick humid air pressed in around them and seemed to pulsate to the beat of the dance music thumping through the sound system.
Slowly, she slid down his body, unbuttoning his jeans to free his hard cock. Needing some kind of release, Eric dropped his head back against the wall and forced himself to enjoy the wet warmth of the girl’s mouth, sliding over his cock as she sucked him off.
But he couldn’t focus. No matter how many women he had, he couldn’t stop seeing the same face. It’d been haunting him – driving him mad. She was in his dreams, and his thoughts and no amount of alcohol or sex was making his feelings go away.
He shouldn’t keep doing this.
Reaching his hands down, he grabbed the girl’s face and pulled her off his dick, dragging her up his body until he could bring her mouth to his. But as their lips brushed, he paused, holding her just out of reach. She smiled, biting her lip in that sexy way that girls do.
She wasn’t who he wanted.
Still, needing a release, he spun her around, pressing her up against the wall as he dragged her short skirt up and pulled her panties to the side, thrusting himself inside her.
As he pumped in and out, he kept his eyes open, focusing on the girl in front of him. He tried to see this girl for who she was, but when she turned her head, his alcohol fuelled mind kept blurring her features until he could see only one person.
Natalie.
The moment his mind saw Natalie’s face, his arousal grew and he found himself holding on to the lie his mind was feeding him. He withdrew, spinning the girl around again and lifting her so she was wrapped around his waist. He thrust back into her, crashing their mouths together, kissing her hungrily. The entire time, his eyes were closed, unwilling to look at the girl again in case her features cleared. Instead, he focused on the woman he craved.
Natalie…
The next morning, Eric was sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar, eating a bowl of cereal while nursing a decent sized hangover. He needed to stop drinking so much. It wasn’t helping him at all. In fact, it was only making him feel worse.
“Here’s another one for you, mate,” Josh said, as he dropped a small rectangular envelope in front of him. “It came in yesterday’s mail.”
Eric looked down at it, keeping his face impassive as he continued to eat. It was the same as all the others he’d received over the last year, and it would go to the exact same place the others went too - in the garbage bin, unopened.
Each time he tossed one, he felt a small pull inside, urging him to retrieve it and perhaps reconnect with Natalie. But he couldn’t. Not after her deceit. Not after the way Mia was treated. It wouldn’t be right.
No matter how strong the connection was between them, he didn’t know if he could forgive her for drugging Mia and taking her place in his life. He didn’t understand why she wasn’t just honest from the start. Things could have been so much different then. They would have had a chance. But now…
He still dreamt about her though. No amount of clubbing, or replacement women could stop that from happening. It had been a year, and barely a night had gone by when he hadn’t woken up after his mind had decided to replay incidences of their brief time together as he slept. The way his eyes flew open, you’d think they were nightmares, but they weren’t (which is probably why he felt so guilty about having them). He knew that despite it being wrong, deep down, he still loved her.
“You know, you could read one of those things,” Louise, said and signed, referring to the letter sitting on the benchtop in front of him. She knew it was about to be thrown into the rubbish.
Louise had been officially living with Eric and Josh for four months, although she had been practically living there for most of the year – ever since she returned from Sydney to visit her sister before the Mia/Natalie disaster hit their lives. It wasn’t long after that that she and Josh became engaged, and they’ve been inseparable ever since.
‘No,’ Eric signed back. ‘I’m not interested.’
Both Eric and Josh had become much more proficient in the use of Australian sign language, (or Auslan, for short), as the months had gone by. They were now able to have simple conversations with Louise without the need to verbalise everything they said.
“Well, you know what? I’m interested. You’ve been moping around this place for months. Maybe reading this will help you move on?” Louise picked up the unopened letter and held it in front of Eric. “Open it.”
“You open it,” Eric said, not signing this time because he was feeling a little annoyed at the red headed Louise for insisting that he look at it.
He understood that Louise was all about forgiving and forgetting, but it was different for her. Natalie didn’t deceive her. Plus, she was the only one who figured it out. Everyone else just blindly believed that Mia was having some sort of a mental breakdown and he couldn’t get past it.
On top of his own struggles, he felt that he also had to think about Mia’s feelings. She was the person that Natalie hurt most, and she was still incredibly important to him. If she wasn’t willing to forgive Natalie, then he couldn’t see how he could either.
“Fine,” she said, shaking her mop of curls as she sighed and tore open the envelope to read over the contents. As she read, her eyes widened and her hand floated up to cover her mouth as she gasped.
‘What is it?’ Eric signed when she glanced up at him.
She shook her head, her skin ashen as she whispered. “It’s a suicide note.”
Chapter 3
“HOW DOES a Saturday morning in bed sound?” murmured Mia, as she rolled toward Cayd that same morning.
“Sounds perfect,” he grinned, his voice croaky from sleep as he slid his arm around Mia’s warm body, pulling her against him in their shared bed before taking her mouth with his and lazily kissing them both awake.
Melbourne winters were cold, and the last thing either of them wanted to do was get out of bed before the heating kicked in and warmed their house up.
When they had decided to permanently move in together, there had been some debate over where they would both live. Neither of them really felt comfortable moving into each other’s space. So they decided to get a new one e
ntirely. Mia had placed her flat up for rent, and Cayd decided to use the space that was formerly his residence to expand his practice.
Business for him had been going well. He’d turned his practice into more of an all-encompassing medical centre, complete with General Practitioners, a Physiotherapist, a Chiropractor, an Acupuncturist, and an Osteopath. He and his original partner, Dr Evelyn Butler, were now sharing a consultation room, with Evelyn taking on most of their patients. Cayd still preferred a lighter load so he could focus on research and their more difficult cases. On top of that, he had also started to guest lecture at the local university about his research into Borderline Personality Disorder, which had become an area of interest after Natalie had turned all their lives upside down.
His weeks were full, as were Mia’s. She was still working at the same special needs school, teaching deaf teens. Cayd had found that having a partner who was absorbed in her work as much as he was, to be a blessing, as they could work side by side at home in the evenings while still managing to spend time together.
Their relationship was caring, constant and understanding. Each of them felt as though they were in the same orbit. So, they worked well, moving through their days as a couple harmoniously. But weekends, (Saturdays especially) were always reserved for their personal time – no work allowed.
Mia hummed against his mouth, her hands moving under his shirt as she ran her fingers up and over his back, and wriggled against him. She could feel his arousal, firmly pressing into her and made sure to move against it.
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