by Lisa Swallow
“She can have both surnames,” I say.
Jem smirks. “Quinn Butler-Jones. Makes us sound like landed gentry.”
“Says the man who bought a country estate!” I indicate the world outside the glass doors leading to the huge gardens. No longer city Jem, he’s moved us onto a property surrounded by fields, into a converted farmhouse and away from prying eyes.
Quinn begins to grumble and I recognise the signs, and what’s coming next. She’s calm for a baby according to Cerys, which amuses the hell out of our friends considering how they perceive us. But they don’t see how, most of the time, me and Jem operate on a calm and intuitive level; that our desire for stability in our new world sees conflict dealt with quickly, although occasionally, loudly. Quinn’s snuffling turns to whimpering and my hormones kick in. I hold my arms out to Jem and he reluctantly hands her over.
Jem bends his head and plants a kiss on her head. “You saved my life,” he whispers then looks to me. “Both of you.”
“No, we killed your old one,” I reply and sit down to feed Quinn.
“Yeah, I guess. Yesterday doesn’t matter.” He indicates my tattoo under my breasts, revealed as I position her.
“It’s gone.” I no longer regret choosing to etch the words from ‘my song’ onto my body. They are the truth and a connection to my brother, the part of yesterday who’ll never leave.
Jem curls up next to me as Quinn feeds, as if he wants to be part of our bonded closeness and by touching my skin, he can be. I rest my head on his shoulder.
“I love you, Ruby Tuesday.” Jem says this every day, a reminder I don’t need because even when he refused to say the words, I knew this was true. Jem says the words simply and with undisguised love in his eyes, not with a desperate need for me to reciprocate with the same words. But I always do.
“I love you, Jem Jones,” I whisper.
He touches Quinn’s head as she feeds. “My life is fucking perfect.” Then winces as I jab my finger into his side. “What?”
“We don’t swear anymore, remember?”
Jem bites his lip in amusement. “Sure, let’s see you try with that.”
I poke my tongue out and Jem laughs, capturing my mouth with his, leaving a soft kiss on my lips to reinforce his words. I shift, snuggle into him and he wraps his arms around my shoulder.
Jem spent a lifetime hiding how he felt and attempting to contain the depth of the emotions he holds inside. Although he refused to believe it, Jem Jones has always been filled with love he wanted to give, but had no idea how to. If Jem didn’t feel so deeply about others, he wouldn’t have needed to cut away such an important part of who he is in order to protect himself. If he honestly didn’t give a crap about anything, why would Jem need to obliterate his world? Jem took the love he tried to give, which was rejected as a child, and turned this back against himself into hate and inadequacy. Finally, Jem’s lost the self-hatred and shared the love he deserves to get back.
Jem gave me the one thing he could never trust anybody with: access to the deepest parts of his heart where that love lives. He once told me the darkness could never hide me because I shine so brightly; that stars can never be lost in the night. In the same way, Jem needed to break apart; because how else would the light shine through the cracks into his shadow world.
Look what came from our pain and confusion, from our coming together. Not only a new world together, but also a new life, a new person. I could never doubt the goodness in a man who has poured himself into changing and becoming who he needs to be, for himself, for me, and for Quinn.
We’re still locked in our own world, but we’re no longer trapped. This is the place we’ve chosen to be together, and here is where we belong. Ruby Tuesday, Jem Jones, and Quinn live here in a new reality; one nobody gets to take away from us.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed Rising. Please consider leaving a review at the site where you bought the book. If you’d like to contact me, my author links are on the page with my author bio. I love hearing what readers think about my books.
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The Blue Phoenix Books
Available Now
Summer Sky (Blue Phoenix #1)
Falling Sky (Blue Phoenix #2)
Unplugged (Blue Phoenix #3)
Rising (Blue Phoenix #4)
Coming Soon
Summer Star (Blue Phoenix #1.5) – February 2015
Also
The final book in Sky and Dylan’s story
Bryn’s story
(Coming spring and summer 2015)
Acknowledgements
My biggest thanks go to my Rising beta readers: Anne, Kaylene, Leeann, Lou, Teresa, Tarsh and Victoria who helped me through the ups and downs of Ruby and Jem’s story. You’re amazing and I’m honoured you gave me so much of your time.
Thanks go to my wonderful editors Peggy and Becky at Hot Tree Editing, and Najla at Najla Qamber Designs for making Rising beautiful inside and out.
I’m writing these acknowledgements at the end of 2014 which has been my first full year as an indie author, one I spent almost exclusively with the Blue Phoenix boys (although a paranormal romance snuck in mid-year). This has been a crazy roller-coaster journey where I went from selling only a handful of my previously published books to suddenly selling enough to hit Amazon bestseller lists and reach new readers. My journey is just beginning and although it’s hard work, I love that I can call this my ‘job’ now. Thank you to every single person who has supported me in the smallest way over the last year. I try and thank everybody but if I miss something you’ve done and don’t, I’m sorry.
Thank you especially to the bloggers who have supported my indie publishing journey - so many of you to mention. I tried to write a list but was scared I’d offend by leaving someone out so decided not to.
And thanks to every single reader who has left a review, signed up to my mailing list, spoken to me on Facebook or emailed me. You make my dreams a reality. I’m overwhelmed by the support for the Blue Phoenix series and can’t wait to share more with you!
About The Author
Lisa writes both paranormal and contemporary romance, including the bestselling Blue Phoenix series.
In between running a business, looking after her family and writing, Lisa sometimes finds spare time to do other things. This often involves swapping her book worlds for gaming worlds. She even leaves the house occasionally.
Lisa is originally from the UK but moved to Australia in 2001 and now lives in Perth in Western Australia with her husband, three children and dog.*
*I was recently told by my youngest daughter that I have to add ‘and cat’ here. As I suspect the cat owns us and not the other way around, I’ll leave it as is.
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