Broken Fairytales Series Box Set (Broken Fairytales, Buried Castles, Shattered Crowns)

by Monica Alexander

  I picked her up and sat her on the bathroom counter, settling myself between her legs. With my hand, I brushed some stray hairs back from her face and kissed her, long and deep.

  “You can wake up here every day if you want,” I said, my lips moving to her ear. “I’ll never tell you no.”

  Hell, she could move in with me that day, and I’d be okay with it. I didn’t ever want her to leave.

  “I think I’ll plan on doing just that,” she murmured, running her hands back through my hair. “I don’t think I’ve ever slept better.”

  “Me neither,” I said, even though I’d barely slept. It had been the best night of my life.

  “I love you,” she said then, and I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of hearing her tell me that.

  I’d royally fucked up the first time she’d said it, and now I was determined to make sure she knew I felt the same way about her. I’d spend the rest of our lives telling her so if I had to.

  “I love you,” I said, pulling her against me and squeezing her tight. “So much.”

  I let my hand linger on her knee before trailing it up the outside of her thigh, pushing my t-shirt up along with it. Emily wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck, so I picked her up from the counter and walked us back to my bed, laying her down in the middle and climbing on top, my weight suspended over her.

  “Stay,” I said, gazing down at her.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” she said, laughing. “Classes don’t start until tomorrow, so I’m yours all day.”

  I leaned down to kiss her neck. “I’m not talking about just today,” I said, kissing every inch of her smooth skin that I could reach.

  “Well, eventually I’ll have to go back to my apartment, but I’ll always come back,” she said. Her voice was getting breathy, so I knew my kisses were affecting her.

  “I hate that idea,” I said, sucking on her earlobe.

  “You hate the idea of me coming back?”

  “No,” I whispered against her ear, making her shiver. “I hate the idea of you leaving. You should just live here with me.”

  She laughed out loud, and I don’t think she realized I was dead serious. She didn’t know that I dreamed about living with her and marrying her and sharing our lives together. I was ready to take the next step with her as crazy as that sounded.

  “Think about it,” I said, trailing kisses down her throat to her collarbone. “You could live here, I’d cook for you, you could watch our band practices, come to our shows, and each night we’d come up here and do this before falling asleep together.”

  “Zack, you’re crazy. Besides, we can do all of that stuff and still live in separate places. I’ll still spend every night with you.”

  “I want more than that,” I said, rolling us so she was on the top and I could look up at her beautiful face. I laced our hands together and kept her gaze as she processed that I hadn’t been joking.

  “You’re serious, aren’t you,” she said, confusion flooding her face.

  “I spent too long away from you, Em. Now I want to spend as much time with you as possible. I want you to move in.”

  I tried to pull her down so I could kiss her, but she resisted me.

  “Zack, you need to think about this,” she said, shaking her head. “We’ve only been back together for twelve hours. You might get sick of me.”

  I sighed, knowing that although she’d taken me back, I still had a long way to go before she fully trusted that I wouldn’t bolt on her again. I knew I wouldn’t. The heartache I’d felt when we were apart wasn’t something I wanted to experience ever again, but I’d have to prove that to her, and it might not be an easy thing to do.

  “I’m not going to get sick of you, princess,” I said, pulling her down and kissing her mouth.

  “But there are other factors to consider,” she said, pulling away all too fast. “I have a lease and a roommate, and you have roommates, and you have Lily, and not to mention the fact that I’m starting to freak out a little just thinking about this.”

  She fanned herself with her hand, her breathing getting shallow. She really was freaked out.

  “Okay,” I said, pulling her back down. “Okay. Forget I said anything. It was just an idea.”

  “Let’s just be together, and see how it goes, okay?”

