Vandervilles: Book 1 : When Beauty Met The Beast

by Khardine Gray

  That was the trouble with stopping by for an unexpected visit. Encountering the unexpected.

  His mother was right in saying that she and his father were the same as they always were. His father was always a cheat, always, and hadn't changed. But what made this occasion all the more significant was Penelope herself.

  And, he would just love to know what his father was doing with one of Runway's biggest competitors if he wanted to co-own the magazine.

  What the hell had Wade come home to?

  He didn't bother to interrupt. As anger boiled within him, he turned and walked away. He walked back the way he'd come, trying to keep his cool as he left the building and convince himself not to go back and land his fist in his father's face.

  Wade was ten years old when he first learned of his father's unfaithful habits. He'd caught his father with one of their maids. Caught him in live action. His father made him swear not to tell his mother, and to this day he hadn't, but the whole ordeal affected him. No child should have to witness that or hide such a secret from a parent he loved with all his heart.

  That was probably the start of his problems, the incident that fueled his recklessness. It didn't help that he was already so wild. Wildness mixed with anger was a dangerous combination for him and provided the push that would propel him towards a mental breakdown and serious drug and alcohol abuse.

  Wade knew, of course, that his actions were his own and he didn't have to spiral out of control. That part was on him, and he didn't blame anyone besides himself for his actions. But his father certainly didn't help, and sadly, that incident wasn't the last time that he'd caught his father with a woman that wasn't his mother.

  Wade loved women, adored them, and loved the thrill of the chase when one piqued his interests, but he didn't think he could be a cheater. He'd never had many serious relationships, but when he did, he had never contemplated cheating. The opportunity presented itself many times but he valued trust, and if he was with someone, then that was who he was with. As bad as he was.

  Perhaps it was because he'd seen what his father did to his mother. He would never want to become that kind of person and become the kind of man who broke his wife's heart because he couldn't keep his pants on. Wade didn't know what to do about today. His mother already suspected that his father was up to something with the request to co-own Runway, but this with Penelope…

  What did it mean?

  Wade made his way back home and wrestled with the decision of what to do for the next two days. Like always he was stuck in the middle with knowledge of something going on that he shouldn't declare because it would cause more hurt and distrust.

  By Friday he thought he'd go mad with the whole thing and decided he needed to push it all aside for the moment. Instead, he thought of the one thing that kept him going since coming home.

  Chloe.

  It annoyed him that he'd wasted the last few days without her, but that was about to change. He smiled to himself as he grabbed his jacket from the coat rack and shrugged into it.

  Taylor

  Taylor handed Kelly the bridal magazine folded over at the page that had mesmerized her.

  "I want that dress." She pointed to the page and squealed with delight.

  Taylor rubbed her hands together as she imagined herself in the beautiful, slender-cut, white gown walking down the aisle towards her dream man.

  Oh, what a day it would be. What a happy day. She could burst with the joy and anticipation, and she just wished that Richard would hurry up and propose already.

  "I love it," Kelly cried, nodding vigorously. She looked happy and excited.

  Miss Chloe, on the other hand, had that faraway look, again. That strange, vacant look, like her mind was on another planet. Now she was simply staring ahead, looking across to the wall.

  They'd been sitting out here on the terrace for the last hour looking through wedding magazines. Chloe had looked like that the whole time. Sitting there, stiff and ridged, motionless like a statue. Taylor couldn't even recall her blinking her eyes more than a few times.

  It was starting to bug her now because she didn't know what to think. Chloe hadn't exactly said much about the proposal, and it was hard to tell if it was because she was worried about getting that job, or if it was that she didn't want Taylor to marry Richard.

  Taylor wasn't stupid. She knew Chloe didn't like Richard. Chloe tried to be polite when he was around but always had that reservation Taylor didn't want her to have. She didn't know anyone who didn't like Richard. After all, the man spent his days trying to cure cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Who could have anything against someone like that?

