Chapter Twenty
Benton
Five Years Later
The last five years have been a dream. A dream I didn’t know I had until it was coming true before my eyes.
Tatum and I married two years ago after we found out she was expecting again. Harrison James—Harry—joined our crew of Kings when we least expected. I was in the middle of another winning year of racing. I was beyond grateful to Ollie and Bex, who stepped in to help her when I couldn’t be there. Tatum was so strong and amazingly understanding. I’ll never be more grateful to anyone as much as I am to her. She shows unbelievable grace to me on a daily basis.
I’m in year seven of my racing career with Royal King. We have others that have joined our team since, but I remain the top podium leader overall and one of the biggest names out there. It’s a blessing and curse at times, but I’m thankful to have the flexibility I do.
Tatum and the kids still travel with me, but this is our last year to do so with Poppy starting school soon. We’ve held off the inevitable as long as possible, teaching her the best we can on a kinder level.
We have homes in both Vegas and Graves now for us to be together regardless of whether it’s race season or not. We’ll always travel the world together, I’m sure, but it’s always nice to have a solid place to lay your head knowing your family is under the same roof.
It’s offseason now, which means we’re in Graves for the holidays. Travis’s home is still the center for every member of the Duncan/Gellar/King clan to go. It’s always a fun time to see everyone. It’s loud and obnoxious and absolutely perfect for this crazy family I’m a part of.
Ollie and Bexley found out a few years ago they weren’t able to have children of their own. They took it in stride and had a hand from heaven help them in their grief over the situation. Not long after, there was a baby born and orphaned in the hospital where they both work. They saw it as a sign and took the baby in. Maxwell—Max—is the same age as our Harry. He became the reason for them to finally marry. Bex and Max both became Duncans on the same crazy day a couple years ago.
Hearing the baby cry, I make my way to the loft of Travis’s house to check on her. Ruby Rose King is a hellraiser already with a set of lungs on her that can be heard three states away.
“What have you done to yourself, little dove?” I ask her as I untangle her swaddling blanket from her legs. Ruby is four months old and a wiggle worm.
I meet Tatum on the stairs as I’m coming down with Ruby. She stops and gives me a look with a head tilt to the side. She's not pleased that I let her up from her nap early.
“You know she wouldn’t go back down. I had to let her up, yeah?” I smirk at my beautiful wife. I reach up and wipe off the flour coating her cheek.
“She’ll be awful by six o’clock, and that will be on you,” she says with a finger in my face.
Leaning forward just a tad, I take a bite of her finger. She rolls her eyes at me, pulling her hand back. “Come on, trouble.”
Following her back downstairs, I watch her full hips sway. I’ll never tire of seeing her sashay her way through life. My brilliant and beautiful wife has continued to be the face of Royal King throughout the years. But along with that, she’s also fought through the stigma of a model needing to be wafer thin. After childbirth, she embraced her changing body and “Curves of the World,” as her campaign is called, was also born.
Tatum amazes me every day with all she does. She’s a wife, mother, model, leader and advocate, and so much more. She works harder than anyone else I know and does it with as much of a smile as the world will get from her.
“Oliver! Are you kidding me? Why are you letting the boys watch Die Hard?” Tatum yells at her brother.
“What? It’s a Christmas classic,” he replies like she’s crazy.
“I’m not going to fight that out right now. I’m more worried about the fact that our three-year-olds are watching a rated-R, violent movie. Where is Bex? I know she wouldn’t approve of this, either.”
“She’s making food with Penny in the kitchen. She told me to keep an eye on the boys and to bother her only if there was blood, vomit, or bones sticking out. I’m only listening to my wife,” he says like he’s the champion in the room.
“Why are you so—”
“Careful, Tates. There are children in the room,” Ollie cuts her off. And the look she shoots him has me running from the room.
I carry Ruby with me out to the deck, where Travis is sitting alone.
“It is scary in there,” I say, sitting down next to him. He huffs a laugh but doesn’t look up from the bonfire burning in front of us. “You alright, mate?”
“Yeah. It’s just a rough time of year. Always makes me miss my girl.”
“Are Tilly and Jesse joining us today?” I ask, trying to change the subject.
He nods. “They should be here soon.”
“You and Tilly gone out yet?” I ask, crossing a line, I’m sure.
His head snaps up then. “Did Tatum tell you to ask?”
“Not at all. Just a hunch,” I smirk.
“She and Ollie have been relentless.”
“So, is that a yes?” I hedge.
He lets out a resigned sigh. “We haven’t gone out. She’s really great. We spend a lot of time together. I just can’t seem to move forward. It still seems so weird. I know Penny is twelve; it’s been nine years. Damn. It’s been nine years.” He leans back in his chair. “What can I say? I found the girl for me, and she still holds my heart.”
