Hannah's Hero - Ruby Dixon Page 0,106

back on the blankets and grinning at me.

“I thought you just told me you weren’t all that wounded,” I mutter, but I strip off my clothing because now I’m getting all hot and bothered. Okay, if we’re quick, then we can sleep and I get the best of both worlds. I’m blushing as I move to his side and he tugs me to him, pulling me onto his chest until I’m sitting right on his sternum. I’m far too big a girl for this, but he doesn’t seem to care. Instead of hauling me right onto his face, though, he gazes up at me, expression thoughtful. “Will you be happy here with me, H’nah?”

“This is a hell of a time to ask—”

“I mean it.”

His tone is so somber that it makes me ache. One of the best things about J’shel is how happy he is as a person. It evens out how salty I am. “I will. Sometimes I might not like living on the beach or wearing furs, but I will always, always love being with you.”

“It is not much like your book,” he tells me sadly.

“Isn’t it?” I poke a finger on his chest. “I have my hero right here.”

“But you wanted—”

“Fuck my book,” I say, exasperated. “I want you. I want this hut. I want our baby. I want a life with you. That book wasn’t a life, okay? It was just a goal I had. Even if I could go back now, I wouldn’t, because you’re here.”

“Fuck the book,” he muses, and then hauls me forward. “Just like I shall fuck your cunt with my tongue.”

“Oh Jesus,” I breathe. He’s dirty talking again. “How does a man like you have such a filthy mouth?”

“Sit on it and find out,” he cajoles.

And lord help me, but I do.

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AUTHOR’S NOTE

Hello there!

I’m such an asshole, aren’t I? Look at me ending this book right there when I know you’re all screaming at your Kindles and wanting me to go back to the whole N’dek/Bridget/A’tam/Devi situation! Man!

But really…this is the perfect place for Hannah and J’shel’s story to end, so we’re stopping there. FOR NOW. If you’ve read my books long enough, you know no one disappears off the page forever. They continue to show up over and over again. :)

A bit of housekeeping on these particular characters. I love to play with different aspects of life and society and how people fit in to their world, and for this book I wanted to delve into what it means to find your place in your “tribe.”

I know Hannah’s not going to be the most popular person with some people. Ever since she showed up, self-appointing herself as Vektal’s assistant and trying to boss people around, she’s gotten on people’s nerves. We’ve all met that one person at the office, right? That one asshole that gets into everyone’s business and thinks that the break room refrigerator should be maintained a certain way and is the first one to complain about, oh, everything? That’s Hannah. She’s always been a bit bossy but well-meaning, but her problem is that her initial fear manifested itself in a need to control her situation. It’s a common problem with people that suffer from anxiety—your nerves flare when you don’t feel as if you’re in control. For poor Hannah, it ended up making her unpopular with the rest of the tribe and no matter what she did, in their eyes she’s always the “counting” jerk. It eats away at her confidence and then affects everything, including the way she perceives herself.

There’s one point in the book where she calls herself fat. Now, every woman I know thinks obsessively about her weight. It doesn’t matter if you’re a size two or a twenty-two, you’re always thinking about it. You can be married for 15 years and still ask your husband if your ass looks fat in these jeans…and get upset at his answer. The flaws make us human and I’m all about the flaws. It wouldn’t be fun to write a series of books about amazing, kick-ass women who pick up everything as quickly as possible and never struggle with anything that life throws at them. Not only is that unrealistic, it’s boring. Everyone struggles. If I didn’t want to write about a bunch of normal people struggling, I’d have written about an Olympic team of athletes stranded or something. I’m far more interested in the everygirl and how she handles this crazy new situation she finds