Finding Lily

by Emma Shade

  The love and utter surprise shone from his eyes as he gazed down on me. “Are you sure?”

  I nodded and he closed his eyes. Opening up for me, every thought that crossed his mind blasted through. He was worried he’d hurt me. He was scared of taking too much blood. I never realized he held back as much as I had.

  Lips finding the vein in the side of my neck, his fangs burst through the skin as he slammed home at the same time. I screamed from pleasure, body arching against him. Wave after wave of desire pumped through my bloodstream, bringing every single nerve ending to awareness. I felt everything from each thrust from Ashton to every pull of blood he took into his mouth. My senses heightened, gums ached, and I moaned with another climax. He removed his fangs with one final lick against the punctures.

  “Bite me, Lily,” he groaned, slamming into me again.

  “I don’t have teeth,” I gasped, panting as another orgasm snuck up on me.

  “I beg to differ. Just try,” he insisted, leaning his neck to the side.

  And without hesitation, I opened my mouth and bit down on his neck. With a pop, my teeth broke through the skin.

  Ashton growled, “Holy fuck.”

  Honeyed thick, fluid filled my mouth, heady like red wine. I pulled the liquid into my mouth, reveling in each drop.

  Moments later, we both climaxed together, my mouth releasing his neck to scream through my orgasm.

  Our breathing ragged, Ashton pressed his forehead against mine. His lips found mine and I tasted my own blood on his tongue, as I’m sure he had his as well. Rolling off me, he pulled me against him.

  “That was intense,” he panted.

  I nodded, unable to speak. We’d actually matched. In the vampire world, we were practically married for life. Which, for a vampire, was a very, very long time. I never regretted the decision to finally let go. To finally love him without reservations.

  Snuggled together, Ashton ran lazy circles against my bare back. My head on his chest, I listened to the steady thrum of his heartbeat as it lulled me to sleep.

  EPILOUGE

  The next morning as Ashton slept, I stumbled into the kitchen in search of coffee. The pot was full of the earthy concoction and I thanked my lucky stars for automatic timers.

  After my glass was filled, and saturated with creamer and sugar, I opened the double doors that led to the courtyard. The cool summer morning air cascaded over my skin and filled my lungs with the slight scent of honeysuckle. I breathed in the beautiful morning and sat on the elegant, wrought iron table and chairs off to the left.

  As I sipped my coffee, Sam strolled out with yawn. He asked, “What are you doing out so early?”

  “I couldn’t sleep,” I said, glancing at the phone in his hands. “Why are you up so early?”

  “I’m waiting on a text,” he muttered, tossing the phone between his hands.

  “A text? From who?”

  Sam blushed, and he mumbled, “Zeke.”

  I blinked in surprise. “Zeke? The only Zeke I know owns...”

  “Yep. That’s him. I ran into him at the masquerade ball. And, well, we hit it off and exchanged phone numbers before the Enforcers attacked.”

  “Sam, that’s great! He reminded me of you and your sassy personality.” I smiled, truly happy that Sam had potential boyfriend material. “Who contacted who first? Do you really like him?”

  “Enough about me and Zeke. Why can’t you sleep? Hell, you should be dead to the world with all that screaming I heard last night,” Sam said, and waggled his eyebrows.

  I smiled shyly as my face flamed in embarrassment, staring down at the bracelet Blake had given me. I twisted it around my wrist until I located the lightning charm on the clasp. I rubbed it between my fingers. “You’d think I’d be asleep, but I had too many thoughts running through my head.”

  His eyes swerved to my bracelet, and he whispered, “I miss him too. But don’t feel guilty for being with Ashton, Lily.”

  “I don’t,” I admitted. “But I can’t help but wonder what if. Do you think that’s wrong? Is there something wrong with me? I’d think that now that Ashton and I are together, I wouldn’t worry about this stuff anymore.”

  Sam sighed, and stared out over the dew covered grass. “Everybody wonders the ‘what ifs’ from time to time. I think it’s normal. But you’re by no means as damaged as you think you are. Sure, you’ve had your heart broken. Hell, even had a few internal wounds and bad memories, but then again, all marvelous people do, Lily. That’s what makes us real. That’s what makes us feel human even though we’re not.

  “After a while, bestie, you’re going to look in the mirror and realize after all those hurts, scars, bruises, and trials, you really made it through. You endured what was supposed to kill you. I think you’re stronger and more resilient than ever because of it. I think you’re a survivor. You’re my little glowstick riding her horse into the sunset.”

  I laughed at the glowstick and horse reference. “I guess I didn’t have much choice on which horse, now did I?”