  So, maybe she was worried about the job, and from the looks of it quite worried. Taylor knew that getting that job meant everything to her and it was understandable for her to be…faraway in her mind.

  She instinctively reached across to Chloe and tapped her hand, but she didn't move.

  "Chloe." It was only when Taylor shook her hand that she moved.

  "Yes, huh?" Chloe asked, disorientated.

  "You okay, Chloe?" Kelly asked with a playful, curious smile.

  "Fine, me, oh yes. I'm fine."

  Taylor observed her. "Hey, you know it will work out with the job, right?" Taylor offered, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

  "Job? What job?" Chloe narrowed her eyes and looked at Taylor as if she seriously didn't know what she was talking about.

  Taylor straightened up immediately, as this couldn't have been stranger. "The creative director job. The job you've been pining over for weeks."

  "Ohhh." Chloe threw up her hands and giggled. "Yes, that job, sure. Oh, thanks. I'll try not to worry."

  Something else was clearly going on here with Chloe.

  Kelly started to laugh. "Something on your mind, Chloe?" Kelly eyed her with suspicion.

  "No, I'm just tired," Chloe stuttered.

  Taylor tilted her head to the side and looked at her friend more carefully. They'd been friends all their lives and that lame excuse of being tired wasn't going to fly with her.

  Something else was on Chloe's mind, and Taylor just hoped it wasn't any uncertainty over Richard.

  "Look Chloe, I know you get super protective of me," Taylor began. She wanted to be sure Chloe knew she appreciated her. They were more like sisters than best friends, and it wasn't a bad thing to have someone to care for her like that. As annoying as it was that Chloe couldn't see just how wonderful Richard was, Taylor knew she would always have her back. "Richard is a good man, and he'll take care of me."

  Chloe nodded. "Yes, I see that. I'm sure he…" Her voice trailed off and she stared ahead again. Taylor watched Chloe's face brighten, and a little smile lifted her glossy pink lips.

  Taylor followed her gaze but couldn't see what she was looking at. Kelly did, too, but looked just as confused as Taylor felt.

  "Chloe, are you okay?" Taylor asked.

  Chloe looked back to her and smiled. "I have to go."

  "Go? Go where?"

  "I'll be back." She wasn't making any sense.

  Before Taylor could say anything else, Chloe jumped up from her chair and rushed inside the house with an excited smile on her face.

  "What's with her?" Taylor asked Kelly.

  When Kelly offered a guilty look, Taylor definitely knew something was amiss, and she supposed Kelly knew what was going on.

  "I'm not sure."

  "You little minx, tell me." Taylor picked up a handful of popcorn from the bowl on the deck table and tossed it at her.

  Kelly started to laugh. "Hey, I swear I can't confirm anything."

  "But you know something," Taylor chided. At that moment the roar of an engine rippled through the air. "Was that a motorcycle?" She narrowed her eyes.

  "It could be, or maybe it's an ice cream truck," Kelly cooed feigning innocence.

  Now, who did they know with a motorcycle?

  As the answer came to her, Taylor got up so fast she nearly knocked the table over
. She ran into the house and over to the living room window just in time to see Chloe hopping on the back of Wade's bike.

  She placed her helmet on and secured her arms around his waist.

  Taylor's mouth dropped as Wade powered the engine again and the motorcycle fired across the road, disappearing into the night.

  Kelly came up to her and brought her hands together. A tentative expression filled her face. "So, I guess you must know."

  Taylor looked at her and smiled. "I most certainly do."

  Chloe, that little devil. Imagine, she was seeing Wade and never said anything.

  Taylor should have known this would happen one day. Everything in their behavior pointed to this, and Taylor couldn't have been happier.

  Chloe

  Chloe hadn't been able to stop herself from thinking about Wade and what would happen the next time she saw him.

  Her heart yearned for him, and her body craved him. Pure and simple, she wanted him. So tonight, when he appeared at the entrance of the terrace door, looking like he'd just materialized from one of her dreams, Chloe didn't think twice.

