It made a man’s heart proud. I may not have had much in this life, but I had them. I counted myself a rich man indeed because of it.
“Poppy Ida Boler.”
My breath caught.
She nibbled her lip. “Poppy for the mural you first painted me. And Ida because,” she said, touching my cheek, “I felt she should be honored. I am so sorry you lost her, Tor, but I am so grateful I found you, and maybe in some small way Ida’s memory can be preserved and turned back from something painful to something beautiful again.”
“I do not know if you knew this, but in Norway it is the male who takes on the woman’s name in marriage, as do the children. So she would actually be Poppy Ida Sullivan.”
She chuckled. “I do love your strange customs. But here in the states and especially in Texas, that girl’s getting her pappa’s name. Besides, Boler is ten times more sexy than Sullivan.”
Winking, she lightly flicked at the tip of my nose.
Closing my eyes, fighting the unmanly tears, I took a second to get myself controlled enough not to have my voice crack on me. It took another four times of throat clearing before I trusted myself to speak.
“I think it is beautiful. Are you sure about her having my name, I do not mind?”
“Of course.” Her smile was sure and proud. “She has the best pappa in the world.”
“Then how would you feel about having my name too, Eskelde?”
My soft question must have stunned her, because her brilliant blue eyes grew wide and her mouth parted just slightly. And then she was laughing, giggling, which our daughter did not like and she began grunting because her mamma’s nipple had once more popped out of her mouth.
Readjusting the little piglet, Jamie nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, oh my God, yes. A thousand times yes! I love you so much, Tor Boler.”
And then she was peppering my jaw with kisses and Poppy was grunting all over again, but just this once it was okay for her to wait her turn.
“You own me heart and soul, Jamie Sullivan. Forever and always…”
And I sealed that vow with a kiss.
Epilogue
Jamie
Dealing with the aftermath of what Angel had done changed us all. In the end we’d reached a deal with the Romeros. We would not charge him with attempted murder, or stalking, or any other of the countless charges we could have drummed up against him.
Even Tor admitted that what Angel needed was more help than what his family could give him. So in return to our agreeing not to force jail time on him, which I had no doubt would only make him worse in the long run, we decided that he had to be involuntarily committed for at least one year.
Where he would go through forced drug rehab and would be in an environment meant to deal with his mental limitations that would teach him new ways to cope.
Of course I worried immediately that we’d made the wrong decision. He’d tried to kill Tor; had that bullet gone just one inch more to the right, Poppy wouldn’t have a father.
I tried not to dwell on that day much, but every once in a while we’d both still suffer nightmares from it.
The judge had been stunned and warned that the state might still try to overturn our decision, but that if we weren’t intending to press charges then he’d honor our choice. Immediately after, the judge had sentenced Angel to not just one year of involuntary confinement but also three years of probation wearing a tracker.
Once the trial was over, Tor and I had packed up our tiny apartment and bought a home in the suburbs.
I’d hugged the Romeros goodbye, knowing I’d never give them my new number or address.
Marianna had cried and apologized over and over, as had Mr. and Mrs. Romero, but everyone understood it was for the best. Angel would be under surveillance for many years and my only hope was that by the time he was released on his own, his obsession with me would finally be at an end.
It’d been rough the first six months, retraining ourselves not to shop for groceries at the same place or go to the same movie theaters. We’d even gone so far as to drive an hour out of the city limits to shop at malls, but eventually it became no big deal and we got used to it.
Tor and I will get married in two months. Once Alex graduates. He’s asked Zoe to marry him and she and I decided there’d be nothing cooler than for the two of us to share the same anniversary.
Of course the guys had laughed at us, but they’d been more than willing to comply if it meant keeping their ladies happy.
What can I say about Tor that I haven’t already a million different times?
I love him so much it’s almost painful. I thought I knew what love was when I’d met Angel, when I’d been determined to save him from his own demons.
But that’d been a drop in the bucket compared to what I felt for my Charming. To be loved by a man who looked at you as though you were the sun and the moon of his solar system, who’d laugh with you when you laughed, or who’d hold you and whisper just how much you were loved when the nightmares of that night returned—there was really no way to adequately express what he meant to me.
We may not be technically married yet, but in my heart he owns me. A piece of paper and a ring are technicalities that signify nothing. They’re just there to tell the world that I am his and he is mine, but in our hearts, the deed has long since been done.
I’ve found the man I plan to spend the rest of my life with and while neither one of us are perfect and he irritates the hell out of me sometimes when he leaves the toilet seat up or drops a pair of boxers beside the hamper and not in it, I would trade none of it.
Every night before bed I kiss the puckered scar on his shoulder and whisper a heated thank you, and every night he holds me. Some nights we make love, other nights we talk and connect and that’s just as good.
