“Misinformed?”
“The accident was not your fault. The accident was not Jordan’s fault. The person who hit you was a guy who was speeding and trying to get away from his girlfriend. The second person who hit you was the girlfriend.”
“How did I not know this?”
Piper tilted her head. “You knew she got sentenced with reckless driving, right?”
Nate nodded. “Yeah, I was kept updated about that. I knew she was charged and sentenced in court. But no one ever talked about the specifics of the case with me.”
“It’s probably because they already knew.”
“Although hearing the boyfriend died makes much more sense now. I always thought he was in the car with her.” He shook his head. “I feel so stupid.”
Piper grabbed his hand. “Hey, no, don’t feel stupid. You were in a major accident. You were injured. It’s not your fault that you don’t remember everything.”
“I feel like I’ve been in the dark for so long.” He looked at Piper. “What about Jordan? He had a few beers.”
She shook her head and smiled. “He was under the legal limit. He did nothing illegal. It was simply the wrong place, wrong time sort of thing.”
He squeezed her hand. “I’ll probably always feel a little responsible, you know.”
“I know, baby. But that’s why we need each other. To keep each other’s guilt at bay.”
“That, and because we love each other.”
“Definitely because we love each other.” She grinned. “So, does that mean I get the ring now?”
Nate laughed. “Nope. We have to wait for the next big party.”
Her mouth dropped open. “But we don’t have any parties.” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re just messing with me.”
“Of course I am.” Nate slid off his chair and got down on one knee. He grabbed the ring box and flipped it open to face her. “Piper Donovan Stevens, will you do me the honor of marrying me?”
She threw her arms around his neck. “Yes.”
Several Years Later
Piper stared at the stick in her hand and sighed. She looked up to the ceiling and said, “Okay, Jordan, you can stop sending signs. We get it already.”
She walked out of the master bathroom, paused to pick up baby Luka from his bassinet, and went into the kitchen.
Nate was leaning over with an elbow on the counter, trying to convince their one-and-a-half-year-old to eat her vegetables. “Come on, Soph. Please eat for Daddy.”
Sophia laughed and shook her head.
Nate glanced up at Piper and straightened. “What’s wrong?” He could read her face too well.
She was about to tell him when she heard what sounded like a cat dying from the living room. Not again.
She quickly gave Nate the baby and the stick and marched into the living room.
“Wyatt Jordan, how many times has Mommy told you not to climb on the kitty like that?” She leaned over and pried the three-year-old’s thirty-five-pound body off the cat. “Fred doesn’t like it when you smother him.”
“But, Mommy, I love the kitty cat.” Wyatt stuck out his lower lip.
“I know, honey. You just have to love the kitty gently.”
Fred walked behind Wyatt and gave Piper the stink eye.
Piper pointed a finger at him. “You’re the one who’s always begging for love. Don’t look at me because it’s not exactly what you wanted. Be careful what you wish for, Fred.”
Fred turned his back on her and walked out of the room, and Wyatt’s crystal-blue eyes lit up as he ran after the cat.
Whatever. Piper didn’t have the energy to chase after him.
She flopped back onto the carpet and closed her eyes. All she needed was five minutes.
“You’re pregnant again?”
She opened her lids to see Nate standing over her with Luka on one hip and the positive test in his other hand.
“Yep.”
“But-but-but I had a vasectomy.”
After their third baby, they’d decided someone needed to get fixed, and Nate had volunteered.
“Yeah, well, remember our date night?”
Nate grinned at the memory of the two of them having sex in the back of their minivan. They didn’t often get out of the house at the same time, and they’d gotten a little overly excited about being alone together.
Nate’s grin fell when he realized what the backseat had led to. “Ah, hell.”
“Yeah. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t wait the recommended time after a vasectomy before having unprotected sex.” She sat up and held her arms out. “Give me the baby.”
Nate set their six-month-old in her arms and went back to the kitchen.
