His Family

by Sheila Kell

  “I kept my promise, but it killed me. With Lily living on the property, at least I got to watch Trent grow up with the others even if it was from an outsider’s perspective most of the time.”

  So that was why she needed to learn about Trent. Hopefully he grew up with a loving father since Blake couldn’t be one for him.

  “When I had a heart attack, I knew I couldn’t go to my grave without acknowledging him. I didn’t give a shit what it did to my political career. Since his mother was dead, I felt it okay to tell him.” He paused. Tears glimmered in his eyes. “He didn’t think so.”

  Her heart broke for him and all that he’d lost. Leaning down, she hugged him. “Oh, Blake.” So she’d said it again. It was needed. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips before sitting back up and letting him continue.

  “Then,” he said, choking up, “he could’ve died from a bomb blast saving my granddaughter—his niece. And he still wouldn’t see me.”

  Sadness seeped into her at what darkness must’ve been there when Blake had been denied again and at such a critical point. She stroked his neck while she reached for his hand with her other one and threaded her fingers in his and squeezed.

  “Trent took off after that for a few months, and while my kids didn’t admit it, I think they knew where he was. I don’t know exactly what happened to change his mind, but a few months ago he spoke with me and offered to give it a try. Not to be a replacement father, but to get to know each other better. We’ve talked some since then, but not nearly what I’d like. I may never get that though.”

  “Is he coming with the others?” she asked softly, knowing this could mean the world to Blake.

  “I’m not certain. He never said one way or another. They have a two-month old—Ashley—so I imagine he was waiting to see how she and her mother, Kelly, are feeling.”

  “Maybe we’ll be lucky and see them this trip.”

  Blake toyed with her hand laced with his. “You’re not— I mean—” He cleared his throat. “Hell, I don’t know what I mean. I just told you I cheated during my first marriage.”

  How could her heart not expand with love for this man? She couldn’t condone the cheating, but she believed he didn’t seek it out. Didn’t try to be a philanderer. “You did. That’s the past.”

  “Aren’t you worried if we get married that I might cheat on you?”

  Her pulse rate sped up. Was he about to ask her to marry him? Right now? “Well, um, I trust you.” There, she’d said it and that would be her mantra. She had no reason to distrust him since he loved her, unlike his first wife.

  He reached behind her neck and slowly drew her down to him. “You are an amazing woman, Elizabeth Page.” Then he kissed her and made her forget everything including to breathe.

  HOW DID HE get so damn lucky to find a woman who would not hold his past against him? Who would love and trust him as he was? He’d worried himself to a near ulcer that she’d turn him away when she found out. Faithfulness in a marriage was expected, and he’d tossed it to the wind. He couldn’t excuse himself because it was his dick that was used to cheat.

  Had he not had the boys—Jesse, Devon, Brad, and Matt—he might’ve weathered the divorce storm in his career. Lord knows he’d been much happier with Lily.

  Yet he still hadn’t held the power of love… the depth of it that he carried for Elizabeth. He had no idea why it had taken him so long to find the love of his life, but he wasn’t about to let her go anywhere. As soon as she met the children, he would propose. They’d love her. How could they not?

  She was so perfect—beautiful, kind, caring, and so much more—that he wondered how she’d stayed single after the death of her husband so many years ago.

  He’d like to believe she was waiting for him. He was tired of ensuring her reputation stayed pristine for the benefit of her foundation. Waking up at night alone sucked balls, and he planned to remedy that. This weekend was a start of a lifetime of waking with her beside him.

  Slowly chewing the last bite of the Boston creme pie Mary made for them, he washed it down with iced tea. He turned to watch Elizabeth wrap her mouth around a forkful of pie. When she closed her eyes and sighed in pleasure, his dick came to life imagining her lovely mouth encircling his growing erection.

  Damn.

  After she had put her fork down, he reached over. “Here,” he said softly as he placed a piece of pie on the fork, “let me.”

  Their eyes locked and heat flamed in hers that he guessed matched his own. Holding the fork to her lips, he offered, “Take a bite.”

