Brave

by Natalie Gayle

  He gave me a cheeky wink. “I can definitely see the pluses to that.”

  A smirk crossed Jarryd’s face, but he didn’t lift his head from studying my skin.

  “Well, I guess there is that… but I’ll also have to put up with him being bone tired and let’s not even talk about the diet,” I jibed back.

  “I don’t recall you being this mouthy last time, Gem. Is that what happens when you become a wife?”

  “No. That’s what will happen when I’m deprived of junk food for eight or ten weeks,” I informed him.

  Xander chuckled. “I never stopped you from eating what you wanted before,” he corrected.

  “True. But I’d feel bad sitting down to something yummy while you’re eating chicken and rice for every meal. Besides I could afford to drop a few pounds,” I said offhandedly.

  “Don’t you dare! You’re perfect just the way you are. If you need junk food to maintain that figure, then I’ll happily watch you eat it while I force down some more chicken and rice.” Jarryd and I both laughed at the visual.

  “Can you just imagine the look on his face, Jarryd, as I sit down to a bowl of ice cream? Have you got any idea how much he likes ice cream?” I tormented. It was a common thing for us to chill out on the sofa with a carton of ice cream and one spoon while we watched a movie, or at least until something more interesting came up.

  “Ooooo! That one would be hard to take; Xander pissed is never a good thing,” Jarryd agreed.

  We joked about the fight prep for a few more minutes then Jarryd asked me about school. “Are you going to be stuck here doing exams this time while Sensei here, heads off to Vegas again?”

  “Not this time. Exams are in a few weeks. Then, I’ll have a couple of months off before I start the next semester. That’ll give me time to be with Xan through the fight and for us to have a couple of weeks’ holiday somewhere before I get stuck into it again.” I explained. “At least studying for exams gives me something to do while he’s training.”

  Jarryd nodded, then lifted his head from his work. “Hey, I’m not sure if you heard but Cindy moved to Melbourne last month. Seems she decided a fresh start was in order.”

  Xander rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb. “I can’t say I’m sorry to see her go. She caused a heap of grief for you Gem.” He was referring to “ExamGate” as it became known. We’d come back from Vegas and the media was still hyped about everything we did, including our whirlwind marriage. It seemed I couldn’t go to the bathroom most days without it being reported. I’d even had a few agents contact me with offers for my story. Xander and I were currently thinking it over. If my story could give people hope then I’d consider it, but it had to be the right offer and handled sensitively before I’d finally accept.

  The local press had got wind of “ExamGate” and Cindy made more crazy statements on social media, all designed to discredit me when things started to heat up. The only problem was I had the evidence. It didn’t work out so well for her. Xander’s celebrity status had turned the tables on the social media thing since the fight and now his millions of fans seemed to hang on every word or comment he posted. There hadn’t been any more problems with internet trolls, well, at least none I was aware of.

  Eventually the Dean of Faculty ordered a full investigation and video footage showed one of the tutors slipping into the exam hall and tampering with the papers. Finally, he’d confessed when questioned. Apparently, he had been infatuated with Cindy and thought it would score points with her. It resulted in both of them being expelled and funnily enough, the relationship didn’t go anywhere either. How surprising!

  “I just hope she figures out what she wants and findssss it.” I hissed out the last bit.

  “Almost done, Eden. Just a little more shading here,” Jarryd assured me. “So is Len going to be running things again this prep?”

  “Yeah, dad will step up again. He and Eden do most of the admin work, accounting and organisation now. I just don’t have time anymore,” Xander admitted.

  I looked up at him and gave him a knowing stare. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that you hate bookwork and everything accounting, would it?” I asked innocently.

  “No idea where you got that thought from? I just figured you could use the practical experience seeing you’re so still hell bent on getting your accountancy degree. I’d have been happy to buy a few houses you could renovate, decorate and flip,” he answered just as innocently.

  “Once again, thank you for offering. But seriously Xan, how many times do I have to tell you that I’ll do the decorating and design thing once I’ve finished my degree? I did drop the IT but I want to finish what I started with accountancy. Besides it’ll save us a fortune in accountancy fees in the long run,” I argued.

  “My wife, ever the practical one. But you love decorating and design,” Xander pointed out.

  Jarryd chuckled and we both glared at him and said “What?” in unison.

  “You two sound like such an old married couple!”

  Then, we all ended up laughing. It was pretty funny. Fortunately, Jarryd managed to lift his hand away before my ribs started to wriggle from the laughter.

  He wiped away a little blood and studied his work. “I think that about does it, Xander. What do you think?”

