Never Land (17 page)

            Tears were streaming down my face. “How?”

            “Move in with me. Here, in California. I've convinced my dad to let me work from America so that I can finish my doctorate – I want you with me, around me, all the time. It's the only way I can keep you safe from Roni, from Geoff, from everyone that wants to hurt us. Roni can't touch me out here. I know it's soon, Neve, but...”

            My mind was reeling. My whole heart was breaking and mending in the same moment. I didn't know what I wanted, what I felt.

            But my body knew. Silently, wordlessly, I nodded.

            He gathered me into his arms.           

            “But what about the band?” I asked.

            His mouth spread into a mischievous smile. “Plan B,” he said, grinning. “Roni is out to destroy you, Neve, and everyone around you, including the band. That’s how vindictive she is, and I’m sorry I put you in this position. But I'm working on it, and I need your help. If we play our cards right, we'll have our band back and better than ever...”

            At that moment, I was so happy, so overjoyed, that Roni and Geoff and all my fears and worries evaporated. All I wanted was to feel Danny in my arms, to be in his arms. All the pain, the breakup, my rebound with Luc, and all my problems with Roni and the band disappeared as I kissed Danny. Danny and I were together, again, promising to commit to one another, stronger than ever before. Together we had the strength, the power, to overcome all the obstacles that stood in our way.

            Two hearts. Two souls.

            The lion-hearted. 

At that moment, I could believe everything. Especially fairy tales coming true, and happily ever afters never ended. 

If only that was true.

*****

Never, Danny, Kyle, Luc,  and Steve’s story continues in Book 3 of the Never Knights Series

Never Ending (Never Knights Series #3)

January 2013

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EXCERPT FROM

Saving You Saving Me

By Kailin Gow

18 year-old aspiring psychiatrist and high school Valedictorian Samantha (Sam) Sullivan falls for a deeply troubled young man named Daggers during a crisis call on her watch, which leads to the unraveling of her perfect world.

YA-Mature/New Adult

Prologue

I’m standing here, holding a key; the one Daggers had given me before he left. “It’s the key to my heart,” he had said, pressing it into my hands. “You have my heart already, you might as well have everything else,” he said softly as he kissed away my tears. He pulled me in close to his chest and held me tight. “We’ve come a long ways, baby. You and I. But we still have some distance to cover, hurdles to jump, if you want to.” He laughed his soft gentle Daggers laugh that always sent flutters to my stomach. “I’m a many-layered SOB, a real messed up nut job, who others have given up on, yet you…you continue to peel away the layers.” He played with my hair and kissed my forehead. I sighed. My multi-layered Daggers. Each layer more intriguing than the last, each one bringing me closer to the edge of no return.

“I want to peel away those layers,” I protested. “I want to know who you are; deep down, if you’ll let me.”

Daggers closed his eyes for a moment and inhaled sharply. “I know, Sam, and I’ve been fighting it. If you knew what’s really hidden behind all those layers, you’d stay away from me, as far away from me as possible.” He opened his eyes to look at me earnestly. “You deserve to know, though. And I’m giving you that chance. With the key…the key to my safe deposit box. But once you know, there’s no going back.”

For
More of Saving You Saving Me
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EXCERPT FROM

Loving Summer

By Kailin Gow

When I think of my summers spent at Aunt Sookie’s Malibu “pad” as she called it, I think about first kisses, first love, and first heartbreak. I think about my friendship with Rachel Donovan and her brothers Nathaniel (Nat) and Drew. I think of all the sunsets, dawns, and first attempts. And then there was this summer, the summer I grew up, in more ways than one, and everyone noticed, especially the boys, especially Nat. –
Summer Jones

Chapter 1

Sunsets and First Kisses

Summer

I’m standing by the baggage claim area, waiting for my three friends to arrive, and wondering a little if maybe I should have made one of those large cards with their names sprawled across that people occasionally hold up. It at least keeps me from wondering what it’s going to be like when they arrive. Oh God, I don’t think I’ve been this nervous since… well, forever.

