Broken

by Melody Anne

  And then they stopped talking as the two of them proceeded through the doors and began the short walk down the red-carpeted path to the stage Blake had had set up for the occasion. When Jewell looked up, her gaze met Blake’s and she stopped for a moment, her heart racing at the expression in his eyes.

  For just this moment, she let go of all her worries, of all the pain she had been through, and she let go of her doubts. She imagined this was all real, that she was walking down the aisle toward a man who couldn’t live without her. Her lips lifted and then her smile grew when she saw the possessiveness in his eyes. That was all for her. For this moment, it was just the two of them, and everyone else simply faded away.

  Bright red and orange splashed across the sky as the sun sank low over the horizon, and with the music playing, no scene could have been set more perfectly. Only a few people were there to witness this marriage, and it was just the way she wanted it.

  Standing next to Blake was Tyler, and, surprisingly, Byron was with him. Though Byron didn’t support this marriage, he did support his brother, and that showed Jewell that the man wasn’t as hard as he wanted everyone to think he was. There was hope for him yet.

  Finally, she arrived at the altar, and Justin took his role very seriously as he handed her over to Blake and then went to stand beside him, beside the man who would raise him — at least for as long as Blake wanted to stay a part of their lives. Jewell had only McKenzie next to her, and that was just fine. The woman had become her friend, and as it was because of McKenzie that Jewell had met Blake, it seemed quite fitting to have her standing there with them.

  If anyone had asked Jewell what was said during the exchange of vows, she wouldn’t have been able to answer. But she gazed into Blake’s eyes so long and so intently that she certainly would have been able to describe the look on his face and the way his hand felt clasped in hers.

  Yes, McKenzie was right. She was in love with this man, a man she never should have fallen in love with. And she didn’t care. A person could choose the people they acquainted themselves with, but they couldn’t choose the one their heart decided to let in.

  “I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

  The air was swept from Jewell’s lungs as Blake pulled her into his arms and took her mouth in a kiss that sealed them together as one. She melted against him and felt almost in a daze when he pulled back and she looked up at the sparkle in his eyes.

  “Now you are forever mine, Jewell,” he whispered for only her to hear.

  “I think I have been from the day we met,” she replied, making his lips turn up.

  “We’re a family now,” Blake told her, and he held out his free arm to Justin, who eagerly stepped up to them and threw his arms around his new uncle.

  “Yes, we are,” Jewell said as tears flowed down her face.

  As the three of them walked back down the aisle, Jewell’s heart was filled with joy. Her only hope right then was that this joy would last.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  How long can it possibly take someone to change?” Blake growled. He slammed down a shot of bourbon and glared at his brother.

  Tyler laughed and Byron scoffed as they stood at the bar and gazed out at the lights hanging from the trees.

  “You know women, Blake. They have to be perfect,” Tyler said.

  Byron downed his own shot. “Or they like to play games and see how antsy they can make you,” Byron added as he sent a glare toward McKenzie, who was currently dancing with Justin.

  “You seem to be staring at Ms. Beaumont quiet a bit,” Tyler said, and punched Byron in the arm.

  “What in the hell are you talking about?” Byron thundered.

  “I’m just calling it as I see it,” Tyler said with a wink and a shrug.

  “I’ve been a mess today, and even I’ve noticed it,” Blake said with the first smile he’d displayed since Jewell had left.

  “You can both go to hell. I think I’m going to have a talk with Ms. Beaumont,” Byron said, and he stormed off.

  “Should we protect her?” Tyler asked as he watched McKenzie tense when Byron walked up to her.

  “Hell, I think we should protect Byron,” Blake replied. “McKenzie is one tough woman.”

  The temporary distraction had helped, but as soon as the conversation died back down, Blake was eager and anxious to see his new bride. She had looked beyond beautiful in her wedding gown, and as she’d walked toward him earlier, it had taken all his finely honed willpower to remain standing on the stage while he waited for her. He’d been sorely tempted to rush to her side and sweep her into his arms, and his heart hadn’t slowed its beat until she’d said her vows and he’d sealed those vows with a kiss.

  “You may be right,” Tyler said with a chuckle as they watched McKenzie shove Byron away and then storm away. “Quite impressive she can stomp off with such elegance, and while wearing those stilt-like heels.”

  “I’m done here,” Blake said.

  “What?” Tyler blinked in confusion.

  “I want my bride.” And that was the end of the conversation. Blake walked away from Tyler, knowing his brothers would lock the place up as they left. Justin was going with McKenzie for the night, and everything else was taken care of. It was time for him to seal Jewell to him for the rest of their lives. Once they made love, the wedding was officially complete.

  There was something about this woman that made him feel like a caged animal. He had spent the better part of his years on earth as a shell of a man, not feeling the colors of life, but living in black and white instead. Jewell made him feel things and do things that he’d never wanted to feel or do before. And he actually liked being out of control, even being powerless because of this woman.

  He took the stairs three at a time, and he paused at their bedroom door and took a deep breath. He hoped he wouldn’t frighten her with his eagerness. This night was theirs together — he needed to remember that.

