Angie was sugar and spice and all things nice. She was baked cookies fresh from the oven, Disney movies on a sunny Sunday afternoon and a perfectly kept lawn encircled by white picket fences. She rescued stay and injured animals, she donated regularly to charity and cried at movies based on true stories.
Even the bad movies.
But, that’s what Dan liked about her. Angie wasn’t a push over who would meekly follow him, but she was helpful and kind and so nice that everybody loved her and kept telling him how lucky he was to have her. Dan already knew that, but it was still nice to hear the approval from the family and friends he held so dear.
Dan knew that one day, when he had risen through the ranks of his company a little more and Angie had finished her teaching training and was settled into the education system, that they’d get married. A few years later they’d have children and Angie would be the perfect mother to their kids that would undoubtedly also become perfect.
How could they be anything less with a mother as wonderful and caring as Angie?
The wedding would be beautiful. His brother, Mike, would be best man and would deliver the funniest speech at the reception. Angie’s best friend Charlotte would be chief bridesmaid and would look radiant in whatever pretty dress Angie chose for her.
Dan and Mike were closer than ordinary brothers. Their mother always said that they were twins born in different years as they looked the same, thought the same and acted the same. Angie and Charlotte were completely different from each other, but best friends all the same. Angie was sugar and spice and all things nice, but Charlotte was dark and hidden, and all things forbidden.
And that’s what Dan liked about Charlotte. He knew that it would break Angie’s kind and gentle heart if she knew what Dan and Charlotte did together when Angie was working late. Dan felt guilty about hurting such a pure soul as Angie, but the way Charlotte tugged at his hair and arched beneath him meant that he didn’t feel guilty enough to stop.
Anticipation. Yearning. Longing. Nervous. Impatience. Fear. Desperation. Love. Desire. All of these emotions were flooding through Cori. Her heart was pounding and her mind racing. The moment she had spent months anticipating was finally here.
She anxiously scanned the crowd. His plane had landed almost half an hour ago, and still there was no sign of him. Her nerves couldn’t hold out much longer. She nervously pulled at the hem of her dress.
“Where is he?” she asked herself aloud. She was starting to worry. Had he changed his mind? No. She knew that wasn’t possible. “He will be here,” she reassured herself. She was just so nervous that fear was starting to creep in. Insecurity was always causing her to doubt things that she knew. Especially when it came to love. He wouldn’t disappoint her. She knew it.
When she finally saw him she ran and jumped on him. He stumbled back a step, but caught her. Her heart was racing as she looked into his eyes for the first time. The busy airport around them faded away. All there was was Liam. She couldn’t seem to think or breathe. All she could do was feel.
The love she felt grew and intensified in that moment. All her fears melted away. The nervousness subsided. This moment in time would forever be perfect. Liam’s arms were around her as they looked into one another’s eyes. She had dreamed of this moment for months, yet they were mere fantasy. This was different. This was real. And it was beautiful.
Too soon he let her slide to her feet. His arms around her didn’t loosen. His eyes never left hers. All of the emotions flooding through her were incredible. And intense. Neither of them had said a word. It was unnecessary. This was a time to put words aside and feel. Just feel.
Her mind began to clear and her thoughts came rushing back. As he leaned into her she smiled. This was yet another moment she had spent hours dreaming of. She knew nothing in her imagination could have ever prepared her for this moment. The thought made a small laugh escape her lips.
The next instant his lips were pressing into hers. All of the thoughts that had been rushing through her mind disappeared. The kiss started out soft and full of emotion. She could feel his love for her in that kiss. There was no denying it. Her knees felt weak and her mind a little foggy. She deepened the kiss with a sense of urgency. She had needed this moment for so long and it was finally here.
She wasn’t able to identify exactly why she was crying; maybe it was because she knew he was bad for her, that his words were most likely false. Still she knew he’d hooked her and she couldn’t give him up, even though he wasn’t fully hers and she’d never been any good at sharing.
A memory resurfaced in her head, she was fourteen and was shrieking at her younger sister because she’d borrowed one of her tops, a pastel-blue one with a butterfly made out of multi-coloured sequins on it.
‘Take it off,’ she’d screamed at her.
Her sister, a year younger but blonder and taller simply shrugged and started to walk off, so she grabbed out at her and pulled at the side of the top. Her sister squealed and tried to hit her hands away. The fabric started to stretch and alter in shape and then she tugged too hard and watched as the fabric split and the sequins fell to the floor like a tumbling rainbow.
Instead of feeling sad at the demise of her top she merely found herself smiling. That was the way she had always been, she’d rather destroy something than share it and this theory never changed, that was until she met Jay.
Hiding the note away in her bedside draw she grabbed her make-up bag and looking into her oval, metal-framed mirror she began to dab foundation over her blotchy skin, adding a new coat of mascara and pouting out her lips as she carefully applied a shiny rose lip-gloss
Looking at her made-up face she was pleased that she could at least fool people into thinking she was okay, even if inside her heart was aching.
I knew Marcus didn’t mean to sound curt. He was under stress. For him the beach was an open plain, a memory of a battlefield. Still, I felt slighted when he told me to “stay” like I was a trained monkey. What was he doing out there in this waste land of sand and ocean anyway?
