Uncovering You: The Complete Series (Mega Box Set) (155 page)

My husband’s a heavy sleeper when he’s satiated, I correct, then drift away on that thought…

Until Jeremy starts to stir. He begins mumbling words I cannot understand. His body starts to jerk beneath me, back and forth, back and forth. “No,” he gasps. “No, Lilly, no, don’t look away, no, I’m coming for you, Lilly, Lilly, LILLY!”

Immediately I’m up and alert. I shake him by the shoulders. “Jeremy. Jeremy, wake up!”

“No, no,” he keeps gasping. “Don’t look away…”

“Jeremy!” I scream. I slap him across the face. His eyes pop open. He jolts up in bed, nearly knocking me over in the process. He’s breathing hard, his nostrils flare, and every muscle fiber of his upper body is straining, flexing…

Then he sees me. The sight makes him relax. His shoulders slump down.

He reaches up and touches my face. “Lilly…” he whispers. “Lilly Stonehart. I had a dream. I almost lost you. You wouldn’t look at me.”

“Never,” I tell him. I turn my lips into his hand and kiss his palm. “I’ll never look away. It was a nightmare, Jeremy. Nothing more. I’m here. I’m yours. For life.”

“For life,” he mutters. The words seem to give him strength. “Yes. Yes. I like that.”

“You know I’d never leave you, right?” I ask.

“Of course,” he whispers. But the nightmare is still fresh in his mind, and it fills his voice with doubt.

I take his hand. “Come with me,” I say. “I want to show you something.”

I lead Jeremy out of bed, through the quiet hall, and into the private room I’d converted into my painting studio. Jeremy’s not once been in here since I made my claim. He’s given me the privacy I need.

But now, finally, I feel ready to share with him the painting I’m most proud of. It’s the same one I’ve worked on for weeks.

I walk him to the easel. A dark cloth covers the canvas. “Stay here,” I say, as I turn away to increase the dimmer. A soft yellow light fills the room.

I come back to Jeremy, who’s watching me curiously. “I want to show you what I’ve been painting all this time,” I murmur faintly. “I wasn’t ready before, but now…I am.”

I reach for the cloth and pull it away.

Jeremy’s breath catches.

I look at the painting, so full of flaws, but so representative of all that I’ve been through.

It’s a panoramic of the view from the sunroom. The sea is stormy and dark clouds fill the sky. A single, gleaming white pillar stand in the middle of it. Beside it, the shape of a frail, decrepit girl, almost a skeleton, supporting herself with one arm. She’s looking out at the dark, raging sea.

“That’s you,” Jeremy says, pointing at the girl.

“No,” I say. “It’s who I could have been.” I take his hand and move it to the side, where two dark figures are hidden by the night. They’re standing together, a man and a woman, looking in from outside the window at the poor girl.

Neither have any care for the storm going on behind them.

“That’s me,” I correct. “And that’s you. We’re both on the outside, see? Looking in at the ghosts of our past. The sky, the storm, see how that doesn’t touch us? Do you see the rain falling everywhere? But we’re not wet. Do you know why?”

“Why?” Jeremy asks.

“The storm doesn’t touch us because you protect me. I protect you. We are each other’s guardian. The clouds, the angry waves, the awful gales…those are representative of our troubled past. My own childhood, and yours. It represents all the struggles we’ve been through and overcome. It is our history, and even though it is always there, it cannot touch us. Not anymore. Because…”

“Because we have each other.” Jeremy finishes for me. His voice is choked with emotion. “Lilly, this is spectacular. I can’t believe you withheld it from me for so long.”

“It wasn’t done,” I say. “It’s still not finished.”

“It looks complete to me,” he says.

“No,” I shake my head. “Not quite. It—“

I break off with a gasp. Sudden inspiration strikes.

I step away from Jeremy and grab my pencils. Quickly I sketch out the shape of a bird, a large bird, taking flight from the cliffs. The cloud cover—no, it’s too much. I dab a bit of white over it, softening the harshness of the sky. I draw a beam of light, a thin, precious ray, breaking through the clouds and shining onto the bird.

Jeremy watches me work in utter silence. It’s the first time he’s witnessed me paint.

The bird—I add details to it. I give it soft wings, glistening with a hint of moisture. A perfect beak, a little head. I emphasize the light, making the bird stand out against the other dark colors. Making the bird pure white. But making it somehow ethereal, too.

And then it’s complete. I drop my brush and stare. Everything…everything has come together perfectly.

“It’s a dove,” Jeremy murmurs.

“Yes,” I confirm. “The dove brings peace. It symbolizes forgiveness. And this one… it’s not just any dove, Jeremy. It’s a spirit dove. The one I once took in.” I look at him. “But it’s free now. just like I am. Just like I am free, with you.” I cast an arm over the painting. “The whole thing…shows all we’ve been through. Our past and our future merged into one.” I tap the end of my brush at the skeletal girl. “This was the darkest time of my life. If I could get through it, face that and live, twice, with you and with Esteban, well…” I glance up at Jeremy, then shift the brush tip to the two figures looking inside, “Well, just imagine what we will do together, when we return to America…” I thread my fingers through his. “As husband and wife.”

Jeremy holds me tight, and in that moment, I know he’ll never let go.

THE END

BONUS SECTION: Introduction to the remainder of the Box Set

So... that was
Uncovering You!

What’s next?

Tons.

The first book I included is
LANDON
,
which I published October 23, 2015. It’s a complete, contemporary romance stand-alone. It’s probably the book I’m most proud of. Here’s the description:

Can one night change your life? I never thought so.

