She Belongs to Me Read online

  Almost ten years and Jaynee still felt the familiar thrill soar through her body. “I think you were here.” She pulled his hand around her waist.

  “We probably don’t have very long,” he groaned.

  “That’s okay. We’ll wear the kids out today, and you can take your time tonight,” she suggested.

  Jordan’s eyes widened, and his breathing accelerated. “That’s all I needed to hear, Mrs. Monroe.” He pulled her closer, tightening his grip around her. “I love you,” he crooned.

  “I love you too, Jordan, forever.” She kissed him back fervently then pulled back. “Oh, incidentally,” she said. “I was thinking.”

  Jordan pulled back a few inches, narrowed his eyebrows and gazed into her eyes warily. It was unusual for her to stop him when he kissed her. She laughed at his expression.

  He held his breath. “Yes, what is it, Jaynee?”

  She waited, allowing him to reflect for a moment.

  “You’re killing me, you know how I hate—” he grumbled.

  She smiled and wiggled herself under his body to get exactly where she wanted. “Well, it’s the office. I don’t think we need it anymore. Since I can’t do any work in there and leave the twins alone downstairs to their own devices. And it takes up the entire back of the house. So I was thinking maybe we could remodel it into two rooms instead.”

  “Two rooms? What in the world would we do with two additional rooms, if we didn’t need an office?” He shook his head in confusion. “Why would you want—” He stopped midsentence.

  He bolted upright, staring at her, waiting. They hadn’t been trying, but they hadn’t been trying to not get pregnant either, and they were starting to get worried. She was thirty-two and he was thirty-seven, and Jordan really wanted more children.

  “Jaynee, are you saying? Are you pregnant? Are you positive? How far along are you?” His face went from a curious countenance to a thrilled expression in a matter of seconds.

  She grinned widely, delighted by his excitement. “Yes, yes and yes and about six weeks. You always were a top-notch detective, Mr. Monroe.”

  He jumped out of bed with a hoot and a holler.

  “Hey, where do you think you’re going? I wasn’t finished yet.”

  “Oh, sorry,” he said, jumping back beside her even more enthused than before. He kissed her hands, her neck and then her belly. Lightly touching the soft flesh then stopped. “Two rooms?” he asked. “Twins again?”

  She nodded.

  Jordan sighed, and a glorious look washed over his face. He rolled over on his side and pulled her with him. He cupped her face as he kissed her, then his hand moved to caress her hair down her back.

  Jaynee could tell he wasn’t going to go any further this morning. So she curled up in his arms. She could wait until tonight. She sighed with complete contentment as he automatically pulled her closer.

  “Happily ever after, love,” he whispered, kissing her softly again.

  And they lived…

  Life isn’t always happily-ever-after, rather, loving forever, regardless.

  — Carmen DeSousa

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  Land of the Noonday Sun

  Enjoy an excerpt from Carmen DeSousa’s next book

  Land of the Noonday Sun

  Prologue

  “Walter,” his mother whispered as she opened his door.

  She hadn’t entered his bedroom in years. He cringed as he awaited more of her wrath.

  “I’m sorry,” she murmured, sitting down gracefully on the edge of his bed. “It wasn’t your fault. I’m sorry I hit you.”

  He puckered his lips and sniffed as he attempted to retain the tears. “It’s okay, Mom. It was my fault. Everything was my fault.”

  She sighed. She couldn’t deny the legitimacy of his words. “I love you, Walter, and I’m sorry for everything. Sorry I haven’t been a better mother, a better person. But, I wanted to wish you a goodnight.”

  She kissed him on the forehead and then left without another word, pulling the door closed behind her. She never apologized. Why would she start now? Especially when she wasn’t responsible.

  Walter rolled over, drew his legs in tight and repositioned himself into a ball. He wished he could change the past, wished he had never returned, wished they had locked him away forever. It was his fault; everything was his fault. He wished he’d never been born. Only fifteen and he had already ruined his life.

  Hours later he heard his father creep into his bedroom, no doubt checking that he’d remained home as he’d ordered him.

