by Mia Luxe
“I’m not wrong, Emily. I promise you, everything is going to be alright.”
“Tanner, that’s not good enough.”
He takes my chin in his hand, gently cupping it. I look into his certain eyes.
“I can always find work. With my history and experience, I’ll never lack for a high-paying job. You’ll always be provided for.”
“That’s not… That’s not what I meant. I don’t want to be the reason you lost everything. I don’t want to be the reason your life isn’t all that it can be.”
He kisses me deeply, saying more in that one kiss than in a thousand words. Then he breaks it off, and I’m left breathless.
“Emily, if I lost everything, it wouldn’t matter – not as long as I have you. Now let’s enjoy this vacation as much as we can. There’s nothing we can do but wait.”
He kisses me again, and somehow – through all the stress and pain – I finally believe that everything is going to be alright.
Tanner squeezes my bum as he kisses me, igniting my desire. He takes me onto the huge bed. While the city twinkles behind us, Tanner Strom pulls my clothes off, kissing me delicately from my neck, down to my stomach, until he reaches my wetness. His tongue works magically, exploring me, then settling on my clit and licking faster and faster until I cum hard.
He mounts me, my pussy so wet from my own juices and his saliva that his enormous cock powers into me in one strong thrust. He fucks me dominatingly – possessively – with hard strokes that make my whole body shake and my tits bounce up and down. I can only gasp as he fucks me hard, and no matter how badly I want his cum in me, I want something else this time.
“Oh, Tanner, cum on my tits,” I moan, as his fucking becomes furious and I know he’s close.
He pulls out and shoots a huge, sticky string of cum that splashes across my face and neck. The next one covers my tits, then he slams his cock back into my pussy and deposits the rest of his huge load deep inside of me. He owns me, and he cums wherever he chooses.
20
Emily Jones
“How can you be so relaxed?”
Tanner grins.
“We’re in London. There’s nothing we can do to make the process go any faster. I’m going to enjoy every second with you that I can.”
We walked the city today, exploring all the sights of London and marvelling at Big Ben. It was under renovation, but you can still see the huge minute hand moving. I couldn’t help but shake my head at the London skyline. There are modern buildings that have shot up, including the Shard, a spire that looks like it belongs to an evil sorcerer. I much prefer the traditional West End, with the palaces and noble estates.
My feet are tired after walking non-stop for hours, but Tanner shows no sign of flagging. “Can we do something that I want to do?”
“Oh, you didn’t enjoy the sights?”
“I did, but I’d like to have some tea!”
He laughs. “High Tea it is.”
We take a black cab to the Orangery Restaurant by Kensington Palace. The London cab is so unlike the taxis back home. The driver obviously cares about his job. We’re admitted to the restaurant by a man in a black suit, and soon we’re served a tower of treats and tea.
“If my old squad mates could me having High Tea, I’d never hear the end of it,” Tanner says, holding up a comically-small sandwich in his huge hand and eating it in one bite.
I laugh. “Well, you’re doing it for me. God, these scones are amazing.”
I take a sip of tea when my stomach roils.
“I don’t feel so good.” I rush to the bathroom and barely make it to the toilet before I’m sick.
I wash my face off and walk back to the table.
“I think this tea made me sick.”
Tanner gives me one appraising look, then pulls me up, leaving bills on the table.
“Where… Where are we going?”
“Pharmacy,” he says. We walk to the pharmacy and I’m shocked when he buys a pregnancy test. We take a cab back to the hotel.
“You’re not serious, right?”
“Are you on the pill?”
“No… Oh. Shit. I was a virgin for so long, and with all that’s happened, I just wasn’t thinking…”
I close the bathroom door behind me and breathe in and out quickly. It takes me twenty seconds before I’m able to get anything to come out of my suddenly shy bladder.
I hold the pregnancy test up.
Positive.
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
Suddenly everything fades. My problems with Mike Fuller. My dad, who’s furious at me. Tanner Strom, losing his academy.
Nothing matters.
I am carrying his child.
Emotion surges through me. I always wondered if Tanner thought I was immature. Now he’ll have no doubt in his mind. I got pregnant.
I stand up on shaky feet, leaving the bathroom. Tanner looks at me with intense eyes.
“Tanner, please don’t get mad.”
He looks at the result and hugs me.
“Why would I ever get mad? This is the best news I’ve ever had. We’re going to start a family together, Emily!”
My stomach does flips. I can’t believe this.
Tanner smiles.
“I was planning on doing this tonight in my favorite restaurant in London, but I’m not going to waste a second. I’m not going to leave you feel uncertain for another moment. I need you to know for certain that everything is going to be fine.”
I furrow my brows in confusion, unsure what he’s talking about. Tanner opens the top drawer of the dresser, reaches in, and grabs something that glimmers in the light. My jaw drops as he turns and gets down on his knee. He’s so tall and powerful that I’m still barely taller than him even as he looks up at me, holding out a ring.
“Emily, you’re it. You’re the person I thought no longer existed. You’re everything I crave in a woman, and I know you’re going to be a loving, kind mother. Will you marry me?”
