Briar’s Champion 3
BRIAR’S CHAMPION
Mahalia Levey
Erotic Romance
Secret Cravings Publishing
www.secretcravingspublishing.com
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A Secret Cravings Publishing Book
Erotic Romance
BRIAR’S CHAMPION
Copyright © 2012 Mahalia Levey
E-book ISBN: 978-1-61885-319-6
Second E-book Publication: June 2012
Cover design by Dawne Dominique
Edited by Stephanie Balistreri
Proofread by Phoebe Fairiday
All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Secret Cravings Publishing
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
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Rachel Hayes' father set out to prove the existence of the Miloni temple and the Jaguar people. Tumi is a descendant of the Miloni race and is sworn to protect their secret with his life. Will he be forced to uphold his vow at the cost of his heart and Rachel's life?
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Dedication
To the readers who make writing an immense pleasure. To the editors for their continual support and education, and to my family for sacrificing family time now and then so that I may write.
BRIAR’S CHAMPION
Mahalia Levey
Copyright © 2012
Chapter One
Disbelief tore through Briar Thompson as she read the fine print in front of her. She drank in the text, line by heart crushing line. The picture of the couple put a ball of emotions in her throat so tight she couldn’t swallow.
Frantic, she whipped out her cell phone to call the lying, cheating ass. Damn it all, she got voice mail. Briar opened her mouth to speak when the beep for her to leave a message sounded, but no words came out. What could she say on a voice message? How could she possibly respond impersonally to such betrayal? Pain constricted her chest, leaving her winded. The newspaper she’d been holding was strewn about. A breeze was taking various pieces of it across the pavement. Her life in that moment was much like that paper, scattered and floating apart. The muffled ringtone of her cell gradually penetrated the numbing fog in her mind. It wasn’t until it started to vibrate did it snap her out of her trance. Briar pressed redial after taking a moment to clear her thoughts with a deep breath.
“Westly.” She said his name in cracked syllables, unable to maintain composure.
“Briar, what can I do for you?” She’d never heard him sound so distant, cold.
“How could you?” she cried.
“How could I what?”
“Did you think the news wouldn’t cover your marriage? I…saw the local paper.” The second she uttered the words, she died a little more inside. She swallowed hard. “You’re married. I d-don’t understand.”
“Damn press. Fuck. We gave orders for a private ceremony.” Her heart shattered as his words echoed what was in the newspaper. He left her, without a word, without a thought, for another woman.
“How could you hurt me? We have a life, a condo, our friends, our families. This doesn’t make sense,” she said between sobs.
“Quit crying, Briar. You know tears don’t work on me. I’m sorry, I guess I should’ve come clean, told you I wanted out.
“You wanted out? Six years later? We’ve been together since high school. We were planning to have children. Their names picked, the best preschools lined up. How can you, out of nowhere, do this to us? To me?” Briar shrieked, through her cell phone at him causing people to gawk as they passed by on the sidewalk.
“Sometimes couples outgrow each other Briar. There’s no way around the truth. I outgrew you.”
“That’s a load of bullshit. Just two days ago
, you said you loved me. You were lying then? Just when did you fall out of love with me?” She sobbed into the phone, her hand gripping the tiny plastic piece like a lifeline.
His long drawn-out sigh met her ears, followed by dead air. “I haven’t been in love with you for a while. You let your need to please destroy our relationship, always settling instead of following your own dreams. I need a woman not afraid to take a chance, one who uses her own mind. You tiptoe around doing what you want to do instead of going all out. Briar you aren’t the woman I fell in love with. You have not been for a long time. The attraction is gone.”
“Sweet Jesus.” His venomous words made acid churn in her stomach. She stumbled backwards, until the back of her knees hit the edge of the bus bench behind her. She sat hard, staring blankly at her phone. “I thought we were building a life together.”
How could he have no compassion, no heart for what he’d put into action. Where did the man she fell in love with go? More importantly, why didn’t she see the change in him?
