The Fighter's Defiant Lover (The Burton Brothers Series Book 4)

by North, Leslie

  He frowned. “You’re supposed to say I am.”

  She leaned closer to him. “No, you’re supposed to say ‘I do’ or we’re not married.”

  He glanced at the preacher. “Oh, I do.”

  The rest of the ceremony passed in a blur. Jasmine was amazed she didn’t faint from hyperventilation. She’d been certain something was going to go wrong. How could she be marrying a great guy? It just wasn’t possible.

  But it was. And afterwards, every Burton had to hug her. They cut the cake, toasted with sparkling water, and Jasmine wanted to cry. She had to slip away and Dustin found her in the garden in the gazebo where they had exchanged vows.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  She shook her head. How could she tell him? Coming over to her, Dustin took her hand. “Don’t make me use a headlock on you.”

  She giggled. “You wouldn’t.”

  “Oh, I might. We could wrestle for the answer, but I’d rather you just tell me.”

  The words burst out. “What if I’m just like my mom? What if start flirting with other guys, and you leave, and I end up married and married and ma—”

  He put a finger on her lips. “First off, you planning to flirt with other guys? I mean I get that the Burtons are good looking guys—for guys—but you know Alice can take you down, and Rachel won’t put up with it, and even Avery would probably punch you.”

  “Well, no, I wasn’t planning. But…things happen.”

  “Great. We’ll deal with them if they do. Meantime, no way I’m ever walking out on you. Not even if you get fat—”

  “Hey!” She punched his arm.

  He grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Not even if you start beating me. I’m stuck—for better or for worse.” He pulled her in close. “In fact, I’m just where I want to be. Now, let’s get this reception done, because I want to get to the honeymoon stuff.”

  He kissed her—long and hard. Jasmine could feel her worries melting under that heat. “I love you,” he said, pressing smaller kisses to her cheeks and eyes.

  Jasmine gave a soft hum. “Hmmmm. Maybe that really is all we need. But what do you think about starting a family, Mr. Caldwell.”

  “If that means lots of sex, count me in, Mrs. Caldwell.”

  Epilogue

  “Again!” Chaz shouted. Jasmine gave a small groan. They’d just come out of the exciting world of Winnie the Pooh for the third time.

  Rachel bent down so she was eye level with her son. “How about we go find Peter Pan?”

  Jasmine held her breath while Chaz considered the offer. His pout vanished and he grinned. “I want to see Captain Hook!”

  “Great! Wonderful, at least we don’t have to do this one again,” Dustin muttered.

  Jasmine jabbed him in the ribs. “When you have two of your own, you’ll be spoiling them by going a dozen times.”

  “Never—well maybe.”

  She grabbed his hand and pulled him back, so they could trail behind the others. Jasmine glanced around, thinking what a wonderful group of people she could now count as family.

  Mason was pushing Avery in a wheelchair. He’d insisted she needed to stay off her feet. Avery had sulked for an hour, but now seemed to be enjoying the luxury of being looked after hand and foot. And every other grandmother stopped to ask when she was due.

  Alice patted her own almost flat belly. “Dammit, I want to start showing!”

  “You will, sweetie,” Bryant promised. And dragged her off, away from the others.

  Jasmine smiled. Bryant was doing a great job of being a good loser. He’d lost his title fight by a split decision. He’d fought hard, but his opponent not only had him by five inches in height but four inches in arm length.

  It had looked like Bryant would gain the upper hand when he’d rocked his opponent’s world with a series of hard kicks to the outside of his thigh. But the other fighter had taken Bryant to the ground. Bryant had grumped around for two days, but Alice was working hard to show him he was still a winner in her books.

  Bryant would need to fight his way back up to the top, but that didn’t seem to bother him much. And Mason had already told Bryant what they’d start working on when they got home.

  Dustin had won his title fight, knocking out his opponent in the fifth round. The fight had been brutal to watch, and Jasmine glanced at Dustin—she still wanted to touch the bruises on his face and smooth them away. Not that she could. With a black eye, he looked more like one of Captain Hook’s pirates, and he kept getting looks now.

  As for Beck, he’d won his fight in eighteen seconds. It had set a new record in his weight division, and the man hadn’t even had to take one hit. His opponent had rushed him, and Beck simply hit him square in the face, knocking him out. Beck was still strutting around, which explained why he’d been fine with taking Chaz yet again to see Pooh Bear—the man was happy with the world. Rachel kept poking him and telling him not to get an ego going.

  Glancing at Dustin, Jasmine decided she could like married life. No wonder her mother kept getting hitched—she was looking for this. Would life have been different if her dad had stayed? When she thought what she’d do without Dustin, she shivered.