But can one night with the right man change everything?

I am about to find out...

Fearful of exposing the secret she's been hiding for years, Celeste Adams never lets feelings seep into her relationships with men. But when one sinful night introduces her to a gorgeous stranger she cannot simply forget, her resolve to remain unattached is threatened...

She resists the temptation to seek out more, while forging ahead on plans to recreate herself as a graduate student at the University of Chicago. And she does just fine, until that very same stranger waltzes back into her life as the very sexy, and very unattainable...

Professor James Landon.

... Suddenly our lives are thrown together on a collision course of the deepest passions. Neither of us knows how far this will lead. How powerful these feelings will become.

Or, that our love is doomed from the very start.

After LANDON is
Never Let Go
,
which I wrote just before the first
Uncovering You
book. It’s a new adult novel, and a lot lighter and friendlier than
Uncovering You
or LANDON or anything else. Lots of readers loved it... so if you’re looking for something breezy, check it out!

Here’s the description:

Inspired by true events...

The first day of college gives every girl a chance to reinvent herself.

I go and screw mine up by meeting the most gorgeous guy I've seen in five years while talking to my cat.

But Andrew Crowner is far from judgmental. By the end of our interaction, he has me smitten by his easy manner and kind smile. And from the way his eyes linger on me before he leaves, I start to think that maybe I’ve caught his attention, too.

I let myself believe that luck may finally be on my side. That is, until I stumble on my roommate, and her overnight guest: Spencer Ashford.

Lean, tattooed, and sexy as sin, Spencer is exactly the type I need to avoid. I would have no trouble with that... were it not for his swift and inexplicable interest in me.

Suddenly, I go from a girl with next-to-no experience with boys to one caught in the crosshairs of two completely different men.

Andrew's interest is wholesome and sweet. Spencer's is edgy and raw. My choice should be easy. But there are always complications, and sometimes, matters of the heart take the least expected turns.

There’s more! At the start of 2013 I wrote a pair of books called
Change of Heart
.
There was a Part One and a Part Two.
Both
books are included in this box set! This is a complete story that ends in a total HEA.

After
Change of Heart
? You’ll find
Yours to Savor
,
which was my
first book ever written
. It also ends in a HEA. It’s more of a contemporary romance, and if you read it you’ll find that I was still discovering my writing style at that point...

Which brings me to the final book of the box set:
The Alastair Affair
.
It’s my newest dark romance series, published this November (2015!). The second book is already out (but not in the box set) – but don’t worry! It’s available for
free
on Kindle Unlimited. And just $0.99 otherwise.

So... I really hope you keep reading, and check out the bonus books. Scroll through and see which ones catch your fancy. I put a
lot
of effort into every single one, so would love for new readers to discover my previous books!

~Scarlett

November 2015

LANDON

A Stand-Alone Contemporary Romance by

Scarlett Edwards

Copyright © 2015 Edwards Publishing, Ltd

eBook ASIN: B016DA1CIO

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Cover design by Scarlett Edwards

First Edition: October 2015

Book Description:

LANDON is a STANDALONE, CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE NOVEL from the best-selling author of
Uncovering You
. 
 
Can one night change your life? I never thought so.
But can one night with the right man change everything?
I am about to find out...
 Fearful of exposing the secret she's been hiding for years, Celeste Adams never lets feelings seep into her relationships with men. But when one sinful night introduces her to a gorgeous stranger she cannot simply forget, her resolve to remain unattached is threatened...
 She resists the temptation to seek out more, while forging ahead on plans to recreate herself as a graduate student at the University of Chicago. And she does just fine, until that very same stranger waltzes back into her life as the very sexy, and 
very
 unattainable...
 Professor James Landon.
... Suddenly our lives are thrown together on a collision course of the deepest passions. Neither of us knows how far this will lead. How powerful these feelings will become.
Or, that our love is doomed from the very start.
 

Dedication

LANDON’s dedicated to the three girls who made it possible.

To my bestest friends in the whole wide world for letting all her ailments become inspiration for this story, while neglecting her husband and fifteen kids – seriously! – to do it.

(And thanks for cracking the whip when needed.)

And to Ox.

And to R... wherever you are.

- Scarlett Edwards

October 23, 2015

PART ONE

Foreword

1.

I’m Celeste. I’m not exactly innocent, but I’m not entirely a slut, either.

Though some would have you believe otherwise.

I have a few rules that I developed in college:

The first is, never sleep with the same man twice.

That came after my heartbreak with Brad
.

The second is that if you must sleep with the same man twice, never spend the night.

That came after my heartbreak with Brad.

The third is that if you
must
spend the night, never, ever (God forbid) develop feelings.

That—you guessed—came after my heartbreak with Brad.

And you know what? I was doing pretty good abiding by those rules.

That is, of course… until
he
came along.

PART TWO

Seduction

1.

“I’ve been watching you all night.”

The voice is soft as a breeze rustling through the leaves of an orchard. It’s cool and unhurried, a marked contrast to the wild hollering of the party outside.

I turn around, searching the dark for the man.

I don’t see him.

My fingers tighten around the edge of the counter. I’d come in here to get a breather. I told Summer I was way too tired after my nine-hour flight to hit a party the same day.

She insisted I come anyway.

She promised we’d have fun, that we’d drink and dance and flirt with the guys just like we had back in high school. Then she’d poked me in the ribs in that dismissive way of hers and commented, “You need to live while you’re still young. Clock’s ticking, you know.”

She had no idea how closely
that
comment had cut.