“Look, my wife is back. I have to go.”
She heard the rustle of the phone accompanied by static. In the distance, Westly gave his new wife the rundown on the conversation. Moans and laughing followed, then a dial tone.
“Miss, are you okay? Do you need help?”
A horn blared, jerked her back to reality. Headlights blinded her. She froze in horror. When had she moved off the bench into the path of oncoming traffic? The car, driven by an angry older woman, honked again, waving a fist as she zoomed away. Briar put her hand to her head while making her way through the parking lot. She tearfully found her car, and locked herself inside, before taking a steady breath. Home was the last place she wanted to go. The thought of sleeping in the bed she once shared with Westly turned her stomach. So did the thought of having his scent around her, or looking at the pictures of them on the walls.
Good thing rush hour in Downtown Kansas City kept her from venturing on side streets that would get her there faster. She caught her reflection in the rearview mirror and saw blood-red puffy eyes staring back at her. This can’t be happening to me.
Her confusion mounted when she finally arrived home to discover a moving truck taking possessions down a temporary ramp. Briar watched for a few minutes, until clarity dawned on her. The possessions the movers were carting from the condo were hers. “Hey!” She fumbled with the car door but managed to get out to rush over to the workers. Her tears now dried, left a burning rage in their wake. Her stomach pitched and rolled, when another item of hers was put into the large moving truck.
“Just moving the items on our list, Ma’am.” The mover clicked his clipboard with his pen.
“I don’t understand. When could Westly have made plans to do this?”
“Mr. Jonston contacted us weeks ago to arrange for his personal belongings to be moved today,” he patiently explained.
“You’re not taking out his things. These are all of my belongings.”
“I have a list of items right here Ma’am.” He waved the clipboard at her. “Again, I’m sorry but we’re on limited time to get the job done.”
Briar saw pity in his face. Did everyone know but her? Exasperation built to high levels within her, threatening to consume her. “Why is he doing this? God, he must hate me.” I don’t deserve this. She snatched the list and pen from the man. “What’s crossed out you can take. The items that are circled need to take a trip back to the condo please.” She handed the amended form back to the stunned mover. “Please don’t scratch anything.” Turning on her heel, she was glad she mustered up enough strength to speak without bursting into tears in front of strangers.
“I am sorry Ma’am, truly, but I have a job to do. We’ll, uh, be out of your hair in a bit. Is there anywhere you can go till we’re done?”
Briar didn’t want his pity. “My name is Briar, and no I don’t have somewhere else to go—not yet anyway.” She watched as he moved forward and waited while he instructed the men of the changes. Depression threatened to drown her. She slowly walked around them, trying not to be a hindrance. The sooner they left the better. She made her way into her condo, and sat on the couch. Boxes littered the floor. Damn bastard didn’t waste any time.
On the table next to her lay the monthly bills. One by one, she opened them to find he’d only paid half the balance on each one. She wasn’t surprised. For someone rich with financial security, Westly was a cheap man. Shoulders slumped, she sighed in despair, wondering if he’d left her a dime. Taking out her cell phone, she hit speed dial four for a direct connection to her bank and typed in the account number she shared with him on her keypad. Zero balance rang in her ears. He left her with nothing. The blood drained from her face. How did he expect her to live? What gave him the right to be entitled to everything? She keyed in the numbers for her personal account. The automation verified the amount left in her account matched the amount she’d deposited earlier. A breath of relief seized her. At least I’m not destitute. There lay the silver lining.
A wave of exhaustion washed over her, numbness settling in her mind. Hopelessness wasn’t far behind. The day’s events replayed continuously through her head as she tried to make sense of how her life had gone from great to total shit. Get it together, girl. She had the funds to secure herself a small apartment, and said a bless you to her late mother who’d taught her to make sure she had a backup plan for her own security. With a heavy heart, she promised she’d make him pay for abandoning her without a care.
* * * *
Six Months Later...
“Briar, wait up.” The sound of her friend Suzanne’s wheezing plea had Briar slowing her daily jog to a brisk walk.
