9781631054099GracefulAcceptanceBeck

GRACEFUL ACCEPTANCE

Seven Sin Sisters Book 7

Paloma Beck

Erotic Romance

Secret Cravings
Publishing

www.secretcravingspublishing.com

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A
Secret Cravings Publishing Book

Erotic Romance

Graceful Acceptance

Copyright ©
2014
 
Paloma
Beck

E-book ISBN: 978-1-63105-409-9

First E-book Publication:
 
November 2014
   

Cover design by Dawné Dominique

Edited by Kyle Lewis

Proofread by Renee Waring

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Dedication

For TAMMY -

You gave me friendship when I most needed it.

We were so different but such a great pair.

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GRACEFUL ACCEPTANCE

The Seven Sin Sisters
Book 7

Paloma Beck

Copyright © 2014

Chapter One

“No, I cannot eat
another bite.” Grace held her hand up in protest as Eloise leaned across to
share some of her chocolate cream pie. She exaggerated her words to be sure
Eloise knew she wasn’t joking. “You know I have to be careful not
to indulge.”

“No, I do not. What I
do know, dear
Gracie,
is that when you’re so tempted that you
simply must, that is when you will know your true destiny. And Goddess knows
it’s time. You’re the last one of us and there’s no stopping it now.”

Grace was al
l too aware that Eloise had been consumed by the desire to
find her mate until she’d literally fallen into Caedon’s arms, but Grace had no
such desire to give in to her destiny—not when she had her own wants to
consider.
Except she knew that the
fulfillmen
t of the prophecy rested squarely on her
shoulders.
She had to choose between her own happiness, her own
desires, and that which would break the Curse of the Sins.

Grace chose her words
carefully so as not to give away her secret. “Yes, I know but knowing
and wanting are two different emotions entirely.” She
paused for another nibble of the pie. “I need to want, not simply to know.”

“This is absolutely
crazy, Gracie. I thought Layla would have the most difficulty with accepting a
mate but you are far more s
tubborn than I ever gave
you credit for.” Eloise shook her head even as she enjoyed the piece of pie
she’d been trying to get Grace to eat.

Within just eighteen
months, each of her sisters had been mated according to the legend they had
been taught by thei
r mother. And by that same legend,
it was now Grace’s turn to find her true mate. It was an enticing idea since
their mother had been mated to their father in the same way and had been living
happily mated now for over two hundred years.

The twist in the l
egend, as they had discovered, was that each sister had
inherited one of the seven deadly sins and were close to fulfilling the
ultimate prophecy laid down by the Goddess herself. As women in the Magdalena
Circle, they carried the genetic link that kept th
e
Valendite Breed flourishing. Once they found their mate, they were rewarded by
losing the sin with which they had lived, but there was a catch. They were then
bound to their mate who needed them for sustenance. Her mate would feed from
her in exchange fo
r him removing her sin.

If the prophecy was
correct and they, in fact, were the seven spoken of by the Goddess, Grace’s
mating also meant the end of the women of the Magdalena Circle being cursed
with a sin. Davina believed it was a reward given for the ut
most act of selflessness the Sinster family has given. They
had the responsibility of releasing all women in their society from the curse.

No pressure.

What a joke. For
Grace, it wasn’t that simple. The prophecy, the curse, the mating, nothing ever
was tha
t simple for her. When her sisters were
dreaming of thick, heated male bodies, she imagined herself pinned against the
soft flesh of a woman. Gracie dreamed of a woman whose breasts conformed
against hers, spiked nipples begging to be suckled into her mout
h.
A woman who
would touch her softly with gentle hands and love her with a tender heart.
But that was not in the legend. That
was not to be her destiny. It was not part of the prophecy. She had never
spoken a word of her desires to anyone, not even to one
of her sisters who shared everything, even their home for many years.

She’d worked at
setting aside those thoughts, pushing down the desires of her body, so she
could be the woman they needed her to be. She watched her sisters with their
mates and imagine
d she could do that too, but it
didn’t warm her as it should. In fact, most of the time her sisters’ mates
appalled her with their cave men behavior, rough play, and odors.

Being held up in the
compound with TEU agents and their families, Grace had been su
rrounded by all that male testosterone on overload. They’d
finally been given the okay to go out freely with the threats to their safety
eliminated. Grace didn’t want to know the details. She was just grateful to be
able to return to her own home, where sh
e now lived
alone since each of her sisters had moved in with their mates.

She wondered what
would happen when she did mate. What would happen to this home? It was a place
she’d found refuge and friendship with her sisters since they’d come of age. It
was
warm and cozy, and if she had to leave it, Grace
knew a piece of
herself
would remain. This was where she
mastered her skills with painting. Her studio was here. Looking around the
room, lazing in front of the large stone fireplace, she felt safe, content
with her place in the world, even if only in the moment.

Snapping her out of
her quiet reflection, Layla and Paige walked into the living room with Juliana
in her stroller making the noises of babies. Plopping down on the sofas to join
Eloise and Grace aro
und the fireplace, Paige set out
hot to-go cups.

“Layla found the most
delicious mocha today at Davina’s shop and we’re enjoying a cup. Join us,”
Paige, their oldest sister, invited them.

Grace reached for one
of the cups and sipped, careful not to drink
too much
or too quickly. She moved to sit in the window seat at the far side of the
fireplace. Winter was in full rhythm now and the fire was welcome after the
chill from her hike outside earlier. She took her first sip of the warm sultry
mocha and moaned
at the rich flavor.

