Blog Tour de Troops!

Welcome Hellhounds and Blog Tour de Troops participants! If you’re following along, you’ve just come from visiting Elena Gray and when you leave, make sure you continue on to see Rachelle Reese & John E. Miller!

This event is HUGE! You can get up to 50 books on this Blog Tour, but for every comment you leave, one of our troops gets an e-copy, also! So, spread the word and invite your friends to join the tour…it’s a very small painless way to say THANK YOU to our troops!

Veterans affect almost all of our lives, if it’s not a family member, it’s someone you know. All of them deserve our gratitude! They give up a lot to keep our country and families safe!

I have two veterans in my family, my grandfather and father.

My grandfather, Bernard Miller, was a marine in WWII stationed in New Zealand and at Guadal Canal. He made a bracelet out of the remains of a Japanese fighter jet—or so he says! He’s a HUGE storyteller, so anything he says could be true or blown into a story out of this world. He’s unique to say the least, fun to be with and such a jokester. And you gotta watch him because he’ll shamelessly cheat at billiards!! Regardless of what the bracelet is made out of, it’s super cool and an amazing piece of history to me. It’s one of my most cherished family heirlooms. Here are the pictures of it!

My father served in the army in the Vietnam War. He’s very embittered by his country’s protests of that war and don’t even get him started on the actress, Jane Fonda. He’s got very strong opinions about what should have happened to her. He thinks the Vietnam Memorial Wall is a cop-out and only erected as an afterthought. My father reminds me that our troops need our support regardless if we agree with the war or not.  Every military man and woman deserves the support of their country! But the way my grandfather and father see their tours is startling different. My grandfather is proud of his service, while my father is sour.

After returning from Vietnam, my father suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. He was living with my mother in California after his tour. They were outside and a plane flew by overhead. My father started screaming, “Incoming! Incoming!” and dove underneath the vehicle. It freaked my mother out, but it also details the horrors these men experience in war. The little things we think nothing about panicked him and had him taking cover.

Stop and think about what our soldiers see every day. They do it for us and to keep our country safe! When they return to the safety of America, how do they cope with the mundane realities of life? I would think it’d all seem so very trivial. To EVERY soldier and their families...a huge THANK YOU from me! They all make sacrifices for us and they’re all heroes in my eyes!!!

As part of my blog, I’m giving away an e-copy of Madison’s Life Lessons, my prequel to the Road to Hell series. Leave me a comment with your email address, and I’ll forward you the coupon code for you to get your copy of the e-book from Smashwords. For an excerpt and blurb of Madison’s Life Lessons, click HERE.

Please feel free to visit Forbidden Reviews and Intoxicatedby Books (both clickable links) for reviews of Madison’s Life Lessons. 

Don’t forget there are 50 e-books up for grabs on this blog tour. Visit Indie Book Collective for a list of author blogs! If you’d like to make a donation to the troops, go to Paypal and use ibcprograms@gmail.com. Please make sure you include a note stating that your contribution is for the troops!

But that’s not all! The Indie Book Collective is also giving a brand new KINDLE to a tour commenter, randomly drawn, and multiple KINDLES to several lucky troops! You’re thinking, why? Because books are the number one care package item requested by troops! If you want to give back to the troops with KINDLES, just click here for secure, donations via Paypal.

Have fun on the hop and happy reading!!

Checkbook Cover Contest WINNER

Everyone who left comments on the Life Lessons were qualified to be entered in the checkbook cover contest. I plugged everyone's name into random.org the number of times you commented. For some that was all 26 lessons, but not for others.

The winner of the random.org draw is...

KRISTINA HAECKER


Congrats, Kristina!!


Huggles,
Gracen

LIFE LESSON TWENTY-SIX

Warning:  This scene contains content that some may find offensive. Please read with caution.

Eighteen hours after Micah walked out the door for work, he still hadn’t returned home. His secretary, Nicole, said she hadn’t seen him all day and that the hearing he claimed to have never made it to his calendar. It must have been an emergency hearing, but either way, Nicole couldn’t find a single judge that said Micah had appeared in their courtroom that day. Not even for an emergency hearing.

When Madison called Micah’s cell phone, it went straight to voice mail indicating it was off or he ignored her call.

In a state of panic, she packed Amos into his toddler car seat and sped to the police station only to discover a missing person’s report couldn’t be issued until twenty-four hours passed.

Madison paced the parking lot of the station as she put in a call to Micah’s college buddy, Senator Matt Bromleigh, at his home in Alabama. Twenty minutes later, he’d ignited early fires beneath reluctant feet and she’d never been so glad to know someone in a position of power as she was then.