            The card is out. I don’t have one to write on, and anyway, I sent Rachel my picture. I wonder if she was surprised about how much I’ve changed. I mean, the last time I saw her, I still had my braces in, and boys didn’t give me a second glance. She was always the pretty one, even if she did like to hide it.

            It’s been so
long
since I saw her. Any of them. It used to be that I’d spend practically every day with Rachel, because Aunt Sookie babysat her and the others, or Rachel’s mother would look after me while Aunt Sookie was busy with her acting academy. I guess none of us need that now, but we can still surf the way we used to, or go to the beach, or anything. When we all used to stay over at Aunt Sookie’s place on the beach every summer, it used to be great.

            It’s been three years now though. Maybe it won’t be so good. Maybe I won’t even know Rachel so much. We’ve talked on the phone and online, but a friend you spend all summer with is different to one you just talk to now and again, right? I haven’t seen any of the Donovans since they moved away to San Francisco. And what about Drew? What about
Nat
? I wonder what he thought about the picture I sent. Did he like it? Did he see that I’m not some little girl anymore?

            “Summer?”

            There’s a Goth girl coming towards me, all purple streaked black hair, ivory skin and dark makeup, in a t-shirt and jeans that go with her hair like someone has streaked purple dye on them. I stare at her for a good couple of seconds before I see her face fully and rush forward to hug her.

            “Rachel!”

            I shouldn’t have worried about what it would be like with her back. Just hugging her, I
know.
I know that we’re exactly the friends we always were. Okay, so she’s done something freaky with her hair, but she’s still Rachel. We have
so
much to catch up on. I step back from her just so that I can look at her, and I can see her doing the same. It’s like we’re re-learning what we look like, or something.

            “Wow,” Rachel says. “You’ve grown taller, and you’re in great shape.”

            “Volleyball,” I explain. “
Competitive
volleyball. Mom thought it would be great for me to pick up a team sport, so I went for that one.”

            “You always were better at doing what your mom wanted than me,” Rachel says. She smiles while she says it, but she’s told me about a lot of it.

            “You still aren’t seeing eye to eye with her?” I ask. Maybe I should join the diplomatic core after this.

            “No, Mom’s being a bitch.” Rachel’s expression darkens, which given the way she looks now is a pretty scary sight. “Ever since she caught Dad screwing around, it’s been the same.” She shakes her head, and the expression passes, just like that. Maybe it’s because it’s such a great day no one can stay angry for long. “I don’t care, though. I’m here with you, the beach, and Aunt Sookie!”

            I hug her tightly again. I’ve missed Rachel so much. She’s like the sister I never had. Talking of siblings…

            “Where are Drew and Nat?” I ask with a grin. “You didn’t abandon them at the San Francisco airport, did you?”

            “I wish. They’re here somewhere. There. There they are.” Rachel waves over at them and I can’t help staring. Drew’s grown. He must be over six foot now, and he is chiseled and cut with muscles in all the right places, not really concealed by the plain white t-shirt he wears with his tight blue jeans. He’s tanned all over, which makes his blue eyes bluer and his black hair almost blue-black. I remember him as scrawny, maybe cute in a kind of way, but nothing like this. He’s now a man with a body and a face that’s scorching hot. As for Nat, he’s even taller, though maybe not as broadly built as his brother these days. He’s leaner, more chiseled, too, which makes his high cheekbones stand out along with his full sensual lips. He’s wearing a white t-shirt under a blue and white plaid shirt with loose fitting jeans and boots. They suit him. That deep copper hair of his shines in the sunlight. I can’t help staring as the two of them get closer. Almost every female at the baggage claim area couldn’t help staring, too.

            “Could you maybe not stare at my brothers in open mouthed admiration?” Rachel whispers. “It will only make their egos bigger.”

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Loving Summer
, get your copy at Amazon.com. Now Available!

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