“Why…what is…” she managed to ask.
“Why I’d kill for you?”
She shook her head. Her legs were convulsing. Bright red splotches across her face and chest.
“Because you’re mine, Natalie. You’ll always be mine, my love.”
“Oh Dear God.” She leaned in toward the table, squeezing my free forearm tightly and trembling madly as she came into my hand.
Her eyes fluttered open. “You’re an asshole,” she shook her head. “Making me come like that.”
I pulled my hand away from her, and gave my middle finger a lick. I was obsessed with tasting her.
I then put my finger in her mouth for her to suck off her own juices. One thing was right.
Together, we turned into feral animals.
I motioned her to lean in again toward me.
“I’m going to fuck you so good tonight you’ll have a hard time walking tomorrow.”
She giggled, then wiggled her eyebrows and nodded toward something in the room.
“What?” I asked.
I turned my head and saw the two girls who had come up to us before.
“Um, hi. We were wondering if we could get your autograph?”
They held out a marker, and then gave me their wrists to sign.
I shrugged and signed.
Natalie leaned into me when they left.
“You can mark me later.”
I grinned.
I knew I’d be marking her for a long time to come.
As far as our pasts went, well, I guess everyone was always haunted by their past. You had to kill the ghosts of the past in order to move on to the dreams of the future.
For us, the deaths of those ghosts were just a little more real than most.
We would move on, though, and the two of us would always be stronger together.
Epilogue
Natalie
I looked in the mirror, after spending two hours in hair and makeup, and I barely recognized myself.
“You. Look. So hot,” Lizzie said, standing behind me.
“Thanks. So do you.”
“Does it bother you?”
“Does what bother me?”
“You know…you’ve only slept with the one man you’re marrying. You’re marrying the guy you lost your v-card to. That’s not the way of the world any more. Most girls try out some different ones, first.”
I rolled my eyes. “Probably not the best time to ask that question.”
“I know. Sorry. I should have asked it long ago. You’re happy. So I’m happy. I guess why I’m asking is…how do you know? Like, know know? For sure, that he’s the one?”
I breathed in—well as much as I could with the dress I was wearing—and looked at the stranger in the mirror.
A sexy stranger, I might add.
I looked at Lizzie and saw that there wasn’t fear in her eyes that I was making a mistake as much as curiosity for how I knew he was the one. She wanted to find the one. She’d obsessed about it since we were freshmen in college. Always thought the next one would be it.
I displayed a wide grin, thinking about the incredibly unlikely events that brought Shane and I together. I wouldn’t wish them on anyone. And I also couldn’t freely share them.
“I want the best for Shane. He wants the best for me, and I know he’ll protect me no matter what. But yes, there’s this unspoken connection between us, too. I’m afraid I’m probably not much help…unless you have some boys from back home you might want to hit up? I think there’s something special about having spent your childhood in the same place as someone. It gives you this root connection and deepens things.”
She nodded. “Well the next time I’m in Mobile, Alabama, I’ll see if there are any local guys I somehow missed when I was there. Champagne?” She handed me a glass of the golden liquid.
“Yes please.” We clinked glasses and I took a small sip. I saw worry in Lizzie’s eyes so I added, “It’s not like I believe you should save your virginity for the one you marry or something. But it just…happened that way for me. To each their own.”
“To each their own. I love you, Nat.” She gave me a little hug from behind.
“Love you, too, Lizzie. I’ve never had a sister, so I hope you know how much you mean to me.”
“I know.”
I felt my mother’s presence before I saw her in the archway of the door.
“Hello there!” She said to my mom. “I’ll give you two some time.”
“Thank you Lizzie.”
I spun around.
“You look beautiful, Mom.”
“So do you.”
My eyes flitted to the picture I had brought into the dressing room dresser of my father. “Thanks for walking me down the aisle. I think dad would have wanted it this way.”
Mom took a few steps toward me, tightly clutching her necklace.
“You think?”
I frowned, and rubbed my forearm. “Mom, can I ask you a question?”
She sat down on the sofa and poured herself a glass of champagne. I held my flute up to her and she refilled mine as well.
“Of course.”
“Why did you leave dad, originally?”
Something stirred inside me when I asked the question. I’d meant to ask it in the wake of the events two years ago, but, in large part due to the trauma that Shane and I had gone through, never got around to it.
Mom sighed and took down half the glass of champagne with one gulp. “Your father was…a good man when I met him. But once the profits started coming in for the mine, he never got onto solid ground. He forgot about me. All he wanted to do was drink and look at profits. He couldn’t believe how much money he was making. No one could. I told him he was losing himself in the work, in the bottom line, and tried to remind him that life would pass him by if he wasn’t careful. I tried for a long time to get through to him. But he had those dollar signs in his eyes. It was so painful to see him turn from the young man I fell in love with…into, sorry Bruce,--” she paused and looked up, “a greedy monster.”
