Remembrance: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series Book 4)

by Lynn, Rebecca

  “Merry Christmas.”

  She smiled back, saying, “Merry Christmas.”

  “Was everything okay with you?” he said, an expectant expression hovering over his lips. She knew he was referring to his surprise touching.

  “Yes,” she purred, feeling wonderfully used. “Let’s keep trying new things. What are you going to throw at me next?” She snuggled into him.

  “I’ll have to see if I can pull out some more tricks. Meanwhile, we still have presents to open,” he said, rubbing his nose to hers.

  “Yes, we do.”

  He disengaged from her, taking the hand towel he’d brought with him to the living room so they could clean up. Once done, they grabbed their gifts from under the tree and sat on the comforter, wrapped in the blanket in front of the blazing fire.

  “I want to give you mine first,” Janie said, all of the sudden giddy.

  He laughed, “Okay.” Watching her happiness, he winked then tore open the paper wrapped around the cylindrical object. Then he let out a gut laugh.

  It was a fire extinguisher.

  “I’ll have need of this for years to come, I’m sure.”

  “I didn’t know what to get the man who had everything. I promise we’ll make chocolate chip cookies together. Tomorrow night after Christmas dinner.”

  He gave her a heated look. “I would love to make cookies with you. Then we’ll make the chocolate chip ones too,” he said wagging his eyebrows.

  She rolled her eyes. “There’s one more present.”

  He looked down and saw a small wrapped square shaped object. He opened it and she could tell the emotion of the moment had caught up with him when he realized what he was looking at.

  He stared down at his old monogrammed handkerchief, the one he had used on her tears when she was a bruised and hurting 17 year old after she’d been crying from the insensitive remarks from Chaz. Eventually he looked up at her, his own eyes now glistening with feeling.

  Without speaking, he lifted his hand and cupped her face.

  “You’ve always been my hero, my protector. I don’t know if I’ve ever thanked you for how wonderful you’ve been to me over the years. You always knew,” she stopped, blinking back her tears, “you always knew when I needed a little extra care.”

  “I hated knowing you had to put up with assholes. If I could’ve gone to school with you to beat them all up, I would have.”

  She smiled, sniffling. He made a funny face and carried the handkerchief to her nose, as if to say it’s a good thing we have this thing. She laughed then leaned forward to kiss him.

  “Okay,” he said breaking away. “Now it’s your turn.”

  There were two gifts before her. She took the rectangular one first and tore open the paper. She clapped her hands together as she looked at the beautiful frame encasing three different photos. She’d never had any framed photos of just the two of them, but now she had three.

  Two of the photos were of them caught unaware; the first with them walking into the café the day they had gone shopping for her dress, holding hands, and the second with them kissing on the sofa under the mistletoe at the holiday party. She laughed at the irony of it. What Weston had intended to hurt Luke, Luke had used for the good. The third picture was their posed photo of both of them smiling for the camera outside the Dovetail restaurant.

  She wiped at her wet eyes then looked at him.

  He shrugged. “It’s our journey. Best month of my life,” he said quietly. Before she could respond, he said, as she had moments earlier, “There’s one more present.”

  She reached for the next one, also square in shape like her second one had been to him. She opened it and saw that it was another framed picture, but this time it was of an object.

  She looked down onto an artistic sepia toned rendition of…her boots. Her old beat up boots that had traveled the world with her and that he made her get rid of. They were arranged on an outdoor brick stair covered with snow. Everything in the background was blurry, but the boots were in sharp focus, one lying on its side, the other standing upright and the tongue of the boot flap out.

  She giggled with glee.

  “If you remember, I did say I wouldn’t throw them away but that I would shelve them,” he said giving her a lopsided grin. “Now you can always look at them.”

  “I love it,” she laughed, and kissed him again. As she was about to put it down, she noticed there was writing on the back of the frame. She looked up at him in question and he continued looking at her intensely. Her heart beat a little faster as she read the words on the back:

  It’s been said that love is friendship set on fire. You’ve set me on fire, Janie. For twenty years that fire has been banked and has now been set ablaze.

  So, Janie, we already have our friendship. The question remains: will you now take that final step with me, and set our friendship on fire again and again?

  Will you be my queen of hearts? Queen in my life? Queen in my bed?

  Will you walk through this world with me, and be at my side forever?

  Will you be my queen, my heart and treasure, my sweet Janie?

  Will you say yes?

  Will you marry me?

  Her hand flew to her mouth, the tears now flowing from her eyes. A sob hit her just then and she met his gaze, his beautiful wolf eyes which were also shining. In his hand he held up a ring box.

  “Will you, Janie?” he whispered and opened the box, showing an antique platinum ring with a single diamond in the middle encircled by small rubies. The band was encrusted with tiny diamonds. She was openly crying at this point, shaking her head in disbelief.

  He apparently misunderstood her head movement.

  “It’s crazy fast, I know. We’ll wait. We will, if you want, if it’s too fast –”

  She tackled him and landed them on the floor. She kept crying then began kissing him, his chin, his lips, his eyes, his forehead. He was laughing and holding her hair off her face.

