Eden pulled me up from the bed until I was standing before her. With confident hands she slid her palms under my shirt, pulled it over my head, and threw it to land with her discarded shirt.
“I am beyond in love with you Ky Crawford,” she murmured as her lips fell to my chest, littering the space over my heart with sweet kisses. “I am completely yours. I need you to have me. I need your hands on me. I want your lips on me. I need you to erase everything. Will you do that for me? Will you do that for us?”
“I love you too baby. I fell in love with you the moment those blue eyes met mine, from the moment when you grabbed onto me in Delights, and when you gave yourself completely to me. I knew then that my life would revolve around you and you only. I don’t feel like I’m breathing without you beside me.”
I crawled up the bed and collapsed against the cast-iron headboard, awaiting Eden’s next move. Her eyes roamed over my bare chest before slowly and carefully following my lead and moving onto the bed. She straddled my hips and sat before me, every inhibition she’d ever shown previously had now extinguished. Her fingernails ran over my stomach causing my muscles to clench and my eyes fluttered shut under the sensation. Confident hands fell to my jeans, and she undid my buttons and slid my jeans over my thighs.
“I’m not Eden without Ky,” she whispered into the air heavy with desire. “It’s as simple as that. I don’t just love you Ky, it's beyond that. It’s unexplainable. You’ve saved me. You’ve risked everything for me. You stopped living for me, and I am ready to live. I'm ready to give everything and more to you. You wanted me to learn to say no, but when it’s you, every time it will be yes.”
The moment she lowered herself onto me, I finally felt free. Her head tilted back at the sensation of us connecting in a way that I’ve never imagined. This was freedom; this was pure and utter contentment. This was a new beginning.
Slowly she raised herself and moved her body so gently. My hands fell to her hips as hers fell to the tops of my thighs. She would own this; she knew her limits and her desires. We made love in every sense of the word. Our bodies joined as one, and our breathing combined in a perfect slow dance, and we would never be the same again.
“Ky,” Eden breathed out as she clenched around me. Pleasure soared through her and she exploded around me as I emptied myself inside her. “Please find peace with me,” her breathless voice begged while her eyes pleaded with me.
“The way you are looking at me now, gives me the peace I have been looking for the past four years.”
Epilogue
five months later
“Babe, tour is almost done. Are you ready to go home?” Colby’s deep voice probed beside me. My arms locked around his naked chest as the rumblings of the wheels connecting with the road below. The sound led me toward a state of unconsciousness.
Home.
Four months on the road with my best friends had been an incredible experience, and I had seen places I had always dreamed of visiting. I had met the most inspirational people and my bookings were back to back for the next six months. But being on the road was also a long time when you were completely and utterly in love with someone.
A month after the incident, as I now called it, I had been offered a job opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. Four months as the photographer on The Fallen’s North America tour. To say that Ky wasn’t excited was an understatement. His protectiveness of me shot sky high but once he and Colby had a somewhat heated discussion, he finally realized what this would do for my career. But it wasn’t without stipulations.
Ky and I had made a promise that we would see each other at least once a month while I was on tour, and it was a promise that was never broken. Every visit was better than the last. It was intense, romantic, sexual, and each visit showed the raw need we had for each other. The best thing was that we had nothing hanging over us anymore. We had no lies, no secrets, no hidden demons, and no one waiting in the wings to destroy us.
I was completely his, and I loved every moment of it.
“Did you ever believe that we would both be here in love? Well I’m in love, you are just in denial,” I whispered against the warmth of Colby.
“Fuck no. Honestly babe, I thought we were destined to end up together. We both have our demons, and I thought our demons would have won in the end, but I am so fucking happy they didn’t.”
“I would have been honored to have ended up with you,” I whispered into the darkness.
“And I would have treasured the ground you walked on baby girl.” Colby tightened his grip around my waist as we fell into a comfortable silence.
“I love him so much,” I admitted quietly as my thoughts instantly travelled to Ky.
“And you need to be with him,” he countered.
Four days later I rushed off the plane at JFK, with a mass of excitement and eagerness. The moment my eyes landed on him, I felt my heart beat back to life. I knew I missed him. I knew I loved him, but seeing him standing there waiting on my arrival with a look of pure happiness on his face and a bunch of my favorite yellow roses in his hand was unexplainable.
I felt like I was the star in a romance movie and was running in slow motion as I made my way toward him. He met me halfway, and his strong arms encased my waist and lifted me from my feet swinging me in the air and immediately I felt at home.
“You are like my own personal romance movie,” I whispered into his neck as I held onto him for dear life, suddenly never wanting to be away from him again.
“Fuck I’ve missed you!” he groaned before pulling my face to his and giving me a scorching welcome home kiss right in the middle of arrivals, not caring who was around us.
“And I’ve missed you.” I giggled when he pulled away leaving me completely breathless.
“These beautiful roses are for my beautiful lady.” He said so sickly sweet that I knew my grin was huge.
