“With this ring…”
“I take you as my wife, my partner, my soul mate and my friend.”
“I take you as my wife, my partner, my soul mate and my friend.”
“Accept this token as my promise…”
“Accept this token as my promise…”
“Of uncompromising faithfulness and lifelong devotion.”
“Of uncompromising faithfulness and lifelong devotion.”
He secured the ring on my finger. I took the thick white gold band from the preacher, repeating his vows as I slid the cool gold onto his steady hand. “With this ring, I take you as my husband, my partner, my soul mate and my friend. Accept this token as my promise of uncompromising faithfulness and lifelong devotion.”
The preacher checked his watch. “As this year ends, we put to rest our quarrels and our grudges. We start anew, with endless dreams, full hearts and enduring hope for the future. Let the countdown begin.”
The crowd counted down. “Ten…nine…eight…seven…”
I glanced up at Drew, whose eyes were clouded and unreadable. He squeezed my hands and pulled me closer.
“By the power vested in me by the state of California…”
“Five… four…”
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. Seal your promise, and join your lives, with a kiss.”
Our lips met right at the stroke of midnight, and he deepened the kiss unabashedly. He pulled me to his strong body and for a moment I forgot what this kiss meant.
It all started with a kiss a lifetime ago, when I dreamed of Drew taking me into his arms.
Now I was his wife.
“May I present, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Fullerton!”
We turned to face the exuberant crowd, and just like that my heart stopped.
Not even ten feet away from me stood Alex Fullerton.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Alex looked as though he had been shot right through the heart, which, I supposed, he had. Drew said nothing as he stared at his younger brother, but his hand gripped mine possessively. Alex adopted that stupid sardonic smirk I had hated for so long as he approached.
“I suppose congratulations are in order,” he murmured as he stared deep into my eyes.
“Alex,” Drew warned, but I subtly shook my head.
“We should talk,” I said quietly.
“Is there anything more to say?” Alex pondered as he glanced down at the rings adoring my fingers.
“Yes,” I said, before adding, “Please?”
He gave a reluctant nod before Drew pulled me through our throng of well-wishers, who showered us with confetti. We finally broke free from the ballroom. I turned to Drew. “I need to talk to Alex alone.”
He studied me for a moment before he relented with a small nod. I escaped into my old office, which looked as though I hadn’t left at all. When I heard the door close, I turned to find Alex standing close enough to the door to escape.
“A man stays. A boy runs,” I heard Drew echo in my ear. “Where is your prince charming now, Rachel?”
Right in front of me, I thought to myself as I stared at the man I had grown to love. “I tried to contact you,” I said helplessly. “A lot.”
“I needed time.” He glanced over my wedding dress. “Apparently you were in short supply.”
I walked toward him. “I don’t really have the luxury of time at the moment.” He held his breath and waited. “I’m pregnant, Alex.”
He gulped hard. “I see.”
“It was an accident. I had just switched pills and I guess I wasn’t as protected as I thought. But I never set out to get pregnant. Or sleep with Drew. Please, you have to know that.”
“The road to hell and all that,” he supplied. His eyes darkened as he stared into my face. “I suppose it’s just another matter of poor timing on my part. If I had stayed, we would have made love and you would be carrying my child.” His gaze danced off my wedding ring. “And wearing my ring.”
“Don’t you think that’s what I wanted? I waited and waited to talk to you, but you ignored me. How was I to know it wasn’t over?”
He shrugged. “I told you. I left you. We were done. You followed your heart and it landed you in Drew’s bed. That’s obviously where you want to be, where you belong.”
“I belonged with you,” I said softly. “And I blew it. And I’ll pay for that mistake for the rest of my life.”
He looked around the office in which we stood, in the elaborate mansion in which he was raised. “Some prisons are better than others.”
“It’s not about the money.”
“Says the girl who now has more than she can ever spend in her lifetime,” he retorted. “Like I said, Tex. We were through.” He turned toward the door but I held out my hand and touched his arm. He shuddered against my fingers.
“No, we weren’t,” I whispered. “And you know it.”
His eyes traveled over my face. My breath caught as he stepped closer. “Tell me,” he said softly as he bent his head toward mine. “Do I get to kiss the bride?”
My heart fluttered as I closed the millimeters between us for a soft, lingering peck on his lips. I felt a tremor run through his body as his hand tangled in my hair to pull me closer, to deepen the kiss, to turn back the hands of time. I clutched him as he fought to manage his passion, finally tearing himself free before he would be simply unable to. There were tears in his eyes as he stared down at me. “Goodbye, Mrs. Fullerton,” he said before he turned away from me and slipped quietly through the door.
I took deep breaths to keep from crying. I still had a party to tend to, though it was the absolute last thing I felt doing. I lingered so long in my office that my new husband, Drew, came to find me. I lay spread out on his leather sofa, staring into the empty fireplace. “Everything OK?”
