by Sarah Bailey
“I’m so happy you’re here,” she said as I walked in and she shut the door.
“Why? Your family driving you crazy already?”
She shoved my arm.
“No, I missed you.”
I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her flush with my body.
“Is that so?”
“I wouldn’t let it go to your head, your ego is big enough already.”
I laughed before leaning down to kiss her. Aurora wrapped her arms around my neck, not hesitating in the slightest even though we should be focused on the whole meeting the parents officially thing.
When I pulled back, she helped me out of my coat and hung it up. Taking my hand, she led me into a living room which was full of people. I recognised her brothers and her parents, but the other three must be her grandparents. Aurora brought me over to them first.
“Grandpa, Grandma, Lily, this is my boyfriend, Logan… this is Viktor, Lily and Isabella.”
“It’s very nice to meet you all,” I said, shaking each of their hands in turn as they murmured the same.
When I got to Isabella, she gave me a rather critical stare.
“Well, it’s good to see my granddaughter has the sense to find someone of her same class.”
Aurora stiffened next to me, her fingers tightening around mine.
“Is it?” I asked, keeping my voice very bland, “Surely you’re aware of my family’s connection to yours.”
She frowned.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Hmm, yes well, not everyone wants to be associated with their brother’s crimes now, do they? Especially not when their granddaughter starts dating a man whose aunt was one of his captives and is the reason he went to prison… unless I’m mistaken and your brother isn’t Gilbert Davenport?”
I said it quietly so only Aurora and her grandmother could hear me, but I wasn’t having any of her shit. Isabella’s eyes went wide and she spluttered.
Not so nice to have your secrets exposed now, is it?
Aurora tugged my hand. I let her lead me away, giving her grandmother one last look.
“You didn’t tell me about that,” Aurora hissed at me.
“It wasn’t relevant.”
“Grandma’s face is a fucking picture. That was so worth not knowing.”
I didn’t hold either Aurora’s grandmother or mother responsible for those things, but I’d heard enough about how haughty Isabella Russo was from Aurora. What she’s said to me about us being from the same class riled me up. Didn’t matter if we were from a similar background. It had nothing to do with why we were together.
My thoughts about those things disappeared as we arrived in front of Aurora’s parents. All five of them. Her mother, Ash, stepped forward and embraced me.
“Hello, Logan. I’m glad you could make it today.”
“It’s nice to see you again.”
I swallowed hard when she pulled away and shook hands with her fathers, Rory, Xavier and Eric. When it came to Quinn, I straightened my spine. Aurora’s mother had left to look after lunch. I could only hope her other fathers would make sure nothing untoward happened. Aurora had told him not to give me any shit, but I didn’t exactly trust he wouldn’t.
I took his hand, wincing a little at his hard grip of mine.
“Mr Knox.”
I wanted to be civil and polite to him.
“Logan.”
I shifted on my feet, hoping he’d let go of my hand. Aurora was next to me giving him daggers.
“I’m only going to say this once,” he continued.,”If you hurt my daughter again, there is nowhere on this earth you can hide from me, do you understand?”
“Dad! What the fuck?” Aurora ground out before she wrenched my hand out of her father’s grasp and stepped between us.,”Don’t threaten him. Logan isn’t going to hurt me. He loves me.”
“It wasn’t a threat, it was a promise.”
I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned, finding one of her dads pulling me away from Aurora and Quinn. She looked pissed and I wanted to stand by her, but she’d assured me on many occasions she could handle her father.
“Don’t mind Quinn,” Xav said, “We wouldn’t let him hunt you down.”
“Well, nice to know you don’t all disapprove of me.”
He laughed and slapped my back.
“If Rora says you’re good to her, then we trust her. Besides, our sons like you and they’re pretty good judges of character most of the time. Quinn is overprotective of our daughter, but he hasn’t seen Rora punch a guy in the face for attempting to touch her up. That girl has quite the swing on her.” He gave me a grin and a wink. “I taught her how to defend herself.”
I stared at him.
“She hit a guy in the face?”
“According to Rora, it wasn’t the first time. Kneed him in the balls for good measure too.”
My eyes flicked over to my girlfriend. She’d never once attempted to hit me even after I’d been a complete dick to her.
“You learn something new every day.”
“She takes after her mother. Ash doesn’t take shit off anyone, especially not us. Has Quinn wrapped around her little finger and all. But don’t worry, she likes you. You’ve got nothing to fear from us.”
I gave him a smile, slightly reassured by his words.
“I would say welcome to the family, but not sure you know what you’ve let yourself in for,” Eric told me a moment later with a bright smile.
“I have a crazy family myself. I get it… and thank you. I know it’s taken me a while to take up the invitation to meet you all properly, but I’m sure Rora has told you how busy I’ve been.”
With moving into the new house and the work I had on, my time was limited, but things had settled down now.