His fingers entwined with mine as we headed out of arrivals. “I’ve got a surprise for you, but I need you to wear this,” he instructed, holding up a blindfold in his free hand and sporting a cheeky grin.
“I’ve only just got you back, and you want to take away my ability to check you out?” I laughed as we headed toward the baggage claim and found my pink suitcase. As we walked towards the exit, I tried quizzing him but he wouldn’t give me any hints. The warm summer sunshine hit me squarely on the face when we stepped out the double doors and headed toward his Range Rover.
“There will be plenty of time to check me out, I promise. Now turn around,” he demanded, twisting his finger around, motioning me to move.
“Where are you taking me?” I laughed as he secured a blindfold over my eyes and ran a finger along my jaw. It was beyond sensual and immediately my body ignited with need and desire.
“Just trust me,” he breathed huskily into my ear, sending a shiver of anticipation through my body.
For the next forty minutes, I sat beside him, shooting inquisitive questions as I tried to find out where he was taking me. He didn’t give me anything, and I knew he loved every minute. His hand rested on my bare thigh as the sun continued to warm around us, his thumb tracing circles on my needy skin. My senses were on high alert and the moment the speed reduced I knew we were off the freeway. My excitement was increasing by the second, and I was bubbling with eagerness.
“We are here,” Ky announced as the car came to a halt.
The door opened and the feeling of being left alone in the car hit me. Time meant nothing, and now that I was blindfolded I had no clue how long I had sat there. When the door beside me opened, I jumped.
“Are you ready?” Ky asked as he grabbed my hands and pulled me out of the seat. My senses went into overdrive as I tried to determine where I was. His hand went around my waist as he led me along what I assumed was a path. “Be careful, we are about to go up some steps.”
Steps?
“Welcome home baby.”
The blindfold fell from my eyes and my gasp echoed through the empty room befor
e me. Ky and I stood in a sun-drenched room with high ceilings, a beautiful fireplace, and a stunning view of the beach through a wall of windows. I was completely speechless. I spun around trying desperately to allow the magnitude of beauty around me to fill my mind. He linked my fingers with his and pulled me through the rest of the house and I still was at a loss for words. Three bedrooms, all with views of the ocean, a kitchen that would be fit for a professional chef, a bathroom with a large freestanding double bath, and two generous living areas greeted us.
“What do you think?” Ky asked as we stood by one of the windows in the spare room looking out over the Atlantic. His face was eager for my reaction.
“I’m at a loss for words. I don’t understand,” I admitted with shock evident in my voice.
His hands cupped my face, forcing my eyes to his. “I need you in my life Eden; it’s as simple as that. I love you with absolutely everything I am and everything I will ever be. This house is ours if you want it. This is a place where we can start the rest of our lives together, where we can come and spend our first night as man and wife. And this room right here, I thought it could be your studio until it becomes a nursery for our children. We can’t live anywhere near the place that saw our worst nightmares, so this can be our place to start our forever.”
I tried to comprehend the words he spoke as my eyes searched his. I knew I wanted a future with Ky, but this was everything I wanted and more. He was offering the life I always dreamed of and he wanted exactly what I wanted.
“You want to have babies with me?” I whispered as tears glistened in my eyes.
“Lots of babies.”
“This house is for us?”
“Yes.”
“You want to marry me?” My tears now fell freely over my cheeks.
“I cannot wait until you are known as Eden Crawford.”
A knock on the front door startled me. The smile that flashed over his face made me believe he knew exactly who was there. God, I didn’t think I could handle any more surprises. He grabbed my hand and led me back downstairs.
“This is part two of your welcome home.”
The front door burst open and Tori came bounding through the house with Josh and Ashlyn following close behind.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I shrieked into my best friend’s ear as we fell into each other’s arms. Tears streamed down my face as my emotions erupted yet again. Another three sets of arms surrounded us and there I was standing in the middle of the foyer in the arms of Ky, Josh, Tori, and Ashlyn crying my eyes out.
“How in the hell did you think I could live away from you?”
“What?” All sense of comprehension had been lost.
“Okay, I’ll say this as simply as I can.” She smirked. “Tori. Moving. Here. To. Be. Near. Eden.”
“What!” I shrieked. “You can stay here, we have so much room.”
“Hold up, hold up! Eden, I plan on fucking you in every one of these rooms so we kinda have to be here on our own,” Ky’s deep voice announced for everyone to hear. My cheeks flushed and the smirk on Tori’s face said a thousand words.
“Jesus Christ Ky, my virgin ears don’t have to hear that,” Josh taunted from beside me.
“Virgin my ass,” Ashlyn muttered, and I couldn’t help but notice the frown creasing her brow. What was going on there?
“I have offered Tori my apartment until she finds her own place,” Ky announced, his arm falling around my shoulders. He never ceased to amaze me.
“God I love you!” I sighed and kissed him within an inch of my life and I didn’t care that we had an audience.
