KendalA huge part of me wanted to crawl on top of her and make love to her until she couldn't stand, but it wasn't right to do it. I'd just berated Heather and Terri for being whores, and here I was wanting to be one. Besides that, a one-night stand wasn't in the cards either. I was ready to try again, and Dana was the woman I was hoping to try with.I left her a note the next morning on the night stand closest to her and changed into a pair of oxfords and a golf shirt. I had forgotten about scheduling a golf game with Damon and Matt, but thanks to the reminder going off on my phone at five that morning, I was on my way to see them both.The taste of Dana lingered on my lips, and I couldn't seem to get the sound of her moans out of my head. It was like getting access to something new and exciting and having to play with it later. It was less than couth to think of her that way, but the old parts of me would forever be lingering around in the dark, hoping to come out and stretch from
Kendal"He's a beast in the bedroom. Puts us to shame." Damon patted me on the back as he moved toward the cart."Do I wanna know how you know this?" I mumbled and pulled my phone out to read Dana's text. She was on her way to the hospital and would get the new locks done hopefully that day. The beautiful girl was already trying to run out of my life and we'd not even gotten to really know each other yet.I didn't wanna overreact, so I didn't. After hitting the ball past both of my friends’ balls, I got back in the cart and took a long drink of my beer."So what the fuck is up with Heather Turner?" Matt turned around and pressed his forearms to the back of our seat."She has a job at the college and is promising to ruin my life if I don't give her blow jobs from time to time." I smiled over at Damon. We'd spent four years jacking around with Heather in college and had agreed more than once that the woman had far bigger balls than we ever would. She was insatiable."So do it," Matt huf
DanaI dropped my phone on the bedside table and let out a long sigh as I lay in Kendal's bed the next morning. The smell of him rolled over me and I flipped over to lay on my stomach so I could press my face to his pillow and breathe in deeply. I was class-A stalker material, and didn't give a shit about getting caught. Not that it would be him catching me. He was out playing golf with a few friends from what his note said.After snuggling down into the covers for a few more minutes, I decided it was time to get my happy ass up and get to the hospital. I had another hour before I had to be there, but being in someone else's house without them there was less than comfortable.The kitchen was stocked with all kinds of fruits and goodies, like Kendal had a private chef that came. Did college professors make that much money?"Maybe so," I mumbled and made myself something quickly, cleaned up and changed into my scrubs. I realized as I walked toward the front door that I was stranded with
Dana"Here you go, hon. Let me know if you need to talk to a grief counselor. Sometimes being new to all of this is a little overwhelming. Most of the other nurses will tell you that it's just better if you don't get emotionally involved with anyone, but I think that's hogwash. I love letting my patients know that they're cared about. It's too sterile in here in the first place." She sighed and dropped back down in her seat."Thank you. I appreciate it." I lifted the letter in the air and turned to go. I needed to find a quiet place to sit down and read the letter, but now wasn't the time. Even though my heart ached for my loss, there were things to be done. If Jackie could move past falling for a playboy doctor and being made to feel like a piece of ass and still get her rounds done, then I could too.I made my way back to my side of the floor and stopped beside Jackie as she counted out pills."You okay?" She glanced over at me."Yeah, I think so. I just really liked that old man."
KendalGolf with my friends was exactly what the doctor ordered. Between listening to Matt whine about Erica being too much woman for him, and watching Damon mope around the fucking golf course all day, I was reassured that dating Dana was a great idea. I didn't wanna search for someone else who might be a little older, or look less like Ana. Neither of those things mattered seeing that the level of physical attraction I felt for her was off the charts. That combined with the fact that I loved her sweet spirit, her honesty and innocent persona, and I was sold. The thought crossed my mind to call the apartment and tell them to not fix the locks until Monday, but that would have been a dick move and knowing my luck, I would have been caught in the center of it all. I rarely got away with anything and usually got blamed for things that I had nothing to do with.I walked into the house and called out to her, hoping that she was still there. "Dana?"Nothing. I realized after searching the
Kendal"No. His mom died awhile back from cancer. About the time Damon decided he was going to tell his dad everything, his mom got sick and that ended his bravado." I shrugged and let out a soft sigh. "The poor guy just can't seem to catch a break either. He's never been in love before, but finally found the right woman."She turned and lifted her eyebrow. "Uh oh. Why does this feel like the good part isn't coming?""Because it's not." I pushed the meat around the pan as my stomach contracted tightly. "He's fallen in love with his father's new wife's daughter.""Wait..." her eyes moved around my face slowly, "... his stepsister?""Exactly, and things were fine between their family because they're not blood, but who knows what the hell went wrong. Beth is a young woman with too much fear over losing everything and Damon is a hothead who doesn't think he should have to explain himself. Their communication sucks and it's going to be the end of them.""How serious were they? Sounds like
DanaThe rest of Saturday night had been spent around the dining room table, eating pasta until our sides hurt, and telling stories until we knew each other better than we might have wanted to. We fell asleep snuggled up on the couch, and after a long kiss at the door on Sunday morning, I headed home. I wanted to get my life back in order and to make sure that I was still capable of breathing without Kendal snuggled up beside me.I missed his warmth the minute I left. It wasn't until I woke up alone on Monday morning in my bed that I realized just how guilty I felt for spending the whole afternoon and evening with him on Saturday and not mentioning anything about Amanda. I just couldn't force myself to share an estimate that had turned out to be wrong. She wasn't dead or the hospital would have called him. I urged him to go up and see her a few more times in the coming week while we snuggled on the coach and he promised that he would, but of course questioned my reasoning for poking h
Dana"Have you guys spoken since he left in a hurry?" Worry clouded my thoughts as I tried to figure out what it was about Parks that had my friend acting like a lunatic stalker. Surely he wasn't that great in bed."No. I told you that he didn't give me his number before he left me hanging.""And he doesn't have your number either."She didn't answer, but pinned me with a hard stare."Okay. Okay. Shit." I lifted my hands in the air. "What if we went up there over Christmas and tried to find him? Maybe it would be better if we visited first and then made the decision to uproot everything for this dude after you see if he's wanting a relationship.""And if he doesn’t?" Tears filled her eyes and my worry crept up another notch. She was close to going off the deep end."Then we'll find another guy who's way better for you, Jackie. You're not yourself at all. You need to get some sleep.""Maybe you're right." She pressed her hands to her face, and I took the opportunity to move up beside h
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