Novel 4

Prince Kendrick and the Coach

Roger Newcomb has had his fill of men who don’t want a committed relationship. He wants one man to love and have a family with. It seems that he is alone in his quest for true love.

Prince Kendrick Sorenson knew that Roger was his aheri from the moment their eyes met and their souls connected. Roger is the perfect mate for him. But Kendrick is a broken man who cannot give Roger the future he deserves or the family he desires.

Spending time with Kendrick has torn down all of Roger’s barriers. He knows nothing about Kendrick’s royal lineage or that the men of Sanzel can have babies. All he knows is, this strong soldier belongs to him. Kendrick insists that there will be no kids in their future and leaves, making Roger decide to move on to a new life in Colorado. It will take more than magic to make things right. It will take a miracle.

Prince Kendrick and the Coach

is not available at this time.

It is currently being revised and re-edited for future publication.

Excerpt

“Are you well, Roger?” Kendrick asked him gently.

“Yeah, sure,” Roger answered quickly. “Sorry to be rude. It’s nice to meet you.”

He offered his hand and smiled when the large man took his hand gently and shook it slowly. He felt a tingle race up his arm that he couldn’t explain, but he ignored it. Instead, he enjoyed the gentle strength of the guy’s hand. It had been a long time since he had experienced the warmth of another man. The way this man’s large hand surrounded his own was perfect. Roger loved that his hand felt smaller within the stranger’s hold. He had never felt that way before. It made him feel protected somehow. That was certainly something new for him. He was usually the one who took care of and protected everyone else.

Kendrick felt a rush of power coursing through his system as he made the physical connection to the warmth of his aheri’s skin. When Roger pulled his hand from Kendrick’s hold with such determination, pain filled Kendrick’s body. The loss was instant. The fear and anger that touched his heart from his mate’s panic hurt him deeply. He didn’t want to be the cause of anguish for the man who was meant to be his.

“I am sorry, Roger,” Kendrick apologized immediately, taking a careful step back to lessen the anxiety that filled his man. “I did not mean to startle you.”

Roger smiled sadly and shook his head. “No problem,” he mumbled. “It’s my fault, not yours.”

“My name is Kendrick Sorenson,” he introduced himself. “I am from Sanzel.”

“Sanzel? I’ve never heard of it,” Roger answered as if on autopilot, doing his best to push aside the thoughts of being physically close to this man that made him ache. “Nice to meet you.”

This guy had no idea that Roger found him attractive. He had no idea that Roger pictured doing incredibly delicious things to his body. Wiping his hands across his face, he did his best to calm his nerves. Talking to Lena and finding out that his dream of having a family had been destroyed had thrown him. He needed to go home and process it. Meeting this man right now was only adding to his stress. It was also filling him with guilt. He couldn’t treat the guy with disrespect or rudeness. It wasn’t Kendrick’s fault that everything in Roger’s life had gone to shit.

“Roger Newcomb,” he said finally as he looked at the man. Kendrick. That was a nice name.

Calm down, boy. Focus.

He looked at Kendrick and smiled, doing his best to push aside his sadness that the conversation he had just had with Lena had caused him. “I guess you already knew that, huh?”

“I have watched you and your friends play baseball every week,” Kendrick admitted. “I heard them call out your name and remembered it.”

Roger nodded. He was having a difficult time keeping his mind on the conversation. Even though this man was gorgeous, built like a linebacker, and had the sexiest deep voice he had ever heard, Roger couldn’t let go of his sadness.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not really up to conversation right now,” he apologized. Sitting back down on the bottom seat of the bleachers, he sighed as exhaustion filled him.

Sitting down beside Roger, Kendrick was careful not to crowd him. Reaching out tentatively, he took Roger’s hand in his and held it gently. He saw the way Roger tensed and looked at him in surprise, but he did not relinquish his cautious hold on the handsome man.

“You are upset,” Kendrick said gently. “Mayhap there is something I can do to help.”

“Why would you want to help me?” Roger asked him warily. “You don’t even know me.”

“No. I do not,” Kendrick admitted, smiling. “But I would like to know you, Roger. I think that we may have a connection that I would like to explore further.”

Roger attempted to pull his hand free from Kendrick’s gentle hold. He didn’t want to feel the warmth of Kendrick’s hand. He didn’t want to feel the tug of emotions that having this man next to him and touching him was drawing from him. He couldn’t allow himself to feel anymore. He hurt too much.

Kendrick’s slight tightening of his hand gave Roger a moment of worry. Carefully but firmly pulling his hand free, Roger stood and walked over to where his gym bag and the equipment bag rested on the ground next to the dugout bench. He bent down to heft it up onto his shoulder, steadying the assortment of baseball equipment within it then grabbed his athletic bag and held it firmly in his left hand. Turning to face Kendrick, he smiled briefly and nodded his head.

“I’ve got to get going,” he told him, his voice clipped and hard. “Nice to meet you.”

Kendrick stood, starting to walk toward him before realizing that he had to give Roger the space that he obviously needed. Kendrick could not force the bonding. Doing his best to control himself, he stopped and made the effort to take a step away from Roger. He wanted to reach out and grab for the man’s shoulders and draw him back so he could embrace him. He could feel the sadness rolling off of his aheri. He wanted to hold Roger and make him understand that he would do everything within his power so that Roger would not feel sadness any longer.

They were meant to be together. They were meant to create a future together—one that was filled with joy and laughter. But he could not act upon his impulses. It would not be fair to this kind man. He chastised himself for even thinking that he should try to initiate or further the bonding. It was wrong of him to do so. It was unfair of him to expect Roger to give up the hope of a future that Kendrick could not possibly provide for him.

He wanted to grab hold of Roger Newcomb and hold him tightly within his arms. Instead, he fisted his hands by his sides and stayed where he was standing in the sand before the wooden bleachers.

He watched with great frustration as his destined mate walked away from him.