Finding Refuge

by Lucy Francis

  Travis took both her hands in his and her pulse skittered. Oh, God, she’d missed him so much. “But there was no way to protect myself from you. That first day you smiled at me, you have no idea. You ripped right through me. You opened me up all the way to the core, and what blew my mind was that you accepted me. And you scared me so much that I pushed back.

  “I’ll be honest with you, sweetheart. You still scare the hell out of me. But I have to trust what you show me is real, because I’ve never seen anything in you that isn’t real. Even now, you’re sitting there looking at me with such calmness. How do you do that?”

  She smiled at him, her heart soaring at his closeness, his openness. She’d dared to hope that he’d find his way out of his morass, that he’d come back to her. To have him here, now, filled her soul to bursting with joy. “I’m calm because I’m completely aware of what I have and what I want. What was my brother’s condition that you mentioned earlier?”

  “He said he’d only let me in if I was absolutely certain how I feel.”

  Her heart skipped. “And are you?”

  “One hundred percent.”

  He left the love seat and took a knee in front of her. Time slowed and her heartbeat pulsed frantically in her ears. His deep blue gaze held her in place. Oh, God, yes, please.

  “Andri.” His hands trembled slightly around hers. “I want you in my life. I want to fall asleep with you in my arms and wake up with you the next morning, forever. I need you more than I can explain. I love you.”

  He released one hand and reached into his pocket. He took her hand again, placing something warm and hard in her palm. “Andromeda,” he said, his voice ragged. “Please. Be my wife.”

  In her hand lay a gorgeous ring of platinum leaves, woven around a stunning square diamond, smaller diamonds nestled between the leaves. She closed her fingers over the shining symbol and screamed, “Yes!”

  Andri threw herself into Travis’s arms, and he caught her, laughing. “I do love your enthusiasm.”

  “Yes, yes, yes,” she said, her voice growing softer, until she breathed yes against his mouth. Then his lips captured hers, a hungry groan issuing from his throat as he kissed her. She fiercely returned his kiss, her tongue seeking his. Her entire frame shuddered with need.

  In the one remaining part of her brain that still functioned, it occurred to Andri that Dmitri should have made an appearance by now. Shei pulled back far enough to capture Travis’s gaze. “Did you tell Dmitri what you were planning to do? Because he didn’t come running when I screamed like a crazy woman.”

  “Nope. I just showed him the ring.”

  “Cool.” And then the ability to think in simple words was lost in the heat of his kiss.

  She had gone to Utah seeking a safe haven. He had come into her life needing asylum, too, and together, they had found the refuge they both desperately needed. As Andri pulled her husband-to-be to his feet, she knew they would shelter each other forever.

  Epilogue

  “What are you saying?” Andri’s mom, Zoe Miller, shrieked in his mother’s kitchen, where she, Andri, and Sophia were supposed to be chatting and making dinner. “You’ve never made him baklava? How is that possible?”

  Travis laughed at the dismay and outrage in Zoe’s voice. He sat on the recliner in the great room, putting the foot rest up as Zoe strode in, hands gesturing dramatically as she carried on in Greek. She was a tiny thing, an inch or so shorter than Andri, her hair impossibly black for her age. This was the second time she’d left Phoenix and come for a visit since he’d asked Andri to marry him last September, and while she could be very entertaining, he didn’t mind driving her back to the airport when the time came as well. Andri was right. Her mom was a bit of a diva.

  Andri came into the room, twisting her long, gorgeous hair into a ponytail. “Ma, really, it isn’t my best dish. He likes my spanakopita, and I make tzatziki all the time.” His stomach rumbled at the mention of food. If dinner was dependent on Zoe staying focused in the kitchen, it might be a while before he ate.

  Zoe ranted and gesticulated at Andri until his fiancée was pinching the bridge of her nose in an obvious bid for patience. Suddenly, her mom turned and marched over to stand at his side, looking down at him. She put on a lovely smile. “Travis, I apologize for my daughter.” Her tone had shifted into perfect sweetness and light, and he reconsidered Andri’s description. Zoe was a lot of a diva.

  His future motherin-law grasped his hand with one of hers, patting his forearm with the other. “I can assure you she makes an excellent baklava. It’s something every Greek woman should know, and she promises to prove that she does and make it for tomorrow’s dessert.”

  “Thank you, Zoe.” He smiled, giving her hand a squeeze, turning up his own charm. He’d had to work a bit to win her over the first time they met, but he knew how to talk to her now. “What I most want right now is to dig into your cooking. Whatever you’re making smells fantastic.”

  She blushed, a dusting of pink that reminded him of Andri, the first time they met. Zoe patted his arm again. “Such a charmer. Let me go check the lamb. It should be ready soon.”

