A Sugar Daddy’s Secret

by Kathleen Hill

  “Lyra will be disappointed,” he said as he helped Linnea roll up the ancient scrolls. “She wanted me to rescue you if I saw that you were miserable. Why, you’re practically glowing.”

  Once more Linnea smiled at her fortune. It was like she didn’t know who she was until she was faced with the fate that was given to her. Now she was thriving.

  ***

  It was all too soon when Cavan and the people who had accompanied him headed back to Laurelasa. Linnea was sad to see him go. As much as was starting to love her new home, Cavan made her feel a bit homesick.

  “You will still write me, won’t you?” she asked as she went to see them off, Carter and Brendan not far behind.

  “I promise. I’ll make Mother, Father and Lyra do it too. You’ll never feel lonely because you will always be writing us.” He embraced his sister before he kissed the top of her head. “Get your northern husbands to take you south to visit your home land and their new subjects.” He said it in a joking tone, but Linnea could see in Cavan’s eyes that he didn’t want to this strange arrangement to have been in vain. He didn’t want the world that they lived in to be full of blood and suffering. One day he would rule his part of the world just like one day she would be queen of the Family Hawke.

  “I promise.” She assured.

  Linnea watched her brother and his people disembark and she watched them turn into tiny specks that were too small to make out before she decided to go back inside Hawkes’ Nest. Carter headed off toward the training chambers but Brendan stopped her, talking her hand in his.

  “Do you miss your home, my sweet princess?”

  “I find that I do not miss Laurelasa as much as I miss my family.” Linnea tried to smile at him but it was hard. She was truly happy here, but it was never easy to be away from them; she used to miss her father when he traveled without her.

  Brendan squeezed her hand tightly. “You will be seeing all of them soon. I’m sure that my father will want to visit his new conquest and I would like to learn more about you.” He leaned in and kissed her.

  It was moments like these that Linnea knew that she would eventually fall in love with the crown prince too. The princes were so different and yet she knew there was no way that she could only chose one of them. The thought was too much to bear. She followed Brendan toward his chambers, ready to have the comfortable feeling come over her once more. The way the brothers touched her made her forget about Laurelasa or if she was ever lonely in the first place.

  Chapter 7

  Six Months Later

  Linnea walked excited down the corridor of Hawkes’ Nest. She nearly tripped over the hem of her dress since she walked with such purpose. Not wanting to fall, she took the long train of the dress in her hands so she could walk faster.

  She found Brendan in the library, studying maps of the Family Hawke’s ever-growing empire. Every day that passed was one day closer to when he would inherit it. When he noticed her standing there, he stopped what he was doing and searched her face to see if she brought good news or bad.

  “I hope I haven’t interrupted you.”

  Brendan shook his head. “I was just trying busy myself. I knew you were seeing the doctor.”

  For the past few weeks Linnea had felt ill and when she wasn’t sleeping in her bedroom, she was vomiting everything that she tried to eat. Both princes had begged her to see the doctor and she finally agreed. The doctor had given her peace of mind, in fact, his prognosis had been the reason why she had a spring in her step.

  “Are you alright?” he pressed again.

  “I’m fantastic.” She grinned at him. “I’m not dying. I’m just pregnant.”

  When this strange arrangement started, she knew that she was going to be used to bring heirs to the dynasty. She hadn’t planned on enjoying sex so much. Linnea guessed she shouldn’t have been so surprised that they’d finally conceived. It was very rare that she did not spend the night in one of the prince’s bed. This was the longest time she’d slept in her own chamber since she arrived at her new home.

  Brendan closed the space between them and held her tightly. “This is incredible news. The Hawke dynasty will live on for another generation.” Brendan was more invested in the ancient tests of his ancestors than his younger brother and began to go on about how the higher power had a plan for everything and Linnea listened to him happily. It hadn’t take her long to be won over by the crown prince’s charm. She knew that he loved her wholeheartedly.

  Eventually, she left Brendan because there was one other person who needed to hear the news. She searched high and low for Carter before she finally resorted to walking around the top of castle where night kept their watch in the cold. Carter was standing on top of one of the towers looking apprehensive.

  “Carter?” she called to him.

  He looked surprised to see her. “Linnea what are you doing out of bed? It’s too cold for you to be out here.”

  He dashed over to her and guided her into the closest doorway and Linnea found herself both shocked and amused over his behavior. She knew that he lusted over her and in his strange sort of way loved her dearly, but she’d never seen him so worrisome or protective. She tried to hide her smile as she admitted that she liked it.

  “I went to the doctor,” she explained. “I wanted to find you and let you know before you heard it from someone else.” Carter looked like he knew what she was going to say, but waited for her to say it anyway. “I’m pregnant. The doctor thinks that’s why I’ve been so tired and sick to my stomach.”