  But she knew she’d pull herself together better than her mother had. Maybe some of her mom’s problems had been due to disappointment, but it was really about doing the best with what you had. Right now, she had a lot.

  Heck, she was even looking forward to a return to Las Vegas—the fights were often booked there. She’d be able to see some of her old friends, and Timmons, but she wouldn’t be going back as a showgirl. This time she’d be the wife of a champion.

  As they headed into the line, Jasmine’s phone rang. She glanced at the number but didn’t recognize it. For a second, her heart jumped. But she answered.

  A nice voice came on the line. A man. “Mrs. Caldwell?”

  “Yes.” Jasmine tried to place the man’s accent. How did this person know her last name and her number. She glanced at Dustin, but he was chatting with Mason right now.

  “May I introduce myself. My name is Dmitri Aknos.”

  “What?” She grabbed Dustin’s shirt sleeve and whispered hurriedly, “It’s Dmitri Aknos!”

  Dustin gestured for her to give him the phone. She practically threw it at him, and he grinned. “Dmitri? How’s it going. You’ve caught my wife by surprise. I thought you were going to call later?”

  Dustin put the phone on speaker. “Dustin, please extend my apologies. I wished to congratulate you both on your marriage. Such a blessed event. And also to extend the use of my private floor during your New Year’s Eve trip to Vegas.”

  Dustin smiled. “News travels fast.”

  “When a big fight is booked, everyone wants to know. I am in your debt for helping clean up a part of my organization that would not have been good for my long-term interests.”

  “Oh, hey, we owe you, too. But I’ll pass along your good wishes, and we’ll certainly take you up on your most generous offer come the end of the year.”

  “Good. Tell Beck I made a nice bit of money from his effort, and tell Bryant I expect to see him back in the title spot before the end of next year. He was robbed in that decision!”

  Dustin grinned. Jasmine poked his side. “Do I get my phone back?”

  “Hold on, Dmitri. Jasmine wants to say a word.”

  Face flaming, Jasmine took her phone back and stammered out something—she must sound an idiot. Finally, she hung up and turned to Dustin. “You didn’t tell me you were pals with the guy!”

  He shrugged. “We’ve talked a few times. He said he wanted to call you.” He wrapped his arms around her. “And now, are you ready to ride with me to Neverland, where we can be young forever?”

  He began to nibble on her ear. When his hands began to wander, she slapped them playfully away. “Behave yourself.”

  “It’s never, never land. So never. You know this ride is mostly in the dark, right?”

  She giggled and put he
r hands over his. “I don’t want to be young forever. I want to grow old with you and someday to be sitting in rocking chairs and talking about ‘do you remember’ and having you—”

  “Still chase you around the room because you’re irresistible?”

  Jasmine gave a hum, and then said, “Do you know, I bet that Dmitri guy would know how to get someone killed.”

  “Always the bloodthirsty girl. Come, my pirate wench. Want to ditch the ride and find a quiet corner where we can neck?”

  Jasmine gave a laugh. “With you… Always.”

  The End.

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  The Botros Brothers Series (Exclusively on Kindle Unlimited)

  The Sheik’s Accidental Pregnancy (EXCERPT BELOW)

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  Excerpt From The Sheikh’s Accidental Pregnancy (The Botros Brothers Series Book 1)

  It was finally Friday, the last day of the workweek and the last late work night! Sara was happy. She was not used to working such late nights and it was exhausting. She could not wait to get the work over and done with so that she could start her weekend, kick back and relax.

  She had worked with Amir every night and he laughed at how tired she got. He kept saying that she was too cute. Sara never understood how she was cute but it didn't bother her. That Friday, Amir had a mysterious appointment he needed to go to. Sara manned his appointments and she was unaware of this one.

  “Sir, you're being too secretive,” she said to him as he laughed and ruffled her hair.

  “I am not,” he replied.

  “Then, why do I not know about this appointment? And why aren't I coming along?”

  “You're working late,” Amir replied as he kept inching towards the door. Sara placed her hands on her hips and stared at him.

  “A date?” Sara asked him.

  “I shall see you on Monday,” Amir smiled mischievously. Sara laughed and bid him farewell. She knew that he was going on a date. He seemed to be quite the ladies’ man. She made a mental note to grill him about him it on Monday. She took the files she needed from his desk and locked his door before she headed back to her office.

  After what seemed like hours and hours of work, Sara decided to walk around the building. After sitting for so long, she needed to stretch and relax for a bit. The place was deserted so she kicked off her shoes before wandering around. Sara frowned as she wished that she were home or out with the twins.