“Yes, she has,” Rory replied instead of Eric, “We all understand. Well, perhaps not Quinn, but as Xav said, don’t worry about him. We won’t let him do anything too rash.”
I appreciated them saying all this to me. I eyed Aurora again, tuning back into what she was saying.
“You promised, Dad. I don’t care if you don’t approve of me being with him, he treats me right and I love him. Why do you have to be so difficult? Mum, Xav, E and Rory aren’t giving him a hard time for something he’s apologised for.”
“Rora—”
“No, I don’t want to hear it, unless you’re going to act like a normal human being instead of being overprotective for no reason, then I’m done having this conversation with you.”
She didn’t give him a chance to respond, turning around, grabbing me by the arm and tugging me away towards where her three brothers were standing by a bookcase. She crossed her arms over her chest when we stopped and glared at her father.
“I take it Quinn didn’t keep his promise,” Duke said.
“No, and I’m tired of listening to him go on and on about how no one is good enough for me. I don’t care what he thinks, this isn’t up to him.”
I wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head.
“It’s okay,” I murmured, “I wasn’t expecting him to make nice with me.”
She looked up at me, her golden-flecked eyes betraying her annoyance about her father’s continual disapproval of her relationship with me.
“I’m so sick of it.”
Leaning closer so my mouth was by her ear, I stroked her waist with my fingertips.
“I love you.”
She turned into me, burying her face in my shoulder.
“I love you too,” she whispered.
It was my way of making sure she knew I wasn’t going anywhere. Her father could disapprove of me all he wanted, I wasn’t giving up his daughter for anything. She made me a better person. I adored every inch of her.
I was about to say something more when Ash came through and called us all in for lunch. Aurora seated me between her and Raphi so I wasn’t near he
r father. The entire affair was lively with people talking across each other. I was asked a lot of questions about my work with conservation projects and my plans for the future. It wasn’t until everyone was finished when I found an opportunity to get Aurora’s father alone.
He’d got up and walked into the kitchen with some plates. I excused myself, telling Aurora I’d be right back. She gave me a concerned look, but I reassured her not to worry about me. I walked into the kitchen after Quinn and took a deep breath.
“Mr Knox.”
He turned around at the sound of my voice after dropping the plates on the counter, his eyes narrowing.
“Yes?”
“I realise you don’t approve of me being with your daughter and I respect your position, but I wanted to get a few things straight as Aurora’s happiness is paramount to me.”
His mouth thinned into a fine line, but it didn’t stop me from continuing. The man would hear me out whether or not he wanted to.
“I’ve made many mistakes in the past. I’ve learnt from and apologised for each one. I’m by no means perfect, but I’ve done all I can to make it up to her. You’ve raised an incredible daughter. I’m honoured and lucky she even wants to be with me. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for her. She makes me strive to be better.”
I tried not to clench my fist. My feelings for Aurora were fucking intense and all-consuming. She was my whole damn world. The past couple of months had only taught me how much I needed her by my side.
“No matter what you think of me, it doesn’t change the fact Aurora and my relationship is between us. I love your daughter. I treat her with the utmost respect. I support her in everything she does and will continue to do so. If that’s not good enough, well so be it. I’m not leaving her or giving up what I have with her. Not when she loves me and wants to be with me.”
I didn’t get a response immediately. I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful, but he didn’t have the right to tell Aurora who she could be with. No one did. It was something I’d learnt over the years with my own family’s bullshit. Aurora and I were the ones who made our choice and everyone else either had to respect it or fuck off as far as I was concerned.
“I may not approve of my daughter’s choice, but I respect it. And I respect you for having the balls to say that to me. As long as you continue to treat Rora right, I won’t object to you being with her.”
It was about as good as I was going to get.
“Thank you.”
He gave me a nod and walked away, shoving his hands in his pockets. I stood there for a long moment, surprised he’d not made any further comments or objections. Perhaps what Aurora and I had said to him finally had an impact.
I walked back into the dining room and sat down next to Aurora. She looked over at me, her eyes full of questions.
“I’m fine,” I murmured.
“What happened?”
“Your father and I came to an understanding.”
Her eyebrow raised slowly.
“What did you say to him?”
“I’ll tell you later. All you need to know right now is he won’t object to our relationship further.” I turned to her fully. “Nothing will stop me from being with you.”
For a second, Aurora did nothing. Then she leant closer, her hand coming up to cup my face in front of her entire family. Her eyes shone with her love and affection for me.
“Nothing will stop me from being with you either.”
I bit my lip, nuzzling her hand.
“You’re my world, Rora.”
She smiled, dropping her hand and leaning her head on my shoulder.
“You’re mine too,” she whispered, linking our fingers together under the table.
And I knew we’d be okay. This girl and I would make it if we tried. I belonged by her side. I’d stay by it until she no longer wanted me. But somehow, I knew that would never happen.
Aurora and I belonged together. Nothing and no one would ever ruin us again.
Part IV
assure
verb, as·sured, as·sur·ing.
to pledge or promise; give surety of; guarantee.
