A Bride Worth Fighting For (Wiccan Haus #11)

By Sara Daniel

If she remembers the past, they won’t have a future.

Gwen Fairfax awakens in a hospital, deluged by stabbing head pain and unable to remember anything about her past, especially the man who claims to be her fiancé. A trip to the Wiccan Haus is her only hope to discover the woman she used to be, understand her mysterious dreams about a resort, and fall in love with the man she’s supposed to marry.

To stop his stepmother’s land development schemes from ruining the natural habitat he’s dedicated his life to preserving, Tucker Wilde is willing to do anything, even pretend to be engaged to the woman his brother left at the altar. But he isn’t prepared for the sweet, vulnerable woman to tempt him at every turn until he longs to give in to the temptation.

The more Gwen gets to know Tucker, the more she’s certain he’s a man worth remembering. But if the Wiccan Haus heals her memory, he’ll have to fight to keep his bride.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Decadent Publishing
• Release date: Jan 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781613338889

Book preview

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

A Bride Worth Fighting For

Copyright  2015 by Sara Daniel

ISBN: 978-1-61333-888-9

Cover art by Fiona Jayde

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

Published by Decadent Publishing Company, LLC

Look for us online at:

www.decadentpublishing.com

Wiccan Haus Order of Books

Shifting Hearts by Dominique Eastwick

A Man Worth Fighting For by Sara Daniel

An Apple Away by Kate Richards

Siren's Serenade by Dominique Eastwick

Psychic Lies by Sara Daniel

Unveil my Heart by Nya Rayne

Finding Her A-Muse-ment by Rebecca Royce

Guarding His Heart by Carolyn Spear

Lifebound by Leigh Daley

The 13th Guest by Rebecca Royce

A Bride Worth Fighting For by Sara Daniel

Coming Soon

Healing his Soul's Mate by Dominique Eastwick

Sorcerer’s Legacy by Carolyn Spear

Also by Sara Daniel

More Than a Fantasy

One Night with the Bride

Captivating the CEO

One Night with the Bridesmaid

One Night with the Groom

Once Upon a Marriage

A Model Hero

One Night with the Best Man

One Night with Her Husband

One Night with His Wife

A Man Worth Fighting For

Psychic Lies

Welcome to the Wiccan Haus

Something wiccan this way comes to a mystical mysterious island where authors get to play and bring their love stories to life. At the Wiccan Haus you will meet Rekkus, Cyrus, Sage, Sarka, Cemil and Myron, all of whom return in most, if not all, the stories. Yes each one will eventually get their HEA as well.

We hope you enjoy the stories from all the authors and return time and again to keep up with the staff and meet new characters along the way. But fear not if this is your first or twenty-first story each book stands on its own. If you want to know more about the series please sign up for our newsletter.

A Letter From Sara

Dear Reader,

I was enchanted by the Wiccan Haus from the moment I read Dominique Eastwick’s Shifting Hearts on its original release day, and I immediately knew I wanted to be part of this amazing paranormal world.

I’ve had an amnesia book simmering in my head for a while, and the Wiccan Haus provided the perfect setting for my heroine to heal and my hero to explore his issues. (Of course, being a guy, he’s naturally in denial that he has any issues!)

Whether you want to chat about weddings, people you’d fight for, The Wiccan Haus, or something crazy and quirky like squirrels, I love to hear from my readers. Drop me an email at [e-mail] and share whatever’s on your mind. Also, subscribe to my newsletter to stay up-to-date on my book releases and other author news: http://eepurl.com/rx_AL

Sara Daniel

www.SaraDaniel.com

Dedication

For Tina, Tina, Toni, Delphina, Sheri and the Wiccan Haus street team. Your support makes every moment of this journey worthwhile.

A Bride Worth Fighting For

A Wiccan Haus Story

By

Sara Daniel

Chapter One

I don’t. The groom’s words rang through the church. He strode from the altar, the crunch of his dress shoes on the paper aisle runner like gunshots in the dead silence.

Oh. Shit.

While the groom darted away from the wedding, Tucker Wilde stood frozen in front of the congregation. His role was supposed to be simple. Stand straight. Keep his mouth shut during the pastor’s blanket call for objections. Hand over the rings at the right moment. Not warm his brother’s cold feet and herd him back into the church.

Gwen Fairfax, who would have been the most beautiful woman in the room even if she hadn’t been wearing a beaded, strapless white gown and a fancy upswept hairstyle, grabbed both sides of her voluminous skirt and turned toward the narthex. The yards of lacy white fabric tangled around her ankles, and she stumbled.

