“I could,” Vic said, pulling me closer. “Could you visit me?”
“Perhaps,” I said coyly, feeling the first glimmer of genuine hope in a long time.
Maybe Vic and I were possible. As twisted and fucked up as our relationship was, maybe it could work.
Vic snatched my chin gently between his fingers. “I’m not kidding, Lennox. I need you, more than I need water. Will you work with me on this?”
I swallowed, my throat feeling thick. Who were we kidding? Vic and I were like good and evil, light and dark, one does not exist without the other. We could keep pretending that we didn’t need each other, but all we were doing was fighting nature. Eventually, we would come together whether through a drawn out bloody battle or the compromise Vic was proposing.
“Yes,” I replied, unable to stop myself from smiling.
“Goddamn right you will,” Vic answered, capturing my mouth in a kiss. When Vic pulled back, his eyes were cloudy.
“What?” I asked, concern twisting my voice. Had I hoped too soon? I felt fear gnawing at my stomach. Vic was going to change his mind. He didn’t want to work on us. He didn’t want to be with me.
“I want you to be happy, Lennox,” Vic said, voice hoarse. “Find a man, settle down, have kids. I can’t give you that. I can’t ever give you that.”
I sighed, relieved, and said, “So you want me to be happy in the 1950s?”
“I don’t want to hold you back anymore.” Vic’s eyes were onyx swirls, hypnotizing me.
I had to make him see he wasn’t holding me back. He had set me free. Without him, I was trapped, alone and empty. Without him, nothing made sense. He was my other half. It was romantic, cliché, bullshit, but that didn’t stop it from being true.
Staring back into his eyes, I said: “You own me, Vic.”
Thank you for reading You Own Me, book one in the Owned series! As a special treat, here is the first chapter of the next book in the series, Let Me Go, coming December 2015. Keep in mind that this is unedited so it may contain some errors and is subject to change!
Synopsis of Let Me Go
I see something in Eli that he can’t see himself.
He’s brilliant.
He’s compassionate.
And I’d be nothing if it weren’t for him,
so I have to let him go.
It’s for his own good
.
Eli sees something in Grace that she can’t see herself.
She’s resilient.
She’s a extraordinary.
And he’d be nothing without her.
Eli’s determined to get her back.
It’s for his own good.
Told in the past and present, Let Me Go is the harrowing love story of Grace Wall and Eli Jackson. Beaten and bruised but never knocked down, Eli and Grace are faced with the question: What must you lose to have it all?
Let Me Go is book two in the Owned series but can be read as a standalone.