Kendal"No! Not me." I handed her the phone. "I was on the phone with Damon. We were talking about... fuck it. Never mind. You talk to him."She rolled her eyes, took the phone and walked toward the door. The conversation behind me where she was trying to convince him that she thought it was Dana on the phone and we were making her jealous was almost comical. She was in trouble. About as badly as I was."Well. Thanks a lot." She handed me the phone back and growled. "He's in alpha ass mode now.""Nothing new." I put the phone in my pocket. "Are you guys dressing up for this tonight?""Yes, and you are too." Dani Bruce moved in front of me, her voice soft and teasing, her eyes filled with the promise of a long night of spreading her legs for the right man."I didn't bring anything, but good try." I smiled and turned back toward Bethany and Jake. "I was talking to you two.""Yeah. We're dressing up. I'm a pirate and Beth is Little Red Riding Hood." Jake grinned like a Tom-Cat."And I'm
DanaA sad sound left me as I dropped the call with Kendal. Were things going to be awkward between us now? Without a doubt... Yes.I parked outside of my apartment and sat there for a few minutes, trying to decide if I should just cancel. Nothing good could come of us having our first meet up at a large University event. The school was half the reason we couldn't be together.He moved past that... remember?"Yeah, but now I get to move past him dating my sister?" I got out of the car and walked to the front door as my mind spun a long trail of lies. My hands were shaking by the time I got myself undressed and stood in front of the mirror in my bra and panties.I wanted so badly to feel beautiful in front of him, and I was getting there... slowly. But knowing that he'd been with my model-like sister? Who was I kidding.After turning around and making a few disgusted sounds at myself, I finally gave up, put on a clean pair of nursing scrubs. I wanted to see him, and that trumped everyt
Dana"Anything is possible." She released me and walked over to pick up a small name tag. "Here you go. Wear this with pride as you'll be asked to hold hair and cart sick students out of the building before the night is over.""Thanks?" I laughed and put it on as she excused herself and walked back into the gym. After I got myself situated, I moved to stand in the doorway and let my eyes move across the spooky decorations and bright lights strung everywhere."Like it?" Kendal walked up and stopped in front of me. The delicious scent of his cologne washed over me and I breathed in deeply, not caring if he noticed all of a sudden."Yes," I breathed out.He reached out and touched the side of my face. "Why haven't you picked up my calls? You know I wanted to make sure you were okay."I pulled his hand down from my face carefully. Nothing too dramatic. We didn't need it. "Dr. Lewis took me in his office yesterday and asked that you come to dinner soon. His wife's cancer treatments aren't
KendalThe rest of the evening was a blur. I didn't even have the balls to text or call her after we finally shut everything down. Bethany cornered me as we were working through clean up and asked where Dana had been all night. I lied and said she was sick and had to go home. Something she ate.My thoughts raced from showing up on her doorstep, to asking Ana to help me, to moving to another country and giving up on having love in my life.I didn't want Ana or any other woman. I wanted my woman.After sleeping like shit that night, I woke up just before sunrise and changed into jogging clothes. I needed to release some of the pent-up frustration tearing me apart. Dana wasn't going to be mine again. It wasn't as simple as showing her how much I wanted her. She didn't seem to buy that shit, though there was a moment the night before where I could feel how much she wanted me too.But she wasn't going to move past me and Ana. And I really couldn't blame her.Anger burned through my belly a
Kendal"No." I reached out and brushed my fingers down the front of the phone absently. "I mean, I was in shock for sure, but overwhelmed? No. I'm in love with Dana. I want her to be the mother of my children, my partner in life. Hell, I was thinking about leaving UT for her.""Wait. Why would you have to leave UT?"I glanced up, hating how dirty it made me feel to break the rules. "She's a nursing student, and is a double major in business.""Oh, no. Kendal. Please tell me she's not in one of your classes.""No, but she was going to take one next semester. When I found out, she dropped the class and I backed up. Remember, I met her at the fucking hospital. I didn't know." I flinched. "Sorry for the language.""No, it's fine. It's the weekend and we're not professors. Here, we're just friends.""Thank you. I need a friend right now. I have no clue how to fix this. I've been running from women for six years, and now I'm supposed to run to one?" I growled softly under my breath."So, do
Dana"Why do you force me to do uncomfortable things?" I glanced over at Jackie as we stood in a large yoga room, people everywhere, all of them half my size. I hated few things in life, but yoga pants were one of them. They seemed to show every flaw, which was fine unless I was forced to bend over in front of half of Dallas."It's good for you. Stop bitching and breathe in the essence.""Essence?" I shook my head. "You know I wanted to stay home today and do nothing.""You wanted to cry all day. Every time I call or come by, you're lost in another pity party. You and Kendal could be back together tonight if you went over there and demanded he tell you how he feels about you." She pulled her hair into a high ponytail and lifted her perfect eyebrows at me, challenging me to dispute her claim.No. She was right. Then what was I waiting on? I wanted him with everything inside of me."I don't know." I shrugged and lifted my arms toward the sky as the yoga instructor walked to the front of
