Revelation Read online

  Evernight Publishing

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2011 London Saint James

  ISBN: 978-1-927368-21-3

  Cover Artist: LF Designs

  Editor: Dana Horbach

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  To my own personal sun;

  You shine within my heart. Thank you for taking away all my dark and dreary days, and for making my world brighter.

  Love,

  London

  REVELATION

  Heart of Winter, 3

  London Saint James

  Copyright © 2011

  Prologue

  When Austin died, I died. While my death wasn’t physical, it became a never-ending death of the heart, the soul. I spent sixteen years secluded, sixteen years without the warmth of the sun. You see Austin was my sun, my warmth, the beating of my heart. We were to be married in Saint Thomas on Fifth Avenue, the twentieth of December. We never made it. The night before our wedding, my heart would be ripped from me. Austin’s life ended in a car crash. Two years after that horrific event, I left the big apple and moved to Colorado.

  Years later, I returned to New York. Back to the place that I knew would hold all the ghosts of my past life. I came at the urging of an old acquaintance, Zander Harrison, Austin’s one-time agent, friend, and manager. He convinced me to help him with the re-write of a script, but what I found in New York was impossible. The unattainable Hollywood mega star, Cayden Cain, rocked my world. Shook it to its very unsteady foundations.

  Cayden’s resemblance to Austin shocked me, even terrified me. There were a few things different, the color of his hair being nowhere near the pitch black of Austin’s, but so much about Cayden was like looking back in time. I never expected, never thought possible, to see such splendor again. Cayden was the same height, his build exact. His voice, eerily close in texture, tone, and inflection. But if that’s not strange enough, he spoke with the same cadence. Then there’s the same perfection to his face. However what’s truly unbelievable were those liquid blue eyes. Cayden captured me within his eyes, looking at me, gazing straight into my soul. Cayden’s eyes haunted me. They were the eyes of my love, my life.

  With his appearance, everything changed. I had come to believe, as crazy as it may sound, that some way, somehow, Austin saved me through Cayden. I cannot explain how this is possible, but Cayden, like Austin, was the missing piece of my heart. The only problem, I wasn’t sure I could live in his world, but I needed to try. Even if I didn’t belong, I had to find a way to stay with Cayden.

  Chapter One

  Reality

  A beautiful day greeted me.

  The kind of day which calls to you. Drawn to the balcony of my room, I gazed out over the long manicured lawn. I studied the curves of the shrubs. They formed a maze-like pattern off in the distance. I imagined how beautiful this place would be in the spring, with the garden in bloom along with the roses bright. The silent fountain overflowing with water and the sounds it must make would be soothing. I closed my eyes, in an attempt to hear the sounds the water should make, when I felt warm hands trace over the surface of my neck before they brushed back my hair.

  “Your hair is beautiful,” Cayden complimented as he combed his fingers through it from crown to ends. “It shimmers.”

  I basked in the warmth of the sun and the warmth of Cayden.

  “Thank you,” I said softly as I opened my eyes.

  Cayden chuckled then quieted. His hands continued. I shivered. “Winter, even though the sun’s out, it is cold out here. What are you doing?”

  I leaned my head back to find his chest. “Just imagining what this place must look like in the spring,” I admitted. The palms of my hands rested upon the top of his denim clad thighs.

  Cayden’s fingers slipped under my shirt. He made small circles around my navel. I shivered again with pleasure. “It’s too cold; we need to get you inside.”

  “It’s not the cold, Cayden. It’s you who made me shiver.”

  He moved around me and faced me. His eyes wide clear and blue. The corners of his mouth turned up into a devilish smile.

  “Well that is good to know,” he mused.

  “What makes you shiver?” I asked while my hands roamed over the perfect features of his face.

  “I am not going to tell you. You’ll need to find it out all on your own.”

  I pouted then whined, “No fair.”

  Cayden took his finger and outlined my pout. “Who says I play fair?”

  I smiled at his question. He leaned in close, almost punishing me with the temptation of his mouth before he moved aside the collar of my shirt. He brushed the tip of his nose over my collarbone. I shivered again.

  “Hmm,” he murmured against my neck. “More information which is very good to know.”

  “So it’s my turn,” I said.

  Cayden looked at me. His dark brows rose in question. “Your turn?”

  I put my hands on his chest and slid them down the length of his dark blue Tommy Hilfiger shirt. He continued to look at me, a smile playing around the edges of his mouth. If he thought I couldn’t find what would make him shiver, he was wrong. I grinned with a sense of smugness because I knew exactly. So if Cayden wanted to play unfairly, well then….

  I unbuttoned the top five buttons of his shirt to allow the very minimal space to open up. My fingers sketched the edges of his collar. Softly they found his skin underneath the material. When I pressed my lips to his throat, Cayden groaned. Unable to stop, I ran my tongue over the surface of his throat, down his marble smooth chest only halting where the buttons were still attached. I looked up at Cayden to see his eyes were closed. The expression upon his face led me to believe he was enjoying the moment. I imagine he felt my hesitation, because he opened his eyes and glanced down at me.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Maybe we should go inside,” I suggested.