  Carter’s face fell. “Oh…”

  Linnea knew why he looked like this. He was reminded of his mother. She was once shared by two brothers but eventually she picked only one. Even if he was the one to impregnate her, the child would be Brendan’s son or daughter by default. The tragedy of being the second born.

  “It will not change anything,” Linnea assured. “I still want to be with you just as I am with him. He’s not king yet and even when he is, who says that I have to only be with one of you?”

  Carter still looked disappointed. “Won’t it confuse your children?”

  Linnea studied him not sure of how to answer. “I’m still learning your customs. How did you learn about this?”

  “The day the hawk was placed on my arm, I was considered a man. I learned the truth of our kind. The rest was kept hidden or made to make a naive child forget.” Linnea could tell that he questioned the past more than his older brother did and that sometimes he wished things were more traditional.

  “Then we will do just the same.” she assured. “I will not give you up.”

  Carter pulled her close to him and after he kissed her intensely like he always did, he held her at arm's length and looked at her like he didn’t deserve her. “I love you, Linnea.”

  “I love you too,” she replied. “And I promise that I always will.”

  ***

  Linnea gave birth to a son nine months later and she learned to love yet another prince. This was in an entirely different way. Linnea never thought her life would turn out like this nearly a year ago when her father suggested that they meet the Family Hawke in ‘no man’s land’. The child had Family Hawke features, but his hair was red like his mother’s. She had managed to leave a lasting imprint on their clan as the child share her genes.

  Linnea ended up having three more children, all who were raised as the sons and daughters of Brendan. But she never knew for sure if he was the one to truly sire them all. She had kept her promise to Carter that she would not give him up and for most of her life as princess and eventually queen she still made love to him whenever she could.

  The abandoned chamber with the large bed was seldom used, but once every so often, maybe on a night they’d had too much to drink, or during a time when they felt it was time to try for another child, the three would return, giving into pleasure and fulfilling the wishes of their god.

  The Family Hawke fulfilled what was prophesied in the ancient texts and contin
ue to ascend to greatness. Their empire was colossal, and their subjects were too many to count. Linnea couldn’t believe that she had once been a nineteen-year-old girl who knew nothing of the world. Now she and her family were limitless.

  THE END

  Bonus 18 of 20

  Finding Him

  Description

  Kayley is a nurse at a military hospital. While she is happy, she always feels like something was missing. Given the strenuous nature of her job, it is often hard to get out, let alone not see death. When she’s tasked to take care of a new patient, she finds out that it’s not only her best friend from high school, but also her new stepbrother.

  Kayley is shocked, but what shocks her even more is how nothing has changed. They love each other still, and the need for each other is obvious. However, Kayley is scared of letting him in because she knows it could spell trouble. But when she does, she realizes what she’s missing.

  Kayley wants to stay with him, to be with the man she’s loved, but of course, that would mean leaving the hospital. Could she do it? Could she find a better place that allows her to stay with the one person she cares about more than anything else?

  Chapter 1

  “Nurse, we have another patient,” a voice over the intercom said.

  “Oh Christ, not another one,” Kayley said. She immediately gathered her kit, heading over to the wing of the makeshift hospital. Being a nurse in one of the largest military hospitals was never easy. Although she was still pretty young, at about 28 years old, seeing all of the bloodshed that she did took a lot out of her. Sometimes, the memories would make her stay awake late at night, causing her to not sleep well at all and come in ragged the next day. She would love to transfer, but the job is so good and pays so well that she doesn’t have a reason to, at least not yet. She hoped there would eventually be a way out of this especially since she hated seeing guys with half blown-off heads come in.

  This hospital had received some of the worst cases. These were the men that were either critically injured, or who had no hopes of fighting once again. She’d seen men with no arms, legs, sometimes blind, and sometimes they had to perform skin grafts just to keep them alive. It scared her every time she thought about this, knowing that they might never be able to have a normal life again.

  She wondered who this patient might be. Would it be someone who had seen a whole boatload of combat, only to be hit by a luckless bullet? Or would it be someone that managed to step on a mine, getting injured in the process? Most of the time, that was the type of wounds that she saw, but when she got to the door, she read the status of the patient.

  This one fell, breaking his leg in multiple places, and even managed to bruise a few ribs. Jesus. What the hell happened? She began to wonder, but that’s when she saw the name.

  “Norman Thompson,” she said to herself. Where the hell was that name from? Why was it so familiar? She began to think about it, for she knew that she may have seen him somewhere before.

  That’s right. This was a guy that she knew in high school. She remembered him. She was best friends with the guy for the longest time. She remembered that her mother married a man with the last name of Thompson recently, and she began to wonder about that.

  “Oh my gosh,” she said. She started to realize that she’d be taking care of him. She didn’t want to screw this up, that’s for sure. She remembered Norman, and how nice of a man he was. She remembered how strong, caring, and even how romantic he was. The two of them did have a small fling back in high school, but it was nothing more than a few kisses and a blowjob here and there. The two of them were close friends, but she began to wonder how this closeness would start to translate as she got to him. She knew that as a nurse, she would need to keep an air of professionalism, but she wondered just how long she could keep this up.

