Charlotte POVThe more I get to know Cole, the deeper I fall in love with him. He was everything I wanted in a life partner. He was kind, sincere, gentle with the orphans, and driven to make his mark on the world. It also didn’t hurt that he was easy on the eyes. He stands only a few inches taller than I do, which is a wonderful blessing to me. Most of the men I know would tower over my slight five-foot nine-inch frame. But the best part about Cole, I feel safe when he holds me in his arms.If I were keeping a ledger of pros and cons for being with Cole, the pro side would definitely be tipping the scale. However, one thing on the con side was keeping me from agreeing to go to California with him so that we could marry. My dreams. The monster came to me every night in my dreams. I was barely sleeping these days; the monster terrified me so.I should stop calling it a monster and say she. For I have come to understand that the monster that was trying to keep us apart was a woman. What
Cordelia POVIt had been so easy in the beginning. I had seen him walking the shore and I wanted him for my own. I could not ascend my throne until I was married and Cole was a reasonable choice. He was easy on the eyes and had good connections within the human world. The pairing would make for a powerful couple in both my world and his.When we were alone, I had no trouble controlling him. It only took a kiss or two, and I could bend him to my will. When he was being overly stubborn, I would use my body to entice his and when he finally submitted, it was glorious. The power I held over his mind and body was a heady feeling.However, I couldn’t control him when his aunt was around. Beatrice knew what I was and she had warned me away from him many times. But I refused to back down. I knew what I wanted and nothing would stop me from succeeding.The last night we were together, I had given Cole a nightmare. I was the one pulling him from the arms of his dream girl. But I twisted the dre
Charlotte POV It was almost two weeks later when Cole’s brother, Elijah, finally arrived. Having been delayed by a late snow storm in the Rocky Mountains, he was happy to finally be no longer riding in the bumpy stage coach. Elijah was a terrible flirt, as was evident when he bent over my hand and kissed it, as if I were royalty. I giggled at his silliness because I could see Cole’s irritation at the gesture. I’ll be honest with you; I was nervous to meet him. Aside from his Aunt Beatrice, Elijah is Cole’s only family. If his brother didn’t approve, it would make our already rocky relationship that much more tedious. I don’t believe in putting on airs, pretending to be someone that you aren’t. I believe that it is important for people to see who you truly are, however, I also want Cole’s family to accept me. I shouldn’t have worried. It became more evident, the longer we talked and I came to know Elijah, that no one liked Cole’s former girlfriend. It was so very strange how no one e
Cole POV She was grinding her hips against my manhood and any normal man would have pushed her down into the grass and had his way with her. But Charlotte was so much more to me than a common trollop. She was quickly becoming my world. My reason for being. While I was desperate to make her mine, I wanted to take my time. She seemed so worldly, given her gift of sight. But I knew that she was still innocent in the ways of intimacy. Oh, I was fully aware that her good friend Mary Jane provided her with the sort of knowledge that was found in a whore house. I was only slightly shocked to learn that Mary Jane had grown up in such a place. But I am mature enough to understand that children do not choose the environment in which they are raised. It is forced upon them by their parents. The fact that Mary Jane was raised in such a place made no difference in who she was other than to provide her with an education that was lost to many. I was excited to take the knowledge that Mary Jane had
August 1866Charlotte POVWhen I informed Mrs. Sheffield that I had agreed to marry Cole and we were going to wait to marry until we were in California, she was not pleased. She didn’t want me to travel that far with Cole and not have the vows spoken. When I explained to her that Cole and I would travel as a married couple for safety’s sake but that he had already stated he would sleep on the floor during our travels, she relented. But only slightly.In my mind, it didn’t really matter. I was going to marry him. So why did I need to wait. It’s not like I would leave him for someone else. He was my destiny. If a lifetime of dreams hadn’t confirmed that, my vision of our wedding day did. But that wasn’t my only confirmation.Two nights after I had agreed to marry him, my mother came to me in my dreams. She had a vision that I would be traveling with my soon to be husband. During the dream I told her that I hoped that she would be able to come out of hiding for my wedding. She said that
Cole POV “I haven’t done near enough.” Her words only intensified the emotions flowing through me. I wanted her so desperately, but I wanted our first time together to be special. She deserved that. She deserved to feel like the most important thing in my world, because she was. The more I learned about her, the more I understood how perfect we were for each other. But in that moment, all I could think about was bringing her pleasure. She was caged against the wall, my body flush with hers, our tongues fighting for dominance, as her hands roamed through my hair. I groaned into her mouth when she lightly tugged on the hair at the nape of my neck. I broke the kiss, my lips traveling down her jawline, and I found the sweet spot in the crook of her neck. I nipped her gently and she moaned in ecstasy. My right hand left its place on the wall and traveled to her arm, gently sliding across her bare skin. My hand roamed down to her elbow then slid under her arm to her ribs, then over to he
Charlotte POV When I stepped off the stage and met Cole’s aunt, I immediately felt a kinship with her. I didn’t know why but I felt as though I had known her my whole life. Then she teased Cole by dismissing him like he was a hired servant and I knew that she and I would have lots in common. One of my favorite things was to tease Cole, her teasing being more of an older sibling. On the other hand, my teasing usually led to passion. As I took in Cole’s house, our house, actually, I was impressed. He really had done well for himself. A white Victorian style home with a wrap around porch and two stories. I noticed that many of the homes had at least two stories, similar to those in St. Louis. As we climbed the steps to the porch, I took note that one section of the house was curved, giving a turret feel to the home. Upon entering the house, I realized the curved area was the parlor with several tall windows for natural lighting. The parlor was stunning, but not quite my style. I decide
Chapter 17 Cole POV Her parents! What was going on? How did Aunt Bea know her parents? I was stunned and couldn’t voice my questions because at that moment, a knock sounded at the door. Aunt Bea rose to answer it. Charlotte was just as stunned as I was, probably more so. During our trip home, she had confided that she had been having dreams of her mother so she knew she was alive. She had many questions for her mother but was worried that she would never get to meet her, even though her mother often told her that they would meet very soon. Charlotte’s grip on my hand tightened and I watched as every emotion you could imagine crossed her face. Shock. Disbelief. Anger. Joy. Curiosity. Worry. I knew she was battling with how to react to the news that her parents were here in San Francisco. She was also struggling with the fact that they were in fact, now here, at Aunt Bea’s house. I wanted to comfort her but didn’t know exactly what she needed, so I just held her hand and waited. A