  “I need an answer, mi reina. I want to tell the world that you’re going to marry me, that you’re going to be my wife. So, I need an answer.” He held her face still so she was looking down into his eyes.

  “Yes,” she whispered, her lips quivering. “Yes, yes, yes, yes.” She continued peppering his face with kisses. “Luke!” she laughed with happiness and hugged him tight. He laughed with her and pulled her up to sit next to him.

  He took her left hand and kissed it. “There’s an inscription.” He gave her the ring.

  She took the ring and looked on the inside circle. Para mi Janie, mi reina. You’ve set me on fire. Her hand was shaking like a leaf and she connected her eyes to his.

  She took a deep breath with tears streaming down her face. He took her hand and slid the ring onto her finger. It was perfect. She looked over at the fire extinguisher and giggled out a sob.

  “It was my grandmother’s,” he whispered as she stared at it in awe, admiring the ring.

  “It was?”

  He nodded. “My mom’s mother from Spain. She passed away before I came to America. The center diamond is from her ring but the rest I designed.”

  “It’s beautiful,” she whispered reverently. “I love the rubies.”

  He pulled her close and kissed her temple. “You’re my fiery redhead. They seemed appropriate,” he chuckled, then looked up as if he was thinking. “I knew there was a reason why I always went for the redheads.”

  She went to tickle him. “Oh, is that why?” she laughed. “You could’ve skipped all of them and just made your move with me, you know.”

  He stopped her hand and pushed her to her back, now leaning over her. “That’s why I’m making up for lost time,” he teased. “Fastest engagement known to man. I got skills, baby.”

  She looked at the ring again, feeling the weight of it on her finger. “You definitely do, Daniels.”

  He watched her as she admired the ring some more.

  “Did you talk to my parents about this on Friday when we went
over for dinner?”

  He shrugged. “Yes and no.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I talked to them before Friday,” he said, now smirking. “I actually first talked to them last Wednesday morning. Spoke with my parents too. My mom cried, and my dad said that it was about time I’d woken up.”

  She laughed then a realization hit her. “Wednesday?”

  He nodded, an innocent expression on his face. “That’s also when I got the ring from my mom.”

  “Wednesday was the day I went out with Chaz. We hadn’t even slept together yet! I wasn’t even talking to you.”

  He settled in and got her attention. “I know.”

  She blinked. “You told our parents you were going to marry me before we slept together.”

  He continued smirking, nodding. “I went to your parents’ in the morning, before you stopped returning my calls,” he said dryly.

  “Holy shit. No wonder my mom was so happy when I was there.” She continued looking at him in disbelief. “You’re one cocky, confident Spaniard, you know that, Daniels?”

  He smacked his lips and shrugged. “I was going after you. When Mike and I talked when all of the guys went out, we made an agreement.”

  She cocked an eyebrow.

  He smiled. “He said he didn’t want me going after you unless I was ready for the real deal. I told him I was.” He lifted his eyes to meet hers. “So whether you were talking to me or not, I was going to have you. I told you Wednesday night that I had plans for you. We may have had a rough start that day, but regardless of how we got there, I knew no matter what, I was going to have you,” he said confidently.

  “Holy shit,” she murmured again. “You really knew you were going to marry me before you slept with me?” She still couldn’t believe it and muttered at the unbelievable news. “I hadn’t called you back all day.”

  “I told you that night that I was going to marry you,” he said drolly with a dramatic eye roll. “It’s not my fault you weren’t paying attention.”

  “I know, but still.” He’d really been serious. “I thought maybe you were just, I don’t know, being sweet or joking around,” she said half serious and half kidding.

  “Do you actually think I’d joke about something like that?”

  “I wasn’t sure if you were serious or not. The thought had crossed my mind that maybe you were just impressed with my mad skills in the bedroom,” she teased, loving this conversation.

  “You do have some pretty mad skills, mi reina,” he murmured sexily and kissed her soundly on the lips. Then he said quietly. “But I knew you were the one I wanted to come home to.” He let a moment pass then he grinned. “And there was shit to do, woman. On Thursday, I had to clean out the closet to get ready for you to move in, drop the ring off at AnNo’s with my instructions. I was a busy man.”

  She just stared at him in the silence, the sound of the fire in the background only adding to the romantic moment. Then she let out a dreamy sigh. “You’re pretty incredible.”

  “What can I say?” he teased with a smug look.

  “Nothing. Just kiss me.”

  He did. And then some.

  Epilogue

  …Four! Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!!

  Luke grabbed Janie, dipped her dramatically, and kissed her into the New Year. When he finally brought her up for air, they were laughing and hugging, beginning to dance to U2’s New Year’s Day.

  They had all let Ryann choose the venue for the evening, and whenever Ryann chose anything that had to remotely do with pop culture, it always had to do with the 80’s. The popular nightclub dedicated to all things ‘totally rad’ was definitely hopping that New Year’s Eve.

