Driven By Love (The Heirs 0f Orion Series Book 1)

by D. Anne Paris

  Missy smirked. “Not surprised at all, Soldier.”

  Dean looked at her perplexed. “Why's that?”

  “Well, Jeri told me she had a gift so I just assumed that you had something as well. These gifts seem to be genetic at least that's what we have seen.”

  A stern expression came over him. “We?”

  Missy looked over at Anne. “I guess you didn't tell him?”

  Anne shook her head. “I don't have the right to.”

  Missy looked back at Dean. “Before the accident I had the ability to convince people to do things.”

  “Do things?” Dean probed.

  “Yeah, like 'Buy this perfume.' and 'Everyone will think you look thinner wearing these jeans.' That's why my ads were always so successful.”

  “Wait a minute, you can do that subliminally?”

  Missy thought a moment and nodded. “Yeah, I guess. I think of the message, they take a picture and poof everyone who looks at the picture does exactly what I was thinking.”

  Dean shook his head. “I need to come up with a plan to protect you as well.”

  Anne walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder.

  “Dean, I think we need to have a family meeting.”

  She could tell he was already plotting a plan as he gazed at the red bouquet of mums on the other side of the room. There were so many questions floating in his mind that she knew he needed answers to and there was no reason not to trust him. He nodded, covered her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

  “You're right. Let's see if we can get everyone together in an hour.”

  Chapter 16

  “Here, let me help.” Dean told the scrawny teenage boy as he tried to carry the massive flower basket into Missy’s room. All that was missing was a potted tree and the hospital could rename the room the Missy Stevens Botanical Garden.

  “Who’s that one from?” her father asked in between sips of his coffee.

  Dean set it down on the floor next to another massive bouquet of pink roses. They finished moving a couple of other flower baskets just to make some room so everyone from both families could fit.

  After talking to Missy and having his suspicion of her gift confirmed, he knew he needed to create a security plan, but he had to know everything about both families, which is why he called a meeting. Everyone arrived on time but they still waited on Daniel, who was taking an emergency IT call from work in the hallway.

  Jeri walked over to the bouquet and pulled out the card.

  “ 'To Missy Stevens. We hope that your recovery will be quick. Signed Councilman Sanders and Edward Sanders.' ”

  Anne rolled her eyes. “They don’t quit.”

  “Oh, Anne. They are just being nice.” Her mother told her as she continued to crochet what looked like a baby blanket in her chair.

  Real subtle, Helen. Dean thought as he stood in front of Missy’s bed.

  Evan sat next to Helen and held on to Missy’s hand. Christina and Elle were sitting at the foot of Missy’s bed. Jeri leaned carefully against the closed window blinds and crossed her arms.

  “The hell they are.” Ken chimed from the other chair on the other side of the bed. “Old Sanders would marry you if I weren’t around just so he could use Missy and Anne’s star power.”

  Helen stopped and looked over at him. “You are one jealous old man.”

  He smiled. “And you are going to have to put up with me until I’m in the ground.”

  She beamed. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  The door opened and Daniel walked in and pressed a button on his phone. “Sorry about that. They can’t live without me over there.” With his athletic build, chiseled face and perfectly cut dark brown hair he looked more like a personal trainer then an IT guru. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it to prevent anyone else from entering.

  Dean walked to the center of the room, Anne by his side.

  “With everything that has happened to both Missy and Anne, I know all of you are on edge as much as I am. I checked as best as I could for bugs in this room so we could speak freely.”

  “There aren’t any.” George told him as he sat next to Ken. “I’d fry them if there were.”

  Dean nodded. “Well, that partially answers my question. Who else has gifts like Missy and Anne?”

  Everyone’s hand went up except for Helen.

  Dean’s eyebrows went up. Oh shit. This was bigger than he thought.

  “Wait.” Missy sat up a bit in her bed. “We can end this insanity very easily.”

  Dean crossed his arms. “How?”

