I can't thank you enough for being patient with me while this book oozed from my pores. I've been moved to tears by the early reviews. I think I may have p'd some readers off with the ending, just quietly. ;P
You'll have to let me know what you think.
And it's only 99 cents for another week. Sale proceeds are going to the Australian Bushfire Appeal.
We were connected in more ways than one—I knew it when we met.
What I didn’t know was how close he would bring me to death.
And that death would be a blessing.
Andrea has always been able to tap into messages from somewhere beyond. When she meets Ben, an unrelenting force draws them together. But it’s going to take some convincing to help Ben realise their potential.
Ben never thought his friend’s little sister would be anything more than a nuisance. He was wrong. She’d always been so much more. And now, their bond could be severed and her pulse silenced forever.
*Recommended for readers 18+ due to mature content. *
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EXCERPT
I took a running leap, hugging my knees into my chest as I yelled, “Geronimo!” before landing a bomby in the pool.
“Shit! You got nasty pool water in my Coke.” Stewart’s words dove under the surface to reach my ears.
I grinned. Suck it, bro. My body was small, but I could send up a decent wave if I landed just right.
Kicking off the bottom, I almost reached fresh air, but my big brother was too quick, shoving me back under. Arse wipe. Sometimes I hated him, even though I loved him.
I struggled to break free, but his hands locked on my shoulders in punishment. My lungs started to burn. His taunting cackles speared the water like fingers poking into my deflated air sacs. I thrashed at the pain, panic rising. He was twice my size, but only two years older. I was screwed.
“Benny-boy! Lee Major! You made it.” He didn’t let me go, even though he apparently had visitors.
Wait a minute. Visitors! I’m saved.
“Is that your sister?”
“This? Nah, it’s just a drowned rat.” Stewart punctuated his insult with another cackle.
I was only seconds away from dragging in a lungful of water. I stopped kicking. Twisting my arm enough to reach the tender flesh inside his biceps, I pinched as hard as I could. He yanked his arm away and I shot to the surface, delivering a knee to the groin for extra points.
“Fuck! You little cow.”
My chest ached as I dragged in some air. Flailing my arms and legs, I managed to put some distance between us. I clung to the opposite side of the pool. It took me a solid minute to regain my breath. When I was in the safe zone, I turned on him. “You dickhead! I almost drowned.”
He rubbed the skin under his arm, his nose screwed up. “Nah, bullshit. You were fine.”
Behind me, the screen door opened with a squeal of its hinges. “What’s going on out here?”
Dad.
Spewart was in so much shit now. I raised an eyebrow at my big brother and crossed my arms.
His face rearranged into what I called his Little Boy Blue. “Nothin’.”
The big eyes and guileless pout might’ve worked when he was six, but now that he was ten years older and growing bum fluff on his pimply face it didn’t have the same effect. I kept my death stare cemented in place. I wasn’t gonna say anything. I wasn’t a snitch.
“Don’t be an idiot, Stewart. Leave your sister alone.” Dad’s feet came into my peripheral vision as he stood right on the edge near my head.
Righteous indignation replaced the Little Boy Blue. “She started it.”
Real mature, Spew. My eyes played rollerball in my head.
“You say that every time and I haven’t believed you once,” Dad barked. “If you can’t play nice, your friends are gonna have to go home.”
I smiled as my brother’s jaw went slack. Suck it. Were his mates even still here? Neither of them had bothered to come to my rescue. I hadn’t set eyes on them yet and already I didn’t like them.
“That’s not fair! Why can’t she go inside?”
No. I gasped, craning my neck to catch Dad’s reaction. Please don’t make me go inside.
Dad swiped a finger across his sweaty forehead, before drying it on his shorts. “Because it’s hotter than a Holden’s dashboard in January.”
“Then why aren’t you out here?”
He’d been inside drinking beer and re-watching the season-opener of rugby league, that was why. And Anna—his second wife—had gone out with our little brother, Will, and Dad was taking advantage of the peace and quiet—which we were ruining, but whatever.
“Stop arguing and look after your sister or I’ll tell your mother. She won’t let you come back here.”
Dad always used Mum as a threat. He didn’t realise that he was the only one afraid of her. Her and her lawyers, that was.
“Do it.” My brother dared.
“One more word and you won’t be borrowing the car anytime soon.”
Ooh, snap. Way to go, Dad. Hit him in his weak spot—freedom.
Spewart clamped his lips together and I heard snickers from behind me as the screen door slapped shut.
They are still here.
“Burn, bro.” One of his mates finally spoke up.
I turned to see who it was. A gangly, freckled redhead had one side of his mouth quirked in amusement. Next to him—hell ... oh. Who are you?
I sank into the water, my eyes level with my fingertips as they gripped the tiled edge. Dark hair framed a gorgeous face. Blue—the bluest—eyes stared back at me. His gaze shifted to Spewart, a line creasing between his brows. He wasn’t as tall as the other guy, but he was built like he lifted hay bales all day. Something in me roared to life. For the first time, my entire body tingled.
And then he spoke.
“You took it too far, idiot. I was about to jump in.”
He hadn’t been the one to speak before. Deep, soulful tones sashayed off his tongue. Oh, damn. Now I was thinking about his tongue. If only he had jumped in. He could’ve given me mouth-to-mouth.
