Desire Me (Her Best Friend's Father Book 4)

by Ayden K. Morgen

  "I just read you a story, sweetheart," Roman says with a soft chuckle.

  "Wead anoder one?"

  "Just one more, and then you have to go to sleep so Santa can come," he says, making me smile. He's so good with her. I've never seen a man as devoted to his girls as Roman is to me, Stella, Talia, and Talia and Trent's daughter, Sophie. He spoils all four of us rotten. I don't think the word no is in his vocabulary, especially with Stella and Sophie. All they have to do is poke out their little lips, and he's putty in their hands.

  I curl up in our bed, setting the baby monitor beside me. Wrapping paper and presents are spread all across the comforter, waiting to be wrapped up and placed beneath the tree. Instead, I place one hand on my stomach and settle in to listen to Roman read our daughter a story.

  "Once upon a time, there was a lonely princess," he starts, his deep voice a soft rumble of sound.

  "Why was she wonwey?" Stella asks.

  "Because she thought she didn't have any family," Roman answers.

  "Oh," Stella whispers like she hasn't heard this story a thousand times even though Roman reads it to her almost every night. It's her favorite…the first book I ever wrote. It's about a princess who thought she was all alone until her prince showed up to bring her home. When bad men tried to hurt the princess and destroy her home, her prince and a group of brave knights fought them off. They taught the princess how to be strong and courageous, and to fight for what she wanted. They became her family, and with her brave prince by her side, she found happiness, safety, and more love than she ever could have imagined.

  "And even though monsters still sometimes appeared, the princess knew they would never defeat her family," Roman murmurs to Stella, whose soft snores sound like purring over the baby monitor. "Because their bond was so strong, no one could ever break or threaten it."

  I close my eyes, peace flowing through me in strong currents as he tells Stella goodnight and tucks her in. A few moments later, I hear his footsteps coming down the hall.

  "Wake up, baby," he croons, stepping up beside me to run a fingertip down my cheek.

  "I'm not asleep," I murmur, turning my head to brush a kiss across his knuckles. "I was just listening to you read to Stella." I open my eyes to find him smiling down at me, his piercing blue eyes soft. He's still as gorgeous as he was the first day I met him. His dark hair has little strands of silver starting to show, but his face is unlined, his eyes bright. He's a mountain, as big and unyielding as ever. "I love when you read to her."

  He smiles, leaning down to brush his lips across my forehead. "She loves books as much as you do," he says, sliding me over so he can sit beside me. Once he's propped up on the pillows with his long legs stretched out on the bed, he picks me up, placing me in his lap. His big hands run through my hair and then down my back. "I hope Santa brought her plenty of new ones this year."

  "I think Santa may have gone overboard," I laugh, glancing around at the piles of presents stacked all over the bed. There are more than a few books waiting to be wrapped, which he knows because he bought her most of them. There are just as many for Sophie, who will be here tomorrow with Talia and Trent.

  Roman shrugs, grinning shamelessly. "Santa likes when his girls are happy."

  "Yeah?" I ask, leaning forward to brush my lips across his.

  "Definitely," he whispers, deepening the kiss. "He has everything he could ever dream of because of them. It's only fair that he spoils them."

  "So he has everything already, huh?" I ask, pulling back before the kiss gets out of hand and we never get everything wrapped and put away. Stella is still just like her daddy. She's up before the sun, ready to go. Now that she's old enough to appreciate the magic of Christmas, I have a feeling she'll be up even earlier in the morning.

  Roman's eyes pop open, burning with intensity. "Yeah, he has everything, baby."

  "Then I guess it's a good thing I got him something really special this year."

  He cocks his head to the side, studying me carefully.

  I grin and reach for his hand, placing it over my stomach.

  He freezes, barely seeming to breathe for a long moment. And then his breath rushes out of his lungs in a shaky exhale. "Baby, are you–?"

  I nod, smiling through watery eyes. "Eight weeks. The doctor confirmed it yesterday. You're going to be a daddy again."