  “Dad can just go back in time and tell you who the guy is that cut Evan’s brake lines and where he will be. You catch him and poof! No accident, and Psycho Bob is in jail.”

  That would be so easy, but then would he and Anne have gotten this close?

  “It can’t be done.” Ken muttered as he leaned over to Missy. “If I could do that, it would have happened a long time ago.”

  “Why can’t you, Dad?” Daniel asked confused.

  “Because I can only go back any time before I was born, not after.”

  Missy’s face turned as white as the bedsheets. “No.” Dean could see the hope just drain away.

  Ken took hold of her other hand. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

  Dean didn’t want to break up the family moment, but he didn’t want to waste the precious private time that they had.

  “Mr. Stevens, Mr. Tensel, do you have any idea how any of us got these gifts?”

  George shook his head. “No. I asked my Dad so many times about it but I got nothing out of him. He told me to just shut my trap and don’t tell anyone.”

  Ken nodded. “Same here. We both never knew our father’s parents. They told us they were orphans but we both didn’t believe it.”

  “I even tried that online family tree program.” George rubbed his right knee. “I got nothing from it.”

  Dean rubbed the bridge of his nose. “All right. Who else knows about your gifts that is outside of this room?”

  “My batty ex-wife.” George bellowed. “That witch probably has been telling anyone who will listen.”

  “Dad. No one believes her because she lies so much.” Christina spat out, anger laced through her voice.

  “Who else?”

  Daniel raised his hand. “My girlfriend. She swore to me that she would never tell anyone.”

  “Just don’t ever piss her off.” Christina said with a smile.

  “Stan Whitman also knows about us.” Ken looked at Dean. “He’s a good man and his word is golden.”

  Dean sighed. So there were three potential people who could have blurted out their secrets not to mention maybe more if anyone saw them use their gifts.

  “Here’s what we are going to do.” He began to outline a security plan that he hoped all of them would follow.

  *

  At the end of their meeting, there was a loud commotion outside the door. Daniel opened the door and Dean raced to the hall. A tear-stained blonde pleaded with the bodyguards.

  “Please, my daughter is very ill. She just wants to see her favorite superhero in person. I don’t know how long…”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. Miss Stevens can’t visit your daughter. She’s very busy…” One of the guards told her.

  “What’s going on?” Anne pushed through and walked into the hallway.

  Dean instantly blocked her with his body in case the woman had some sort of weapon. “Miss Stevens, you need to go back…”

  The woman reached out to Anne and sobbed. “Please, Miss Stevens… my daughter is dying and you are her favorite superhero. I will do anything if you could just see her, just for five minutes!”

  Dean blocked the woman and the other body guards began to try to restrain her.

  “Wait!” Anne told all of them as she tried to push them out of her way. “I want to talk to her.”

 
; Dean spun around and gave her a stern look. “That’s not a good idea.”

  “I know that you’re concerned with my safety, Dean, but if what she is saying is true, I want to see her daughter.”

  She looked past his shoulder and shouted to the woman. “Where is your daughter?”

  The woman’s face brightened. “Room 515.”

  Dean took hold of her arm and whispered, “It could be a trap, Anne. I’m going to go and see if her story checks out. If it does, then I will come and get you.”

  Anne looked at the woman. “Ms…?”

  “Johnston, Lindsey Johnston. My daughter’s name is Ashley.”

  “Ms. Johnston, can you please take Mr. Miller over to see your daughter?”

  Lindsey’s face paled. “You’re not coming?”

  Anne smiled. “I will. I’d just like to bring something to her so I need a minute.”

  “She may not have…”

  “Ms. Johnston, please, take me to see your daughter. I’ll come back for Miss Stevens very soon.” Dean interjected as he gently took hold of Lindsey’s arm and led her away from Anne and towards the elevators. “So how old is your daughter?”

  “She’s seven,” the distraught mother told him as they walked away.

