Kendal"Family problems. You're going to mentor our new professor." He turned and spoke to the woman for a few minutes as I tried to figure out how I was going to nicely tell him no. Where we were close enough to talk sex, women and past failures, he was still my boss.I stood up and figured I would suck it up and help him out until we found someone else to do it. No reason to deny him my help when I had the time and he'd finally come through on the promise to give me an advanced class to teach. Hopefully the woman's legs were no prediction of her body. I didn't need a fox beside me to tempt me into being the man I was in college. I'd buried him in the sand six years back, and fuck if he didn't try to poke his ugly head up from time to time."Kendal, this is Heather Turner. She's from UCLA and has been highly recommended for this new spot with us. You'll be her mentor until she gets her feet wet." He moved back, and I nearly choked. Not only was she ten steps past gorgeous, but I didn
DanaThe smell of bacon and eggs woke me up the next morning, my stomach grumbling loudly at the idea of something beyond delicious to start the day. I rolled onto my back and let out a long sigh. Cameron's side of the bed was made already, his pillow in its place. What I wouldn't give to wake up to a man wrapped around me, his body hard and ready for another round of what happened the night before. Where I couldn't help but tease Jackie about everything in her world being about sex, the truth of the matter is that I was hella jealous. Love seemed a far off desire, incapable of being reached by the average commoner, but sex? Lust? They were waiting for a spin around the dance floor of life, and weren't choosy at all about which partners they got.So why not me? I slid my hands over my breasts and down my stomach to linger at the top of my panties. How nice it would have been to lay there and enjoy the softness of my skin, the tight warmth between my thighs, but by the sound of things
Dana"Why do you let him talk to you like that?" Jackie walked beside me as we finished making our rounds together."What exactly am I supposed to say? I did ask for help on watching my weight." I put my hands on my hips and tried to keep my voice down."Helping someone with their diet is different than demeaning them. You don't even need to be on a diet. You look great, Dana. So you have curves... kick-ass awesome. Most men would love to latch on to your hips or your ass while fucking you half the night. Don't you know how this works?"Heat burned my neck and face as a group of doctors walked through the hall, the youngest-looking one turning to look over his shoulder and smile."Ahh... you're so fucking embarrassing." I ran my hand over the top of my hair and tried to think of some way to get away from her. I loved Jackie like a sister, but she was far too open for me. My family was close, but we didn't talk about intimate things - ever."Dana! They need an extra set of hands in the
KendalThe hangover I was struggling with was well deserved after losing myself in a bottle of jack the night before. Between Damon being a dick, the situation with Heather joining the university, and my sister's condition worsening, I was lost. Emotionally I wanted to crawl in a ball in the closet and hide for a week or so, but it wasn't going to happen. Over two hundred students were showing up in the next few hours to learn about the weaknesses in inventory systems, and I was the guy teaching it.For the first time in a long time, I didn't wanna teach anything. My passion was tucked behind the dark cloud of shit life was kicking my way once again."Hi Dr. Tarrington. How are you?" Jake opened the door and gave me a warm smile as I moved past him. Bethany's best guy friend from college was my second TA for the semester. The poor kid had been through hell recently. The other part of their friendship trio, Bethany's roommate Krista, had fallen in love with Jake and not taken it so wel
KendalBethany was waiting for me when I walked to my car that afternoon, which surprised me. I needed to get up to the hospital, but I would delay the trip for a few minutes for her."Hey," she mumbled as she wrapped her arms around her chest. Her intelligent green eyes were filled with unshed tears."Hey." I reached out and touched the side of her arm before pulling my hand back. I couldn't be kind or loving toward anyone on campus. Everyone would start to talk. "You all right?""Yeah." She sighed and pursed her lips as a tear dripped down her face. "No. I'm not.""Beth." I reached for her, not caring for a few minutes about myself. I wrapped her in a tight, friendly hug and brushed the back of her hair like I would Amanda. "You guys don't have to keep this shit up, you know.""He hired Christa's sister, Kendal. His ex-girlfriend's twin sister. Why would he do that?" She moved back and brushed her tears away angrily. "He hired Philip to come work for the firm. He knows Philip has fe
Dana"Oh hell, you again, fruit fly?" Mr. Jackson glanced up from the paper he was reading and gave me a wry smile."Morning, Mr. Jackson. How are you today?" I set my tray down near the door and picked up the cup of pills I had ready for the ornery older man."I'd be better if you'd stop bringing by this damn poison." He huffed and crossed his arms over his frail chest like a small child might."You don't really believe that, right?" I extended the cup to him."What? That I'd be better off without you coming by?"I chuckled. "No, that this is poison.""It tastes like shit! Have you had these things? Here... I'll share." He extended the cup back toward me, still full of pills.I laughed and pushed it back toward him. "You're the best part of my day. Did you know that?"He grunted and popped the pills in his mouth as I walked around and opened his windows."Your day must suck to high heaven." He snorted as I turned around and smiled."Nope. It's really an okay life. It's not great or a
Dana"Call him, please?" She gripped my hand tightly and forced me to stop rubbing her."I'm here." He walked in and moved to the other side of the bed, dropping to his knees and placing his strong fingers around her hand and mind. "I'm right here. I was on my way up here. Were you throwing another fit just to see me?""No." She turned her face toward me and let out a sob. "I don't wanna die, bubba. Please make it stop."Tears blurred my eyes as I leaned toward her and pressed my cheek to the side of her face. I couldn't look at Kendal, but the soft panting coming from his side of the bed let me know that he was hurting beyond anything any of us could heal. The results were back for Amanda's decreased use of her limbs. She was getting worse... fast. There was little they could do, but the doctor was hoping for a few more good months for her. No one had told Kendal yet, or not that I knew of."Fuck," he mumbled and got up, walking to the window and pressing his hands to his face as his
KendalThree Days LaterPrepare for end of life? How the fuck did someone do that?I hadn't told Damon or anyone else about my conversation with Dr. Lewis. I just couldn't handle the sympathy that would come from such a conversation, especially from Damon. Bethany had ignored me on Tuesday when she showed up for her TA duties, which was fine. It was easier than having to talk about bullshit when the real stuff that mattered sat on the tip of my tongue.I needed to get the dark emotions rolling inside of me out, but I wasn't quite sure how.Having lunch with Damon and dinner with the pretty young nurse from the hospital would help. Maybe.Eliza was waiting outside of my office as I approached that morning, a smug look on her face."There you are." She lifted her watch and tapped it. "Late. Late. Late.""I'm fashionably late." I shrugged and dangled my keys between us. "Move and let me open the door. You can come in and give me hell while I take a load off.""You do look like a man with
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