by Lexi Blake
Happily Ever After in Bliss
Nights in Bliss, Colorado, Book 11
Lexi Blake
writing as
Sophie Oak
Happily Ever After in Bliss
Nights in Bliss, Colorado Book 11
Published by DLZ Entertainment LLC
Copyright 2020 DLZ Entertainment LLC
Edited by Chloe Vale
ISBN: 978-1-942297-44-4
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.
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Acknowledgments
While I was writing this book, I had to stop sometimes and just sit and enjoy the moment because I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure I would get to write this book. I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to come back to this place again. I won’t go into all legalities of the corner I was in regarding the Sophie Oak books, but I found myself walking a tightrope and had to choose to move on from these worlds I loved so much. Flash forward to a book conference in Orlando a couple of years ago and I meet an attorney who happens to live in my city and who thinks she might be able to help me out. I was reluctant because I didn’t want to make waves. Waves can crash into a person and take them under. Or, she pointed out, you can ride one and it can take you all the way to shore. It was my choice. I could accept the situation or I could try to change it.
I am eternally grateful that I made the right choice.
We so often make choices in order to keep peace—oftentimes to our own disadvantage. We don’t advocate for ourselves because we’ve been taught that’s arrogant or unbecoming. It’s fitting then that my first trip back to Bliss is a book about Nell. Love her or hate her, she doesn’t back down.
To all the romance authors out there - your work is important. Fight for it. Believe in it. Do not let others tear you down. Someone somewhere needs to hear your voice, needs the particular story only you can tell. Ride the wave and if you fall off, get back up and try again.
This one is for Margarita.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Summer
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Fall
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Winter
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Spring
Epilogue
Author’s Note
An excerpt from Bayou Dreaming by Lexi Blake
About Lexi Blake
Other Books by Lexi Blake
Prologue
Bliss, CO
He’d done it. The wait was over and there was a ring on his finger that he would never take off again.
Something settled deep inside John Bishop’s soul. Something he’d never imagined he could have. Peace. Love. This feeling was beyond anything he’d felt before and it was all because he’d gotten one petite woman to say I do.
“It was such a beautiful ceremony.” Nell walked into their suite at the Elk Creek Lodge still wearing the cream-colored flowy dress she’d gotten married in. The dress was like the woman herself, ethereal and lovely. Her hair was down and pretty white flower petals still clung from the wreath she’d worn. “I wish Laura had come.”
Laura Niles was new in town, and there was something dark about the woman that made him curious. He didn’t think she was dangerous. Not to Nell’s health, but she was proving resistant to forming friendships. She’d holed up in a cabin and rarely came out unless she was working a shift at the Stop ’n’ Shop. He watched his wife, a delicious sense of anticipation starting to thrum through his veins. “I don’t think she’s interested in making friends, baby.”
Nell stopped and frowned. “Everyone needs friends.”
He could argue with that notion. He’d held himself apart for so long that he’d almost forgotten what it meant to need others. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been fond of some of the men and women he’d worked with over the years. He’d liked many of them, but he’d had to balance his affections against the reality that any of those people could be lost at any moment. The work he’d done for the CIA had been deeply important and very dangerous. He’d been responsible for protecting an entire country, and that meant he or anyone he worked with could be cut loose at any time.
But not now. Now his wife was the only one he needed to protect. Now he had one mission in life and that was to take care of Nell Flanders.
She twirled around, taking in the big room that served as the bridal suite. “I’ll get through to her eventually. Holly is going to help me. You’ll see. We’ll get the new girl involved in some fun activities and soon she’ll be our new best friend.”
Holly Lang and Callie Shepherd had served as Nell’s bridesmaids during the ceremony. He’d wanted to elope, but Nell had put her foot down. She’d been more than happy with a simple wedding, but it had to include her friends. Her family, as she’d put it.
Nell didn’t share an ounce of blood with the people of this town, but they’d all shown up for her. The owner of the diner had provided a vegan feast, though Stella and her cook had to figure out how to make a vegan cake. Holly and Callie and Teeny Green had helped sew Nell’s wedding dress. Mel had ensured the wedding was free of all alien influence, though he hadn’t been able to promise a Sasquatch-free ceremony. Apparently it was high mating season and Sasquatch males were attracted to the flowers Nell had chosen to carry.
And the Harper twins and Stef Talbot had given him a long talking to about what they would do to him if they ever found out he’d hurt Nell. He’d sat at the bar at the base of the mountain and nodded gamely, promising to never cheat on her and hopefully looking properly intimidated. His history professor persona was good cover for the fact that he could take out the three of them and not have his heart rate tick up.