  Xander studied it with him and I held my breath. Every time I had a session, I fell more and more in love with the design Jarryd had created.

  When we’d gotten back from Vegas we’d come in to see him and he’d shown me the ideas he’d drawn up for me. I knew immediately he got where I was and what I needed. Xander had added a few ideas of his own and had declared he wanted to get a tattoo that complimented mine. Jarryd had gone away and come up with a connected pair that I knew would look amazing, but still uniquely represented our individual challenges and struggles. When we’d seen them, we both decided then and there they were perfect for us.

  “Yeah, man. It’s awesome,” Xander, agreed a big smile on his face.

  My impatience was starting to really get the best of me. “Can I see it yet?”

  “Sure. Time for the grand unveiling,” Jarryd said, moving over to the large mirror on the wall of his studio. He worked alone in a little upstairs studio not far from Onigashima.

  Before I moved, Xander pressed my shirt that I was using to strategically cover my breasts to me, and took my hand to help me from the chair. Once I was upright I pressed my hand against my chest to hold the shirt in place and moved to the mirror.

  I’d loved my Anime inspired warrior princess the minute Jarryd had introduced me to her, but now I was speechless. She was so beautiful, fighting through the flames and slaying oni left and right.

  Xander moved up beside me and stripped off his shirt. His design had been finished weeks ago because working on his perfect body had been a cinch for Jarryd compared to my scars.

  He stood beside me, his left side to my right. His Anime warrior prince fought back the grim reaper; a cobra poised to strike was coiled behind him. Both our figures wore matching uniforms of black and red and the Onigashima logo was emblazoned on their chests.

  Jarryd had drawn them so that if we were standing side by side. Our prince and princess had their backs to each other to symbolise the fact we always had each other’s backs. Then, when we were facing each other, our warriors were looking at each other.

  Finally, I found my voice. “I love it, Jarryd. Thank you so much.” I couldn’t help the tears that slipped from my eyes. Xander put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in tight, side to side.

  “Great job, man. Never thought it would look so good,” Xander turned his head to say to Jarryd.

  “Glad you’re happy. Take your time. I’ve just got to move my car. Then I’ll be back to dress it for you,” he said and disappeared realising we needed a moment alone.

  Xander ran his finger down my cheek. “Now, you just need to decide about this.”

  I’d already decided what I was going to do. I
was going to try cosmetic tattooing first. I’d seen some of the results on burns and it was amazing. We had the money for the surgeries, but I wasn’t so keen anymore.

  What I really loved was that Xander didn’t say get it “fixed”. The scars no longer mattered. He’d fixed me. Well, I’d done it, but he’d shown me how to be brave again and supported me every step of the way.

  Now Jarryd’s art had turned something ugly into something that looked incredible and made me happy every time I saw it.

  “I love my little princess almost as much as I love you,” I said holding his eyes in the mirror.

  “And I love you, my brave warrior princess.” There was so much feeling in his voice that my heart overflowed with happiness and I knew he felt it too.

  I loved our finished tattoos and I knew that would never change. But it was what we’d finally decided to inscribe across both tattoos that really linked them. On the bottom of each, in identical script, Jarryd had written.

  “Defeat the Demons Inside” then under that he’d inked “Brave”

  I hope you enjoyed Xander and Eden’s story. Dane’s will be along very soon.

  A Gift To You!

  I hope you enjoyed reading Brave. I have a gift for you.

  For those of you who would like a little more of Xander and Eden, please sign up for my newsletter “GayleForce” and you will receive the bonus chapter. (The Vegas Wedding!)

  http://eepurl.com/brHOPv

  PLEASE NOTE: If you choose not to take up this offer the story will not be impacted. I just thought you might like a little more!

  Brave Book Trailer: Seany Olsen, Chloe Hughes, Kim and Seila Pear, Remedy X and I, had a little fun playing and put together this book trailer for Brave. See what you think.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxfeVobySQQ

  Acknowledgments

  This is the bit of the book that gets bigger every single time, and it’s not a bad thing! What it means, is that I’m just so fortunate to have met and to have great people supporting me and for that I am very thankful.

  Let’s start with the book. So this one was a bit different. I had a little team of beta readers helping me here. First off, Karen Harper who not only beta read the novel but also edited it—thank you so much for your support and believing in my vision for what I wanted to do with this book. It isn’t Centre Games and it was something very new for me to try! I’m hoping you will love Xander and Eden as much as I do. Bring on the next one…Dane and ?

