Thorns and Forgiveness : Twisted Legacy Duet

by Coralee June

  Instead of commenting on his obsession, I teased him. “You’re such a fucking stalker.”

  He smiled and pressed his nose to my collarbone. “You didn’t think I let you go, did you? I might not be good enough for you, but I sure as hell was going to make sure you were alright.”

  I let out a huff of annoyance. “I can handle myself, you know.”

  “Oh, Petal,” he murmured. “I learned that on the side of Highway 47.”

  I blushed and kissed his lips. That was one of the most empowering moments of my life. I’d never taken control like that. “Did you like that?” I asked.

  “Fuck yeah, I liked that. I’ve never had something precious that was just my own,” Hamilton said before tugging my thong down. I had to lift up off the couch to help him ease it off of my hips. “My family has always stolen the things most important to me.”

  Hamilton continued to sink down my body, taking my thong with him. He moved until his knees were on the floor and flimsy fabric was tossed to the side. “I’m not going anywhere, Hamilton. But you have to promise to never lie to me again. And the martyr bullshit has to stop. There is no one more perfect for me than yo—”

  I couldn’t finish my declaration because in a single move he had my legs pried open, one foot perched on the floor, the other stretched out on the length of the couch. His mouth found my cunt, and his tongue, oh God, his tongue lavished my wet slit until it landed on my clit.

  “Fuck,” I cursed.

  “I missed this. Let’s see how quickly I can make you come,” Hamilton replied before circling my nub with his mouth. Groans. Sucking. I writhed on the leather couch as cool air danced along my skin, and his hot mouth worshiped my clit.

  Hamilton’s hands gripped my hips. I squirmed, my arousal so fucking intense that I could feel the anticipation of my orgasm pulse through my core. Coaxing. Tempting. “Just like that,” I rasped when he started pressing harder with the tip of his tongue.

  Hamilton let out a dark, needy huff. “Paint my face, Petal. I want to taste you for days.”

  “I think I’m in love with your mouth,” I whimpered as he groaned and licked and sucked and worked me to that sweet spot of bliss.

  “You think?” He stopped, teasing me. Testing me. “If you’re not sure, Petal, then maybe I should stop.”

  I grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him toward me as I sat up. Planting both feet on the ground, I spread open my legs even wider and pushed him back down on my desperate cunt. Hamilton merely chuckled before finishing what he started.

  My screams bounced off the walls of his new home. I tossed my head back, molten heat flooding my core as every muscle in my body tensed and then relaxed. Hamilton rode out my climax with his mouth dutifully on my clit, lapping up every drop of my decadent pleasure.

  “Why the hell did I push you away when all this time we could have been fucking?” he asked as I helped him strip out of his clothes.

  The rush of pleasure subsided for a moment, and I bit my lip while gathering up my courage. I must have looked nervous, because Hamilton stopped unbuttoning his shirt to look at me. “What’s wrong?”

  “You know I’ll always believe you, right? When you say you’re sorry, I know you mean it. When you say you won’t do it again, I know you’d do everything in your power to avoid hurting me again.”

  Hamilton’s shoulders slumped, and I stood up from the couch, my legs still shaking. Pressing my fingers under his chin, I lifted his head up to look at me. “I don’t forgive you because I’m a forgiving person, Hamilton. I forgive you because I believe you. I believe in you.”

  I knew that Hamilton needed people to believe him. So many times, the people in his life turned him away when he needed them most. He just wanted to be understood. He just wanted control and acceptance.

  Hamilton’s eyes filled with unshed tears, and he looked up at me as if I were the most important thing in his life. I felt the sincerity in his gaze. Wrapping his arms around me, Hamilton and I stayed like that for a while. With him on his knees before me, and me standing there naked. His strong arms held me tight, and I imagined a life without his need for revenge. A life where we could just be us.

  “You make me feel so worthy, Petal,” he whispered before standing up.

  Slowly, I helped him out of his pants, his briefs, his reservations. We walked hand in hand to his bedroom, a dark masculine space with satin sheets, dark, modern furniture, and a king sized bed.

