Текст книги "Affliction"
Автор книги: River Savage
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Текущая страница: 21 (всего у книги 21 страниц)
“No big deal,” I say, trying to shrug it off when in reality, it feels fucking good.
“It is a big deal to me,” she whispers, looking down at her daughter. “Would you like to hold Harlow?” she asks, smiling. Their little girl’s name is sweet and beautiful. She draws me in closer to the bed.
“Harlow?” Holly asks, smiling down at her.
“Yeah,” Kadence softly replies. Lifting the small baby up, she hands her over to me, and for a minute I panic, not remembering how to hold a baby.
“You can’t hurt her,” Kadence says, placing her in my arms then moving away. Taking a step back, I look down at the little girl, her milky soft skin and dark hair reminding me a little of Keira.
“She’s beautiful,” I say truthfully, looking at Holly and seeing the same sort of emotions flick over her face. We’ve both seen so much pain and loss in our past; it makes today even more emotional.
“Just like her momma,” Nix says, leaning down to kiss Kadence’s forehead.
“You want to hold her?” I look up and watch Holly wipe a stray tear away. I want to comfort her, help her through this, but the perfect little baby in my arms makes it difficult.
“Yeah,” she sniffs, sitting on the end of the bed and holding out her arms. Carefully, I place baby Harlow in her arms and step back, letting her have their own special moment.
“We wanted to ask you something,” Kadence says, sitting up and reaching out, running a finger along her daughter’s brow. “We would be honored if you and Sy would be Harlow’s godparents,” she asks, momentarily shocking me.
“Oh, my God. Yes, of course,” Holly squeals in delight, stirring Harlow for a second. “Oh, sorry, sweet girl,” she coos her back to sleep with a soft rock, while I watch on in awe of her.
“Sy?” Kadence asks when I don’t respond.
I smile at the thought, the poor girl not only has a badass daddy, but she has me and a whole clubhouse full of men ready to protect her.
“As long as you guys return the honor for our boy,” I say, giving our own secret away. I don’t care if they know. It's Holly who wanted to ask them later, but now seems like a good enough time.
“You’re having a boy?” Kadence squeals this time, then starts crying all over the place.
“Yeah,” Holly replies, giving me a stare. “We were keeping it under wraps, but looks like Harlow already has Sy wrapped around her little finger.” She looks at me accusingly.
“Not as much as you do,” I tell her, leaning down to give her a light kiss.
“Smooth,” Holly whispers, pulling back.
“Congrats, brother.” Nix comes forward and embraces me.
“You, too.” I slap his back twice before moving away.
“We would love to, guys,” Kadence says, wiping at her face.
“Okay, now, get the fuck out of here. My wife and baby girl need sleep.” He takes Harlow out of Holly's arms and orders us out.
“Nix.” Kadence scowls but we can see how exhausted she looks. Taking Holly’s hand, we say our goodbyes and leave them with promises to celebrate when Kadence and Harlow are released.
“You did good in there,” I tell Holly when we walk out hand in hand down the hospital corridor and back to the car.
“So did you,” she replies.
“This will be us in a couple more months. Are you ready?” She asks the big question that weighs on my mind. Am I ready? I want to say yes, that I handled holding Harlow and didn’t freak out, but the truth is, I know it's going to be a whole lot different when our own baby comes.
“More than fucking ready.” I pull her against me, lean down, and kiss her.
“I love you, Sy. Love you more than anything.”
And I believe her because I feel the same way. She chased away my darkness allowing me to absorb her special kind of sunshine. Without her love, I wouldn’t have been able to step out of the dark and see the possibility of a future. A future where the sun only shines brightly.
COMING EARLY 2015
Jesse’s Story
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Can you believe this is the second acknowledgements page? Crazytown.