  His eyes fall closed for a moment, his arms tightening around me. His big body shudders beneath mine as emotion courses through him, sending tears falling down my cheeks. His hand trembles on my stomach.

  "Are you happy?" I whisper.

  He cracks his eyes open, pinning me with a gaze radiant with emotion. Devotion, happiness, and pride shine in the blue depths, blazing like the sun. "I've never been happier," he says, his voice thick with unshed tears. "Thank you, baby."

  "I have another surprise," I whisper, rubbing my nose against his when he presses his forehead to mine. I reach around him, sliding my hand underneath the pillow to grab the second part of his surprise.

  He takes the little slip of paper from me, holding my gaze.

  "Look at it." I run a hand through his hair, tugging gently.

  His gaze falls from my face to the sonogram.

  "We're having two this time," I whisper, reaching out to touch both babies on the photo.

  "Twins?"

  I nod.

  He stares at the printout for a long, silent moment. Just when I start to worry that maybe he's freaking out about having twins, he sets the sonogram image carefully on the nightstand. I scream with laughter as he rolls us over and presents go flying off the bed. His mouth comes down on mine, stealing my laughter and my breath.

  "Twins," he whispers against my lips, and I'm not sure if it's my tears or his that I taste. His body shudders and he buries his face in my throat, clinging to me like I might slip away if he lets me go. He stays just like that for a long moment, breathing me in, and then he prowls down my body, pressing adoring kisses across my belly.

  "Hi, little ones," he whispers, awe in his deep voice. "I'm your daddy."

  I sob, my heart overflowing with happiness as he talks to our babies, telling them how much he loves their mama and their sisters, and how much he loves them. He kisses them over and over again, running reverent hands across my stomach.

  When he's finally finished talking to them, he strips me bare and makes love to me, slow and sweet. It's a long time before we manage to get everything wrapped and under the Christmas tree, but I don't mind. My life with him is magic, my heart constantly full. I wouldn't change a single second of it.

  "Are you happy, baby?" he whispers, tucking me against his chest once the last of the gifts are under the tree.

  "So happy I could float away," I whisper back, cuddling up against his body.

  A pleased hum vibrates in his chest, making me smile.

  "You can't float away," he says, brushing his lips across my crown.

  "Why not?"

  "There's no place higher than heaven, baby." His hands slide across my body, pulling me up to straddle him. His lips meet mine in the dark as he slips inside me again, moaning softly. And then he proceeds to show me all over again that he's right…we are in heaven.

  "I love you, Mrs. Gregory," he whispers into my hair, holding me close as we both float back to earth.

  "I love you too, Mr. Gregory. Always."

  Keep reading for excerpts from Fight for You (Kincaid and January's story), out now, and Kill for You (Octavio and Faith's story), coming March 17, 2020!

  Fight for You

  Excerpt

  "You scared me," I mutter and then I get a good glimpse at him.

  He looks like shit. Even with all those tattoos and that hardness—the dangerous vibe that radiates from him despite the fact that he's standing completely still—he's too handsome for words. But his eyes are troubled and rimmed with dark shadows. His jaw is scruffy where he hasn't shaved. His hair is a mess and his jeans and black t-shirt are wrinkled. The gauges in his ears an
d the piercing in his nose make him look dangerous in a way I find far too appealing. The bandage on his arm is gone, revealing a cut about four inches long. There are still a couple of stitches holding the edges of his puffy skin together.

  "I'm not the monster in the dark you should be afraid of, ba–January," he says, crossing his tattooed arms over his broad chest. His gaze roves across my face, but he never meets my eyes. Even then, I feel exposed in a way I never have before, vulnerable…like he can see all the ugly scars and jagged wounds inside me.

  "I'm not afraid of Kaleo," I tell him, pulling my legs up into the chair and wrapping my arms around my knees as if that will keep him from seeing the painful, ugly things inside that still hurt.

  "You should be." He climbs up the steps, his footfalls heavy on the old wood. His boots and the bottoms of his jeans are splattered with mud. He stops at the top and props his shoulder up on the post, still watching me. "He's after the park. He won't stop until he gets it or someone stops him."

