Flawed Heart: House Of Obsidian - Bella Jewel Page 0,69

the money I took. I was suffering and you tried to help, but I pushed you away. I can’t change that, but I’m sorry, from the bottom of my soul.”

“I know you are,” I say, cupping his jaw. “And I’m sorry too, for not fighting harder, for not realizing something was wrong.”

“It’s in the past now, but I want you to know that’s where it’ll stay. I hurt you, you hurt me, but I won’t ever do it again. I’ll fight every day, for the rest of my life, to give you the life I promised you when I made love to you in this exact spot all those years ago.”

I lean forward, bringing his lips to mine. “I love you, Max. I’ve loved you since the day you pushed me over.”

He chuckles. “I didn’t push you, Blue Belle. I tripped you.”

I smile. “Same difference.”

“You wanna know what made me fall in love with you?”

I shake my head.

“Your eyes. It’s always been your eyes. The minute I saw them, I knew that I had to have you, that I had to see them as much as I could for the rest of my life because they captivated me. They spoke to me, and even now, they’re the entrance to your soul, and without it, I feel empty. Like I have nothing to breathe for.”

A tear trickles down my cheek. “Stop being sappy. You’re killing me.”

He smirks, pulling me close and kissing me hard.

“I can’t ask you to marry me, because I already have that. I can’t give you life, because we’ve already created that. I can’t take your virginity, because I own it, but I can give you a moment back again. A moment that started a long, beautiful, hard and crazy journey for us. Will you let me do that?”

“Are you asking me if I’ll let you lay me down to make love to me in the back of your truck, under the stars?”

He grins. “Heck yeah, I am.”

I wrap my arms around his neck. “Well, gee, Max, you didn’t have to feed me all that nonsense to get me into bed. All you had to do was ask.”

He throws his head back and laughs, then pulls me down onto the soft rug he laid out in the back of his truck. I roll to my side and I press my forehead to his, cupping his jaw. This has always been our way of expressing our love, and nothing has changed. I close my eyes and breathe him in, thanking God for bringing him back to me.

Eventually, we roll to our sides and look up at the stars that created our worlds once, a long time ago, and now they’re doing it all over again. Only this time, they’re creating it stronger and with an unbreakable foundation that nothing will penetrate.

Not this time.

This time, I’m keeping him.

THE END

Are you curious about Raide and Rainer? You’ll be pleased to know both of them are getting a book – and in 2015!

Rainer has a serious story to tell, and I know you’ve all be waiting for it. Below is a snippet of his story, FLAWED LOVE, which is book two in this series of standalones, coming on July 7th 2015. Don’t forget to mark your calendars.

Raide is coming up right after, and he might just meet his match with a sexy, female Bounty Hunter in his book, Hard To Fight, being released by St Martin’s Press in August 2015 – You can pre order your copy today, right here. HARD TO FIGHT - RAIDE'S STORY

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Now, as promised, here is a snippet from FLAWED LOVE - Book two in this series of standalones. This is Rainer’s story. (Please note this snippet is unedited)

PROLOGUE – Emalie - THEN

“R is for Rainer, handsome as can be, A is for asshole, one he can be, I is for idiot, yeah you know it’s true, N is for nerdy, you’re a little of that too, E is for energetic, there’s no holding you back, R is for rebel, one day I’ll fight back.”

Rainer rolls his eyes and throws the candy he was sucking at my head. I duck with a laugh and reach down, picking it up and tossing it back at him. He catches it and throws it back into his mouth, after dusting it off.

“God, you’re sick!” I scrunch up my nose. “I could have done anything with my hands...”

I lift my fingers and wriggle them, and Rainer winks at me.

“No worse than I’ve