by Nicole Snow
I try to follow his techno-babble hopelessly. Something about changing genes to boost the immune system so Zeno could be recognized, identified, and eradicated.
Mostly, I'm trying not to shake while I'm staring at the women in front of me, these strangers who have given me a hope I'd thought impossible.
“Okay. So, if I understand correctly, you're telling me it's cured? Without any nasty side effects?” My voice is just a whisper. I'm afraid, questioning my own senses. If I've misread something, or misunderstood, there's no recovering now.
“That's what the data indicates so far. While we haven't seen the long term ramifications of this treatment, Zeno is closely related to other diseases. So closely, we're confident there won't be any dire effects, as soon as the patient tests negative. Ladies, back me up, please?” He turns to the women. “How do you feel?”
Three faces light up at once. One woman, Maria, is so moved she can't speak. She covers her face, whispering something with a thick accent about how she can't believe she's going to have children again.
“I feel just fine, Mrs. Shaw. I just want to thank you.” Francesca stands up, walks around the table, and leans over, wrapping me in a big bear hug. “If it wasn't for you, for your husband's determination, we wouldn't be sitting here, alive and whole. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”
I squeeze her arms. My eyes drift to Hayden, who's watching me with a familiar glint in his eye. It's pride and love. I don't think his deep blue eyes ever looked more beautiful than when they're hitting full force.
“That goes both ways,” I say to the woman, smiling at my husband. “Thank you all for your bravery. If you hadn't taken the experimental stuff, then we wouldn't have anything to celebrate.”
I don't bother thanking my man out loud. That's coming later, tonight, after the reception.
I'm going to fall down and make love like I didn't think was possible. We might've just cured Zeno, but there's a few more decades before I'll get this baby fever out of my system.
“A toast to my bro, the new addition to the family, and throwing a party badass enough to drag me all the way to Chicago.” Luke's standing in his bombardier jacket, whiskey in his hand, clanging the glass with a spoon.
When he's finished, he knocks it back in one gulp. The only man I've seen drinking hard whiskey here. Mom has it too, of course, and I think she's the only one besides me without champagne. I think this non-alcoholic cider has its charm, or at least that's what I tell myself because I can't drink.
“That was beautiful, Luke. Thank you.” I smile, nod my thanks, and tuck myself into Hayden's shoulder, watching as my husband grins at his brother.
“Glad you could join us,” Hayden says, eyeing his brother as he plops down in his seat. “I know it takes a lot to get you out here in that plane, away from the pretty young thing I hear you're doing scenes with in the new erotic thriller. Tell me, Luke, what really happens after the cameras fade to black?”
His little brother freezes. I try not to giggle, wondering if I'm going to see the first Shaw man blush at this table.
“Damn, you two make a cute couple,” Grant says, cutting through the tension, smiling at us across the table. “I'll admit it. You're good for him, Penny, and pretty damn likable, too. I knew you were gold instead of copper or silver once Luke gave his approval.”
I roll my eyes, wondering how someone who's almost as big and successful as Hayden can be so lame with the name play. He pauses and laughs, slapping the table with his thick hands.
“Whatever, I'll keep it short and sweet. You two look good together, and I mean it. You did well for yourself, brother. Make sure you keep her. I'll be pissed if you don't.”
“How about a serious worry next time?” Hayden growls back, sliding his hand underneath the table, squeezing my thigh. “She's mine, Grant. Nothing in the universe will ever change it.”
He leans in and kisses me. Everyone starts banging their glasses, egging us on. I used to think these little rituals were stupid. But now, having the reception we missed when we were playing pretend, I've made peace.
“Another whiskey, Melody?” Hayden takes his lips off mine. He senses mom out of the corner of my eye, just like I do.
“Yeah, get that boy over here. Keep it coming, fast and strong,” she says, turning the rumpled table cloth over in her hand.
Wait, something isn't right. She never looks this conflicted when she's got booze in her hand. “Mom...are you...crying?”
“Nonsense,” she snaps, dabbing at her eyes one more time. “Just allergies. All this dust in these old mansions, you know.”
I smile because I don't believe a word she's saying. Besides being winter, it's been cleaned spotless.
We're using Hayden's ancestral mansion in the country one last time for this reception. Next month, it's going on the market, pristine, forever vacated by the bitch who tried to steal his estate.
“Oh, who am I kidding?” she says, getting a sharp look from me and Katie. “I wish your father could see you now. Maybe he can, smiling down on us, happy because you've got yourself a life with a good man.”
In all my years, she's rarely let her feelings show like this. I think I'm going to need another one of those sparkling cider drinks before I break down in tears, and I won't even care that it's non-alcoholic.
Hayden holds me tighter. Mom turns back to Katie and Will, chastising them over how they've got little Chris wearing black boots, instead of the new ones with the cartoon characters she got him for Christmas.
We're both still beaming with our eyes. Could anything get more perfect?
“Go ahead and let it out if you need to, love. I'm touched.” He leans into me, his voice low, where nobody else can hear. “Need you to get it out of your system for later. Just because we're going soft and sentimental doesn't mean I'm not going to fuck you through the wall tonight.”
