by Ella Brooke
Tears sprang to my eyes, and I smiled down at him over our daughter’s dark head. “I think I just might know someone, yes.”
“Good.” He got to his feet. “There’s really only one more thing I want out of life, Char.”
“What’s that?”
“You.” He gazed down at us solemnly. “Well, you and Diana. So two things, I guess.” He reached into the pocket of his old leather jacket, then went down on one knee, holding out a diamond ring. It was oval shaped and enormous, and it glittered like a glacier in the light from the porch lamps. “I love you, Char. Will you marry me?”
I stared at the ring for a long moment, then looked up at his face. His beloved face.
“Of course,” I answered.
Jacob and my mother cheered, and Hunter slipped the ring onto my finger, grinning. In all the commotion, Diana woke up. She blinked sleepily up at Hunter.
“Hunter?” she said.
He smiled down at her, his face gentle. “I think you can call me Daddy now.”
She blinked some more. That word didn’t mean anything to her now. But it would, I thought. Very soon, it would mean everything.
“Daddy,” she said.
Epilogue
Hunter
“I miss her already.”
I took Char’s hand in mine. “I know you do. But she loves her grandma and Uncle Jacob, and besides, now she has a new uncle to charm and wrap around her dainty little finger. She’ll be just fine.”
The two of us were seated on the Kensington family private jet, a luxuriously outfitted Boeing 747-8. Between the bird’s eye maple paneling, the leather couches, and the enormous TV, there was plenty to see on board, but it was clear that her mind was with the little girl we’d left behind for two weeks while we headed off to honeymoon in New York City.
“She looked so adorable today, didn’t she?”
“She did.” Always happy for any chance to talk about Diana, I pulled out my phone. “Here, look at this one…”
We looked at a photo of our daughter clad in a long white dress, dancing with a tuxedoed Au who looked pleased but a little bewildered, as if he still hadn’t quite reconciled himself to his recent acquisition of a niece. I scrolled on to a short video in which Au had lifted Diana in his arms and was twirling her around.
We let out a collective “Awwwwwww.”
Our wedding earlier today had been beautiful, held in an Episcopalian church—a cathedral, really—in Richmond. Char had been absolutely glorious in a white satin-and-lace concoction with a huge train. She hadn’t worn a veil, just her lovely hair falling all around her, and her best friend Angela Robinson had been her maid of honor. Which made perfect sense, as Angela had thrown her the twenty-first birthday party which had set a long chain of events into motion. If not for Angela, Char and I might never have gotten together that first night.
Angela and the other bridesmaids had worn a deep blue gown that turned almost as many heads as Char’s had. I thought I’d looked reasonably handsome in a black Kiton tux—but of course no one really looked at the groom. Which was as it should be. The mother of the bride had been resplendent in shell pink, and I’d danced with her nearly as often as I’d danced with my wife and daughter, much to her delight. Diana’s dress had been a miniature version of Char’s, minus the train, and she’d drawn plenty of attention, too.
Which was also as it should be.
“She was a beautiful little flower girl, wasn’t she?” I said.
“She was gorgeous. And Au was a very handsome best man.”
“Jacob, too. It’s funny—I’ve gone through so much of my life as a loner. Never had any real friends in college, never was close to my family. I never guessed I’d wind up with two best men at my wedding.”
“I’m glad,” she answered, leaning her head on my shoulder. “If you want to know the truth, I don’t think you’re really the loner type, Hunter. You need people. I’m glad you have Au and Jacob back in your life.”
Since Char and I had both started working at the Pinecone Gazette, trying to remake it into a newspaper to be proud of, we’d had very few days off. As a consequence we were both looking forward to this break. But leaving Diana behind was hard—for Char because she’d never left her daughter overnight before, and for me because I still wasn’t accustomed to being a father. It was all new and wonderful, every day a delight, and I felt that being away from Diana for two weeks would be torture.
I thought I’d miss Au almost as much. Over the past months, I’d grown to admire the kid for everything he’d accomplished. He wasn’t the asshole I’d thought he was. And in point of fact, he was absolutely nothing like our father.
And then there was Jacob. Once we’d put all the bad blood behind us, it was amazing how much we still had in common. The two of us got together at Zippo’s for beers twice a week and had fun every single time, laughing, playing pool, and talking about the books we were reading. Char and I spent plenty of time at Mrs. Evans’ house too, and I reveled in her motherly kindness. When she’d rejected my diffident offer to pay for a house painter, I’d gotten up on a ladder and painted the whole exterior of the house myself. I was planning on replacing those warped boards on the porch next.
In short, I was no longer a loner, and in fact, I was a little worried I might spend all my time in New York Skyping with my extended family rather than sightseeing. But Char had promised to make me behave, and I was confident in her ability to keep my attention where it belonged.
On her.
Thinking about Au made me remember something, though. “Hey, I got him to confess, did I mention?”
Char blinked in confusion. “Who?”
