Reign (Roam Series, Book Six)

by Stedronsky, Kimberly

  I never wanted to forget him.

  Because of him, I was stronger, and West was mine forever. Even in his moments of kindness, I knew that he was truly unredeemable. Though the logical part of my mind understood that I had the right to my own sadness and anger, I still lowered the flame to Troy’s body, praying, whispering my forgiveness.

  I had to do what I feared most; I had to forgive him.

  No guilt.

  “We’re going home in the morning,” West said softly, and I nodded, remembering our conversation. Rather than moving through the door to Pennsylvania, Eva would lead us through the ocean, directly to the cottage. The sirens that lurked in the waters were no longer a concern with West’s magic; he had no problem fighting them with his power over the strong currents.

  Eva and Will would join as soon as possible, after Will felt that Christopher was ready to take over the throne. Logan and Violet would go through the incline plane with their children, and West assured them he’d work everything out with Laurel and Logan’s parents when we returned.

  In a pair of jeans and a white tee-shirt provided by Eva, I walked across the sand toward West. West wore jeans and a plain, white button-down shirt as well, and we both knew that we needed to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible as we crossed over.

  After saying goodbye, Eva led us into the water. It was clear that West’s magic could easily take us through the light below the ocean, so we let her turn back to Icepond as we continued on.

  Moving though the light, the temperature of the water cooled several degrees, and by the time we surfaced, we were both gasping for air.

  The shore was nearly empty. I spotted the little, white cottage amongst the dunes. West and I swam together, and by the time we reached the sandy shore, we were both exhausted.

  He gripped my hand, lying on his back to stare up at the sky. I moved over him, blocking his eyes from the sun, a smile finding its way back to my face.

  “We’re home.”

  “We’re home, baby,” he repeated, grinning up at me. I flattened my sandy, wet hand over his chest, feeling his heart beat beneath my fingertips.

  “Did you ever think, all those years ago at Paine Falls, that we’d actually succeed?”

  He lifted my fingers to his lips, nodding. “I knew you were different. I knew that I loved you, Roam Camden, more than I’d ever loved anything in any world, and I’d fight for you until my dying day.”

  “You are immortal. That’s quite a commitment,” I teased, my heart warming at his beautiful words. He sighed, sliding his fingers through my dripping hair.

  “And I’d fight for you until the end of time.”

  “Thank you for… still loving me… after every life, after all of the years. Thank you for never giving up.”

  He smiled, his gorgeous blue eyes catching the sunlight. “Miss Camden, I have to ask you to do one more thing for me.”

  “Anything,” I promised, breaking into a new grin at his teacher’s tone.

  “Will you marry me again?”

  I gazed at him, my smile widening. The sunshine sparkled in his eyes.

  “Yes, Mr. Perry.”

  His smile charmed me, and my heart grew too big for my chest.

  “I don’t have your ring,” he apologized, running his fingers over my lips. “But I learned some new magic.”

  I tasted his lips, exhaling slowly as my body came to life again. I ached for him, needing him, forgiving myself for the madness that had consumed my mind under Troy’s captivity. Logan and Troy could never make me feel like West did.

  I loved him, and would always love him.

  With all of my soul.

  He lifted his hand in the air, drawing a slow circle above us. The tinkling notes of Elvis Presley’s ballad filled the shores of Emerald Isle. He pulled me against his chest, and I tucked my face against his neck.

  “Stay with me, West,” I murmured, needlessly, filled with a desperate longing to be wrapped in his arms forever.

  “Roam… some things… are meant to be,” he sang softly, his lips brushing my ear as he held me in his arms.

  Epilogue

  West

  Time was something I had always had too much of, and had been fighting against all of my life.

  We’d barely made it into the cottage. Roam was asleep within minutes, curled up on the old bed, a cool peacefulness settled over her young face.

  I sat at the small kitchen table, following the aged grooves in the butcher block with my tired eyes.

  It was over.

  I debated my different plans of action. I would to contact Morgan to wire me money. I tried to remember that the last time I’d seen her, she’d confessed that she was feeling more for me than she should have been. The awkwardness of that situation- that life- was now in the forefront of my mind. Roam and Logan had been missing for two years, and they were about to walk into their parent’s lives again.

  And they needed a damned good story.

  Damp with seawater, I opted for an efficient shower. Clearing my thoughts, I decided that Morgan was going to be my only option at this point.

  The telephone in the cottage was attached to the kitchen wall, and I dialed Morgan’s number from memory. She didn’t answer at first, so I called again.

  On the third attempt, her furious voice made me grin. “Hel-lo?!”

  “Hey Morgan.”

  “West?” Her voice cracked, from irritated to instant concern, and I heard her fumble with the phone. “You don’t call me, text me, nothing since December, and now it’s five o’clock in the morning and you’re-…,”

  “I have Roam.”

  Her words caught in her throat, choked, and I heard her sharp intake of breath. “Is she okay? Is she with you?”