  "He can't have it. It's mine."

  Cade eyes me for a minute and then sighs.

  "I didn't think you were still here," I say when he doesn't speak. "Your car is gone."

  "I left it with a friend," he says.

  "Oh."

  An awkward silence stretches between us. I hate it. Things have never been awkward or tense between us before. They weren't always easy, but they were always natural. Being with him was like breathing. It was effortless. I didn't have to think about it or worry about it. He never made me feel out of place or like I didn't fit. He made me feel like I mattered. Like I had a place and a purpose.

  My entire life, I felt like an outsider. I've always been significantly smaller than my peers and a little bit timid because of it. Standing up for myself isn't something I've ever been particularly good at doing. Mean girls like Mandy Wright went out of their way to make me feel like I wasn't good enough. She hated that Cade didn't want her and made my life miserable because of it. But Cade always took care of me and made sure I wasn't excluded. People accepted me because of him and Titan. All these years later, people still accept me because of them.

  "I'm sorry about last night," I whisper, my heart pounding. Now that the moment's here, I'm not even sure where to begin unburdening myself. There's so much between us…so much I never got to tell him. So many things I've regretted for a long damn time.

  "There is no other woman," he says. He fidgets, rocking on his heels and then running a hand through his hair. He looks out into the yard and then down at his feet. "Little Mama is like a sister to me. Her husband, Tristan, is probably the only real friend I've had since…well, in a long time. I had to come back. The guy who took her wanted to do some seriously fucked up shit. Letting that happen wasn't an option."

  "Oh." I swallow and then lick my lips, feeling guilty for being jealous. It's such a petty, destructive emotion, one I promised myself I would never give into. But I did yesterday. That shames me. "Is…is she okay?"

  "Not really, but she will be. She's got Tristan. He'll make sure she's straight."

  "That's good then."

  We drift off, both peering everywhere but at each other. I stare out into the yard. The flowerbeds will need to be weeded soon. Dandelions keep popping up all over the place.

  "Are you staying for long?" I ask to fill the silence and then peek up at him.

  He's watching me this time, a furrow between his brows.

  "Didn't plan on it, but who knows?" He shrugs, that furrow growing deeper. His face is so much more severe than it used to be. There's a darkness there, a wildness that I only ever saw once—the day he got into a fight with Cody Love in the park because Cody was talking shit about me. There was murder in his eyes that day, and I see it there again now.

  He's not the same boy he used to be. He's all man now, with ten years' worth of history I know nothing about. It weighs heavily on him. The haunted weariness in his eyes leaves me with the distinct impression that he carries the weight of the whole world on his broad shoulders and has for a long time.

  "I never hated you," I whisper to him, my heart hurting at the evidence that life hasn't been easy for him. It kills me a little to know I put some of that weight there. That he carries it because of me…because I was a selfish little girl who lashed out just so I didn't have to hurt alone. "I was hurt and angry, and I wanted you to hurt too. But I never hated you, Cade. I never wanted you to leave."

  "You should have hated me," he whispers back, his expression so solemn and serious it sends tears slipping down my cheeks. "You should still hate me. I took everything from you."

  "It wasn't your fault," I argue, shaking my head. "I never blamed you. You shouldn't blame yourself either."

  He gives me a sad smile. "You always saw more in me than was there. I never deserved you." The self-loathing in his voice breaks me.

  "You're wrong. I was the one who didn't deserve you." I dash away the tears blurring my vision and give him a watery smile. "You were always larger than life to me, my own personal hero. And now look at you. You're an honest to God hero."

  Cade chuckles, the deep sound hitting me low in my stomach. Heat floods through me in a warm rush. "I'm no one's hero, sweetheart."

  "I bet your friend's girl would tell you different," I argue, though I'm not sure why. Clearly, he doesn't see himself the way I always have. Back then, I never would have envisioned him as a cop, but it fits him. He was born to save lives and take down criminals. I'm proud of him.

  "T saved his girl, January. I was just there to keep him from destroying himself to do it." His expression twists and he holds his hands up, palms facing me. He hits me with a look of such intense self-hatred it pins me to my chair and steals my breath. "I'm not the hero of this story or any other. I've got so much blood on my hands I'll never wash clean."