  “I’m good with that too,” I said, reaching out to pull my t-shirt from over her head. I needed to distract her and get us back to a happy place.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Emily

  The sun was setting outside Zack’s window when I opened my eyes, completely thrown off on my sleep schedule. We’d spent the entire day in bed, having gotten up late and then lingered there for a few hours before we got up and showered. Then, in a fit of passion at seeing each other naked in the shower, Zack had dragged me back to his bed and made love to me again. We’d promptly fallen asleep only to wake up to near darkness outside.

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d wasted an entire day in bed, but then again, celebrating that we were back together wasn’t exactly a waste of time. Sliding out from under Zack’s arm, I tiptoed to the bathroom so I wouldn’t wake him up. When I came back out, he was still sleeping soundly, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling rhythmically and his full lips parted just slightly. I stood there watching him for a few minutes, drinking in the sheer beauty of him and the fact that he was mine.

  Last night had been a whirlwind of admissions and declarations that had ended in us realizing we both wanted the same thing. I couldn’t have been happier.

  Shivering in the slight chill in the air, I slipped on my jeans from the night before and Zack’s sweatshirt before crawling back into bed with him. I had no intentions of waking him, but he stirred next to me nonetheless.

  “Hey,” he croaked out, his voice scratchy with sleep. His arms encircled me and pulled me against him, where I snuggled into his chest, inhaling his very own Zack scent that drove me crazy.

  “I’m hungry,” I said then, and as if my statement needed punctuation, my stomach growled audibly. I realized then that we hadn’t eaten all day.

  Zack laughed. “Yeah, I can hear that. Do you want to go out?”

  He rubbed the sleep from his face as he waited for my answer. I made a face. “All I have is this,” I said, gesturing to what I was wearing. “And I’m not wearing any underwear.”

  “Damn, that’s so hot,” he said, as he rolled me on top of him, and we might have gotten lost in each other again had it not been for my stomach grumbling yet again. “Okay, message received. I’ll feed you.”

  I smiled. “Thank you.”

  “How about we order Chinese?” he asked, picking up his cell phone and choosing a number he had saved.

  “I love Chinese,” I said, settling back against his chest.

  While we waited for the food to arrive, Zack ran his fingers through my hair methodically while I drew swirl patterns on his bare chest. He’d put on jeans but had remained shirtless, which I completely appreciated.

  “This is new,” I said, stretching my lips up to kiss the tattoo that rested over his heart. It was the words ‘Always Love’.

  He nodded and looked down at me. “I got it for my mom,” he said and smiled. “I learned to play the song when it came out a few years back because she loved it. Then after that, whenever I was pissed off at someone, she’d tell me to always love. It frustrated the hell out of me, but I knew she was right.”

  “She was a smart woman,” I said.

  He smiled. “She was amazing.”

  “And she actually loved a Nada Surf song?” I asked, not believing that. My mom’s musical tastes were of the soft rock variety. I was pretty sure if I mentioned Nada Surf she would look at me like I had two heads.

  “Hell yeah,” he said, and I loved the way his face lit up when he spoke about her. It was so different from the night before when he’d barely been able to control his emotions. “She loved rock and roll and alternative rock
and even punk. She was so cool.”

  “I wish I could have known her better,” I said.

  A dark shadow passed over his face. “I wish that too,” he said. “But I’m just glad she got to meet the girl I’m going to marry someday.”

  “Zack!” I admonished, appalled that he’d said that. I felt my face turning red, so I buried it in his neck. I couldn’t believe he’d said that. I was sure he was joking, but still.

  “What,” he chuckled. “I’m serious. Someday soon, I’m putting a ring on your finger.”

  I didn’t look up, but I couldn’t help smiling. I loved that idea, even if it slightly terrified me.

  There was a knock on Zack’s door then, and I lifted my head as we both turned our gazes toward the door.

  “Come in,” Zack said.

  “Are you decent?” Kristin asked.

  “Fully clothed,” Zack called back, and he sat up in bed.

  “Cool,” Kristin said cheerfully, pushing open the door and bouncing into the room with a bag of Chinese food. “There is a ton of food in here. Can I eat with you guys? Leo’s at work, and I’m bored.”