I tense, closing my eyes, backing into him. His hands tease me with just the right pressure in his fingertips, letting his filthy words move through my brain, giving me a dozen erotic visions.
Okay, I was touched before. Now? I'm aching for more. All the sweetness and spice he brings, unraveled by the man who's made me the happiest woman in the world.
We make the rounds one more time over the next hour, after dinner is done, saying our goodbyes. Mom and Katie give me a rare hug, telling us to go have some fun. The last glimpse I have is Luke and Grant, smiling and waving, before we slide into the limo.
“Thanks for another great night,” I say, as soon as we're in the car.
“Little early for that, love. It's not over yet. We've got a long flight to Paris.”
I smile. Amazing there's still energy to get excited about the trip. If it was anybody except him, I'd be collapsed, asleep.
As long as I've got my husband, it seems like I'd better get used to the impossible.
“You like it?” He looks at me, his eyes full of love. We're sitting on the leather lounge in what seems like the main part of the plane.
“Hm, I don't know. Nothing to compare it to.” Of course, I'm in disbelief we're actually boarding a private plane bound for Paris. It's decked in so much gold and leather my eyes strain.
Hayden smiles. “You'll have plenty more transcontinental flights in the years to come. They might not all be as fancy as this one, I'm afraid. It's a loaner from a Saudi royal. Guy owed me a favor for his nephew getting into it once with my old man.”
“Wow, and here I thought you picked out the leopard skins yourself.” I gesture to the seats across from us, both covered in what looks like cheetah skin. I don't want to know if it's real.
We both laugh. “Killing rare animals isn't my thing, love. I think you know it.”
“Yeah, curing thousands of women is more up your alley. Always the righteous one,” I purr, rubbing my head against his chest. My eyes sink down to his crotch, following the obvious outline of his bulge.
“You love a hero, Penny. You're just shy about telling me how happy
you are he's in you face, and he'll be there every damned day of your life.” He smiles.
I can't argue. Even my sass stays in check.
I'm enthralled. My hands glide up his chest, around his neck, loving his warmth.
It's five minutes into takeoff, and our lips are locked together. Small miracle the crew isn't around to watch. He must pay them well to mind their own business.
It's getting hot and heavy awfully fast. I wouldn't have it any other way.
His hands slide down my body. Searching my curves, smoothing them, whispering a dozen things we'll be doing on our first trip to Europe. Nothing in his fingers involves the Eiffel Tower, or touring the Louvre.
“Ready for another first?” he asks, his breath falling hot, heavy, and seductive on my neck.
“What's that?” I whimper, moaning as he slides my nipple through his fingers, pinching it through the dress.
“We can't cross the Atlantic without you joining the mile high club. Come.” He takes my hand, and leads me to the back of the plane, where there's a door made from gold and sapphire.
I can't believe I'm on a plane anymore the second we step through it. It looks like a Sultan's bedroom, the overwhelming power of the richest men on earth crossed with modern luxury.
“Oh my God.” I close my eyes, swooning in his arms. “I think I'm going to need to lay down and rest.”
“You'll soak your sore muscles in the hot tub when we're done. There's one of those too.” He points to the bathroom, several paces behind the massive bed. A row of round window panes surrounds us, moonlight seeping through the glass at thirty thousand feet.
It's so bright and soft we barely need the lights. He taps the panel on the wall and keeps them low, before bringing his hands back to my body.
“Sore? I don't know. I'll need my legs for Paris. What were you thinking that would leave us sore, Hayds?”
I'm being obstinate as hell because he loves it. Hayden grips me tighter, moving his hands down my waist, stopping at my ass. He cups both cheeks through my dress, and clenches them tight, touching his forehead to mine.
“I think you're going to be leaking me all the way to Paris, mama. Also, I've had enough of that beautiful dress tonight. Let me help you out of it.”
It's not a request. I melt into his arms while he goes to work with the zipper, pulling my real wedding dress open, unveiling every inch of me. My cream colored lingerie peels away in his fingers. He rubs between my legs before he shoves my panties down, guiding me out of them.
“So fucking wet for me. I love it.”
When I'm naked in his arms, I reach for his tie, but he pushes my hand away. “On your knees, love. Get me naked from the ground up.”
I drop, never breaking eye contact, watching the spark rising in his ocean blues when I put my hand on the bulge in his trousers. My hands go to his zipper, tenderly undoing it. I reach inside, wrap my fist around his cock, and draw it out.
Tasting him for the first time always sends a shiver up my back. I'm getting better at this all the time, and I smile when he inhales harshly, closing his eyes while my tongue engulfs him.
He's taught me a lot about pleasing a man with my mouth. I've sucked Hayden many times, taken his come in my mouth plenty since he's gotten me pregnant, knowing he doesn't have to save every drop of his seed for my womb anymore.
Tonight, I feel like I'm working my husband's cock for the very first time.
Butterflies ripple in my stomach, inflaming lust and wonder, making me pinch my lips tighter around his length. My tongue sweeps under his tip, finds the spot I love to stroke the most, and I feel his body tense.