Our Poppy is the apple of her pappa’s eye. I get a huge chuckle every time I see my tattooed giant playing with her at the park. Pushing her down the baby slides and holding her while they would swing back and forth. She adores him. Sometimes I think she only likes me because I’m her milk truck, but there’s no denying that even at six months her tiny blue eyes light up when Daddy comes home from work. Her chubby little fists push up in the air and she squirms and grunts until he picks her up and swings her around and around.
The other children in the park are always in awe of the gentle giant laughing with the tiny fair-haired beauty who looks so much like her daddy it makes my heart ache.
I love my family.
Will we ever have more kids? I don’t know. I’m pretty content with just the one. Poppy was an accident, one I’d never intended to have happen, but I am grateful every day for the little miracle that forced her father and I to finally stop and smell the roses.
When I think back to all the wasted years I spent pining away for Angel when I could have had this, it makes me so angry.
But then again, maybe I needed to go through that darkness. Needed to know what it was like to be neglected and ignored so that when my eyes finally opened I could appreciate just how good and sweet and sexy and perfect my Tor was and continues to be.
There is a legend I read about back in college from Plato’s The Symposium.
“According to Greek Mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate beings, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves.”
Tor and I, we found our other half and life…well, life is good…
Love my books? Want to know the latest happenings in my worlds? Then make sure to sign up for my newsletter! Keep reading for a sneak peek of my newest contemporary romance, The Wright Brother!
Author’s Note
Last year I ran a contest on my blog to have readers submit songs, of their own creation, to me to use in This Time. Speci
fically a song that Tor would write for Jamie. I received an email from a lady named Julie Gutierrez and I fell in love with the honesty of her creation. But because using an entire song would have definitely slowed the pacing of the story I only used bits and pieces of it. However, she went to so much trouble to write it that I wanted to honor her win by showcasing her entire song here. She titled it, Jamie:
No one knows the life of a Viking,
The stormy seas,
Or the risk and adventure,
That comes with this lifestyle.
Been working since I was ten,
Have three jobs,
One is full of ink and mystique.
I am an artist,
Breathing and creating new life,
It is thrilling,
And I enjoy it.
Lass named Jamie thinks she is invisible.
I disagree,
She is a bombshell,
Her eyes full of such wonder and insight.
I feel myself falling,
Fast and hard,
Like a teenage boy does for his crush.
She is everything I want,
And more.
My Moments Series has now come to an end, but not my contemporary romances. I have plans for future books that I think will be awesome. I’ll be announcing those plans later on in the year, so make sure to check back at either my blog or sign up for my newsletter!
About the Author
Marie Hall is a NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author who loves books that make you think, or feel something. Preferably both. And while she’s a total girly girl and loves glitter and rainbows, she’s just as happy when she’s writing about the dark underbelly of society. Well, if things like zombies, and vampires, and werewolves, and mermaids existed. (Although she has it on good authority that mermaids do in fact exist, because the internet told her so.)
She’s married to the love of her life, a sexy beast of a caveman who likes to refer to himself as Big Hunk. She has two awesome kids, lives in Hawaii, loves cooking and occasionally has been known to crochet. She also really loves talking about herself in the third person.
If you want to see what new creations she’s got up her sleeves check out her blog. Or contact her personally at [email protected]
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Other Books by Marie Hall
Kingdom Series
Her Mad Hatter, (FREE EVERYWHERE Book 1 based on Alice in Wonderland)
Gerard’s Beauty, (Book 2 based on Beauty and the Beast)
Red and Her Wolf, (Book 3 based on Little Red Riding Hood)
Kingdom Collection 1-3
Jinni’s Wish, (Book 4 based on Arabian Nights)
Hook’s Pan, (Book based on Peter Pan)
Kingdom Collection 4&5
Danika’s Surprise (Book 5.5, novelette and first introduction to the upcoming Dark Princess Series)
Moon’s Flower, (Book 6 based on the legend of The Man in the Moon)
Huntsman’s Prey, (Book 7 spinoff Dark Princess Series)
Rumpel’s Prize, (Book 8 loosely based on the legend of Rumpelstiltskin and Beauty and the Beast)
Hood’s Obsession, (Book 9 based on Little Red Riding Hood’s Daughter)
Her One Wish, (Book 10 coming in October of 2014!)
Moments Series (NA Contemporary Romance)
A Moment, Book 1 (Ryan and Liliana’s Story)
Right Now, Book 2 (Alex and Zoe’s Story)
This Time, Book 3 (Tor and Jamie’s Story)
Contemporary Romance
The Wright Brother (Elisa and Julian’s Story)
Night Series (Urban Fantasy)
Crimson Night, Book 1
All Hallows Night, Book 2
Howler’s Night, Book 3
Red Rain, Book 4 Coming Soon!
Chaos Time Serial
Sable
Slayde
Synnergy
Eternal Lover’s Series
Death’s Lover (Book 1) From Grand Central—Forever Yours—Publishing
Previously published under the title The Witching Hour
Death’s Redemption, book 2 from Grand Central!