  “Yes. To both.”

  “Is Eva okay?”

  I scrubbed the heel of my hand between my eyes, sighing. “Morgan, Eva is nineteen years old. I’ll tell you what happened. Hang in there, okay?”

  To her benefit, she was a much better listener than Roam. She asked very few questions, letting me finish completely. Almost an hour later, my throat was dry, and I searched the cabinets for a glass.

  “Holy shit, West. Holy fucking shit. What am I supposed to tell Dad?”

  “I’ll speak to him. With Roam. We’ll work it out,” I promised her.

  “And Eva is… grown up? I’ll bet she’s beautiful. Does she still have a temper?”

  I snorted, thinking over the events of the past few years. “Yes. She does.”

  “Okay. Okay,” she repeated softly, as though collecting her thoughts. “So, what should I do?”

  I gave her instructions, and she listened patiently. After agreeing, she cleared her throat, her voice wavering. “West, I’m sorry about the way we left things. Before. I don’t want things to be weird between us. I’m just so thankful you found her, and it’s all over.”

  “Morgan. I watched you marry Jason. I was there when your twin girls were born. You’re the sister I never had, and that’s what you’ll always be to me.”

  “I… marry… Jason?” She managed, and I grinned, sighing deeply.

  “I’ll see you soon.”

  I knew there were no groceries in the refrigerator, and we’d need something to eat. Without ID, money, or a vehicle, I was tempted to just go crawl into bed with Roam instead of move into survival mode. Concentrating, I set the glass on the counter, staring at it.

  Focused.

  The glass shook, vibrating against the old countertop, and I clenched my fist, settling it. My magic was new, novel, and I needed to learn what I was capable of doing.

  First, I needed to kiss my wife.

  Her hair and clothes were still wet from the ocean, and I knelt next to the bed, gazing over her face. Her lips, slightly parted, rested against her palm. Over the years, as mortals, I’d watched her face change, age, and go from pretty to just fucking beautiful. Her smile lines were non-existent now, her brows unmanicured, her lashes thicker than I ever
remembered them.

  She was seventeen. And she was carrying my child.

  There was no going forward, and no going back, as my father had said.

  I had to come to terms with the fact that the girl lying before me was my thirty-six-year-old wife. She’d given birth to and raised my two children. She’d earned a PhD in History.

  And I was left with a missing girl who had yet to graduate high school.

  At least, technically, she’d be nineteen now. Barely legal in Ohio, but enough to go on with her father.

  Her eyes fluttered open, and I lost myself in the green irises that had enchanted me for centuries. She smiled slowly, her eyes watering. “Morning, Mr. Perry.”

  There were defining moments in everyone’s lives, moments we’d never forget. In that second, I fell in love with her for the thousandth time.

  “Good morning, baby.”

  Grinning, she rolled to her back and stretched. “You’re very naked.”

  Chuckling, I shrugged. “My clothes are still wet. I was going to throw them in the washer with yours when you woke up.”

  “What are the chances that there’s coffee waiting for me in the kitchen?”

  I slipped over her, tucking my hand over her hip, tracing the lines of her jeans as she wrapped her leg around my waist. “Slim. Like the chances of me letting you leave this bed.”

  “Hmn.” She ran her hands over my shoulders, and I dropped my forehead to hers, smiling. “I feel… seventeen.”

  “You’re nineteen,” I reminded her, my lips roving over her throat. “And you’re mine.”

  “I’m yours,” she agreed, and as I moved my kisses over her salty skin, my fingers slipped beneath the edge of her shirt, over her stomach. “How do you feel?”

  “Happy. Nervous.”

  “Roam.” I cupped her face in my hand, pressing my forehead to hers. “No one will ever hurt you again. Okay?”

  “Okay,” she managed, her voice breaking.

  “And Troy is gone.” I reminded her. She nodded again, blinking back the moisture in her eyes.

  “I know.”

  I settled in beside her, tracing my finger along her forehead, at her temple. “We have a new story. Are you ready?”

  “A new story?” She repeated, and I pulled her to my chest, nodding against her hair.

  “Listen.” I stared at the same ceiling I’d stared at night after night with Annie in my arms, promising her that I’d protect her, calming her fears.

  It’s different now. My life has just begun.

  “I was your teacher. You disappeared in December of your senior year, with… Logan. You ran away together.” I went on quickly, trying not to think about the two of them together. “You moved around a lot, and ended up in North Carolina. I ran into you, recognized you, and tried to convince you to turn yourselves in.”

  “And the baby?” She added, covering her stomach with her hands.

  “Wait, I’m not done.” I turned to the early morning light pouring in through the window. “You wouldn’t turn yourself in. We fell in love. Logan moved on.”

  “Mr. Perry, your story is sadly lacking details,” she giggled, and I grinned, rolling over her to drop kisses to her neck.

  “I’ll work it out.”

