By the Book (10 page)
Authors: Ravyn Wilde
Chapter Thirteen
Gray lay with Joey snuggled tight and secure
in his arms as they recovered from their lovemaking. He had stumbled out of the
water with her in his arms, laying her on the soft sand. As he recovered he
glanced up. Fortunately, he picked a shaded area or he would have to move her
as her skin burned easily.
He took a deep breath, worked on his
courage. He would take his chances with talking to her now. The connection
between them couldn’t be just sex and he didn’t want to wait until the day she
left before he let her know how he felt. He would make her promise she wouldn’t
take away the days remaining if she didn’t like what he said.
“Joey? Sweetheart?” he whispered in her ear
as he pulled her tighter against him.
Please let her feel the same about him
.
She sighed heavily and her voice a sleepy
drawl, “Yeah…I’m still alive…barely.”
He smiled at her weak voice. “I need you to
promise me something, honey.”
“Ummm, okay.”
Gray shook his head. Maybe now wasn’t the
time for this conversation. She seemed to still be in la-la land.
“Joey, this is serious, baby,” he whispered
again. He just couldn’t wait any longer to talk to her—he was going crazy with
the uncertainty and the constant nervous twist in his stomach. In a short
period of time she had become his world.
She stretched against him and raised her
head. “Okay, serious. I promise I’m paying attention.” She smiled down at him
and waited for him to speak.
“This has been the most incredible three
weeks of my life,” he started.
Joey’s face fell.
Nopleasenopleaseno
.
This sounded like a farewell speech…three days early. She would smack him over
the head if he ended it now. Or suggested they stay in touch by e-mail and
phone when she left. No. No way. The only way to end this would be a surgically
quick break.
“I know we kind of jumped into a sexual
relationship without spending a lot of time getting to know each other, but I
think we’ve backtracked pretty well. I really do know you, Joey. We’ve talked
and laughed and argued about almost everything. I know your favorite color is
pink, your favorite food is smothered burritos and your favorite movie is
You’ve
Got Mail
. I don’t even think I knew those things about my ex-wife,” Gray
paused and looked at Joey. She frowned at him. Did that mean she didn’t want to
hear this? He rushed on. “I need you to promise me something, baby.”
She looked at him in confusion. Or maybe
he
was confused. This had to be the weirdest goodbye speech she’d ever heard. She
really didn’t want to do this yet. “What do you want me to promise?” Trembling
inside with suppressed emotion, she was afraid he would want her to be cool
about their upcoming separation. What if he intended on asking her to not
contact him? Her heart fell to her feet.
“Promise me that, well…no matter what you
think about what I am about to say, we will still have these next few days
together,” he said earnestly.
Joey cocked her head and looked at him like
he’d lost his mind. He knew he looked uneasy. She wouldn’t have any idea what
he wanted. She sighed. He hoped she wouldn’t want to give him up either.
“Okay, Gray. I don’t know what you’re
planning to tell me, but I’ll promise you the few days I have left.” A look of
horror came over her face. “Is there someone else? A girlfriend coming back
into town or…but no. We already talked about the fact you haven’t been involved
with anyone for a long time. What is it, Gray? Please, just say what you need
to and get it over with; you’re making me really nervous.”
He reached out to run his hand soothingly
down her arm, “There is no one else. Never think that. It’s just… I love you,
Joey. And I don’t want to lose you.”
She looked shocked. Oh, this couldn’t be
good. He felt all of his dreams screaming in denial. And then she smiled. And
burst into tears.
“Oh my God, Gray. I can’t believe it. I
have been…trying…so hard to be strong…and realize…”
“Joey, sweetheart it’s okay, I didn’t mean
to upset you,” he wrapped her in his arms and gently whispered endearments.
“Baby, please.”
He didn’t know. He thought he upset her
with his announcement. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand she sat up and
spoke to him in earnest, “Oh, Gray. I’m not upset. I’m just so happy you feel
the same way I do. I love you, too. But, Gray, I don’t think I can do this as a
long-distance relationship—I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything but
missing you.”
He sighed in relief and felt his body
relax. He leaned over to take Joey’s mouth in a gentle kiss. He could taste the
salty sweetness of her tears. His. She was his. Everything would be all right.
He pulled away from her and whispered against her lips. “Hell, no. If you don’t
want to live in paradise, I’ll move to California with you. I can handle
anything—even the smog and craziness of L.A.—if I’ve got you, sweetheart.”
“Oh, no.” Joey said without even thinking
about it. “We’ll stay here. I’ll have to go home and take care of some things
but Hawaii is definitely the place to be for this erotic romance author.” And
Joey pulled him back to her.
Several moments later Gray leaned back and
grinned with wicked intent into her big brown eyes. “I’ll come help. It’ll go
faster and I want to make sure you don’t leave any research material behind!”
Joey laughed out loud. “You are such a
maniac…is creative sex all you want from me?”
“No, baby. Remember what you said. It’s not
the sex…”
“It’s the story,” she finished with him.
And her story had just begun.
About Ravyn Wilde
Ravyn Wilde was born in Oregon and has spent several years
in New Guinea and Singapore. She is married, has three children and is
currently living in Utah. Ravyn is happiest when she has a book in one hand and
a drink in the other—preferably sprawled on a beach!
Ravyn welcomes comments from readers. You can find her
website and e-mail addresses on her
author bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.
Tell Us What You Think
We appreciate hearing reader opinions about
our books. You can email
the author
directly or you can email us at
[email protected]
(when contacting Customer Service, be sure to state the book title and author).
Also by
Ravyn Wilde
Ellora’s
Cavemen: Dreams of the Oasis IV
anthology
Ellora’s
Cavemen: Legendary Tails IV
anthology
Ellora’s
Cavemen: Tales from the Temple I
anthology
Zylar’s Moons 3:
Zylan Rebellion
Print books by Ravyn Wilde
Ellora’s
Cavemen: Dreams of the Oasis IV
anthology
Ellora’s
Cavemen: Legendary Tails IV
anthology
Ellora’s
Cavemen: Tales from the Temple I
anthology
Feral
Fascination
anthology
Men to Die For
anthology
Sexy Summer Fun
anthology
Vampire
Sentinel 1 & 2: Inherent Seduction
Zylar’s Moons 3:
Zylan Rebellion
Ellora’s
Cave Publishing
By the Book
ISBN 9781419902482
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
By the Book Copyright © 2012 Ravyn Wilde
Edited by Marty Klopfenstien
Cover design by Syneca and Irene Adler
Photo: 1418336 Ontario Ltd/Shutterstock.com
Electronic book publication June 2005
The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are
registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.
With the exception of quotes used in reviews,
this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means
existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave
Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.
Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or
distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be
scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means,
electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright
infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by
the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of
$250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized
electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the
electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights
is appreciated.
This book is a work of fiction and any
resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely
coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and
used fictitiously.
The publisher and author(s) acknowledge the
trademark status and trademark ownership of all trademarks, service marks and
word marks mentioned in this book.
The publisher does not have any control over,
and does not assume any responsibility for, author or third-party websites or
their content.
Discover for yourself why readers can’t get
enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ellora’s Cave. Be sure to visit
EC on the web at www.ellorascave.com to find erotic reading experiences that
will leave you breathless. You can also find our books at all the major
e-tailers (Barnes & Noble, Amazon Kindle, Sony, Kobo, Google, Apple
iBookstore, All Romance eBooks, and others).