  We both eased onto the mattress and began kissing again, the taste of my pleasure heavy on his tongue. I didn’t care. We found each other at the bottom of a deep kiss as our tongues clashed. Our bodies moved like crashing waves in the ocean. Closer. I just needed to be closer to this man.

  We’d had sex plenty of times since we met that fateful night, but nothing ever felt this important. Nothing ever felt this meaningful and beautiful and life changing. “Protecting you. Pleasing you. It’s my only purpose in life, Petal,” he whispered before laying me down and settling on top of me. “I want you on top of me. Beneath me. But more importantly, I want you always next to me.”

  Hamilton slid inside with a single thrust. I felt completely exposed to him. My heart pounded. The friction between our skin made every nerve ending in my body light up at the feel of him. He peppered kisses along my flushed chest. Each breath felt like a harsh crescendo, leading to the pinnacle of our relationship.

  My legs twitched. Swelling. Building. Hamilton looked me in the eye and made the most important declaration of our lives. “I love you, Petal.”

  It wasn’t the first time he’d said that to me, but it was the first time I believed myself to be capable of deserving that love. “I believe you,” I replied, because that was what my man craved most. He just wanted someone to hear the words spilling from his lips and accept them as true. “I love you too, Hamilton.”

  He caressed my body, dragging his lips along my collarbone, my neck, my jaw. I squeezed his ass, urging him to move faster. Harder.

  “Deeper, Hamilton. I need you deeper. Harder. I want to feel only you.” He thrust like it was all he knew. We shook the bed. We moaned and cried out. I’d never felt so alive. Pleasure burst from my sex like a loaded gun. Fast. Powerful. I gripped his back and cried out his name.

  “Hamilton.”

  And when he came, my name was just a whisper, a reverent prayer on his soft lips. “Petal. I love you, Petal.”

  15

  Hamilton

  I woke up to my phone vibrating on the nightstand. Vera was asleep on my chest, looking like a fucking angel with her brown hair fanned out all over my skin. I didn’t even care that I was uncomfortable or that we were so wrapped up in one another that I barely got three hours of sleep. This was the fucking life. I’d wake up like this every single goddamn day if I was able to.

  I wanted Vera to live with me.

  The thought came out of the blue, but once my mind came up with the idea, I latched onto it. I liked having her in my space. I liked having her in my bed. I loved having Vera Garner all to myself. I was the kind of man that was all or nothing. We’d been building to this moment, and once I knew what I wanted, I went for it. Fuck anything that stood in my way—

  Including myself.

  Once I was done playing dress up and trying to bring down my father, I was packing her bag and forcing her to move in with me. Something told me she wouldn’t mind too much.

  “What are you thinking about?” she asked while tracing circles along my chest with her finger.

  “The future,” I replied. I wasn’t going to tell her just yet.

  “Does that future involve me?” she asked.

  “Of fucking course it does.” I stroked her hair and bit my lip, thinking about how I was going to word this.

  My vibrating phone danced along my nightstand, ruining the moment. I was going to spill some sentimental words mapping out how every goddamn day of my life better have her in it. Rolling my eyes, I carefully shifted to pick it up. The moment I saw
my father’s name on the caller ID, I groaned.

  “Mmm, who is it?” Vera asked, her sleepy voice too sexy for words.

  “Jack…” I replied while staring at my phone for a lingering moment. The call went to voicemail, and I felt consumed with heavy relief.

  “I didn’t see him last night,” Vera said. “Was he even there?”

  It started ringing again before I could answer her. “He left after talking to Joseph,” I explained. Vera sat up, her breasts free and marked up from my kisses last night. Little hickeys covered her soft skin. I wanted a picture of her bruised tits to frame on my wall.

  “You should probably answer that,” she said, her voice rough from sleep.

  “He can wait. I’m doing something important with my girl.” Once I answered the phone, all of the shit I was responsible for would hit me full stop. She leaned over and kissed my neck with sweet tenderness. “Petal,” I whispered reverently. The idea of destruction threatened to rip me from this peaceful moment.

