[Dawn.]By the time I pick myself up off the floor, do a happy dance, and then force myself not to text Sophie excitedly, I get dressed and I allow myself one cup of coffee before tidying up and putting on my shoes.I grab the keys for the car and then, losing all orderly manners, I run for my car and drive excitedly for Aldo’s.The traffic can’t even piss me off as I make my way across town. The humidity doesn’t even bother me, as it frizzes my hair and makes my car stink like a jar of pickles.The sun burning off the puddles doesn’t blind me but dazzles me. I feel so high, so full of hope, that it seems nothing can pull me back down to earth. As I park in front of Aldo’s apartment building and see the kids all hurrying to the side of the street to let traffic pass, I imagine that someday it will be our kids.Our kids...Will there be more?The thought fills me with warmth. I’m giddy. I practically skip all the way to his door. I practically throw the gate open that leads to the rear
[Aldo]“That ain’t a part of this conversation!” he yells.I put my controller down too. “You’re gonna say all this and then expect me to tell you everything?”“You’ve always been the one with secrets” Andre shoots, folding his arms.“What the fuck are you on about? We’ve just been working together for the last two weeks and you bring it up now? Like fuck, I’m not sorry, if this is how you're acting now.”“You’re gonna apologize and then take it back?” Andre says, looking at me like I’m a bug under his boot. “Let me guess, now you’re gonna hold the fact that you got me the job from Luca over my head too?”“The fuck is up your dickhole?” I snap. “Your prison pen pal bitch break it off with you over a letter?” I gesture at the paper next to him.He reddens. That’s pushed him over the edge. “Fuck you, man!” Andre stands. “I got no issues stomping a backstabber!”I rise too. “A backstabber? You’re the mother fucker who kept secrets about the fucking Russians. Yeah, I know. Those mother fu
[Dawn]The sun sets by the time we realize we’ve been on the couch for an hour like this. Aldo is still tender in the ribs, and he groans slightly as he sits up. I slide out and run to his fridge to find some ice or peas to press against his face. We’ve literally been sitting in silence while I stroked his hair and he lay in my arms. The whole time I thought about telling him, but never did.I come back, and he tries to get up. “No, back,” I command, pushing him with one finger.He groans but doesn’t fight it. He even exhales a satisfied breath when I press the cold ice pack to his face. It turns out there’s barely anything in his fridge, and it turns out there’s barely anything in the freezer too. I was lucky to find the pack.“He hits hard,” he says, finally talking of the fight. “I guess he’s just pissed off.”“At what, though? Who‘re these Russians? What’s the note?” I ask, intertwining my fingers and scratching nervously at my leg.Aldo pauses for a few beats and then makes him
[Dawn]“This morning,” I whisper, feeling my heartbeat thrum in my ears. “I was on my way here to tell you. I just—well, these last few weeks have been so tough. And missing you has made me sick to the core, you know? And well, I thought the nausea was just me being overly dramatic.”My voice cracks slightly, and I pause, feeling the weight of my emotions press against my chest. The room seems smaller now, quieter, as if everything is holding its breath for what I’ll say next.“But after it hung around for the second week, and became a bit more intense, I well—” I stop again, my words faltering. My throat tightens as my nervousness takes over. I keep fucking saying ‘well.’ My fingers fidget against the hem of my shirt. “So I rushed down to the corner store and bought some tests...”Aldo’s face shifts, his expression caught between disbelief and joy. His eyes sparkle, and the bruises on his face can’t hide the grin spreading across his lips. “And you waited until now to tell me?”
