Shattered by Love by Dani René Page A

person, especially when she hasn’t had coffee yet. I make my way down to the reception desk and find a couple checking in and there’s something about them that stops me in my tracks. The guy is tall with dark hair, dressed in a plaid shirt with black jeans. He’s smiling from ear to ear, but what stalls my heart and makes breathing difficult is the woman he’s with.
    Her long blonde hair is a mess of windswept waves, the purple tank top fits her like a glove, emphasizing her beautiful curves. Her tight jeans hug her toned legs and pert ass like they’re painted on and my cock jumps at the sight of her. My heart stutters, then hammers in my ears, deafening me.
    There’s a little boy with them that keeps tugging the hem of her top as he asks question upon question, but all I can see is her. My eyes are glued to every inch of her perfect body, hair, and skin, the little of it I can see.
    My soul recognizes her in a way I can’t fathom, I haven’t seen her face, but I know it’s her. My Firefly. She pivots and my pulse is so loud everything else fades away, the lump in my throat makes it hard to breathe or swallow and my world spins on its axis. Emotions grab hold of me, holding me prisoner behind steel bars. They whirl together, a tornado threatening to sweep me away.
    Love.
    Fear.
    Anger.
    I am standing face to face with the one woman who is rooted in my soul. When her eyes land on mine it’s as if time stops and the sounds around us dim to a low murmur, no one else matters, just the space between us.
    She’s grown up, and there is nothing more I want than to hold her and feel her body against mine, but I can’t have that. We weren’t meant to see each other again. The universe ripped her from me, stole the only thing that completed me, and left me incomplete.
    “Baby girl.” The guy next to her speaks. She turns breaking the spell, but I still can’t move because my feet are cemented to the spot and I can’t breathe. My chest is tight with an ache I only felt the day she walked out.
    Dragging my eyes away from her, I glance at the man beside her. The urge to punch him because he’s standing next to her is overwhelming. She’s mine. But she’s not . I walked away and I let her go.
    I broke us both hoping to give her a good life. One that didn’t include me. Now my eyes sting with unshed tears for the life I missed out on.
    Her head turns my way again as the little boy tugs her tank top, and she lifts him onto her hip. It’s only then that I take a good look at him. If I thought seeing her had knocked me on my ass, I was wrong because when my gaze settles on him I am slammed with emotions out of my control.
    I reach a hand out gripping the pillar so hard my fingers ache. The dirty blonde hair, the big blue eyes, and his smile. I am sure my heart is about to fight its way out of my chest, it feels as if there’s a hand wrapped around my neck, tightening gradually as everything I have missed out on hits me.
    Once again the tilt of my perception shifts, and it’s as if the world is spinning too fast. It’s like a carnival ride that’s out of control whizzing in rapid circles. “Hold him please?”
    Her voice filters through the fog around me as she turns to the dark haired man. She hands the little boy to him and she takes a step towards me.
    “Flash.” That one word permeates into my veins and drenches my bleeding broken heart. It flows through my veins and grips my soul. Her voice is as soft, sweet, and musical just as I remember.
    She’s right in front of me and I can’t bring myself to touch her. My gaze flits to the little blue-eyed boy that’s the spitting image of me in another man’s arms and fury blinds me. He gives me a small wave, but I am too stunned to move.
    The smile on his face is angelic. His eyes are the color of a clear tropical ocean. Just like mine. His messy spikes are blonde, just like his mother’s. The thud of my heart deafens me. I must look like a crazy person because