  Other than Tiffany and Drew, the entire crew was there to celebrate. After much angst and attacks of panic, Tiff had finally called Drew to say she’d go to his party sponsored by the hospital that night. Janie hoped she was having fun and couldn’t wait to catch up with her to see how the evening had gone.

  Even Mo was able to come out that night and brought along the girl he’d met while salsa dancing.

  Mike and Emily had moved into their new apartment just the day before and were thrilled to climb out from the boxes in which they’d been buried.

  Jonathan’s brother, Mark, and Emily’s best friend Taylor from Boston, had both come down to join them in the celebration.

  And all of them were whooping it up over the two engagements among the friends. Even Jonathan was out on the dance floor, and that man absolutely despised dancing.

  Jeremy and Ryann twirled over to where Luke and Janie were moving with the music.

  “I think I’m getting too old for this shit,” Jem yelled over the bass shaking the room.

  “Pussy,” Luke yelled back with a grin.

  “How old do you have to be before you can just stay home and watch the ball drop with Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper?” Jem continued yelling in order to be heard.

  “Eighty!” Janie yelled with a laugh. “Old man!”

  Jem pushed his cousin playfully.

  “Hey, keep your hands off my fiancé,” Luke yelled and pushed him back. They all smiled liked the happy idiots they were and continued dancing as the music morphed into Prince’s 1999.

  Mike and Emily sang the opening lyrics loudly, then Mike began wiggling his eyebrows to the woman he loved when he sang ‘I got a lion in my pocket and baby he’s ready to roar.’ Janie laughed at her brother’s antics and watched as Emily danced back into him so he could hold her hips and push into her behind.

  Ayanna was working poor Jonathan the entire length of the dance floor. Even though he wasn’t much of a dancer, he allowed Yan to pull him this way and that while she rubbed her girlie parts all over him. He looked like he was ready to take his woman home and rub his parts all over her.

  They screamed some more as Foreigner’s It Feels Like the First Time came on, and Luke pulled Janie into his arms, slowing their movements. He began singing the words in her ear, crooning the verse, ‘And I know it’s just the woman in you, that brings out the man in me’ then ground his hips into her when he sang ‘I know I can’t help myself, you’re all in the world to me’.

  In the midst of the gyrating bodies of all of their friends, they found their own little space and when the song reached the chorus, they both started laughing, now slow dancing to the song while everyone else continued boogying and spinning more appropriately to the rock ’n roll beat. All of their friends enjoyed the song with robust singing and moving, but Luke and Janie only had eyes for each other, and whispered the words as Foreigner belted them out.

  “I love you,” Luke whispered into her ear. She wound her arms even tighter around his neck and pressed her body into him as they sang the words to each other.

  It feels like the first time

  Feels like the very first time

  It Feels like the first time

  It Feels like the very first time

  I have waited a lifetime

  Spent my time so foolishly

  But now that I've found you

  Together we'll make history

  And I know that it must be the woman in you

  That brings out the man in me

  I know I can't help myself

  You're all that my eyes can see

  And it feels like the first time

  Like it never did before

  Feels like the first time

  Like we've opened up the door

  Feels like the first time

  Like it never will again, never again

  Janie and Luke looked into each other’s eyes, noise all around them, friends laughing and couples twirling, then fell into their own quiet world. They’d known each other forever, yet it did feel like the first time, like it never did before.

  Smiling brightly at each other, they enjoyed their own private moment; remembering their own precious memories of how things had been, the wonder of how things were now, and the excitement of the new memories
that were still to come.

  Luke kissed her, letting his lips rest on hers. Then they swayed gently to their own music, the music of love, of promise, and of remembrance.

  Read Tiffany and Drew’s story in Book 5 of the Iris Series,

  RENAISSANCE

  coming in the Spring of 2015!

  *****

  Independent authors rely on readers to give valuable feedback and reviews.

  We cannot make it without you!

  Please go to Amazon.com now to review Remembrance

  and our other books in the Iris Series, Release, Redemption and Revelation!

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  Connect with Rebecca Lynn:

  Website/blog: http://www.rebeccalynnromance.com/

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RLRomance

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/RLRomance

  Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/RLRomance

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you once again to our incredible Beta Readers who are forever indispensable; brutally honest, gracious, and encouraging. Many thanks to Doreen, Sue, Marcy, Jennifer, MaryEllen and Elisha for catching our grammar mistakes and offering thoughts on plot and character development. We are eternally grateful for your feedback. In all honesty, we could not do this without your help!

  And where would be without our fans?! Thank you for all of your reviews, Facebook comments, recommendations to friends, and overall support. We thoroughly enjoy reading your thoughts on our books. Keep ’em coming - the good, the bad, and the ugly!

  Finally, we would be incomplete without our home base and the love of our husbands. They are often times our first sounding board and help to give us perspective when we’re in the midst of this crazy journey. Thanks for speaking truth when we need to hear it, lending a shoulder when it’s necessary, and loving us when we have our meltdowns. You two truly are the best.

  About the Author