Bethany"Bethany, wake up." Damon's voice pulled her from her nap, her eyes opening as she gulped for air. "Hey ... it's okay. We're here."She sat forward, brushing her fingers through her hair and trying to make sense of the scene. Several cop cars sat around the parking lot. People milled about everywhere."Oh my God. You don't think something has happened to Jake, do you?" She pointed to a spot nearest the action, not really wanting an answer from Damon. "Park over there.""I don't know what's going on, but don't rush into it, please. I don't want anyone manhandling you. I'm possessive if you haven't noticed, and I've had very little sleep. This wouldn't be good for anyone if a cop thought to overstep his boundaries."She didn't pay him any attention but reached for her phone that sat silent between the two of them."How can I have a zillion text messages from Jake and now nothing? He and Krista both know that I'm worried." Her voice was pinched as fear worked to consume her.Damo
Bethany"Yeah. The girls finally relented, but you know how that goes. They watch me like a fucking hawk now. I had to give Bethany here the same speech I give everyone. I would never date a student, and yet ...” He shrugged and let out a long sigh.She wanted to ask questions, but it wasn't her business, and honestly, it would just leave things too familiar between them. She liked knowing that she would be working for someone on campus that respected Damon, but being friends with him herself didn't seem like a good idea. They needed to keep things very professional to make sure no one in administration questioned him where she was concerned. She would never want that."Fuck them. I'd be shocked if there was ever a girl that could melt your resolve where the rules are concerned." Damon scowled."I've not found one yet, that's for sure."A cop walked toward them, and Kendal moved forward."Which of you is Dr. Tarrington?""That would be me." Kendal raised his hand as the cop motioned h
BethanyOne Week Later"You look like you've had a long week." Linda, Damon's secretary, spoke from the open door of Bethany's office."You could say that. Just wondering how the hell life got so complicated all of a sudden." Bethany shrugged, leaning back in her large leather chair and crossing her legs.It had been a week since the night in front of Jake's apartment complex. Krista's lawyers hadn't been able to get her bail posted due to the knife Jake was stabbed with being found without much effort. Her fingerprints were all over it, and she wasn't even trying to deny her guilt. But she wasn't confessing either.Bethany had gone to both the police station and the hospital several times over the last week. Damon had been beside her for most of it. Matt had taken a turn, taking her to the hospital, but Jake had yet to wake up from the medically induced coma. The doctors said he would make a full recovery, but it would take some time to get back to being himself."Well, I have some g
Bethany"Good. Jamaica wouldn't be right without you there. Your mother wouldn't be happy at all." He chuckled and nodded toward the window. "That view is so beyond heavenly as the sun rises or sets, especially when you're here.""I'm thinking with the profession that I chose that seeing both might be a possibility." Bethany smiled and moved to the window, looking out at the city."What might be a possibility?" Damon's voice caught her attention, his presence sending a thrill of anticipation through her. Would he forever be able to do that? He was captivating no matter how hard she tried to deny it. She continued to look out the window as if he didn't matter. A smile touched her lips as he spoke with his father for a few minutes. The window reflected the two men, and the likeness between father and son was obvious.Damon's dark gray suit fit him like a glove, the white button-down beneath his jacket only bringing out his tanned skin and dark features."Being here morning, noon and nig
BethanyBethany paused outside of Kent's office. Her heart was racing, pumping excitement down every open vein. It had been a few days since she had found herself wrapped up in her new obsession. The situation with Krista and Jake had taken all of her extra time outside of work and school, and honestly left her emotionally spent.Damon was getting impatient with his needs, and more than anything, she had to have a night of him reminding her of what it was to live. She let out a long breath before walking into Kent's office. Now wasn't the time to imagine all of the things Damon would do to her if she would just make a few minutes and invite him in."There you are." Kent stood and extended his hand toward the well-dressed woman beside him. Her hair was shoulder length and sandy blonde. The red suit she wore fit her athletic frame well, the color screaming that the woman was a creative type. Her blue eyes pinned Bethany in place as she extended her hand."I'm Erica Hall. I assume you're
Bethany"And if I said yes?""I don't know. She's far more beautiful than me.""I wish you could see what I see." He kissed her nose before releasing her. He turned and pushed the papers off her desk, the heaps of files flying to the floor on both sides of the cherrywood structure. "No. We weren't together. She's into Matt, and I've never found her remotely attractive. She likes art for God’s sakes."Bethany took a step back before forcing a laugh. "Art isn't all bad.""Hush." He moved back toward her, pulling her close and leaning down to consume her mouth. He groaned softly, his arms so tight around her that it was hard to breathe. She pulled back a little as he licked and kissed her mouth before moving down to her neck."We are not doing this in here.""Yes, we are. I told you that night at the club that you had a choice.""Yes, and I went home with you. Being naked and shaking on my desk at work is not on my to-do list.""That's okay. It's on mine." He pulled back and smiled. "You
BethanyThe sun pressed against her exposed shoulders as she walked to class. The world somehow righted because of Damon's hands having been all over her. How the man made her feel so good in so many ways was still mind-blowing. She’d left holding her skirt as he walked closely beside her. The rip wasn't horrible but enough to where she was more than mortified by the idea of walking out with it. They were both laughing by the time they reached her car.He had leaned over as she rolled the window down, the look in his eyes leaving her breathless. He was going to tell her. He had almost said it. It was on the tip of his tongue surely. She shouldn't have saved him from the heaviness of the moment, but the truth was she loved him. He would express himself when he was ready. She was more than sure of his feelings for her.Bethany reached up to ensure her sleeveless white top was positioned properly. The last thing she would want is for Kendal to think she was trying to dress seductively. H
Bethany"I think that someone who's wanted love for a long time, and finally gets it, feels a sense of ownership over it. Sometimes to the point of it being unhealthy. It becomes more like an obsession.""And when that love is denied or taken away, they snap?" Bethany sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, her thoughts sliding from Krista to Damon. How long had he been opposed to loving someone?"Sometimes, but I think it depends on the person." Kendal moved to the edge of the stage again, squatting. "Take Damon for instance. He's had plenty of shallow relationships, but he's never, in all our years together, introduced me to anyone he called his girlfriend.""But what if something happened and he lost me? Would you think he would be violent?""Are you worried?" Kendal tilted his head to the side a little, his gaze inquisitive."No. I love him too much to think about a future without him. I don't think it's the situation with us, but I can't help but wonder.""That's natural. He loves
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