Monday Flash Fic: The Proposal

The Proposal

“Just say yes.”

I stared into the eyes of the man kneeling in front of me and knew I didn’t imagine the depth of feeling I saw there.

“You are making this far more complicated than it needs to me.”

His voice was soft and insistent. As always, it felt like a caress against my skin. His question was all I’d hoped for and all I feared. I couldn’t bring myself to answer.

“I know what you’re thinking.” An edge of urgency crept into his voice. “And you’re right. There will be naysayers. People will frown, some may reject us, we may even encounter violence, but none of that matters. Those others have no meaning, their judgment doesn’t affect us. This is about you and me; about the love we feel for each other. We belong together. You know it. I know it. We can’t allow the rest of the world to stand between us.”

Looking at him I recognised the passion in his eyes and trusted the sincerity in his voice. Despite my reservations my heart stuttered at his words. I wanted to believe it was possible for the two of us to be happy together. All my dreams centred on him and me living happily as a couple, untroubled by doubts or the opinion of others. I couldn’t allow myself to believe what he proposed was possible in the real world. The subsequent heartache would be too much to bear.

“Say something. Don’t be cruel. I know you love me. Please. Just answer my question.” 

The pain in his expression as a result of my continued silence, was as real as his love for me had been only a few seconds ago. He moved and I knew he’d stand up and kill the moment unless I opened my mouth.

“Yes.” I whispered the word, compelled by a force beyond my control.

A smile stretched across his handsome face and he pulled at my hand until my fingers touched his mouth. The soft brush of his lips sent shivers down my spine.

“Cut” The director’s order came just in time for me. “Well acted. I’m going to have a look but I’d be surprised if we need a second take. That was beautiful enough to bring tears to my eyes. And I know the story.”

I looked away at the glorious sunset as I pulled Bruce up. Maybe he had acted well; there’d been no pretence involved on my part. If he asked me the question in real life I’d say yes in a heartbeat. But that was never going to happen. The actor who’d been my co-star in this series for the past three years - the man I loved - would never be as brave as the character he portrayed.

***

Thank you for reading my short story, I hope you enjoyed it. Don’t forget to look at the Monday Flash Fics group on Facebook where you’ll find other stories, inspired by the same picture.

I first saw this week's picture when James VanZant posted it on Facebook. He graciously allowed me to steal if for our flash fiction project. Thank you, James.

LITTLE RAINBOWS available for early download

Title: Little Rainbows

Author: Helena Stone

Pairing: MF

Genre: BDSM, Contemporary

General Release Date: 20^th March

Publisher: Totally Bound Publishing

ISBN: 9781784304584

Available on Early Download on the 20^th Feb

Heat Rating: Burning

Book Length: Super Novel

Blurb for Little Rainbows:

When Jason Hudson and Heather Staunton first meet they are young and sure they are wrong for each other. As a result they spend a summer admiring each other from a safe distance.

Twenty years later Heather is coming out of mourning, having lost her husband and Dom eighteen months earlier. Jason, now the owner of an exclusive sex resort on the west coast of Ireland, struggles with the loss of his desire to dominate.

Jason’s resort is about to celebrate its first anniversary and party planner Heather has been hired to create the perfect celebration. Their reunion comes as a big surprise to both of them.

Old and familiar attraction, battles with new and conflicting emotions as Jason and Heather work together to organize the ultimate BDSM event. Overcoming the issues between them isn’t the only obstacle Jason and Heather face. In the background lurks a threat both to Heather’s independence and Jason’s livelihood.

Excerpt:

The lighthouse was only a few miles away, on one of the most western points of Ireland. As he’d hoped, they were on their own. Not many people ventured this far. Taking a blanket from the boot of his car, and with his arm once again around her, he walked Heather as close to the edge of the cliff as he dared.

“Let’s sit here and enjoy the view.”

Jason spread the blanket on the grass. His heart skipped a beat when Heather sat down close beside him. Nothing could convince him she hadn’t meant for their legs to touch.

“This place is amazing.”

A smile as bright as the sun shining down on them lit up Heather’s face. The setting was perfect. A calm and warm day, blue skies and hardly any wind, and yet the ocean appeared wild. They were alone, the peace and quiet only interrupted by the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks. Just him, Heather and the sea, again.

 “Remember the last time it was just us and the sea, Heather?”

“In Wexford? Yes, I do. That was different though.”

