by Sam Crescent
Lee got up from where she was cleaning potatoes and came toward her, wrapping her arms around her. “No. I’ve known Clayton a while now. He’s an asshole. All men are, but his heart is in the right place most of the time. He loves you. I know he loves you. He just doesn’t know how to show it properly. You’ve got to give him time. He’ll come around.”
Maggie pulled away and wiped at her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m a mess. I know I’m a mess. I don’t even know why I’m crying.”
“Because you’re a hormonal woman and you need to stop apologizing for every little thing.” Lee cupped her cheek. “You should worry when you’re crying for no good reason.”
“It kind of feels like now.” She chuckled. “I’m going to go get cleaned up.”
Getting to her feet, she released the apron and made her way back to the house she’d been sharing with Clayton.
She entered and came to a stop when she heard a noise coming from upstairs. She walked toward the bedroom and there, with the door open, standing in the shower, was Clayton. His fingers wrapped around his stiff cock.
Maggie stood still, not wanting to distract him, marveling at how sexy he looked. His free hand pressed against the tiles wall as he pumped his shaft. His actions fierce with a hard beat.
An answering pulse awakened between her thighs as she watched him, hands clenched at her sides as he continued to fuck his fist.
When he came, she watched his whole body tense as his head thrust backward. Cum shot out of the tip onto the shower stall. He growled her name. No one else, only her name.
The moment seemed oddly intimate.
Even with this distance between them, he still thought about her.
Taking a step back, she left her house and went back to finish cleaning the potatoes.
“Are you feeling better?” Lee asked.
“Yes, much better.” She thought about Clayton. He hadn’t known she was there and still, he called out her name.
“You’re flushed. Are you sure you’re okay?”
She chuckled. “I’m fine. Really. Completely fine.” She washed the potatoes but as she did, she couldn’t stop thinking about Clayton or how he’d looked. Above all else, the sound of her name spilling from his lips as he came. She knew she’d hear it for a long time to come.
Glancing back toward the house, she watched as Clayton came out. His gaze went straight to her. She quickly looked down.
Had he seen her in the house? Could she trust his feelings for her? It all seemed a little too good to be true.
****
“You can do this?” Clayton asked Pete.
“Dude, I can ink anything. I’ve told you that. Stop worrying. This is a little ink. No more. It’ll be done quickly.” Pete winked at him.
“You could end up making a fool out of yourself, you know this, right?” Lee asked.
“I’ve got to do something.” Clayton ran fingers through his hair as he looked to where his crew were all making the preparations. He’d been negotiating everything for Maggie to have the wedding she truly desired. It wouldn’t be the best they could offer, but at least it was something.
He looked around him and nodded. Everything was in place.
The distance between them, he hated it. He loved her more than anything in the world and now he told her daily. He just wished he’d told her that fucking day in the pharmacy. Instead, he’d been too fucking afraid of what the results of the test were. Now, Maggie was starting to show. Her stomach was more rounded, even her tits were larger.
He got to touch her late at night, feeling her against him, but they hadn’t had sex in so long.
Watching her turned him on. Being close to her scent aroused him. Everything about her called to him, and still, she kept him at arm’s length. Not that he blamed her. He deserved it.
Now as everything was set up, he made his way into the house where Maggie had gone twenty minutes earlier. The food they’d prepared for storage had been moved with care. The idea was to not bruise any of the vegetables or fruit. In years to come, he hoped they could be more adept in the art of preserving and storage. Until then, he could do nothing other than hope and pray.
He entered the house and saw Maggie waiting for him on the steps. She wore the dress he’d gone hunting for. It was in her size, and modest as well. There was no available wedding dress, but the white with roses really suited her.
Her long blonde locks fell around her face, a natural curl to her hair.
“Clayton, what’s going on?” she asked.
“You look beautiful.”
She glanced down at her body, her hand going toward her stomach. “Thank you.”
“There’s something I need to tell you.” He took her hand and led her out of the house. She came to a stop and he knew why. He’d arranged for the crew to be there, every single one of them to witness his fall. “Maggie, I love you. I love you with all my heart and soul. I have no reason or excuse as to why I didn’t tell you, but I declare my feelings for you now, in front of everyone here. Not just because of the baby or to declare you as mine, but because you are my everything.”
He got down on one knee. “Marry me, Maggie. Marry me, and I will prove my love to you every single day. Even if you say no here and now, I will still continue to prove myself to you. I love you more than anything.”
“Clayton.” Tears spilled from her eyes. “You didn’t need to do this.”
