by Kailin Gow
“You're so good to me...: I whispered. I couldn't look at him. “I care for you a lot. And there were times when I wanted to go all the way, I really did. You're handsome, sexy, charming...”
“But?”
“But?”
“But I'm not the one, am I?” Luc sighed. “You and Danny – you're back together, aren't you?”
“Luc – I'm sorry. I thought he'd cheated on me – I was angry– jealous – I was wrong...”
Tears were running fast down his face. “Good,” he whispered, and I could see that the words were taking every fiber of his strength to keep from breaking down. “Because if he hurt you, if he wronged you – I'll beat him to a bloody pulp. He'd better deserve that love you have for him, Neve...”
“It would be so much simpler,” I sighed, “if I could choose you.”
“I know,” Luc said. “I understand – or I'll try to. I see how you are with him. I see how much you love him. I wish I was him, sometime – but then again, I don't.” He brushed away his tears. “I want you to be happy, Neve. And I'll fight like hell for you if he ever proves unworthy. But the time you and I have had together – at least we had that. And I'll always know what it feels like to kiss you, to taste you, to be with you like that. And those memories will stay with me forever.”
He held me once – one last embrace, one last goodbye – an embrace full of love, of friendship, of the bittersweetness of parting.
“Am I interrupting something?”
I looked up to see Danny standing in the doorway, a look of anger and pain clear on his face.
Had he heard everything?
“Danny – wait...”
But it was too late.
“Two weeks,” Danny was saying, over and over. “Two weeks – at my sick father's bedside, and you're with someone else? Two weeks!”
“Danny!”
“Two. Fucking. Weeks!”
And with that, he ran into his car and drove away.
Chapter 21
He didn't answer the phone. He didn't answer his texts. Pain and fury mingled within me. How dare he – how dare he? He'd never told me the extent of his relationship with Roni – I'd believed he was cheating on me – I'd done wrong not to trust him, sure, but as far as I knew our relationship was over. He had no right to be this angry with me – when all the while I'd been sure that he'd been sleeping with Roni behind my back.
Or else – it was my fault. I hadn't trusted him. I hadn't believed in his promises and protestations of love. And I was paying for it now.
At last I saw the flashing of headlights in the distance. Danny's car – returning – an hour after he'd left.
He staggered out of the car. He looked exhausted, his eyes red-rimmed. I could tell he'd been crying.
His voice was low, almost resigned.
“You want to tell me what happened?” He did not look up at me.
“When I saw the video,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “I thought that you'd been cheating on me with Roni the whole time. That you were sleeping with her. And I was hurt – angry – I couldn't reach you. I thought maybe the whole thing with us had been a lie.”
“How could you think that about me?”
“Luc helped me get through the pain.”
“By fucking you?” His voice broke.
“No,” I said. “We fooled around – but we never had sex. I was angry, jealous, hurt. I just wanted to forget, Danny.”
“You could have confronted me – you could have asked me.”
“I tried to reach you! You were never around!”
“I was at my sick father's bedside,” Danny put his head in his hands. “Oh, this is just what she wanted. Just what Roni wanted. To tear us apart. And now I have to live with these memories, these horrible imaginings, of what you two did together, of you two as lovers...” He laughed softly. “And the stupid thing is – I feel sorry for him, too. Sorry for him – even through my jealousy. Because if I feel this way, I can just imagine how stupid, how used he must be feeling right now.”
“Danny, please...”
“You can't just go around hurting people. Can't you see how much we love you?” It was Danny's turn to cry.
“I was wrong,” I said. “I was wrong to doubt you. And I was wrong to believe you'd cheated on me. But I thought we were broken up. And I never led Luc on. He knew – always – that things were casual, just physical. He knew it was a rebound thing – and it was his choice...”
“How weak you make us, Neve,” Danny's smile was bitter. “How easily you make us love you.”
“I love you, Danny,” I whispered. “If I wasn't so hurt, so upset, I'd never have responded so powerfully when I thought you cheated. But my heart was broken.”
“Then...I have your heart?” There was hope in his eyes.
I leaned in and kissed him, trying to express all my passion, all my desire, all my longing, channeling them into a single overpowering embrace.
“Do you believe I love you now?”
He hesitated. “Yes,” he said at last.
I held out my hand, with the ring glittering on my finger.
“No,” I said. “I won't marry you, not yet. But I will wear this ring. As a promise. A promise to trust you always. To be your partner, your lover, your confidante. And maybe, one day, when college is finished, and we're both established in our careers, to be your wife. But right now, I want to be the woman you love. Will you still have me, Danny Blue?”
He sighed deeply, heavily. “You know the answer to that,” he whispered in my ear, drawing me in, kissing me passionately, his tongue and lips hot against my own. “You know how strongly I feel about you. That ring – let it be a promise ring. A promise of our new life together. A life filled with love and trust.”
“Love and trust,” I whispered back. “I love you, Danny Blue. So, so much.”
“I'd do anything for you, Neve.”
