Illicit Inheritance: The Complete Collection
By
Anya Merchant
Copyright © 2015 by Anya Merchant
All rights reserved
Kindle Edition
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons is entirely coincidental. This work is intended for adults only. It contains substantial sexually explicit language and scenes that may be considered offensive by some readers.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
It’s okay, honey. This will be our little secret.
CHAPTER 1
The sun was setting over the horizon, and John Ludling was about as tired as a person could be. He was jogging down the sidewalk at a medium pace, headed home from the gym after an intense spring afternoon of training, his gym shorts and tank top slightly damp from the exertion.
It still wasn’t enough, he thought to himself. John was only a couple of months away from his high school graduation. His goal, if possible, was to completely reinvent himself by the end of the upcoming summer. That meant eating healthy, pushing himself to get out into new situations, and of course, adding some muscle onto his currently rather scrawny frame.
“Well, there’s always next year,” John muttered. He turned onto the street that led down to his family’s suburban home, and slowed to a walk. He wasn’t entirely dissatisfied with his progress, but the complete overhaul that he’d been aiming for was still outside of his grasp. John had discovered that change, like many people had told him over the course of his life, was very hard to bring about through one’s own force of will.
He cut across his family’s lawn on the way in. His mom’s car was the only one parked in the driveway, which was not at all unusual. The Ludling family was only a family of two, though the amount of love within it could have supported many more.
John had been adopted at an early age, shortly after both of his birth parents were killed in a car accident. His mother, Natalie, had only barely been an adult herself when she’d taken him in. Ever since then it had just been the two of them, though they shared a close enough bond to make it feel like a natural arrangement. Natalie was John’s mom, the only one he’d ever known or needed, and he cared for her more deeply than anyone else.
“Mom, I’m home,” called John as he walked inside. “And I’m sweaty.”
“I can smell that much from over here!” Natalie was standing in front of the kitchen counter, dicing up carrots on a cutting board. “How was your workout?”
John eyed his mom as he shut the door behind him and walked into the living room. She was wearing a thin, long sleeve white blouse and a pair of tight clinging jeans, with a pink apron pulled over. Natalie was an attractive woman, though John did his best not to notice. At times it could be difficult, especially given to how prone his friends were to pointing it out and making inappropriate comments, which always managed to get under John’s skin.
Natalie was short, but she had always carried herself with enough proud, motherly authority to make up for it. She had large, nicely formed breasts, a fantastic butt that her tight clothes frequently exaggerated, and a fit figure that was almost magical in the way it still managed to have curves in all the right places. Her hair was long, and at the moment she had it woven into an elegant looking braid.
“It was good, I guess.” John walked over and leaned against the back rest of the couch, facing his mom and watching as she slowly made dinner. “I just wish I was seeing more results. I feel like I’m running out of time for the fall.”
“Oh, sweetie…” Natalie set the knife down and wiped her hands on her apron. “It takes time, remember? And you still have a couple of months left.”
She came over and slid up against the couch next to him. The angle that his mom was leaned at made her cleavage look like it was about to explode out of the low cut top of her blouse, and it was a struggle for John not to glance down at it.
“Uh, yeah mom,” he said, feeling her presence next to him. “I guess you’re right.”
Natalie was his mom, and John loved her, but for the past couple of years, their relationship had been growing more complicated with every passing day. Ever since he’d reached maturity, John had been acutely aware of just how sexy and attractive his mother was, to his own shame and embarrassment.
She was in her mid-thirties, but looked as though she was in her mid-twenties, and caught the eyes and attention of men of all ages. Just because John was her son didn’t mean that he didn’t notice her in the same way as other men, even though it made him feel guilty and wrong.
“You know, if I had to guess, I’d say that all of this was for a girl.” Natalie smiled at her son and leaned her face in close to his. “Come on John, tell me about her! I’m your mom. You can’t keep any secrets from me.”
John sighed and rolled his eyes. His mom was so close to him, and she looked poised for mischief, as though she was planning on trying to pinch his cheek or tickle him, as she had done all throughout his childhood. Sure enough, her hand started to move towards him. John playfully swatted it away, and then felt his body heat up a little as she laughed and slid even closer to him.
“Shut up, mom,” he said. “I’m doing this for myself. If there was a girl, and that’s a pretty big if, I would tell you about her. Right now, my love life is about as dead as yours is.”
Natalie had a smile on her face. She set one of her hands on John’s shoulder and brought her face up close to the side of his head, speaking in a voice that was sensual, honest, and almost whispered.