I glanced at the picture again, trying not to shy away from the truth. I had good and bad in me, too. I certainly knew that now.
“Is that why you tried to get as far away from Black Mountain as possible?”
She stiffened, then finished the rest of her champagne. Leaning in toward me, she pursed her lips.
“And,” I added, “hid the accident from me where the seventeen miners died?”
Her posture tightened, and she sat for a moment, thinking.
Her nod was slow. “I had this feeling like something horrible was going to happen there, with you. I had nightmares for years, before I finally left him. Talking to him was like talking to a brick wall…” she adjusted her dress. “Is Shane starting to act differently since he got his new contract or something?”
“No, not at all.”
I could never tell my mom why Shane and I shared the connection we did. Secrets you took to the grave had a way of doing that. But there was more, too. He was so attentive every moment I was with him. He encouraged me to finish my first book last summer, which was a mid-level success, and gave me enough confidence to try another one. Yes, he was a superstar, too, and I turned into a puddle just thinking about what he could do to me. But I knew in my heart that even if he weren’t—if he were a construction worker and that’s what made him happy—we’d be as deeply in love as we are now.
Although yes, dating a ripped, hot-as-hell hockey player was nice.
He had turned me into his little groupie.
“Honey, you okay?” Mom asked. She filled up her champagne glass once more.
“Fine. Thanks for telling me. I’d like to know more about him sometime. Not now, obviously.”
“Anything you’d like to know.”
Lizzie poked her head into the room, a sly, sarcastic grin pulling at her face.
“Yes?” I asked.
“So…you’re needed in the church in about five. Turns out
you have a wedding today or something.”
I bit my lip, playing along. “Oh yeah? How’s the groom look?”
She gave me a thumbs up. “You hit the jackpot.”
A few minutes later I left the bridal room and appeared at the top of the aisle with my mom.
He stood there, all six foot two of him with his blond hair and icy cold glare.
My mom walked me down the aisle to the instrumental of a song we’d given the organist, which was hopefully disguised enough by the environment enough that others wouldn’t notice.
Would you kill for me?
As I walked up the steps to the altar, he clenched his jaw and it sent a shiver through my whole body.
He gestured for me to lean in, and I did.
“You look un-fucking-believably hot right now, and you’re going to get it tonight. Just had to say that,” he whispered, then winked.
The priest stood there with wide eyes.
Eh, when in Rome. I leaned in, and whispered, clearly loud enough for the priest to hear me.
“Can’t wait for you to take my virginity tonight, handsome.”
His best man, a teammate of his, Dwayne, grinned from behind and eyed Lizzie.
Maybe there would be something there.
The wedding ceremony was small and without a lot of pomp and circumstance. For the last two years, we’d been living in Kansas City, a good compromise for us between the tropics of Florida and the frozen tundra of Black Mountain, Michigan.
We had built a new life together, complete with a new city, new house, new friends. A new us. Our mothers had even both moved to our city.
Our past still haunted us occasionally, but with every passing day, we were settling into our thriving new life and our commitment to each other.
“And now I’d like to call the couple up for their first dance together. They’ve chosen the song ‘You Make My Dreams Come True.’”
My hands were clammy as I wrapped them around the base of his neck.
The music started, and we slow danced. I put my head against his heart.
“Nice to see our mom’s becoming friends,” I said, seeing the both of them sitting together at their table with giant smiles on their faces watching us.
“I think they’re just happy we found someone.”
“Do you ever worry?” I asked.
“In what way?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know…that we’ll change in the future. That our momentum will stop.”
Continuing to dance, he tipped my chin down a little so we had to look each other in the eye.
“Natalie…you understand the good in me. And the bad in me. You get that I can be very, very bad.”
My heart thumped harder. “I can, too, though.”
He grinned. “Yes, you can. And you’ll be bad…with me.”
“Only with you,” I murmured. I loved pressing my body up against him and feeling the vibrations of his deep voice.
“If you think someone else can ever understand me at the level you do? Well, I’d say I love you, Florida, but you’re just plain wrong.” He leaned down and brushed his lips against my ear. “And tonight, we’re taking it to a new level.”
“Oh?”
“Virgin bride role play. You ready?”
I giggled. “Of course.”
“You make me feel like I could go anywhere, do anything, be anyone, Natalie. Like I could beat anyone, win any challenge. You’re my fucking girl, forever.” The words came out quiet, but with an angry edge, like he was ticked I would even be worried at all.
The last verse of the song played. Though I was barely listening to it.
He looked down at me with his big bad wolf eyes, so handsome, so proper in his suit. Taking hold of my jaw gently but firmly, he kissed me like I was his property.
“You’re mine now,” he whispered with a radiant grin in his eyes.
“Yes. I’m your virgin bride,” I said, deciding to get into character a little early. “Corrupt me.”
“God I love it when you talk like that,” he said as the crowd clapped, and our friends came to join us on the dance floor. “And I love you.”