  “You are overly confident.”

  “I am appropriately confident.”

  She smirked. “Do you really think we can just… start over?”

  I could hear the apprehension in her voice; already she was thinking about Troy, and everything that had happened in the castle.

  “We deserve this, Roam. We’ve been through too much. I don’t want to worry and wait anymore. I’m going to marry you, quietly, alone on that beach, and we’ll spend eternity together.”

  “It will be hard for me to just let Christopher and Eva… live their own lives. Be adults. I already want to check on them.”

  “Will is bringing Eva home. Here. Christopher will visit, and we’ll visit him. He’s going to make a strong king, Roam. He’s smart, and he’s… careful. He has more modesty than Eva ever will.”

  “And Logan and Violet,” she added, and I stiffened.

  “Right. They will be here, too.”

  “Logan will need us, West. His wife doesn’t remember their life together. Wynn is nineteen years old. He’ll need our support.”

  “He has it,” I assured her, though as soon as we were all settled in our lives, I planned to move her as far away from Logan as possible. “I called Morgan. She’s going to help us.”

  “West?”

  “Hmn?”

  She sat up, turning over me. “I love you… seems… inadequate. For the way I feel. The moment I was born, you were a part of me. I feel like I can live now. I feel like I can breathe.”

  “Baby,” I kissed her, gently, meeting her emerald gaze. “You make me want to breathe.”

  I had her in my arms before she could say another word, losing myself in my Roam.

  Three Months Later

  Roam

  Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to look through the eyes of your younger self… knowing everything you know now?

  The world around me was everything I remembered it to be when I was seventeen, only now, to this world, I was nineteen. Seeing my dad, and Morgan, and Logan’s parents again, and Logan… those first few difficult weeks ran into months, and keeping up the story we’d concocted for my father was especially difficult now that West was involved. It helped that Morgan knew everything, and was able to help smooth over the blurred lines of my relationship with my twenty-seven year old teacher.

  I moved in with West (into the Ohio house that I’d redecorated, raised my children in until they were seven and four, and cleaned a million times) and endured my dad’s disappointment. Logan and Violet settled into a home that West bought for them, marrying quietly and enrolling Rose in elementary school. Wynn was already nineteen, and stayed with Violet to help her adjust to everything that was happening.

  Into a life she couldn’t remember.

  Eva and Will chose to live in North Carolina, and West provided Will with credentials for teaching at high school level and below. Will refused to take money from West, insisting that he would provide for his own family. Eva threw more than a few tantrums about his pride, but eventually, she applied her creativity and love of music into a successful music blog.

  I knew that she was unsettled, and bored, but Perry kept her busy.

  My son was in another world.

  Leaving Christopher behind was the hardest part. I knew that Asher was there to help him learn how to run the kingdom, and Cole Mathison had stayed behind to help as well. But nothing could have prepared me for the longing I felt for my baby, my son who was now a grown man and the king of Icepond.

  “Is she kicking?”

  I lifted my eyes from the book in my hands, watching West lean forward and flatten his palm over my belly.

  I grinned. “A little. She’s restless.”

  “Do you want me to read to her?”

  He held his hand out for my Kindle, and I nodded, shifting on the couch so I could watch his face in the evening light “Sure.”

  He cleared his throat, threading his fingers through mine. “What am I reading?”

  “It’s a story.”

  “About?”

  He touched the Kindle page, scanning the words.

  “About two unlikely people who fall desperately in love with each other.”

  His lips curled into a smirk. “Hmn.”

  “He has a past,” I explained, closing my eyes as his warm fingers met our daughter’s insistent kicks. “And she helps him move forward. Kind of a cliché, but I like where the story is going.”

  “Okay, baby.” His smooth voice was calming to both me and the baby, and I felt her settle as soon as he began.

  “I smiled at him as he pulled me from the bed and to my feet. The moonlight poured in the windows, with only the sound of the ocean behind the song. He wrapped his arms around
me and held me before he began to sway.”

  I drifted between sleep and awake at the sound of his words. My dreams were filled with water… calming water, and the brightest blue skies… and eyes… I’d ever seen in all of my lives. They were filled with hope, and strength, and an eternal love that was meant to last for lifetimes.

  My dreams were filled with West.

  THE

  BEGINNING

  ROAM SERIES

  ROAM

  FALL

  RISE

  RUSH

  RULE

  WEST

  REIGN

  FIRE BALLAD SERIES

  EIGHTH NOTE

  CAROUSEL (Coming Soon)

  ACCOLADE (Coming Soon)

  Kimberly Stedronsky is an Ohio author who prefers an epic love story. She has a degree in Early Childhood Education, which she uses as an excuse to be as immature as possible on a daily basis. She is married to a stand-up comedian Marine veteran, and their three children are appropriately sarcastic.

  Connect with Kimberly on her website: http://kimberlystedronsky.wix.com/kimberly-stedronsky