The good news was he never intended to cheat on his Nell, and they’d made it through the whole ceremony without a single attempted kidnapping by a Sasquatch.
“I have no doubt.” He sat back and watched her, patient because he knew how this evening would end. It was good to be patient, to revel in the idea that he knew exactly what tomorrow would bring. It would bring a tofu scramble and a nature hike, and at some point in the nature hike, he would fuck his lovely bride with the blue sky above them and nature all around.
He liked Bliss. It was odd because if he’d been asked where he would retire he would have said a city. Well, he would have said a casket because he’d never thought he would live long enough to retire, but if pressed he would have said New York or London. Certainly not this tiny piece of paradise where he’d discovered the world wasn’t as cruel as he’d believed.
He’d thought
briefly about taking her out of here. It would be easier to get her to focus exclusively on him if she wasn’t surrounded by the familiar. He could do it. She was in love with him, and if he asked her to leave this place, she would.
But that had been John Bishop thinking, and he was Henry Flanders now. Henry Flanders loved Nell so much he would fit himself into her life. He would give her the best he had and share her with her friends because it would make her happy. Henry Flanders had started volunteering around town because he loved how Nell’s eyes softened when he helped.
John Bishop was starting to recede, and Henry Flanders was taking his place. It was a good thing. He liked Henry Flanders quite a bit.
He also liked that Henry Flanders could be the nice guy around town and a dirty Dom when they were alone. Nell’s Dom.
“Show me your breasts.”
She stopped and faced him, her eyes lighting with anticipation. “I’ve missed you.”
He felt his lips curl up. He smiled so much around her that at first his face had ached because he almost never used those muscles. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you this week.”
He’d stayed at the naturist resort high on the mountain where he’d first met the lovely Nell Finn. His former Army CO Bill Hartman ran the Mountain and Valley Naturist Community. Six months before, John Bishop had needed a place to think and Bill had provided it. He hadn’t imagined it would come with a whole lot of naked people and the one woman who could change his whole world.
Nell started to slowly bring the straps of her gown down, fully exposing her soft shoulders and the graceful line of her neck. “I never would have imagined you would be so old fashioned.”
She didn’t imagine many things about him, and he intended to keep it that way. “I wanted tonight to be special. I wanted to spend the week thinking about our marriage and how much I want to commit my life to you.”
It wasn’t a lie. He’d wanted the week away from her to give her one last chance to think about what she was doing without sex blinding her. The sex between them was the absolute best of his life, and as she’d been a damn virgin when he’d taken her, it was the best of hers, too. He wanted her to go into this marriage knowing it was truly what she wanted. He hadn’t needed the week, but he had spent the whole time thinking of her.
He’d thought of the people he’d left behind. It hadn’t been fair since he’d had balls up in the air, but someone would take over and the United States would go on like it always had. The country didn’t truly need John Bishop, but Nell needed Henry Flanders.
And god he needed her.
She’d stopped and her eyes shone in the soft light from the lamps. “I love you, Henry.”
He liked hearing his new name. He didn’t have some great dream to hear the name John from her lips. He was Henry now. Nell’s Henry.
“I love you, too.” He’d never thought he would say those words. Never. “Now show me your breasts. I loved our wedding, but I’ve been looking forward to this since the day I met you. Tonight you’re truly mine. I’ll share you with the rest of the world during the day, but when we’re alone you belong to me.”
She let the gown fall to the floor. “There’s something I should tell you. Something I probably should have told you before we got married.”
He smiled. If anyone else in the world had said those words he would have gone on edge, ready for a blow. But this was Nell and any confession from her would likely be about some ridiculously minor infraction she perceived she’d committed. “What is it?”
She hadn’t worn underwear to her wedding. When that dress had hit the floor she’d been gloriously naked, and she was such a sight for sore eyes. And sorer cock. His dick had gotten hard the second her skin had come into sight. His organic cotton slacks were getting far too tight.
“Remember when I was writing that thriller about the Dust Bowl?” Her eyes had gone wide and she bit her bottom lip.
She was trying to use sex to get him in a good mood. He could have told her he was always in a good mood around her.
“Yes. I believe you told me you put that aside.” He intended to encourage her to finish it. She was a talented writer and telling stories gave her pleasure. She should pursue her dreams.
She nodded and moved toward him. “That one didn’t work out. But I wrote another book. A romance book.”
He sat up, spreading his legs a bit to accommodate his ever-hardening cock. “That sounds nice. Turn around. I want to see that pretty ass of yours.”