His mind travelled back. He couldn’t remember why, but Heather and he had been alone that day. The walk on the beach had been delightful, as had lying down in the sand for a rest. They’d had no intention of falling asleep, but the combination of warm sunshine and soft sand had been too much for both of them. When they’d woken up, they’d found themselves on a sandbank of sorts, surrounded by water. Not in any danger of ending up in the sea, thankfully, but with no way back to the rest of the beach without getting soaked. They’d sat there together for hours, looking at the sea, talking and, eventually, kissing.

“That kiss.” Heather paused. “Those hours with you in the middle of the sea… It was the only time during that summer I thought I might have made a mistake when I decided not to pursue you.” She smiled. “I didn’t believe I could give Moira competition when it came to you, but that afternoon I thought maybe I should have tried.”

“I know. I felt the same.” And he could still kick himself that he’d been too much of a coward to just drop Moira and hang on to Heather. “It felt right when I kissed you. Felt right in a way it never did with Moira.”

Jason looked at Heather and saw in her eyes the same hunger he knew had to be shining out of his.

He moved closer, giving her plenty of time to stop him or pull away. She didn’t. Just as slowly she moved closer to him. Her teeth nibbled on her bottom lip, her gaze jumped from his mouth to his eyes and back again, but she didn’t try to prevent what was about to happen.

Mouth against mouth. Soft lips moving over his, finding every corner of his mouth. A small sigh and her lips were caressing his again. Her hand touched his cheek, stroking as her lips continued their investigation of his mouth.

“Jason.” His name was a breath against his lips, her slightly opened mouth an invitation. No hurry, no rush, no force. Just lips stroking lips, tongues finding each other, touching, teasing, playing.

Without removing his mouth from Heather’s, Jason pushed her until she was flat on her back. Leaning over her, he pulled away and drank in her beautiful features—her face relaxed, her eyes open and smiling at him, her lips parted. He traced his fingers over her skin, her lips, her ears. So soft. She pushed her face into his hand, searching for his touch, asking him for more. He needed to taste her again. His mouth on hers, her tongue against his. His hand in her hair, on her face. Her hand on his neck. This was perfect, it was too much and it wasn’t nearly enough. He wanted more.

“Jason?”

He heard the confusion in her voice when he abruptly pulled back. “Shhh, beautiful. It’s all good. I want you more than I should.”

“Yes.” She panted rather than spoke the word.

“But not here, not right now. I don’t want to rush this. We’re not making the same mistake twice.” He hesitated. “When I do get you naked, I don’t want to have to look over my shoulder.”

Author info:

Helena Stone can’t remember a life before words and reading. After growing up in a household where no holiday or festivity was complete without at least one new book, it’s hardly surprising she now owns more books than shelf space while her Kindle is about to explode.

The urge to write came as a surprise. The realisation that people might enjoy her words was a shock to say the least. Now that the writing bug has well and truly taken hold, Helena can no longer imagine not sharing the characters in her head and heart with the rest of the world.

Having left the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam for the peace and quiet of the Irish Country side she divides her time between reading, writing, long and often wet walks with the dog, her part-time job in a library, a grown-up daughter and her ever loving and patient husband.

Helena Stone can be found in the following places:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HelenasHeat

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helena.stone.735

Website: http://helenastone.blogspot.ie/

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/helenastone735/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13258932.Helena_Stone

Email: helenastoneauthor@gmail.com

Buy link:

Totally Bound: https://www.totallybound.com/little-rainbows

Flash Fiction: Loved at Last

Loved at Last

This is what happiness feels like. I didn’t believe I would ever know the feeling. I’d dreamed about it, but I’d had no confidence it would ever come my way.

I’d watched as others found their place in life. They’d made it look so easy. One look, a smile, and next thing they knew, they’d been swept up in a world filled with love and affection.

It never happened for me though. I was stuck in the background – ignored, somehow not good enough. I’d never managed to figure out what made those others more worthwhile than me. All any of us wanted was to be loved and cherished, and to give our affection in return. I couldn’t deny it though. The evidence was clear for all to see.

It hurt. Jealousy and frustration took over. Why couldn’t I be like the others? Why had I been created differently? Trying to hide who and what I was, was never an option, so why couldn’t others accept and embrace me?