Chapter Forty Three
Five and a half years later
Kissing my way down my girlfriend’s bare back whilst she slept in our bed was one way to wake up in the morning. Her dark hair fanned across the pillows as she lay on her stomach with her hand next to her mouth, breathing steadily. Our alarms would go off soon. I was taking the time at this early hour to admire her beautiful form. A part of me couldn’t believe this woman was mine, even though I’d been with her for years.
“My little masochist,” I whispered against her skin, “I love you so much.”
My fingers trailed down her side, watching goosebumps prickle all over her exposed body. I continued to kiss my way down to her lower back.
“You better be about to make me come with that mouth of yours or I’m going to be sorely disappointed,” came her mumbled words a moment later.
“Oh, you’re awake, are you?”
“Am I?”
I snorted, shifting over her and spreading her legs with my hands.
“How about I make you come with my fingers and my cock?”
“I’m not going to complain about how I come, just that I do.”
There wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t consider myself lucky to have Aurora in my life, even with her bluntness and smart mouth. Whilst we’d been together for almost six years, nothing had stopped our bond from growing stronger. We were so fucking in-tune with each other. And my appetite for her never diminished.
She raised her hips slightly, allowing me to slide my hand between her and the bed to touch her pussy. My girl ground against my hand when I stroked her clit, making me rub myself against her bare behind. Aurora often liked to sleep naked, which made me a very happy man.
“Logan,” she moaned whilst I pressed kisses to her shoulder.
“Mmm, I’m going to send you to work all satisfied and high off me.”
It’s not like I woke her up with sex every morning, but sometimes I wanted her too much to wait until later. She’d moved in almost eight months after we’d got together. I took full advantage of having her here all the time. My beautiful woman had made our house into a home for the two of us. It was lucky we had similar tastes or there might have been a lot more arguments between us. We didn’t always have the easiest relationship as we were both stubborn as fuck, but it didn’t matter. Aurora and I supported each other no matter what.
She arched back into me, encouraging me to keep going. Her pussy was getting wetter by the minute and I wanted in her so fucking bad. I shifted a little, slipping between her legs and lining my cock up. I grunted as I slid inside her.
“Fuck, yes, give it to me.”
I smiled, giving her slow, shallow thrusts whilst I continued to stroke her clit. Her hand curled around the sheets, making me smile. Her voice was still full of sleep, but she was arching back into me, asking for more. I wrapped my other hand around her waist and tugged her over onto her side with me to allow me a better grip on her. She moved against me, clearly loving everything I was doing to her.
“Logan, fuck, please, more. Oh god, more.”
I gave it to her harder, making her moan louder whilst my fingers on her clit increased in pressure and speed. Knowing exactly what Aurora needed to fall over the edge, I made sure to pull out all the stops. I soon had her crying my name in ecstasy, her fingers clawing the covers below us. I followed her off the edge, adoring the way she pulsed around me.
The two of us lay in post-coital bliss for several minutes, wrapped up in each other whilst I kissed her neck and cheeks. I wanted to show her how much I loved her. This was only stage one in my plan for today. I had a lot more to get on with.
I left her in bed to take a shower and get dressed before padding downstairs and making breakfast. Aurora arrived in the kitchen forty minutes later, looking ev
ery inch the smart businesswoman she was. The girl had a knack for the casino business. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of her parents decided on early retirement, given how tight a ship she and Duke ran.
She walked over, kissing my cheek before taking a seat at the dining table. I brought her over tea and eggs a minute later, kissing the top of her head. I’d already eaten, but I sat down with her, nursing a cup of tea whilst absentmindedly stroking one of our cats who had settled on the chair next to me. Shadow had black fur and green eyes. He was a little terror, but we loved him. His ginger furred and blue-eyed brother, Pumpkin, was off somewhere else. Who the hell knew? Either way, those two were our family. Aurora had got them three years ago for my birthday. How she knew I missed having pets, I would never know, but she did.
“You got a lot on today?” she asked, reaching over and stroking her fingers down my hand.
“Mmm, guess so. Got a meeting this morning and then a call with an investor later.”
“I haven’t forgotten you wanted to do something this evening. I won’t be home late.”
I smiled. Aurora had no fucking clue what I had planned, nor would she until it happened. I’d been arranging this shit for months. Keeping it from her had been difficult, but I’d managed it.
“No? Quinn isn’t making you work extra hard today or anything?”
She laughed, shaking her head.
“He’s not even in today. I’m not upset about it, honestly, sometimes I wish he would work from home more often. I don’t need a supervisor.”
I grasped her hand, raising it to my lips and placing a kiss on it.
“You are amazing and he knows it.”
“Flatterer.”
“Just saying it like it is.”
I let Aurora finish her breakfast in peace. Shadow jumped into my lap, wanting strokes which I gladly gave to him. The little guy purred his socks off, filling me with contentment as Pumpkin padded in, meowing.