Tucker reached for her, and the maid of honor, still holding the bride’s bouquet, bent to adjust the train. Gwen righted herself and hurtled up the center aisle like Cinderella panicking at the stroke of midnight.

John! she wailed, shoving open the outside doors.

Half the audience stood and craned their necks. Others turned to their companions and exchanged play-by-play commentary of what they’d witnessed. Amidst the chaos, only one person didn’t look stunned. Slumped in a wheelchair in the front row, Tucker’s father wore his customary vacant expression.

Next to him, Darlene, with her coifed hair and diamond necklace worth enough to solve world hunger, canceled out his indifference, turning her fury and disbelief on Tucker as if he had instigated his baby brother’s defection. As he’d been a mere bystander, as shocked as the rest of the guests, he shrugged off her glare.

The pastor cleared his throat and shuffled closer, nudging him with an elbow. As best man, you might want to retrieve the groom.

Did he? He glanced at Darlene again. An hour ago, John had confessed he wasn’t marrying for love but because their stepmother had promised him the CEO position of Wilde Land Development if he tied the knot.

No one who knew Tucker would expect him to convince someone to marry for the sake of corporate greed. On the other hand, if she wanted this union badly enough to promise the very thing she’d denied John for years, Tucker needed to find his brother and figure out what scheme Darlene had planned that precipitated her change of heart.

He weaved through the congregating guests who’d spilled into the aisle and pushed open the doors to the church. Outside in the bright sunshine of the cool April day, Gwen stood on the street at the open door of John’s yellow sports car. Her pleading tone floated to him as he descended the front steps two at a time.

I made a mistake. I thought I could marry you, but I can’t. John’s voice carried in the wind as he leaned out of his car to grasp the door handle.

I don’t understand. You pushed for this marriage, she said. Her full skirt filled the opening, preventing John from closing the door.

You should be relieved. You don’t even love me.

What the heck? Tucker tripped over the bottom step onto the sidewalk. Instead of dragging his brother inside, he might applaud him for having the guts to call the whole thing off.

But I like you—at least I did before you left me standing in there like a fool. She gestured toward the church.

I’m done jumping through hoops for Darlene. I want to live my own life. I don’t care if I’m never in charge of anything, as long as I don’t answer to her anymore. John pushed Gwen back and pulled the door closed. The car roared to life.

Wait, please. Open the door. She pounded on the window.

Tucker sauntered toward the street, proud of his brother for growing a pair. They already had one scheming, manipulative woman in the family and didn’t need another. Gwen no doubt brought something to the table that Darlene wanted, although he had no idea what.

Knowledge and preemptive strikes were his best allies in protecting what had once been open prairies, wetlands, and forests against the Wilde Land Development machine.

The yellow sports car started moving forward. Gwen ran alongside it, keeping up a decent pace considering her attire. She beat her fist on the window. John, wait. Please. My dress is caught in the door.

Her dress? Oh shit.

Instead of begging him to return to the church, she pleaded for him not to drag her behind a moving vehicle. Shit, shit, shit.

Tucker dashed toward them.

She screamed and staggered.

Oh God, no. Stop the car, John, he shouted, sprinting faster.

Gwen righted herself and kept running alongside the car.

He couldn’t breathe a sigh of relief though, because his brother kept driving, and as fast as Tucker was running, he couldn’t close the distance between them.

The car slammed to a stop, and the door flew open. She tripped forward into the door. Her forehead struck the upper corner, and she fell back, her head connecting with the pavement.

The sickening thud of contact reverberated in a sudden deathly silence.

Gwen, are you okay? Tucker yelled.

She didn’t move or respond.

Probably just the wind knocked out of her. He hoped. He prayed.

But the thud echoed in his head as he dashed the remaining feet to her body on the road. He yanked his phone from his pocket, dialing 911 as he dropped to his knees next to her.

Blood gushed from a gash on her forehead, the cut deeper than anything he could have imagined. Blood. A lot of blood. We need an ambulance now, he shouted at the operator.

His hand trembling, he grabbed the silver decorative handkerchief from his tuxedo jacket and pressed it over the wound. The cloth soaked through immediately. Needing more fabric, he yanked off his coat and replaced the hankie with an arm sleeve. She’d hit the pavement with the back of her head, but he couldn’t tell if any blood flowed from that side, too.

He could wrap the coat all the way around her head, but what if he caused more injury by trying to move her? Damn it, he was a naturalist, not a doctor. Of course he didn’t know what the hell to do. But he couldn’t let her die.

Gwen, stay with me, he begged. I’ll stay with you while you heal, but you have to stay with me now. Please.

***

Good afternoon, Ms. Fairfax. I’m Jess, your nurse for the day.