  With his stark blonde hair, five o'clock shadow, dreamy eyes, and biker jacket blowing out against the wind, all he needed to do was crook his finger at her and she was all his.

  She left Taylor and Kelly, left the world behind, and just managed to freshen her hair, slip into the pink thong he bought her, then skip into his awaiting arms.

  Chloe was all his now as he took her inside his house. With her legs wrapped around his waist and his arms around her, they kissed ravenously and devoured each other with hot, hungry kisses as he carried her upstairs to his room.

  There he continued to feast on her. Chloe felt his touch everywhere, the need in his touch all over her, and inside her. No words needed to be spoken; they both knew what they wanted.

  She managed to back off his jacket and work his T-shirt over his head, revealing his glorious muscles and the perfection of his godlike body. Her breath caught as she looked at him, and her chest tightened when he set her down before him.

  "Show me," he smiled. Chloe didn't need to ask what he meant. She knew he wanted to see her in the thong. She just didn't know if she could do it. At eighteen she'd been braver and maybe more daring. Life had happened since, with all its ups and downs, and it took away from the person she was back then.

  Nerves filled her and apprehension, which worsened when Wade reached out and cupped her face, running his fingers along the edge of her jaw and the base of her hairline. "You're beautiful, and I want you, Chloe." He smiled again, giving her a soft sweet kiss.

  His words encouraged her, and the look he gave her told her how much he wanted her. She pulled in a breath as he sat on the edge of his bed and watched her.

  "Show me, baby." His smile turned saucier, and his eyes ate her up.

  She reached for the edge of her top and pulled it over her head. The impact loosened the grip holding together her ponytail, and her hair tumbled down her shoulders.

  She stood before him in her sheer bra, and he ran his fingers across the flat of her stomach and over to the edge of her skirt. She followed his fingers and undid the clasp holding the skirt together. They both watched it float to the floor, and she smiled as she observed the look of approval on his face as he secured his gaze to her thong.

  "This is the stuff dreams are made of." He smiled up at her, taking hold of her waist and pulling her a little closer.

  She rested her hands on his solid shoulders and smirked. "I bet you say that to all the girls." She bet he did. This man was no saint, and she'd played right into his game of charm. Chloe knew at some point her brain would return and knock sense into her. Until it did she'd do what she wanted, do what she desired most without restriction.

  He bent his head to her stomach and kissed her there. "No baby, just you, and I was right. You look better than the fantasy."

  She couldn't help the smile that filled her face at his comment. This felt like a fantasy because it could only be in a fantasy that she would be with Wade like this, with him saying such things to her.

  Heat blazed across the surface of her skin as he kissed across her stomach and up to her breasts, stopping just in between her cleavage. He turned her around and ran his hand across her behind, then positioned her to face him again.

  "Show me." He looked at her breasts and leaned forward to kiss between her cleavage. "Show me, like you did before."

  She tucked her hair behind her ear and gazed down at his hungry eyes. No one had ever looked at her like that before. She took a moment to appreciate the look, then released the clasp that held her bra together, watching her breasts spill out.

  "God," he breathed, looking at her with open admiration. He then moved closer and placed his lips over her left nipple to suck her. A soft moan escaped her lips, and she felt like she'd go insane from the pleasure she felt swirl within her. She moaned again, this time a little louder as he sucked her harder. By the time he moved to the next one, her body blazed with heat.

  When he pulled her onto him, his lips crashed into hers, harder and hungrier than ever before, and the kiss became an avaricious feeding frenzy. She drank him in as he groaned his pleasure from deep within the solid walls of his chest and twisted her around so that she lay on the smooth satin surface of the sheets. She felt his touch everywhere again. It drove her beyond the point of caring about anything that wasn't him. Wade made her ache with desire and a need that made her want to be with him like this forever.