  When he pushed the door open, his heart nearly stopped when he found Jewell lying on the bed in a silken nightgown. The sound of the door made her jump, and then their eyes met and Blake felt his heart hammering out of control again.

  “You take my breath away,” he gasped. He strode up to the bed and dropped to his knees, the desire to worship her overpowering him.

  She sat up with her legs dangling off the bed, and she reached for him and let her fingers sift through his hair. “I was going to say the same about you,” she replied softly.

  Blake couldn’t move for a few seconds. The urge to rip her nightie from her body and plunge right inside of her was so potent that he was afraid he might turn into a complete animal. He had to get himself under control.

  They had made love frantically many times. Tonight was about a more perfect union, about binding them together, about joining them in a way that would ensure they never parted. He didn’t want to ruin this moment for either of them.

  Instead of shredding their clothes, he tugged on her legs to bring her to the edge of the bed and he rested his head on her bare thigh, inhaling her perfume as he gently caressed her legs with his fingers. He paused to savor this moment, and then he turned his head and kissed her leg, swirling his tongue on her smooth, sweet skin.

  A shudder passed through her, and Blake had to continue almost chanting to himself: go slow; remain calm. It wasn’t an easy task when such a delectable was right in front of him. “Jewell, you make me come unglued,” he whispered before standing up and backing away.

  Jewell whimpered when he broke contact, and that sound went straight to his gut. He gently pushed her back up the bed and crawled over her, straddling her as she lay beneath him, her chest heaving, her eyes burning.

  Blake leaned down and tenderly took her lips, caressing them, tasting them, feeling their softness with his tongue and lips. “So beautiful,” he murmured as he trailed his lips down her throat and took the strap on her nightgown with his teeth and pulled it down her arm.

  When he r
emoved the gown, leaving her bare before him, he leaned back to behold her body. “No matter how many times I see you like this, I am still awed,” he murmured.

  She reached for him, a moan escaping her beautiful lips as she pulled him back onto her, cradling his clothed body with her naked one. Time disappeared as he rolled with her on the bed, kissing her, touching her, worshipping her.

  When he finally stood so he could remove his own clothes, he found that his fingers were shaking. He tried to tell himself if was because he was so incredibly turned on, but this moment was taking him to a whole new place — a place he never wanted to leave.

  After shedding his clothes quickly, he rejoined her on the bed and sighed at the perfection of their bodies pressing together with no barriers. He took his time kissing every inch of her beautiful skin, and then he was poised above her, but Blake found himself stopping before he entered her glorious heat.

  “Every time I look at you like this, I can’t believe I’m the one who gets to lie in your arms,” he whispered.

  Her eyes widened and a sheen of tears appeared. “Make love to me, Blake,” she said, bringing her hands up around him and pulling him closer to her.

  He surrendered to her and sank between her trembling thighs, submerging himself deep inside her.

  She clung tightly to him as he thrust in and out, her hands guiding him, his name a continual cry from her well-kissed lips. And Blake got lost in her arms, hoping to never be found again as he made love to her, slowly, tenderly, with a passion he knew he could never possibly come even close to feeling with any other woman.

  Looking into her eyes, he moved in perfect sync with her, and when her thighs tightened around his waist, he felt her pleasure explode around him, and he followed her into the sweet abyss.

  “Mine, Jewell — you are mine forever,” he told her as his body rested against hers, while her hands caressed the heated skin of his back.

  “I’m yours right now, Blake.”

  That wasn’t good enough. There were no words he could say that could possibly convey how he was feeling at this moment. It was possession, and it was passion, but it was also so much more than that. He’d never been good at putting how he felt into words, so he decided to show her in every other way that she belonged to him, and he to her.

  When he knew his weight was too much for her to bear much longer, he shifted their position so she was lying on top of him now, still connected, their hearts beating in rhythm with each other. As he cradled her head against his chest, he couldn’t imagine a more perfect wedding night with the wife he had chosen.

  They didn’t sleep the entire night. They made love and spoke of the future, and Blake gave her his heart, something he had never given to anyone else. He might not have been able to say the words, but he showed her in the only way he knew how.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Jewell stretched out her arms and was surprised to find the bed cold next to her. She slowly opened her eyes and then smiled when she found a rose and a note lying on the pillow where Blake’s head should have been.

  Good morning, beautiful. I got called in to the office to deal with an emergency. I will be home in plenty of time for our date.

  Love,

  Your husband.

  They’d been man and wife for a month now. Thirty days and thirty even better nights. No matter how many times they made love, she still felt as if she could never get enough of this man who had so suddenly entered her life and changed it overnight.

  He was so different from the man she had met six months ago, but she still saw traces of the person who had bought her from Relinquish Control, especially when they in the bedroom. The man was insatiable, but since being with him, she had discovered that she was pretty insatiable too.

  No matter how many times she lay in his arms, no matter how many ways they made love, each and every time was just as exciting as the last. It was the one place she knew that Blake fully let down his guard.

  Yes, he was good to her, and he was even better with Justin, but there were parts of himself that he held back, pieces of his soul he refused to share. She wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t trust her completely, or if it was just because he wasn’t capable of loving another human being after what he had gone through with his parents.