[Aldo]It’s been three days since Andre disappeared, and I’ve been working myself non-stop. Luca, I should correct myself, has had me working non-stop. Andre was my friend after all. And it is my friend who has made off with over three hundred K in goods and disappeared. We haven't heard anything from anywhere or anyone. We’ve got all our ears open and are even talking with other families. If anyone hears even a mouse fart, Luca is going to know.Which means my meeting today isn't a good one.I grind to a stop on the gravel driveway and get out of the car. I look back down at the entrance again. It was Rocko who let me in. Rocko, who had been on duty with Sophie all those years ago when she escaped and began dating Luca. Rocko, who wasn’t even working for Luca when she slipped past him. Luca was still keeping him as a guard because of her father's wishes. If he’s still playing guard after all these years, what the hell is gonna happen to me?The world feels like it's trying to bur
[Aldo]Luca sits back down. “Potentially. Leandro began asking around through his people after you dropped the van off. He was looking for any current contracts out on anyone. In the process he discovered the abandoned car that had been crashed when it tried to take you out. The men, rather than get it towed, set that on fire too. He had the plates traced with his connections and expected it to head back to Kumarin, he is a cautious man after all, but it went somewhere else upstate. It went to a fish packing facility that led to somewhere else. A rabbit den of trouble later, it eventually wound up linked to a laundromat business that belonged to someone that Kumarin knew of. Alexei’s first son.”All the while I’d been hearing this I was sinking lower in the chair. I was reeling from Andre’ death, and yet pissed off that he’d attempted to do what he’d done. Had he always been like this? Had Dawn always been right about him and I’d been blind? And why the fuck was the room so fuckung
[Dawn]Sophie is standing in front of me, trying to block the way back to the bedroom from the bathroom.“No,” I repeat. “I’m refusing, not because it isn't a nice gesture of yours.”“But you’re in danger,” Sophie implores. “Fucking Russian danger.”“I know,” I say, squeezing under her arm and putting my bag of toiletries on the bag I’ve packed to take to my mothers. “My mother is also in danger.”“She’s welcome as well!” Sophie throws up her hands.“You don’t understand though, Soph, it’s not the place. It’s not that you’re offering help; it’s that my mother is comfortable in her home. She doesn’t know that Andre died because of the Russians, she’s grieving because her son died in a car crash. If we come to your house, I have to explain everything else her son was up to since he left home.”I fought to keep the tears of frustration from breaking through. All I wanted to do was move in with Sophie and Luca too, to hide away and let the problem be sorted out. But Aldo had already bee
[Dawn]Sophie looks around the apartment and then does a double take on me. “Well, you’re definitely staying with us now—”“No,” I say, putting up my hands.“Yes!” Sophie tries pulling me off the bed to a standing position. “All this stress is horrible for a baby. “You’ll cause all these issues and you’ll—”“Need I remind you what you went through while pregnant?”“Please don’t,” Sophie says, pursing her lips. “You know that what I went through was horrible for my pregnancy. Which is why I don’t wish it upon anyone else.” She tries pulling me along again.“You can’t convince me otherwise, Soph.” I pull back, leaning back onto the bed.“Well, then I’ll have to—” Sophie is spluttering along, trying to understand my insanity. “You can’t! You just can’t do this.”“I have to Sophie,” I grab her hand now. “You of all people understand duty and honor and all that.” She grunts at me and frowns. “Low of you to use my father’s words against me.” She squints in fury at me.I snort and pet her ha
“Don’t call me that,” I mumbled.“What, kiddo?” Jaxon had grinned, making my knees weak all over again.I’d shaken my head. “Can you just call me Everly?”He’d held my gaze, his hand still stroking the small of my back.“And I think it was the Everclear,” I mumbled, turning to dry heave at the thought of the high-proof booze that was notorious for making teens wasted.Jaxon had helped me into the house. He’d made sure my dad didn’t wake up. He’d washed my face with a washcloth, carried me into bed as the dizziness took over, gave me a glass of water, and tucked me in. He didn’t call me kiddo after that night.…He swapped to “Everclear” instead.There in the house that summer afternoon, I knew we were alone again. Tara and Amy were outside, my dad was golfing, and Catherine was at a happy hour somewhere. I tiptoed to the door to the lower level, listening for the sounds of him working out, but the lights were off and it was quiet.If frowned, my fingers twisting together as I’d headed
Blurb:Jaxon Hensley stormed into my life, all dominance and raw heat, leaving me obsessed from the moment I saw him. Secretly, of course.No one can know the sweet little good girl dreams of him claiming her in every forbidden way. Or that I poured all my filthy fantasies into a letter meant for the man with piercing green eyes, a sinful body, and a past as dark as his gaze.He’s six years older, works for my family’s law firm, and, oh yeah—he’s my stepbrother.Totally off-limits. Completely irresistible. And exactly what I want.°°°Filthy, scandalous, and so sugary sweet your teeth will hurt. This one’s a heaping dose of wrong in the right kind of way. If an older, dominant, obsessed alpha claiming his untouched heroine sounds like your cup of tea, then you should probably dive right in.°°°Okay, okay, this is officially my last book in the series. And yes, I know I said that the last time... and maybe the time before that. But for real this time! Pinky swear!(≧▽≦)****Cha
EpilogueHazel“These Plans All need to be reviewed by Xavier,” says Cynthia, dumping a stack of folders in my arms. In the year that I’ve been interning at Kearns & Rochat, Cynthia has become a friend, even though I maintain that she’s far too glamorous to hang out with me. “Drinks later?” she adds, as I turn to walk to the door.“Sure,” I say with a smile. It’s only been a couple of months since my nineteenth birthday, and it’s still a thrill to order drinks in a bar. Cynthia and I have been going out after work about once a week ever since I became old enough to drink.It’s nice to have a friend—someone who actually likes me. With Cynthia, I can be myself. She never judges me or turns cruel.I haven’t spoken a word to Christine, or anyone else from high school, since the day of our final exam. For a while, Kye was bugging me on social media, but now I’ve deleted all my accounts. Maybe it’s strange to say, for a nineteen year old with no social media accounts or friends my age to sp