Alissa Evanson-Smith: Whore… Yes, I just called you are a whore in my book. What can I say that you don’t already know? It’s been twelve months of friendship, and what a twelve months it has been. I wish more than anything I could just jump on a plane and bring you home with me. Why do you have to be so awesome? You are amazing, beautiful, kind, smart, funny, an amazing mom and an unreal friend. Please know my journey has been made amazing just by you alone. I owe you more than you know. Thank you for your hard work. I’d be lost without you. Love you.
Bel Burgess: Wow, you saved me, saved me something huge, Bel. You are talented. You are humble and you know your shit. I love you. I love your passion, your words, and your help. I can’t begin to imagine where this book would be without you. I love working with you.
Cassia Brightmore: Lady you are so amazing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me out in my time of need. Bring on Cleveland my friend.
Gillian Grybas: Gilly Gilly Gilly. I SOLO love you so much! You make me smile. Thank you for loving Sy and Holly SOLO much. Bring on the next one, yeah?
My C.O.W.s- Alissa, Ash, Jess and Bel: this journey has been crazy this time around, now that I’m a real author. But I have always come back to our group. I’ll never stop. I DUCKING love you all… Quack!
This Group Needs A Fucking Name: When I started this group, I had no idea how important it would be for me to finish this book. You have all embraced each other, helped each other, laughed at each other and encouraged each other. When I think about my author friends, I think of you all. I’m so happy I have you on my side and think the world of you all.
Thank you to my lovely beta readers: Cassia, Gilly, Melinda, Tammie, Jennifer, Tammy and Stephanie. Your enthusiasm for Sy and Holly really helped me finish this book.
It’s been a crazy ride. Thank you for loving their story, and get ready for Jesse. I hope he is kinder to me.
Max Henry: Dude… Formatting and blurb shout out to you. You are so talented and so amazing. I love you, lady, hard. I’m inspired by you, by your words and I love your loyalty. Never change.
Nina Levine: Dude, I stopped messaging you, but now I just ask the group… hahahaa! I still think you are all class and nothing less. Thank you for being awesome.
Louisa from LM Creations: My friend, Louisa, okay, so I promised with the last book that Sy’s book will be less painful… hahahaha, that was a promise I didn’t follow through with, so therefore I dedicate Sy to you. Now, I know you are awesome and disgustingly talented; however, you truly are so humble, so friendly and just a good person. You love hard, laugh lots and I can feel your passion through the screen. You know I would do anything for you. I can’t wait till March so I can squish you and try to make you blush. LOTS.
Becky Johnson: You are… a genius, pure genius, you take my words and you do something that only someone amazing can do. I love working with you. Your patience, your opinion and talking me down will never be forgotten. You’ve made this journey so smooth and I can’t wait to continue working with you.
To my Rebels: WOW, we have come so far! So far. Wow, so how do you tell a group of women that you owe them? You have made this journey beyond anything I could have imagined. You are my friends, the kind you never get rid of. You make me smile daily, laugh constantly and most of all you make me happy. I love you all! #CockOn
To ALL the Bloggers: Thank you for your support. I wouldn’t have been able to get my name out without you guys pimping Incandescent. Reviewing and loving the Knights Rebels boys just as much as I do has been so surreal to see. The whole journey has been crazy.
My Mr. Savage: We survived another one. Maybe barely and maybe with less hair, but we did it. You know, I know this wouldn’t have been possible without you. You really are one of the good ones. Up there with all our favorite men we love to read about. You love me without questions. You love me at my worst and have never faltered. You own my heart and don’t ever give it back. With the release of Affliction, I promise you to do this whole author business thing better. Thank you for being you: for getting me, for loving me. And most importantly, never leaving me. I love you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
An avid reader of romance and erotic novels, River’s love for books and reading fueled her passion for writing. Reading no longer sated her addiction, so she started writing in secret. She never imagined her dream of publishing a novel would ever be achievable. With a soft spot for an alpha male and a snarky, sassy woman, Kadence and Nix were born.
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Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Past
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