“Au. Remember the guy in the alley, the one you kicked? You suspected it was Au because he was limping, remember that? Sure enough, it was him.”
She lifted her head and stared at me. “Au is the one who mugged me?”
“Well…” I shrugged. “It wasn’t actually a mugging, per se. He wasn’t planning on hurting you. Apparently he’d heard the news that I was visiting you at the diner, and he put two and two together and figured out that Diana was my daughter. But he’d also heard that you weren’t eager to let me back into your life. So he was trying to push the two of us together, and for some reason he decided that compelling me to rescue you might help. He was just trying to set up a damsel in distress sort of scenario. He wasn’t expecting you to be so quick with your feet, though.”
Char laughed but then grew more solemn. “What about the photographer in the park that day? That wasn’t Au, was it?”
“No. Just some random paparazzo. Now that you’re a Kensington, you’ll have to get used to having your privacy invaded on a regular basis, I’m afraid.”
It was true, and we both knew it. Our wedding, which had admittedly been grand enough for royalty, had already made headlines coast to coast. The Kensingtons had always been a subject of interest for the press, and the additions to the family of a flame-haired queen and a small but beautiful princess would only add to the allure.
Char smiled and squeezed my hand. “I think I can live with that. I love being a Kensington. I love you, Hunter.”
The plane began taxiing toward the runway, and Char looked out the window, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “Wow, this is so exciting. I can’t believe I’m going to see New York City. I’ve never been anywhere outside of Virginia before.”
I’d been to New York so many times I couldn’t even remember them all. But everything that was old and ordinary to me was new and thrilling to Char, and somehow that made my life new and thrilling all over again. I loved watching her face light up over new experiences. It made something inside me light up too.
Six months ago, I’d walked back into Pinecone as a just-released felon and almost instantly found her again. Maybe it had been fate, or maybe it had just been luck. But either way, it was the best thing that had ever happened to me. She was the best thing that had ever happened to me.
“I’m going to show
you the world, Char Kensington.” I bent over and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Sooner or later, we’ll see every big city there is to see. Rome, Madrid, Athens, Tokyo…believe me when I tell you that New York is only the beginning.”
She threaded her fingers through mine, and I held her hand tightly as the jet lifted into the bright blue summer sky. It was a good beginning, I thought.
A very good beginning.
THE END
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Prologue
Brandon
My cock was as hard as granite when I unzipped my pants.
Selena looked up at me with a half-lidded glance and licked her lips. Those perfect, pillowy lips that I’d been desperate to fuck since I’d first hired her. Hell, since the first time I’d laid eyes on her. I’d spent my life building an empire by taking what I wanted, and there was nothing I wanted more than her, nothing I was going to enjoy more than taking and savoring the fiery tiger before me.
My office blinds were drawn, but I knew some interns and new hires still remained in the building despite the late hour. They were no doubt desperate to make a good impression on me, but I couldn’t care less. The chance they might hear…. Well, maybe I liked that tiny fucking risk that we could get caught. The thought made the blood pound through my veins and my dick stand that much more at attention.
“Why are you waiting?” I asked Selena, my voice gruff with need.
She licked her lips again slowly. Deliberately.
My cock jerked again, and I grasped exactly what she was doing. That damn tease wanted to make me beg for it; for the release that was mine.
No. That was Selena’s mistake.
There were many things I’d done in my life, not all of them legal in the continental United States, but I never begged. I was Brandon Duncan, one of the richest men on Earth, and I made women come screaming my name. Made them cry on all fours for me to fuck them hard in their dripping pussies. I don’t beg.
I take.
They give.
That was the way it had always been; now was no different.
I stroked her chin with my hand and shook my head. “I want you, Tiger. You know what you have to do.”
She glanced up at me through her thick dark lashes, and I swore my balls contracted with need. I had to have her mouth around my cock soon; had to feel myself thrust into that perfect O of her mouth. She was a fucking goddess laid out before me, and I would take advantage of her every way I knew how.
“But isn’t it fun if we stretch it out? Let me tease you.” She giggled. “I’m in control here.”
I shook my head and let my hand stray lower, down the soft skin of her neck and to the curve of her breast. Snaking my fingers under her blouse and the lace of her bra, I stroked her nipple, loving the way it pebbled so readily under my touch. She shuddered under my touch and moaned a high mewling sound that made my dick pulse.
“But if you tease me, then I can make you wait for hours.”
She moaned again, and I’d never wanted to come so badly in my life. Everything about her was perfect, from her tight little ass to her firm breasts to that smile of hers. A smile that promised she might not know everything yet about how to make a man beg, but that she’d be more than willing to learn. I’d found an apt pupil was worth her weight in gold.
“Now,” I said in a low growl filled with the promise of all the bad things I’d do to her later. “Fuck me, Selena. Take all of me.”
She smirked and promised debauchery of her own with that expression.
Good, exactly what I wanted.