  With a smile, she opened her mouth and closed her lips over the pie. He groaned with his nearly painful need for her. “Are you full?” he croaked. The meal earlier had kept them both satisfied until they’d decided to enjoy this late night treat. With the unknowing way Elizabeth erotically ate it, he’d have one made for her every fucking night.

  “Yes,” she said softly and reached for her dishes.

  He did the same, and they deposited them in the sink as they’d been instructed by Mary. She’d probably flip her lid if after sending them away for the evening, he did her work.

  “Where is Mary?” She looked around as if expecting the woman to appear out of thin air.

  He sidled up next to her then put his arms around her, pulling her close. “They’re visiting their daughter. We have the house to ourselves all night,” he whispered near her ear.

  She shivered, and he smiled because he knew that she felt it too—that magnetic draw between them that set their bodies alight. The pull that had hit him the first moment he’d seen her at the party.

  Inhaling what he’d come to learn was her peach-scented lotion, he alternately kissed and nibbled a path down her neck. Midway in his trek, he took a shaky breath and asked, “Are you ready to go upstairs?” His dick strained against his zipper, and he feared it would either burst out or have a permanent zipper imprint on it. Either way wasn’t how he planned his dick’s entrance into their lovemaking tonight.

  With a breathy sigh, she nodded and arched her neck to give him better access.

  He looked at the creamy expanse of her throat and wanted nothing more than to cover the entire area with his lips, showing her how much he loved her and her body. But it took all his will to stop—to say wait until they got to the room. Otherwise, he’d be christening the counter. She deserved better than that. However, the idea had merit. He mentally shook his head. No. The bed.

  Stepping back, he held out his hand to her as he always did when they went to bed. The difference was this time, they’d wake together. The thought was heady, and he couldn’t wait until dawn and her smiling face being the first he saw when he opened his eyes.

  Smiling, she clasped her hand in his and squeezed. “Let’s go to bed.”

  She sounded calmer than he had. They walked through the kitchen to the stairway, which had the living room on the other side. He would miss this house, but it was time to turn it over. Hopefully he’d still have a room to visit and go to Ole Miss games.

  Elizabeth rubbed her hands on the polished mahogany banister. “I love this house.”

  His heart sank like a rock in a lake. “It’s not really mine.”

  Drawing in her brows, she looked at him in confusion.

  They stopped their progress on the stairs. “I mean, I’ve kept it as if it were mine, but it’s not. In fact, I decided it’s time to give it to my daughter. That’s what her mother wanted, and this was Camilla’s house.” Please don’t let that disappoint her and make her want to pull away.

  “Well, your daughter is lucky you did such a wonderful thing for her.”

  “You’re not—disappointed?”

  She leaned toward him, and he wanted to slip in and kiss her luscious lips. “I love you, Blake Hamilton. Not who you are or what you have. You.” Placing her lips on his, she slid her free hand around the back of his neck.

  His dick turned to stone. Her sweet taste intoxicated him. As his tongue swept into her mouth, he kne
w that he couldn’t get enough. He was also aware the stairs was not the place to get even more hot and bothered.

  Breaking the kiss, he fought for breath in his air-deprived lungs. Damn. The effect the woman had on him was positively electrifying. “Come on.” He tugged on her hand and continued up the stairs. At the door at the end of the hallway, he pushed it open and preceded her inside.

  Mary had tidied up from where they’d haphazardly tossed their luggage after emptying it. The covers, white sheets with a blue comforter, were turned down, and a peach rose lay on the side Elizabeth would sleep. Originally from Georgia, everything was peach for the woman—food, lotion, decorations, candles. He mentally snapped his fingers. He’d forgotten to have peach candles for Elizabeth’s visit.

  Seeing three large candles on the dresser, he walked to them and, with the lighter lying beside them, he lit them and caught a whiff of a light, pleasant scent. It would do.

  Elizabeth walked up beside him and removed her shoes. She dropped down the inch or so her heels had been on the shoes. “That smells good.”

  Sporting a wicked smile, he leaned into her and whispered, “You smell good.”

  When she leaned her neck for him, he went back to attacking it. Between nips, he commanded, “I want to undress you so don’t even start.”

