by CLIFF, J. C.
Contents
Published by
Copyright
Title Page
Dedication
Enjoy the ride
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
Epilogue
Perfect Timing
Author Notes
Acknowledgments
Wished For You by KD Robichaux
Prologue
Chapter 1
Authors Note
Published by © J.C. Cliff LLC, 2014
Blyssfully Undone Copyright © 2014 by J.C. Cliff All rights reserved https://www.facebook.com/BLYSS.TRILOGY
Http://JCCLIFF.COM
Edited by Kayla Robichaux, Hot Tree Editing http://www.facebook.com/kaylathebibliophile
http://www.kaylathebibliophile.blogspot.com
Cover Design © Sommer Stein with Perfect Pear Creative Covers https://www.facebook.com/PPCCovers
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The Blyss Trilogy, and Blyssfully Undone is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and events portrayed in the book either are from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, establishments, events, or location is purely coincidental, and not intended by the author. Please do not take offense to the content, as it is FICTION. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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To Kayla Robichaux
I don’t think I will ever be able to convey my personal gratitude to the one person who is able to bring a fine polish to my stories.
Kayla Robichaux has edited an untold amount of books that have gone on to become best sellers. I firmly believe it is because of her special touch that I, too, became an Amazon Best Seller. She should be in an Editors Hall of Fame somewhere. She deserves recognition for her abilities and intellect.
At the end of Blyssfully Undone, as a special treat to you, she has allowed me to share with you the first chapter of her first book, Wished For You.
If you don’t know Kayla, you should take the time to do so. She has been around quite a long time and when the internet was brand new, she was the first to create a Bibliophile. Kayla’s Bibliophile, a special place she nurtured and grew to bring readers of romance together in one place. To know Kayla is to know a great person. There is nothing but unconditional love in her soul and she always gives it with a warm-hearted smile. When I read Wished For You, I read it with a silly grin on my face, because I could picture Kayla doing all of those free spirited, and silly antics.
She has such a zest and love for life and she always has a way to make you feel special. I am more than blessed to not only have her in my life, but am able to call her a true friend for life. I hold will always hold her in the highest of regards.
If you have made it this far within the trilogy that means you are enjoying this adventure and you are dying to know how it all ends.
I seriously enjoy writing, but I get frustrated and feel like banging my head against the wall more and more each day, because when people enjoy a book and do not leave a review, I don’t sell books.
It’s plain and simple, if I don’t sell books, I cannot write another story for you to escape into. A review can be just a short & sweet sentence. It doesn’t have to be fancy - it just has to be there on Amazon.com.
I hope you take what I’ve written to heart and think about me just enough at the end of this book to want to take the extra minute and leave a review on Amazon.com. Every star counts. Every reader counts.
Oh, and if you’ve pirated this book, the very least you could do is leave a review as well.
Thank you, and enjoy the ride, ~ J.C. CLIFF
Jules
I’m frozen and helpless while being pinned underneath Travis’ heavy bodyweight. All of this has unfolded so quickly. I don’t know what to think as he lies on top of me with an intruder at his back. I’m astounded over the fact Travis did indeed risk it all for me, and is still risking it all by shielding me with his body from the imminent and immediate danger in the room.
It dawns on me he must have been under some serious stress over the past few weeks. He’s been shouldering the responsibility and impending ramifications all by himself for breaking me out of the facility. Not only did he get me out of there, but he also nursed me back to health and took care of me…damn good care of me.
He knew this day was coming, and even took steps to prepare me for this very moment, and I understand now why he was being so dogmatic about repetition and practicing until I could load a gun blindfolded, needing me to be able to defend myself. All of his training will be in vain if I lack the courage now to help him fight. The way he’s fought for me all this time, and wanting to protect me, he was right to bring me here. I can see it now. If I would’ve gone to the police not knowing who I was, I would’ve been broadcasting my whereabouts right to Nick and his men.
My veins pulsate in my neck as my adrenaline continues to spike off the charts. There is no way in hell I’m going to be able to calm myself down. My blood pumps through each vein like a set of bass drums as I try in vain to force my heartbeat to slow. Travis firmly squeezes my wrists, which are hidden underneath the pillow, garnering my attention and pulling my mind back into the here and now.