  I flinch, taken aback by how easily those words roll off his tongue. The powerful emotion in his eyes reflects in his voice, running so deep it's overwhelming.

  "You should get out of here for a few days," he says, pushing away from the post. "Kaleo isn't fucking around. He wants the park and you're only going to get yourself hurt trying to fight him on it."

  "I'm not going anywhere, Cade."

  "Why not?" he asks, clearly exasperated with me. He throws his hands up again, flinging his arms wide this time. "Open your eyes, baby girl. This place is falling the fuck apart. It was a shithole when we were growing up and it's a shithole now. The only thing here worth saving is you."

  Anger courses through me at his words. I jump to my feet and glare at him. "It may be a shithole, but it matters to me. I'm not going to run and hide while Kaleo strolls in and takes it from me. Everything else I love is gone. He doesn't get to take what's left. I won't let him."

  "Dammit, January," he groans and I can't tell if he's pissed at me for refusing or if he's just annoyed at being back here in general. It doesn't matter either way. Once upon a time, I would have given him anything he asked for, no questions asked. But that was then and this is now. He might not be willing to fight for this block any longer, but I am.

  "Maybe you can turn your back on your home," I growl at him, desperately wanting to stomp my foot and throw a tantrum like I did when I was little. "But I can't. I won't. I will fight to keep that bastard off this block until I can't fight anymore."

  "You're going to get yourself killed."

  "Then at least I'll die having stood for something."

  Sometimes, I think maybe dying wouldn't be so bad. How fucked up is that? I'm so miserable I think dying would be a relief. That's not normal. It's not healthy. But sometimes I think it anyway.

  "Goddammit," he swears. "I don't have time for this shit right now."

  That hurts. I flinch before I can stop myself. "I never asked you to stay," I snap, slamming my hands down on my hips to scowl at him. "Go back to Seattle, Cade. I don't need your help."

  He grabs me before I can storm inside the house. Sparks of electric fire dance up my arm, shooting
off in all directions from where his fingers wrap around my upper arm. He's so much bigger than me…his fingers touch easily. His steely blue-gray eyes meet mine, so dark gray they're almost black. His nostrils flare as his expression turns feral, predatory…hungry.

  The stark need shining in his eyes has me licking my lips. My nipples harden, my traitorous body blooming for him.

  A guttural groan breaks from his lips and then, somehow, he has me pinned to the front door with my hands in his hair and my legs wrapped around his waist.

  "Fuck," he curses, then his lips are on mine. He kisses me like a man possessed. There's nothing sweet or gentle about the way he takes my mouth. It's possessive, predatory, and so damn right.

  This is what's been missing for the last decade. Him and the intense feelings he sends hurtling through me like a comet. With his lips on mine, I feel alive, like I'm finally, finally living instead of just going through the motions.

  His body is hard everywhere. He grinds me down on the obvious bulge in his jeans as he attacks my mouth, claiming it like he owns it…owns me. I cry out against his lips, pleasure hitting me hard and fast. My fingers dance through his hair, tugging and pulling.

  An inferno rages between us. Years of overwhelming need tears me apart as he kisses me so hard I know I'll remember the feel of his lips on mine for the rest of my life. This kiss is like none he's ever given me before. It's powerful, potent…and perfect.

  I can't give this up. With his lips on mine, I know I'll never be over him. I'll never be ready to move on. And I don't want to be.

  Fight for You (Kincaid and January's story) is now available!

  Kill for You

  Excerpt

  "I know you're awake, angel," I murmur to her, fighting the urge to chuckle.

  Her breathing pauses for a second and then her long, sooty lashes flutter. Those wide brown eyes flash open, landing on me. They're bottomless pools of warm honey, shaking me all the way to my core. She's so young, so innocent, but the keen intelligence and enervated acceptance lurking in her gaze make it clear she's wise beyond her years. A healthy dose of ire and a whisper of fear swim in the depths of her red-rimmed eyes too.