  On a breathy sigh, she dropped the hands that had been tugging her blouse up and over her head. “Hurry, then.”

  Although he didn’t wish to rush, urgency drove him. Replacing her hands on her soft blouse, he pulled it up. He leaned back and watched as he exposed her lacy peach bra. A smile split his face. He should’ve known it’d be peach. And he bet her underwear matched. They always did.

  Impatient, she raised her arms for him to dispose of her blouse and move on to her other clothing.

  Appeasing her, he hurried to remove her blouse and slacks. Then he stood back again and drank in her beauty. It wasn’t enough. He wanted her completely naked.

  When she reached back to unclasp her bra and allowed it to slide down her arms and flutter to the floor, he remained rooted to the spot with his dick throbbing painfully. Her placing her fingers into the waistband of her panties almost sent him over the edge at the sight of her body bare to him. He ripped at his clothes and somehow managed to free himself without ruining them, not that he would have cared at this point. He just wanted to be inside Elizabeth’s heat where he could lose himself in her.

  Buck naked, his dick pointing up, he strolled to her naked form and quickly pulled her body to his. “You’re so damn beautiful.” Then he feasted on her scrumptious lips. She didn’t fight it; in fact, her tongue darted out first, seeking his. They tangled, they played, he sucked the tip of her tongue in his mouth. He mimicked what he’d to do her and when she moaned softly, his mouth absorbed it.

  His hands roamed up and down her back, stopping at her butt and palming the firm globes. The woman kept in shape, and it showed. Squeezing her cheeks, he pulled her closer to him so she could feel his desire for her. At the contact, he groaned, knowing he had to get her to bed soon.

  The kiss went on and on and he felt lightheaded and drunk on the strength of it. He’d kissed plenty of women in his lifetime, but he’d never known a kiss to be so erotic and affect his dick to the point he could come just from the headiness of it.

  Breaking off the kiss, he growled, “Bed.” He yanked the covers down the rest of the way, tossing them to the end, not caring if they slipped off the bed. They wouldn’t need them for a long time.

  With a giggle, Elizabeth rushed to the other side of the bed and slid across to the middle.

  He waited with one knee on the bed, curious to this fun display of hers.

  She spread her arms and legs wide. “I’m yours.”

  Holy fucking shit. Even with his years of experience in the bedroom, she still had the ability to make him want to come well before he entered her warm, velvety center. Moisture beaded the broad head of his dick. He imagined her licking it off with her mouth. Damn.

  Unable to resist her any longer, he crawled on the bed and leveraged himself over her. His mouth crashed down on hers, hot and urgent. After a moment, his mouth moved down her jaw to her neck where he placed hot kisses that elicited mewling sounds from her.

  After tugging gently on the lobe of her ear, he moved back down her neck and nibbled his way past her collarbone. He turned his attention to her breast and toyed and teased her nipple before he took it in his mouth, nipped lightly, and suckled.

  Her back arched off the bed and she moaned in pleasure.

  A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Knowing what she liked, he continued teasing her breasts, giving her enough pleasure that brought out breathless pants in her.

  Once she moaned again, he trailed his lips down her midsection, licking the hollow indentation of her belly button before he swept downward.

  Grabbing at his shoulders, she pleaded, “No. I want you inside me. Now.”

  He hovered over her mound, inhaling the intoxicating scent. Already, he pictured parting her pink folds and tasting her before loving and teasing her center and the pulsating nub that would be waiting for his attention.

  She gazed at him with heavy-lidded eyes. “Blake, please. I want you inside me. I’ve wanted it all day. Don’t make me wait any longer.”

  Wanting to please her, he slid up and captured her mouth in a searing kiss. His cock pulsed, ready to be inside her heat. He reached down and felt the wetness between her folds. She hadn’t lied about wanting him inside her, and his dick got harder than he’d ever thought it could.

  “Love, you’ll never wait for anything as long as I’m alive.”

  He settled himself between her thighs and positioned his cock at her entrance. With slow, measured movements, he rocked himself inside her tightness. Agony ripped through him at the patience it took to do this.