  Zack looked over at me, as if asking my permission. “Sure,” I said, sitting up next to him as Kristin sat at the foot of the bed and unloaded cartons of food.

  We all dug in, and she turned to Zack. “I can’t tell you how happy I am for you guys,” she gushed, and I suddenly remembered her crying the night before when I’d come over, and I realized she’d been in on Leo’s plan. Her tears had been pure acting.

  “Thanks, Kris,” Zack said, playfully kicking her with his foot. I realized as I watched them interact that they were more like brother and sister. Funny how I hadn’t seen that before when I’d imagined her doing all sorts of inappropriate things to him.

  “Emily, welcome to the family. We are a crazy bunch, but we’ve all been together for years, so we love each other, and we tolerate the insanity.”

  “Thanks,” I said tentatively.

  “You know,” she said around a bite of orange chicken. “I don’t think I’ve seen Zack this happy – ever. Zack you should totally play her some of the songs you’ve written over the last few weeks. Really depressing stuff. She was your muse after all.”

  I vaguely remembered him telling me that the night before when I’d first walked into his room.

  “You wrote depressing songs about me?” I asked, turning to him.

  His face was bright red. “I wrote what I felt,” he mumbled.

  “I think that’s sweet,” I said, smiling at him.

  “You should make him play Zack Doesn’t Know Shit About Women,” Kristin chimed in. “That’s my favorite. Or Emily Hates Me. That one is really just one chord with the same lyrics repeated again and again, but after a while, you really get the feeling that she hates him.”

  Zack glared at her, as I laughed and his glare move over to me. “Get out,” he said. “Both of you.”

  That just made me laugh harder. I leaned over and kissed him. “I love you, baby,” I said, and I watched his emotions turn over.

  He couldn’t help smiling at those words, and neither could I. They felt too good to say.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Emily

  Zack’s ringing cell phone pulled me out of a deep sleep, and I tucked further into his chest to shield my ears from the offensive sound.

  “Why does Molly insist on calling so early,” I grumbled.

  Soon after we’d gotten back together, Molly had called with news. Her label, Live Ammunition, wanted to sign Liar’s Edge to a record deal. The guys had all flown out to L.A. to sign the contract that guaranteed them an album and one more if their first one sold well. In exchange, Live Ammunition would do what they did best and build a following for them. Molly had been calling frequently with updates and had taken over managerial duties of the band since it was a bigger job than Kristin, who had very little management experience, could handle.

  Molly and her boss, Adam, had vast dreams for the guys, so Kristin, who was busy planning her wedding and working full-time at the web design firm she’d been at for a few years, happily stepped back into the role of Leo’s fiancé, but she was still the webmaster for Liar’s Edge.com. That was a job I knew she’d never give up.

  Zack’s lips found my forehead, as he silenced his ringing phone. “Because Molly’s life is the band, and she’s always been a bit of an insomniac.”

  “She lives in California. Does she not realize that it’s five in the morning there?”

  “I guarantee she’s just getting home for the night,” he said, his arm pulling me closer. “I’ll call her back later when she’s sleeping.”

  “You’re evil,” I said, kissing his bare chest.

  “No, I’m busy.”

  His lips found mine, and all too soon he was tugging my tank top over my head, succeeding in waking us both up in the nicest way possible. Then we drifted back to sleep for a few more hours.

  By the time, we left Zack’s room, he had three missed calls and five text messages, all from Molly.

  “What the hell does our cousin want?” he asked Leo as we made our way down to the kitchen. He set to work, pouring us both bowls of Life cereal – his favorite.

  Leo was sitting at the table munching a bagel and reading a printout of something, probably having to do with his bar.

  “She wants us to go on tour,” Leo said, looking up at Zack.

  The spoons he was holding fell from his hands as his jaw dropped, and he looked at Leo in awe. “Are you serious?”