He narrows his eyes on mine. I know that look. He’s silently telling me to pull my shit together. I steal a deep, silent breath and slowly let it out. Our fate, most likely, will rest in my hands. I close my eyes tightly and imperceptibly nod, agreeing to whatever it is he’s going to signal me to do for us to survive. Everything makes perfect sense now, from learning his special sign language, to how to handle a gun, to knowing about the bunke
r and what to do from there.
Travis wordlessly gains my attention again by tapping his forefinger on my wrist. I open my eyes to see him shift his eyes to the side, indicating I need to be ready to use the weapon I hold in my hand. I barely give him a wink using my right eye, letting him know I understand.
Even though I get the meaning of his signals, actually having the guts to follow through with the action he expects me to do is a whole different matter. I realize it’s going to be much more difficult to kill someone when I can see their chest rise and fall with each living breath. A profound, physiological process takes place in my brain, and I swallow hard against the lump in my throat at the thought of taking a life. It’s going to be all up to me to help him acquire the upper-hand, and I’m not sure if I’m capable of achieving such a feat. I mean, these men are accomplished criminals, and I’m just an innocent, inexperienced nobody caught in the crossfire.
The man behind him startles me as he pierces the air with strong promises of Travis’ demise. “Jackson, one wrong move from you, and you’ll meet your maker today, understand?”
I watch as the muscles in Travis’ jaw flex, and he grits out his reply between clenched teeth, “Understood.”
“Very good. I hope you’ve enjoyed your little fuck-fest, because your honeymoon is over,” the man says in a threatening tone, and then his voice changes from hostile to a deliberately mocking tone. “You’ve gotten sentimental in your old age, Jackson. Your love-speech just made me go all gooey inside.”
Travis’ green eyes morph before me, turning cold and hard as he narrows them in anger. I know he wishes he had an even playing field, because with the death glare Travis is emanating right now, I have no doubt the man wouldn’t last five seconds.
“Now, Travis, listen closely…as I wouldn’t want any unfortunate accidents to happen. I also don’t think the young lady would appreciate getting soiled from any of your splattered blood getting on her, all because you decided to make a wrong move thinking you can take me. You understand that?”
“I got it,” Travis gruffly states, and then he lightly squeezes my wrists, and I don’t think it means anything other than an I care about you, and I hope we get through this alive type of squeeze.
“Good, I want your hands up in the air. Then, I want you to slowly slink off the bed nice and easy. If you so much as move a micrometer in the wrong direction, you know what happens.” Travis tenses and reiterates his signals to me again by flicking his eyes to the concealed gun in my hand. My heart hammers hard against the walls of my chest as I try to control tremors that are beginning to develop in my extremities.
Travis slowly removes his grip from my wrists, and at a snail’s pace, he leans back, placing both his hands up in the air. His weight slowly begins to lift off my body while he keeps his hands held high, indicating he’s unarmed. His steely gaze continues to penetrate through mine the entire time as he slowly stands to his full height. He looks so vulnerable at this moment, something I’m not used to seeing from this dominating, strong-willed, and always in control kind of man.
“Young lady, the same rules apply to you,” the man threatens, his voice unsettling me. I look at him out of the corner of my eye, petrified to even breathe. “My orders are to take you alive, ma’am, but accidents can happen, can’t they?”
Holy shit. The reality of the situation slams into my chest, the very fear stealing air from my lungs. What Travis has been trying to instill in me all along is now ringing true. I will have to kill in order for us both to survive. I imagine this man didn’t come alone either. They would have to be more than stupid to believe only one person would be enough to capture Travis. I wonder where the other men are and if they’re surrounding the house.
The intruder slices through the thick tension in the room, breaking into my distraught thoughts as he speaks to Travis with pure menace lining his deep voice. “Keep your hands in the air.” His gruff voice twists in my gut, and my adrenaline spikes. My God, I don’t want Travis to die.
I know Nick will have him at the guillotine the second he’s captured, but only after he makes him suffer first; I’m sure of it. It seems as if all Travis has ever tried to do is keep me out of harm’s way since the very beginning. He’s risked his own life to get me out from under Nick, and now he’s paying the price. I may be out-of-my-mind angry with Travis right now, but he doesn’t deserve to die.
I slowly turn my head to the side just in time to witness the man roughly grab Travis by one wrist. He twists it, bringing it around Travis’ back to put him in an arm lock. This man is big and burly, full of muscle, but he’s not as big as Travis. Travis holds the look of Black Death in his eyes. It's a look of his promised wrath I've never seen before, but always imagined it could exist on his handsome face.