Turn the page to read a sneak peek of Marie Hall’s latest contemporary romance, The Wright Brother:
From the moment I opened my eyes I could only see the world in shades of gray. There was no noise, no sound, nothing. Deaf and colorblind, I was a freak. My world was bleak, silent and empty, until her. Until I met my neighbor, Elisa Jane Adrian. I want her. I need her. The fractured part of me feels whole when she’s around. Like the world isn’t so dark, isn’t so bleak, and so still. I know it’s impossible, but when I look at Elisa I swear I can see color, can hear the gentle inhalations of her breath. I know she feels it too, this magic, this desperate desire...
I first saw him when I was three. Julian Wright was different than any other guy I’d ever known. He sees the world in a way I know I never will. But he intrigues me. The way he looks at me with his sea green eyes, how he hypnotizes me with his smile.
It’s dangerous these feelings I have for him. Reckless and stupid. I’m so much older than him, I know better. And I’ll fight these desires, no one will ever know how I feel. I’ll even pretend to myself that I’m not as hooked on him as he is on me.
I’ll move away to college, and I’ll forget him, but that’s the thing about the Wright’s, they have a way of getting under your skin, into your soul, and no matter the time or distance, once a Wright sets their eyes on you, there’s no going back...ever.
The Wright Brother, Sneak Peek
First thing Elisa noticed when they entered Julian’s room was the gentle hum and swishing sound of medical equipment.
Steeling her nerves, she finally looked at him.
Julian didn’t look as bad as she’d feared. Which immediately helped to ease the worst of the adrenaline rush. She’d seen pictures of victims in car accidents and had expected to see his face swollen to twice its size and crusted over with blood.
His face wasn’t swollen, and apart from a vertical scratch that went from the bottom of his left eye to his mouth, there wasn’t a mark on him. His injuries were obvious though.
His right leg was propped up in a black brace and looked like it belonged on Frankenstein and not him. There were bolts and wires everywhere. His toes were a hideous shade of mottled purple, almost black in some spots. The brace extended from his foot all the way up to his thigh.
She covered her mouth. “Oh my God.”
Lori shook her head. “That asshole almost ripped his leg off. From what the medic said Julian was dragged under the back of the van for about a minute before being released.”
Just the thought of it brought tears to her eyes. That he wouldn’t have been able to scream, to tell the person to stop. That he’d been trapped and caught like a freakin’ caged animal, enraged her. “What kind of monster would do something like this?”
A laugh that sounded more like a sob escaped Loribelle before she shuddered and knuckled a tear from her eye. “That boy is gonna be the death of me.”
Placing a hand on Lori’s shoulder, Elisa patted her gently. “Go get some coffee or something, I’ll stay here with him.”
She nodded and then opened her mouth and Elisa could have sworn there was something she wanted to say, but instead she simply turned on her heel and walked back out.
With a heavy heart, Elisa studied Julian.
They had placed a cannula in his nose, and apart from a few minor scratches, his face was pretty much as it’d always been. His skin tone was a little paler than she remembered, but that could just be because of the fact that it was now winter.
“Oh, J
ules, what’s happening to you?” Walking over, she sat on the chair beside his bed and grabbed onto his hand, tracing the thick veins that extended down from his knuckles.
His right thumb had an angry red burn on it, and there were rashes on both palms, but the wounds were superficial and would definitely heal in time. She shuddered in relief. These hands were his only means of communication. What if it had been his hands and not his leg that’d been chewed up?
What then? What would he have done?
Jaw trembling as she fought back the tears, she brought his hand to her lips and kissed it with all her heart. Then turned it over, opened it up, and brought his palm to her cheek.
Quivering under his touch, even though she was the one forcing him to touch her.
She’d been so happy to be at college, so happy to get away from the things Julian made her feel, if she’d lost him she would never have forgiven herself.
“Julian, if I lost you again. I don’t know—” Her nostrils flared and the words died on her tongue as the sobs came harder.
He was her family, would always be her family, and it was stupid to think that a little time and distance could ever dull that. She was just so relieved that he was going to be okay.
Moving the chair even closer, she lowered the side panel on Julian’s bed and pressed the pedal to bring the motorized bed low enough that she could lay her head on his lap. Just for a minute.
She only meant to close her eyes for a second, just long enough to gather herself, but the sleepless night, coupled with the anxious drive, suddenly overwhelmed her and before she knew it she’d fallen asleep.
She moaned when the soft glide of fingers moving through her hair woke her up. Confused about where she was, she was slow to blink her eyes open, only to realize that it wasn’t Thomas rubbing her head, but Jules.
His familiar sea green gaze hypnotized her. Now, with his eyes open, and alert, she could see what she hadn’t seen before.
Julian was becoming a man.
Rockers After Dark: 6 Book Bundle of Sexy Musicians Page 81