“Stepdaughter,” I correct him. “Ex-stepdaughter.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see Hazel returning to the table and cringe at my own timing. She smiles curiously at both of us as she takes her seat, probably wondering why we each look so uncomfortable.I take another deep breath. “I was just telling Bob,” I explain to her. “About us.”There’s a half second where she looks confused, like she doesn’t understand what I mean, and then relief washes over her face. “You were?” She blinks incredulously.“Yes.” Her reaction makes me care less about Bob’s. It’s pure joy for me to see her this way. I will do anything to make her happy. It doesn’t matter what people think.“Wow,” Bob says, still looking stunned. “Sorry. This is taking a moment to compute.”“Of course.” I tear my eyes away from Hazel’s glowing face to look at him. “I didn’t mean to shock you. But I do want to be honest with you.”“Yes,” he says emphatically, nodding his head. “Please. Always. Listen, I can’t judge. I had…I mean
Xavier Over The Summer, Hazel and I settle into a new kind of life together, one that feels like a hybrid of our many roles.By day, Hazel takes a pre-university course at the University of British Columbia to improve her chances of admission when she applies next spring. I drive her to school, pack her lunch, make dinner, and take care of her as I always have.But at night, in the privacy of our home, we take on new forbidden roles, exploring a taboo that fulfills something unique in each of us. For me, being Hazel’s Daddy is about more than the taboo role-play. I enjoy the way it intersects with BDSM and allows me explore domination, as well as satisfying my need to express my love through caretaking. Being Hazel’s protector and provider adds a dimension of meaning to my life I didn’t know that I was missing.In our new dynamic, Hazel discovers a sense of security that I see reflected in her confidence. She’s happy and carefree knowing that she can count on me to look after her.Mo
I press the head of my cock against her pussy and rub it slightly against her hole, enjoying how wet it is, before pushing myself in. She’s tighter than ever with the jewel in her ass, and she gasps loudly as I stroke myself in and out of her tight cunt until I have to stop myself abruptly, dropping my head and taking ragged breaths. I’m so close to coming already. I slide myself out with a shiver, heart hammering, and then run my thumbs over her cheeks, admiring the beautiful jewel peeking out between the two firm muscles of her ass.“Do you know how to take it out?” I ask her.She shakes her head. “No.”“You need to push it out, while I pull.”“Oh.”“No need to worry, it will just take a minute. Now do as I say.” I hold the sides of the jewel and pull lightly and she gasps in surprise as it slides out.Her asshole is perfect, tiny and dark pink from the weight of the plug. I place the plug on her bedside table and pick up the lube, pouring it generously over her hole, and rubbing it
Xavier I take a seat on the couch and Hazel obediently bends over my knee the way she’s been taught to do. Although she’s getting what she wants, I’ve turned it around on her, and now she’s nervous. Asserting my dominance, something I hope we’ll incorporate into our relationship more and more, has made this interaction even more enjoyable for me. My cock is getting hard as she stretches out over my thighs.I run a hand up the back of her legs, taking a minute to enjoy the sight of her laid out like this. The uniform is so perfect, so innocent… I love the feel of the rough wool of the skirt, and her childish little knee-high socks. I’ve always wanted to fuck her in her school uniform, and the anticipation of it is making my dick throb.I run a hand up to her ass, over her panties, enjoying the feel of her under my hand. I slide a hand under the fabric and squeeze her ass, and that’s when I notice her panties are very wet. They’re practically soaked through.“Dirty girl,” I growl. “Wha
I turn to see Xavier’s Jaguar rolling up to the curb behind me.It’s one thing to make fun of me, but it’s another thing altogether to see the three of them laughing at Xavier, delighting in their characterization of him as some kind of pervert. A protective reflex snaps in me. I don’t need these kids in my life. And after today, I’ll never see them again.Besides, I think, catching a glimpse of Xavier through the window, what the fuck are they even laughing at? Xavier is gorgeous by anyone’s standard, one powerful hand on the steering wheel, the light highlighting his strong jaw covered in a rough scrape of beard—a few days’ growth I find very sexy. He’s driving a goddamn Jaguar, and what do these boys have going for them? Kye has the Jeep that was given to him by his parents, and Christine has already told me that Eric has trouble getting off because he watches too much porn.These assholes don’t have the right to say anything to me.“Hey, it’s Daddy!” laughs Kye. “You gonna let him
Imagine how she would react if I told her the truth, I thought.But what’s done is done, and once I’d told her that version of the story I had to stick to it, constantly adding new details that I thought might make it more palatable for her. ‘He acts younger than he is,’ I told her. ‘His wife got custody of the kids, so he doesn’t have them anymore.’ Every lie I added to make it sound better only seemed to make it sound worse. At some point, I started thinking the truth would look better in comparison.When the teacher’s phone alarm rings, she orders us to put down our pens and collects our papers, and then Christine and I head to our lockers together to clean them out. It’s our very last day at school. Our last day in this building, our last day as high schoolers. And, I can’t help but wonder, maybe our last day as friends. Ever since I started telling Christine about my older boyfriend, ‘Jack,’ it’s only seemed to make her angrier and more judgmental, like I’ve disappointed her some