The minister’s words filled the air in a hauntingly sweet, almost musical, sing song monotone. Aaron found himself feeling faint for the briefest of moments, and then it was gone. He wondered if Shelby felt it.
“When two people make this pact together they are forsaking the affections of all others and allowing their bodies, minds, and spirits to become one person. They will stand as one person for the rest of their Earthly days and into the afterlife where they will remain united forever. The pairing of these two children of God that you will all witness today is perhaps the greatest gift our maker gave us. It is the ability to fall in love with another and the privilege of sharing one’s life with that person. The Lord, our God did not want man to be alone. He has foreseen it and he has made it so.”
Aaron was starting to feel that the minister was laying it all on a little thick, and as cheesy as what he was saying felt, Aaron found himself tearing up more when he realized it was a perfect analogy for the way he felt about his bride.
Aaron thought about the plans he and Shelby had made together for the next few years. They figured they would both want a bigger house for the two of them and the children they planned on having. It was something both of them had always dreamt of—having children— and Aaron was looking forward to it more every day. They did want to take a few years and enjoy just being a free couple who could come and go as they pleased. There was a lot of the world neither of them had ever seen and they both wanted to, but eventually children were going to be in the picture.
Aaron found it funny how when he was younger he never saw himself as a dad, or even a husband, but as the years rolled by he started feeling like there was something missing from his life. He had a lot of love to give and he had a lot of guidance to share. He felt he had gained so much knowledge about life over the past few years and he didn’t want that wisdom to go to waste. Shelby would be an amazing mother as well. She was so caring and so nurturing, once you broke down the walls she had constructed around herself to keep the world at bay. He had somehow been able to do that and once he was inside those walls he never wanted to leave. It was the perfect place to be, with the perfect woman.
After the ceremony they partied it up at the reception. Shelby and Aaron had launched themselves out onto the dance floor. Aaron had never considered himself much of a dancer, but the spirit grabbed him and he found that he could not stop dancing. He was having too much fun and feeling way too good from the endorphin rush of getting married. As soon as the minister said to kiss the bride, Aaron had been on that high. It was all over and the nerves and excitement had built to a final crescendo that finally exploded.
And the alcohol probably helped a bunch. Both he and Shelby drank a lot that day, but not too much—they did want to remember the wedding day, after all.
The next morning they were on a plane heading for the Bahamas. The flight was so smooth and Aaron was so happy that they had decided to fly first class, even though it was twice as expensive. They had decided to splurge and make it happen.
As they approached the end of their flight and they could see the Bahamas islands coming up in the distance, Shelby reached over and grabbed his hand. He turned to look at her and got lost in the beauty of her eyes.
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you, too.” Aaron kissed her sweetly.
As they walked off the plane they were taken in by the culture of where they had arrived. Aaron was used to beautiful sunny weather, living in Phoenix Arizona, but he was amazed by how blue the ocean looked when you were that close to it. As they rode towards the hotel and resort where they were staying he marveled at the crystal clear, blue water that reflected the sunshine back at him. It was breathtaking to say the least.
As far as he could see there was nothing but blue, so much so that it was impossible to tell where the sky and the water split apart. They stretched on in an endless direction of mingling blues and sunshine. As he watched this vision it reminded him of how it was a perfect metaphor for the journey that he and Shelby were embarking on.
He was no longer alone and neither was she. They were two shades of blue that had come together at last to create their own distinct shade of blue. It was uniquely theirs and no one could ever interrupt it and nothing could ever separate the gleam from the blue.
It was time for the next step.
The End
Part VI
His Temptation
Romantic Suspense
About the Book
When petite and pretty Julie Dumbarton flees the big city fearing for her life, she wants only one thing: to escape the mistakes of her past. But instead of escape, she discovers she was followed to her home town by Martin Richter, the man who beat and abused her. Now, her family is at risk as well. Julie is afraid she’ll never be able be free of Martin’s cruelty. When ex-boyfriend, Axel steps up to keep her safe, she vow’s she’ll never fall into a criminal life again, even if it means giving up Axel forever.
Tough and dominating Axel Kehoe, entrenched in the life as a gang leader, wants nothing more than to squash the man who is tormenting Julie, his one and only love. His plan: get rid of Martin and get Julie back into his bed. But is he willing to give up everything he knows to win back Julie’s love?
Chapter 1
Julie Dumbarton sat in the very last seat of the Greyhound Bus. She didn’t like sitting next to the chemical smelling toilet stall, but she needed the security of knowing no one was sitting behind her. She was impatient for the bus to depart, afraid that if they sat there too long the man that was hunting her would find her. She looked out of the window into the night but all she could see was her own reflection, her red hair creeping out from under her hat, blue eyes rimmed with dark circles from lack of sleep. Even her cheekbones seemed sharper than when she had left home months ago.
She thought back to the time before the city, when she’d stupidly driven the getaway car for her boyfriend Axel. She hadn’t known he was going to rob a bank, but that wouldn’t matter to the cops. The prosecutor would surely point out that she had known Axel was up to no good. She’d left him after that. Left him and moved to the city for a fresh start.