  When she was back in Missy’s room, Anne looked around the onslaught of gifts and saw a mid-sized fuzzy brown teddy bear with a big red bow.

  “Missy, do you mind?” She motioned towards the bear.

  “Take him. I’m sure that he’ll make that little girl very happy.” She motioned to the flowers. “Take some bouquets with you, too. I’m starting to feel like I’m in a funeral parlor.”

  Anne grabbed the bear and took the biggest bouquet in the room. With such short notice, this would have to do. She whipped her phone out of her purse, called Cindy and told her to order a huge bouquet of flowers and a basket of stuffed animals to Ashley to be delivered first thing tomorrow morning.

  As she shut off her phone, she felt like for the first time in months she was going to make a difference in someone’s life. There was a knock at the door, and Dean walked in with a grim look on his face.

  “She’s not lying. I checked with the doctor and nurses and they all confirmed this little girl is really sick.”

  “Then I have to see her,” Anne told him as she grabbed the bear and flowers.

  *

  Dean watched Anne dote on the little girl and felt his heart swell. There was no diva in that hospital room as she talked to the girl about her adventures as a superhero. She took hold of the little girl’s hand as she asked her what her favorite subject was in school and what her hobbies were. Five minutes turned into thirty-five before Ashley began to nod off to sleep. Anne held her hand close to her heart until she knew she was fast asleep.

  Dean could see she had a natural motherly instinct and would be great with her own children someday.

  As she stood to leave, Lindsey thanked her and wept as Anne hugged her goodbye. There were no words that she could give the grieving mother that could ease her sorrow. When they finally released each other, Anne wiped away the tears that formed in her eyes and was about to give Lindsey her cell phone number when Dean stepped in with a piece of paper.

  “Here is my cell phone number. Call us if you need anything.”

  Lindsey wiped away the tears and thanked them both a million times before Dean led Anne away.

  Chapter 17

  “I told you we would lose the paparazzi,” Anne whispered as they walked down the pier to Dean’s boat. After they left the hospital, Anne convinced him that she needed to drive Hawk to help her and him heal fast. They were able to walk out the back dock and get into Hawk before a small group of reporters saw them speeding out of the parking lot and started to pursue them.

  Anne laughed them off and muttered, “This country girl knows all the back roads!” She proceeded to drive down paved roads and then dirt roads that Dean swore led to nowhere, but somehow she got them to shake off the tail of reporters. They dropped Hawk at the parking lot of a local park and walked over to the pier where Dean’s boat was docked. They both agreed that his boat was the safest place for them to go until the media circus went away.

  As they walked towards the pier he leaned in against her. He tightened his hold on her and continued to scan the area around them to make sure there was no one following them. Fortunately, there was no one and they got to his boat safely.

  Dean was not taking any chances. He went inside the boat first and investigated every single part of it to make sure no one was lurking on-board waiting for them to arrive. When he found everything in order, he brought Anne down and locked the door to the deck above. He grabbed her jacket off of her and placed it on the chair, then walked over to placed his jacket on the other chair. As he sat down Dean rubbed his neck to ease the tension from it. Anne walked up behind him and began to massage it. Her hands worked wonders for him, and the knots began to slowly fade away. When the last of the knots vanished, he faced her and cradled her face in his hands.

  “What you did today for that little girl was wonderful, Anne.”

  Tears started to form in her eyes. “I just want to make a difference. If this is her last night on earth, I want to know that I made it happy for her.”

  Dean took hold of her face and gently kissed her as she sat down and straddled him. “You make many people happy.”

  Her arms wrapped around his neck and she kissed him back. When she finally released him she whispered, “Do I make you happy, Dean?”

  A low growl erupted from deep inside him. “Yes, immensely.”

  Her smiled was covered by his lips again as he resumed to kiss and taste her. She drank in her fill of his passion as she clawed at his back. The action inflamed him, and his lips traced a path down her throat to stop and nibble on her tender skin that made her moan.

