Shadow of Hope (13 page)

Chapter: Twenty

Zoe laid on the grass, watching as light turned to dark. Her sisters left for a Wiccan gathering and were going to be gone all weekend. They invited her to go, but she opted to stay home. She was going to spend the weekend doing what was her latest pastime…nothing.

She heard a vehicle door slam, but remained where she was. She figured they forgot something and had to come back
. That was so like them. She didn’t hear the front door open. She sat and continued to listen. Waiting for a voice or voices, but it was silent. She stood and grasped her locket. She knew the power lie within, but the locket somehow helped her to center herself.

She walked toward the house, keeping to the shadows. She was pretty sure it was her sisters, but in case it wasn’t she wanted to be prepared. She rounded the tree and ran right smack into him.

“Evan?” she asked, gazing into his deep brown eyes.

“I didn’t mean to startle you. I went to the house, but I didn’t hear anyone and I know how you like to be outside, so I thought I would check back here.” He took a step forward
, their bodies inches apart.

She would have looked away, but there wasn’t room to turn her head. There was barely enough room to take a breath, without their skin touching. “What are you doing here?” She worked damn hard to build the wall around her heart and he wasn’t going to show up and knock it down. She wasn’t sure she could survive him breaking her heart again.

“I wanted to see you. I want to talk.” He moved in a little closer and she took a step back. She turned and walked to a bench that sat under a Willow tree. The branches brushed the ground on three sides. With all the new leaves, you could barely see the trunk.

She heard him moving the long thin branches as he passed through them and joined her. “I heard you moved out of your apartment.”

So we’re going for small chat, okay I can do this. I’ll keep things light then when he leaves, I’ll move on. I won’t break into pieces. I can’t.
“Yeah, I moved a few months ago.”

“You should’ve called I would’ve helped you.” He sat on the bench, she stood in front of him, and they were almost
eye-to-eye.

“You needed time and I needed to move.” She gave a small laugh. “The way we pack would’ve driven you crazy anyway.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

She folded her hands behind her back and turned away from him. In a voice a little higher than a whisper she asked, “Please tell me, why are you really here?”

“I’ve had a lot of time to think things through and the only conclusion I keep coming to is that I love you.”

She turned. “You what?”

He folded his hands, elbows resting on either leg. “I don’t know how or when it happened, but I love you.”

She exhaled the breath she had been holding. She expected him to say a lot of thing
s, but this was not one of them. “I don’t know what to say.”

“That wasn’t
quite the response I expected, but then again you never do anything I expect.” He gave a dry laugh.

“I don’t understand. When you left
, I didn’t think I would see you again. My heart shattered into little pieces.” She started to pace as she talked. “I imagined what your new girlfriend, I mean not that I was ever your girlfriend, but I kept trying to picture the woman you were sharing your life with and I couldn’t imagine you with anyone but me. And now you’re here and you love me too, and I’m not sure this is real, because it feels too damn perfect.”

He stood
and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Love me too’? So you do feel for me?”

She looked up, how did he manage to crush the walls she spent the past six months building with one glance? She nodded, afraid to speak.

“Say it, I want to hear it.”

When she tried to look away
, he lifted her chin so she had no choice but to face him. “Zoe, for twenty-six years I’ve lived my life by someone else’s dictates. I dreamed of love, but never felt the warmth of its embrace. And now I’m free of that, and the only person I care for is hinting she may feel for me as I do her. Zoe, this is a meaningless fantasy until I hear you say those words. Say them, Zoe, if you really feel them.”

Her eyes glistened. “I love you, too.”

“Good, now that we’ve got
that settled, we need to discuss a few things.” He released her chin. “First I can’t do magic, and while I’m still embracing other philosophies, I’m not comfortable with it enough at the moment to make it my own personal philosophy. . . I know it’s a part of you and that’s fine, but don’t expect me to participate in any rituals. I just can’t bring myself to do that right now, okay?”

She smiled. “Aww that’s too bad, but okay. I’ll respect your religion
and your heritage, just like I expect you to respect mine. When I’m running around naked under the moon light, like tonight, I expect you to stay in the house until I’m done celebrating. Okay?”

He raised a brow. “
Wait…you’re going to be naked, outside? Tonight?”

“Yes.” She rose up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Go on inside and I’ll be in later.”

She laughed inside. She had no intention of running around naked tonight, but she loved the love look that information put on his face. She would respect his beliefs, but she wanted the same from him. He could say the words, but somewhere deep inside she felt like he might still think she’s evil, or maybe that was the taint from her past that refused to be washed away.

He pulled her close. “I can see on your face that something’s wrong. It breaks my heart to think I
may have been the one to put it there.” He kissed the top of her head. “I said, and thought, some pretty ugly things about you. I won’t deny it. For that, I’ll be forever sorry, but you are not what I expected. None of your family is what I expected witches to be. There’s so much love in this family. I know there’s no evil here. I…
we
faced true evil and I have no doubt in my mind that you are as spiritual as I am. We practice differently, but in the end we are the same.”

She pulled away. “Do you really mean that?”

“I do. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being away it’s this, without you Zoe I’m only half a man. You fill the whole I didn’t know existed. These past six months have been hell on me, but I couldn’t come back to you until I was a hundred percent sure, because if I came back it would be forever.”

Tears slid down her cheeks, he bent down and kissed them away. “Do you mean it?”

“Yes, and to show you how supportive of your spirituality I am, this one time, I’ll stay out here and watch you.” A sheepish grin covered his face.

She laughed. “Wow, that’s pretty generous, you staying out here dressed while I take my clothes off. I mean that really means a lot to me.” She stood and tapped her finger on her cheek. “You know my sisters won’t be back until Sunday.”