And then we were locked in a single embrace, our flesh together, our bodies together, my skin against his skin, my tears mingling with his tears. This was the man I loved, and I was with him. This was the man I loved.
And I knew I would not part from him again.
Epilogue
The streets of LA were moonless, but they were not dark. The neon lights, the street signs, the cars, all served to illuminate the city, casting it in a strange glow even at this midnight hour. That's how things always were in LA, Danny thought. Gaudy and bright. Even now, after moving here, after upending his whole world and leaving England, LA never fully felt like home. He missed the peace and quiet of the English countryside, of a world without the heavy beating of bass drums, the trance-like ambiance of techno pouring out from every club door.
He walked into the Blue Room, ignoring the lascivious smiles of the waitresses. He'd tried to explain to Neve how the place made him feel, but he hadn't been able to find the words. The beauty, the glamour, the languid air of sex, all this reminded him of the man he had been, the man he was trying so hard to leave behind. Once, he would have loved this place – the drugs, the girls, the heady and intoxicating air of hedonism. But now it made him think of his father, of that world, of the world he had promised himself he would never go back to. He had Neve, now, the woman he loved, the girl who drove him crazy, the girl who could save him from the agonies of desire. No more one-night-cheap hotels. No more one-night stands. Just her.
But walking into the Blue Room brought back all the old memories.
He sat down next to his brother – who was sipping his cocktail slowly, his legs crossed, his gaze uncanny as it fell slowly over the curves of the waitresses' bodies: a knowing smile that hinted that he'd seen each and every one of those smooth, round contours of flesh unencumbered by clothing.
How could Danny explain to Neve what Terrence meant to him? Looking at this stranger was like looking in a dark mirror – seeing himself as he could have been, as he might have been, had he not given up that lifestyle of decadence, had he not met Neve? His alter
nate self – at once terrifying and strangely appealing.
Yes, Danny told himself, Terrence would run the Blue Room. Terrence would satisfy his fantasies, his cravings. And he, Danny, would remain good, in domestic bliss, safe in the knowledge of his love.
“So,” Terrence's voice was light and arch. “Settling down already?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean – I read the tabloids. Or at least, I have people who read the tabloids for me. I saw that shiny ring on Never Knight's finger.”
Danny felt a sting. The Danny Blue of five years ago would never have dreamed of settling down. “It's my mother's ring,” said Danny. “But it's not a wedding ring. It's a promise ring. A promise of our life together.”
“She's luscious.”
“Ter, please!” Terrence always unnerved him when he talked like that. “Every girl who walks in the door here would fall for you in a heartbeat. But her....” He felt strangely possessive. “She's mine.”
“Too bad,” Terrence blew smoke-rings into his face. “She's quite a catch.”
“Have you considered my proposal about the Blue Room?” Danny desperately wanted to change the subject.
“You know,” Ter laughed, “I've been coming here for years. With my stepdad. When I was nineteen, I saw my stepfather stumble out of here at two in the morning. I told my stepdad I'd tell my mother everything if he didn't leave his Amex behind the bar and give me a permanent tab. Does my mom know how to pick 'em or what?” He laughed bitterly. “At least she chooses the rich guys.”
Danny swallowed, hard. Surely, Terrence didn't mean what he said! He was Danny's brother, after all, however long-lost – surely he was above this kind of talk!
But am I above such talk? Danny thought back to how he had been years ago, when he too haunted the Blue Room. Am I really any better? His past, his past excesses, had hurt Neve – hurt the woman he loved. Could he really pretend to be so superior to this stranger with his face?
“Ter, if you're in management, that means a different attitude toward the staff here...”
“I thought you said any girl who walked in here would fall for me!”
“I meant – fall in love...
“Not fucking, you mean?” Terrence downed his drink. “I'll take the job, Danny.” He caught the eye of the pneumatic brunette serving them champagne, and smiled, his white teeth glistening in the candlelight. “But I'm not making any promises beyond that. I have the Blue blood, after all. And I might as well have all the fun that I can...”
Never Ending is the last book in the Never Knights Trilogy
Danny Blue and Terrence Blue’s story, along with some of the cast from the Never Knights Trilogy will continue in a steamy hot new series called, The Blue Room, an erotic nightclub where the rich and famous go to experience their wildest fantasies.
The Blue Room (The Blue Room #1)
December 2013
Adult Contemporary
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Table of Contents
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
This is a New Adult novel (a sexy rock and roll contemporary/fantasy romance) which may contain scene...
DEDICATION
PrologueO
Chapter 1A
Chapter 2T
Chapter 3M
Chapter 4I
Chapter 5I
Chapter 6M
Chapter 7I
Chapter 8 “S
Chapter 9I
Chapter 10D
Chapter 11 “A
Chapter 12W
Chapter 13 “D
Chapter 14T
Chapter 15I
Chapter 16L
Chapter 17I
Chapter 18I
Chapter 19T
Chapter 20B
Chapter 21H
EpilogueT
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