Tom’s face returns to normal, and he looks at Katie as if he’s concerned that what he has to say next will let me down terribly. She nods for him to continue.
“Well, I will get the changes in tonight, but you won’t be able to get them back until physical therapy tomorrow.” He pauses, and I can tell he’s biting the inside of his lip. He’s my buddy and we get along great, but he’s always had this odd fear of me—subtle, but odd. I smile at him and he relaxes a bit. “They’ll let you take them home, but only after they feel it’s safe for you to do so. After that, we’ll have you keep walking on them and make whatever changes we need to. Eventually, you’ll have your carbon fiber sockets, and it’s nothing but up from there, my friend!”
I look to Katie and she is still smiling so sweetly that it’s hard to be concerned with my own impatience. Not when she has been so patient with me through all of this. I look back to Tom and smile, and he extends each prosthetic leg out to me.
“Well, let’s get this show on the road,” I say, lifting both of my nubs so he can slide the prosthetic socket over my stumps, each protected by a gel liner. He rolls a gel sleeve up both legs that runs from mid-thigh to mid socket. Then he grabs my hands to help me get up, but I shoo him away. He looks at me as if to say I don’t have an option but finally rolls his eyes and backs away from my chair, allowing me to stand on my own.
Instantly, I’m humbled. Standing isn’t as easy, or comfortable, as I thought it would be. My thigh muscles ache as they flex, working harder than they have in some time. Katie looks at me concerned and nearly rises to her feet, but I put a hand up to stop her.
“Please, sweetheart … I’ve got this.” She settles back in her chair with Jax, but the apprehensive look stays on her face.
I fight with everything that I have, gritting my teeth tightly together and gripping the arms of the chair before finally standing. I steady myself, wobbling a bit, before I’m able to scan the room from the perspective of a man standing six feet two inches tall for the first time in almost a year. It’s like my eyes are opened to an entirely new world, foreign but exhilarating.
Tom takes me by the arm and rebuffs my attempts to push him away. He guides me as I take two slow, unsteady steps forward, stabilizing myself with a hand on each of the parallel bars. Tom backs away and waits, placing his hands on his hips. Katie rises to her feet at the other end of the parallel bars, her eyes gleaming with excitement but anxiety still present on her face.
I take two steps forward.
The nerves ache, the walls of the sockets pressing against them, but I don’t feel it.
I take two more steps forward.
My wife waits, my son in her arms, and the only thing I feel is the immediate need to take them both into my own arms, to hold Katie while standing for the first time in so long.
Two more steps forward.
Tears roll down her cheek, one after the other. I want to wipe them all away. I want to kiss her, to touch her, to hold her like she’s never been held. To feel whole, at peace, and so in love that nothing in this world could ever change it.
I take two more steps forward.
Katie is now standing before me, laughing because she’s so happy. Jax is awake, his beautiful brown eyes curiously taking me in. I kiss Katie’s wet cheek and taste the salt in her tears. I put my arm around her, gripping the small of her back, and I pull her in tight.
Letting go of the other bar, I place my hand on Jax’s forehead, softly stroking his hair to one side. I kiss him lightly on his forehead. He smells of baby powder and that pink lotion Katie likes to use, and it’s the best smell in the entire world.
Then I look down into Katie’s chocolate eyes—after looking up at her for the past year—and all my worries and concerns evaporate. My lips meet her forehead, my other arm resting on her thigh, and out of the blue I remember something Katie said to me while I was in the hospital. She probably doesn’t even know I heard her, but it was her words that pulled me through.
“I want to marry you,” she says, her lips brushing mine. “Marry me, Devin. Wake up, heal, and then marry me. Let me love you and take care of you and show you what a real family is like. And let’s have babies, okay?” Her voice breaks right along with my heart and I try to reach up to touch her—to comfort her—but nothing happens. “Lots and lots of babies. I want sweet little boys with your big green eyes and thick dark lashes. Our little girl will have your dark hair and your smile.”
Well, I’ve taken care of the marriage part, and we have a sweet little boy, but I’m ready for that little girl … hell, I’m ready for lots of babies.
“Hey, Katie?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“Remember when I was in the hospital and you told me you wanted lots and lots of babies?”