“I’ll be here when they return. I owe Crystal and Daisy an apology too.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and covered her mouth with feather light kisses. “Don’t you have a ritual you need to do?”

“I have a better idea. Why don’t we both get naked and make love right here.”

He looked around the ground. “You want to make love outside on the ground? Wouldn’t you rather go up to your room? Maybe use the bed instead?”

She shook her head and slipped her top over her head. “Right here. Right now.” She reached behind her back and clasped her bra. The moonlight danced across her round firm breasts. She traced one nipple and then the other, causing her nipples to become pointed.

He bit his bottom lip. “Only this one time. I’m not going to be prancing around in the nude when your sisters are here. You can’t expect-”

She covered his mouth with hers
, drowning out the last of his words.

She unbuttoned her jeans and slid them down her legs. Her panties were the next to go. She lay back on the grass and motioned for him to join her. He undressed quickly,
and then placed a knee on either side of her.

“You are beautiful.” He bent down and pulled one nipple into his mouth, alternating between nibbling and sucking, she gasped as the sensation raised the hair on her arms. “You like that?”

She nodded. He switched to the other side and she cradled his head, massaging the base of his scalp. He worked his way down, trailing kisses down her belly, then down one thigh and then the other. She moaned as he slipped one finger and then another inside her.

He moved them back and forth, until they were slick with her moisture. Then he rubbed small circles on her clit until she was swollen. She moaned and begged him not to stop. The orgasm was quick and fierce, sending her body into convulsions. She pushed his hand away. Her body was so sensitive the slightest touch, sent shivers up and down.

He had a hunger in his eyes. He wasn’t even he close to being done. He pushed his dick to her opening, and moved slowly at first stretching her as he entered. He put his hands under ass and lifted her a little allowing deeper penetration.

“You are so tight and wet and-
”

“More, I want more.”

He pushed until he buried his dick, then pulled it out slowly and pushed it in a little faster this time.

“Harder!”

He pulled her closer and began pumping into her over and over creating a steady smooth rhythm. His balls slapped against her ass. She ran her hands across his back. As his speed increased she grasped his biceps, spreading her legs further apart, so she could take in more of him. She wanted him to fill every inch of her body.

Sweat dripped off his forehead onto her chest. He moved at a furious pace, she locked her ankles forcing his strokes to be shorter, but deeper.

“I’m going to come.”

Her muscles tightened as they went over the edge together, his seed spilling into her. He collapsed on the ground next to her and pulled her close.

He said with a ragged voice. “I could spend every moment of everyday with you like this.”

“Then let’s do that. We’ll make love everyday…at least twice a day.”

He laughed, and pulled her onto his chest. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Epilogue

One year later

Zoe lay sleeping on the bed. She had been in labor for ten hours before giving birth to their daughter Hope. She was exhausted. The sisters said it was an easy delivery, but after
what Evan saw, he didn’t know how they could say that. He wanted to go the hospital, but Zoe insisted on their daughter being born in the same manner as the last five generations. He agreed, but with a lot of reluctance.

His daughter started fussing, so he picked her up from her cradle and bounced her as he walked. He saw the sisters doing it and she seemed to enjoy it
, so he thought he’d give it a try and it seemed to work. He still couldn’t believe how things had changed for him. He was not only a husband, but now a father. This was his life.

Zoe opened her eyes and smiled at him. After everything she had been through, she could still look at him and smile. He thought she was a miracle, but he was pretty certain he didn’t deserve her. He sat on the edge of the bed, bent down and kissed her forehead. Hope started crying as soon as the bouncing stopped.

He laughed. “I think she’s hungry, but I didn’t want to wake you.”

She pulled their daughter to her breast and Hope latched on and the crying stopped. “Aww that’s my precious girl,” Zoe cooed.

“She’s beautiful. I feel incredibly blessed.”

Zoe laughed. “Remember that when she’s a teen and we have boys beating down the door.”

“She’s not dating until she’s at least thirty.” He ran his finger across his daughters’ cheek; he could have sworn he saw her smile.

“We’ll see.”

He bent over and kissed her. “Have I told you how much I love you?”

She nodded. “But I’ll never get tired of hearing it.”

“Good.”

Zoe tapped his arm. “You’re not going to say it?”

He laughed and slid his arm behind her, pulling them close. “I love you Zoe and I love you Hope.”

She leaned her head back on the pillow. “We love you too.”

The End.

Author Elizabeth Rose grew up in a household where reading was a favorite pastime. Having been encouraged by her parents as a young child to pursue the greats (Dr. Seuss and Amilia Bedilla) she quickly found herself wanting more than to just read stories of Charming Princes in far off lands; she wanted to write them as well.

Having been a follower of Gabriel, Elizabeth found a strong bond of friendship with author Tina Pollick. Having many common interests, Tina and Elizabeth decided to attempt co-writing a novel together. The end process was both enjoyable and enlightening.

Elizabeth currently resides in Wyoming with her two dogs, Bard and Blade. She is graciously allowed to attend the needs of her tomcat Tinker.
Shadow of Hope
is her first book. Stop by and say hi!

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.rose.58323431?fref=ts

When Tina Pollick isn’t writing paranormal romance about Heavenly hunks, and smart, sassy women, this RN enjoys a quiet home life with her husband, children, two horses, two dogs, cat, chickens, guineas, well sort of quiet.

The first in a three novella series, SOUL BROKER, will be published by Moon Rose Publis
hing in August 2013, with the next book in the series SOUL’S UNBOUND, available December 2013.

Stop by and say hello!

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/tinapollickauthor

www.tinapollick.com

Twitter: @Tinapollick

SOUL BROKER
is available on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble and Moon Rose Publishing publishing.