Sent home to await a call from the police when they knew more, she spent the night pacing the living room floor. What if he were lying dead in a ditch from a car accident? Or if one of his former criminal clients murdered him? But why would they want to? He’d never lost a case.

Collapsing on the sofa, she allowed her emotions freedom and cried into her hands. Her worst fear was that Micah lay dead somewhere. That he might have died alone, not knowing how much she wanted to make their marriage work. Maybe not realizing how much he meant to her. She’d failed him as a wife and she regretted letting him down more than ever. He’d vested himself in her with his whole heart, while she’d repeatedly withheld herself. He’d taken a chance on marrying her and told her every day he loved her, even when she failed to be receptive.

Madison sobbed into her hands. Please let him be okay. Please…please…please…I’ll do everything different. I’ll give him all of me. I won’t pull back for fear of giving him too much, for fear of making him hate me, or for fear of proving my daddy right.

But who would hear her prayer? She hadn’t talked to God since she was fifteen and couldn’t bring herself to believe in him anyway. That meant there was nothing out there to answer her entreaties. Micah was on his own in whatever situation he’d landed in.

But why had he lied about the court appearance? And vanished after he walked out the door? Not a trace of him, no witnesses to his whereabouts and even his cell had been turned off. So much for tracking him with its signal. Sitting up, she swiped the tears aside. She’d never known him to lie to her, so why start now? Dread scuttled up her spine, reminding her of the disappointment she’d seen in his eyes as she denied him the bed partner he wanted.

Every time she looked at her son, she saw Micah in his features. The very tangible fear that her husband wouldn’t be coming home tickled the edges of her reality, but she pushed the thoughts aside faster than she could hit the escape button on the computer. He had to return home. I need him. Amos needs him.

Chewing her nails to the quick, she leaned on Matt Bromleigh over the next several days and chatted with officers more than once. Amos was too young to understand why there were so many guests in their home. Amos missed his daddy and she held him as he cried himself to sleep every night since Micah’s disappearance. As morning dawned on the fourth day, blues showed up at her home and requested she ride with them to the police station. Matt convinced them to let him drive her there after she took Amos to a neighbor’s house.

“What’s the purpose of Madison coming to the station?” Matt Bromleigh demanded the moment they entered the interrogation room.

“Please take a seat.” Detective Miles motioned to the chair.

“We’re not here for a tea party, so I’ll stand.”

The police officer shrugged and directed his comments to Madison. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Dominus, but we’ve been forced to turn this investigation over to the Feds—”

“Why?” the Senator demanded.

“After your parent’s untimely death—” he cleared his throat and shrugged, as he looked around nervously, but she understood what he implied. Her parents had died in a car accident six months after her marriage. There had been an investigation into their demise, with her as the prime suspect, as if she knew how to tamper with the brakes of a car to kill her parents. Her hefty inheritance had been sufficient motive and there were many in town that believed she were guilty. Still believed in her guilt. “—well, you can imagine how it looks now with your husband missing and all the things we’ve learned about him since his disappearance.”

Ignoring the obvious implications they believed she was to blame, she could only focus on locating her husband. Nothing else mattered. “What things are you talking about?”

“Are you charging her with something?” Matt stood beside her chair and eyed the detective.

The officer glanced at the mirrored glass. “Not yet.”

“Formally charge her. Until then, she has nothing to say.” Matt slammed a hand on the table, meeting the detective’s stare head-on. Madison didn’t need hard balling; she needed answers to her husband’s whereabouts. “We’re leaving, Madison.”

The officer didn’t give up that easily. “Mrs. Dominus, are you aware Micah Dominus does not exist? Anywhere? He has no birth records—”

“Let’s go.” Matt’s fingers curled around her upper arm and he yanked her from the chair.

“—no social security number, school records…just nada. It’s like he’s a ghost.”

“But Micah and Matt went to college together. Tell him, Matt.”

Silent, with his features pinched in anger, their family friend drug her toward the door. The detective went on as if she hadn’t spoken or that Matt attempted to make a hasty exit. “His so-called parents are from the 1700s and never had any children.”

Madison jerked her arm out of Matt’s grip as he opened the door. “You’re lying,” she whispered, facing the detective.

If Micah Dominus didn’t exist, who was her husband? Dear God, who could she have married if he wasn’t who he’d said he was? What had been his purpose for winning her over? Because looking back on their relationship, he’d courted her very clearly from the beginning. Even if he hadn’t pushed at first, he’d still been a much older man after a fifteen year old girl. An adolescent with so many problems, no man in his right mind would’ve taken her on. Yet, he had fought to be the champion of all her troubles.

“We have video footage of your husband from the Atlanta, Georgia airport booking a flight to Rio. He was using an alias with a very real U.S. passport.”