  “Why?”

  “It is cold out here.” I undid the last of his buttons.

  Without any further hesitation, I continued to move my mouth and my tongue over the surface of his skin. I discovered the ripples of his stomach, and with what had to be a devilish smile of my own, I allowed my tongue to lick the length of them. I was sure in my goal as my mouth stopped only periodically to kiss and caress his perfection before continuing. Every ridge and every ripple was a tantalizing treat to be tasted. My tongue inched down lower to his navel then lower, coming to the top edge of his jeans. He trembled.

  “See…it’s cold,” I said.

  Cayden gave me his guilty crooked grin. He placed his hand to my cheek while his thumb rubbed over the swell of my lips. “Baby, it’s not the cold. It’s you who made me shiver.”

  “Good to know.” A sense of victory raged through me.

  My hands made it to the buttons of his jeans.

  “Winter,” he said as though conflicted.

  “What?”

  “Maybe—”

  “I want to do this. Let me.” I watched his forehead crease with that damn sexy scowl. “Cayden, don’t you want….”

  “Yes,” he said in a breathless moment. “I want this, you, your mouth, but I don’t know if—”

  “Shh….” I undid the second button on his jeans.

  I made it through his th
ird button when I heard a knocking at my bedroom door. Cayden sighed. The sound, exasperated.

  “It’s Zander,” he said, taking me by the hand.

  We walked back inside, hand in hand, and left our balcony behind. Cayden tugged me with him as he headed toward the bedroom door. He let loose of my hand and quickly buttoned his jeans. He reached out and opened the door. He was right. It was Zander.

  “Cayden,” Zander greeted. He looked around Cayden’s shoulder to see me. “Winter.” He nodded before he returned his gaze back to Cayden who was buttoning up his shirt. “We are going to be late if we don’t get going.”

  Cayden reached out. Touched my arm.

  “I will be downstairs in just a minute, Zander.” Zander glanced over at me for a brief moment. “Winter, how are things coming with the script?”

  “I have quite a bit done. Actually.” I shifted, because I felt hidden behind Cayden. “I think you may want to take a look at it. There might be enough to start filming if you like what you read.”

  Cayden turned to look at me. Surprise flashed across his face.

  “Really, you have that much done?”

  “I think so,” I replied.

  Zander gave a brief smile but never relaxed his formal position at the door. “Well then, we will get together this evening, look over the progress. Right now, Cayden and I have an appointment. I hope you understand?”

  I nodded my head. “Sure, I understand.”

  Zander turned to leave. He must have noticed Cayden wasn’t following. “Cayden, are you coming?”

  “Give me a moment. We won’t be late,” Cayden assured.

  Zander lifted his arm, moved back the sleeve of his suit, and peered at his gold Rolex as he said, “It is a live interview. I will meet you in five.” Without anything further, he continued down the hall.

  Cayden turned to look at me. Something like sadness brushed across his features before he gained composure. I understood why he was hesitant earlier. He knew he had a meeting today, and we probably didn’t have time to finish what I started on the balcony, but there was also something else. I watched him comb his fingers through his tousled locks.

  “Winter, we have an interview on E. We are going to let them know you are working on the script. I really do not like this much but—”

  The paparazzi found out about me, took some interesting pictures, and published them along with a lovely article linking me as Chandler Cain’s, Cayden’s older brother, current love interest. Cayden, wanting to protect me from his crazy life, agreed with Zander and his plan to let the press know I was the mystery women they caught in their photographs. They hoped to put an end to the speculations by telling the truth or at least part of the truth. I was here to work on Cayden’s new film script, and if the press thought I was with Cayden’s handsome older brother, well, let them. Maybe it would keep them off Cayden’s trail, protect both Cayden and me. It was a tangled mess, but the reality was I needed to protect Cayden as well. I doubted it would be good for Hollywood’s most eligible bachelor to have a thirty-eight-year-old girlfriend. It would be bad for Cayden’s image. And while he didn’t care, I did. He’d worked too hard to have his image ruined by me.

  I interrupted him when I bounced up on my tiptoes, swung my arms around his neck, and pressed my longing lips firmly to his. Cayden’s tense body relaxed. His arms wrapped around me. His lips moved with mine. Within a moment he gave way. He kissed me with a consuming passion. His hold became tighter, constricting, like he would somehow loose me from his arms before he loosened his grip, allowing his hands to shimmy up the surface of my back underneath my shirt. I was the one who had to stop. I pulled myself from his all too tempting lips.

  “Do what you need to do, but please hurry back. I miss you already,” I confessed, rather breathless.

  Cayden smiled his most breathtaking smile. “Winter, I love you.”

  “And I love you,” I replied.

  I decided to go downstairs to write so I grabbed my laptop from the desk on my way out of my room. I wanted to get a little more of the script done before meeting with Zander later. With Cayden gone this would fill my time, keep my mind busy and my hands preoccupied while I typed.