  He tilted his head from side to side, and said, “I think you did, and always knew from the beginning. But free will and fate are two entirely different things. Your horse was fate, and Blake’s was free will. But, I know you’re happier now because of it. Ashton is really a good guy, and he treats you like a queen. And you love him.”

  “I know. We matched last night,” I blurted out, and swallowed another sip of coffee.

  Sam’s eyes swung to mine and held. “Is that a good thing?”

  I nodded with a smile. “Yeah, it is.”

  Sam stood, wrapped his arms my shoulders, and kissed me on the cheek. “Well, congratulations, babe. It’s about damn time. I can’t wait to tell Ashton how excited I am to be his new best man!”

  And as I swatted at him, he laughed, ran inside, and slammed the double glass doors closed. It wouldn’t be long until he’d be up in the master suite, waking Ashton up with his exciting news.

  I removed myself from the chair and leaned against the stone railing surrounding the courtyard. The birds chirped and the waterfall over the pool splashed against the water in the distance.

  Glancing up at the rosy sky of the sunrise, I leaned my head back with my eyes closed and thought about Carlotta and Blake. I had no control over either situation. Fate had taken ahold of my life by the horns and steered me in the direction I was intended to go. And whether Blake’s sacrifice was freewill or fate, I’d never know.

  Blake’s disappearance still ached from time to time. In the end, I knew where my heart belonged, but was just too preoccupied to notice. I loved Ashton from the moment his aquamarine eyes held mine captive.

  Arms coiled around my waste catching me off guard, and Ashton said, “Good morning, beautiful.”

  I leaned my back against his chest, and whispered, “Morning.”

  “Are you coming back to bed, or will I have to drag you back myself?” he murmured, sneaking a kiss on my neck where the marks from his teeth were just below the skin.

  I grinned, and replied, “I’ll be up shortly. I need to finish my coffee if I have any hope of being halfway coherent today.”

  Ashton chuckled, “You’d think you were up too late making love all night.”

  “Yeah, you’d think I’d still be up there. Too bad coffee won out,” I teased.

  “Don’t take too long, Liliana. I want to strip those clothes right back off your body, and then when we’re done we can go enjoy this beautiful day. I have big plans for us,” he crooned, kissing my neck again before he strolled back in the house.

  Sam’s cheerful voice broke through and then cut off as Ashton shut the door. I smiled, gazing at the sun reflecting over the dew soaked grass and thinking of Sam’s words of wisdom.

  My life was never going be picture-perfect. No matter how hard I tried. No matter how many times I emptied my heart and soul into it, I’d never find perfection. Nothing in life was ever perfect. There was always going to be broken hearts. There was always
going to be times when nothing goes right. And there was going to be times when life handed out lemons spiked with self-doubt. But, over the course of the last few months, I realized that even the most flawed things in life will always be made better with love and laughter.

  And for the first time in my life, I was okay with that.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Emma lives in Indiana with her husband and three crazy cats. She has a degree in Visual Communications with Photography. When she’s not busy writing her next novel or taking photographs, Emma enjoys spending time with family and friends, listening to music, taking naps, or curled up with a good book.

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  Books by Emma Shade:

  The Secrets Series

  Finding Obscurity

  Finding Clarity

  Finding Lily

  To Ashes

  Conjurer King

  Young Adult

  Cipher

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  First and foremost, thank you to my husband Aaron. You are so patient with my weird hours of writing, my nerves when books get published for the first time, and for being my constant companion when life gets rough.

  Elle Bright. An amazing friend, author, and critique partner. I can’t thank you enough for all your help, words of wisdom, and pick-me-ups.

  My marvelous editor, Carolyn Pinard. There are so many things I could say to thank you for all your help, but my acknowledgments would be three pages long. So, thank you for everything! I’m grateful to have you as a friend.

  Hannah Harris, my gorgeous cover model.

  Thanks to my beta readers for their honest and blunt feedback. You girls are awesome!

  Kim, thank you for everything you do. For scheduling the cover reveals with Crazies R Us Book Blog, creating teasers, and always spreading the word about my books. You and Cami have been a blessing.

  Jennifer Thomas, you are an astonishing musician! Thank you for allowing usage of your music for my book trailer!

  Leslie, I hope you like your character. She may not be anything like you in real life, but I hope you enjoy anyway.

  Susan Griffin, thanks for proofreading Finding Lily!

  And last but not least, to the people who rise above life’s challenges. Sometimes things may never go the way you plan, and life might constantly knock you down, but you still find a reason to smile and to love without hesitation.