Matt tried to pull her through the door, but she resisted. Her heartbeat pounded faster than the tempo of the chant of “no, no, no” in her mind, making it hard to concentrate on what was being said. None of this made sense.

“I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.” Detective Miles held out a manila envelope. “Take it with you. Call me when you’ve had a chance to look it over.”

Hands shaking, she took the envelope and stared at it, fearing the contents would alter not just her life, but her opinion of the one man she’d placed every ounce of her faith in.

Micah isn’t…Micah? It couldn’t be true! The next words out of the cop’s mouth snatched her gaze up to meet his. “I imagine the Feds are going to have a lot of questions about the billions of dollars in your name in overseas accounts.”

Matt dragged her out of the interrogation room with a hissed, “Don’t say another goddamn word until we’re in my vehicle.”

Numb, she finally allowed him to guide her down the scuffed up linoleum hallway, beneath the flickering fluorescent lights. She felt like she was in a nightmare she couldn’t wake up from. Or at the very least her life had turned into a really bad Lifetime movie drama.

Billions of dollars in her name? In overseas accounts? That was crazy talk! Her parents hadn’t left her anywhere near that amount. A little over a million, but there was no way Micah could’ve turned that into billions.

Bile slammed to the back of her throat, choking her, but she managed to swallow it down. Not only was Micah possibly someone else, she feared she didn’t know him at all.

The Senator guided her to his Escalade, and her entire body trembled as she wrenched the passenger door open and fell into the leather.

“My God….” As blackness hazed her vision, she dropped her face into her hands. “My God, I had a child with him. A child with a man who might not exist.” She looked at Matt and he tossed her an edgy glance as he shut his door.

“Calm down.” The keys rattled as he jammed one into the ignition. “You know Micah is who he claims. And you know how much he loves you.”

“Do I? Detective Miles seemed pretty convinced Micah isn’t Micah. Gave me a file—” she waggled it at him “—proving his case. Who does that unless they’ve got hard facts to back them up?”

“We have no idea what’s in there. Until we do, we’re only speculating.”

“If he’s not Micah Dominus, who could he be?” Matt’s gaze flinched away and she suddenly wondered if he’d been in on Micah’s subterfuge. “Did you have any idea he wasn’t who he claimed to be?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Answer me straight, Matt.”

“No.” He rubbed his forehead. “I’ve only ever known him as Micah Dominus. You know we met in college and have been friends ever since. For God’s sake, I roomed with him, took classes with him and we were in a study group together.”

So help me God, if he is lying to me….

Madison ripped open the envelope and yanked the documents out. As she scanned the paperwork, her world turned upside down and anger sliced through her breastbone. For a long terrifying moment she couldn’t catch her breath. Cold hard evidence in the palm of her hand confirmed everything Detective Miles said.

Her stomach cramped and she choked on a sob that burned her sinuses. Unbelievable. My entire life has been a lie. The man I love isn’t who he claims.

What was he hiding?

“Take me home.” Her voice came out scratchy as she crumpled the paperwork against her leg to stop her hand from shaking.

“Madison—”

“Just take me home!” Before I lose it. To think she’d worried about his welfare and he was catching flights to Rio under another identity. Probably to start a new life, with a new career and a new wife. The very thought sickened her. “Please, just take me home,” she whispered staring out the window blindly, tears thickening her voice. She needed to hold her son, needed to know something was still real in her life.

Why? Why had he deceived her?

Matt cranked the vehicle and pulled out of the parking lot. Her thoughts rehashed her life with Micah, from Christmas morning when they first met in her father’s church and coming full circle to their final evening together. They’d made love and she’d disappointed him again, because she couldn’t be the woman he wanted, wouldn’t allow her defenses to lower enough to enjoy his sexual favors. Every time Micah took her to their bed, her father’s words haunted her, reminding her that she was a whore. Words spoken from the lips of a dead man had still been very much alive in her head.

Her head spun thinking of Micah’s words after he’d taken her the last time. All his sweet talk about loving her and protecting her, he’d said every word knowing he planned to leave her and Amos. They’d been lies! Deceived from the beginning to the end of their relationship, only to wind up having her heart betrayed by the one man she’d placed above all others.

She sniffled and swiped at the tears blurring her vision. I’ll trust no one ever again. Not after this.

“We’ll work this out.”

Madison didn’t want Matt’s comfort. She wanted to hug her child and figure out how she went on from here.

I hate Micah. Dear God, how she hated him! She leaned her forehead against the cool glass as the tears coursed down her face.

© Gracen Miller 2011 ~ No part of this site (written or artwork) may be reproduced in anyway whatsoever without express written consent by Gracen Miller.