  “I love it when you call me your girl. Almost as much as when you call me Petal,” she whispered.

  When Vera called me out on my bullshit that day with Saint, she told me that when you love someone, you let them bloom. And fuck, if it meant waking up to her beautiful smile, I’d water her with the blood of my enemies. I was a damn romantic now. I was whipped. Tethered. Tied up about this determined girl.

  My phone rang again. “Answer the phone so we can face this together.” She moved to sit beside me and rest her head on my shoulder as my phone rang a fourth—maybe fifth—time. I’d lost count. “Answer it, Hamilton.”

  I obeyed her and answered the call, making sure to put it on speaker phone so she could hear. There would be no more secrets between us. “Hello?”

  “Hamilton!” Jack boomed. “Where were you last night? People expect to see you at these functions, and Joseph spent a lot of time with one of our distributors.”

  “People expect to see you at these things, too. Where have you been? You disappeared like a pussy when Joseph called you on your shit,” I snapped back.

  Jack sputtered. “I wasn’t feeling well last night. I had to leave unexpectedly.”

  I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and call him out for fucking his former daughter-in-law. I wasn’t sure if Vera knew just how close they’d gotten, and I didn’t want her to find out from eavesdropping on a call with Jack. I’d tell her as soon as I hung up. “Right. Well, I figured it wasn’t that important to you. Something came up that I just didn’t want to miss.”

  “Vera,” Jack spat. The venom in his voice made me want to hang up the phone and forget the plan. I wanted to take Vera as far away from Jack Beauregard as possible. “I thought you wanted her away from all of this. What are you thinking, Hamilton? We were doing so good. She’s nothing but a distraction—”

  “Vera is none of your concern,” I replied coolly.

  “What about your revenge? We’re so close to figuring out Joseph’s plans. Once we have that, we can—”

  “I’m still working on it. I’m still going to bring Joseph down. And if you’re so concerned about what I’m doing, then maybe you should get out of bed and suit up yourself. What even are you doing, Jack? Are you working behind the scenes, or are you hiding?”

  Jack cursed. “I’m doing everything I can on my end.”

  “You’re getting your dick wet and letting me do the heavy lifting,” I snapped back. Fuck Jack.

  “Hamilton!”

  “Tell me what distributor Joseph met with last night.” I expertly made my voice sound bored. I pictured Jack in his bedroom, seething about the son he couldn’t quite control. It felt good. Too good. For the first time in weeks, I felt like myself again. I didn’t live for his praise. I lived for myself.

  “Gunder Industries. They’re a supplier. Theo Gunder is their CEO.”

  “What about Gary Herbert?”

  Jack waited a beat before responding. “Gary isn’t involved. Stop following that lead. I know Gary. And I’ve been in the business longer than you have.”

  “I suppose you don’t need me then, Jack. Seems you’ve got everything figured out.”

  “Don’t be stupid. I thought you were going to put in the work? I thought you wanted to take Joseph down?”

  I let out a huff. “Tell me, Jack, what kind of man pits his sons against one another instead of handling his business on his own? One call. That’s all it would take for you to shut this down. But you’re a coward. You’ve got so many skeletons in your closet that you don’t know where to begin.” I’d known this whole plan was bullshit from the beginning. I entered the wolves’ den but would ruin them from inside the pack.

  “I don’t have time to explain to you all the reasons we have to handle this quietly. I don’t want to threaten you, Hamilton. But you have a very obvious weakness I’m not afraid to exploit.”

  My chest pounded. “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “You should be. If I go down, I’m taking everyone with me. Lilah. Vera. Joseph. And especially you. We’re going to clean up this mess and move on. Now stop being your usual fuck up self and listen to me. Joseph was talking to Gunder Industries.”

  “And why is it a big ordeal that Joseph spent the evening chatting with them?” I was losing my patience but playing along.