I was ready to give up. I mean, how long could anyone live in a closet or hide on a shelf before all hope disappeared? I tried to stay in a positive frame of mind. Time and again I told myself my turn would come, that one day someone would recognize the beauty in me and make me theirs. But as days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, without anybody giving me a second glance, it became first harder and then impossible to pretend, even to myself.

A few days ago something happened. I’m not sure why, but I suddenly found myself in the foreground, visible to all. It scared me. After all those months of being nearly invisible, feeling all those eyes on me freaked me out. Part of me didn’t think it would make a difference. If I’d been special enough, I would have been noticed before, despite being hidden in the background.  

I prepared for ridicule. I waited for the nasty remarks and the smirks. Why would anyone be interested in me? The world had made it perfectly clear I didn’t deserve to find that special place.

Then he smiled at me. The words he spoke as he took me off the shelf play on a never-ending loop in my mind: you are perfect and exactly what I’ve been looking for.

And now, here I am on a soft bed, surrounded by chocolates and hearts. Love and lust fill the atmosphere. Hope – an emotion I’d given up on – blooms in my heart again.

I was wrong and I’m happy to admit it. My difference didn’t make me less; it made me more special. The right time had to come around for me to find my place in this world.

Patience is a virtue, especially for a Valentine’s Day Teddy bear.

***

With thanks to Brigham Vaughn for finding this picture and to Pauline McCormack for giving me the inspiration I needed to write the story. Don’t forget to visit the Monday Flash Fics group on Facebook to find out what other stories this picture inspired.

Flash Fiction: The End of the World

The End of the World as We Know It

“Are you sure about this?”

Alex turned to Chris. “Yes. I am. Aren’t you? I thought we’d talked this out. Don’t you agree?”

Chris looked towards the horizon and the terrible beauty it portrayed. “I just can’t believe it. Yes, we did talk about it and yes I did – do – agree. I guess I didn’t expect the moment to actually arrive.” He felt Chris’s gaze and had no trouble imagining the two dark green – almost brown – eyes boring holes into him, but he refused to turn his head.

“Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts.”  Alex voice held a devastating mix of doubt, fear and anger and Chris wanted to kick himself. Why couldn’t he be strong and sure like Alex. His boyfriend was right. They had spent endless nights talking about what they would do when they reached this point. They’d weighed all their options, rejected impractical and fantastical ideas until they’d arrived at the only logical conclusion.

“Listen.” Alex’s tone of voice had changed. “If you’d rather do something else, just say so. I’m not going to force you into anything you’re not one hundred percent behind.”

“What? No.” Chris could hear the panic in his own voice. “We’re in this together. It’s just...”

Alex said nothing and Chris had to silently admit there wasn’t anything he could say. It had all been said before.

“I always imagined the end of the world would look something like this.” Talk about melodramatic. Chris wasn’t impressed with himself right now. Why couldn’t he follow Alex’s example and stop second guessing their plan.

“Yeah.” Alex stopped walking and in doing so forced Chris to stand still as well. “The orange light combined with the black clouds is rather apocalyptic, isn’t it?

Shivers ran down Chris’s spine. “That sky tells the tale of an ending.”

Alex pulled at his hand and Chris turned. When Alex lifted his chin, Chris looked up. The kiss started off soft before Alex put more pressure behind the contact between their lips. Chris couldn’t help it. Despite his worries and doubts his body responded to Alex as it always did.

Lips parted and the kiss deepened. Alex sucked Chris’s tongue into his mouth and Chris felt his mood lighten, as if Alex had also drawn his second thoughts out of him. He could do this. The time had arrived. There was no way back. They had to keep on going forward and face whatever came next.

When Alex pulled back Chris was almost calm.

“Are you okay now?”

“Yes.” Chris felt the smile stretch across his face. “I’m fine and I’m ready to do this.”

The grin on Alex’s face was all the reward Chris needed. “You’re right. It will be the end of the world as we know it but we are signing that lease and we will be fine...together.”

***

This weeks inspirational picture was chosen by Theo Fenraven.

Changes:

Brigham Vaughn and I have decided to change the way we do are Monday Flash Fictions. We have created a Monday Flash Fic group on Facebook and opened it to anyone who’d like to join in, both readers and writers. If you visit the group today you will find links to the flashes written by Brigham, Theo Fenraven, and me. Hopefully next week a few more writers will have joined us. I’ve copied the ‘rules’ for participating below.