Luka Nathaniel had come two weeks early while Elise and Luke were at their house. Not only had he been early, but he’d also come super fast. So fast, Luke had had to deliver him in their kitchen.
Piper was still embarrassed that her husband’s best friend had seen her vajayjay. When Luke had tried to reassure her that hers wasn’t special, it was just one vagina in a long list of vaginas he’d seen, he’d earned two punches to his arms. One was from his wife for saying he’d seen a long list of vaginas, for which he had to remind her he was a doctor. The other was from his best friend, for saying his wife’s vagina wasn’t special.
Poor Luke.
Despite that, Piper and Nate had decided to name that baby after Luke. To avoid confusion, they had decided on the name Luka.
“Luka, you were supposed to be the last baby. Why didn’t you try to stop Mommy and Daddy?”
Luka laughed, his green eyes scrunching up, as he swung his chubby arms up and down. Piper ran her hand over his downy, dark hair. It was still soft, unlike Wyatt’s, which was as coarse as a horse’s mane but the same color as his brother’s.
Nate returned with Sophia. She had brown hair, too, but not as dark as the boys, and she’d also gotten Nate’s blue eyes. Blue eyes she used to manipulate her father into doing her bidding.
Nate had really wanted to name their daughter after his mom and grandmother. At first, Piper had hesitated at agreeing to the two names ending in A, but after a while, it had grown on her, and Sophia Maria was named.
Sophia clapped her hands and went after one of her favorite toys.
Luka squirmed in Piper’s arms, so she set him down. He crawled over to his sister and sat next to her, but she pushed him away.
“Sophia, you need to be nice to Luka,” Piper told her.
As usual, she ignored her mother.
A yowl came from down the hall, and Nate sighed. “I’ll go get him.” He came back, carrying Wyatt upside down over his shoulder.
Their oldest child was laughing. “Daddy, you’re so funny.”
Nate set Wyatt down. “At least someone thinks I’m funny in this house. Your mommy isn’t laughing at me right now.”
Wyatt came over and hugged Piper.
“Hey, buddy.”
Wyatt stepped back. “Mommy, Daddy’s funny.”
“I know,” Piper agreed because, if she didn’t, he would just keep saying it until she gave in. “Why don’t you go play with your sister?”
“Okay,” Wyatt said and walked to the pile of toys that took up most of their living room.
Nate sat down next to her and pulled her close. “So, do you think it’ll be a boy or a girl?”
“A girl. I’ve had morning sickness all week.” Piper hadn’t been sick with either of the boys, but Sophia had caused her to throw up all the way into her second trimester.
“Another girl. That’s good for Sophia. We’d better start thinking of names.”
“We don’t have anyone left. You, your mom, your grandma, my dad, Jordan.”
“There’s you,” Nate volunteered.
“Me?”
“Yeah. We can name the baby something Piper.”
“Hmm.” She hadn’t thought about naming any of her k
ids after herself. “That’s not a bad idea. But we still need a first name. And, despite my mother’s suggestion on every kid we have, I’m not naming the baby Karen.”
“Yeah, I understand. I really hope it’s a girl, so my dad won’t get his expectations up.”
While Nate and his dad had come a long way, becoming closer and spending more time together, the little boy in Nate would probably never fully forgive his father. She urged him to go to counseling to talk about his dad—it’d helped her deal with Jordan’s death and her new relationship with Nate—but he hadn’t done so yet.
“Yeah, he looked crushed when we announced Luka’s name.”
“What were your grandma’s names?” Nate asked.
“My dad’s mom was Ida.”
Nate wrinkled his nose.
“Yeah, I don’t like it either. Plus, I didn’t know her well. She died when I was about Wyatt’s age. My mom’s mom was Elizabeth though.”
“Elizabeth Piper.” Nate nodded. “It has a nice ring to it.”
“It does.” Piper looked down and rubbed her stomach. “Elizabeth Piper.”
“I’m kind of excited.”