He kissed me as the dance floor crowded with the others. I moaned into his mouth, and questioned my own sanity as a ridiculous thought came into my head, an evil thought, really:
How many of these women had a man who had killed for them?
THE END
About Mickey Miller
Hi. I'm romance author Mickey Miller.
I've written fifteen books, five top 100 Amazon Bestsellers, including my Amazon Top 25 Hit The Substitute which is now available in audio featuring narrator Sebastian York.
The easiest and best way to stay in touch with me for news and new releases is to sign up for my email list here:
https://mickeymillerauthor.com
You can also find me on Instagram @mickeymillerauthor. Reach out and let me know what you think about my books! I love hearing from readers, so don’t be shy!
Lots of Love,
Mickey
Other books by Mickey Miller
THE LAKE HOUSE (Brewer Brothers Book 1)
THE HOLD OUT: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Book 2)
Five Day Fiancé (Brewer Brothers Book 3)
THE SUBSTITUTE - The story of Maddy Cooper and Peyton O’Rourke
Superstar Peyton O’Rourke swore he’d marry Maddy Cooper the first time he saw her, twelve years ago.
Well, he’s finally back in town.
And he’s ready to finish the job. No matter what she might have to say about it.
This hilarious rom-com is now available on AUDIO, narrated by Sebastian York and CJ Bloom!
The Lying Game:
Living with a sexy-as-sin roommate in a luxury penthouse should be a fantasy brought to life, right? Not when the roommate is Carter Flynn--my gorgeous ex--who hates my guts.
The End Game:
Book 2 of this scorching, enemies-to-lovers Duet!
Ballers Romance Series:
It was supposed to be just sex. But it became so much more. (Chandler + Amy’s Book!)
I've always been the good girl. Until one night in Tijuana. When a gorgeous stranger struck up a conversation with me. He was so damn cocky, I decided to play a trick on him. So I made up a fake name. It was innocent, even if he was sinfully sexy.
The Blackwell After Dark Series:
I'm studying to be a sex therapist, and I haven't even had sex yet. Which is why I decide that Professor Hanks is going to be the one to take my virginity.
How to find a wedding date at the last second: 1) Overheat your car on your cross country road trip 2) Make sure it’s storming 3) Have a one night stand with the sexiest mechanic you’ve ever seen
Sebastian Blackwell isn’t only the sexiest man I’ve ever met. He’s also my boss.
My best friend's sister. A tiny white lie to get a loan. A fake fiance?
Others:
No sex for ten dates, which sounds easy. Despite the biceps bulging through his shirt. Despite the tattoos I desperately want to lick-- I mean, know more about. Despite the hunger in his eyes when he looks at me. No, it won't be easy.
Thank you for reading!
Special Sneak Preview of Five Day Fiancé
Allie
I’m so happy to bend the knee for my future partner.
I stare at the caption of my ex-boyfriend Mark’s Facebook picture with his brand-new wife-to-be, holding her hands over her face, in happy disbelief at his proposal. I dated Mark for five years, and this scenario never happened. He was the king of ‘next year’, ‘you know I love you’, and my personal favorite, ‘a piece of paper doesn’t define the love we share.’ It all turned out to be lies.
Now, five months after he broke up with me, he’s already moved on with such ease?
My thoughts wander so far off that I don’t even hear my coworker Rhonda’s heels clicking on the floor close to my desk until she’s right behind me.
“Oh, no. You’re
not looking at those again,” she says, looking over my shoulder.
Quickly, I click off the Facebook photos and pull up my work email.
Busted.
“Looking at what?” I feign ignorance, knowing she could see exactly what I was doing.
Rhonda shakes her head and sets down the cappuccino she brought me. She sits in one of the chairs in my cubicle and rolls next to me.
“Open that tab,” she says, pointing to my browser.
“Nah, I want to stay concentrated on work,” I say, guilt bubbling inside me.
Rhonda gives me her patented eyebrow raise. I sigh and pull up the browser as I take my first sip of coffee, feeling myself starting to come to life on this cold, Detroit winter morning.
“Why do you continue to torture yourself like this? This man should be dead to you. Dead!” She taps the screen with a pink nail. “It’s been months, you should have deleted and blocked him as your Facebook friend already!”
Rhonda knows the whole backstory of me and Mark. Five long years we were an item and I thought for sure our happily ever after would end in nuptials. We even talked about it…okay, not often, but it was not out of the realm of possibility. Our relationship had reached the stage of comfortable love and then he up and dumped me unexpectedly, last fall. This past winter was a tough one as I adjusted to my new reality as a single twenty-something instead of someone who was seemingly on the brink of marriage and a family. Rhonda has been a supportive friend and we’ve drunk many a bottle of cabernet at one another’s apartments ever since. Me trying to drown my depression, Rhonda because, I don’t know, I guess she likes red wine.
Black Ice: A Standalone Enemies to Lovers Romance Page 22