Katie cocks her head to the side and gives me a curious look. “You heard that?” she asks.
“I heard every word you said. Including the part about the babies …”
“Yeah?” she says with a cute little smirk.
“How about we head back now, put Jax down for a nap and start working on those babies?”
A choking sound comes from behind me and I glance at Tom. He looks down, but not before I notice how flushed his cheeks are. Smiling to myself, I turn my attention back to my beautiful wife. Katie’s smile is blinding, and it’s the most beautiful sight in the whole damn world.
“I think that sounds like a great idea.”
A low growl rumbles from my throat at the thought of burying myself deep inside my wife. “Let’s get me out of these things,” I whisper, so only she can hear me. “What do I need these legs for when the important one is fully functional?”
Katie’s eyes widen, a look of desire flashing across her face. “More than fully functional,” she says, laughing.
“Damn straight it is.”
“What am I going to do with you, Sergeant?” She slaps my arm playfully.
“Love me,” I answer, brushing my lips across hers. “I just need you to love me.”
“Sir, yes, Sir,” she says, and then I devour that sweet, sassy smart mouth of hers.
THE END
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Continue reading for a preview of KL Grayson’s third novel in the A Touch of Fate Series, Just For Tonight
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Just For Tonight
By K.L. Grayson
Coming 2016
We all have our weaknesses…rich, decadent chocolate, fancy designer handbags, overpriced stilettos in every color under the sun. My weakness is Benny Catalano. To call Benny tall, dark, and handsome would be a massive understatement. His giant, tattooed, drool-worthy frame sits at an impressive six foot three. Thick dark hair sticks up in every direction, giving him that notorious I-just-had-crazy-monkey-sex look that most women love. And the five o’clock shadow on his perfectly square jaw could bring any woman to her knees. Benny wasn’t just smacked with the handsome stick. Nope, he was smacked and then beaten with the Adonis bad boy belt.
My only problem … he’s playing hard to get.
I’ve never had to work too hard for anything, especially not a man. My father is the most influential music producer in the world—I’m used to getting what I want. But if I’ve learned anything from dear ol’ dad, it’s that money can’t buy happiness and the best things in life don’t come easy. And Benny is worth having, although the way he’s been danglin
g the goods and giving nothing away, he sure as hell is making things difficult.
The question is, why?
What he doesn’t know is that this privileged socialite isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. If the man of my dreams is the end result, I’m ready to put in the work to make him mine.
My name is Mia Brannigan, and this is my story.
A Lover’s Lament holds a very special place in my heart for many reasons, but mostly because it’s a story that I never thought I’d see come to fruition. Now that it has, I have a TON of people to thank for helping me get it there.
First and foremost, I have to thank my husband, Tom. The endless amount of support and encouragement you gave me while writing this novel is truly amazing. Thank you for making sure the house stayed clean, the laundry got done, and the kids were fed. Thank you for taking over nighttime duty so that I could stay up late and write. But most of all, thank you for not freaking the hell out when I showed you a picture of my co-writer. Any other man wouldn’t have handled it with the grace and beauty that you have. Not only have you supported me through this, but you’ve supported BT as well—he just doesn’t know it. You are amazing and wonderful, and I’ll never know what I did to deserve you. I love you to the moon and back.
Taylor Urruela, what can I say? Thank you doesn’t seem like enough, so I’m going to try really hard to find the right words. When I reached out to you last winter, I was pissed off … do you remember that? I read one of your short stories and I said “you can’t end it like that!” That one message turned into several more and eventually led to me sharing an outline of a book—this book. Instantly, you latched on to this story like it was your baby too. We plotted, we spitballed and we worked our asses off for nine long months, stretching and molding this story into something that we could be proud of. And let me tell you, I am DAMN proud of this book. It wasn’t an easy journey, but believe me when I say that there isn’t another writer on this earth that I would’ve rather taken this journey with than you. Thank you for loving this story as much as I do.