  How could his father have worked after everything that happened? His way of retreating from reality, Walter imagined. His father had been a physician for years; he didn’t have to take after-hours emergency calls. He could have allowed one of his interns to take the midnight-calls. He owned the practice for God’s sake.

  As he thought about his father, anger replaced his tears. “Typical,” he muttered in disgust, exhaling in the dark room. Maybe his father was the reason their family was so deplorable? No. He needed to stop blaming others and accept responsibility for his actions.

  “Priscilla,” he heard his father’s peal of agony. “Priscilla, my God, No! Please don’t do this to me!”

  Walter bolted out of bed and sprinted down the hall toward his parents’ room. His heart pounded fiercely in his chest. His legs felt heavy and sluggish as if he were in a nightmare. “Dear God,” he prayed. “Please…”

  Rounding the corner of their doorway, he saw his father administering CPR.

  “Dad?” he choked out, his voice trembling. “Is Mom—” He couldn’t frame the word.

  His father’s head whipped around. “Call 911!”

  Walter couldn’t move. His mother lay lifeless on their king-sized mattress, a bottle of whiskey on the nightstand alongside an empty bottle of prescription medication.

  “Walter, call 911!” his father belted again.

  He did as instructed but knew it wouldn’t make any difference. If his father couldn’t save her, nobody could.

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  Land of the Noonday Sun

  Acknowledgements

  My journey as a writer has been a long one. Though, She Belongs to Me took two years to write and publish, the story took twenty-five years to compile, as life tends to get in the way of dreams.

  If it weren’t for my wonderful, supportive husband of twenty-two years, my writing would not be possible. He truly made me believe in a happily-ever-after. Without my husband and two wonderful sons, there would be no reason to write.

  I would also like to thank a friend who has cheered me on from the beginning, Jamie Rush. Jamie’s books were an inspiration, but more so, her words of encouragement kept me going.

  A big thank you to my best friend and cousin, who had to endure the first drafts of this story and provided much needed feedback. Without their insight, this novel would never have seen the light of day.

  Many thanks to Bernadette Soehner—a great friend and publisher—not a day has gone by that she hasn’t communicated with me as we worked feverishly to put this novel together.

  Thank you to Jan Marshall who created a masterpiece of a cover.

  And lastly a thank you to my biggest fan—my son—he has stood by me longer than any other person, championing me constantly through every rough turn in the road.

  I love you all.

  63

  About the Author

  Carmen DeSousa

  I love writing. As far back as I can remember I created stories—no, not to my parents—with my best friend. We would sit for hours playing with Barbie dolls, creating new adventures with the iconic toy. Then when I was eight, I actually wrote my first story. A horror story about gigantic fleas of all things, I guess I had a fear of fleas. Who knew I’d grow up to be a romantic-suspense writer?

  When I was in college, I wrote my first novella. My professor wanted something that entailed drinking and fishing—he was a huge Hemmingway fan. Well, he sure received a surprise
when he read my short story. It did have drinking and fishing, but there was nothing funny about it. It was sad; it was real life. Luckily, he enjoyed it, even admitted I was the first student who ever made him cry and that I had potential.

  Unfortunately, it just wasn't in my future at the time. After all, I needed a roof over my head and food on my plate. At seventeen, I was on my own and a career as an author just wasn't feasible at that juncture in my life. At that time, if you didn’t live in the mecca—aka New York—you didn’t stand a chance, or at least that is what my peers insisted. So, I set out to conquer the business world, and I did. I spent the last decade and a half in sales, rising to the top of a Fortune 500 company.

  Now fifteen years later, I'm back. And guess what, it's a new world where dreams really do come true. My first novel, She Belongs to Me, will be available December 2011, and from there, I have many stories waiting to share with my wonderful readers. I've waited twenty years to share my love of the written word and hope that you will be just as excited as I am.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Note to the Reader

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Epilogue

  Land of the Noonday Sun

  excerpt from Land Of The Noonday Sun

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author