Pieces of Me (Midnight Steel Trilogy Book 1)

by Lori J. Nelson

  It was late morning, and Corie and Alek were still lying lazily in bed. Alek had woken up a little while ago and started to kiss his sleeping beauty. That turned into the sheets being carelessly tossed aside as Alek pulled the now awake Corie on top of him. She rode him until they both collapsed in exhaustion.

  “I love waking up with you in the mornings,” she sighed sliding off of Alek.

  “Me too,” he growled pulling her close. “This…us…is one-of-a-kind magic. Never going to let you out of my sight again.”

  “I like the sound of that.” Corie had her head resting on Alek’s shoulder as her hand lightly caressed his bare chest. They spent the rest of their quiet morning just lying together in bed. That was enough for them. Corie finally sat up on one elbow and looked at Alek. He lightly brushed her hair out of her face.

  “What’s on your mind, Luv?” he asked softly.

  “So what do we do now? My place? Your place? I can write anywhere, so that’s not a problem, but I do have a book tour coming up with the launch of the new book,” she told him.

  “The only strong ties I have to England are my parents and Ethan. As long as I get to see them every once in a while, I can live anywhere. I prefer the farm over London any day. I just need to go back to close up the house and talk to my parents. I put Mum through enough last time when I never called home, can’t do that again. I’m the only kid they have.”

  Alek knew he could leave London and never look back. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the city he had grown up in because he did. Everything there held many fond memories for him. It just never called out to him as home. He lived there, but it never felt like he belonged there. After spending practically years on the road touring with Midnight Steel, Alek had gotten to see most of the world. As a young, poor kid growing up, he never imagined he’d see places like Brazil, India, Japan and dozens of other countries that spoke the universal language of music.

  Maybe it was because the band spent a lot of its time touring through the United States that he felt just as comfortable there as he did back home. Even though he was only thirty-six years old, he was ready to slow down. The long tour they had just come off of meant they didn’t have to do it again for a while…at least a year, hopefully longer. He and Ethan could leisurely work on songs for the new album at their own pace. With the technology they had today, they could send each other bits and pieces through the internet and didn’t have to be together all the time like they usually did. They would figure out a way to make it work until it was necessary for them to be in the studio.

  Alek wanted to spend as much time as he could with Corie at her place in Maine. It was sure as hell in the middle of nowhere, but when they had to emerge into civilization, they would. For now, all he wanted was to spend his days and nights with the woman he loved. Maine was the only place he wanted to be.

  “So how about we head back to your farm for a couple of days, maybe a week. Then we can fly over to England. I’ll show you around and close up my house like I do when I go on tour. I’ll introduce you to my Mum and Pop. I know she’s going to love you. Then we head back here to get ready for your tour. Will it be too much of a distraction if I am with you?” If Corie wanted to do this alone, it would kill him to let her go this quickly, but he would do it for her. He’d do anything for her.

  “That sounds fine to me. And no, you will not be too much of a distraction. I know it’s a good book and it should do well, and if I sell a few more copies to your fans, it’s just more money in my pocket. I wouldn’t want you any place else but with me. But there is one thing that is worrying me.”

  Alek had no idea what that could be. “What is it?”

  “Meeting your parents. I’m taking you away from them, so how can they like me?”

  He could see from her expression that she was very concerned about this. Alek knew he had nothing to be worried about. His mother had told him numerous times that he needed to find a nice girl to come home to. His parents might have struggled with money when he was growing up, but there was always plenty of love in the house. That’s what she had wanted for her only son. He knew he had found the woman that would make that happen. That’s all his mother would care about.

  Something pushed him into that storm that night. He had no idea where he was going, he just knew he had to go. It took a blinding blizzard in the middle of nowhere for him to find his destiny. Corie was the woman he was meant be with. There was absolutely no one else for him. Only her. As long as he loved her, his family would too. He knew that without a doubt.

  “Corie, Luv…as long as I am happy, they will be too. I’m not gone forever. I have plenty of money so we can go back and forth between Ashland and London as often as we like. Plus, they can travel here. They will when grandchildren start to appear. May have a hard time getting rid of my mum then,” he laughed.

  “Hmm…babies. I like the sound of that. So how soon are you planning on getting started?” she purred.

  “How about right now?”

  Alek could tell that was the answer she was looking for. He was dead serious about that. He wanted her and as many kids as they could have. Plenty of musicians traveled on the road with their families and he could too. They both had successful careers that they loved, and neither her writing or his music would get in the way of the other. They would be perfect together, he had no doubt about that.

  He gathered Corie in his arms as he kissed her deeply. She molded to him as if she was made just for him. “Today, we practice making babies,” he murmured in between kisses. “You can throw out those birth control pills right now. But tomorrow…tomorrow…”

  “Yes? What about tomorrow?” she wondered.

  “Tomorrow…you’ll marry me. I don’t care where. It can be here in New York or at the farm or even if we have to go to Las Vegas. Say that you’ll marry me as soon as we can get a license? Please, Corie…will you marry me?”

  The surprise on her face let him know that she wasn’t expecting this. But the smile that came right after told him his answer before she even said it.

  “Yes! Of course, I will marry you!” she cried as tears started to fall. Happy tears.

  Together they had found each other under the craziest of circumstances, but when love was meant to be, not even a force as great as Mother Nature can stop it. And Alek and Corie were destined to find each other no matter what. Not even a blizzard was going to stop that, then again maybe Mother Nature is a romantic after all.