Bethany"Mom? You here?" Bethany called out as she walked through the kitchen toward the living room."In here, baby."She turned to walk toward the large master bedroom at the far end of the house. Her mom was standing by the full-length mirror near the bathroom with a pretty white dress hanging in front of her. She turned and smiled."What do you think of this? Too much?"Bethany walked toward her mom and glanced down at the dress. "What's it for?""A dinner party Kent's having with some of his clients. I'm supposed to be there, but I've been begging him to let me out of it.""What?" Bethany chuckled and reached for her mom, pulling her into a tight hug. "You're going to be great there. You always are.""I know, but you know how weird I feel around rich people." She sighed and pulled back. "It's like I'm still dirt-floor poor and scrambling to rub two nickels together.""But you're not, Mom. You have everything anyone could want." Bethany moved back and sat on the edge of the bed."
DamonA million memories assaulted him as he drove toward the hospital. He'd been friends with Kendal since his freshman year of college. Kendal's baby sister, Amanda, was always in the picture because of her MS. It was unfair and didn't make much sense at all, but somehow the girl kept her spirits up no matter what.Damon absently rubbed at his chest as he drove just above the speed limit to reach Kendal's side. How he could have contemplated Bethany cheating with Kendal was a clear sign that he had a problem. Not all women were his mother, and the sooner he realized that, the better."Maybe I've gone about this shit all wrong." He pulled into the parking lot at the hospital and turned off the car, sitting in the silence for a few minutes. The situation with him and Beth would have to be resolved and soon. The look on her beautiful face told him that it wasn't going to take some massive change to bring them back together. She was worried about him the minute she saw his face.She did
DamonDamon got in and shook his head as the girl pressed her hands to her face and turned. The soft sound of her crying tore at his heart. Was she in love with Kendal? Now wasn't the time to ask, but there would be some comfort in knowing that someone cared about his best friend besides him. Bethany cared too, but Kendal wasn't going to let her too close to him. Damon had no doubt that Kendal holding Beth at arm’s-length was because of his friendship with Damon."My car is over there." Kendal pointed to the far part of the parking lot as they walked out."Don't worry about it. Matt and I will come get it later. Let's just get you home." Damon walked toward his car, moving to Kendal's side and opening the door for him. "Man, I'm sorry for not coming sooner. I'm a fucking horrible friend.""It's all right." Kendal got in the car and leaned back, letting out a long sigh. "Just make it up to me and grab us a six pack before you hit the freeway.""Of course," Damon mumbled before closing
BethanyDamon being with Kendal for the last three days gave her a lot of time to think through things. If nothing else, she was willing to hear him out that night. She had a lot to say, but it almost seemed like the old Damon was back for a minute. The one who stood beside her at Jake's apartment and made love to her in Jamaica. Maybe all the pressures of getting back to work trying to be everything for everyone changed him. Her being his step-sister and his fiancée had to have weighed heavily on him."I'm not a victim," she mumbled before walking into the courtroom. The place was packed with students from the look of things. She didn't know many of them, but something told her that word had gotten around. Everyone loved a good train wreck, no matter who was involved.Kendal sat near the back of the room, his face blank and eyes haunted. Bethany made her way over to him and sat down in the seat beside him."Hey. I'm so sorry about your loss." She slid her arm into his and pressed her
Bethany"You guys talk about this later." Bethany put her hand on Damon's thigh and glanced up at him, giving him a stern look. Only he could shut down the conversation. Kendal was too out of it to do anything more than react with whatever punches were thrown his way."Okay. You're right." Damon's eyes moved across her face slowly, holding her captive as if he had some sort of power over her. Sadly enough, he did.The warmth of knowing that maybe not everything was lost between them caused her stomach to tighten. There was no one she wanted beside her, above her, all around her but the handsome asshole watching her so closely.How did we let things fall apart?She finally pulled her gaze from his and glanced up toward the front to find Krista turned around, her eyes locked on Bethany. Unsure of what to do, Beth did the only thing that seemed natural to her. She held her friend’s gaze, trying like hell to push as much sympathy into her expression as she could. They'd been friends for f
Damon"God, that sucked," Kendal muttered as they walked out of the courtroom.Damon put his hand on Kendal's shoulder and moved his best friend to the side of the hallway to get them out of the rush of the crowd. Bethany wanted a moment to talk with Jake and hopefully see Krista. Damon offered to go with her, but she needed a few minutes to herself. He could respect that."No shit." He glanced around and turned his attention back to Kendal. "Do you need me to do anything else for the funeral tomorrow?""No, and honestly, not to be a dick, but I need some time at home by myself tonight. I appreciate you being with me for the last few days, but I need to mourn the loss of my sister, Damon. My heart hurts so goddamn bad, but I've been trying to hold it in because you're all up in my grill."Damon smirked. "All right, bro. I'll take you back to your place and leave you be for the night."Kendal nodded and lifted his lips in a sad smile as he glanced over Damon's shoulder. "I think you be
DamonHe parked outside of the apartments on campus and turned the car off. The need to sit in the darkness and gather his thoughts was a new sensation. He was so used to rushing into things like a bull in a china shop and getting his way. No matter what it was, or who it was, if he wanted it, it was going to be his. Where he wasn't sure he could change that about himself, he hoped like hell he could at least try and soften it a little bit.Getting out of the car, he grabbed the single red rose he'd picked up on his way over to get Beth and walked toward her apartment.He knocked on the door and took a step back as she opened it.The blue dress she wore fit her like a glove, the top tight and accentuating just how big her breasts were, and the bottom flaring out and forcing him to pay homage to her beautiful legs."Wow," he whispered roughly. "I'm not sure how you keep getting more and more stunning, but you do.""Thanks." She stepped outside the apartment and closed the door. "Is thi
BethanyI'm not the victim. He didn't do any of those things with malice or the intent that I thought he did. Against her better judgment, she unbuckled her seat belt and moved to her knees, leaning over and wrapping her arms around his neck."I told you that I was struggling, that I felt like you didn't care about me. I know it's stupid now, but those are the things that kept kicking me down each time I would try to work things out with you." She pressed her face against his neck and breathed in deeply. "You're not a monster at all. I just felt like a victim, which is stupid."He kissed the side of her face and rubbed her back softly. "You want me to take you back to your place? I honestly didn't realize how bad all of this looked. I didn't have the intent you thought I had, but I understand why you ran from me. Maybe you were right to run.""No." She turned her face toward his. "I don't want to run anymore. I just need to understand where you were coming from. You explaining it is
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