All of My Soul
Authors: Jenni Wilder
Tags: #love, #revenge, #hockey, #romance and relationship, #romance adult erotica contemporary
Things have never been better for Jillian.
She’s working hard at her internship, her thesis is going to blow
her professors out of the water, she’s excited to find a job after
graduation, and she has Lincoln. She never feels happier than when
she and Lincoln are together. He makes her feel happy and loved,
something she’s never had before.
But slowly her life begins to unravel.
Someone is stalking and harassing her, no one seems to want to hire
her, and after a serious attempt on her life, she finds out Lincoln
has been lying to her… again.
It’s hard to keep your life together when it
seems there is someone out there desperate to tear everything
apart. Why her? Why now? And most importantly, are Jillian and
Lincoln strong enough to survive it together?
Although
All of My Soul
is the sequel
to
All of You
both books are complete stories with
satisfying endings. However, for optimal enjoyment I do recommend
reading them in order. Both books contain mature content and may
not be suitable for everyone, especially those under 18.
This is a 90,000 word-count full-length
novel.
All of My Soul
Jenni Wilder
Published by Jenni Wilder, Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2015 Jenni Wilder
Cover Art Copyright L.J. Anderson, Mayhem Cover
Creations
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment
only. This e-book may not be resold or given away to other people.
If you're reading this book and did not purchase it or receive it
through a lending program, then please return to your favorite
e-book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for
respecting the hard work of this author.
No portion of this book may be reproduced or
distributed in any print or electronic form without permission of
the author. This book is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to
persons living or dead or any events or occurrences is purely
coincidental. The characters and story lines are fictional. This
book is intended for mature audiences, and the subject matter is
not appropriate for minors. This novel contains profanity and
sexual situations and may not be suitable for everyone.
Table of Contents
“And when one of them meets with
his other half, the actual half of himself, whether he be a lover
of youth or a lover of another sort, the pair are lost in an
amazement of love and friendship and intimacy, and one would not be
out of the other's sight…”
–
Plato
Chapter One
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Princess.” Lincoln’s
soft breath tickled at my ear as I woke in a giant, fluffy hotel
bed. Something soft and silky brushed down the bridge of my nose,
and I smiled as the smell of roses invaded my senses.
This was my first Valentine’s Day ever as
part of a couple, and I was excited to celebrate the day with the
love of my life. I had always pretended not to be bothered by this
day dedicated to celebrating love and romance, but secretly I was
always jealous of couples that were able to properly enjoy it.
Anyone who says you don’t need a specific day to tell you when and
how to celebrate love is wrong. Yes, it might be a made-up day
invented to bilk love-struck couples out of their hard-earned money
by telling them they need flowers, chocolates, and jewelry in order
to be happy but I didn't care. I had waited a long time to properly
celebrate this day with someone who loved me, and I wanted to bask
in it.
I opened my eyes and found Lincoln propped up
on his elbow, smiling down at me and holding up a single red
rose.
A wide smile erupted on my face. I took the
rose from him and held it to my nose, inhaling deeply. “Mm… thank
you, baby. Happy Valentine’s Day to you too.”
He grinned and leaned down to kiss me.
“Where’d you get the flower?”
“I have my ways,” he answered with a teasing
smile.
When he leaned back, I was able to see the
remainder of our hotel room behind him. I quickly put on my glasses
and saw a large bouquet of roses in a glass vase sitting on the
bench at the foot of our bed. A light coat of silver glitter
shimmered on the rose petals in the sunlight that filtered in
through the french doors that led to the balcony of our penthouse
hotel room.
“Ooh, they’re beautiful,” I said as I sat up,
clutching the bedsheet to my chest. “No one has ever given me
flowers before. Thank you so much.”
Lincoln sat up with me, and I hugged him
around his shoulders before kissing him hard on the mouth.
Lincoln had a game against the Boston Bruins
later that day, but he’d refused to spend Valentine's Day away from
me, so I’d shifted my work schedule around so we could be together
while not losing any more research time at my internship.
We had flown into Boston late yesterday
afternoon, and Lincoln had spoiled me all evening. We checked in to
our hotel, and he surprised me with a ginormous penthouse suite
with a king-sized bed and Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom.
Lincoln hired a town car and driver to take
us to several tourist spots, including the Cheers bar (the
inspiration for the television show) and the Old State House where
the Declaration of Independence was first read. It gave me chills
to be this close to history. I had never been here before, and I
quickly fell in love with this city. I was so glad to be exploring
it with Lincoln, although I wished it wasn’t winter. I had wanted
to walk through Boston Common, the huge park in the middle of the
city, but even after Lincoln bought me a giant cup of hot chocolate
from a quaint little coffee shop, the weather and cold temps made
it impossible to stay and enjoy the quiet peacefulness of the park.
We eventually were forced to retreat from the cold back to our
hotel room where we spent the evening warming each other up.
