Bethany"Oh hell, no," Matt grumbled loudly. Bethany moved the pillow from her head and looked up, her tears having soaked the sheet beneath her."Go away. I'm not in the mood to be friendly."He pounced on the bed, his large hand pressing against the upper part of her back again and again. She bounced with his efforts, growing angry and swatting at him."No need to be friendly. We're family. Get your ass up. I'm taking you out.""No. I'm not interested in seeing people. I hate everyone.""Liar. Get up. I'm going to inhale everything in the fridge. When I come back, you better be in the shower and getting ready. Jeans and a T-shirt. Get up, get dressed and let's go have fun together.""No," she grumbled, sitting up and pushing her hair from her face in time to see Matt leave. She didn't want to go anywhere. The darkness of her room provided the perfect place to hide. Between the situation with Sadie and Damon's dismissal of her, as he left town without a damn word, she was done."Get
BethanyShe turned her head toward him, reaching out to turn the radio on for background music."I punched that redheaded girl at the office in the face. I'm sure I broke her nose and probably lost my job. I'm surprised Damon hasn't called and chewed me out. Actually, I'm not surprised. He left town without saying anything. Nothing at all. Nada." She crossed her arms over her chest, leaning her head back and closing her eyes as a shaky sigh left her."Okay, one thing at a time. Did it feel good to pop the skanky bitch in the face?"Bethany snorted and glanced at Matt, his smile bright and full of mischievous intent."Yes, but that's beside the point. I'm not a college kid who can act like the world won't punish me for fucking up. I needed this job, and disappointing your dad ..."Matt cut her off."Our dad. He's going to be your dad soon too. He's not going to be upset if the girl deserved it, Beth. He's very fair. He will just clean it up and warn you to make sure you think before yo
Bethany"What about your mother?" Bethany leaned back in her chair as the server deposited her enchiladas in front of her, the smell overwhelming."Damon caught her cheating on our dad several times before she got sick. He wanted to tell Dad, but Mom would beg him, plead with him, not to." Matt shrugged, sadness creeping across his handsome features. "He went to tell him one night, finally. That was the night that Dad broke the news that Mom was dying. I think Damon felt trapped. He hated her by the time she died."Bethany lifted her napkin to her eyes, tears spilling onto her cheeks."He hated her because of the cheating?""Because he had suffered for several years holding her secrets so that Dad didn't have his heart torn from his chest.""And then it happened anyway because of her getting sick?""Exactly." Matt reached for a chip, his eyes diverted from her. "I didn't know any of this until after Mom died. Damon kept all of it to himself.""How did he keep catching your mom? Were t
Bethany"I hate the idea of either of you getting hurt by the other. We have a long life of being a family in one way or the other." Matt pulled out his card, offering it to the server as he approached."I agree. The issue of him being my stepbrother is a whole 'nother concern.""One easily looked over. He's not your brother by blood, and no one would need to know that." Matt signed the bill and stood, reaching for her chair to pull it back. "You feel like shopping?""I feel like sleeping for a week. I'm depressed, confused and have a slight buzz.""Then we're twins. Let's go home, and we'll pick up this date next week sometime."Bethany slept like a rock, Saturday morning coming much too quickly. She lay in bed for an hour after waking, hoping like hell she would slip back into the restful darkness. No such luck.Her phone buzzed on her nightstand, and she flipped across the bed like her ass was on fire, hoping it was Damon.I'm headed back today. I'll be at Dad's before dinnertime.
BethanySickness washed over her as she grabbed her towel and walked quickly to catch up to him."Damon. Talk to me." She pulled at his arm as they moved into the living room. The house was quiet, the only sound being their breathing.He turned, his face a mask of anger. Bethany backed up a step, not sure how to respond to his glare. She had done something to set him off, and yet she hadn't seen him since they held each other all night on Thursday."I just got a call from our lawyers that one of my interns broke another intern’s nose. The intern that's in the hospital is looking to sue my firm because of it. Did you not want to mention that before I had to stand condemned for shitty management skills before the lawyers? Do you think that lying is the way to build a business relationship with me? What else haven't you told me? Care to confess now?" he barked at her, running his fingers through his dark hair and beginning to pace in front of her.Bethany pulled the towel closer, suddenl
BethanyShe half expected Damon to break the door down, the loud pounding of his fists dying off much too soon. Bethany lifted her head only for a moment before letting it drop back on her hands."Pathetic." What did she want from him? Why did she have to be so fucking childish?I quit? A long sigh left her lips as she rolled on her back. Her phone buzzed beside her. It was Philip again. She answered it, stifling the pain and confusion that sat heavy on her."Hey.""Hey. You doing okay?" His voice was much more chipper than she expected it should be."Yeah, just fighting with our boss.""Your boss.""Yeah, that guy." She groaned as she sat up. Philip snickered, the sound causing her lips to turn into a smile much to her displeasure."Enough about him. How about you come have dinner with me tonight? I meant to ask you out since we met last week."A silence sat between them for a few moments, Bethany knowing quickly that having dinner or anything with Philip wasn't the answer. The fact
BethanyThe strong smell of coffee beans washed over her as she entered the coffee shop. The place was packed with people of all ages, shapes, and sizes. She found Philip quickly. He stood up and motioned for her to join him. His blue eyes were electrifying; the joy on his face was warm and welcoming."Hey. Don't you look like a sight for sore eyes?" He winked and pointed to the table in front of him. Three small chocolate donuts sat on a large white napkin.She laughed and dropped her purse in the seat, picking one up and taking a bite before responding. He watched her closely. His attraction to her was nothing to guess about—he made it obvious—but not in an overbearing sense like Damon had. She was a person, not an object, so why was she so smitten with the idea of belonging to Damon?"You look good." She nodded, reaching to catch a crumb that rolled down her chin."You look better. Go get you a coffee, and come tell me about the drama you've been dealing with. I want a full report.
BethanyThe conversation the night before had gone much better than she imagined it might. Where Damon had been accusatory, Kent was understanding and willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. How Damon had turned out to be so different from his father would be a mystery if she hadn't had a heart-to-heart with Matt.She finished packing her things, the house quiet. Not having heard from Damon, Bethany walked to her small dresser and picked up her phone, growling softly. She would have to get in touch with him to see when the flight was, if nothing else. She dialed his number, her stomach flipping in circles and pushing against her chest. The phone rang three times before he picked up. She almost assumed he was asleep or just unwilling to talk to her."Bethany." It wasn't a question of who was calling, but a declaration that he was all business with her."I need to know what time to be at the airport today.""Change of heart?" His voice was deadpan, the lack of any emotion toward
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