S.G. Thomas … oh lordy, here we go. You are still my #1 buddy reader, even though I’m fairly certain we never did finish that book! You are so much more than my editor, you are one of my best friends, my confidant, and the person I turn to when I need any sort of encouragement or advice. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you are amazing and fantastic, and I’ll never be able to repay you for all that you’ve done for me. I love you hard, girl … even when you make fun of my misuse of Biblical figures ;)
A big huge thank you to my friend and proofreader, Alexis, with Indie Girl Proofs. Thank you for taking us on in such short notice. We appreciate absolutely everything you’ve done for us.
Whitney Barbetti, there aren’t enough words in the English language to accurately describe what your friendship means to me. You spent countless hours talking with me and plotting with me over A Lover’s Lament, and I am forever grateful that you are a part of my life. Plus, you are the greatest pillow in the entire world ;)
Lex Martin and Michelle Lynn, the two of you have been huge supporters of this collaboration from day one, and I am beyond lucky to have both of you in my corner. Thank you for the endless amount of messages and encouragement.
To my beta readers, you know who you are. Thank you for all of your feedback and honesty while reading A Lover’s Lament. We couldn’t have gotten the book where it is today without you. XOXO
I’ve totally saved the best for last … To all of the readers and bloggers, THANK YOU for all of the support that you’ve given to BT and me. Thank you for wanting this book, for begging for this book, and for all of the messages you’ve sent us. We are so glad to finally get it into your hands, and we truly hope that you have enjoyed reading it. We are eternally grateful for all of the sharing and pimping that you’ve done for A Lover’s Lament. THANK YOU for absolutely everything you’ve done, day in and day out, and thank you for making this book community so wonderful.
First and foremost, thank you God for all the incredible blessings you’ve given me in this life. Through some of the hardest things I’ve ever had to deal with, things I thought would break me, you stood strong, always there to steer me in the right direction.
To my family, Pops, Britto, Brad, and Sean … what a ride it’s been. We’ve all had our own challenges we’ve had to overcome and we haven’t always been there to help each other out, but the one thing we’ve always had, the thing that’s remained forever unchanged in my heart, is the fact that I love you guys more than I could ever put into words. I wouldn’t be where I am today without you all.
To my extended family, my VETSports guys: Josh Schichtl, Rob Somers, Chris Krutzsch, Jeremy Fore, Randy Tharp, Rob Robichaux, Andrew Johnson, Bryan Belcher, Karl Dorman, Jason Wills, and whoever I may have left out that has had my back, helped support the things I believe in the most, and given everything for this organization I love so much. You guys mean the world to me.
To Michael Stokes for believing in me, for giving me a chance, and being a true friend. I value your friendship so much. You’ve given me more than you could ever know.
To my book family, Randy Sewell, Eric Battershell, Golden Czemak, and the authors who had faith in me, Lexi Buchanan, Harper Sloan, Hadley Quinn, Kristen Proby, Sloan Johnson, Heidi McLaughlin, and Jennifer Kacey. Thank you for choosing me to represent your work. I value our experiences together so much and hold you all in the highest regard.
To S.G. Thomas, our editor, for taking my confusing, often scrambled prose and making it a million times better. I have learned so much from you!
To my co-author, KL Grayson, thank you for bringing this storyline to me, and thank you for taking a chance on a virgin author and creating this beautiful story with me. I appreciate all nine months that we spent bringing Katie and Devin together. I look forward to many more.
Finally, last but certainly not least, thank you to all my fans and supporters out there. You all are my lifeline. I couldn’t be here or do any of this without the tremendous amount of support you give me. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the love and support you’ve given me over these past nine months. I love each and every one of you, and I fight harder for the things I believe in because of you.
K.L. Grayson resides in a small town outside of St. Louis, MO. She is entertained daily by her extraordinary husband, who will forever inspire every good quality she writes in a man. Her entire life rests in the palms of six dirty little hands, and when the day is over and those pint-sized cherubs have been washed and tucked into bed, you can find her typing away furiously on her computer. She has a love for alpha-males, brownies, reading, tattoos, sunglasses, and happy endings…and not particularly in that order.
BT Urruela was a US Army Infantryman for six and a half years. He was wounded in Baghdad on October 22nd, 2006 resulting in the loss of his leg below the knee. He medically retired in 2011 and went on to form the veteran sports non-profit VETSports, to become a motivational speaker, personal trainer and cover model, and A Lover’s Lament is his first endeavor as an author.
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