What a joke that had been; she’d had no marketable skills and couldn’t find a job. She should have known when the lovely Martin Richter had taken her in, that he was a con man. An unprincipled pimp. She’d actually thought he was in love with her until he had given her to another man. After that she’d stolen from his wallet time and time again, until she had the bus fare home. But he’d found her stash and given her a black eye so in the end she had to call her parents for a bus ticket home.
She’d spent the evening pretending to drink with Martin, refilling his glass time after time until he finally passed out on the couch. Then she’d snuck past the other rooms and down and out into the street, running barefoot to the bus station, her feet silent on the warm pavement, so the men wouldn’t hear her footfalls.
“I need to pick up my ticket,” she’d said panting with exertion and nerves at the ticket window.
“What?” asked the clerk behind the counter. “Say again.”
“I have a ticket here,” Julie spoke slower, tried to regulate her breathing.
“You must pay for ticket,” the clerk said.
“No,” Julie was starting to panic, she wasn’t sure how much time she had before the bus left. “My parents paid for the ticket, I just need to pick it up.”
The clerk had finally understood, found the ticket and handed it to Julie, after she’d produced her ID. Then she’d padded quietly onto the bus, still holding her shoes.
Shouting broke out in the station just as the bus engine roared to life and Julie slid down in her seat hoping to slip unnoticed out of Martin Richter’s life. He didn’t know where she was from and with a little luck he would never know where she had gone.
Julie woke when the bus pulled into her home town terminal. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, it wasn’t safe. The movement of the bus had lulled he
r and she’d slept deeply the last five hours of the trip. She rubbed her eyes and looked out into the familiar downtown. Her parents were standing on the sidewalk beside the bus; arms folded not talking to each other. There was nothing new about that, they hadn’t had a proper conversation in the last 10 years as far as Julie knew.
She grabbed her backpack and climbed down out of the bus. Her mother burst into tears and threw her arms around Julie.
“I’m okay mom,” Julie said into her shoulder. “I’m fine.” It wasn’t true of course but she would never tell her mother what she’d been through. Looking over her mother’s shoulder she thought she saw someone standing in the shadows on the other side of the street, but she couldn’t get a good look. Still, the figure reminded her of Axel and she realized she’d still have to be careful. She’d put that life behind her and that’s where she wanted it to stay.
“Why thank goodness,” her father said. “You’re safe. Let’s take you home.” He took her backpack and walked away.
“Mom. Mom!” Julie pulled away from her mother’s embrace. “Come on mom, dad already left.”
They followed her dad to the car and drove silently through the town toward their home. Once home, Julie made excuses to her parents and retreated to the sanctuary of her bedroom; the one place in the world she felt safe. She grabbed a towel from the linen closet and got gratefully into the shower. She let the water run and run, rinsing away the grime of the city life, the humiliation, the abuse. When the water ran cold she got out of the shower, returned to the privacy of her room and rummaged in her drawers for close she hadn’t worn in months.
When she pulled on her favorite jeans she discovered they were too big for her now. She looked at herself in the mirror, seeing for the first time that her hip bones jetted sharply and her lower ribs were visible. There had been no mirrors in the house in the city and she had no clue how emaciated she’d become. She dug around in a drawer for a belt and cinched her jeans tight on her hips. So she was thin, she thought, so what? All she had to do was eat ice cream every day for a week. She should get back to normal, at least normal looking. She might never feel like the same person again.
The jeans looked silly bunched around her waist, so she slipped into a dress instead. It was a flowy sleeveless shift with a scoop neck that dropped to just above her knees. Comfortable and homey. This dress was full of happy memories.
It was when she went to flop down on her bed that she noticed the envelope on her pillow. She smiled thinking one of her friends must be welcoming her home. She stuck her finger under the envelope flap and tore it open, pulling out not a card, but a single sheet of lined paper, the kind they use in elementary school. There were five words printed on it. You - will - never - be - free. A cold chill ran down her back.
Julie dug through her drawers for a clean pair of socks and grabbed her sneakers out of the closet. She dumped her backpack on the bed shaking out all the bits of detritus she collected in the corners during her stay in the city. Then she stuffed a change of clothes and a sweatshirt into the bag, dropped to her hands and knees beside the bed and felt for the slit she’d cut in the bottom of the box spring for the money she’d stashed there months ago.
Her fingers found the edges of the envelope and she slid it from the mattress, but when she opened it there was no money there. She dropped her head to the floor in despair. Who had taken her money? Well it didn’t matter she was just going to have to survive without it. She went to the window opened the lower sash and slid out onto the back porch roof. She inched down the metal as quietly as she could, rolled over onto her stomach and slid her legs out into the air until her hips could bend. As her legs dropped, she kicked around feeling with her toes for a gap in the lattice. When she found it she crept slowly down as quietly as she could and dropped into the bushes at the back of the house. The backyard was dark, but luckily she knew where everything was. Nothing had changed in the weeks she had been away.
