The first chapter of the novel is being revealed in three parts. The beginning is here on VBC today, part two will be posted tomorrow at Paranormal Book Club, and then part three will appear at Fresh Fiction on Wednesday.
Cloaked only in Blake’s button-down dress shirt, I crept barefoot through the darkened salon of his New York penthouse apartment. His scent laid heavily on his collar and I brought it to my nose, breathed it in deeply as if the aura of him could protect me when he was away.
I stopped at the floor-to-ceiling windows where the cold, winter breeze stealthily blew the long, white curtains into the room. Searching the twinkling cityscape, just as I’d done every night for the last twenty years, I wondered where my father and grandfather might be. Their presence or the trails of their energy couldn’t be sensed anywhere. Though they were out there. Somewhere. And my heart ached from their absence.
Were they were warm and being fed well? Were they in good health? Were they were hurting? They appeared well when I’d seen them just a few months ago, but I didn’t know how much of that vision I could trust. It had been so unusual.
The surrounding walls of my fortress inched into the frame of my view of the city. Along with it crept the concern that being safely tucked away and being a prisoner were too close to the same thing.
Blake stirred in the bedroom.
Blake Greenwood. My protector, my defender, the love of at least two of my lifetimes. In our last life together we were Jack and Sarah, star-crossed lovers from the 1920s. In this life our names were different, but we were the same souls, in love with one another even before we met, happiest when we were together. Nothing and no one could get to me when he was near. I wasn’t sure if it was just his intent or some energetic forcefield, the effect of his endless love for me. I was pretty sure I could lie naked in the middle of Central Park at midnight and no one would bother me if Blake were nearby.
Strangely, this all-encompassing love didn’t bring me peace or confidence. Because when the love of my life finally appeared the flip side of that new reality became crystal clear. I knew that if I ever lost him, that loss would be insurmountable. And that insight left me on the ridge of a double-sided coin, stuck between fear and gratefulness. I could easily pitch to either side.
Blake snuck behind me, gently drew me to him, and that was all it took. I was surrounded by love. Total protection. If only time could stand still. “Going somewhere?” Tired-eyed and pillow-haired, Blake’s voice was thick with sleep.
“Definitely not.” I spun in his embrace and snuggled against him. Typically, the gentle rise and fall of his bare chest was the steady cadence that comforted me and set my nighttime world to right. Though not tonight. Not when worries played with one another in my head like caffeinated children on the playground.
Soft and slow, he kissed the top of my head, “Can’t sleep?”
“I gave up. I was on my way to the kitchen to see if you had an espresso machine.”
Blake leaned back and gave a strong “don’t be ridiculous” smirk. “Wouldn’t be home without one.”
He led me by the hand to the small kitchen where broad, cream-colored cabinets and dark wooden floors greeted me with surprising warmth. Most of the New York penthouses I’d visited were chilly with sophistication and excess, but this room breathed comfort. There was also a shielding sensation I noticed when we first stepped inside the apartment late last night, and I knew I was safe here. At least for the moment. The outside world rang with chaos, but in this home, there was peace.
Alyssa Richards’ Somewhere in Time releases next week (Dec. 8, if you want to get technical), and we’ve snagged the opening of the book exclusively for VBC readers. If you like your paranormal romance with the mental abilities element, this one is going to work for you. Expect ghosts and a heroine with psychic skills.