LIFE LESSON TWENTY-FIVE

Warning:  This scene contains  sexual content that some may find offensive. Please read with caution.

Four months later

Micah stared at his reflection in the mirror. The furrows on his brow created heavy lines. Madison had cried herself to sleep while he held her, swearing it’d get better. He resisted the urge to punch the mirror.

January first was supposed to be the beginning of a new year, but also the first day of the rest of their lives together. A cold, brisk southern morning dawned and snow had been falling by lunch time, creating a glittering backdrop to their marriage. Elias had stood at his side as Micah’s best man and pride like he’d never known bloomed in Micah’s chest when Madison walked down the aisle in her stark white gown. The wedding had gone as planned and they’d toasted to their future together, covenanting their lives to one another for an eternity.

They’d taken a private jet to Paris and he’d been eager to get her into their honeymoon suite. Thoughts of stripping and loving her slowly died as he caught the excited gleam in her eyes and the first patch of her flesh was exposed. Lust too far gone and she’d smelled so damn divine, he’d taken her quickly and much too roughly. To make matters worse, he hadn’t realized his mistake until she turned her head aside and tears streaked her cheeks. A very hollow feeling settled in his gut as he finished inside her, his wife having enjoyed none of the process. She’d rolled away from him afterward and dragged the covers to her chin.

He’d wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against his frame. “I’m sorry. It’ll get better, kitten.” But he’d felt her mental withdrawal like a protective barrier against further suffering.

Virgins weren’t a commodity he enjoyed often. Neither had his sexual partner’s pleasure hadn’t been his focus before tonight. Failure was a unique novelty and something he could happily never deal with again. Goddamn it, he’d needed her virginity to seal their cosmic deal.

Micah took a deep breath and exhaled it. “I will make it good for her next time,” he told his reflection.

Their next time ended just as badly. And a very real tenseness settled into their honeymoon. He had no idea how to proceed and feared he only made matters worse each time he touched her. If only he knew how to rectify his error.

***

Two years later

A son! She had a son. Labor had been long and she’d denied an epidural. Every second of it was worth the perfect little creature nestled in her arms, nursing at her breast. Amos Ross Dominus…the single most wonderful thing that happened in her life.

All the godawful sex was worth getting him too. But she wouldn’t think of that now. Not when her joy was too great. And Micah was pleased, he couldn’t stop smiling. She just wished things could go back to the days before their marriage, when they’d been comfortable with one another. Now every time he touched her, hugged or kissed her, she worried he’d want sex. Too bad she wasn’t the whore her father said she’d be. She displeased Micah and she desperately wanted to make him happy, but she couldn’t even bring herself to pretend she enjoyed making love with him.

***

Two years later

Micah stared at the Azura stones, an ancient prophetic device used by his Father. Please her or leave her. Displeased with the prophecy, he disliked the actions he’d be forced to take. He tucked the stones away and was placing them into his bedside table when Madison entered their bedroom.

“Amos asleep?” he asked as she walked toward her closet.

“Finally.”

A few minutes later she emerged in a white silk gown. Beautiful woman. His. Bound to him for life and she detested his touch.

He went to her and clasped her face between his hands. “I wish to make love to you tonight.” Her blue eyes grew cloudy. “Don’t, kitten, please don’t. I’m sorry for the way I took you on our honeymoon. I wish I could do it all over again.” He’d damn sure tried to make things better in the four years since their wedding.

Madison swallowed. “I want to be what you need me to be, but….”

“Let me try, Madison. Just allow me to try.” But you’ll have to open up to me as well. 

She’d once enjoyed his kisses. If he could just get her to recapture her youth, he could succeed. He knew he could and then he wouldn’t have to follow the advice of the Azura stones.

A hesitant nod, but he could tell she was afraid. He kissed her slow and with patience, taking his time to arouse her. Only when she began to return his kisses, did he deepen them.

“Help me remove my clothes.” Not something he’d ever asked of her before. And her hands shook as she lifted them to unbutton his shirt. He caught her wrists after she tugged the material free of his slacks. “You know I don’t bite. This is me, kitten. The same man you loved before we married.”

“I still love you, Micah.”

“Then show me.”

She did, or she tried. And she’d seemed to be enjoying his caresses and kisses. He went down on her—not something ever tolerated by her before—and she’d nearly came, but she shoved his head aside before the fireworks could claim her. Easing over her, he’d thrust easily into her, marveling that it’d been one of the few times lubrication hadn’t been necessary. Again, he felt her rising release and her lips parted, her eyes widening—in surprise?—as she neared a very real climax. The first ever with him.