“What’s up?”
She suppressed a smile when the other woman gave her annoyed look for not stopping altogether.
“A group of us are going out tonight.” Suzanne flashed a smile between pants. “We want you to join us at the bar and grill. We’re doing it up, having a total girl’s night out. Food, dancing and liquor. New options…”
“I don’t think so, but thanks,” Briar declined politely.
“Come one Bri, you haven’t been out since that asshole left you. You’re in the prime of your life, not to mention how spectacular you look. We love you but hiding from life means he wins. He already took enough from you. We‘re not asking for all night, just come on out for a few hours. If you can’t do it, we understand, but you know you want to.”
“I just opened the gallery. Give me a break. I’m tired.” Of course, the temptation to go urged her to just say yes, however to utter those words took courage. In truth she lacked the nerve to say okay and follow through. Her heart ached all over again each time she passed couples showing affection. There was nothing she wanted more than to be okay, to have a full life. The few baby steps forward never failed to revert a step backward. Westly better never step to her for clemency, she had none in her to give him.
“Just this once…I won’t bother you again. I promise, pinky promise, spit on the hand promise, and blood sister promise.” Suzanne’s eyes pleaded as she held out her pinky.
“Suuuz, you’re not going to leave me alone, are you?” Briar asked a futile question. This was Suz the group go ‘get her’ girl. The last resort when any one of them needed to be drawn out of misery.
“Nope, you’ve been avoiding the public since, well, you know. We hate how you’re letting that jerk-off win. Mr. Perfect could be out there, but you’ll never know if you don’t get your hinny out there. Live a little. Come on, it’s alright not to be okay but…you can’t let him turn you into an emotional cripple.”
Briar braced herself for the worst when Suzanne took a moment to draw in a breath. Lord what was she gonna say next? Her dearest friend was just warming up.
“Don’t make me break out into a spirit cheer like during our school days. You know I have no shame in my game. I will do it at the top of my lungs.” The visualization was enough to make Briar give in, this one time.
&
nbsp; “Where are you meeting at?” she asked, thinking Suzanne might be right. The vibrator she received as a gag gift took care of her need for a few months, but lost its appeal. Slowly her body was starting to show signs of mutiny. She needed to at least find a friend with benefits.
“Whooot!”
The foreign sound of her mirth did her in. Briar laughed, something she hadn’t felt like doing these past few months.
“We’re meeting at O’Kelley’s Pub down on Fourteenth and Vine.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
“Go get’em killer, and look striking. No lounge pants and hoody. We all love Vicky Secret’s but still how much of their pink line do you have. Let me answer that, the entire catalogue from the last two years to current. Dress alluring. Your face is gorgeous so minimal make up. Wear the new perfume you bought last week. Must have pheromones mixed with the fragrance or something. It is def your scent.”
Briar embraced her friend in a tight hug. “Thanks. I think this type of medicine is what I need.” In that instant, she found herself jazzed at the prospect of hanging out with her friends once more.
Time moved on fast forward since her morning run. With each tick of the clock, Briar panicked. The hardest decision she had way too many hours to make, was finding something to wear. A glass of merlot finally helped soothe her frazzled nerves enough to let her choose.
Silk caressed her arms and back as she pulled the hot pink blouse over her shoulders and fastened the tiny pearl buttons. She wriggled into her high-waisted pin-striped slacks as fast as she could. Eight-thirty glared back at her in big bold numbers from the alarm clock on her nightstand. “Damn,” she muttered while arranging black suspenders to rest on the sides of her breasts. In the full-length mirror, she took in her sophisticated, out-right sultry ensemble. If she had a gun she’d resemble a hired hand for the mob. What was a Halloween costume one year turned into one of her favorite outfits…dressed to kill. With minimal time left, she stepped into her stilettos, taking a few seconds to buckle the strap. Grabbing the hat box out of her closet, she put on the final piece and swiped her finger over the brim.
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