  She opened the door, seeing him there and soon, she started to flush. Norman and she looked at each other for a long time, neither of them sure of what to say.

  “Kayley?” he said, thinking he was seeing things. He didn’t believe she was here. He knew that the girl wanted to go into nursing, but a nurse at a military hospital? He didn’t know if she could take it.

  “Hey there Norman. Been a while,” she said.

  “Oh it sure has. It’s great to see you again,” he said.

  He patted the area next to him, and when she looked at the other nurses, they backed away. They knew that Kayley knew this man, so they’d let her take care of him for the duration of his hospital stay.

  “Well, looks like you got yourself into some trouble,” she pointed out.

  “That’s putting it nicely. Accidentally fell off a cliff during a scuffle. Fucking hurt when I hit the ground. I’m surprised I didn’t die, let alone break my back. By the way, how bad is the damage? I would love to go back to the front lines again,” he said.

  She looked. This hospital was for the ones that wouldn’t be seeing action again. He probably wouldn’t be heading back.

  “I don’t know if you will get to go to the front lines again Norman. Usually, if someone comes in here, they’re here until they’re healed and then transferred to non-combat positions,” she said.

  The look on his face said it all. He felt dismayed.

  “Oh. This was the only thing I looked forward to. Guess it’s time to rethink my decisions in life,” he said.

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about that right away Norman. Truthfully, you’ll be here for a bit. The injuries are pretty bad, and they want to make sure that you’re able to handle surgery beforehand,” Kayley explained.

  Norman looked frustrated.

  “Guess my dad won’t be too happy,” he said.

  “What do you mean?” she asked. Why would he be upset?

  “Well, he married this new woman, and I mean, I didn’t get a chance to go to the wedding, but I promised I’d make him proud. Now look at me. I’m a mess. I’m in a goddamn hospital because of everything, and I feel like a failure,” he said.

  She pitied him. But there was something else on my mind that bothered her far more.

  “Wait a second… did you just say your father got remarried?” she asked him.

  “Yeah. To some woman named Sandra. Why?” he asked.

  She paused, looking at him with a glance. She thought her hunch was correct.

  “Sandra Keenly? That’s my mother,” she said.

  The sudden realization that they were not only good friends, but stepsiblings started to flood in, and soon, Kayley realized that while the feelings were there, it did manage to make everything far messier than she cared to believe.

  Chapter 2

  Kayley looked at him with a shocked expression.

  “Wow. Just wow,” I said.

  “Yeah. I never imagined that the girl I used to hang out with and had a huge crush on back in high school would turn out to be my stepsister. What a coincidence. I didn’t want to believe that this was actually real, until my father sent me pics of the wedding. Did you hear that they went to some island to get married, and they didn’t even really care that we weren’t there? Unless you went or something,” he said.

  “I didn’t. I couldn’t get the time off. When I told my mom, she didn’t seem to care. I guess she just thought that it would all be some sort of show, mostly because I never saw them except on special occasions and the like,” she replied. She did feel slightly hurt she wasn’t able to attend, but at the same time, it made her feel less attached to the marriage. Which made the feelings she had for Norman a bit easier on her.

  When she looked at Norman, in essence, nothing changed. He was still a handsome brunette man with piercing blue eyes, a toned and muscular body that only hardened with time. He was the same man as in high school. He always worked to impress his father, which was something Kayley admired all that time. It made sense that he’d be devastated hearing he might not see action ever again, but Kayley didn’t want him to despair. She wanted him to be happy.

  “Listen Norman. I may not b
e able to get you back to the front lines, but I’ll be here to help you. That’s my job now. I mean, even though we’re technically stepsiblings, you were my friend first and that second. That’s honestly how I’m going to treat the marriage my mother and your father are in. My mother stopped really caring what I did once I got a job. She doesn’t really like the military, but if needed, I can always leave,” she said.

  “That’s good. Yeah, it just sucks that my dad will probably give me shit for this. Oh well, you win some and you lose some,” he said.

  “Let’s talk about something else. How about how you’ve been since high school? I mean, I just went into nursing and the like,” I said.

  “I’ve been okay. Got an education after joining the military and serving for two years. After that, I felt like the military was my calling, so I went back in. I know I’m getting there, and I probably didn’t have much time left, but still sucks I’ll probably be transferred and shit. But, I’ve mostly been alone. Kind of felt lonely,” he said.

  She felt the same way. Kayley never had the time to date due to her job. Working as a nurse meant she had to be on call all the time, and if it was an emergency, she would have to drop everything. Most people weren’t too keen on hanging out, let alone dating her with that kind of schedule.

  “I feel you on that. Kind of been on the same boat. But, I’m sure we’ll keep each other company, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other sooner rather than later,” I told him.