Embrace Me: Stark Ever After, #7

By J. Kenner

"I never ever want to say goodbye to the Stark world! And I hope I never have to…" BJ's Book Blog

 

Growing up, I never expected to have so much love in my life. My childhood had been a nightmare, but despite our challenges, my life now with Damien and our daughters is nothing short of miraculous. Even better, we have a baby boy on the way, and I'm walking on clouds as I await the big day.

 

These final weeks should be magical, but when my mother appears on our doorstep with a promise that she has changed and a plea for us to welcome her back into our life, I'm suddenly adrift in a sea of uncertainty. Now, I'm floundering once again, tossed back into the nightmare of my past. And as the whirlpool of memories and fear once again tries to suck me under, I can only hope that Damien's strength is enough to pull me back again.

 

The Stark Saga (full-length novels

Release Me

Claim Me

Complete Me

Anchor Me

Lost With Me

Damien

Enchant Me

 

Stark Ever After (novellas)

Take Me

Have Me

Play My Game

Seduce Me

Unwrap Me

Deepest Kiss

Entice Me

Hold Me

Please Me

Indulge Me

Delight Me

Cherish Me

 

Visit JK's website for full reading order with spin-off stories!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Martini & Olive
• Release date: Apr 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781953572226

J. Kenner

J. Kenner (aka Julie Kenner) is the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal and #1 International bestselling author of over seventy novels, novellas and short stories in a variety of genres. Though known primarily for her award-winning and internationally bestselling romances (including the Stark and Most Wanted series) that have reached as high as #2 on the New York Times bestseller list and #1 internationally, JK has been writing full time for over a decade in a variety of genres including paranormal and contemporary romance, "chicklit" suspense, urban fantasy, and paranormal mommy lit. JK has been praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a "flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations" and by RT Bookclub for having "cornered the market on sinfully attractive, dominant antiheroes and the women who swoon for them." A four time finalist for Romance Writers of America's prestigious RITA award, JK took home the first RITA trophy in 2014 for her novel, Claim Me (book 2 of her Stark Trilogy). In her previous career as an attorney, JK worked as a clerk on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and practiced primarily civil, entertainment and First Amendment litigation in Los Angeles and Irvine, California, as well as in Austin, Texas. She currently lives in Central Texas, with her husband, two daughters, and two rather spastic cats.

Book preview

Embrace Me

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www.jkenner.com

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About Embrace Me

Growing up, I never expected to have so much love in my life. My childhood had been a nightmare, but despite our challenges, my life now with Damien and our daughters is nothing short of miraculous. Even better, we have a baby boy on the way, and I’m walking on clouds as I await the big day.

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These final weeks should be magical, but when my mother appears on our doorstep with a promise that she has changed and a plea for us to welcome her back into our life, I’m suddenly adrift in a sea of uncertainty. Now, I’m floundering once again, tossed back into the nightmare of my past. And as the whirlpool of memories and fear once again tries to suck me under, I can only hope that Damien’s strength is enough to pull me back again.

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Contents

A note from JK

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Epilogue

What comes next?

My Fallen Saint

Also by J. Kenner

About the Author

Embrace Me is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously; they are not real, and any resemblance to events, establishments or persons (living or dead or undead) is entirely coincidental.

Embrace Me Copyright © 2021 by Julie Kenner

Excerpt from My Fallen Saint Copyright © 2020 by Julie Kenner

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Cover design by Michele Catalano, Catalano Creative

Cover images by MOELLERTHOMSEN (deposit photos)

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ISBN-D: 978-1-953572-22-6

ISBN-P: 978-1-953572-23-3

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Published by Martini & Olive Books

V-2021-3-30D

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.

A note from JK

Hello, awesome reader!

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As a bonus, I’ve included four chapters from My Fallen Saint, book one of my most recent trilogy. So be sure to keep reading after you finish Embrace Me! If you love Damien, you’re going to love Devlin Saint, too!

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Chapter One

Istand on the bedroom balcony, the doors open behind me as I look out at the morning light glinting on the Pacific. I’m barefoot and fresh from the shower, now wrapped in the extra-large spa-style robe that Damien bought for me when I was pregnant with Anne.

