Bethany"Well, Damon is a little rough around the edges, but he was quite impressed by you, which is saying a lot." Kent looked over at Bethany as he popped a carrot in his mouth."That's good to hear. I think I'm going to enjoy learning from him.""Yes, well, let's hope that's all you do. He's crazy about a girl with dark hair and green eyes," Matt said as Kent reached over and popped him with a towel."Leave your brother alone. He's not here to defend himself from your empty accusations. Besides, Bethany is going to be his sister. He has limits to his actions—mostly."Bethany found herself shocked at the notion that Damon hadn't been smitten with the various blondes that seemed to populate most of the office. Ben had filled her in on the fact that Linda, Damon's beautiful secretary, was Kent's hire and not Damon's. Not that it mattered at all. He was off limits, he was taken, and he was family.Matt picked up a few nachos, balancing them on his hand as he nodded toward the back pati
BethanyBethany showered quickly before blow drying her long chestnut hair, the straightener a godsend in the Texas summer heat. She finished getting her hair to behave and put on a little makeup before walking into her adjoining room and getting dressed. A light blue suit with cream-colored lapels and lining made her look like a fashion icon from the fifties. It was elegant and yet demanded attention. She put on her favorite earrings and slipped on her cream-colored heels, the height of them accentuating her leg muscles. She loved feeling pretty and yet couldn't seem to find a reason to dress up most days of the week.Her internship was going to spoil her.Bethany walked to the kitchen, Martha handing her a plate with two breakfast tacos and salsa on it. She moved the plate to her face and breathed in deeply, the smell divine. Her stomach protested loudly, and she sat down at the bar for a quick breakfast. She didn't notice Martha watching her as she ate quickly, her concern not gett
Good Morning, Bethany. Damon will be with you shortly; just take a seat over there." Linda, Damon's secretary, looked over the top of her desk and smiled with what could have been kindness. She was too sensual, and it left Bethany wondering about Kent's thoughts when hiring the woman. Maybe she was just that way around other women? Surely not.Damon's door opened, and a short blonde with a pixie haircut and red lipstick walked out, a dizzy look to her as she turned and waved, as if in love. Damon moved out beside her, his hand on the small of her back as he looked over at Bethany. His finger brushed by his lips at the crimson lipstick that was smeared on the side of his mouth. Linda got up and walked to him, leaning over to wipe it for him as the woman walked away."Why does Miss Carrington insist on kissing you like an old-fashioned church woman? She's in her thirties. I think she does it simply to kiss on you." Linda moved back and shook her head as Damon smirked, the man never seem
BethanyThe rules were simple, and Damon had barked them out like Bethany was a three-year-old.No drama.No lies.No complaints.In all dealings with him, those were the standards he set, and she was to follow the rules like everyone else did.They sat across from one another at the upscale restaurant, Bethany watching Damon as he ordered their food and pulled a black napkin into his lap."You didn't even ask me what I wanted to eat.""Did you want to change the order?" He leaned forward, his gaze heavy and intimidating."No, I love crab and could eat cheese until I'm blue in the face.""Then, hush. You've broken two rules—no drama and no complaints." He winked at her, and she sat back, her hands fiddling uselessly in her lap. The fact that someone could be so handsome and have so much handed to him in life and yet be domineering in a master-slave sense was sickening. He wanted power, and he took it in each and every situation from what she could see."Don't overanalyze me, Bethany.
BethanyThe rest of the afternoon, Bethany tried to work through her conflicting emotions. Ben stopped by and gave her a testing file for one of their large clients, and she was grateful for something to take her mind off of the lunch with Damon.Damon hadn't been inappropriate, but it wasn't beyond him to make her feel much more with the way he watched her versus anything he might say.She worked hard on the file until shortly after six. Her phone buzzed to remind her to get up and head home. She would be working late hours during the abhorred busy season, which was January through April, so most accountants tried to have normal ten-hour days the rest of the year."Are you going to Masquerade with the other interns tomorrow?"She looked up at Damon, his arms across his chest, the thick muscles of his pecs pressing through the soft material. Her breath caught in her chest for a minute, the vision of undressing him rapidly sweeping her away."Yes. You?" She stood and stretched, claspin
BethanyThe next morning was uneventful, the whispers in the office about it being hump day causing everyone to chuckle and be inappropriate in hopes of garnishing a laugh. Bethany worked to avoid everyone, her thoughts depressing her further. She would have one more week before she needed to start working along with her classes. Her masters was important to her and would be needed in order for her to sit for her CPA certificate, but going back to a non-work environment seemed odd.What would Krista and Jake be like around her? It was bound to be a bit awkward for a while. They were probably enjoying the week with her gone. Maybe she needed to think about getting a place of her own, away from campus, and just driving in for classes.A knock at her door caught her off guard, a soft sound of surprise leaving her. She stood as a guy about her age waved, the smile on his face friendly, his eyes blue like the ocean."Sorry to scare you. I'm Philip, the newbie." He smiled and moved into the
BethanyBethany checked her watch, her appointment with Damon set for later in the day. She still had twenty minutes but hated to be late to anything. He would point it out if she wasn't early anyway. She stood up and stretched, walked down the hall and slipped into the bathroom to make sure she looked good for her meeting. After checking her teeth, she reached into her shirt and readjusted her breasts before tugging at the material of her navy-blue skirt to make sure it lay flat. Her white button-down shirt made her breasts look too big, but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing, seeing that she wanted to see him squirm like he had made her do since the moment they met.She turned around and checked her back, a soft growl at the size of her butt. She hated it, and yet it seemed as though all of the guys on campus coveted big butts. Why, she'd never understand.She walked to the elevator and took it up to Damon's floor. Linda was not to be found sitting at the large desk she usually occu
BethanyI'm coming to dinner at dad's tonight. Be there. No lies between us. No drama from you. No complaining when I give you exactly what you want.The drive home was torturous. Bethany held her phone in a shaky hand, her desire to text him back almost consuming her. What would she say? How did she respond to that?I don't want anything from you? Lies.What did she want exactly? A fling? Hot sex on the balcony to sate her lack of attention and attraction from other men for the last few years? She sighed heavily, pulling into the driveway of the mammoth-sized house her soon-to-be stepfather lived in. She turned the car off and sat in silence for a minute, her nerves pulsating along the surface of her skin.If he played it off as a joke, things could return to normal, and she would just never mention seeing him in his office with the blonde. She could keep her mouth shut. Her eyes closed as she dropped her head back, the phone tight in her grip."How do I always get myself into this s
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