“It’s from Davina’s
little coffee shop she added on at her book store,” Layla explained. “We
stopped in for the grand opening and fell in love with the place.”

“Grand
opening?”
Grace asked.

“Just
for the café.
It’s fabulous.” Layla answ
ered despite being
distracted by little Juliana attempting to grab her cup.
“No,
mia dolce ragazza
.
She is a rascal, this little one.
Sweet though, especially with her
fathers.”

“Yes, well, definitely
not sweet on our shopping trip. To her credit though, t
he stores weren’t exactly kid friendly,” Paige added. “There’s no
children’s section in Davina’s book store.”

Grace listened to her
sisters
talk while she sipped her mocha. She
tucked a blanket around her legs and curved them underneath as she curled into
the window seat and watched the snow begin to fall. A sigh
brushed across her lips as she swallowed another mouthful of the deliciously
thick syrup. The flavor was intense, a mix of bitter and sweet that was
irresistible. She savored each sip as she watche
d the
snowflakes, feeling as if she were sitting in the midst of the brewing storm.

“More?” Eloise asked
as she rose to get herself another cup.

“Yes, please,” Grace
responded. She didn’t notice when the room full of her sisters looked first at
her and the
n around at one another. Grace had never
before had seconds, ever careful not to overindulge and become bound to her sin
of gluttony.

Grace continued to
watch the snow, accepting another full cup of mocha from Eloise without turning
her gaze from the sky.
Situated north and close to
the mountains, it wasn’t unheard of to get snow in their part of the state, but
it didn’t happen often enough to lose its magic.

“Enjoy,” Eloise
whispered as she placed a kiss on the top of Gracie’s head before winking at
her si
sters.

Grace smiled up at her
sister as she walked away and noticed the room had grown quiet. Not uncommon
that they would get lost in their own thoughts, but still find comfort in the
closeness. Even Juliana seemed content to sit quietly in her mamma’s la
p now that she held onto some toy she appeared to be
mesmerized by. Occasionally, Paige threw bursts of twinkling lights into the
air and Juliana’s eyes would light up. That little girl had them all wrapped
around her little fingers, not just her papas.

As
Grace sipped at her second cup, she thought back to the
dream she’d had the night before. She was being held by a dark woman. Her
pixie-like face was framed by a mane of lush midnight hair, and her piercing
blue eyes glistened with wickedness. Her arms we
re
tight around Grace’s bare back and she was feasting on her breasts as Grace
pulled at her hair. With her lips, she gently tugged on Gracie’s nipples until
the points were firm peaks jutting out begging for more attention, and arousal
enveloped her. Her
desire was more than she could
bear and she wanted more, a feeling she knew she shouldn’t have. In her dream,
she moaned as the woman raked her teeth over her nipples. When Grace woke up,
an odd sense of comfort had enveloped her. She had a similar feeling
of comfort as she sat drinking this wonderful cup of
mocha.

Grace knew who that
woman in her dream was. She’d been her best friend for years, but Grace also
knew that to fulfill the prophecy she had to let go of dreams like this.

“I hate to point out
the
obvious, Gracie, but you’ve never accepted a
second helping of anything in all your life,” Paige said, nodding her head
towards the now empty cup in Grace’s hand.

With eyes large and
nearly fearful, Grace followed her gaze. She looked between each sister
and then to the other cup sitting on the window’s edge.
Then she closed her eyes and took that moment to absorb the truth. Her mating
was soon. When she opened her mouth to speak, she couldn’t find words. Instead,
she raised her hand up to her sisters and
shook her
head before hurrying to her bedroom.

* * * *

Trevor returned to the
TEU Compound after traipsing after Layla and Paige on their shopping outing.
Had they never heard of online shopping? He couldn’t wait until he wasn’t the
grunt anymore. He sig
ned up for this gig for the
excitement, for the honor of defending the country that had become his home,
not to babysit civilians.

The only reprieve to
his day was the stop in at Davina’s bookstore. He was quite pleased to peek in
on Davina, the hot little
minx with rocking curves
and a damn billboard hanging above her head with flashing neon lights gleaming
hands
off
. Davina was not only
gorgeous, but she was the Santucci’s baby sister. Madden, Lucas, and Gage would
have his head if he so much as looked at
her the
wrong way.

This was why families
within their race didn’t have mixed sex children—you either had girls who
belonged to the Magdalena Circle or boys who were Valendite Breed. Trevor had
no clue why exactly the Santucci family had both. He’d never g
otten bold enough to ask and no one ever talked about it.
In fact, no one ever talked about Davina without one of her
brothers
quirking an eyebrow.

On this particular day
though, he was free to look his fill since there were no brothers standing
watch. So
look he did. Davina was his idea of
perfection. A woman needed to be dark and daring or light and sweet. He’d take
them either way, but Davina pulled off dark and daring like no other. If he
ever thought about being with one woman, she just might be the on
e. He bet she could handle everything he had to offer, and
he was certain she could hold his interest. She rocked this nostalgic style of
the 1950s and wore crazy stiletto heels that made him want to lick her from
head to toe.

He was quite pleased
with thi
s opportunity to check her out undetected as
the women spoke. Curious why they looked so intense, Trevor listened in.

“You do know spell
work is forbidden?” Paige formed the question, but her tone gave the impression
of an order or command. “We’re only to
use our circle
magic, the natural abilities granted to us by the Goddess.”