I nodded. “I told him.”
Drew shut the door and walked over to me. “How did he take it?”
“About as well as you would think,” I responded. I looked down at my wedding rings where they sparkled on my hand. “I had already told him that you planned to wed on New Year’s Eve. Maybe he thought that if you married Olivia, it would really be over between you and me.”
“And then he could swoop you up and ride off into the sunset,” he finished.
I nodded.
Drew sat next to me and took my hand in his. “It’s never going to be over for you and me,” he promised.
I couldn’t look at him. “Now he knows it, too.”
“Come on,” he said as he pulled me towards the door. “We have guests who want to congratulate us.”
I nodded as I followed him back into the ballroom. Hundreds of well-wishers waited to greet us, but Alexander Fullerton was not among them.
I would likely never see him again. It was up to me to find a way to make peace with that.
Before the party had ended, I slipped away to the guest room. I needed to be alone, where it was quiet, where I could think. Jonathan found me there a little past midnight.
“Are you OK?” he asked as he approached the bed. He had already changed into his robe and pajamas.
I nodded as I held out a hand and beckoned him onto the bed with me. “Just feeling a little queasy,” I said.
He cuddled up into my arms. “I won’t stay long,” he said with a yawn. “I know Dad will come looking for you when he’s done with the guests.”
I brushed his dark hair with my fingers. “We’ll have plenty of time to be alone on the honeymoon. You can stay with me as long as you want.”
His blue eyes met mine. “Forever okay?”
Tears blurred my vision as I hugged him tighter. “Perfect.”
This was my life now, and the only thing that mattered in the end. No matter how rocky the journey, or how murky the depths, there was no turning back now. My children needed me and I would give up anything to ensure their happiness, even if it meant I had less of it for my own. Fate had given me a second chance to right what once had all gone so w
rong, and I had no intentions of blowing it this time.
It was time to reclaim my honor… my integrity…my muchness.
As Jonathan drifted asleep in my arms, I spun the rings around my finger.
Rule #5 amended: I never break my promises.
Anymore.
END OF BOOK TWO
In Enraptured: Book 3 of the Fullerton Family Saga, Rachel embarks on a journey to be the mother her children so desperately need, in a world she has yet to fully understand. Her husband, Drew, is down the rabbit hole with powerful men who want to control his massive fortune, as well as his powerful global influence. She strives to protect him, and her family, before disaster strikes again. Alex returns to L.A., in effort to protect the woman he still loves but cannot have, and they become tentative allies once more.
Their passion threatens to complicate everything as it smolders just under the surface. In the end, one Fullerton will be lost to them forever, and the family will never be the same. Join us as the story concludes March of 2014.
EXCERPT: Enraptured: Book 3
The loud rat-a-tat-tat of bullets sprayed the tiny outdoor café, sending me to the ground immediately. I landed with a heavy thud, which sent a bolt of pain right through my abdomen around my full womb. I cupped my belly as I bent as far in half as I could go. I peered out through the cloudy, flying debris for the people I loved most in this world. I wanted to call their names, but I choked on smoke filling the air.
As it rose, I saw dark headed figures lying in a heap together. The ebony hair of both was immediately recognizable, and a scream strangled in my throat.
They were so still. Too still.
Loud male voices shouted in a language I didn’t understand. My heartbeat thundered in my ears as I hid further under the table, praying that I might go undetected. I felt tiny kicks against my hand as I held my pregnant tummy tight.
I didn’t know much in that moment, but I knew one thing.
I would protect my children.
Or I’d die trying.
About the Author
Ginger Voight is a prolific author, optioned screenwriter, and freelance writer, covering topics from entertainment to travel. Her fiction is equally diverse, with novels like the edgy, coming-of-age drama DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS, and the fun family adventure for kids of all ages, COMIC SQUAD.
Having grown up reading different authors like Danielle Steel and Stephen King, Ginger has always been drawn more to story than to genre. This shows up in her various stories. Titles such as MY IMMORTAL and TASTE OF BLOOD are a delicious, heady mix of horror, suspense, and romance.
Genre romance, however, has held a special place in her heart, ever since she read her first Harlequin novel when she was only eleven. As a result, Ginger is making a name for herself writing romances of her own, starring women who look more like the average American woman rather than those traditionally represented in the size-biased American media. Her Rubenesque romances were created especially for those heroines with fuller figures, who can still get the man of their dreams if only they believe they can. Such titles include UNDER TEXAS SKIES, LOVE PLUS ONE, PICTURE POSTCARDS and the best-selling GROUPIE saga.
Ginger was included in the best-selling book by Smith Magazine NOT QUITE WHAT I WAS PLANNING, featuring her six-word memoir.
Find out more at her official website, gingervoight.com.
Entangled: Book 2 of the Fullerton Family Saga Page 23
