MattI understood why she wanted me to leave, but that didn't make the pain any less. I got home around four that morning and dropped down on the new couch I'd splurged on. Pleasure still pumped through my veins, and would for hours to come because of her.She was by far the finest, most put-together woman I'd ever known. And thanks to that, the worry over me falling short cropped up. I set my alarm and forced it away before slipping into a deep sleep that had me almost ignoring the incessant buzzing around me."What?" I jerked up, covered in sweat. Fear raced across my mind. "Just a dream."I got up and lifted my hands toward the ceiling, stretching and trying to still my beating heart before walking toward the shower. I had to be in the office at nine for my first day as part of the advertising think-tank at M&B. Whatever the hell that meant.A groan left me as I flipped on the light to the bathroom and started the shower. Everything hurt. Fucking yoga. Not only had I contorted myse
Matt"You have a minute?" My girl was ruling the room, and everything about the power dripping off of her left me hard and achy.Professional. Stay professional. "Absolutely." I walked to the door as she moved out into the hall. I paused and glanced back toward Lewis. "I'll get that tour when I get back if you're still up for it.""Absolutely, man. Take your time."I walked out into the hall and almost plowed into Erica. I reached out and grabbed the back of her shoulders, not quite sure why she'd stopped."Hey." I pressed myself to her back and ran my hands down her arm."Sorry. I almost lost a thought from a meeting I had earlier. I need to write it down." And like that, she was jogging down the hall toward her office.I laughed under my breath and followed her into her spacious corner office. "It's nice in here. Who you gotta sleep with to get one of these big beauties?"She glanced up from scribbling something down on a post-it note. "Ha. Ha.""What? This is great." I walked to t
EricaIt had been one hell of a week trying to work through some of the things on my long-list of to-dos at work, help Matt with the painting, and avoid both him and Mitch on the relationship front. I had no doubt that Matt and I would end up together, but I wanted to be more cautious about it after knowing how insecure he was.The man in the bedroom was a little bit different from the one that had everyone laughing at the office and swooning in the boardroom, but not much. When he wasn't paying attention to how people reacted, he was simply himself, and more like his father and Damon than he probably realized.I sat in my office on Friday morning and flipped through my personal journal. I had so many decisions to make, but I wanted to ensure that they were grounded in truth. The truth was that I loved Matt, and had for two years. The truth was that he left my heart soaring, my body on fire and my mind spinning.And the truth was simply that I was scared. We were so close to becoming
Erica"Hey, pretty girl." He turned toward me as I opened the door and got into the car."Hey. The traffic bad on the way over here?" I buckled up and stiffened a little as he leaned over and pulled me into a warm kiss. It only took a second of being pressed against him to loosen me up. How lame were my standards?"Not bad at all. I'd drive anywhere to get to you though." He wagged his eyebrows before moving back into his seat. "So tell me about this gallery. I haven't heard much about it.""It's locally owned, like a lot of the galleries around here. The artist actually lives in Paris, but his sister runs the gallery here for him. His pieces are abstract, complex, hard to decipher.""Hmmm... sounds like my kind of guy.""Very true." I clasped my hands in my lap and sunk back against my seat. "I'm so glad this week is over.""I bet." He reached over and wrapped his hand around mine. "I'm looking forward to the weekend.""Me too. It'll be nice to get out of here for a while.""Who's wa
MattShe was pulling back - big time. Where I was the one trying with all my might to prove myself to her, the more I pushed, the farther she seemed to pull back. She was fine with sex, but talking about the relationship? No.I brushed my fingers by my lips as I pulled up to the private hanger. She was supposed to pick me up that morning, but I was running a little behind and didn't want to put her in a frenzy because of it.I needed a new tactic. Damon would know what to do.After parking, I grabbed my bag and walked to the plane as anticipation danced in my stomach. No matter what happened between us, I was pretty sure she would forever have an impact on me. There hadn't been a time over the last two years of her working for my father at M&B that seeing her hadn't left me tingling, excited, scared.I walked up the stairs and nodded at the flight attendant before turning my attention on Erica. Her hair was in a loose bun and her dress was business-like, but a little more casual than
Matt"Are you sure you're okay with me staying here?" Erica glanced over toward my father as he nodded."Yes. Karen and I had Martha make up a bed for you and everything. It's just overnight, and you know you're always welcome in my home, Erica." My dad moved forward and pulled Erica into a hug before glancing over at me. "How are you? Behaving?""Never." I wagged my eyebrows and moved up to hug him. The smell blasting out of the kitchen left me feeling like home would always be my dad's house, no matter how old I got. "Where's Damon? Bethany?""They're out back. Let's get your luggage stowed away and you can join them." Karen moved to pick up my bag. My stepmother was petite like Bethany. I chuckled and picked up the bag."No way are you toting our stuff. Just lead the way, and I'll put it up." I took Erica's bag from her as my father wrapped an arm around her shoulders."Red or white wine," he asked her while leading her into the kitchen."Both?" She laughed and the sound filled me
EricaIt was odd how much I felt like I belonged at the table with Matt and his family. He made sure to pull me into every conversation and touched me in some matter over and over, almost as if he wanted to reassure me that I belonged to him, but did I?Of course I did. Why was I fighting it so damn hard?"I'll clean all of this stuff up," Karen spoke to Kent. "You guys just go have your meeting with Erica here. There is no reason for you to go all the way up to the office.""Sounds good." Kent stood and stretched before glancing down at me and then to Damon. "You guys okay with that?"Bethany and Martha picked up a handful of empty dishes, and I felt odd not helping clear the table."Yep. I'm going to start a fire in the living room and then we can talk. That okay?" Damon got up and moved away from the table."I'll help clean up and then join you guys." I smiled and stood, gathering plates and ignoring everyone fussing around me about me working on the dishes. "Hey. I like being invo
EricaThe meeting with Kent was over by the time Damon walked into the living room, sweaty and huffing like a freight train."We all good?" He panted and lifted his thumb toward us.I laughed, unable to help myself. I'd seen the more playful side of Damon Bryant a few times over the years, but nothing like he was around his little brother. It was comforting and depressing all in the same moment. My brother and I had a horrible, tense relationship. What I wouldn't have given for it to be more playful, or at least somewhat loving."We're good, and I should fire you and hire Erica here. She's the only one among you who doesn't goof off all the time." Kent stood up and glanced down at me. "You want a CFO job?""Not only no, but hell no." I stood up and twisted around, stretching my back."Well, damn. Never mind, son. You're stuck." Kent turned and handed me the final sketch. "I love the last one. Swing it by Mitch and let's get rolling on it. Great job, as always.""Thanks." I bent down a
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