Piper questioningly looked up at Nate.
“We’re going to have another baby.”
She smiled. “I was in shock, but I’m kind of excited now, too. But four kids under five…we’re going to be so busy.”
Nate kissed the top of her head. “Yeah, we will. Did you tell Jordan to stop sending us messages already?”
Piper laughed. “I did.”
“Good. But, just in case, you’re getting your tubes tied, right?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Thank you for reading Nasty! We hope you enjoyed Nate & Piper’s story!
If you liked Nasty, check out Luke & Elise’s story in Dirty!
Also, check out the prequel novella of Rachel & Sean’s story. Kinky is available everywhere, and you can read a sample HERE!
Also, due to popular demand, you can read about Elise & Luke’s forgotten night in the novelette, Sexy: Luke & Elise’s First Night!
Also, don’t miss our paranormal romance series. Forbidden Blood is FREE!
And sign up for our newsletter to find out about new books…
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Nasty Playlist
Aurora – Running With the Wolves
Bad Wolves - Zombie
Beyoncé - Halo
Celine Dion – Ashes
Christina Perri – A Thousand Years
Clean Bandit (feat. Julia Michaels) – I Miss You
Five Finger Death Punch – Gone Away
John Legend – All of Me
Lacuna Coil – End of Time
Lissie – Everywhere I Go
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Can’t Hold us feat. Ray Dalton
Nilu – Are You With Me
Rag’n’Bone Man - Human
Rhianna – S&M
Seether w/ Amy Lee - Broken
Snow Patrol – Life On Earth
The Cranberries – Zombie
The Weekend - Call Out My Name
will.i.am – This is Love feat. Eva Simons
ZAYN feat. Sia – Dusk Till Dawn
Click here to listen to the Nasty Playlist on YouTube!
ALSO BY R.L. KENDERSON
NOVELS IN THE FORBIDDEN SERIES
Paranormal Romance
Forbidden Blood
Forbidden Heat
Forbidden Temptation
Forbidden Addiction
Forbidden Claim
BOOKS IN THE NAUGHTY SERIES
Contemporary Romance
Kinky
Dirty
Sexy: Luke & Elise’s First Night
Nasty
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First, we’d like to thank fellow author Angelina Kerner and her husband, Franklin. He translated Ty’s greeting to Piper into proper French.
Thank you to our beta readers. You’ve been with us a few years now, it’s nice to know we have such a great group to go through our books and make them better!
Thank you to our ARC readers, old and new, and all the bloggers who helped spread Nate and Piper’s story. You guys are great, and we appreciate everything you do!
Thank you to our editor, Jovana Shirley, for putting in the hard work to make Nasty the final piece of work it is. You’ve been with us since the beginning and we don’t know what we’d do without you!
Lastly, thank you to all our family members who put up with us when we are hard at work. We are lucky to have such supportive people in our lives. We love you!
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
R.L. Kenderson is two best friends writing under one name.
Renae has always loved reading, and in third grade, she wrote her first poem where she learned she might have a knack for this writing thing. Lara remembers sneaking her grandmother’s Harlequin novels when she was probably too young to be reading them, and since then, she knew she wanted to write her own.
When they met in college, they bonded over their love of reading and the TV show Charmed. What really spiced up their friendship was when Lara introduced Renae to romance novels. When they discovered their first vampire romance, they knew there would always be a special place in their hearts for paranormal romance. After being unable to find certain storylines and characteristics they wanted to read about in the hundreds of books they consumed, they decided to write their own.
One lives in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and the other in the Kansas City area where they’re a sonographer/stay-at-home mom/wife and pharmacist/mother by day, and together they’re a sexy author by night. They communicate through phone, email, and whole lot of messaging.
You can find them at http://www.rlkenderson.com, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and Goodreads. Join their Facebook Reader Group. Or you can email them at [email protected], or sign up for their newsletter here. They always love hearing from their readers.
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