Authors: MJ Fredrick

Eden's Promise (30 page)

Aaron inclined his head in a silent invitation and she waited for his mother to stand aside before she walked up the stairs and wrapped her arms around him. He folded his good one around her, tighter than she expected because of his injuries, and she felt him breathe her in.

“I smell a lot better now than the last time you saw me.”

He chuckled.

“Are you okay?” she asked, drawing back to look into his eyes, aware his mother was watching them.

He stepped toward his room, holding her hand, drawing her with him. Hank trotted in before them. Once inside, she didn’t have time to look around before he curved his good hand around the back of her head and angled his mouth across hers, gently at first, rediscovering, before deepening the kiss, his tongue sliding into her mouth, his hips pressed against hers insistently. She pressed back, kissed back, rubbing against him, her hand curved around the back of his neck.

“We can’t,” she gasped, breaking the kiss. “You know your mom is listening.”

Humor lit his eyes. “Haven’t heard that one since I was sixteen. I kind of don’t care.”

“Should you even be—doing anything?” She motioned to his arm, and his injured side.

“Vicky hasn’t exactly given me clearance, but I’m not sure I want to ask her, either.”

Her head clouded with visions of what it would be like if they acted on their desires, skin to skin, her riding him, his hand on her hip guiding her as he looked up at her, him filling her. She reached up to kiss him again, all good sense gone in pursuit of that fantasy, but this time he stopped.

“The only condoms I have are from when I was sixteen,” he said reluctantly. “Not sure I’d trust them.” He loosened his hold on her, stroking her hair back from her face and smiling at her disappointment.

“Not why I came here anyway.” She ran the backs of her fingers down his cheek. “Feels so long since we’ve just been the two of us.”

He laughed softly. “How is Kelly? Annie? The others?”

“Settling in. My mom hasn’t left Kelly alone.”

“She’s doing all right? Your mom?”

“For now. We don’t know—it may be cancer. There’s nothing to do but live each moment.”

He pulled her tighter, his fingers stroking her hair. “I’m sorry, Eden.”

“Something we have to live with.” She blinked up at him through tear-filled eyes. She hadn’t quite processed it herself, and as much as she trusted him, she didn’t want to talk about it. “I do have good news. Annie named the baby.”

He eased back to look at her. “Is that right? What did she decide on?”

“William Aaron, after you and Bill.”

He made a choked sound and his eyes misted mysteriously. “Is that right,” he repeated, softer.

“She wants him to grow up like the two of you, willing to help strangers. I think she fervently hopes nurture outweighs nature.”

He chuckled and released her. “Come here. I want to show you something.”

He took her hand again and guided her toward his window, a big window with a wide ledge. His house was high enough on the hill that she could see over the tops of the trees and down to the water.

“I always loved this view when I was growing up,” he said. “Like I was looking out on the real world, not the island world, you know? And at first when I left, I was excited about it, about living in the real world, only it wasn’t exciting for long, and by the time I finished BUD/S, I’d look toward the island—no matter where I was on the planet—and want to come home.” He turned to her and stroked her hair back behind her ear. “If I’d known you were here, I would have, sooner. You saved me.”

“No, Vicky and Christine—”

“I don’t mean physically, though you had a part in that, too. I heard how you didn’t leave the clinic until you were sure I was safe. I mean—when I got back here the first time, all I cared about was myself. You know that, you told me that.” He grinned when she winced. “And you taught me a hard lesson out there, one I’m not looking to repeat any time. But it was a good lesson, and one I won’t forget. We have people to take care of here, so they don’t have to live through what we did. We have people we’re responsible for, people we love.” His eyes softened as his words did. “I love you, Eden.”

Her pulse jumped as she held his gaze. “I love you, too.”

“We don’t know what the future will be, not for us or the island, what we’ll need to do to protect what’s ours. I don’t even know what this new world means, what marriage in a society like this means. But what I do know is that I don’t want to live any of that without you by my side.”

Tears blurred her vision and she held her breath.

“Will you marry me?” he asked.

***

In the next month, the island relearned how to celebrate life, with the christening of William Aaron and the wedding of Aaron and Eden. His bruises had faded and his arm was out of his sling when he stood at the altar of the little church, in front of the people who loved them, and watched Eden walk up the aisle to him in a dress their mothers had practically had to shove her into. She’d never looked more beautiful. And there, in the place where her parents, his parents had married, the past was just as important as the future as Eden made her most important promise.

THE END

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Eden’s Promise started as a dream, about ten years ago. I remember, because I tried to work out a plot at the time and nothing would come together the way I wanted. I’d set the book aside, pick it up again every couple of years, work on it, set it aside again.

Then came 2012 and the plethora of post-apocalyptic books, and I picked it up a final time. I needed to tell Eden’s story. My husband helped me with some of the plot, I wrote it during NaNoWriMo...and it was all wrong. Wrong quest. So for the next 6 months I rewrote and revised and revisited and finally have a story I love.

I would love for you to let me know what you thought of the book by leaving a review

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. Thank you so much!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MJ Fredrick knows about chasing dreams. Twelve years after she completed her first novel, she signed her first publishing contract. Now she divides her days between teaching elementary music, and diving into her own writing–traveling everywhere in her mind, from Belize to Honduras to Africa to the past.

She's a four-time Golden Heart Award finalist, and she won the 2009 Eppie Award with Hot Shot and the 2010 Eppie with Breaking Daylight. She was a 2012 Epic Award finalist with Don’t Look Back.

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