My afternoon was spent with my favorite people in my new home. Ashlyn and Tori were set on talking about the decorating we would have to do. They suggested colors and when Ky informed them of his idea for a nursery, I thought Tori’s head would fly off her shoulders. Josh and Ky had been quietly watching as my two best friends' excitement grew by the second. I let them run with all of the crazy ideas they had. We had no furniture and no electricity, but I couldn’t be happier.
Once night fell, Ashlyn, Josh, and Tori left, leaving Ky, me, and a bunch of candles. It was the most romantic scene of my life. I lay in his arms, my body humming from the unbelievable sex we had and my life flashed before me.
Then and now.
Before Jeremy and after Jeremy.
With Ky and without Ky.
I slipped out of Ky’s arms as the first sign of morning fell into the room. I needed a moment alone to allow everything to sink in. I found his shirt and glided it over my naked body and silently plodded out of the room.
My life hadn’t been easy; there were times when I struggled to remember to breathe. But through tragedy came a new beginning. They say that the toughest things happened to those who the universe believed could handle it. I never imagined I could handle what I was dealt, but I had come to accept it. I had come to live with it, and I had come to survive it.
Any time I felt myself slip back into my nightmares I would think of this exact moment.
Right here.
I made my way back to what would be the bedroom I shared with the love of my life and leaned on the doorframe. I relished in the silence and the sight before me. Ky lay where I left him with a smile playing on his face and the sheet sitting low on his hips. He was the epitome of perfection, and he was all mine.
Ky Crawford continued to surprise me. He saved me with every breath and provided me with a love I never knew I craved. Every single day he encouraged me to peel back another layer of myself, and he handed me the sledgehammer to destroy the final wall that I had been trapped behind for so many years.
I wasn’t living until Ky Crawford came into my life but now I was flying sky high.
Finally happiness, contentment, and safety were mine.
I might have been his December.
But we would be each other’s forever.
THE END
Firstly I would like to thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to read my words, for your messages and emails, and spreading the word. I wouldn’t be sitting here, writing my fourth set of acknowledgements without you. You have enabled me to live my dreams and for that I am forever indebted to you!
My family for putting up with my crazy writing hours, for listening to me talk about characters like they are real people and for always encouraging me and supporting every decision I’ve ever made. You are my life.
To the greatest bunch of women I could have met. I am so thankful that this crazy book world has allowed me to meet some of the best friends I could ask for; Callie, Pepper, Nina, Jani, Tina, Ker, Ella, Kristi, Mo, Aly and Chantal. Your support, your words of encouragement, your awesomeness makes every day so much more amazing.
Lyra Parish – Critique queen. Thank you for going through Be My December with a fine tooth comb and making me ‘unclad’ it! Your patience, attention to detail and love of Ky and Eden makes my heart swell and I am so happy to call you my friend. Thank you for everything and just so you know it’s… Victoria’s Secret.
Lili St Germain – You rock lady! Thank you for our chats, our laughs, your support and your encouragement to dream. Your friendship means the world to me. Is it time for Bourbon yet?
Kendall Ryan – I love you. Thank you for your friendship and support. We connected from day one and my love and respect for you knows no bounds. See you in 2015! #Kenchell
The Bombshells – my amazingly awesome street team. Thank you for the constant support, the laughs, encouragement and the visual inspiration! I could not do this without you all. You make me laugh, you create calm when I am working to deadlines, and you send me photos of Henry Cavill… what more could I ask for? #BombshellsForLife.
Ari from Cover It Designs – your ability to climb into my mind and pull out every idea I have for the perfect cover is phenomenal. Thank you for creating this beautiful cover. I cannot thank you enough.
Jen from Editing4Indies – thank you for making my words shine and
for sticking with me. We did it! We really did it!
Max from Max Effect Formatting – You have made my words beautiful and I cannot wait to hold this book in my hands. Thank you!
Rose and Atalia from Forever Me Romance – Ladies, you absolutely rock. Thank you for taking Be My December and creating an amazing release day for Ky and Eden. I absolutely adore you both and couldn’t have done it with you.
Melanie from Book Empire Promotions – Thank you for your friendship and always being around when I need a chat. The release party for Be My December is going to rock and it’s because of you. Thank you!
To my amazing beta babes; Derna, Wendy, Sam, Kristine, Kellie, and Lydia, thank you for taking Ky and Eden in their roughest form and seeing the story I wanted to show. Your words and encouragement made the story what it is today and I am so happy that you fell in love with them as much as me.
To every single blogger, reader and author that has connected with me, shared my links, liked my page, sent me a message or said a simple hello, THANK YOU!!!!
Rachel Brookes lives on the east coast of Australia where beaches, kangaroos and surfers roam free. Writing angst ridden love stories with a pinch of craziness, a dash of drama, a cup of romance, a spoonful of sexiness and delicious men to season is what she loves to do. Rachel sometimes forgets to eat, sometimes forgets to sleep and sometimes can’t remember the last time she cleaned her apartment but that’s because she is in a long term relationship with her laptop. When she does step away from her laptop, she spends her time with her amazing family or attached to her kindle catching up with all of her favorite book boyfriends.
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Are you a Bombshell?
Be My December Page 37
