Pretend With Me (Midnight Society #1)

by Jemma Grey

  Epilogue

  Sometime later...

  Eric Wilson I opened my eyes, breathing in her intoxicating scent. This was the best feeling in the world - waking up next to Jen. She had no idea what she did to me, just how much I cared for her. I swear I would go to Hell and stay there if she asked me to. I hugged her closer to me, wrapping my arms around her protectively as she slept.

  Then I pressed my nose into her hair, inhaling her scent. I wondered sometimes if I would ever get used to her - her scent, her touch, the things I felt for her, the things she could do to me. I didn’t think that I would. I hoped not.

  It had been exactly one month and three weeks since we’d gotten married and she could still set my soul on fire just as she could when I had first met her. Every touch was like flames licking my body, every kiss like having liquid fire pulsing in my veins. Every moment that we had, she treated it as if it were our first and last. I couldn’t keep my hands off of her, not that she was complaining.

  Every little meaningless thing she did turned me on. Like when she chewed on her lower lip or when she looked up at me from under her eyelids frowning. Jen was damn hot and the sex was amazing. Best sex of my life and trust me when I say; I got around… a lot.

  It wasn’t just the hot sex though, it was her. I doubted, in fact, I knew there wasn’t another girl in the world that could make me feel the things she made me feel. Before Jen walked into my life, I was a player and a damn good one at that. I slept around, got drunk, partied with Jason, did things I’d never let her find out about. I was horrible back then, but I met Jen and in just one moment, she turned my life around. It was like a switch had flipped in my head and I could no longer stand to look at other girls.

  “Hmm…” she moaned, waking up yet not opening her eyes. “Eric…” she groaned and I felt desire for her awaken inside me. “I’m cold, hug me.” I chuckled at that. Of course, she was cold; we were floating in an ocean somewhere in the middle of a frozen wintery forgotten world. Tell her she can go anywhere in the world for her birthday present and this is where she drags my ass to, the fucking North Pole, crazy-ass psycho girl. I mean who in their right mind chooses the North Pole over a nice sunny warm place like Hawaii or Brazil.

  She turned in my arms to face me and buried her face in my chest. “Eric…” she moaned again. God, she needed to stop moaning my name. I draped my leg over her, slightly covering her body with my own as I dragged the thick blankets over our heads, completely covering us. She let out a breath and I knew then that she was fully awake now.

  “Morning,” I said, looking down at her. “Hi,” she smiled back, opening a pair of blazing blue eyes. It was hard to believe she was mine.

  “Eric?” she sighed, studying me. She was silent for a long moment and I couldn’t help but feel as if she was staring right through my body. “Are you happy?” Jen asked suddenly.

  “Of course I’m happy,” I told her instantly.

  “Oh,” she sighed, “okay then.”

  JEMMA GREY “Why do you ask?”

  “Well…” she mused frowning and bit down on her lower lip. “Before we got married… I’d put you through a lot. I know I was hurting you back then… even though you never showed it or told me… I’ve tried making it up to you ever since… You deserve to be happy, Eric…”

  I smiled at her insanity. Jen could be so crazy and absurd sometimes… Ever since I’d met her, I had been nothing but happy - there was nothing to make up for. Sure back then she had been in a really horrible place... She had just lost Daren and was still grieving… She had just found out that she was engaged to me and that almost her entire life had been a lie… That had been a lot to take in and I understood. Having an inheritance like mine, made me understand people – their pain, happiness… their suffering.

  Back then, had also been one of the most terrifying times of my life. Jen was struggling to keep herself together. There were times when she would sit for hours behind her bedroom door, holding herself in one piece where she would cry in her sleep. There were numerous times in that period, when I would come home and hear her sobbing. I would always turn around and leave her to herself. I knew the minute she knew I was around, she would put on a fake smile and pretend she was okay. Every day I stared at her, wondering if it was the day, she gave up and stopped fighting. I'd constantly watched for anything that told me she had stopped taking her meds again.

  I knew she was broken and scarred. I knew she thought she would never be able to forgive herself for Daren’s death. None of it mattered though. All that mattered was that she was slowly beginning to heal - even if she didn’t see it. I knew because every day I saw the little changes in her. Jen didn’t know about any of this and I didn’t tell her, instead all I said was, “I am happy, Jen. Are you?” Her only answer was a nod, but I could see her trying to analyze me, trying to figure out whether or not I was lying.

  Without saying anything I took her hand and slowly began pulling off the white glove she wore. She looked at me confused, but didn’t pull away or say anything as I continued doing what I was, being extra careful not to touch her fingers. When her hand was all the way out of the glove, I looked at her, linking our fingers. My hand wrapped around her hand as I pressed my palm to hers watching amazed as her eyes glazed over into blankness for a moment.

  Jen’s gift was amazing and she was getting so good at it. It freaked me out at what living with the third eye was like. Now I knew how annoying everyone else in my family found it when I peeked into their heads. Usually, I wanted to throttle her when she peeked into mine. And that was just the power of the actual third eye; there was still the other inheritance that came along with it. So far only one had awakened fully. She was having visions but they were being triggered by her sense of touch - mainly her fingers. That was why she had to constantly wear gloves at the moment - until she learnt to control this.

  “So,” I asked when she blinked out of the haze staring at me with her mouth hanging open in pure amazement. I wish that she’d let me read her - I’d love to see the things she saw. “What did you see - tell me, Jen, am I happy?”

  “I don’t know whether you’re happy or not Eric… but I saw…” she trailed off in wonder and then shook her head. This caught my interest. What had she seen? Just as I was about to ask, she opened her mouth to speak, but then shut it almost instantly. I decided I would give her a little time to take in whatever she had seen.

  It was almost a full five minutes before she re-opened her mouth and I was just about ready to cheat a little and read her. “Eric I saw… a little girl… she called us mom and dad…”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jemma Grey was born in the twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Her fascination with fantasy, particularly those surrounding fictional monsters, started during her childhood when she went to great lengths to satisfy her ever-growing appetite for literature. Having enriched her imagination, she realized that she had stories of her own in that same genre that she felt a need to start writing herself. She wrote her first novel Pretend With Me before turning 21, while pursuing a mass communication degree.