Then something altered. A frown flitted across her brow and she’d bitten her bottom lip, as a sad shudder emerged from her lungs. He felt a mental shift because he felt her disconnect from him in an emotional sense. Fear turned her eyes shiny, brimming with tears and she whispered, “You’ll hate me.”

What the hell? Hate her for what? Nothing she ever did could bring about his hate.

Just that fast her arousal died away and her orgasm never surfaced. Frustrated, Micah finished, burying his face in the curve between her neck and shoulder as he released. It didn’t seem right to groan his release too loudly, when she hadn’t enjoyed it.

He had his answer. He knew what he must do. Tears burned his eyes and he’d never shed a tear for anyone. No one had ever been that important to him, not even his bastard of a Father.

Micah rolled off her onto his back. “Tonight marks a new beginning, Madison.”

She sniffled but didn’t look at him. He fiddled with her hair, wishing he possessed another alternative. Goddamn, he wanted a different choice than the one he was presented with.

“It’ll eventually work out, kitten.” Her gaze walloped him, doubt stark in her eyes. “Do you trust me?” She nodded. “Then trust me when I tell you we will work it out.” But she’d need to evolve first. That had been clear in the Azura stones. “You’re my future, no other will suffice.”

“I don’t want to lose you.” Madison snuggled against him, resting her head on his shoulder. Even though her tears were warm against his flesh, he relished the way she turned to him for comfort. Her rock. Her foundation for seven years. Maybe that’d been his mistake, solving all of her problems for her. “Will you help me be what you need?” She asked in a small voice and her uncertainty broke his heart.

“You’re already what I need.” He hugged her tight against him. “I love you and nothing will ever alter that. Remember that, okay?” Regardless of the nasty things I will be forced to do. She nodded, but he needed to see her eyes, to know she truly meant it. He placed a finger beneath her chin and tilted her head back until their gazes touched. “Regardless what happens, promise me you’ll never forget I love you more than anything. You are my world, kitten. I’ll always protect you, now and forever, even if it seems that I’m not. Promise me you believe me and that you won’t forget, Madison.”

Her voice sounded rusty as it emerged, “I promise.”

***

The next morning, Micah descended the stairs as always, but his mood was cautious. When Madison finally slumbered last night, he’d exited the bed and consulted the Azura stones once more. He hoped they’d give him an alternative course.

The prophecy was as dire the second time as the first. He perched on a crossroads. If Madison were cool toward him this morning, his mission was likely doomed. He’d been uncertain how he would handle the situation if that occurred. If she uttered words of encouragement, there was hope. A fifty-fifty chance his plan would succeed. To up those odds, he’d have to commit difficult actions toward her, but all would be necessary to push her in the direction she must go. Madison had to evolve or he would lose everything, not just his ultimate endgame, but her as well.

As he entered the kitchen, his stomach churned with uncertainty. Madison cooked a typical southern breakfast—bacon, fried eggs, biscuits and grits. He adored her cooking and his belly grumbled at the scents wafting to him.

Amos sat in a chair on his knees, giggling at the pup he’d received for his birthday wallowing on her back making grunting and groaning noises. The blue Great Dane—Amos named Dixie—would protect him, and that was all Micah cared about.

“Morning, kitten,” he said as he walked up beside her to snag a piece of bacon. She hugged him and gave him a peck on the cheek. His eyebrows flashed upward at the flush on her face. “You’re practically glowing this morning.” Beautiful.

Madison adjusted his tie and her shyness cramped his gut with nostalgia. After all this time she continued to worry about his reception.

She peeked at him through her lashes. “I wish to try again tonight.”

All is not lost! Hope surged inside him and he buried his hand in her hair, angling her head back to stare into her eyes. She didn’t flinch away as he’d expected.

“You almost came last night,” he whispered low so Amos wouldn’t hear. “A first.”

An adorable blush infused her cheeks. “Yes.”

“You weren’t disgusted?”

“No.” A frown hit her forehead. “Is that what you thought all these years?”

“It doesn’t matter what I thought.” He kissed her cheeks. “All that is of importance is our future.”

He and Amos chatted as they ate breakfast, most of the conversation centered on the Great Dane, how she hogged the bed and begged for loving, but he didn’t mind because they were friends.  Dixie whined for food and he realized halfway through the meal that his son snuck bits of biscuit to her.

“Give her a whole one, Amos.” He nodded at the platter of biscuits. Amos’s blue eyes lit up and he scrambled halfway across the table in order to reach one. The delight of such simple things warmed his heart and they’d be missed.

He looked at Madison as he pressed a napkin to his mouth. She smiled.

My beautiful family. So precious and so far from where they need to be.

Micah slid back his chair. “I have an early morning hearing. I need to run.”

He scuffed his fingers in Amos’s hair and then drew Madison out of her chair into his arms for a lingering kiss.