“I did. I was afraid. I knew you were pregnant and it scared me.” He got up, cupping her face. “I needed to know the answer even though I was so fucking afraid. I’m an asshole. There’s no excuse for what I did.” He kissed her. “Please, forgive me. I will do anything for you. Just name it.”
“All I ever wanted was for you to love me.”
“You’ve got that.” He pressed her hand to his heart. “You’ve got all of me. If you want it.”
She pressed her lips together, tilting her head. “I want to stay mad at you.”
“Then do so. I’ll be your husband and you can hate me all you want.”
She burst out laughing, and he smiled at her. “The fact is, Maggie, I’m yours. I’ve been yours since the moment you walked into my classroom. I couldn’t have you then, but now, there’s no reason standing between us. Marry me. Say you’ll be mine.”
“I’m yours. I’m always yours, Clayton. There’s no way for us to be married. There’s no priest.”
“Actually, that’s my job,” Pete said. “We can’t exactly marry you, but we can bind you together with this.” Pete held up the design that could be inked around their wedded finger.
“This is better than any ring,” Clayton said. “This one will stay on. You won’t be able to remove it. You’ll be mine as I’ll be yours.” He opened his shirt for her to see her name written across his breast, right across his heart. “This is where you’re always meant to be. I’m not playing games with you. I’m not lying to you. You and me. This. Us.”
“Yes,” she said as more tears spilled down her cheeks.
He pulled her to him, cupping her cheek and kissing her as their crew cheered. Sliding his tongue across her lips, he held her close, not wanting to let her go, even as he was terrified of what her answer would be.
Taking her hand, he went to Pete, who was already set up to make the rings around each finger.
Maggie went first with him to follow. The moment their ink declared them as each other’s, their crew went wild.
He held Maggie in his arms as the celebrations began.
This was right. This was everything he could have hoped for. Stroking her hair back, he stared into her eyes, knowing no matter what, he would protect and love her for as long as he lived.
Slamming his lips down on hers, he felt her response, and he knew it was going to be one of the best nights of his life.
Epilogue
Five years later
Maggie buried the spade into the soil, turning it over and getting the ground ready for them to pot some fresh potatoes.
> “Mommy, Mommy, come quick,” Eliza, her oldest daughter said, coming to grab her hand.
She wiped the sweat off her brow as Eliza led her out to where Clayton stood, holding their son.
She’d given birth to Junior less than three months ago, and the little guy was still going strong. Two pregnancies and each one Clayton hadn’t enjoyed, especially the birthing process.
No medicine.
No hospital.
No doctors.
Just her, Lee, a couple of other women, and well, sheer fucking willpower had brought her two babies into the world. She’d been lucky. She knew that. There weren’t many women who had the same kind of luck.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Newbies, beyond the gate. We’ve allowed them to approach. They had weapons but they’ve been removed. It looks like a family. A man, woman, and child.”
She took hold of Eliza’s hand as more of their crew came out. Over the past five years, they’d built themselves a safe haven. There had been a few attacks, trying to take what belonged to them, but they’d fought them off each time. They were happy to have people come to be part of their world, but they wanted peace, no violence.
If they couldn’t follow Clayton’s rules, they were out.
They’d all found peace within the chaos.
Resting her head on his arm, she rubbed her thumb across his wedded finger. They couldn’t have traditional weddings, but Pete bound each couple together as they requested it. It was their ceremony. Their way of bringing people to each other.
When the man approached, they stepped forward.
“Speak your business and leave.”
Both the man and woman bowed down and the child followed. “We want peace,” the man said. “We don’t fight. We come to join you. We’ve learned of your camp and have been traveling one month straight in search of you.”
Her husband stared down at the man who stayed bowed. She’d seen this happen many times. Their crew had grown. Families came from far and wide, people who were alone. Anyone looking for peace.
“I’m Clayton Knight. This is my family.”
He was vicious when he had to be, smart when it was required, and sweet to her and their children. But above all else, he was loyal.
Tilting her head back to him, she was so fucking happy.
“Thank you, sir. Thank you so much.”
“Don’t thank me. Thank my wife. She’s the one who convinced me to let outsiders in.”
That wasn’t the truth, but as Clayton gave the instruction, she snuggled in close to his body as Eliza wrapped herself around her. This was home. This was her family and above all else, she was happy.
The End
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BONUS SAMPLE CHAPTER
BRED BY THE KING
Breeding Season, 4
Sam Crescent and Stacey Espino
Copyright © 2019
Sample Chapter
Ashley’s heart raced as she ran as fast as her feet could carry her. She didn’t know how much longer the group of men would be out, but she was determined to get away from them before they could rape her. No one was taking her against her will. She was thankful that they’d brought her to some kind of house where she’d been able to find the necessary ingredients to knock them out.