  Chloe ran her hands over the thick muscles on his neck and over the ridges of his firm biceps, enjoying him too. Just like she did in her wild dreams of him. She'd enjoy him now in this night of passion. It was her chance to, and she deserved it. She deserved the chance to live on the edge and taste what he offered her. Freedom. Freedom from reality and her thoughts. Freedom from whatever told her he was bad for her.

  There were no worries here, no shadows of concern across her mind. Chloe gave into the carnal appetite that drove her excitement and crave for him.

  "Do you want me, baby?" He moved back, away from the kisses she placed across his chest to look at her through heavy, lustful eyes.

  "I want you, Wade," she whispered.

  He smiled at her and lowered to kiss the soft insides of her thighs, but she stopped him as he took hold of her hips. Chloe wanted to hear him say it too. She wanted to hear him say that he wanted her. It was important to her.

  "Wade…" Her gaze tangled with his. "Do you want me too?"

  "I've always wanted you, beautiful Chloe. Always, baby," he breathed.

  His words sealed to her mind. She knew she would never forget them, or the way he looked as he spoke them.

  "I have to have you now, Chloe."

  "Then take me," she breathed.

  His gaze locked on hers as he moved back and stepped out of his trousers and boxers. Her eyes were instantly drawn to his impressive hot erection, and she watched him towering over her with his glorious strength. He reminded her of one of those Greek sculptures of mythical warriors, like Achilles or Hercules.

  She appreciated the view, taking in his perfect muscular body and that he was all hers. He looked down at her, eyes heated with wanton eagerness.

  Chloe pulled in a breath as he came closer and parted her legs, getting ready to journey to where she craved him. The voluptuous heated head of his flesh nudged against the crevice of her slick opening, sending sparks of energy throughout her.

  He reached between them and wrapped his hands around his shaft to guide himself to her. As he slid into her, a stitch of pain disrupted the haze of her pleasure. But as he withdrew and then buried deep with a penetration so powerful and intense it ripped the world away from her, there was unimaginable endless pleasure.

  "God," he gasped. His powerful chest heaved as he struggled to catch his breath. She cried out, too, moaning against the intensity and arching her back, allowing her soul to receive him. Her eyes closed, and a kaleidoscope of color danced behind
her lids as the passion rushed over her in a wave of electricity that wracked her from within. It stole her strength and made her go limp against the pillow. His hands settled around her hips, holding her tight as he drove into her harder and faster, thrusting into her with that same vigor and reckless abandon he has with everything else.

  The hungry, wild look on his face made her hotter, and she lost herself in the feeling as the climax peaked. Without warning, he drove in deeper, and she cried out from the intense pleasure that engulfed her. Spasms rushed over her in rippling droves, and her skin felt hot like she was standing far too close to the fire.

  It's too much, like always he's too much.

  And yet there was more. Her heart thundered in her ears as he hammered into her, over and over again. Her fell to the side as a deep moan built from the base of her stomach, and as she released it, she felt like she was flying amongst the stars, weightless and free.

  Before she could recover, the next orgasmic wave hit her tenfold. He cried out again, but he wasn't finished yet. He arched his hips and angled himself so he could thrust even deeper.

  Chloe wanted to scream, but the sound drowned in her throat. Desperation rolled through her as she peaked again and came with all that she had left of her. His grip tightened as he reached the climax of his pursuit and then his mighty shoulders slumped.

  Patches of light flickered before her as she looked at him and tried to catch her breath.

  "Chloe." He carefully eased himself out of her and lowered next to her, pulling her into his arms. "Baby, that was amazing." He smiled against her lips and ran his hands over her skin, tracing the curve of her waist.

  "Let's do that again," Chloe breathed, pressing her hands to his chest and enjoying the playful look he gave her.

  "Yes ma'am." His lips collided with hers, pulling her into a deep kiss that stirred her appetite for him all over again.

  As he pulled her on top of him, she knew she was in for one wild night.

  Chapter 8