“Oh, fuck. There!”
I'm smiling, my mouth full of him. This is bliss. There's nothing I'll ever love more than making the man I love lose control.
His fist grips my hair. He guides my head along with his strokes, harder and deeper, drawing me halfway down his massive length, as much as I can take without choking.
“Don't. Fucking. Stop.” Each word comes out like a flash of lightning.
I work him faster, harder, taking his balls in my hand, squeezing until my skin feels the fire racing through him.
“Penny!” He roars my name about a second before he swells.
Then there's just a flurry of pumping, licking, and dense masculinity flooding my mouth. I swallow as much as I can and it still keeps coming, slipping out the corners of my lips, painting my cleavage.
It's raw.
It's real.
The first of many wedding presents I've promised myself I'll give him. I want to make him more madly in love with me than he was before this trip, before we made our families one, and embarked on what's become a honeymoon I never could've imagined.
Panting, he softens, pulling away. “You've gotten so good, love. I'm impressed.”
“Thanks to you,” I say, wiping my mouth.
He grips his cock in his hand, still half hard. “Get me out of this suit.”
I take my time and care undressing him. It's like I've never seen the wild canvass on his skin before, or that's how it feels. My pussy overheats the second I'm looking at the lion on his chest, huge and powerful.
He throws off his open shirt, the last thing obscuring his beautiful body, and then he crouches down, taking me in his arms. Hayden hoists me up, carrying me to the wall near the windows.
My back goes against it. It's padded leather. Cool, and soft as the night surrounding our jet. It's so quiet there's nothing except the white noise of the engines in the distance to deaden our breath, our heartbeats.
“One inch for every three thousand feet, love,” he growls, rubbing his swollen head against me, teasing my opening. “Still worried about being sore?”
“No! Hell no.” I grab his biceps, squeezing them as hard as I can, my eyes drilling into his. “Fuck me now, Hayden. Please.”
His lips crush down on mine at the same time he enters me, another growl boiling in his throat.
Growing up, mom always said please was the magic word. Tonight, I know it's true.
There's no denying it. I'm about to be fucked harder than I've ever had it at thirty thousand feet by a billionaire who's done more for me than anyone ever will.
And it's not just fucking anymore, whatever that is, every time I open my legs. I'm giving him my heart along with my flesh, my soul with my desire.
Our hips grind into each other while he pushes me to the wall and thrusts. We breathe as one. We fuck like we're meant to be forever, because damn it, we are.
That's never been more obvious than when I bury my face in his neck, dig my nails into his tattooed skin, and come with every muscle screaming.
He fucks me straight through it, just like he always does. I lose track of time in this ecstasy, giving it up for him again and again, before he pins me to the wall with a gentle hand against my throat, his frenzied blue gaze burning me alive.
“One more, love. Fucking come with me.”
So much for sore. I'm going to need a stretcher to get off this plane tomorrow, and I don't care.
My hips go insane. I throw myself into him, panting and grunting, taking his thrusts inside me with such need I'm sure the entire crew can hear our bodies slapping through the walls.
When his eyes pinch shut, and I'm going over the edge again, everything blurs in a hazy, sweet collision. Bliss comes down like an avalanche. I swear I hear a lion roar.
I come silently on this throbbing, jerking cock. Too enraptured in him to make more than the faintest whimper as every muscle in my body convulses, breaks, and renews itself in delicious fuckery.
“I love you, I love you, I love you, Hayden.” I'm chanting it while I'm coming down from the high an eternity later, him still inside me. My cheeks turn a shade of deeper red, suddenly self-conscious how crazy I become when we're in the moment.
“Say that a hundred more times, beautiful. I'll never, ever get tired of hearing it. Love you, Penny. Love you in Chicago or Paris or halfway to heaven. Love you becau
se you're my wife, babe, tonight and forever.” He cups my face, smothering me in a kiss that's even more passionate than the other hundred we had in the throes of our pleasure.
One day, I'm going to lose my mind to this intoxicating man, and I'm never getting it back.
That's okay.
Through love, through war, through baby fever and the decades to come as man and wife, I'm his bride. His, completely and irrevocably.
Truth be told, this stopped being pretend from our very first kiss. I can't believe we ever faked anything.
This here is love, deep and pure and simple. It's real, it's exquisite, and it's part of my soul.
Hope you've enjoyed Hayden and Penny's story! Read on for Prince With Benefits, an extra novel included in this special edition.
Prince With Benefits
A Billionaire Royal Romance
Content copyright © Nicole Snow. All rights reserved.
Published in the United States of America.
First published in July, 2016.
Disclaimer: The following ebook is a work of fiction. Any resemblance characters in this story may have to real people is only coincidental.
Please respect this author's hard work! No section of this book may be reproduced or copied without permission. Exception for brief quotations used in reviews or promotions. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Thanks!
Cover Design – Kevin McGrath – Kevin Does Art. Photo by Allan Spiers Photography.
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Description
HE BOUGHT A WIFE. I BOUGHT INTO MAKE BELIEVE...