“I admire you. I promised my girl that we’d always have that spark, the fun, the fire between us. If she ever left me, in any way, I’d be broken,” I admit, holding my little Ruby. “You also deserve to be happy, yeah? It’s alright to move forward. No one would look down on you for that.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“Also, I wanted to know how much longer you’re going to make me wait until I can add you to my crew.”
He laughs then. “Until Penny is grown.”
“Damn.” We both chuckle at our impasse. I’d love nothing more than a talented mechanic like Travis to join my team. Hell, I’d love him to lead my team. I just don’t know if I’ll still be racing in six more years. I suppose time will tell.
Just then Penny comes outside to where we are. “Dad, can I go see what’s taking Jesse so long?”
“Be my guest,” he says.
“Thanks. Tatum is making me do things I never want to do again.”
“What’s that?” I ask with a laugh.
“She made me clean out the inside of the turkey. Barf!” she exclaims while taking off across the lawn.
“Do you mind holding Ruby? I’ll go see if my wife needs help.”
He takes Ruby, kissing her cheeks and bouncing her on his knee. They look happy enough, so I go inside to see what kind of warzone my wife has made.
She’s peeling potatoes at the counter. Coming up behind her, I kiss the side of her neck and still her busy hands. “I hear you’re being mean,” I chuckle into her ear.
“Penny is being dramatic,” she huffs.
“Need help, Sugar?” I ask, placing another kiss on her flushed skin.
“That’s how you make more babies!” Bex yells from behind us.
“I’m alright with that,” I laugh, nuzzling in more against my wife so she feels how alright I am with it.
“Benny,” she groans. “I have so much to do.”
I turn her around to face me. “You do this every year. It’ll be fantastic. Stop stressing and let me help you. Then I’ll help you relax later,” I whisper, cupping her face and kissing her lips.
“You two are gross. Get away from the food with all that,” Bex says.
But it works, and I feel my Sugar relax. “Can you help with the turkey? It needs to go in the oven like an hour ago.”
“I’m good with handling large meat,” I tell her.
“Ewwwww!” Bex protests, making me laugh. “No more meat jokes from you!”
/> “Oh, like you’ve never heard any. You’re married to my brother. I grew up hearing them,” Tatum says, going back to her potatoes while I butter and season the turkey.
A hours later, the turkey is golden and perfect, and the rest of our feast is finishing up. The house smells amazing! Tatum feeds us all well with a dinner like her mom used to make every year.
Once we’re all around the table, we each share our blessings from the year and what we wish for in the year to come. Some wishes stay the same, some change, but it’s a special time for all of us.
* * *
“I’m so tired,” Tatum says once we’re back home after the busy day.
“I’m sure you are. Everything was delicious.”
“Good. Penny was no help this year. All she did was complain, and then she left to do whatever with Jesse. I swear those two… ohhh…”
“I’m still a little hungry.” I smirk up from between her legs. “And I promised to help you relax later, didn’t I?”
“Yessss….” she moans while I tease her sensitive skin with my fingers.
I pull her tank up to expose her breasts and kiss her nipples, making them hard and loving the way she looks right now.
“This is why you’re my favorite,” she says with her hands in my hair, nails scraping my scalp.
“I know, Sugar.”
My hands replace my mouth on her tits as I work my way down her stomach. She lifts her hips so I can remove her sleep pants and lets out another moan when my tongue licks from her center. She’s my favorite thing to eat today, and I plan to show her just how much.
She’s writhing under me as I go back and forth between finger fucking her and sucking her into my mouth. I let her come on my tongue and lap up all the pleasure from my girl that she deserves to have.
“More,” she says in a whispered sigh.
“More what, Sugar?” I ask, kissing the inside of her thigh.
“More you. I need you, Benny,” she tells me, sitting up to push my boxers down.
“Up, Sugar. I want you from behind. I want to see those luscious hips and ass in the air.”
She does as I say. I stare at her for a minute, appreciating her. I rub my cock through her wetness, working her up again, and reaching around to play with her tits. I could play with her all day. Three kids and seven years together and I still want to be with her all the damn time.
“Please,” she begs, pushing back against me, trying to put me where she wants.
But it’s then that I realize I don’t want her this way. I want to see her face. I roll her over and spread her open.
“You’re so damn beautiful. Ready, Sugar?” I ask before plunging in.
She nods before I fill her. Lifting her leg, I put it on my shoulder and take her hard and deep, the way we both like it.
She’s already clamping down on me, ready to climax again. I piston in and out faster, trying to catch her. She yells my name in her high and I follow soon after, falling on top of her. I slow down and milk both of us until we’re done.
“Promise me always. Promise me it’ll always be like this,” she pants against my sweaty chest.
“I promise you always if you give me forever.”