  Elizabeth wrapped her legs around him, locking her ankles at his ass. She grabbed both cheeks, lifted herself and pushed him inside her in one swift stroke.

  He snapped his head to her to check that she was okay.

  A mischievous smile filled her face. “I didn’t want to wait.”

  Neither did he, but pushing himself in like that always worried him. Sure he’d done it before and she’d gasped, so he’d assumed that he’d hurt her. Now that he knew better, sex with them just got a whole lot better.

  Sweat beaded his forehead at the intense pleasure of being this deep inside her. He needed to move, but moving might be too much.

  She writhed beneath him, and he took that as his cue. So he moved, nearly sliding out and shoving himself back in deep. He leaned down, tugging on her nipple then held his breath when she moaned and pulled his head closer. How much torture was he to take? Hell, she hadn’t even touched him yet. He knew she’d want to and that thought had a tingle begin at the base of his spine. Oh shit.

  Reaching down, he flipped his thumb over her clit, and she shifted and tossed her head back. He rubbed the nub and teased her nipple while managing sure strokes that kept those sexy sounds coming from her.

  “Oh, Blake, I’m so close.”

  Thank God. His balls had already drawn tight at how erotic she felt. “Then come for me, love.”

  He lifted his head and kissed her, deep and hot, with all the love and desire he held for her. This woman was his world.

  After a moment or two, she broke apart, her moans absorbed in their kiss.

  He stroked in and out of her a few more times and went utterly still, groaning in pleasure.

  It may have been ten seconds or ten minutes. Hell, he didn’t know. But he came to himself atop Elizabeth and lifted his weight from her and slid to the side. Lying flat on his back, he held out an arm and she rested her head on it and curled her body to his, her arm and leg thrown over him.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you wanted a quickie?” he asked with a chuckle as he stroked her soft hair. Damn his limbs were weak.

  “I didn’t until you lay your naked body on min
e. I held out for as long as I could.” She lifted her head up and looked at him. “Is that a problem?”

  A chuckle erupted from deep within his chest. “I’m a guy. There’s never a problem with a quickie.”

  SOMETHING ROUSED BLAKE from a deep, sated sleep. He instinctively reached out his arm and found Elizabeth snuggled next to him. Contentment washed over him. Having her by his side, made the world a better place. He loved his woman and would do anything for her.

  Something niggled at him again. As he blinked his eyes a couple of times to bring his gaze into focus, he realized too late what had woken him. He stiffened as a man opened the door and peeked in. Blake could see the outline of someone behind him.

  His pulse ratcheted up and his heart pounded erratically. His thoughts went to protection—what did he have to fight them off with? He didn’t have a gun or a bat or anything like that in this room. Mary and Henry were out for the night, not that they’d be a lot of help at their age. It was down to him and his fists. Thank God he hadn’t let himself go soft. He might not work out as often as he did when he was younger, but he did hit the gym when his schedule permitted.

  Knowing he had no defense lying prone on the bed, he slowly slid his feet from under the covers so they wouldn’t get tangled up when he moved. Oh how he wished he’d slept on the other side of the bed so he’d be closer and not have the bed and Elizabeth between him and trouble.

  Not caring that he was naked, he slid the covers off the rest of his body and sprang up, landing on the balls of his feet. Ready for a fight. “What do you want?” he demanded.

  “Blake?” Elizabeth said sleepily from the bed. She rolled over to face him, away from the intruders. “What are you doing?”

  “Love, I want you to stay still. Don’t move,” he said quietly but firmly. How the hell could he protect her? She was between him and the men.

  There was only one option to protect her: he had to move. Slowly, he navigated to the end of the bed and was midway to Elizabeth’s side and putting himself between her and the intruders when the two men, dressed in all black, walked fully into the room, switched on the light and pulled handguns. Blake’s stomach knotted in a million pieces. Was this another threat or did they plan to kill him? Christ, had he brought this to the woman he loved? Had he put her in danger? He received so many threats, it was hard to take them seriously. But one must’ve been serious for this to occur. Unless it was a home intrusion. He couldn’t discount that idea.