MattThere should have been peace, sitting outside on the patio of my dad's house, working on the sketch of Erica, but there was none to be found. Everything inside of me screamed for me to call her, but fear held me at bay. No, it locked me up, tied me down, forced me into a place of numbness. Where logically I could point to all of it being a bullshit scheme to keep myself from getting hurt, I hated it. Hated myself.Erica belonged to me, and yet she would become someone else's if I let my fears over not being enough 'man' for her stop me from moving forward, and fast. She was my brother, Damon, in female form. Perfect. Smart and strong, educated and successful. She was everything anyone could want and beyond anything I expected to have, but I was fucking it up completely.I reached down and brushed my thumb along the sketch, catching the side of her face and smearing the line a little to soften her."Much better," I whispered softly as the sun warmed my chilled skin. The weather in
Matt"Agreed." She sat up and pulled her knees towards her, wrapping her arms around them. "I'm glad Damon and Bethany worked everything out.""Me too." I slipped my hands into my pockets. "I'm looking forward to the wedding. I'm just not sure if I'm expected to be the best man or the bridesmaid."She laughed and shook her head. "Not sure your father would agree to you wearing one of those slinky blue dresses that Bethany is looking at.""I can rock slinky. Hello." I lifted my eyebrow as she laughed again."I have no doubt." Her eyes moved toward the table beside me. "That picture is by far the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Has Erica seen it?"I glanced down at it before gathering my things. "Um... no. I went up there and had a great weekend with her and then tucked tail and ran.""Then go back and show her."I turned my attention back to my stepmother. "I'm not sure she's going to want to see me.""Maybe not right now, but she's definitely going to want to see the way you see
EricaI had to breathe. Just breathe.My job, my life, everything was built around my career at M&B. I loved working for Kent and Damon, and both of them had been beyond good to me. To be the director of anything at twenty-eight was huge. I'd worked my ass off to get it, but they'd been more than generous in bestowing the title, the salary and the freedom that went with being in charge.I refused to let something as stupid as another failed, almost-happened relationship mess that up. Matt wasn't suffering from the sound of things. Why should I be?"Because I love him." I glanced up from staring at my hands and let my eyes move around the small park where I sat on a lone bench. The weather had turned cold, and damn if I'd forgotten my coat when I ran out of the office like a scalded child.Damon wanted to talk about all the reasons why I shouldn't be upset with Matt, why we were so good together, but he was bias. His little brother had a shot at love, a sustaining, serious, abiding lov
EricaI walked back into the office and Joan stood up, my secretary looking a little worried."There you are. Are you okay?" She moved around her desk and clasped her hands together as if she were trying to keep herself from reaching out to me."Yeah. I just needed some air. Are we all set to go on the five thirty call with the Bryants?""Yes, ma'am." The older woman nodded and pursed her lips. "I was scared you'd walked out for good. You looked so upset when you left.""I wasn't sure if I was coming back, but then I realized I was being childish. I love my job." I shrugged and walked toward my office, letting the conversation die. There was no way I was letting anyone into my personal life at the office. It never worked out to be a good thing.After closing the door, I sat down at the small circular table in the middle of my office and pressed the button to turn the video conferencing on. A screen moved down from the center of the ceiling and stopped a few feet in front of me. I lean
Matt"Matt," Damon called after me as I walked down the hall, away from the conference room. I ignored him. "Matt. Come on, dude. Stop."I jerked around as I reached the elevator and poked him in the chest. "Fuck you for that. What did you and Dad think would happen? Hm?""Look. I know you're-""You don't know anything. You have your life planned out in front of you, the woman you love beside you and everyone else to worship the ground you walk on. You don't know shit." I got in the elevator and watched him with the fury that burned deep inside of me. Of all people for my brother and my father to make me look like a weak child in front of, it had to be Erica Hall.The one woman I'd consider hitting my knees for. As if she would have anything to do with me after leaving without a word, and now this..."Fuck all of it. Why do I even bother?" I moved toward the door as it opened and barreled past a group of monkeys in suits. The scream beating against my teeth was held in by a smidgen of
Matt"You're really pretty when you smile like that. You should do it more often." I took another drink of my drink too."Thank you, but get back to the fucking. Was it awesome?""Yes. Fucking usually is." I pulled my straw out of the cup and used it to scoop up whipped cream. "I left on Monday morning without saying goodbye.""Why?" Her voice hardened. "Like you snuck out while she was still in the bed?""No. I passed out on the couch the last night we were together and woke up the next morning to a stiff note from her. It was very business-like." I shrugged. "I left and headed home with the intent to call her, but I didn't.""Let me ask again. Why? That's an extreme insult to a woman, Matt.""I'm realizing that now." I glanced up and let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding. "I was scared, fuck, I still am. It's not like one weekend in her arms is going to change that.""You gotta get over this jacked up commitment phobia thing you have going on." She reached out and touche
Erica"Hi." I got into the passenger's side of Mitch's black Lexus and reached for my seatbelt as Lewis and Mandy got in the back."Hey. Day go okay?" He glanced back and extended his hand. "I'm Mitch Roberson.""He's our new Director of Advisory." I glanced back at my staff as they shook Mitch's hand. "It was all right. Long to be honest.""Well, thanks for joining me for dinner. I hope it doesn't impose on you too much." He pulled the car away from the curb and smiled over at me.Handsome wouldn't begin to describe him. How the hell was he not wearing a wedding ring? Seemed like a travesty. Not that it mattered. I was lost to the asshole who left without a word. If I wasn't, I'd have offered to host the dinner at my house and left my staff out of it."Not at all. Kent seems too proud of himself for getting you to join the firm." I pulled down the mirror above my head and checked my face."He's an old friend of my brother, Jack's. They went to school together." He turned and pulled u
Erica"I lost you." He smiled and reached out, tapping my arm."Oh, sorry. I had a really long day today." I smiled up at the server as he stopped by the table. We ordered wine and Mitch ordered two appetizers, which we agreed would be our dinner."You mentioned your long day, but you haven't said what happened." He clasped his hands in his lap and pressed a hard stare against me."It's somewhat personal, I guess." I glanced down at the table and tried to think through how to get out of the awkwardness he was leading us into."Well, I won't pry, but I figure with both of us leading the Seattle office, we'll become close friends sometime in the near future." His voice was deep, soothing."I'd like that." I glanced up and realized that maybe his definition of friends was different than my own. I was intensely grateful when the wine showed up."How long have you been working for Kent?" He took a drink of his wine and tugged at the front of his button down shirt."Two years, but I've know
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