Bethany"The hurdles?""Yes." He lifted his hand. "That doesn't mean that he doesn't think he's in love with you, or that he doesn't want a future, but you guys aren't a normal couple."Heat brushed up the center of her chest. "And who has the right to judge what normal is?""Exactly." He let out a soft sigh. "Her name was Ana, and she was so beautiful. Sweet and kind and only four years younger than me, but none of that mattered. Our situation wasn't at all what you might call normal. She was my student, my best student, and the university, my friends, her parents, fuck, everyone threw stones at our budding relationship. You don't get to define normal, Bethany. They do." He pointed to the restaurant and waved his hand about as his words deflated her.He was right. They had far too much stacked up against them to simply walk into the office and announce their engagement, but something about hiding it felt wrong too. The worry that Damon wasn't proud that she belonged to him tried to c
DamonThe alarm clock had gone off too early the next morning, and not having gotten in from work until three that morning left him grumpy and hating the world. It was a fair assessment of most of his mornings, but this one seemed worse.Why hadn't Beth stopped by during the day? There was no fucking way she was completely good with the note he left her. It wasn't like her at all not to swing by and light into his ass over it. It would have been a great time to close the door and press her hot little body against the wall, grinding into her and bleeding out his aggression all over her.Every muscle in his body protested as he moved into the shower and worked quickly to create a thick lather of soap across his chest. How badly he wanted her there with him to enjoy the warmth of the thick mist all around him, the slippery wetness of his skin against hers."You're killing me, baby." He slid his hand down his thick erection and stroked his sack a few times. "I need you here, and yet you'r
Damon"How dare you." She closed the door behind her as she walked into his office. It would seem she had far more subtlety than he did in not letting the whole office know that she was pissed."Me? I fucking didn't hear from you all day yesterday, and then you sluff off a meeting that you know is important?" Her V-neck T-shirt dipped into the sexy curve of her breasts and stole his attention as he turned from the window and walked toward her aggressively."I didn't know about the goddamn meeting." She poked her finger in his chest. "And why did I have to come after you yesterday? You should have come looking for me. You leave me a note that you don't want me wearing my ring, and then you keep your door closed all day? Very mature. Very loving, Damon.""Watch it." He gripped her wrist and pulled her closer to him, locking her against his chest as he leaned down and breathed in deeply. Her scent was so unique and had the power to liquefy his need, forcing it to rush through his veins a
BethanyIt was a stupid decision to make, but after working with Kendal on Thursday, she finally caved and decided that a late lunch with Philip wouldn't hurt. Damon was still being an ass over things that were completely out of her control, and she was learning to leave him to himself when he was in one of his shitty moods. It still stung like a bitch, but she had a ring that said that no matter what happened while they were on their way to the altar, the plan was still to go."Hey." Philip stood and moved around to offer her a friendly hug. His hair was back to being the length it was when they first met before Damon had him cut it off. He looked good, almost too good. Broad shoulders and tanned skin, the man was every bit of California, and yet he was from Down Under. His accent left her heart fluttering, though it was nothing more than a silly infatuation like most women had for foreign accents."Hi. You look great. It seems like your new job is allowing you to work less and play
BethanyAnother night without Damon in her bed made it harder to fight against the nagging sensation that he was battling far more than he should have been where they were concerned. She tried to remain positive and convince herself that everything was fine. Matt had been a good cheerleader during the latter part of the week, but nothing was going to fully set her right but Damon.She needed him to say that he was sorry, that he loved her and they would work through things. The nagging need to be constantly reminded of his feelings was a pain in his ass from what she'd overheard in Jamaica, but it was what it was. He was a dick half the time and therefore could make it up to her by being the kind of guy she deserved the rest of the time, which he was completely capable of.After packing for their flight later that day, she drove over to Kent's house to pick up Matt and have breakfast with her parents. They'd gotten home late the night before, and yet still found the energy to text her
DamonFury burned through him at the fact that she'd ignored his request for her to join him at the house at ten the night before. Not only had he closed down shop early and left a ton of shit for the next day while they were traveling, but he'd skipped out on drinks with some old friends who just happened to be in town.What was she trying to prove? That she was in control? That the promise of a future wasn't worth shit if it couldn't be instantly built before her eyes?He pushed the door open to the tiny hole-in-the-wall breakfast joint on the east side of Dallas that he loved to haunt during his college days. It was quick, cheap and delicious. He pulled out his phone after glancing around and seeing that Charles wasn't there yet.Having been a great mentor to him in college at UT, Damon tried to stay in contact with the old guy as much as he could. The last minute breakfast was the perfect excuse to save him from having to fly to Seattle sandwiched in between Beth and Matt. He love
DamonDamon chuckled. "I'm thirty-one, and I'm right where I want to be.""That so?" Charles lifted his eyebrow and leaned back in his chair. "You ever had grits with milk and butter in them?""I'm happy. I guess I could be a little more content, but happy will work for now. She's a graduate from UT herself. She's studying to be an accountant and just recently started her master’s, and yes, my mother used to make grits just the way you've described. They're shit any other way."Charles slapped the table and sat up. "Finally. I swear! All these northerners with their watery grits and scones. Why in the world would you want to mess up a perfectly good biscuit?""No clue." Damon moved back as the food was delivered."Tell me more about the girl. How long have you been together?""Three weeks, but she's the one. I have no doubt." He said a quick prayer over his food and worked to cut his eggs as the image of Bethany on her knees in the living room washed over him.So beautiful and complia
Bethany"He didn't do it on purpose." Matt wrapped an arm around Bethany's shoulders as they walked down the long terminal to the baggage claim. Somehow Matt couldn't fit everything in a carry-on, so she hadn't even tried. He was being a bit of a diva, which opened the door for her to follow suit."No? He told me to be at his house last night at ten, and I fell asleep like I have for the last few nights, sitting on my couch, completely exhausted. I didn't even mean not to go over there." She huffed and stopped beside the turnstile as bags started to drop from the large opening at the other end."It's going to be fine, Sis. Stop worrying, okay?" He pressed his shoulder to hers and moved up to get their bags when they showed up."You're right." She popped the handle on her bag and followed behind him as a feeling of trepidation tried to pull her back down. "I need a drink.""Well, let's get to the hotel and then we can unpack and grab something to drink while we wait for Damon.""Sounds
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