“My love life is dead and buried by choice, young man.” She cupped John’s cheek in her hand, and turned his head so that his eye’s met hers, their faces only inches apart. “I don’t need to be anything to anyone right now, other than your loving mother.”
Natalie had never dated anyone for as long as John had been in her life. She had been focused entirely on raising him, and willingly sacrificed going out and being social in the name of giving John all the attention that she could. John had never wondered about it much, and enjoyed it just being the two of them, but now that he was getting ready to pack up and leave, he thought about his mom and the soon to be empty home more and more frequently.
“I’ll be headed off to college in the fall, mom,” said John.
“But you’ll still be home on vacations!” Natalie ran her hand through his hair, her eyes shining wi
th motherly love and protectiveness. “And you might come back on weekends. It’s not like we’ll never see each other, and besides, I’m busy enough with my craft projects and reading circle, there’s no time in my life right now for dating.”
“Alright mom,” said John. He smiled at her, and felt a strange tension form in the air. He loved his mom so much, and knew that she loved him back even more. The thought of leaving her to go to college was just as intimidating to him as it was to her, and they both would have to come to terms with it on their own.
“I… I should finish dinner.” Natalie stood up from the couch, and John relaxed a little. She smoothed out her apron and walked back into the kitchen.
“Alright mom, I’m just going to watch TV for a bit.” John took one last look at her as she walked into the kitchen, feeling a little more excited than he should have, and then picked up the remote and flicked on the flat screen.
Before John had time to pick out a channel, there was a knock at the door. He looked over at his mom and could tell just from the quizzical look on her face that she hadn’t been expecting company.
“I’ll get it,” said John. He walked over and opened the door, and found himself staring into the face of a well-dressed man that he had never seen before.
“Are you John van Ludling?” The man was wearing a pair of dark sunglasses and a black suit that was reminiscent of the uniform of a body guard, or secret service agent.
“Uh, excuse me?” John was a little taken aback by the man’s bluntness, and could hear the quick footsteps of his mother approaching from behind him. “My name is John Ludling.”
The man pulled a photo out of his pocket, stared at it for a moment, and then looked at John over the top of his sun glasses.
“Are you the grandson of Marcus van Ludling?” asked the man. John opened his mouth to answer, but felt his mom’s arm wrap around him and pull him away from the door before he could.
“You have the wrong person!” shouted Natalie. She slammed the door closed and then leaned against it. John felt confusion begin to fog over his mind as he stared at her and tried to piece together what was going on.
“Mom, I think he’s looking for me, or at least someone with a similar name,” said John. “We should at least-“
“No!” Natalie spoke loudly, in her most protective, motherly voice. “He must be looking for someone else.”
“Natalie van Ludling?” The man outside knocked at the door again, and John saw a look of fear and frustration on his mom’s face that made him feel even more confused. “We’re here in regards to your father and the future of his estate.”
Natalie’s expression softened, and after a moment, she stepped away from the door. John reached his arms out and pulled her into a hug, and the man outside took the opportunity to reopen the door, politely sticking his head in through the crack.
“Sir and madam, if I can just have a minute of both of your time?”
John felt his mom tighten her arms around him, hugging him even more closely. He was a little embarrassed by how vividly he could feel his mom’s breasts pressed against his chest, and tried not to think too much about it.
“You have one minute to explain yourself,” said Natalie. “And then I expect you to leave here and never come back. Understood?”
The man was clearly well trained and used to following instructions to the very word. He nodded, and then immediately launched into delivering the message that he had been entrusted with.
“As I’m sure you know, your father, Marcus van Ludling, has passed away.” The man paused, and John watched as his mom blinked several times in quick, bewildering succession. It was clear from the man’s face that he wasn’t expecting her reaction, and his throat was stricken with a dumb silence that made it readily apparent that comforting emotionally affected women was not part of his job description.
“Mom, are you okay?” John held onto her shoulder, and tried to read his mom’s eyes. There was a trace of sorrow deep within the depths of her pupils, but it was intentionally obscured, and she was hard at work blinking back unwelcome tears.
“I’m fine, sweetie.” Natalie forced a smile, and rubbed her hand along her son’s back. “There’s a reason why you’ve never met your grandfather, and it’s because he was never supposed to be a part of our lives.”
The man waiting on the doorstep coughed, and John glanced back over at him. His mannerisms were those of a polite, unobtrusive servant, but it was clear that he didn’t intend to leave until he’d delivered the message entrusted to him.
“Count van Ludling left a will. It names his grandson, John van Ludling, as his successor and the new heir to the Ludling estate on Blackthorn Isle.”
Natalie began shaking her head back and forth with deliberate force. She dug her fingers into John’s shoulder and pulled him closer to her.
