I’ve been drowning since the death of my wife, but that all changed the moment she walked back into my life. She was my best friend growing up, until one day she left me. I haven’t seen her in years, but now that she’s back, I can’t possibly let her go again. It would kill me.
Christy I decided to leave the day he told me he was getting married. How could I possibly watch him walk down the aisle and marry another woman? But after being gone for years, events in my life have forced me home. I don’t know how I’m going to face him again, or how I’ll be strong enough to resist him. He’s been the love of my life for years. He just never knew it.
I’m a stay at home mom that loves to read. Some of my favorite titles are Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Horatio Hornblower. I started writing when I was trying to come up with suggestions on ways I could help bring in some extra money. I came up with the idea that I could donate plasma because you could earn an extra $500/month. My husband responded with, “No. Find something else. Write a blog. Write a book.” I didn’t think I had anything to share on blog that a thousand other mothers hadn’t already thought of. I decided to take his challenge seriously and sat down to write my first book, Jack. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed writing. From there, the stories continued to flow and I haven’t been able to stop. I hope my readers enjoy my books as much as I enjoy writing them. Between reading, writing, and taking care of three small kids, my days are quite full.
As she slips into the water with me, Amanda’s breasts bob, floating to the surface. Being in here is like no other moment we spend together. Explaining what it’s like to be in the water with her is like trying to describe a kiss. You can do it, but why? Unique expressions of who we are don’t translate.
“It’s so warm,” she tells me, delight floating across her face like sunshine between the leaves of an oak tree, the water and light in the cocoon of the lap pool spinning magic.
“I turned up the heat. I know you like it warm.”
“Doesn’t that make it impossible for you to do laps?”
“No. I’m not competing anymore.” I reach for her, hands enjoying the slippery magic of her skin. She kicks toward me, one hand on the pool’s ceramic-tiled edge, the other on my shoulder, pressing down. My feet are on the bottom but the feel of her next to me, weightless as she moves in for a kiss, makes all my boundaries dissolve.
We are the water.
Dipping under the surface, she runs her hands down the length of my legs, first skimming the outer edge of my thighs, then skimming over knees and calves. She slides an appreciative hand up between my legs before breaking the surface, her hair wet and flat against her scalp, her hand leaving me to wipe her face.
“Tease,” I say.
“I’m a sure thing.” Kicking her legs, she smiles at me. “Thanks for turning up the heat.”
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Julia Kent writes romantic comedy with an edge. From billionaires to BBWs to new adult rock stars, Julia finds a sensual, goofy joy in every contemporary romance she writes. Unlike Shannon from Shopping for a Billionaire, she did not meet her husband after dropping her phone in a men’s room toilet (and he isn’t a billionaire). She lives in New England with her husband and three sons in a household where the toilet seat is never, ever, down.
Her hand slipped around me and cupped the back of my neck. “What, baby?”
“To always put our children first.”
She shuddered. “Oh, sweetheart.” I heard the tears in her voice, didn’t need to move to see them in her eyes. “I promise,” she said thickly.
I nodded.
That had to be enough.
For tonight, that had to be enough.
“Who knows about Conor?” she questioned.
“Brennan, Declan, and Eoghan don’t know. Conor doesn’t know that his parents are in the loop now.”
“I won’t say anything.”
“I know you won’t.” I hesitated a second before grating out, “Junior and I, we burned down St. Patrick’s Church.”
“That means we don’t have to go to any services now? Yay!” she cheered.
“Well, that’s a novel way of looking at arson.”
Her laughter bubbled free. “I’m not the Catholic here.”
“Didn’t you wonder why we didn’t go to church last night?”
“Since when do I look gift horses in the mouth? I was just glad I didn’t have to go out into the cold.”
Aoife made me look devout so I wasn’t totally surprised by her reaction, even if it was further proof of the life changing her.
My lips curved. “Big baby.”
She shoved me in the side before she released a soft whistle. “Father Doyle is probably rolling around in his grave even though he isn’t dead.”
“He called Senior today. Demanding the villains suffer.”
“I’ll bet he did. Look at him turning the other cheek,” she sneered. “Does Aidan Sr. know you and Junior were behind it?”
“Don’t know, don’t care.” I pulled back to look into her eyes. “I watched it burn, and it was like the ties that bound Junior and me to that place burned with them.”
“Do you feel lighter?”
“I do.”
“Who knew arson was good for the soul? Not sure Father Doyle would like that news to spread.”
At her jovial response, all I could think to say was, “I changed you.”
“I grew up. I know the world is mean and nasty, and I know that we can’t do anything to change that.
“I know pedophiles walk the streets every day, and they get away with it. Hurting more kids, destroying more lives.
“I know that being bad doesn’t mean you’ll be punished.” Her fingers raked through my hair. “I told you, you didn’t change me. Being a mom did that. It made me see the predators out there who could hurt my children. And not just how you were hurt either.” She pressed a kiss to my lips. “We’ll keep our family safe, Finn. We’ll do that together.” She hugged me. “Now, let’s get some sleep. You need it, Smokey Bear.”
She smushed my face into her tits, and her hands continued smoothing through my hair as if she could soothe me as easily as she soothed Jake.
If only that were possible.
As I lay there, I recognized there was a certain irony to the situation.
She hadn’t thrown me out. Cast me from heaven for confessing my sins to her… a confession that felt more cleansing than anything I’d ever admitted to Father Doyle in the confessional where my baby brother had been fucking raped by a clergyman.
And as liberating as that was, it was also cataclysmic. Because if it felt this good to get the truth off my back, how many of my filthy secrets could she handle without turning me away…?
I’m a romance bookaholic and I won’t touch a book unless I know there’s a happy ending. This addiction is what made me craft stories that suit my voracious need for raunchy romance. I love twists and unexpected turns, and my novels all contain sexy guys, dark humor, and hot AF love scenes.
I write MF, Menage, and Reverse Harem (also known as Why Choose romance,) in both contemporary and paranormal. Some of my stories are darker than others, but I can promise you one thing, you will always get the happy ending your heart needs!