Rules for Taking Part:

1. Join the Monday Flash Fics group on Facebook.
2. On Monday, Helena or Brigham will post the pic prompt for the following week. 
3. Write your story and keep it under 500 words.
4. Post it on your blog on Monday.
5. Post a link in the comments of the pic prompt in the Flash Fic group.

It’s meant to be a creative exercise for authors and something fun for readers to enjoy, so don’t sweat it.

Authors:
Join us when the mood strikes and you have the time. If you can’t manage to keep it under 500 words, well, we’re not going to hunt you down. It’s a good challenge to limit the word count, but don’t stress if your final word count is more like 507.

Readers:
Share links and comment on the blogs.

Everyone:
Feel free to submit inspiration pics in the group by attaching it as a file or sending a PM to either Helena or Brigham.

We’re looking forward to writing and reading with you in the Monday Flash Fic Group.

Shit Just Got Real

As I wrote in an earlier post, my first solo novel will be released by Totally Bound on February 20^th. Although I had received the cover, blurb and other promotional material from the publisher, the idea of actually being published remained abstract in my mind. As of today I can no longer deny the reality of it though. A quick visit to Totally Bounds’ ‘coming soon’ page showed me the following:

(Yes, that's me third row from the bottom on the left)

Excited doesn’t begin to describe it; there is quite a bit of ‘scared’ mixed in with the feeling.

As if that wasn’t enough excitement for one day I also received an email informing me that print copies of Little Rainbows will be released on March 20^th, the same date on which the e-book will go on general release. Given that I hadn’t realised the book would be available in anything besides e-book format you can imagine the squealing sounds reverberating through my house this morning. I guess it betrays my age, but I’m not ashamed to say that print copies made the whole idea of being a published author that much more real for me. 

Flash Fiction: The First Bounce

The First Bounce

Paul’s breathing stalled when Conor pulled the car up in front of the house where they both rented a room. Paul turned his head from side to side taking in both the place he called home and the multi-coloured copy of it squeezed into the side garden.

“Happy birthday.” Conor smiled but there was a trace of uncertainty in his voice.

“That’s for me?” Paul whispered the words.

“Well, it’s only here for the weekend, but yes, it’s for you.”

Paul tore his eyes away from the surprise and stared at Conor.

“You remembered.”

I couldn’t have forgotten if I wanted to. Conor didn’t speak the words as they popped into his head.

Paul had been reluctant to talk about his past. For six months all Conor had known was that Paul had grown up in the inner city and in poverty. Even during the four subsequent months, as they had gotten closer and trust had slowly been established, Paul had been reluctant to tell him more. There’d been hints though. Paul never joined into talks about Christmas or birthday celebrations. The first few months he’d seemed lost whenever they went to a party, unsure about the protocol when it came to presents.

It had only come together for Conor the day they’d gone for a walk through the neighbourhood and passed a house with a kid’s party in full swing. The shouts of joy coming from the bouncy castle had made them stop to watch.

“That looks like so much fun.” Paul’s words as much as the wistful note in his voice had touched something deep inside Conor, and he’d made his decision there and then.

“Come, have a look.” Conor pushed Paul ahead of him towards the blow-up house. “Take your shoes off before you go in.” Paul looked dumbstruck when he glanced at Conor before bending to untie his laces and kicking his shoes off.

Conor held back as Paul wobbled his way towards the entrance. Paul didn’t know it but within the hour they’d be joined by their friends and Conor’s family. Paul was about to have his first birthday party ever; Conor was determined to make it unforgettable.

When the house stopped moving Conor knew Paul had discovered the addition he’d made to the interior. Only then did he follow Paul in.

Conor’s lover stood stock still, staring ahead of him. Conor approached him and wrapped his arms around Paul’s waist. “Do you like it?”

The grin on Paul’s face when he turned his head was more than worth all the hassle it had been to get this organised and keep it secret.

“I love it. But...” Paul pointed at the object on the floor in front of them.

Conor smiled at the man he loved, before looking back at the mattress.

“We’ll be partying and bouncing with friends today. Tonight we’ll do some bouncing in private. We’re going to more than make up for lost time.”

***

This week's picture was chosen by Theo Fenraven. Brigham Vaughn's interpretation can be found on her wonderful blog, here. And this week we've got my co-writer, Jaycee Edward, joining us. Have a look at her inspired story on her blog, here.