by Sierra Dafoe
“Don’t,” she whispered, bending down to him. “Don’t hold back, Sonny. Make love to me. Come for me.”
With a gasp, he buried his head in the crook of her shoulder. His whole body tightened beneath her. He surged up, pressing deeper, pushing her down tight against him. They clung to each other, panting, their bodies straining together. Then he groaned, the sound hoarse and thrilling, as his balls contracted against her ass.
He exploded inside her, his cock throbbing and bucking, his juices shooting into her as she held him, her arm muscles aching from hugging him so tight. As if everything inside her couldn’t stand to have him leave her. As if every cell in her body was determined to never let him go.
He panted against her shoulder, his hair damp with sweat. Slowly, his body eased and he rolled her over beneath him, his cock still seated firmly inside her. He raised his head and looked at her, his beautiful blue eyes filled with light.
Too much light. Her heart contracted, her arms tightening around him, as the thin, grayish light of predawn filled the room.
“Don’t go,” she whispered desperately. He shook his head, his gaze warm and, she fancied, slightly stunned. Lifting a hand, he brushed her cheek gently, snaring a tangled curl of her hair with one finger and easing it back from her face.
“I have to, Jules. I told you that.”
She shook her head fiercely, clamping her arms around his neck, her face pressed against the searing skin of his neck. “Don’t leave me.”
She felt the rumble of his laughter, the gentle hands untwining her arms from around him. A soft wash of pink filled the room. In it, his cerulean eyes gleamed like a tropical sea. Magical. Endless. Impossibly warm.
I will never leave you, Jules. I swear. I will be there every day of your life to watch over you. To love you. To dance, someday, at your wedding.
She blinked rapidly, trying to force back the burning sting of tears. He smiled, touching her face again. Just promise me you will never, ever again settle for someone who doesn’t deserve you.
“I promise,” she whispered. The room wavered. Sonny’s face blurred. Her tears slid down her cheeks, unstoppable. Closing her eyes, she felt his lips brush her forehead.
And I will always be with you, Jules. I promise you that.
She opened her eyes again and saw his solid bulk above her, outlined for a second against the growing light. It sparkled around him like a halo, flaring with a sudden, unearthly incandescence as the sun eased over the ocean and the first amber-gold rays of dawn struck her eyes.
Julia cried out, the sound jerked from her throat by the sudden emptiness inside her, the ache of loss clenching in her chest. She drew her knees up, hugging them to her as she sat on the bed, tears streaming down her cheeks as she watched the sun rise.
He was gone. Her Sonny. And everything he’d said, everything he hadn’t said, suddenly made sense.
Fine. How old are you, then?
Old enough, Jules, he’d said. Old enough.
She clapped one hand over her mouth, smiling and crying, both at the same time. He was old enough. Old enough for everything. Old enough to have watched humankind’s first fumbling attempts to walk upright. Old enough to have watched her attempting the very same thing.
He did know her—just as he’d said. He’d known her every day of her life. He’d been with her always.
And she hadn’t seen. Hadn’t understood. Not until now.
Julia lay one cheek against her bent knees, her arms wrapped around them, and watched the rising sun before her paint the sky with vivid streaks of color. It was so beautiful. So amazing. A miracle that would be there every day of her life.
I will, Sonny’s voice whispered, deep in her mind. Every day. Now sleep, Jules. Sleep where I can see you, safe in my bed.
Smiling, still sniffling slightly, she curled herself into the tangled sheets, feeling the rising sun pooling around her. Cupped in that warm, gentle glow, she slept.
Epilogue
Wake up, Jules.
The words whispered in her mind, and Julia opened her eyes. Her neck had a crick in it, caused by the cramped airline seat. The thrum of engines filled her ears, and she gazed out the window to see the barren, white-dotted landscape of central Maine spread below her. She shivered, already missing South Carolina’s warmth—and missing Sonny.
She’d woken up back in her own hotel room, with the phone ringing in her ears. The front desk, reminding her that check-out time was in twenty minutes, or was Ms. Kazinski planning to stay an extra day?
She’d been tempted…but no. It was time to go home. However special it had been, however wonderful, their one night was over. And now here she was, she realized as the jet’s wheels thumped and bumped down onto the cold tarmac. The engines whined and air howled outside as the plane lumbered to a stop. Around her, people were chattering, bustling as they snapped open overhead storage bins, dragged purses and backpacks from under seats, clogging the aisle with a hubbub of humanity. Julia sat back, letting the bustle die down around her, gazing out at the gray, snow-clotted landscape.