I can’t speak. My heart pounds as I look down at him, and despite the seconds ticking by, he still has the calm, confident look that speaks volumes. The ring glitters – a large, flawless diamond set. For a second, the thought crosses my mind that he’s only marrying me because I’m pregnant. Then I realize.
He was planning to do this all along.
“Yes! Yes, yes!” I finally say, tears streaming down my eyes. He stands, putting the ring on my finger, and then his lips meet mine, kissing me softly with a barely-restrained hunger. I wrap my arms around his granite-hard body, and he lifts me into the air, kissing me deeply.
We pull our clothes off in a hungry frenzy, throwing them across the room. He mounts me, naked and powerful, and I roll my eyes back as he thrusts his cock into me with one hard movement. He knows my body better than I do and I moan out in pleasure.
“You’re going to be the mother of my children,” he growls in my ear, and for the first time I hear wonder in his voice.
His hands grab my breasts, fucking me firmly and possessively. I’ve never been more his. He takes me hard on the bed, my ring glittering in the light, until I cum hard. Then we lie there, our bodies sweaty and spent.
Our bodies are sweaty and intertwined, and I never want it to end.
The phone rings. Tanner groans and holds it up.
“This is the worst timing, but it’s Hawk.”
“Answer it! Answer it!”
Tanner picks up and a huge smile breaks out on his face. He opens his laptop and clicks on the attachment that Hawk sent.
There’s over three pages of documents. He hangs up.
“What is it?”
He grins. “Proof. Everything we need to take down the Fullers. They’ve been using offshore accounts to launder hundreds of millions of dollars of illegal money.”
I gasp.
“But… Is your academy going to be alright?”
He smiles. “I have a plan for that too. We’re getting the next flight back home.”
21
Tanner Strom
I pull up to the Fuller residence and look into the camera.
“You again. Haven’t you had enough?”
“You’re going to want to let me in,” I say, and the conviction in my tone causes them to open the gates. I drive up and get to the front door. The silver-haired father, Thomas Fuller, opens the door again.
“Now tell me: Why should I let you into my house?”
“A7803BGH.”
I list off the string of numbers and letters of one of their Panama accounts. Thomas Fuller’s face goes pale.
“I know twenty others, I just don’t have them memorized.”
“Who the fuck told you that account number?”
“You’ve got plenty of loose ends. Did you really think you could launder half a billion dollars and never get found out? I’m coming in.”
I enter the house. Samantha is standing in the entrance hallway, her face as red as her hair. I brush past them and sit down at the dining room table.
“Sit down,” I order, and they sit down, mute.
“Now this is how it’s going to go. My academy is going to be bleeding money when people find out I had a run in with the law. You’re going to buy it. For twelve million. I paid ten for the land, but this is a convenience fee.”
Thomas Fuller furrows his brows. “You want us to buy and run your academy?”
“No, you’ll hire my second-in-command to run it. Kevin is a good man and he’ll be able to weather the storm. I’m not leaving anyone hanging in the wind.”
“And if we do this, you’ll… Forget about the accounts?”
I laugh. “Oh, you fools. How can you protect a monster like your son?”
“What are you talking about! Our son’s an angel!”
Samantha almost looks like she believes it.
“I know all about your son, and you do too. Don’t worry, I’m not recording this, and even if I was, it wouldn’t be admissible. I know you took advantage of the Jones family. You used your son’s assault to further your own business. In addition to buying my academy and putting my second-in-command back in charge, you’re going to pay the Jones family a massive settlement. 25 million. That’s the value that you stole from them, plus healthy interest.”
Thomas shakes his head. “Woah, woah. You can’t just pay a settlement for no reason.”
I smile. “You’re the expert in laundering money. Hire his company as a consultancy doing research for 2.5 million a year. In ten years this will all be behind you. Something like that. I’m not interested in publicly disgracing you. I just need you to make things right. Know this: If your dirt ever spills on the Jones, I have connections. You’ll disappear. Just like that.”
I snap my fingers.
Thomas appraises me. He’s a businessman and he doesn’t want to give up this easily.
He sees the truth in my eyes. He knows I could have him killed in a second. The only thing stopping me is my love for Emily.
Thomas puts his hands up, swallowing hard. The fight is gone from his eyes. “Alright. I’ll find out a way to repay them. Just don’t hurt me. It was only business.”
Only business.
I nod. “Good. Then we have one last business deal to do. You’ll appoint my second-in-command to run the place. I know he’ll keep my legacy going. Your family doesn’t make decisions in my academy. Because you aren’t buying my academy. You’re going to buy 49% in non-voting shares. Enough to distance it from this scandal, but not enough to have any say in the future of it. It could take decades to rebuild from the damage, but you’re going to fight it out.”
Thomas is white as a sheet. He knows he’s losing money on the deal, but it’s nothing compared to spending years in prison for money laundering.
“Is that all?”
I don’t let myself smile, though I’ve won.
“Not quite. There’s one last thing. You’re going to get your son help. Professional help. I know a good psychiatrist. He can be fixed. No one is beyond redemption.”