She turned around, giving him a spectacular view of her ass. Heart shaped and perfect. She turned her head, looking at him over her shoulder. “It’s an erotic romance. And I got it published. And another one, too.”
He stood up, a genuine sense of joy going through him. She’d been busy while he’d been gone, and that made him proud. “Are you serious, baby?”
She smiled. “Yes. You’re okay with it? I did it under a pen name so no one knows it’s me. You’re a history professor. It might embarrass you.”
He moved to her and turned her around to face him. She needed to understand a few things. It was far more important than getting his hands on her. “I am proud of everything you do, and I can’t wait to read your book. I want a copy of it in my hands tomorrow. I want to read everything you write, and I’ll be proud to tell everyone I know about my wife, the novelist.”
She went up on her toes and pressed a kiss against his lips. “I love you so much and you have no idea how glad I am to hear that.” Her nose wrinkled. “But I should probably stick to the pen name since I might or might not have written a couple of the people around me as characters. In ménage romances.”
Oh, how she delighted him. “Max and Rye?”
She nodded. “After you left to go back to work, I closed myself up for a while and wrote some books. I thought about how I wanted everyone to find their happily ever afters, and I started with Max and Rye. I had them find a woman in trouble and they all fell in love. I did the same with Callie. I had two men from her past show up and they all worked it out. There’s a nice danger element in them. Callie’s men were on the run from the mob.”
Oh, he could tell her stories. “I want to read that one, too.”
Her eyes came up and there was a heat there that let him know she was comfortable now. She’d gotten her terrible confession out of the way. “I want to write one about a Dom. I didn’t before because the character was too close to you, and I thought it would hurt too much.”
He stared down at her. “I was stupid to leave, but I needed to tie up a few loose ends.” Like his untimely death. Like walking away from everything he’d ever known. Like becoming someone new for her. “I won’t ever leave you again, Nell. I’m here and I will be your family for as long as you allow it.”
“That will be forever, mister.”
Forever was exactly what he had in mind. His past was behind him, but the future suddenly looked bright. He kissed his wife and let his hands find her. It was time to show her everything he could give her.
He was a new man and he would never look back again.
Summer
Chapter One
Bliss, CO
Six years later
Henry Flanders was a happy man. Sometimes it was hard to believe he’d once been someone else. That was what it felt like. That time when he’d been known as John Bishop was so far from this place in the mountains, from the woman humming in the kitchen as she made bread. The sound of some opera played through the house. He wasn’t a huge opera fan, but Nell loved it, so he’d grown accustomed. He was fairly certain it was La Bohème she’d put on as the soundtrack for her kitchen time.
“We’re almost out of maple syrup.”
For her vegan bread. He knew her recipe by heart and though she enjoyed making it, he’d learned how to make it as well. That bread was comfort food for his wife. He wanted to ensure she wouldn’t have to go without it when she was heavily pregnant and didn’t need to stand on her feet for the time it took to
knead the bread. He moved in behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders and bringing their bodies together. He breathed her in. She was his oxygen. “I’ll put it on our list. I’m going into town tomorrow. Teeny called. My shipment came in.”
He’d gotten into woodworking lately. It was soothing. He found he enjoyed the satisfaction that came with making something with his own hands.
He wanted to make their baby’s crib, wanted to lay their sleeping child in something he’d created out of wood and love. His Nell thought he was making a present for the upcoming wedding of their friend Wolf Meyer, and he was. The lazy Susan would be embellished with the Meyer name, proclaiming the family was established this year. It would be a lovely present, but the true reason he was spending money on the new table saw was the gift he wanted to give to her.
“That’s good. Though I think it’s a lot for a saw.” She turned her head slightly so he could see her nose wrinkle. “You don’t think it’s an indulgence?”
He kissed her cheek. “I think I will make many lovely things with reclaimed wood.” She would be horrified at the thought of chopping down a tree. And honestly, he’d come around to her way of thinking. They lived in a magnificent forest. There were plenty of opportunities to use wood that would otherwise rot. “One day I’ll be good enough to make our furniture if we need it. And we’ve got the money. The new book sold well.”
She cuddled back against him. “Yes, it did. It was fun to write. I hate to admit it, but I do enjoy putting my characters in situations I would never want anyone in. I never imagined I would enjoy writing spies so much, but you do impeccable research. I suppose it’s the history professor in you.”
The history professor had never existed. The spy was the man who seemed so far away. Except when he and Nell were working on a new book. “I do like to research.”