  Leo nodded. “Yeah, The Claws are going on a tour of the East Coast, from Maine down through Florida, and they want us to go with them. They also invited some band called Bag of Tricks from South Carolina. It’s mostly college towns and smaller venues, but there are a lot of stops, so we’ll get a lot of exposure.”

  “No shit,” Zack said, shaking his head back and forth as he processed the information he’d just received.

  “Yeah,” Leo said, clearly not as stunned as Zack.

  “What did you tell her?”

  “That I needed to talk to you, Derrick and Andrew, but I figured we’d be in.”

  “When is it?” I asked, taking my bowl of cereal from the counter, after taking over milk pouring duties when Zack was no longer capable of normal human functions.

  “We’d leave at the beginning of April and will be gone through the summer,” Leo said, and I could see the wheels turning in Zack’s mind. It was what he’d always dreamed of – a chance to be seen on a national level.

  “I already called Derrick and Andrew. They’re in if you are, and I can see by the look on your face that you’re in,” Leo said.

  “Hell yes!” Zack said, and I half-expected him to punch the air with his fist. He looked like a kid at Christmas. “Baby, can you believe it? I’m going on tour!”

  I laughed at his exuberance. He was so excited. He pulled me out of my chair and twirled me around the kitchen, and I had to laugh along with him. Leo left the room, saying something about calling Molly to let her know they were a go with the tour.

  “You are going to be famous,” I said, as he pulled me close. “I told you that months ago. Now do you believe me?”

  Zack looked dazed as he soaked in what I’d said.

  “I’m going to be rich and famous, and when I am, I’m going to buy you the biggest castle I can, because princess, you always believed in me.”

  I looped my arms around his waist. “Oh, so you’ll remember us little people when you’re a famous rock star?”

  “Little people? You? No way. You’re my biggest fan, princess. You’ll get a front row seat at all my shows if you want one.”

  “Liar’s Edge tickets for life? Sign me up!” I said, kissing him deeply.

  “Oh, I see now why you really wanted to get back together,” he said, fake pouting.

  “Um, yeah, obviously. I mean, you’re cute and all, but you’re really just secondary to the music.”

  Zack smiled coyly.
“You do know I write and sing the music you love so much, right?”

  I feigned surprise. “Really! Well in that case, I guess I can put you before the band.”

  “You are adorable and hilarious,” he said, kissing me deeply.

  “I’m so proud of you, baby,” I said, pulling back taking in the sheer glee in his eyes.

  “Five months apart, though,” he said somberly, his mood suddenly shifting like it did so often, as he leaned his forehead against mine.

  “We’ll be fine,” I said, because I knew it was what he needed to hear. No way would he know that I was already dreading being away from him for so long. Being a musician was his dream, and I wasn’t going to do anything to take away any ounce of happiness that he should be feeling. “It’s only five months.”

  “We’ve never been apart for that long,” he mused.

  We haven’t even been together for that long, I thought, chastising myself for being so negative. We’d fought so hard to get back together, and I knew nothing would keep us apart, not even distance.

  “Zack, I love you, and no matter where you go or how long you’re gone, I’ll never stop loving you, okay?”

  He rested his forehead on mine. “That’s why I love you, princess, but you know what would make me love you more?”

  “What?” I asked, humoring him, figuring he’d try to pull me back upstairs to celebrate.

  “Come with me.”

  “What?!” I asked, not sure I’d heard him right.

  “Come on tour with me,” he said, and I knew he was dead serious.

  “Zack, I have school. I can’t just pick up and go on tour with you and your band.”

  I was just three months away from graduating. I wasn’t about to quit school and go on tour with him.

  “After you graduate,” he murmured, kissing my cheek and my neck, his lips warm against my skin. I shivered involuntarily. “It’s only three months away.”

  “You’re serious,” I said, pulling back to look at him.

  His eyes locked with mine. “I wasn’t going to ask, because I knew it would freak you out. You said over the summer that you didn’t want to be the kind of girl who moves somewhere for a guy, but Em, I can’t not ask you to come with me. I don’t want to be away from you.”