by Jaci Burton
“Shannon looks beautiful, Mom,” she said, her own crystal blue eyes sparkling with unshed tears.
Angelina squeezed her hand. “As beautiful as you looked the day you married my son.”
Lissa’s face lit up. “I love him more every day. Is that normal?”
Angelina laughed. “Of course. I’d be surprised if you didn’t.”
“Of course she loves me. I’m damn near perfect,” Aidan said, wrapping his arms around Lissa’s swollen stomach and leaning his head against hers.
Logan coughed behind her and wrapped his arm around his mother’s shoulders. “Full of it as usual, bro.”
Aidan arched a brow and grinned. Angelina beamed as her children surrounded her, taking comfort in their strength and the astounding love that flowed from them. They’d all found their happiness despite the difficulties. Their destinies had been hard roads to travel, but each had come through exactly as she’d expected them to—with strength borne of the union between her and Galen.
The wedding dance finished, Angelina applauded and held out her arms for her daughter, resplendent in bright white tulle and lace, her cheeks pink with excitement. Shannon hugged her back, whispering, “Thank you, Mom.”
Leaning back, Angelina searched Shannon’s face. “For what?”
“For showing me how to love someone. For giving us all an example of what true love is all about. You made it so easy.”
Later that evening as the entire Storm clan gathered for an official portrait, Angelina waited behind the photographer while he positioned Aidan and Lissa, Max and Shannon, Logan and Sophie and Kaitlyn and Brett, then motioned for her and Galen to join them in the center of the group.
She looked to all her children and the ones they loved, then turned her gaze on Galen. He slipped his arm around her waist and squeezed. “Who’d have thought we would end up like this when we first met all those years ago?” he teased.
“I couldn’t stand the sight of you, as I remember,” she said, winking at him.
“Ach. You were…difficult, to say the least. But I have the magic touch and showed you the error in your thinking.”
She tilted her head back and laughed. “That you did, my love, that you did.” And the end result was the portrait being taken right now. Love and magic flowed from Galen and their children, filling her with peace and contentment. Yes, it had been a rocky start for her and Galen, but she had finally realized her destiny and walked into the arms of the man she would love for all eternity.
The circle was complete and the Storm name would live on in her grandchildren and those who came after that. She and Galen would leave a legacy of love and destiny that she fervently hoped would last for all time.
She leaned her head against Galen’s shoulder and smiled as the photographer snapped the picture.
About the author:
In April 2003, Ellora’s Cave foolishly offered me a contract for my first erotic romance and I haven’t shut up since. My writing is an addiction for which there is no cure, a disease in which strange characters live in my mind, all clamoring for their own story. I try to let them out one by one, as mixing snarling werewolves with a bondage and discipline master can be very dangerous territory. Then again, unusual plotlines offer relief from the demons plaguing me.
In my world, well-endowed, naked cabana boys do the vacuuming and dishes, little faeries flit about dusting the furniture and doing laundry, Wolfgang Puck fixes my dinner and I spend every night engaged in wild sexual abandon with a hunky alpha. Okay, the hunky alpha part is my real life husband and he keeps my fantasy life enriched with extensive “research”. But Wolfgang won’t answer my calls, the faeries are on strike and my readers keep running off with the cabana boys.
Jaci welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o Ellora’s Cave Publishing at 1056 Home Avenue, Akron, Ohio 44310-3502.
Also by Jaci Burton:
A Storm For All Seasons 1: Summer Heat
A Storm For All Seasons 3: Winter Ice
Animal Instincts
Bite Me
Chains of Love: Bound to Trust
Devlin Dynasty: Fall Fury
Devlin Dynasty: Mountain Moonlight
Devlin Dynasty: Running Mate
Dream On
Ellora’s Cavemen: Legendary Tails II anthology
Kismet 1: Winterland Destiny
Kismet 2: Fiery Fate
League of 7 Seas: Dolphin’s Playground
Lycan’s Surrender
Magnolia Summer
Mesmerized anthology
Midnight Velvet
Passion In Paradise 1: Paradise Awakening
Passion In Paradise 2: Paradise Revival
Passion In Paradise 3: Paradise Discovery
Tangled Web (with C.J. Burton)
Discover for yourself why readers can’t get enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ellora’s Cave. Whether you prefer e-books or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you breathless.
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