She pressed her body against the brick wall of an alleyway and took a second to catch her breath.
Her head hurt from being hit, and she felt sick to her stomach from being starved. Considering the population was at an all time low, she would have thought men would cherish the few females that were still alive. It seemed that was a joke.
Since a deadly virus had struck the world, people who had been weak or too young to make it had died. All of the scientists that had cooked it up, and the leaders who had unleashed it, were dead. In the few months since it had been released, chaos and war had broken out. Groups of men fought for land and survival. The women that hadn’t been killed had been forced to be tagged based on their fertility status.
Once the virus had been unleashed, Ashley recalled all the women in her apartment block being rounded up. They had to go to a testing facility, and it was there that she received the tattoo on her wrist. It was a band etched into the skin by ink, which told the world who was fertile and who was not.
Ashley, for all of her luck, was fertile.
Yay.
Not.
In the beginning of being announced fertile, she’d been safe. The women who hadn’t been so lucky had been forced back out into the world where no one gave a fuck. For her, she’d spent the first month in complete bliss and harmony. She’d been told she would be transported to a safe location where she would be put to good use, to aid humankind.
She knew what good use meant—bred. That was it.
She’d become nothing more than a vessel for a man’s pleasure. At least, that’s what they intended.
It never happened.
Before she even got a chance to be transported, the women had been taken hostage, and while the promise of death surrounded her, she made a run for it.
Rushing out onto the streets hadn’t been her brightest idea, but at least she’d been able to finally be free. Only, it hadn’t worked according to plan, either.
Men had seen her, seen the tag, and then she’d had to run for her life. She’d been doing okay until the latest group of men had hit her, knocking her unconscious and taking her to wherever the hell she was when she woke up.
She didn’t recognize anything, and she kept trying not to freak out.
Getting away from them had been her lucky break. After the group of men had taken her, they’d told her they were all going to fuck her, to fill her womb so full of cum so that she would breed them more women to take as their own.
It had sickened her to the core.
Before the fucking could start though, they had demanded she feed them. So, using the ingredients around her, she’d fed them, but she had put in a few other ingredients as well. Especially the sleeping pills she’d found in the cupboard. She didn’t know if crumbling them into their food would work, but she had used every single one in the hopes of getting away.
The moment they’d fallen asleep, she took off.
She couldn’t stop. If she stopped, she’d be taken again. That prospect was not acceptable to her.
Staring down at the ink around her wrist, she gritted her teeth. At the time, she hadn’t thought much about the fertility tattoo they’d forced her to wear. Now though, it had pissed her off. She felt like cattle. It amazed her how humankind could turn so savage in such a short frame of time.
Before all media outlets had gone down, a broadcast into what the bands signified had gone out to the world. Any woman found with the fertile band had to be taken to the government immediately.
Of course, that hadn’t happened. When she saw the broadcast, she should have known something had fucked up.
Why would women who had the band be out in the world?
They had the sense to run before it was too late.
Pushing down the sleeve of her jacket, she shook her head, hating herself for her own weakness. This was not what she wanted to do, but now her life was survival.
Stepping away from the wall, she began to follow a new path, no real destination in mind.
She knew it wasn’t safe anywhere, so she was on alert.
One of the female scientists had sat with her for long hours and told her what was going on
in the world. The virus that had been released caused the victims to have seizures and become violent before they died a painful death. They would go mad with a need for killing. The scientist said that they didn’t know who exactly unleashed it, and there was no cure. It scared her to know someone could create something so evil.
The death toll had risen sharply, and as Ashley looked around the changed landscape of the world, she knew nothing would ever be the same again.
Folding her arms over her chest to keep out the chill, she made her way along a darkened street when she heard a feminine scream.
She paused, fear gripping her with its claws.
“Get off me!”
“That pussy is mine. All fucking mine. I want it. I want it.”
Rounding the side of the building, she saw a man had a woman by the throat. His hand going to his pants, trying to pull out his dick. Lying near the wall was a pile of discarded rebar. Without thinking, she picked one up and slammed it against the man’s head. That was all it took for him to go out cold.
The woman underneath him scrambled out.
Ashley dropped the metal and stepped away, glancing down at her empty hand.
“Hey,” the woman said, rushing to her side.
She stared at her.
“Thank you,” the woman said.
“It’s all right. Men shouldn’t be hurting us,” Ashley said.
“No, they shouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean they won’t. Men have always been a law unto themselves.”
“I’ve got to go.” Ashley pulled away.
Just as she moved past her, the other woman grabbed her arm. It was the one that had the band around her wrist. Light cast down by the lamp, and the woman held her hand up.