  Thank you to Seila Pear and her husband, Kim. Kim took not only the cover photo for the novel but also all the images for the teasers and the trailer. It was a labour of love from his perspective and he did an amazing job. Nothing was too much trouble and he is a true perfectionist. Love your work! Check out his work at Kim Pear Photography on Facebook. Facebook—Kim Pear Photography

  To Seila—well gorgeous, you kept me motivated and totally “got” the whole book. You read every single scene over and over. I think you know the book better than me! Thank you for your help with styling and just being there. It means the world to me. You guys are great.

  Tamia Simons, my American sister. Girl, you were there for me every step of the way. You provided every single playlist. You read every word I wrote about a hundred times. You’re encouragement and critiquing was just incredible. Thank you so much. This book really was a big team effort and you’re a major part of that team.

  To my muse—Seany Olsen. Well not only are you an incredible fighter, martial artist, instructor, model and all-round amazing guy— you’re also HOT, humble, respectful and genuine! I can’t thank you enough for all the help you’ve given me with the technical aspects in this book as well as giving me ideas for names and other stuff. You’ve let me photograph and video you. You’ve stood for hours at a book signing. You’ll always be Xander Todd to me. Or maybe Xander Todd is you! Thanks you from the bottom of my heart. You can follow Seany here: https://www.facebook.com/seanyolsenmodel

  Chloe Hughes, you are the closest girl to Eden I know—the girl next door that doesn’t really know just how stunning she really is. Thank you so much for helping out with the video. You’ll always be family. I hope you had as much fun as I did making it! Now I just need to find you a real life hero…

  To Letitia from Romantic Book Affair, thank you for taking Kim’s amazing picture of Sean and turning it into a cover that I absolutely adore. Loved it from the second I saw it. Thanks so much.

  I’d like to thank the gorgeous Ariel May. Thanks so much for organising with Remedy X for me to use “Bells” as the soundtrack to the book trailer. I really appreciate it. The song was just perfect for the book. I can’t wait to catch up with you and the band (hopefully next year) and the boys can play it live for me! I’m also going to give a thank you to your mum and my great friend Pati May. I know this one was tough for you and I appreciate your honesty. Maybe next time!

  To all the bloggers that help myself and every other indie authors, thank you so much. This would not be possible without you!

  And now another big thank you to a few of my author friends. A special thank you to Nina Levine, for taking the time to explain the finer points of this whole crazy author marketing thing for me. To River Savage, Melissa Jane, Liz Lovelock, Kirsty Dallas, Dzintra Sullivan, Max Henry, Carly Grey, Gwyn McNamee, Dawna Raver - you girls are always there for a chat and to lend a hand. Thanks so much I really value your friendship.

  To Kim, my aunt, well this one has had a few rough patches….but we got there. I’m sure there’s someone looking down on this one and feeling very proud. We make a great team! Thanks so much.

  Last but not least—my family. It’s been a very tough six months for us, but we got through and the news is good. So glad to have you home, mum and dad. To Vic, Froglet and Super Duper—yep I wrote “The End” finally and it was a mission and yes, we will be doing all this again…I love you!

  Love

  Nat

  About the Author

  A confessed readaholic and romantic junkie, Natalie spends her time juggling a busy career as an IT professional and author. In between staring at a computer screen (she spends lot time doing that!) Natalie, enjoys living the Gold Coast life with her very tolerant husband and two school aged children.

  She loves spending time with family and friends, hitting the beach, cooking, working out and curling up with a good book. Her pet hates are cleaning and anything else that can be considered “domestic dullness”. If she could have one wish it would be to be able to fit 48 hours into 24.

  Natalie is the author of the Centre Games Series. A fast paced, romantic suspense series set on the Gold Coast, Australia. The series tells the stories of the Centre, a quasi government agency established to fight environmental, biological and agricultural threats. The Centre Games books are filled with hot alpha males and the feisty independent females strong enough to capture their hearts. Natalie’s books pack lots of action, hot romance and surprises.

  Natalie is currently working on her fifth instalment for the Centre Games Series and a brand new series for 2015. Look out for her new release BRAVE, coming very soon and a couple of surprise projects.

  GENRE: Contemporary Romance / Romantic Suspense / Paranormal /NA

  @nataliegayle1

  NatalieGayleAuthor

  www.nataliegayle.com

  natalie@nataliegayle.com.au

  Also by the Author:

  Centre Games Series

  Finding Trust (Book 1)

  Finding Judgement (Book 2)

  Finding Freedom (Book 3)

  Finding Resolution (Book 4)

  More titles to be added soon!

  Oni Fighters Series

  Brave (Book 1)

  Dane’s Book (yet to be titled coming soon)

 

 

 
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