“You can’t tell me how to be a father, dammit!”
I stare him down, and he breaks eye contact.
I turn and leave, knowing I’ve won.
22
Emily Jones
I can barely handle the suspense. I wanted to go with Tanner, but he told me that he had to settle things himself. I’m sitting at the dining room table, looking longingly at the full bar. I doubt I’d like the taste of whiskey, but I could use anything to dull the nervousness that I’m feeling.
The key turns in the lock and I jump up. The door opens, and the unmistakable look of victory in Tanner’s eyes fills me with joy.
“You did it!”
He grins. “It’s over.”
I smile. “So… You’ll be able to run the academy?”
He shakes his head slowly. “No. That’s a bridge I burned the first second I fell for you.”
Guilt fills me, and Tanner wraps me up in his arms, holding me tight. He breaks off the hug, and the smile he has on his face is unlike anything I’d expected. I thought he’d be feeling resentment towards me for being the reason he had to give up his dream.
“So, what happens to the academy?”
He sighs. “It’s going to be a hard road for the new Headmaster, Kevin. We go back a long way, and I know he’s up for the task, but it’ll be hard work for him. But that’s alright. I know the Academy is in good hands. And now I can focus on what’s truly important.”
I grin. “What’s that?”
“Our wedding, and planning for our child.”
He rubs his hand over my chest, shaking his head in wonder. “Emily, I never thought I’d get everything I wanted. But you’re it.”
I breathe in and out, feeling a little dizzy. “I feel the same way, Tanner.”
He gently strokes my face. “There’s the two-week break at the academy in a month. It’s going to be empty. I know it’s fast, but I don’t want to waste another second before we’re wed. Can you plan a wedding in a month?”
My eyes go wide, but I don’t want to wait either. “I can. I will.”
“Good. Now I’m going to take you to bed, my fiancée.”
I giggle as he swoops me up in his huge arms.
23
Emily Jones
My father shakes his head slowly, a look of wonder on his face.
“My little girl. All grown up. All fathers hope this moment will come, and though it took me a long time to come to terms with it, you couldn’t be marrying a better man.”
“You look beautiful, honey,” says my mother, tearing up.
We’re in a beautiful cottage at the former Strom academy. It may have changed names to the Coldview Mountain Academy, but Tanner tells me everything is running smoothly under his second-in-command. During the annual two-week break, during which there are no students at the academy, Tanner turned the place into our wedding venue.
We’re gathered at the pristine lake I first saw in my grueling run. The water is as clean and pure as the wedding dress. I know some women spend a month before their wedding dieting and starving themselves, but for the first time in my life I no longer feel self-conscious about my curves. Tanner Strom has made it amply clear that he enjoys the feel of my soft flesh against his rock-hard body.
My tiny six-year-old cousin is the flower girl. Blonde-haired and a little shy, my heart fills as I look at her and then imagine having a little girl of my own. My cousin lines the aisle with white rose petals as the music starts. When I see Tanner standing strong and powerful in his fitted suit a certainty fills me. I touch my stomach, and I know that the little life growing inside of me is going to grow up to be a big, strong man just like his father.
My own dad smiles, meeting my eyes, and I see no disappointment in them as he takes my arm and leads me up the aisle. I feel faint, nervous as the rows of people watch me. They’re all standing at attention.
Tanner’s eyes never leave me as I walk up the aisle. I see pride in them.
Love, and, as always, the desire that burns in the back of his vision whenever he sets his eyes on me. I never thought that anyone would look at me that way. I never thought anyone could burn for me like Tanner does.
My father and I stand in front of Tanner, and my dad looks at me with a sad, knowing smile.
“I love you Emily. I’m sorry if I ever failed you, and I’m so happy in this moment to see my little girl in love.”
“Thank you, Daddy,” I respond, feeling his familial love and knowing that all his resentment at having his former best friend snatch up his daughter is gone. He reaches out, tapping Tanner on his broad shoulder and nodding wordlessly. For an instant Tanner breaks his eyes from me, nodding silently at my dad.
Then my father leaves and the world drops away. The crowd blurs. Tanner’s old squad mates in their uniforms seem to drop out of my vision. All the eyes looking up at me simply fade into the background of my new reality. I barely make out even Claudia’s huge grin. Ever since we made it public that Tanner and I were together, she’s become my best friend.
The minister, my childhood pastor, turns to the crowd. “You may now be seated,” he says, and everyone finds their places.
I’m about to become Mrs. Strom. This is really happening. I’m really going to be his.
“We are gathered here this evening to bear witness to this man and woman joining together in holy matrimony. We will now read the vows.”
Tanner faces me. His eyes are only for me.
“I, Tanner Strom, take thee, Emily Jones, to be my wedded wife. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. To love and to cherish, to support and protect, till death us do part.”
I have to stop myself from hyperventilation. All my life I’ve wondered about this very moment. How it would feel – if there’d be any regrets. With each word that Tanner says, my love increases, and I tremble as I open my mouth to speak.