Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 51624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Now, not seeing a child, I’m automatically thinking the worst. Tears are sliding down my face and disappearing into my beard. I don’t bother wiping them away. My heart is too busy trying to beat while it’s ripped open. Olivia would have never given up our child. Never. That only leaves one alternative. I let the truth push into me with the ferocity of a branding iron sizzling against fresh, unblemished skin. In its wake is a wound that I know will never heal.
I make a last-minute decision I know I shouldn’t indulge in. I climb on the bed behind Olivia, breathing her in. Instantly, the scent of a Piña Colada surrounds me. Coconut and vanilla are so lush it’s addicting. It’s not a drink I’ve enjoyed. Hell, if I ordered one, my men would’ve laughed me out of the clubhouse. Still, the scent is intoxicating. The emptiness I’ve carried since I was forced to leave her immediately disappears. Even with my heart hurting, and tears of loss running down my face, I finally feel hope. After all this time, I’m next to the woman I love.
The nightstand on this side of the bed has two photos on it. The first makes me smile. It’s of a younger Olivia and her father. The second is the one that completely unmans me, though. It’s a picture of me and Olivia at a county fundraising fair. God, I wish I could go back in time and fix the misunderstandings of our past. If that happened, I would have never picked that lying viper, Ayita. Fuck that. If I could go back, I would have killed Olivia’s brother and his club before he could have hurt my woman.
I push those thoughts away. I can’t stay. I’ll need to leave soon. I’m being reckless, but there’s a huge part of me that wants Olivia to wake up and see me lying here. I want her to finally know that I’m alive and I’m going to reclaim our lives together. It’s not good to do that now. I need to make sure her brother is no longer a threat first. Still, need and want are overriding common sense.
I look down at my beautiful woman and smile. The cover has fallen to her waist, revealing the curve of her breasts. She’s beautiful, but that’s not what catches my eye the most. No—not at all. What makes me instantly go rock hard and pay attention is the fact she’s wearing an old T-shirt that I used to wear.
She’s sleeping in my clothes. Mine.
Pride fills me. This is my woman. The one I would choose no matter which lifetime, or how many times we encounter one another. I would love her and none other. Olivia is the air I breathe and the beat of my heart.
“I love you, Livy,” I whisper, reaching out and curling a tendril of her chestnut hair. I hold my breath and pray she doesn’t hear me while that traitorous voice in my head prays that she does. It’s total disappointment I feel when she doesn’t. Still, I allow my head to lie against the pillow, and even though I’m pushing my luck, I let my arm rest on her waist. Olivia, proving she’s still the sexy nymph who is clueless to what she does to a man, snuggles into me, her curvy ass pushing against my cock. I groan as quietly as I can and close my eyes. “I love you,” I breathe out once more.
“Bear,” she replies, and every muscle I have stiffens.
She said my name.
Pain pierces me once more. I can’t hide any longer. It’s time for me to come back. I can’t wait any longer. Watching and waiting is done. Now, I attack and reclaim the life that I was always meant to have.
21
MEMORIES OF HIM
OLIVIA
I wake slowly, my body feeling weight down. I can’t remember sleeping this heavily in forever. For once, my dreams at night were good. I was surrounded in Bear’s arms, his sweet whispers in my ears, his scent and love surrounding me completely. As I open my eyes, despair fills me. There’s no one beside me, no arms wrapped tight, just an empty place on the bed that was meant for Bear but will never hold him. Tears run unchecked down my face. Sobs rack my body. I can’t stop them. I don’t even try. I grab the pillow beside me and clutch it tightly to my chest. Some stupid part of me breathes in and I can smell a masculine scent that reminds me so much of Bear and the tears flow even harder.
I’m not sure how long I cry. The intensity lessens, but I can’t stop them. I hear my cell ringing, but I just remain curled in the fetal position on my bed, completely ignoring it. There’s no stopping this breakdown. The dream was too sweet and waking up alone is crushing. The tears slow even more. My body is sore from the sobs, my throat scratchy. My eyes are squeezed tight as I do everything I can to see Bear’s face in my memories. Yet, even those begin to escape me. Slowly, the picture of him smiling down at me morphs into his eyes closing, face swollen, blood running out of his mouth, his face scary white.