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Excerpt From:
Cole’s Awakening
By Jaden Sinclair
Chapter One
Cole
stood out in the freezing rain one week later, with the Draeger family
saying his last good-byes to Natasha Draeger. It took a whole week for
the family to come together and, in that time, Cole thought about the
last words she gave him. Don’t fight it. He didn’t understand
what she was talking about. Don’t fight what? He somewhat had an idea of
what she might be talking about but shook it off. No one knew, he’d made
extra sure of it.
Dressed in his best, head bowed, he thought about it while the priest
spoke the final words as her coffin was lowered into the ground next to
her husband.
For
ten years, one girl he had no business thinking about was always on his
mind. Cole refused to think of her as his. She was out of his reach, and
he was going to keep it that way. So even if Natasha’s words were meant
to encourage him not to fight the desire that was ever present when
Celine was around, Cole wasn’t going to listen. He wasn’t going to do
the family that way. Never!
Natasha wasn’t his and Chase’s mother but they both loved her as if she
were. And to stand here saying his silent good-bye was so very painful,
just like watching her body being lowered into the grave. It felt like
he was burying his own parents all over again, and that damn feeling of
being alone was present once more.
Each
of the Draegers stepped forward one by one to toss a handful of dirt on
top of her casket. In his hand, he held a single red rose. A tear
slipped from his eye when he let it go to land on the dirt. His eyes
locked on where it landed. What was he going to do now?
“Man, thou art dust and to dust thou shall return.” The priest recited
as he continued the service. He made the sign of the cross over the
casket, and then he blessed all of the family. “May she rest in peace.”
He
looked up to the family, but his eyes landed on Celine Draeger. She was
all grown up now at twenty-one, knocking what little breath he had right
out of his chest. Like everyone else around the gravesite, she was
dressed in black with a coat on and an umbrella over her head to protect
her from the cold rain. Her long, waist length black hair hung loose
with some of the strands blowing across her face with the wind. She
definitely was Jaclyn Draeger’s daughter.
Cole
looked away before their eyes could meet. He’d never forgotten the kiss
she gave him, or how it made him feel. And with those feelings and the
urges and desires constantly hitting him, Cole made the decision, again,
to stay away from her. It was the only respectable thing to do. All of
this because of the one little kiss which started something that still
affected him.
Because of that damn kiss, he couldn’t date like he needed to. Couldn’t
get serious with any girl, because he would compare them to her, and for
the past five years he sure as hell couldn’t get laid. That meant he was
a walking hard-on most of the time.
Don’t fight it.
“Hey, how you doing?” Drake came up to him and he jumped, snapping out
of his thoughts to shake the hand that he’d held out in front of him.
The group was breaking away and the Draeger family was coming up to him
and Chase.
“I’m
okay.” Cole took a deep breath and cleared his throat. Now was not the
time to be thinking about Natasha’s last words to him or the best kiss
of his life. “Guess I never thought Natasha would die, you know? And it
happened so fast.”
Drake pulled Cole into his arms and hugged him. Cole closed his eyes and
welcomed the embrace. “Remember you’re not alone. Okay?”
Cole
nodded and stepped out of his arms, sniffing back the tears. Drake
hugged Chase, while Cole steeled himself for the rest of the family.
“How
you doing, kid?” Stefan asked with his usual smile in place.
“Hanging in there.” Cole shook Stefan’s hand, then turned his attention
to Dedrick. Just the sight of the big man had his mouth drying up. If he
knew that all Cole could think about the past few months was his
daughter he knew his nuts would be ripped out. “The lawyer wants to see
you today.”
“Shit,” Dedrick sighed. “Bastard can’t even wait a day. We just buried
our mother for Christ’s sake.”
“He
told me that Natasha wanted the will read right after she was buried.”
Cole shrugged. “I’m just passing the information along.”
Dedrick growled then headed for the limo. Cole and the rest of the
family followed. They all got into the long limo and he cast a quick
glance at Celine. Get a grip on yourself, he thought. She just
lost her grandmother, you dick, and doesn’t need you to be thinking
about touching her legs or kissing her.
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