DanaShe glanced my way as she got into the car and buckled up. "That's great news, right?""Yeah. I just need to decide if I have it within me to get over him sleeping with Ana." I ran my fingers through my damp hair. "I need to see her, but she's impossible to find.""Call her.""She won't answer." I reached up and adverted the hot air away from me."Text her.""She'll ignore it. She hates being around the family or talking to any of us. She was my father's favorite, and when he died, she sorta did too." I tugged on my seatbelt."Track her ass." Jackie snorted and pulled out of the parking lot, looking like a model for yoga wear. How I lived in a world where almost everyone around me looked better than me was a mystery. A sucky-ass mystery at best."I asked my mom to track her. She's the only one with that functionality." I glanced out the window. "I want to just let it all go. Obviously my sister isn't interested in him or she never would have left him.""And he's not interested in
KendalI half-expected to feel overwhelmed or awkward in front of her, but neither emotion showed up. I was in control of myself, fully assured of what I wanted, and it wasn't her."Beautiful house." She glanced around, her dark hair brushing over her back. "I'm sorry about the big showdown at my mother’s. I didn't know you were dating my sister.""Of all the people in the world, right?" I chuckled and moved past her into the kitchen. "You want something to drink? I have coke or water.""No. I'm not staying long. I just wanted to apologize and see what I could do to help you and my sister get back together." She pressed her hip against the counter nearest her and crossed her arms over her chest. "And I need to apologize for not standing beside you all those years ago. It was stupid, and my loss.""It's the past." I turned and got a coke from the fridge, popping the top and turning back to face her. It was almost odd how calm I felt around her. Six years before my heart would have been
LukeWhen a knock sounded on my door a little while later, I glanced at the clock, and my jaw dropped. An hour had already flown by, and I’d checked off several items from my list.“Come in!” I called. Everyone knew that when the door to the study was closed, they were to knock and wait for my approval before entering. It was my sacred space in the palace, and it wasn’t a hard rule to follow. Though, I imagined bending the rules for our child—whenever we got around to having one—since Father had always done so for me.Sophia stood in the doorway for a moment before entering the room.“Hi,” I said to her. “What’s up?”“Do you have a minute?” she asked. Her hands clasped in front of her, as Mother’s normally were. The both of them were turning into clones of each other. I wondered if I should limit their time together or not. The thought made me smile. Neither of them would agree to that. They were two peas in a pod now.“For you? Always.” I stood up and stretched. For the last hour, I
LukeAs I perused the newspaper in front of me, Sophia and Mother discussed some upcoming banquet. Glancing over the top of the paper, I watched my wife of six months calmly eating her breakfast. Tilting my head to the side, I noticed something different about her. I couldn’t quite pinpoint it. I wasn’t sure if it was her outfit; today she wore one of the more traditional outfits of our country. Over the last months, Mother had been an excellent tutor to Sophia, teaching her about our customs, traditions, and the language.Even though Sophia hated when we went full immersion with the language, she loved it at the same time. It worked her brain like her reporting career did. I still felt a little twinge of guilt now and then for taking her away from her passion, but she had a full schedule since we had returned from our honeymoon. We both liked to keep busy, and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.It didn’t take long for Mother to get on board with the new way of life around the
SophiaHe drove a finger inside of me, and I bucked my hips up to meet him. Falling back against the fluffy pillows, we moved as one, intensifying the pleasure within me. Adding more fingers and that circling thumb, my eyes fluttered closed and moans escaped my lips. If this was what it was going to be like for the rest of my life, I looked forward to every moment spent in this bed with Luke.After the drama that we had to deal with in such a short amount of time, I never felt so relaxed in my life. That part of our struggle was over, and even though there would inevitably be issues with the kingdom and Luke’s reign, there would never be a problem that we couldn’t overcome, especially if we came together like this as much as possible.The idea that I might have missed out on this life with him made me hold him close to me. I sat up, deepening his reach inside of me, and I grabbed his hardness again, thrusting all of my love and appreciation into the movements.His chin lifted, and his