She stepped out between the bushes and sat on the back door step to put her shoes on. The house was dark and she knew her parents were sleeping. She made her way quietly past the garage at the back of the yard, out through the gate and into the back alley. There she took a quick look to see that no one was skulking in the alley and she turned right and trotted toward town.
She walked through the small downtown and along the river until she reached the bridge. There she sat on the parapet watching the river flow and wondered what she should do. There were one or two people that might be willing to help her, but there were no guarantees. She’d left town without a word to her friends, hadn’t contacted them while she was away and couldn’t expect them to understand why she left.
She would not go back to Axel. She would not get dragged back into that life. People who ran with Axel’s gang didn’t survive long, and there were plenty of freshly seeded mounds in the graveyard that could attest to that.
Julie ducked down as a car approached the bridge hiding in the shadows. Her parents wouldn’t be looking for her yet, they wouldn’t even be awake, but the problem with living in a small town was that nothing stayed secret for long. If someone saw her sitting on the bridge her parents would be woken to a phone call telling them all about it. Julie had to remain unseen.
She slid down off the bridge onto the bank of the river and walked south. If she made it down to the marina she might be able to break into one of the boat houses the summer people kept there. Last summer Axel had shown her which boathouses had easy locks to pick, and which ones were hardly ever locked at all.
The sky began to fade and brighten as she approached the marina, but it was still very early. There was no one on the docks. She hurried down the farthest jetty and chose a house in a slip between two others where her movement might go unnoticed. She’d been here before, unlike last time the porch window slid easily open and she slipped inside.
She wondered if the people who owned the house boat even remembered it was theirs. No one had visited it in her memory and it was exactly the same as last time she’d been there. There were two cokes and a bottle of water in the fridge. She grabbed the water reasoning it could be refilled so it wasn’t really stealing. She made her way upstairs and out onto the roof deck, grabbing a wall blanket from the linen closet on the way. She curled into one of the reclining deck chairs, pulled the blanket over her swig to the water and then let herself drift into sleep.
Chapter 2
Axel Kehoe watched with amusement as Julie inched her way down the back porch roof. She’d been sneaking out of the house that way since she’d been twelve or thirteen. She didn’t seem to realize that once she was over the age of majority, her parents couldn’t stop her from leaving the house when she wanted to. Even in the dim light from the streetlamp, Axel could see that Julie was a good 50 pounds lighter than when she left town. He’d heard rumors of what she’d been through and it worried him. He should have never dragged her into that job and he had regretted it ever sense.
Axel was a big man in his late twenties. Second in command to Eduardo Calzone, he knew that he must look bigger, harder, and badder than any of the other gang members if he didn’t want to be challenged on a weekly basis. So he had trained, and continued to train. His hard work paid off; Axel was known as the baddest of the bad in three states. Now he used his training to follow Julie as silently and lethally as a big cat. Not many would be able to see him in the shadows, and those who did would know to stay away.
When Julie headed for the marina, Axel had known where she was going. He cut ahead of her, trotting down the town roads instead of following her along the river. When Julie found the porch window open it was because Axel had opened it for her. When she curled into the deck chair on the roof of the boathouse, he was watching her from the shadows.
He was still watching when the sun rose high enough to rest on her face and she opened her eyes. She did not look surprised to see him but she gathered the blanket tighter around her and her mouth thinned into a grim line. When Axel came
to sit on the foot of her lounge chair, she tucked her feet under, pulling her legs further away from him.
“Axel,” she said. He could hear the pain in her voice.
“Julie,” he said. “You’re back.” The pain in her voice stabbed at his heart. She had been his girl, his one love and he had failed her. He had not been able to protect her from himself.
“It’s hard to find a job when you don’t have any skills,” she said, and he could hear pain and anger in her voice now too. “People in the city, they aren’t what they seem.”
“Julie!” he started but he didn’t know what to say, there was nothing to say. He longed to take her in his arms, to hold her and stroke her hair and tell her how very sorry he was.
“Axel,” she said, “what are you doing here?”
“I’m trying to keep you safe,” he said. “Someone from the city followed you.”
“I should’ve known they wouldn’t let me go that easily,” she said. She dropped her head and Axel had to stop himself from reaching out to her. “I don’t know what to do,” she despaired. “I can’t stay here forever. If you found me they could find me too.”
“I have an advantage,” he said. “I know where you live.”
“They’ll be wondering where I am now. Thinking they’ve lost me forever.”
“Come with me. I’ll take you somewhere safe and then I’ll go tell your parents what happened.” He stood up and reached out his hand. She hesitated. He was about to lament; he thought he’d never earn her trust again. She suddenly reached out and took his hand. He pulled her gently to her feet and led her down to the dock.
When they reached the road, Axel pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed a gang wannabe. Then he slid off his hoody and draped it over her shoulders, with the hood drooping low over her face.
Kane (Alexander Shifter Brothers Book 1) Page 38
