I should really let her go.
“I’ll keep you safe here,” I say instead.
She opens her mouth to tell me about the dangers. And I would hear them. Then I would fucking vanquish every last one of them. But first I need to do something. I’ve needed to do it since I first saw her sleepy blue eyes and beautiful face staring up from her car window.
I kiss her, a light brush, my lips against hers.
Like a question, asking her to stay with the words I haven’t yet spoken aloud. She’s wound up so tight, full of worry and fear, and I want to make her feel safe, to caress her body until she turns into a puddle of need and incoherent begging.
She makes me crazy, and once upon a time I sought that out, wanting to feel wild and on edge. Not for a long time, though. These past years had been about isolation. About driving down dark country roads alone. And all along, I was looking for her.
Without even knowing it, looking for her.
Her lips are swollen, her skin flushed. She’s so incredibly sensual that it makes my body ache. At least it would if I could look away from her eyes. They blaze as bright and as blue as a new day, full of hope. She’s radiant like this.
“Morning,” she murmurs.
“Good morning, beautiful,” I say, leaning in for another kiss.
*
THANK YOU for reading Bedtime Story, the sexy modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I hope you loved Finn and Jessica as well as sweet little Ky!
You can meet Jessica and Ky where they were first introduced in the Masterpiece duet, starting with USA Today bestseller THE KING, which is available now. A trailer park princess. The son of a criminal king. We don’t belong together, but I’m caught in a twisted game…
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RIPPLES
A Prince and the Pauper Story
Aleatha Romig
“Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects.”
~Dalai Lama
Author’s Note
The multifaceted concept of The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain has always fascinated me in a fairy tale sort of way. The premise of the story is that at one time or another, the idea, dream, or fantasy of almost every person is to live as someone else. Whether for an hour or a lifetime, most people imagine stepping outside the box that is their life.
In a fairy tale, this phenomenon would occur with the help of magic, but in many adaptations of this story, as well as the original, the transformation takes place through circumstance and chance.
The second allure of The Prince and the Pauper is the revelation that no one is truly free—whether prince or pauper. Every life has chains. Most are metaphoric and bind us in place by responsibility and expectation. The life that others envy or that looks free often isn’t. In each individual’s life, the chains are what differ.
In most adaptations of this story, the final outcome is a better understanding of and appreciation for life—something that can only come through the life-altering experience. It just so happens that sometimes that journey can be more sinister than anyone expects.
A Glance into the Future
Intuition will tell the thinking mind where to look next.
~ Jonas Salk
“Daddy, I want to introduce you to my fiancé.”
Natalie’s father’s brown eyes darkened as he gazed upon the man at his daughter’s side. Even at his age, her father was an intimidating and formidable man in all matters, personal as well as business. Retirement was but a word not fully in his repertoire. He’d built his family’s castles and riches from nothing. He’d be involved in their success until he took his last breath.
That didn’t mean he was an absentee father. On the contrary, he was omnipresent—as he was in all things.
This greeting, after Natalie’s disappearance, was personal and difficult to accept, leaving him and his wife uncharacteristically unnerved. The young woman making the introduction was their beautiful baby, their second daughter, the one for whom the world held fewer expectations. He, however, had plans for her—expectations and dreams—as did her mother, none that included the man at her side.
Natalie’s course may not have been as defined as her older siblings, but their stories were for another time. This was Natalie’s.
Her father’s shoulders broadened and neck stiffened. Before Natalie could say anything, her mother’s petite hand landed upon her father’s sleeve. The diamond ring on her mother’s finger glittered with dancing rainbow prisms as her touch gently reminded Natalie’s father that this was their cherished princess and apparently, her chosen prince. It was not the time for her father to assert his dominance.
Yet he knew that this wasn’t the way it was meant to be.
It wasn’t the future they had planned for their baby girl.
Her father’s question formed—a demand to know how this union happened. It teetered on the tip of his tongue while at the same time his wife’s grasp tightened, pleading for his understanding, if only momentarily. It was truly her gift, the ability to calm the seas without uttering a word.
In the short time that all their gazes locked, the answers to her father’s questions and more lurked in the shadows of the present and past. There was more to this man—the one with the audacity to have his hand on Natalie’s back—than there appeared. There was a darkness that was all too familiar.
Her father let out a long breath and offered his hand. His handshake was not to be interpreted as a white flag. Natalie’s father didn’t surrender.
As their grips tightened, her father stared knowingly into the eyes of evil. They weren’t hard to recognize. He’d seen them often enough in the mirror.
One day the secrets may be revealed; however, some things are better left behind closed doors. Because the truth will reveal that despite the best efforts to keep his baby girl safe, it was her father’s doing that set her fate into motion.
Chapter One
Before the future and after the past
When you have expectations, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.
~ Ryan Reynolds
The dreary overcast sky settled around the buildings, obscuring their height as the car slowly made its way through Boston traffic. The holiday break was here. Soon Natalie would be faced with the truth of her reality. All of her father’s money couldn’t propitiate the cause any longer. Her time at Harvard was done.