After an hour of fiddling around our campsite in the late afternoon sun, I headed to the oasis due west from our “accommodations” for the night. As I might have mentioned before, taking Marcus inside a city was always a bad idea. That included small cities or even a motel in the middle of nowhere. He didn’t want to stay in the oasis so we decided to stay on the Mojave Desert side of hell and avoid people.
Lucy wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but suddenly Jon was a regular fixture in her life again. They spoke daily, either by email or phone, and she became a regular attendee at his band’s concerts whenever her heavy workload would allow. She didn’t know if Helen was aware that they
communicated as much as they did and if Lucy was honest with herself, she didn’t care.
Jon was just as charming, funny and encouraging as she remembered him being. He always had a story that Lucy didn’t quite know whether to believe or not about his day working in the office or his rare evenings rehearsing with the band and it never failed to make Lucy smile. Just hearing his deep, rich voice and the smile that would creep into it as he spoke to her was enough to make Lucy’s ever growing pile of work and responsibilities seem irrelevant.
The river thundered as Hadley and Wyatt splashed in the water’s edge. They danced and barked happily at one another. Hadley was free in the moment, something she was not used to. She was controlled and alert, like her father, but shifting offered a liberating experience, such as she’d never known. She chased and bit at Wyatt’s ears as they jumped and splashed at the edges of the Willowemoc.
Wyatt raced away from the shore and Hadley gave chase, until they found themselves in the shelter of some tall trees, a full blanket of stars casting enough light and her dog’s eyes making everything around her visible. It was then that Wyatt stopped his playful running and hunkered low to the ground, a fierce growl beginning first in his belly before rising up and out of his snout. Hadley could smell Ryker too, but she wasn’t angry. Instead, she was fearful.
I’m so happy the weekend is finally here! Although it’s raining, I still couldn’t be happier that today and tomorrow are my days to do things for myself. This is the time I can devote to working on projects that are truly special to me, like my paranormal romance Shift River and the novels I write. During the week, I’m so bogged down by work and my family that the opportunity to do real creative writing never presents itself. I get real joy from writing creatively and it’s a stress reliever too.
I’m feeling a strong pull toward my new paranormal romance and Shifter series, Shift River. This series can only be found here on LoveMe.eu and I’m ecstatic that I found the perfect place to showcase this story that’s in my heart. During the week, I function as a copywriter, self-editor and PR girl, but on the weekends I’m someone else entirely. In fact, I’m more than one person as Shift River is written in the third person and I plan to lead the many different characters of the series in a number of directions. This series is just getting started for me.
Gabriel, the two kids and his wife Sarah had come back after midnight because the plane they arrived on only landed at around 10.30pm. Lucy greeted them all but as the girls were tired, everyone went to bed very soon after the bags had been taken out of the car. It was a strange feeling for Lucy to have three more people in the house again. She was worried about not being able to cope with it even though she had always liked the two girls very much. However, the last time she had seen them had been a few years ago.
The next morning, Lucy was the first one to be up, so she decided to do some work on the computer until Gabriel and the others would get up. She was not sure about how the day would go and what was planned or not planned for it. As it turned out, Sarah and the kids had some things to do and went out of the house for a few hours. Gabriel did not feel too well and spend a lot of time in bed. Lucy felt a little relieved because she did not have to deal with too many people that day – but also a little sad because she had no time with Gabriel.
Lucy looked around the bare apartment that was her new home. Behind her, her entire life sat neatly packed away in a pile of boxes that were taller than she was, but in front of her was nothing but bare walls and cold potential.
It had been four years since she’d last lived in this city. The apartment was bigger than last time and in a better, more exclusive part of the city and those boxes that gave her a headache whenever she even considered sorting through them contained more expensive items than before, but the city felt the same.
It felt like home.
It had been a long four years, full of hard work and sacrifice but it had all been worth it. The promotion that had made her leave had in turn lead to another promotion that had brought her back and she was glad to be back amongst the familiar streets, smells and sounds of her hometown.
Lucy was startled – how would Gabriel be able to tell what was going on in her head? Did something in her eyes give her feelings away?
Lucy’s feelings seemed like a powerful river. Once the first drop from a river’s source starts to move, the flow of the river is usually unstoppable. The first drop will be joined by many others from many different sources. The river will become bigger and stronger as long as it is fed with water. It will make its way to the ocean and overcome all obstacles. Sometimes overcoming the obstacles will be harder – but in the end, the river will always win and find its way.
In this case, Lucy was not sure whether she would be able to fight against the strength of the river for much longer. She was fighting against her emotions and was not sure about who would win this war. She hated to think that she wouldn’t be able to be in control of her own heart and mind. There would be no point in letting those feelings take control – after all, her feelings would surely be one-sided and Gabriel was a married man. So what would she do if he really knew what she was thinking and feeling?
Gabriel said: “I’m sure you think that it would be nice to meet a guy just like that but instead you’re here with me.” Lucy had not really followed the movie because she was not very interested in it. She had to admit that the main actor was quite good looking but she said: “He doesn’t have a good character like you do.” Gabriel slightly raised an eyebrow: “So you think I’ve got a good character?
That’s good to know.” Lucy replied: “But you were wrong about what I was thinking about.” Gabriel turned to her a bit more: “Well, you surely are not very interested in the movie anyway – it’s a little boring, isn’t it? Would you rather talk to me about something?”