“No, no no!” Her voice was loud, and full of emotion. “That’s not possible! I haven’t had any contact with my father for 18 years. He had no idea that John even existed.”
The man in the suit pulled a letter from his inside jacket pocket and held it out, as if handing over a royal decree to an esteemed noble. John looked at his mom, and then slowly took it from the man’s hand after seeing that she wasn’t going to.
“Mom…” John glanced at her after skimming through the message. “It’s all here. I think we should at least consider-“
“No!” Natalie’s grip on John’s shoulder grew painfully tight, and only lessened after he winced visibly. “John, I left Blackthorn Island for a reason. Living under my father, my pretentious, snooty father, it was like living in a prison!”
“Mom, he’s dead…” John looked at her, and appealed to the faint glimmer of sorrow in her eyes that she was refusing to acknowledge. “We should at least head out for his funeral, shouldn’t we?”
The man in the suit let out an awkward cough.
“The funeral was a couple of months ago,” he said. “We’ve been looking for you for a while. Other than his accidental discovery of John’s existence, the Count was remarkably tolerant and understanding of your desire to live a life separate from Blackthorn Isle, Natalie.”
John’s mom didn’t say anything for a moment. Finally, she crossed her arms and looked at the man on their doorstep sternly.
“If he was so tolerant and understanding of my mindset, then there is no need for us to be having this discussion, is there?” She set her hand on the door, and made as though to start closing it. “My son and I will be getting on with our lives as though this never happened, if you’ll excuse us.”
The man in the suit stepped forward and put his foot into the door frame. John could see the unbridled, protective ferocity in his mother’s expression, and began to fear that she might hit him if he kept at it.
“I’m not here to deliver the message to you, Natalie.” Even though the words were a rebuke in their content, the man delivered him in a voice that was gentle and submissive. “John is 18, and Count van Ludling named him as his successor. The former Count van Ludling, I mean.”
It took John a second to understand and fully process what the man was saying. He looked at his mom, and saw that she was staring at him, waiting for his reaction.
“Hold on, I’m… his successor?” John looked at the man, who nodded and then glanced at his feet.
A moment went by without anyone saying anything. John’s mind raced ahead, deep into unknown territory. He didn’t know anything about his grandfather, or Blackthorn Isle, or even about why his mom had kept it secret from him. But he wanted to, and he realized that the only way to go about doing that was standing right in front of him.
“Mom, we don’t really have a choice.” John looked at her with the pleading eyes of a son begging his mother for a favor. “We need to at least hear him out.”
“John, he’s going to try to take us back to the island!” His mom sounded worried, more worried than John had ever heard her before. “There’s always another layer when it comes to my
father! You don’t understand just how complicated all of this is… John, he was a man of means.”
John glanced over at the man in the suit, who smiled at him and nodded his head.
“We should probably speak about the finances of the former count in a more appropriate setting, but suffice to say, he left you enough money to ensure that you and anyone you care about will never have to work again.”
John wrinkled his forehead, and offered his mom one last, apologetic look.
“Let’s just make the trip out to the estate and figure out what to do with it,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we’re giving up our old lives, or that anything has to change, mom.”
John wasn’t sure if the words were true or not even as he spoke them, and from the look on his mother’s face, it was clear that the feeling was mutual.
CHAPTER 2
They left within minutes of coming to a decision. The man, whose name John learned was Mr. Miles, led him and his mom out into a long black limousine shortly after. Natalie only reluctantly followed her son, clearly torn between her own wishes and a deep motherly instinct.
John didn’t even have a chance to change out of his gym clothes. Mr. Miles assured him that they would have everything that he needed at the estate, and his mom insisted that it didn’t matter because they wouldn’t be staying for more than one day. John nodded, unsure of which one of them he was agreeing with.
The two of them climbed into the back of the extravagant limousine, and felt it hum to life as Mr. Miles started it up. The passenger area was spacious, with a flat screen TV, a mini fridge, and dark black tinted windows.
“Can’t you just try to enjoy this, mom?” asked John. He slid over to where she was sitting and let his body move in close to hers. She looked serious, and John wanted to change that. The night had taken such a fantastical turn that he wanted her to be the fun loving mother that he had known in the past, rather than the serious, authoritative, worrying one.
“I’m just worried about you, honey!” Natalie brought her hand down on John’s thigh, her fingers rubbing dangerously close to sensitive territory. He swallowed hard and looked towards the black tinted front divider, wondering if there was any way that Mr. Miles might see them and get the wrong idea.
Illicit Inheritance: The Complete Collection (Taboo Erotica) Page 1