Her lips wrapped around my dick, and I closed my eyes, letting the heat and pleasure of her mouth conquer me. I reveled in it for the briefest of moments before thrusting out my hips, making my cock push deep into her throat. I wasn’t interested in just a blow job. I’d meant what I’d said; I was going to fuck her mouth, claim her as mine, and let her know exactly who she belonged to.
It was inevitable; from the moment she’d walked into my office—my domain—she was mine too.
I thrusted again, sliding almost balls deep in her mouth. She took everything with such prowess that I was impressed. I’ve had so many women, but only a few could fit me as well as Selena. It was as if we were made for each other. She reached over and cupped my balls, heavy with ache and need. Her fingers felt like heaven against my straining sack, and I rolled my eyes back in my head as she massaged my balls expertly between her fingers.
I wanted to last.
But tonight wouldn’t be that night, not with my newest intern on her knees in front of me.
Groaning, I cupped the back of her head with one hand and her shoulder with the other. I drove deep inside her, plumbing the hidden depths of her. Then she swirled her tongue against the sensitive head of my cock, and I lost it.
I came, flooding into her mouth. She lapped it all up eagerly as if it was the best fucking milkshake she’d ever had, as if I couldn’t fill her enough. When I was done, I leaned against my desk. Sweat coated my forehead and brow. Selena leaned back on her heels and wiped at her mouth; she stared obediently up at me, waiting for my next promise.
Or was she waiting for praise?
I could give her a little. After all, such enthusiasm deserved encouragement.
Shoving my dick back inside my pants, I put myself right. Then I lowered my hand to help Selena to her feet, her dark eyes still hazy with lust. I can’t wait to return the favor to her; to taste every inch of her, especially her pussy that has to be glistening by now, waiting for me.
Speaking of…
I reached down with one hand and slipped under the soft cotton of her panties, confirming the wetness of her juices for myself. She gasped and drew her body—her luscious breasts—close against my chest.
“Brandon, God, don’t stop.”
I flicked her clit and grinned. “Oh, Tiger, I’m just getting started.”
Chapter One
Selena
This couldn’t be happening.
This absolutely could not be real. I clutched the cool metal of the doorknob in my hand and held onto it for dear life. My knees had given out from under me, and it took everything I had to keep from falling over. The birthday cake I’d been carrying hadn’t fared as well. It had smashed all over the floor, scattering frosting and candles everywhere. Good thing I hadn’t lit them or the apartment would be burning down right now.
Considering what Kevin was doing though, I wasn’t sure it would be a big tragedy if his place burned down.
“What’s going on?” My voice wavered so much that I barely recognized it.
He snapped his head up, and the girl writhing on top of him finally turned her face to me. I wanted to scream, but for some reason, no sound would escape my throat. It was Ashley, a sister of mine from Beta Omega Pi. We’d never gotten along great, but she always seemed to come up to me and make conversation at mixers.
Now I knew why.
Because for the last four months, I’d been bringing my boyfriend—sorry now my ex-boyfriend Kevin—and she’d been anxious to see him.
“What is happening?” I finally squeaked out.
Ashley slid off of Kevin like she’d been scalded. I turned away as she grabbed her clothes and shucked them on in record time. The slam
of the door was the first welcome noise I’d heard since I’d come early this morning to surprise my boyfriend for his twenty-first birthday. Big surprise. It was all just on me instead.
“How long?”
Kevin sat up in bed and threw the comforter over his waist as if that would make any of this better or hide the fact that I’d caught him red-handed. Among other things. “Look, I can explain.”
“That you’ve been screwing one of my sorority sisters. Damn it! We haven’t even slept together yet, and she’s in your bed?”
Kevin clenched his jaw, and I could see the vein in his forehead starting to pulse. I wasn’t sure what he was doing. If he was going to try and lie his way out of it, well, there was no explanation good enough to excuse me walking in on Ashley riding him cowgirl style. There was no “Oh this isn’t what it looks like.” What it looked like was that I was the only one around here who wasn’t being screwed.
“We’ve been growing apart.”
Daggers stabbed into my heart, and my eyes grew wet. “Today’s your birthday. I spent all last night baking a cake for you from scratch. We’ve been spending every weekend together for three months. I thought…”
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Well, Ashley’s been able to see me more often.”
I swallowed, hard. “Is this some kind of punishment? Did you start with her to get back at me? I was trying to take things slow. You knew when we started dating that I wasn’t the hookup type.”
He stood as he wrapped the sheet around his waist. “You’re pretty, Selena. But that’s not worth waiting forever. I am into you, but it’s a lot of work.”
I stiffened. “But you’re saying that Ashley was easy, the sure thing?” My voice was wavering by then, and I didn’t want to break down in front of him. I wasn’t in love with Kevin, but it was the most serious relationship I’d had so far in my life. I thought we were building to something. Damn it. For once in my life, I thought I could have something special. “Because that’s pretty much what it sounds like.”