  Sara dragged her feet as she walked around the building. She didn't even care what she looked like, nobody was there to see her. She was wearing a black knee-length, pencil skirt and a white camisole that she had untucked. Her long curly hair had long ago come loose from its bun, so she left it down as it rested on her back.

  She turned a corner and saw the light on in the conference room. She growled silently. Who had not bothered to switch the light off? She dragged her feet and headed towards the conference room to switch the light off. She walked into the room and towards the light switch. She was in her own world looking at the ground.

  “Can I help you with something?” A deep voice sounded from behind her. It startled her as she squealed and turned around quickly.

  “Oh gosh,” she sighed with relief. It was Tariq leaning on the table reading some paperwork. He was wearing grey pants and a white shirt. A couple of buttons were unbuttoned, revealing the top of his chest. “You scared me,” she scolded.

  “Do you need something?” he asked her. Sara shrugged. She didn't really expect him to be polite to her.

  “I saw the light on and I came to switch it off because I thought no one was in here,” Sara replied. Tariq stared at her. She looked untidy and she was barefoot!

  “Why are you barefoot?” He could not help himself. He had to ask her.

  “I was wearing heels all day. My feet hurt,” Sara responded in an unfriendly tone. She was trying her best not to snap at him but she had lost her patience with his attitude long ago. He did not respond to her as he stared at her. “Working late?” she asked. She caught his gaze and suddenly felt uncomfortable as she slowly inched for the door. He didn't respond to her as he felt like she was asking an obvious question. Sara placed her hands on her hips.

  “Why is it that you can never answer me or even act polite towards me?” Sara asked him. She couldn't ignore it anymore. He always felt the need to be that way towards her and she had not done anything to him. On top of that, she was tired and had enough of his attitude towards her.

  Tariq raised his eyebrows as he regarded her. He was not expecting her to question him nor did she have the right to. “I am not obligated to do either,” he said. His voice was now deeper.

  “I never did anything to offend you.”

  She has full lips, Tariq thought to himself as he remembered her licking her lips in the restaurant. It did not matter anyway he thought. “Your persona is offensive,” he said to her.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Who walks around barefoot?”

  Sara frowned. You're the one with an ugly persona. She looked away. She was in the middle of arguing with him and his chest was distracting her. From the little glimpse she got, she could tell that he was very toned. The bulk of his muscles were always showing in the clothes he wore and how was it that he had time to exercise when he was always working?

  “You do not act like a lady should,” Tariq added.

  “I am good at my job and that's all you should be concerned about,” Sara shot back.

  “For England, perhaps. But this is Saudi Arabia and you work for the Botros.”

  “Because you're so freaking special,” Sara mumbled under her breath as she headed for the door. If she stayed in there any longer, she would say things that she would regret. She liked Amir and respected him enough not to disrespect his brother. She got the shock of her life when Tariq grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

  “What did you say?” he demanded. He had pulled her close to him and she was now standing inches from him. She was shocked at how he pulled her so easily as if she weighed nothing.

  “Being a little bit more polite and less judgemental to others will not harm you,” Sara said. She was not going to let him intimidate her; she was going to stand her ground. His gaze had grown darker and more intense. He stared at her and she stared back. She was not going to look away first.

  “You think you can speak to me any way you wish?”

  “Unhand me.”

  “If I don't?”

  Exactly, what will I do if he does not let go off me?

  “Try it and f
ind out.” An empty threat. There was nothing she could do. He called her bluff keeping his hand on her sending tingles up her arm. Instead, he pulled her even closer to him. Sara landed between his legs and her hands landed on his chest. His face was now inches away from his. Wow, he smells good, why is it she hadn’t noticed his cologne before? It was intoxicating on him.

  “Time to make good on your threat,” he said to her as he stared at her lips.

  “Please let go,” she whispered. She knew that she needed to get out of there. Something unexpected was happening and she wasn’t prepared.

  Tariq let go of her arm but Sara didn’t move. She felt paralysed. She so badly wanted to flee from the room but her legs failed her. Tariq wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Her whole body was now flush against his as both palms rested on his rock hard chest. Without waiting, he planted a kiss on her lips as her eyes widened in surprise.

  He gently kissed her and she did not stop him. Her mind went blank. She could not think about anything. As she gasped, he gently pushed his tongue into her mouth and deepened the kiss. Sara wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. His hands stroked her back. He broke the kiss. Sara was breathing hard and still had her eyes closed.

  “What are you doing?” she whispered.

  “What are you?” he asked the question back.

  He pressed a feather-light kiss on her neck, which sent ripples of sensation all over her body. She let out a soft moan as she shuddered against him. He continued to kiss her neck as Sara rubbed his back and dug her nails into his flesh.