The aura his entire body is exuding right now screams warrior, promising his rival a wicked, painful death if given the opportunity to gain the upper hand, and I imagine he would’ve already taken this guy if he didn’t have me to consider.
I watch as the man begins to place a handcuff on Travis’ wrist, and something twists in my gut. Anger begins to brew and bubble in the pit of my stomach. This asshole has no right, nor does Nick have the right to lay claim to my life, my future, or anyone else’s for that matter. Sporadic emotions of vengeance, hate, and fear play in my head, unleashing a fury I’ve never felt before. I can literally feel the venom seeping out of my pores.
Travis shoots me a glare out of the corner of his eye, which says I’m letting our time to take action tick away. The intensity of his eyes consume me as they blaze for me to pull out of my shock and make a move.
Travis asks over his shoulder while keeping his scrutinizing gaze on mine, “How did you find us?”
“Now that’s the million-dollar question right there, isn’t it, Travis?” the man sardonically replies. “I imagine you would like to know that bit of intel, wouldn’t you?”
I steal a deep breath while they banter. I know I will have the element of surprise, because who would think in a million years a young female would be wielding a gun from underneath a pillow. It’s now or never, Jules.
My fingers wrap around the gun’s grip a little tighter, thankful for Travis’ foresight in preparing me for this very moment. Knowing the safety is already off, it’s one less thing I have to think about.
Travis’ voice echoes through me as I’ve practiced this very routine ad nauseam. You shoot to kill the enemy, Jules, not maim them, or they’ll come back for you.
As adrenaline rushes through my blood vessels, all I can hear is my heartbeat pounding in my ears, but I refuse to allow my body to freeze in fear and let Travis down. I quit thinking about what I have to do and just do it. Push comes to shove, and I quit rationalizing with my thoughts as my instincts take over. My reflexes intuitively respond without another conscious thought.
I draw the gun out from underneath the pillow at warp speed, and a bizarre feeling washes over me as everything seems to move in slow motion. I watch, feeling detached in an out-of-body experience as my left hand meets the other to help stabilize the gun.
I cock my head to the side as my right eye lines up with the sight on the Sig. I don’t fuck around. I aim for the man’s head, and before I know it, three successive shots have rung out, shooting off rounds just the way Travis taught me.
I don’t even remember feeling the recoil from the handgun as it fired, nor do I hear the shots ring out, but my ears sure as hell are ringing in a high-pitched sound in the aftermath. Feeling detached from myself, as if this isn’t really happening, I watch as this man who once had a living, breathing heart collapses lifelessly to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
Oh. My. God. I’ve just shot and killed another human being. All of my limbs lock up as I freeze with shock and disbelief. I’m paralyzed, and I sure as hell don’t want to peer over the mattress to see the final outcome.
My brows furrow in confusion as Travis is suddenly in my face, his lips are moving, but I can’t he
ar what he’s saying. He grabs my shoulders and starts to roughly shake me. I begin to hear his voice as it breaks through in segments. He sounds muffled, as if he’s talking underwater.
“Now is…time to zone out. We’ve got…out of here,” he yells in dire urgency, but I can’t comprehend his fragmented words.
Travis roughly shakes me like a rag doll when I don’t respond, repeating, “Jules! Snap out of it! You know the drill; we’ve practiced this. We’ve got to move!” I feel paralyzed, the shock and fear locking up all my limbs, rendering me useless.
His eyes become plagued with worry. “Jules, baby. Please, snap out of this,” he pleads in an urgent tone. “Our lives depend on it. Don’t check out on me now.”
I blink my eyes hard several times, trying to come out of my stupor. His fingers work to pry my hand off the gun. When I realize what he’s doing, I relax my grip, letting him have it. He then places the gun behind his back, tucking it inside the waistband of his jeans, I’m sure. I’ve watched him place his weapons there a million times before.
I know I have to force myself to move; however, it’s not fast enough for Travis. He takes control of the situation, breaking the spell for me as he grabs me underneath my armpits, lifting me off the bed. He makes me feel as if I weigh ten pounds the way he handles me. I feel numb to the core, an emotionless robot as he holds me steady, with my legs trembling. I hope he doesn’t decide to let go of me anytime too soon, or I’m going to collapse to the floor.
“Breathe for me, baby.” He slowly inhales a deep breath with me, and we hold our breath together, just the way he taught me. Then we both gradually exhale, holding our lungs empty for a few heartbeats before we repeat the cycle.