“Good luck in court,” she said. He grinned. Luck had nothing to do with his success. She straightened his tie. “I love you, Micah.”

He tipped her chin back with a fingertip beneath her chin. “And I am so in love with you, kitten.”

Micah snagged his briefcase out of the kitchen chair and left.

© Gracen Miller 2011 ~ No part of this site (written or artwork) may be reproduced in anyway whatsoever without express written consent by Gracen Miller.

LIFE LESSON TWENTY-FOUR

Warning:  This scene contains content that some may find offensive. Please read with caution.

“You’re quiet tonight.” Micah glanced at her in the seat beside him as he parked his Porsche.

Madison shrugged. “You seemed distant. I didn’t want to disturb whatever thoughts bothered you.”

He snagged her by the nape and tugged her across the console to claim a kiss. She loved the way he kissed, even if her daddy said she shouldn’t show it. When he broke away, she thought he peered in the direction of her eyes, but it was hard to tell in the shadows. “I was thinking how much better my life is because you’re in it.”

That comment was so unlike him, she made a face. “Something happen today to make you melancholy?”

“No. I just want you to know how important you are to me.”

A slow smile, as she ran her fingertip along his smoothly-shaven jaw. “Why are we at the park at night?”

“You’ll see.” He pushed open his door. “Stay right there.”

After climbing out of the vehicle, he walked around to her side and opened her door. She took the hand he offered and hugged him after she stood. With a finger beneath her chin, he tipped her head back. She explained her sudden embrace without him asking for one. “That was my way of saying you’re important to me too.” She rubbed her nose against his chest. “You smell fabulous tonight, Micah. Are you wearing a new cologne?”

“No, it’s called the scent of love.”

She laughed. “That’s awful. You’re terrible at romantic dialogue.”

He chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Retract your claws, kitten.” She thought he winked. “Come along, my surprise is near.”

“Ooooh…I love surprises.”

They walked toward the water fountain at the center of the park, the one he’d met her at the day she was distraught over catching her mom with the Deacons. That day had changed her life so much. She’d take the heartache a hundred times over if it meant she could claim the man.

“Won’t you give me a hint of what it is?” She caught his hand draped over her shoulder and laced their fingers together.

“No.”

“An itty bitty hint?”

“No. You’ll see soon enough.”

“I don’t like it when you tease.”

Laughter grumbled up from his chest. “Kitten, you’re adorable when you’re pouting.” He kissed the side of her head. “Now close your eyes.”

“Why?” She stopped walking and faced him.

“I don’t want you to see the surprise until you’re in position.”

“Oh, good grief, seriously?”

“Seriously.” They stared at one another. “Better yet….” She gaped as he undid his tie and tugged it free. She’d imagined watching him do that many times, but the reality was so much better. It felt like her mouth was suddenly stuffed full of cotton and she swallowed, as he made a circular motion with his finger. “Turn around.”

“You’re going to blindfold me?”

“Do you want your surprise or not?”

Madison huffed dramatically but knew he didn’t buy her irritated routine. Neither could she deny she was intrigued by what could be so important he needed to blind her. She turned and allowed him to knot his tie at the back of her head.

Micah twisted her back around, facing him. At least she thought she faced him. “Can you see anything?”

“No.” She placed her hands on his chest. Yep, they were facing.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m pos—”

He kissed her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, going into the embrace willingly. “Walk normal,” he said against her lips. “And I’ll guide you safely.”

“I trust you.” And she did, more than anyone in her life. He’d become her rock of support, the foundation on which she lived. Without him, she’d be nothing and she wasn’t talking about the folks who suddenly wanted to be her friend or show her preferential treatment. They were in her life because of him and she had no use for people like that. Micah had become her world and she worried about losing him or that he’d discover she really was all the vile things daddy said.

But those thoughts weren’t for tonight. She gave a mental shake, refusing to give value to the words Daddy had begun to renew over the last month.

Micah guided her without one stumble and then they stopped. “Stand still.” She nodded and waited until he said, “Remove the blindfold, kitten.”

She hooked her finger beneath the silk material and tugged it down around her neck. Twinkling lights were strung from the fountain and trees. And Micah kneeled at her feet.

“What—”

He captured her hand, pressed a kiss to her wrist. “Madison, will you make me the most envied man in the world and marry me?”

Am I dreaming? His thumb swished against her palm. No, not a dream! Her heartbeat zoomed out of control. She’d only dreamed of this moment and none of her fantasies were as perfect as the reality.

“Yes,” she breathed, tears bursting forth to blur her vision.