Lincoln pulled me out of my reminiscing about
the previous night by breaking our kiss and telling me, “I have
something for you.”
“Something more?” I asked. “This trip, the
hotel room, the flowers? They're more than enough. I’m just happy
spending time with you.” I cupped his face with my hands and kissed
him lightly.
“Mm… God, I love you, but this trip and the
hotel room aren’t part of your present, and you deserve more than
just flowers.”
“I told you I’ve never gotten flowers before.
They mean the world to me.”
“I’m glad, baby,” he said with a smile and
pulled me into his lap. He reached behind him and pulled out a
small rectangular box wrapped in red paper with a shiny red ribbon.
“But you deserve more than just flowers.”
I bit my lip and took the box from his hand.
“What’s this?”
“Open it,” he instructed.
I hesitated. He had probably spent a lot of
money on this. My present to him wasn’t anything grand. Lincoln
never blinked twice when it came to paying for something,
especially when he was spoiling me. I didn’t want to seem like a
gold digger, even though I knew Lincoln would never think that, but
I still usually argued with him when it came time to pay for
something.
So it was with trepidation that I slowly
ripped off the paper and revealed what looked like a jewelry box
covered in black velvet.
“Oh, Lincoln.”
“Open it,” he said again.
I cracked the box open and found a delicate
watch nestled on a white satin pillow. The face was white with tiny
slivers of what I guessed to be diamonds surrounding it. The band
was wide and made up of several strands of pearls. It was gorgeous
and expensive-looking, and it wouldn’t match a thing in my closet.
Not that I cared, though. I would wear it with yoga pants and an
old T-shirt simply because it was a gift from Lincoln.
“Did you pick this out?”
Lincoln nodded. “Kennedy went with me to make
sure I didn’t choose anything horrible, but yeah, I picked it
out.”
I smiled up at him. “I will cherish it
forever, Lincoln.”
He let out the long breath he had been
holding in and looked at me with amusement.
“I was preparing for a fight.”
“Because of the money?”
“Yeah,” he admitted.
“Lincoln, this is my first Valentine’s Day
present from you. It’s priceless to me.”
His face erupted in a huge smile. “So you
like it?”
“It’s gorgeous. I love it. Will you help me
put it on?” I held my arm out to him, and he delicately attached
the ends around my wrist.
I turned it over so the face of the watch was
up, and we admired it. “Thank you, baby.” I turned my lips up to
kiss him, and he willingly complied, but when he attempted to
deepen the kiss, I pulled back. “You get a present too.”
Lincoln wrapped his arms around me and pulled
me close. “I have all I need right here.”
I smiled and kissed him quickly but then
wiggled out of his grasp. I crawled to the edge of the bed and
grabbed my silky white robe from where I had left it at the foot of
the bed. I quickly wrapped it around myself to hide my nakedness.
It was one thing to be naked around Lincoln when we were in the
throes of passion, but it was another to be walking around the
hotel room naked in front of him. I know it didn’t make sense, but
it was ingrained in me to hide my scars, and sometimes they still
made me self-conscious no matter how many times Lincoln told me how
beautiful he thought I was.
“Hey,” Lincoln said, and I looked back at
him. He scooted out of bed and stood in front of me, tugging on my
robe. “What are you doing?”
“I’m getting your present,” I answered,
confused.
“Why did you cover up?”
I looked down at my robe. “Oh. I… don’t
know.” I said shyly. It really was ridiculous that I would be
uncomfortable around him, considering all we’d done together.
He grasped my chin and gently pulled my face
up so I had to look at him. “You’re beautiful. I would have you
naked all the time if it were up to me, so don’t ever think you
need to cover up around me, okay?”
I pinched my lips together but nodded despite
my embarrassment. It was still hard to believe him when he said
those things.
He pulled at the sash around my waist that
was holding my robe shut and ran his fingers along my collarbone,
pushing the robe off my shoulders.
I heard his breath catch as my robe silently
fell to the floor. If I ever doubted he wanted me, that doubt was
gone when he pulled me close to him and I felt him grow hard
against my pelvis.
God, how I wanted him. I slid my hands up his
chest, over his shoulders, and linked my fingers around his neck.
His face turned serious as I rose up on my toes to kiss him. He
leaned down to me and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“Wait,” I said, pulling back from him. He
arched his eyebrows, wondering why I’d stopped. “I want to give you
your present.”
“Later,” he demanded and pulled me back to
him. “I need you.” His voice was deep and husky, and it made me
clench in anticipation.
Oh well,
I thought. It was Valentine’s
Day, after all. We had all day for presents.
~~~~~~~~
We lay in bed for a while after our morning
lovemaking before Lincoln got up to use the bathroom. As soon as he
was out of sight, I jumped up out of bed and rooted through my
duffel bag until I found my purchase.