  I found a quiet corner in the media room, perched myself on the oversized suede chair by the window then gazed out to an excellent view of the side lawn, and what looked like a small oval pond. I had come to the love scene portion of the script, something I’d been putting off, and something I knew I needed to focus on and finish. It would not be hard to draw some inspiration from real life and insert it into the script, with a few minor changes. Nevertheless I did need to be a little creative in the way the scene was written. I decided to change the current location from a plain old boring hotel room to the rooftop of a tall building.

  I glanced back outside. The sky was dark. I decided to write the scene underneath the clear night sky, the two characters dancing beneath the stars then moved on to the kiss. The kiss, I thought with some real trepidation. This gave me pause for a moment. The reason for my procrastination when writing the love scene came back to me in a flood. I briefly fought an internal battle. I needed to keep in mind I was writing this for Cayden, so I wanted the scene to be excellent, but he would be kissing another woman. The thought of that did bother me more than I would have thought.

  While the kissing scene was necessary for the storyline and even though I knew Cayden would be acting, it was his lips touching another woman. I doubt they have stunt doubles for that kind of action. But I imagined myself instead of the stunningly beautiful actress who was sure to be cast and moved forward with the story. The thought hit me, love scene and naked. I needed to ask Cayden just how naked was naked when he did these loves scenes. Crap, the thought would haunt me.

  “Hey.”

  I briefly gazed up from behind my laptop to see Cayden’s brother, Chandler, who broke my concentration.

  “Hi, Chandler.” I tried to refocus.

  He laughed. “You look quite serious.”

  “Hum.” I mumbled my agreement.

  “So why do you look pissed off?”

  “I look pissed off?”

  “Yep.”

  “Huh,” I muttered.

  “So what’s up with that?” Chandler asked.

  I bit my lip and glanced over at him. He looked amused.

  “Come on, Winter. What is it?”

  I blurted out, “How naked is naked in Cayden’s love scenes?” Then felt like I wanted to die.

  Chandler guffawed. I was beginning to wonder if he was going to answer my question he laughed so long.

  “So,” he finally said, “you are working on the love scene and you’re pissed off about my brother being naked with his co-star, right?”

  “Well….”

  Chandler started laughing again.

  “Let me just say those love scenes you are asking about are usually quite unnatural, uncomfortable, and done with a room full of people and cameras. It’s not very conducive to sexy.”

  “But how naked is naked?” I asked again.

  “It depends,” he said, still laughing. “But you don’t have anything to be worried about.”

  “Uh huh,” I muttered. Without any doubt, I would be asking a lot of questions when Cayden came back to the estate.

  “I am going to watch his interview. Maybe you should take a break, come join me,” he said. He grabbed a remote, turned on the very black, not to mention very large flat screen TV that hung on the far wall from me. “I love this TV.” Chandler seemed to growl.

  What is it about large TVs that makes men drool?

  “Okay,” I said, but I had no real intention of moving. I gazed back at the glowing screen of my laptop, a little more than miffed about the love scene.

  “First, let me say I am very pleased to meet you, Cayden, and glad you came to talk about your next film.”

  I heard the beginning of Cayden’s interview echo out into the room. I looked up to see him fabulous and smiling on the scr
een. He was sitting rather casually with his right ankle propped up on his left knee. His hand glided over the surface of his pant leg and played with the edge of his jeans. The clarity was crisp, the picture large plus Cayden’s beauty could melt me just where I sat.

  Okay, maybe large TVs weren’t all that bad.

  “Thank you for having me,” Cayden said smoothly with that bone melting smile.

  As soon as I saw his glorious face and heard his smooth silk voice, I was done. I sat the laptop on the ottoman. Without any further hesitation, I gave all my attention to the TV.

  “It has been almost eight months since filming your last film, Memories of a Dream. It should be in theaters in March, correct?”

  Cayden smiled, gazing from beneath his dark thick lashes with eyes crystal clear like liquid blue pools of sin.

  “Yes, March twenty-seventh,” he answered.

  “And I know the fans can’t wait. Can you tell us a little something about that film?”

  “Sure,” he replied. “It’s a story about a college student who’s involved in an accident which changed his life.”

  “Your character, Evan Blake, ends up in a coma only to wake to a different life, correct?”

  “Yes. When Evan wakes he finds everything about his life has changed. He is five years older. His father has passed away. His girlfriend married his best friend, and he has no use of his legs. Everything about his past life is gone, as if a dream.”

  “But isn’t there an unexpected romance involved?”

  Cayden tilted his head, grinned. “Yes, but I’m not giving that away.”

  I heard a slight laugh from the interviewer. “Tell me about your current project. What is the title? It does seem there has been a bit of confusion surrounding this project.”

  Cayden’s smooth voice rang out through the speakers setting my heart a flutter as he said, “The title has not been decided yet. It is still a work in progress.”

  “Really, so the rumors about the film being put on hold due to problems with the current script are true?” the woman asked.

  The camera cut away from Cayden and over to her. My gaze narrowed. She was pretty.