  As she left, Travis shifted his gaze back to Andri, who leaned against the wall, pulling her pink cardigan close around her. Warmth and happiness glowed in her expressive brown eyes when she smiled at him. It didn’t matter that she wore an old pair of jeans, didn’t have any makeup on, beat him in every video game except the racing ones, and had made him agree to watch her favorite British TV shows and learn to fly fish before she would set a wedding date. She was perfect. Even her flaws were perfect. Well, perfect for him. That’s all that mattered.

  He opened his arms to her. “Come here, sweetheart.”

  Andri joined him, and he grabbed her hips. She shrieked as he pulled her onto his lap, then giggled. Travis nuzzled her neck, breathing in her scent. He drew his tongue along the shell of her ear and she whimpered softly. Her breath hitched when he shifted under her, ensuring she felt what she’d done to him, without even trying.

  While Zoe was in town, she stayed with Andri. Which left him sleeping in his own home, in his own bed, very much alone. They’d both snuck out from work for a couple of lunch quickies, but he was tiring of sleeping by himself.

  He set his teeth against her earlobe, making her breath catch again. “I miss you, Andromeda.”

  She adjusted her position, sliding her hips over him, and he stifled a groan. “Miss you too, kardia mou. So, so, so much.”

  A snicker and the gentle clearing of a throat snagged his attention away from Andri. His mother walked further into the room and settled lightly on the sofa. Travis didn’t mind the distraction too much. His mother had changed in the last year. Not as much as he’d hoped, of course. She was still cool and a bit distant much of the time, but he understood now that’s who she was. But he’d developed a loving connection with her that still surprised him some days. He’d caught glimpses of the garden in her, the free, fun woman inside the elegant, controlled exterior, and he found happiness in that.

  Sophia looked at her tablet, sliding her finger to navigate the screens. “I apologize for interrupting, my dears, but if we don’t finalize the last of these details, you will literally be late for your own wedding.”

  When his mother had offered to be their wedding planner, it seemed like the obvious choice. She loved planning events, handling their wedding had brought a delight to her eyes he’d never seen before, and she’d taken care of details Travis, and so far Andri, too, would never have thought about. But he hadn’t anticipated that in her formidable hands, his idea of an intimate, understated event would be tossed aside in favor of a Sophia Holt-level soiree. Luckily, she’d agreed to a firm two hundred guest limit. Most of that number were family.

  Andri turned to face his mother, grinning as they went over last minute planning. When they finished, Sophia rose to help get Zoe’s dinner on the table. Travis held Andri back. He heard the front door open, announcing Rachel’s arrival. Dan
ny was reading in Dad’s old office, so someone would have to call him to dinner.

  For the moment, though, he and his bride-to-be were alone. He pressed his lips against her cheek. “I love you.”

  She looked at him, tracing her fingertips along his jaw. “Love you, too.”

  “Can’t wait to marry you.”

  “Me too.”

  “Wish we’d eloped.”

  She giggled. “Me too.”

  Travis gently pulled on her ponytail until she arched her neck. He kissed the heated skin over her throat and she threaded her fingers into his hair. “Can’t wait to get you back in my bed for the night where you belong,” he whispered against her skin.

  She groaned. “Two more weeks.”

  Two weeks of sneaky sex and then they’d be married and Zoe would head back to Phoenix. It would be the longest fourteen days of his entire life.

  Andri kissed his lips, then laughed softly. “Are you ever going to tell Ma that you don’t like baklava?”

  He shook his head. “And have her realize I’m not the perfect son-in-law? No way.”

  ****

  Thank you for reading Finding Refuge.

  Watch for Rachel’s story, Seeking Shelter, coming Spring, 2013.

  If you enjoyed Finding Refuge, I would appreciate it if you would help others enjoy it, too.

  Lend it. This e-book is lending-enabled, so please, share it with a friend.

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  Thanks!

  Lucy

  About The Author

  Lucy Francis grew up with characters living in her head, clamoring for attention. Whether those characters were elves, knights, aliens or earthlings, she listened and wrote their tales, which always included love. She still listens, plays matchmaker, and scribbles the resulting stories. Lucy has lived all over the United States, but calls Utah home. She lives with her husband, five children, and a pet menagerie that once included nine different species. She loves horses, fixing broken things, Doctor Who, and tending the urban forest she planted in her front yard.

  Visit Lucy Francis at http://www.lucyfrancis.net

  http://www.facebook.com/lucyfrancisauthor

  http://www.goodreads.com/lucyfrancis

  Email: kissybooks@yahoo.com

  Twitter: @LucysKissyBooks

  Also available:

  Mending Fences

  By Lucy Francis

  Buy on Amazon

  Buy on Amazon UK

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