Micah swept her into his arms. “I love you, kitten,” he said between kisses. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Micah.” She dashed away the tears when he finally settled her on her feet. He popped open a jewelry box. “Good lord!” Smaller diamonds encircled the biggest one she’d ever seen. Hands shaking, he had to clasp her palm to slide the ring on her finger.

“If you’ll agree, I don’t want a long engagement.”

Madison agreed.

***

Daddy went brittle when she and Micah told her parents of their new engagement. He congratulated them with a grim smile and an hour later walked Micah to the door with a mild-mannered “goodbye”. No way Micah didn’t see Daddy’s very obvious displeasure and disapproval.

Madison was headed upstairs to her bedroom when Daddy called, “A word, Madison.” 

She followed him into the den where Momma had begun to read a horror book. Always with a smile on her face as if she enjoyed the bloody torment she found within the pages. Momma looked up when they entered.

Daddy wasted no time getting straight to the point. “You’ll not marry that man.”

Madison bristled at his order. “Funny. I thought I said yes.”

“You’ll call him in the morning and tell him you changed your mind.”

“I won’t.” In a month she’d be eighteen. She did not need his permission to marry Micah.

“Bruce,” her mother spoke, her voice placid. “Do you mind detailing your problem with Micah?”

“I’m her father and I don’t need to detail my issues with him. All she needs to know is that I don’t like the man.” He pointed his finger at her. “And I do not trust him. He’s shady.”

Temper soaring into the heavens, she enunciated her words, “I. Don’t. Care. What. You. Think.”

“You’ll do as you’re told!”

“Enough!” Momma slammed her book on the table. Daddy flinched. Madison didn’t blink, but continued to glare at him. “She’s eighteen in October. You cannot forbid her to marry.”

“A father knows what’s best for his daughter. Trust me, if you marry him, it’ll be the worst mistake of your life, Madison.”

They glared at one another for a long while. She thought Daddy truly meant what he said. But she hadn’t believed he had her best interest in mind for a long, long time.

Madison shrugged aside his warning and went ahead with her plans to marry Micah.

© Gracen Miller 2011 ~ No part of this site (written or artwork) may be reproduced in anyway whatsoever without express written consent by Gracen Miller. 

LIFE LESSON TWENTY-THREE

Warning:  This scene contains content some may find offensive. Please read with caution.

The next twenty four months progressed as Micah planned. Every free moment he spent with Madison. They were together a lot.

She flourished under his tutelage. Leaned on him for everything, sought his advice over mundane things in life, and he took delight in being her champion. Anything to make her happy. Or to put a smile on her face and she pleased him by giving them often.

Micah fixed Bruce’s criminal charges, but took it slow so he could bask in Madison’s presence often. Celeste endured the humiliation the scandal caused, not graciously, but she satisfied him nonetheless. He spent hours at their home going over her father’s case, and he was awed by Madison’s photographic memory and her eagerness to learn. She ingested case law like it was iced tea. Impressive. He’d be proud to call her his.

Almost two years after the indictment was issued against Bruce—four months shy of Madison’s eighteenth birthday—the minor that claimed he molested her came forward to admit she made up the event because she was possessed by something evil. Crazy talk! No one believed her, of course, and she spent the next several years in a state-run psychiatric hospital.

Prior to the ‘possessed’ girl’s confession, the Baptist Association investigated, and was persuaded by an unknown source to allow Bruce to maintain his reverend position under a watchful eye. After the pedophile charges were dropped, they issued an unofficial apology and closed their case.

Talk of Madison and Micah’s friendship swept through the small town like she’d become an overnight rock star. Her peers starved to call her friend, but she called them fair-weather friends and would have nothing to do with them. Bruce worried their relationship would be perceived as romantic in nature and was reticent to allow her to attend social events with him. He’d had to finagle Bruce with coercion, lies, and hollow promises just to be granted permission for Madison to attend their first very public appearance. The press had been there snapping photos and Madison had demonstrated how regal she could be. Handling the politicians with ease, she could’ve convinced them to whip out their checkbooks and write them for ridiculous sums of money. All of this done with her natural charisma. And that’d been her first outing with him. Since then, half the Senate had fallen under her spell.

The only downside, she and Elias got along as fabulously as demons and angels. They fought like college football rivalries—a religion in the south—and his brother teased her unmercifully. Madison didn’t react well to his brand of banter. Even so, Elias would’ve helped him rip the sun from the sky if she’d asked for it.

As their relationship grew, so did Bruce’s very real dislike of him. Not that he strived for her father’s approval. He didn’t ultimately need it.

They requested permission from the school for him to escort Madison to her senior prom. Of course, consent was granted. Mature beyond her years at seventeen and a half, he almost forgot she was still in the blush of youth. As he held her in his arms through the dances, he knew this was where she was intended to be. She caused him to feel when he’d prefer to remain neutral as he set his plan into motion. Emotions complicated his life and endangered his concentration. There is no room for error. But….