Epilogue
Tatum
“You did what?!” I yell at Penny. This girl is going to either prepare me for my girls as teenagers or kill me before I get there. She has always been the sunshine and happiness for our family, but then she turned eighteen and lost her damn mind.
“I kissed Zander,” she says like it’s no big deal. Zander Macallan is the newest racer to join the Royal King team. He’s young and driven and a player, and I’m going to murder him.
“Ohmygosh, Penny. Benton is going to lose his fucking mind when he hears that Zander put his hands on you. Not to mention your dad,” I yell at her in frustration.
“First, stop swearing at me. Second, he didn’t ‘put his hands on me.’ We kissed. No big deal.” She shrugs. “And third, I’m eighteen, so why do you care? You guys hired me to do a job, which I do to perfection. You don’t get to tell me what to do otherwise, Tate.”
“The hell I don’t, little sister. You may be eighteen, but Benton did not hire you to whore around the track.” I wince as soon as the words leave my mouth. I’ve always had a sharp tongue, but never with her. Never with Penny.
She gasps and I feel bad, but if she’s going to play a big-girl game, she better be ready to hear big-girl things.
“I can’t believe you just said that! I’m not whoring around. I haven’t even had sex, Tatum. I’ve only kissed one other boy because everyone was always afraid of Jesse or Dad or even Ollie and Benton. For once it was nice to have a guy, a hot guy, interested in me and not skittish that we’d get caught and he’d be castrated.”
Closing my eyes, I let out a sigh. She’s right; she deserves some room to grow and experience life. I just hate that it’s with this Zander kid. Fucking punk touching my sister.
“Look, I’m sorry. You’re right. You are an adult. I just don’t want to see you get hurt, that’s all. I made a lot of mistakes when I was younger, and I don’t want to see you make the same ones. I know you aren’t me, and that’s not fair to you.”
“You’re right. It’s not fair. I’m not you, Tatum. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but you can’t put your mistakes on me. I get enough crap from Dad and Ollie; I don’t need it from you, too. I’d really like to be able to talk to you and not made to feel like poop.”
I pull her into a hug. “OK. I’m here. Judgment done. But I swear, Pen, if Zander hurts you, I will end him.”
She laughs and pulls away. “Thank you.”
“What’s going on with Jesse? Heard from him lately?”
“No,” she mumbles, not looking at me.
“Want to talk about it?”
“No,” she sighs. “I really miss him. I’m just not sure he really misses me.”
“Pen, you guys have always been inseparable. I’m sure he misses you just as much as you miss him,” I say, trying to make her feel better.
“I don’t know anymore. He pulled away and everything started to feel so distanced between us before he left.”
“Probably trying to protect you both from getting hurt. I know a thing or two about that.”
“I know you do.” She smiles at me. “Sucks though.”
“That it does. I’m sorry you’re hurting without your friend.”
“Yeah…”
“Want to come for dinner tonight? We’re ordering in Chinese and it’s movie night.”
“Popcorn?”
“Uh, yeah!”
“Thanks, Tate,” she says, leaning her head on my shoulder.
“Anytime.”
We leave the Royal King headquarters for the day, and Penny joins our crazy family for our movie night. It feels good to have her with us and be a part of it.
The kids drive me insane most days with their fighting and name calling, but I guess that’s to be expected when they’re eleven, eight, and five. It’s nice to have my baby sister here to help run interference.
Penny snuggles up with Ruby on her lap on the couch with Poppy and Harry beside them. Benton and I share the loveseat, our spot, and get cozy together. These are my favorite nights. We shoot to do a family night at least once a week, but it doesn’t always happen. Sometimes it’s games, other times it’s movies, and sometimes we get creative when we’re traveling. It’s important to me to keep our family close, even if we do drive each other nuts.
I tilt my head back to look up at my husband. He smirks down at me before putting a kiss on my lips. Soon I feel his hands start to roam under my shirt and gasp when he pinches my nipple. I instantly flush that’s he’s getting so handsy with the kids and my sister in the room.
This is what he promised me from the start. He promised me we’d always be like this. Never able to keep our hands to ourselves. He still tries to make me smile and laugh as much as he can. I’ve definitely softened throughout the years,
but I’ll never be one who laughs freely and openly with anyone but him and our kids.
I love this man. He makes my heart soar and my soul leap with joy. If he can promise me always, I’ll gladly give him my smiles forever.
The End
(At least for this book…)
Special Thanks
My hubs: Baby, you are the inspiration for this book. Thank you for turning me into a Moto GP fan and for cuddling me on the couch while we both yell at the screen. Loves!
Stacy: I don’t even know where to begin… I give you so much shit but truth is, I literally could not do all this without you. Thank you for stepping in and wanting to help me. I will never be able to repay you for everything you do. I am so grateful for you as not only a PA but as a friend. I love you for life!
Jenn: You might have taken a small century to get this book back to me (
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