  Either way, Jewell was both blissfully happy and, at the same time, almost unbearably lonely. She was in love with Blake, in love with this hard man who had such a beautiful soft side, and the thing that frightened her most was to realize that he might never be able to return her feelings.

  She tried not to think about it too much, because if she did, she feared she wouldn’t be able to honor their wedding vows into eternity. And that’s what she wanted more than anything else.

  She desperately wanted to speak to Blake about having children, but he never mentioned whether he was at all interested in becoming be a father. Instead, when the subject of fathers and fatherhood came up somehow, a shutter would close over his eyes and he would change the topic of conversation.

  He was so good with Justin, but Justin was ten, almost eleven. There were many men, and may women for that matter, who didn’t want to have their own families. Love and children had never been a condition of their marriage, and for all she knew it never would be. That didn’t alter her love for him.

  But as hard as she tried not to let the doubts creep into her thoughts of happiness, Jewell couldn’t help but worry. She wanted a family, a real family. She wanted babies she could watch grow, and she wanted his brothers to be their uncles in every sense of the word. She wanted noisy holiday dinners, and lazy summer days at the lake. She wanted a real marriage.

  Did she want too much?

  For a month, she’d pushed aside her worries and tried instead to focus only on the good. But now, even when lying asleep in his arms, she felt pain, her dreams filled with visions of Blake running off with someone else, abandoning her and Justin forever to start a life with a woman he could truly love.

  “Good morning, Jewell.”

  Jewell jumped when she stepped into the kitchen and found McKenzie sitting at the table, clutching some papers in her hands, and looking forlorn. The woman waited for Jewell to pour herself a cup of coffee.

  “Hi, McKenzie. I normally love to see you, but when you’re wearing that expression on your face before I’ve had even one cup of coffee, I tend to worry,” Jewell said with a brittle laugh before she sat down, gripping her cup tightly in her hands.

  She didn’t even ask how McKenzie had gotten into the house, but McKenzie shared anyway. “Elsa let me in an hour ago. I’ve been waiting for you to wake up.”

  “Yes, I actually love the days Elsa works,” Jewell said. “Breakfast is so much better than the normal bowl of cereal I usually go for.” But why the hell were they making small talk, she wondered, when it was more than obvious that McKenzie had something important to say.

  “I…I don’t know how to talk to you about this, Jewell,” she said, pausing and starting again as she looked down at the table. “I…crap, this is complicated.”

  This was a first. McKenzie had never been afraid to meet Jewell’s eyes.

  “You know what they say about bad news, McKenzie — it’s better to just spit it all out and get it over with,” Jewell told her while gulping down her coffee. From the way McKenzie was acting, Jewell had a feeling she was going to need a lot more of the stuff to get through whatever this was.

  “Jewell, you know I care about you, don’t you?” McKenzie began, and Jewell’s stomach clenched.

  “Blake wants a divorce, right?” she said, a false bravery in her tone.

  “No, nothing like that.” McKenzie finally looked up and met her friend’s gaze.

  “I’m not a fool, McKenzie. I’ve known all along this isn’t going to last forever. And you’ve always been honest with me. That’s not always been pleasant, but I know I can count on you to tell me the truth.”

  “I promise you, Jewell, that it’s not that,” McK
enzie said again.

  “Please just tell me, McKenzie. Your hemming and hawing around it is only making it worse.” Jewell got a second cup of coffee for herself and refilled McKenzie’s cup as well.

  Maybe the nightmares she’d been having were coming true. Maybe a person really wasn’t allowed to be too happy. She’d known that Blake was holding back from her, so having McKenzie confirm her suspicions shouldn’t be so devastating, but as she waited for the woman to speak, she felt like she couldn’t even breathe.

  No matter which way this went, she was going to suffer through some major pain.

  “It’s not about Blake wanting to leave you. I think that’s the last thing he would ever want to do. It’s just that…” McKenzie stopped and looked down at her hands again before she looked up, sympathy in her eyes.

  “It’s time I tell you the truth…”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  As Jewell walked blindly down the street, tears streamed down her face. McKenzie had apologized profusely for not telling her sooner, and then apologized again for telling her. She’d told her that maybe it was just better not to know the truth at all. She’d told her that it didn’t matter.

  But it did matter.

  It mattered very much.

  It was something she couldn’t refute. It was about her brother — her brother and Blake. More tears fell as she continued walking. Now she knew why he’d waited three months to come back to her, and now she knew why he was able to visit with Justin when she hadn’t been able to.

  She was her brother’s flesh and blood, the one who had been there through each new step of his life. But Blake was his father.

  Blake had been a grad student, arrogant and not much different than he was today. He’d decided to donate to a sperm bank. Why not? He was gorgeous, smart, wealthy. And he’d never planned on having children, so this way maybe someone could benefit from his genes.

  Jewell hadn’t known her mother had become pregnant through one of those places. She’d thought…oh, how she wished her mother were alive, wished the woman could tell her the story, tell her how this had happened. What about the man she and Justin thought was their dad. Was he even Jewell’s father?