Embracing her through the slow dance, he’d nuzzled the side of her head, breathed her in, and held her tighter than allowed. None of the chaperones dared to correct his bad behavior. In that moment, he’d been very aware that Madison had managed to crumble the impenetrable wall encasing his unemotional heart.

“Thank you, Micah,” she’d whispered, startling him out of his thoughts. Her voice was low as if she were hesitant to speak her mind. The music was some slow song he cared nothing about except it allowed him to hold her close.

He leaned back just enough to peer at her. “For what, kitten?”

“For being my friend when I needed one. You’ve changed my life.”

He’d removed a hand from her low back and brushed his knuckles across her cheek. In response, her fingers had curled in the lapels of his tuxedo. “It was life altering for me as well.” She has no idea how life altering.

Madison kissed him and nearly knocked him on his ass with surprise. Nothing sexual about the embrace, a mere merging of lips, but the joy that surged on the heels of his shock rolled along his nerve endings as devastating as a level ten earthquake. She’d seemed just as astonished by her action, gasping as she snatched away quickly, eyes rounded as she met his. Not being a bold woman, he could imagine her amazement by her audacious move.

Micah reacted, burying his hand in her hair and crushing her against him. He hadn’t pushed their relationship further because of her youth. And because he’d needed her to make the first move. Now that she had, he’d be unable to take it slow. “Tell me no.”

“Yes,” she uttered instead.

He sealed their lips together and parted hers without any resistance. She trembled as his tongue entered and tangled with hers. He tried to remind himself she was inexperienced to her innate passions. But she tasted so good and he’d denied his desires too long to coax her gently. Slowly, he realized both of her hands were clenched in his suit jacket like she clung to him for fear of floating away. Only then did he force himself away from the bliss he found in her mouth.

“I’ll want to kiss you often,” he softly uttered against her ear. She had to know this changed everything. Their relationship couldn’t revert back to one of comfortable friendship. Before, he’d been protective of the woman he planned to claim as his wife. With one kiss, irrational thought surfaced and his heart had declared her as his.

Madison nodded. The flush of arousal glazed her eyes and stained her cheeks pink.

It looks good on her.

“Did I frighten you with my passion?” They’d terrified him with how quickly they awoke.

“No.” She licked her lips and met his stare with hesitancy. “I’m surprised by how much I like your kisses.”

Micah had smiled, slow and satisfied. He’d kissed her many times over the next six months. He hadn’t touched her sexually because he must marry her before he took her virginity. The temptation to claim her early was almost too much to tolerate.

He ran his hand through his hair, smiling at what he planned. Tonight was their two year anniversary of when their friendship began, and he wouldn’t allow it to go unnoticed. Too much had altered since that day she’d called him crying. He pressed a finger to the doorbell of Madison’s residence and waited only moments for her to open the door.

“It’s Micah,” she called to her parents, snagged her purse off the table by the door and stepped out to join him. The door shut with a click.

Entertained by her hurriedness, he bit back a grin. “I don’t get to speak with your parents tonight, kitten?”

“No. I want you all to myself. I don’t like it when you’re too busy to chat with me at least once during the day.” Madison whispered as if someone wanted to discover all their secrets. “I missed you.”

He loved her possessiveness. That red dress encasing her to-die-for body was at the top of his love-list too. “How much did you miss me?”

“Not enough to give you the kiss you obviously want. You’re late,” she scolded.

“That’s mean and unfair.”

“Don’t be late then.”

“It wasn’t my fault. I was detained.”

“Then you should’ve called. You’ll learn from this lesson.” He could hear the laughter in her voice even though she managed to hide it from her features. “Where are we going tonight?”

“I get a kiss before I tell.”

“Counselor, you can play fair or—”

He kissed her hard and she melted against him. A tiny groan emerged when he pulled away. With her eyes closed, and face upturned, he laughed at her dreamy expression.

“Cheater.” Her eyes flashed open and she presented him with a mock scowl, but a small smile twitched at the corners of her lips. “You got your kiss, so what are your plans?”

He laced their fingers together and led her toward his car. “It’s a surprise, kitten.”

Her fabricated pout captivated him. “I hate surprises.”

“Liar.”

He opened her car door and she poked him in the solar plexus. “I should be able to lie to you once in a while.”

Micah kissed her nose. “Then get better at it, kitten.”

Madison laughed and slid into his black Porsche.

© Gracen Miller 2011 ~ No part of this site (written or artwork) may be reproduced in anyway whatsoever without express written consent by Gracen Miller.