SophiaEvery single point where our bodies touched lit me up inside until searing heat scorched every fiber of my being. Touching Luke’s face, feeling the stubble of his chin under my fingertips, added licks of heat to burn through me. I fell into the pools of his eyes, my love for him wanting to burst out of me. My panties were soaked through as his hand moved up the side of my body. His fingers brushed over the side of my breast. After getting out of my dress last night, I changed into a ratty old T-shirt. The fabric was thin and worn, which didn’t offer any protection from his touches. Not that I wanted any.His fingers lightly touched my neck. He put some pressure on my jaw, and I moved my head to the side. I loved when Luke kissed the sensitive part of my neck. It was one of his favorite moves. At least, from what I could tell.His soft lips touched my skin. With each movement of my body, he left a wake of warm invisible kisses along the way. He trapped my earlobe between his lip
LukeJoining her, the two of us brushed our teeth together. It was nice to get the stale taste of food and champagne out of my mouth. I watched Sophia through the mirror as she watched me. Energy crackled between us, and I could have dragged her into the shower to expend that energy. Knowing we were to be joined by several servants as they brought breakfast in the room for us made me kill the urge. For now.Even though it was the simplest of acts, the idea that I would brush my teeth at least once a day with this woman filled me with the most joy I’d ever felt. I wondered if only the birth of our children would rival that feeling.I finished before her and held her against me while she finished. With a shimmy of her ass against my crotch, I glanced at her. She leaned back against me, lifting her perky breasts higher. Slowly guiding my hand along her middle, I caressed the outside of her breasts.That was when I heard the door open from the other room. My hand froze before I removed it
LukeI never wanted my wedding day to end. Even though it was an intimate affair with under a hundred guests, the party went much longer than most banquets that I’d attended. Sophia and I stumbled into my bedroom in the wee hours of the morning.Even though I celebrated, neither of us drank heavily. I supposed we were almost drunk from the music and dancing, so when we arrived in a quiet and sacred space, the both of us passed out from exhaustion.The one thing I remembered as my eyes closed was the way she looked slipping out of her wedding dress. God, I was a lucky-ass man.***When my eyes finally peeled open, Sophia was already up and facing me. She had a big smile on her face, and her left hand propped on the pillow between us. The sparkling engagement ring glittered in the morning light that streamed through the windows. The night before, I’d barely gotten out of my clothes, so there was no chance I had been able to reach the blackout curtains before falling onto the bed.“Good
SophiaGia smiled and reached up to grab my veil. She pulled it down over my face, and the world turned a hazy shade of white. All but two of the servants dispersed, and Gia walked into the room, closing the door behind her.“You ready to get married?” Matt asked me.“Yes,” I said, lifting my chin. For a moment, I felt like Gia. Since I was to take her place as queen one day, it seemed fitting.A swell of music filtered out from under the doorway and the doors opened. It was a good thing the veil covered the surprised expression on my face. We’d planned for the wedding to be small and intimate, but I didn’t know that there would be more than immediate family at the event. Gia had mentioned some close family and friends that she’d wanted there, and I brushed it off, thinking there would be one or two extra people.All in all, there were only about fifty people, but when their gazes turned toward me, there might as well have been two hundred people there.Matt gripped my hand harder. “J
SophiaSince Gia put together the wedding in such a short amount of time, there was nothing Luke or I could say when it came to the night before the wedding. She’d let go of most of her traditional views but chose to hold on to the one that didn’t allow us to sleep together that night.While I wanted to show Luke how appreciative I was about what he’d done for me, we respected her wishes.After a wonderful rehearsal dinner with the people we loved, I took Matt around the palace while Luke and Maddox went off together. Maddox had mentioned something about the bachelor party, and Gia’s face had paled to the color of the tablecloth. I knew Luke didn’t plan on going out to a strip club—I didn’t think they had those here—but he went off with Maddox anyway, probably to defeat his best friend’s urge to flirt.Matt eventually dropped me off in the same bedroom that I’d slept in when I first came to the palace. We said goodnight, and I thought I saw excitement flash in his eyes when he asked w
LukeThe council members shifted in their seats. I couldn’t be prouder of my mother for standing up for me. It was something I always wanted but never knew that I needed. I didn’t care that she commanded the meeting space where I was supposed to reign. We were a family, and treating the kingdom like that would be my legacy.“When Erol and I chose to adopt a son, it was not something we took lightly. We knew we would change a child’s life and possibly be able to choose the successor to the throne.” She looked over at me and smiled, the way she used to when I was a child. When things seemed much simpler. When had I lost touch with that?“We picked a boy that we felt, in our hearts, needed us as much as we needed him. You all worked with my husband and the previous king. You saw how big of a heart he had for this country. You trusted his choices. Why are you turning your backs on him now? He wanted Luke to become king in his stead. What would you say to him right now, face to face, if yo