21ALAYNAI WAS IN PAIN. So much pain. Every breath I took was sharp, stabbing,blinding pain.Dizzily, I staggered through the wilderness, looking for bars on thephone, looking for a place where my repeated call to Hudson's cell wouldgo through.And now I had finally gotten to him, finally heard his voice and toldhim the words I had to leave him with. I'd held out for this, fought againstloss of consciousness so he would know before I went."Let them know I loved them.”FOR THE SECOND TIME, I woke up not knowing where I was.This room was much brighter than the last one, everything white andsterile. There was a steady bleep-bleep-bleep sound that matched the blipon the heart monitor next to me. Oxygen flowed through a tube inserted atmy nose, and another tube connected my wrists to an IV drip.I turned my head to look at the other side of me, and there was Hudsonin a chair pulled up right next to the bed that I lay in, so close he'd fallenasleep leaning over on the mattress
I’d been in such a daze, stopping frequently to take breaks and try thephone. The pain coursing through my body had been blinding. My onlyfocus had been climbing upward, guessing at the direction by the feel of theincline as I stumbled along. It had felt like a decade before I’d finally heardthe phone ringing at my ear followed by Hudson’s voice.“I wasn’t sure if I really spoke to you or if it was some sort of dyingmirage,” I admitted. “Though, seeing as how I wasn’t actually dying…”“You talked to me,” he confirmed. “You called, and when I heardyou…”He choked up, a reaction I’d never seen from him before. His eyes hadgotten teary on our wedding day and at the birth of each of the babies, buthe’d never lost the ability to speak, and seeing him do so now made myheart squeeze and brought tears to my eyes.He cleared his throat, which only helped mildly. “Then when you weresaying your goodbyes...I can’t tell you what that did to me, precious. I wasdestroyed.”“I know,” I sai
I stood back, watching, keeping the twins from crawling all over theirmother, in hopes that no one noticed how many times I teared up, sooverwhelmed with gratitude. So much gratitude.After only a couple of hours, I shooed everyone out, declaring thatAlayna needed her rest, and I carried her into our bedroom, and tucked herinto bed with a pain pill.I brought my laptop in to work at her bedside, but mostly, I watched hersleep, amazed that I could watch her sleep, that she was in my bed when Itruly thought for a moment that she never would be again.How my world would have ended.She woke up later, and I served her dinner in our room. Then, after thechildren were bathed and in their pajamas, I let them all come in and gatheraround her—carefully. As a family, we watched Beauty and the Beast, theanimated version, and it was wonderful. Even Holden watchedoccasionally, when he wasn't too busy walking the edge of the bed, from myside to Alayna’s, over and over again.Brett was co
"No," she answered quickly. "He didn't touch me. But he wanted to.And I need you to help me get that memory out of my head."I wanted to know every detail of what he’d said to her, every sickening,crude comment so I could replay it in my head as many times as I knew shewould. So I could replay it and feel the misery along with her.But just because we had no more walls didn't mean we weren’trespecting boundaries. I'd given her all the keys to my life, because Iwanted her in all those spaces, but if right now she didn't want to share thispart of her nightmare, if that was a space that she needed to keep for herself,I had to let her. And I'd be here if she ever invited me in.So carrying that weight for her, with her, was not possible.But if she needed this—if she needed me—I could give her that.I let go of her hand, letting her resume her touch. She understood thecue, and moved her hand inside the fly, her skin hot against my flesh as shewrapped her fingers around my bare co
His features relaxed instantly, lips turning up into a smile. "But youfound me.""That I did."He tugged me gently into his lap, arranging me so that I wasn’t puttingany weight on the side of me with the hurt rib, while being sure not todisturb the wound on my thigh.He nuzzled his face into my neck, simultaneously slipping his handinside my robe to gently cup my breast, an intimate caress more than asexually charged one. As he kissed along my collarbone, his thumb grazedalong my nipple until it stood up, pert and proud."What are you doing out here?" I asked, my voice vibrating on the edgeof a moan."Dreaming," he said, continuing his kisses up my nape and to my jaw."This is not dreaming, Mr. Pierce. I assure you this is very real."His mouth moved up to hover above mine, then he lifted his eyes tomeet my gaze. He studied me for a moment, then chuckled to himselfbefore leaning back into the chair."What?" I played my fingers through the back of his hair."Do you remember th
I sat up excitedly, ignoring the protest of my side. If Brett really marriedone of Gwen's kids, it would tie our families together in even more waysthan we already were. I loved the idea."Which one was it?""Is there a difference? I don't know. One of them."I shook my head. "You are terrible.""I should've known his name. He was working at Pierce Industries. Hekept trying to pitch me new ideas during the boring parts of the ceremony.Some of them were actually good.""Man, wouldn’t that be amazing? Brett marrying Gwen’s son, and thetwo of them taking over your business when you retire. All of it, really.Sounds like an amazeballs future.""I hope it’s our future. But whatever future I have with you will beperfect. The only required ingredient is that you’re in it with me.”I tucked my head under his chin, and thought about what he’d said,holding his dream with him. His dream hadn’t included anything like, “Andyou didn’t have a breakdown after your next baby.” He didn’t even s
FIXED ON YOUCHAPTER ONEI FELT ALIVE.The alternating flashes of dark and soft lights, the throbbing pulse froman Ellie Goulding club mix, the movement of sweaty bodies dancing,grinding, enjoying each other—The Sky Launch Nightclub got into myblood and turned me on in a way that I hadn’t let anyone or anything else doin quite some time. When I was there—working the bar, assisting the waitstaff, attending to the DJs—I felt more free than at any other time of myday. The club held magic.And, for me, healing.For all its vibrancy and life, the club was a safe haven for me. It was aplace I could attach myself without worry of going overboard. No one wasgoing to sue me for focusing too hard or long on my job. But rumor wasThe Sky Launch, which had been up for sale for quite some time, was aboutto be sold. A new owner could change everything.“Laynie.” Sasha, the waitress working the upper floor, pulled me frommy thoughts and back to my job. “I need a vodka tonic, a White Russia
.After the numerous heartaches that had dotted my past, I’d discoveredthat I could divide the men I was attracted to into two categories. The firstcategory could be described as fuck and forget. These were the men that gotme going in the bedroom, but were easy to leave behind if necessary. It wasthe only group I bothered with anymore. They were the safe ones. Davidfell into this category.Then there were the men that were anything but safe. They weren’t fuckand forget—they were, “Oh, fuck!” They drew me to them so intensely thatI became consumed by them, absolutely focused on everything they did,said and were. I ran from these men, far and fast.Two seconds after locking eyes with this man, I knew I should berunning.He seemed familiar—he must have been in the club before. But if hehad been, I couldn’t imagine that I’d have forgotten. He was the mostbreathtaking man on the planet—his chiseled cheekbones and strong jaw satbeneath perfectly floppy brown hair and the most in