I kept it after she was born even though it swallowed me up because it was so snuggly and comfy. I never expected to actually need it again, but as I press my hand over my very extended belly, I sigh with happiness. Because I do need it again. And this time for a boy. B.B.S. we’re calling him for now, since we still haven’t decided on a name.

Hopefully that will change soon, I think as I rub my hand over my belly. Because Baby Boy Stark just isn’t the kind of name a young man takes with him to college, is it, precious?

That’s my wife, Damien says, coming up silently and rubbing my neck as I moan with pleasure. Always bowing to tradition and expectations.

I laugh. Good morning, Mr. Stark.

Ms. Fairchild, he says, my name now a term of endearment. Personally, I’ve gone by Stark since our marriage, but my business was started as Fairchild Development—now Fairchild & Partners—and I’ve kept the name simply because I want to grow the business on my own and not because I’m married to a master of the universe.

And good morning to you, too, B.B.S., that master of the universe says, abandoning my neck to reach around and cup my baby bump, which is really more of a baby mound these days.

I turn in his arms, sacrificing the gorgeous view of the ocean for the gorgeous view of my husband. He’s looking down at me with those incredible dual-colored eyes, his amber eye alight with love, the onyx one dark with strength.

He hasn’t shaved yet, and I reach up to brush his cheek, enjoying the feel of his scruff against my palm. His hair is mussed from sleep, as jet black as it was the day we met except for his temples. There’s a hint of silver now, something that I think makes him look all the more powerful and sexy, but which I also know is the reflection of more than just the passing years. It’s a manifestation of his own scars. The trauma of his past, and the trials of his present. Anne’s kidnapping. The death and betrayal of one of his closest friends. Me in danger.

Damien’s always stood as a fortress against the horrors of the world, protecting the people he loves, me and the children most of all. But it’s not an easy battle, and I know better than anyone how much it has cost him.

He brushes a finger lightly over the tip of my nose. You’re thinking very loudly.

Am I? I raise my brows. Then tell me what I’m thinking.

That you love me. And, he adds with a smile, what a coincidence. I’m thinking how much I love you, too.

It’s as if you know me, I trill, moving even closer so he can envelop me in a hug, at least as much as our unborn son’s girth allows. And I was thinking all that and more, I admit. Mostly, I was thinking about what a great dad you are.

I can’t wait to meet this little guy.

I take a step back, grimacing as B.B.S. shifts position, a foot getting me right in the bladder. You and me both. But maybe it’s good that we still have over two weeks. I think it’ll take us that long to decide on a name.

I’d suggested Ash, in honor of my sister, but as much as I love and miss Ashley, it doesn’t feel quite right. My best friend, Jamie, had suggested Damien, Jr., but as far as I’m concerned there will only ever be one Damien Stark, and I vetoed that idea.

We’ve poked around on baby naming sites, but so far, no name has clicked the way Lara and Anne, our daughters’ names did. Those, we simply knew.

We’ll find his name, Damien says. I promise you he won’t graduate college as Baby Boy Stark.

It would make for interesting press, I say, making Damien laugh. I force a smile, too, but the reality that the press will inevitably surround our kids is something I do think about, and often. Because no matter what, our children will always be in the spotlight. And as we’re about to bring a third child into our family, I have to hope that we’ll be good enough parents to help them grow up knowing how to deal with that.

I’m about to share my thoughts with Damien, but the patter of little feet and the cry of Mommy! Daddy! Mr. G made chocolate pancakes!

It’s Lara, our newly-turned six-year-old. Her four-year-old sister Anne is hurrying behind, shouting, Choca-pipcakes, Lara! They called choca-pipcakes!

Lara sighs as she looks at Damien and me, then shakes her head and rolls her eyes, making her long dark hair sway. Kids, she says, and I almost lose it right then, especially when I feel Damien’s body vibrate with laughter.

Go get started, I manage to tell the girls. We’ll be right there.

They scurry off, and I clap a hand over my mouth as Damien says, "I