  “Because Gunder Industries is based out of San Francisco,” Jack replied, his tone insistent. “There were lots of photographs of them taken together at the event. This is our lead.” I looked at Vera. Her eyes were full of concern, and there was the most beautiful scowl on her pretty face. She thought Jack was as full of shit as I did. Jack continued. “Come over. We need to strategize and talk with my team.”

  “Yeah. I think I’m going to start working with a new team,” I replied lazily before leaning over to kiss the worry right off my girl’s face.

  Jack raged. “What? Hamilton, you can’t include other people in this. The more people that know, the more likely—”

  “I don’t care who knows, Jack,” I replied easily. “I don’t care if you threaten me. I don’t care about this job or the money. My only motivation is to take Joseph down. And most importantly, I no longer care who gets caught in the crossfire, either.”

  “You can’t do this!”

  “Sucks, doesn’t it?” I asked. “Trusting the wrong son.” Vera smiled encouragingly at me, and it was all I needed to slam the door on Jack. She and I were in this together. Fuck anyone else. “Have a lovely day, Jack.”

  Hanging up the phone felt damn good. Vera cleared her throat. I pushed her down into the mattress and started kissing her like a starved man. She was so soft, so perfect, so fucking mine.

  “Can we talk about what just happened?” she asked as I adored her tits.

  “Sure,” I replied before frantically prying her legs open and settling between them. She smelled like sex cologne. She felt warm and wet and—

  “I don’t want to talk about your dad while you’re fucking me, Hamilton,” she complained.

  I nipped at her skin and teased her entrance with the head of my cock, bumping her and sliding my hands up and down her body. “Good point,” I agreed. I didn’t want to think about him. “Let’s talk later, then.”

  “You’re impossible,” Vera said before digging her fingers into my ass and guiding me inside of her. I threw my head back and grunted.

  “You’re perfect,” I murmured.

  I needed to clear my mind and think of only her. So I forgot about the call and spent the next hour pretending shit wasn’t about to hit the fan.

  In an hour, I’d meet defeat with open arms and challenge it. I’d tear apart my father’s reasons for pulling me into the deep end when, for the majority of my life, he’s been disappointed by me. In an hour, I’d challenge the brother who broke me, and work with the brother who terrorized my girl in the name of revenge. In an hour, I’d call my best friend and grovel—apologize for being a martyr.

  But right now? I was with my girl.

&
nbsp; Right now, I was okay.

  16

  Hamilton

  “So you’re not really working with Jack?” Vera asked.

  “I might be really stupid when it comes to being a boyfriend, but I’m not a complete idiot,” I teased back. She tensed a little at the word boyfriend, but not in an apprehensive way. She bit her lip to force back a broad grin at my subtle declaration before continuing.

  “So you’re a double agent, huh?”

  “Something like that. Or at least, I was. It was a very short-lived endeavor. Apparently, I’m not good at pretending to be cordial with Jack. Just like he’s not good at pretending to want to take down his favorite son. I just need to figure out why he wanted me involved.”

  “It does feel off,” she admitted.

  “Jack tried appealing to my need for revenge and offered to keep you safe. I figured what better way to get information? But he’s being suspiciously hands off. Saint thinks…” I let my voice trail off. It felt wrong to talk about my half brother to Vera. He stalked her. Terrified her.

  “You can talk about Saint to me, Hamilton. I know he’s your brother and that you’re working together. I’m okay. I promise.” She looked so brave right then that I wanted to carry her back to bed and reward her for it.

  “The moment Jack made me that offer, I called Saint and told him what was up. He’s here in DC right now ready to talk. Saint’s been pulling information on one of his investors.”

  Vera moved to sit on my kitchen island, her bare legs folded under her and her wild hair put up in an unruly bun on top of her head.

  “Invite him over. I don’t like him. And I’m probably never going to go out of my way to hang out with the guy, but he’s got connections and seems like he can sniff out a story.” Vera looked at me and took a deep breath. “Jess is on her way, too, by the way. I suggest you grovel.” Vera stuck her hand into a cereal box before plopping some Cheerios into her mouth and nervously chewing on them. I never imagined I’d be jealous of cereal, but here we were.