  He released her for a second to take off her shirt and expose her breasts which were captured by the lace bra that she wore. His fingers tore away the sensual material and let her breasts free for him to worship.

  Anne leaned back as Dean's tongue slid slowly down her throat and rested right above her breast. He stopped there and began to kiss it, suck it, and then slowly move to the next breast. Anne’s heightened breathing excited him and he continued the slow, tantalizing torture.

  He stopped a moment and set her on top of the table, facing him. The darkness in her eyes caused his heightened arousal as his cock pressed against his now very tight jeans. He took hold of her breasts in his hands and continued to gently worshiped them with his tongue.

  “You are so perfect,” he murmured, as his tongue twirled and gently bit her nipple which caused her to push her breasts against his mouth.

  “Oh, yes, Dean!”

  As he released one nipple he captured her mouth, and his tongue plunged into her and claimed her. Her sweet moans and the movement of her body against him was an aphrodisiac that made him not able to think clearly. Taking hold of her, he gently nudged her down on the table and his tongue traced from one breast then the other until finally it stopped above her jeans. Slowly, he unbuttoned the jeans and slowly moved the zipper down as his tongue continued to follow the path of his fingers. As he pushed the jeans and panties down, Dean smiled as he found her aroused lips completely wet and ready for him. His tongue dipped down and licked gently on the outside lips and he heard Anne moan as her desire grew.

  “Dean, please…”

  As he blew gently at the exposed lips he felt her body quiver. “You’re so wet.”

  “Yes, I need you.”

  “You’ll have me, Anne. Any way you want.” His lips dipped into her moist channel and then licked her swollen bud which caused her to scream and grab his head and lock him against her clit.

  A load moan erupted from Dean as he continued his slow sensual exploration of her clit until he felt she needed the release. He plunged two fingers into her while his tongue licked and sucked on her clit
, and her body started to grind against his face. A moment later, she screamed his name as her body clutched his fingers, and her world just shattered around him.

  With one final kiss, he looked up at her and saw the big smile on her face.

  “Your turn.” she told him as she shimmied her jeans the rest of the way off, then swiftly stood in front of him and removed his shirt. Her fingers traveled down to his jeans, and she could feel the throb of his cock as she unzipped his pants and pushed them down with his boxers.

  She grabbed his cock in her hand and looked into his eyes. “You really have the biggest cock I’ve ever seen.” She leaned in and kissed his lips, then whispered in his ear, “I want it so badly inside of me.”

  Dean grabbed on to the table tighter as her words sunk into him. A sinister smirk appeared on his handsome face as he kissed her again. “I can’t keep you waiting, honey. Why don’t you just lie down and let me make sure you are completely satisfied?”

  Anne smiled and laid back on the table as Dean grabbed her legs and held them up as he inched his cock closer to her wet pussy. She grabbed hold of it gently pushed it in as she moaned, “Like that.”

  He pushed himself deeper and deeper inside until he was fully inside of her. He waited a moment to enjoy the sensation and then started to slowly thrust in and out. After a couple thrusts, his thumb started to rub her clit, and Anne started to writhe with pleasure. He kept up the pace as he rubbed and thrust in perfect rhythm until he felt her clutch his cock tight, and he pounded her again until his seed spilled deep inside her.

  Her legs wrapped around his waist and he leaned down and covered her body with his. “You are amazing, Anne. Don’t ever let anyone tell you differently.”

  He could see tears form in her eyes and kissed her swollen lips. “I want to keep you safe, Anne. I want to tag you.”

  *

  Anne's heart did a little spin as her hand gently caressed Dean's face. That meant he’d know where she was – at all times. Suddenly, she wanted that. She wanted him to mark her, to make her his forever.

  “Yes, Dean. Do it.”

  His lips captured hers again and their kiss intensified as their tongues danced together. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the table, then strode into the bedroom and placed her on the bed.