It had all really happened. All of it. And nope, she didn’t have one single regret.
Hefting her carry-on bag over her shoulder, she made her way up the ramp and through the airport, shivering as she stopped to pull on her parka and dig her gloves from her pocket before heading to the parking lot. God, she was dreading the sight of her car. Three inches deep in packed snow and ice, no doubt.
It wasn’t. She stared at it a moment, bemused, then gazed slowly around. Every other car in the long-term lot was buried in snow—but not hers.
“Jules!” The sound of a shout tugged at her attention, and Julia turned to see Selena striding toward her, her pale cheeks flushed pink beneath the bobbing toggle-ball on her ski cap. “I thought I’d missed you! I was running late.”
“Were you planning to pick me up?” Julia asked, hugging her friend. “Because I drove to the airport, you know.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t want you to have to dig your car out of a snowbank first thing…” Selena started, then trailed off as she saw Julia’s pristine, snowless car. The deep-blue paint gleamed as a stray sunbeam peeked through the clouds and caught it, and somewhere in the back of her mind Julia heard a deep chuckle.
Call it a welcome-home present, Sonny whispered.
.“How the hell did you do that?” Selena asked, staring at the car in bafflement, and Julia laughed.
“I have connections,” she answered, giving her words a mock mafia growl.
“Yeah, I’d say. So how was the trip?”
Oh hell, where did she begin? Juggling her keys and her carry-on bag, Julia decided abruptly that she didn’t. There was no way she could begin to explain everything that had happened to her. So she just grinned instead.
Selena grinned back. “That good, huh? I have to admit, you left looking like a drowned rat and came back looking like a million bucks. That’s a hell of a tan. Man, maybe I should go to Myrtle Beach sometime.”
“You should, Sel,” Julia answered, tossing her bag into the backseat and closing the door before turning to hug her friend again. “You really should.”
About the Author
In her quest for the ultimate “happily ever after”, Sierra Dafoe has written contemporary, paranormal, western and erotic romance, and is a voracious reader of all the above and everything in between. First published in 2006, Sierra received three CAPA nominations that year, including a nomination for Favorite Erotic Author. She has since gone on to receive numerous awards for her work, but the acclaim she treasures the most has always been the support and encouragement of her readers.
Visit Sierra on the web at www.sierradafoe.com for sneak peeks at her works in progress, exclusive excerpts and the occasional free story, and all her latest updates!
Look for these titles by Sierra Dafoe
Now Available:
/> The Boys Back Home
The Boys Next Door
She could never choose between them…until they both chose her.
Even as a young girl, Cassie Jordan knew the rules: one man, one woman. Especially in rural Idaho. But how can she choose between blond, kind-hearted Kyle Watson and dark, sensuous Alan Caine?
She can’t. Not even when she discovers the two handsome cowboys in bed together and is convinced that neither of them cares for her at all. That discovery sends her running all the way to Chicago and into the arms of another man. Now, with her wedding fast approaching, it’s time to return to Preacher’s Bend to sort out her tangled emotions.
Now that Cassie’s back in town, Kyle and Alan are determined to do whatever it takes to keep her there. As far as they’re concerned, there’s only one place on earth Cassie belongs—in their arms.
Warnings: This title contains explicit M/M sex, M/F sex, and two cowboys taking the woman of their dreams for the ride of her life!
Love takes courage. Loving two men takes twice as much.
At seventeen, Tommy Ambinder was Annie Parsons’ first love, the center of her world. Almost. There was a secret spot reserved for Judah, Tommy’s elder brother. On the day she discovered Judah wanted her, as well, the aftermath drove Annie out of town—and a wedge between the men she loved.
Now, haunted by guilt, Annie has returned to Melgrove, Montana with one hope in her heart—that twenty years has overcome the rift between the Ambinder boys. If they’ve mended fences, maybe she can repair her own life too.
Tommy’s missed Annie all these years, but he never realized how much until one glimpse reignites the passion that time hasn’t quenched. Something else hasn’t changed, either—half of her heart still belongs to Judah.
Now, with Annie poised to run again, history is threatening to repeat itself—unless one of them has the courage to break free of the pattern and blaze a new trail that’s wide enough for all three.
Warning: This book contains all the volcanic intensity of first love, searing-hot sex scenes, and two brothers sharing the one woman they love!
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
Cincinnati OH 45249
Sun-Kissed
Copyright © 2015 by Sierra Dafoe
ISBN: 978-1-61922-988-4
Edited by Linda Ingmanson
Cover by Angela Waters
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: June 2015
www.samhainpublishing.com
