“Please tell me you didn’t fire Sharif. He was merely trying to help me. And I didn’t make it easy for him. I threatened to leave on my own.”
Amar sighed. “I didn’t, and he told me you forced his hand. Anyway I came back to the States as soon as I could to find you.”
More silence. Who should speak? Should it be her? No, he’d come for her, so she wanted to hear what he’d come to say. She prayed that it was what she was wishing and hoping for. “And?”
“And, that part of my life is over, Rylee. That’s not to say I won’t see my brother Tariq, maybe even visit Khalid one day, but I’m ready for the next phase of my life. And that part is with you.”
A lone tear trickled down Rylee’s cheek.
Amar came back to her chair and bent down so that the two of them were at eye level. He grasped one of her hands.
“I love you, Rylee. I have from the start, and I know I was long-winded just now, but I wanted you to understand, to see that I had to face a lot of baggage to get to this moment, but I’m here. And … and I’m hoping that you feel the same way about me that I feel about you.”
Rylee’s free hand reached out and stroked Amar’s cheek as another fresh tear trickled down her face.
“Please don’t cry,” Amar responded. He hated to see her do that.
“They’re tears of joy,” Rylee whispered, “because I love you too, Amar.”
“You do?”
Rylee nodded. “And I’m sorry I left you in Nasir. I was scared that you might be like your father and choose duty over me. I was afraid you might not love me. I’m so sorry I let my fears get in the way, because I regretted it the minute I got back.”
“Oh, baby.” Amar leaned in, grabbed both sides of her face with his hands, and kissed her. It was light and soft and sweet and oh so right. “I don’t care about any of that now. I only care that you love me as much as I love you.”
“And I do,” Rylee said, pulling away so she could look into his eyes. “I really do.”
“I don’t deserve you,” Amar said, hugging her tightly.
“Yes, you do,” Rylee said. “You deserve love just like the rest of us, if not more so, because it was always denied to you.”
“I will spend the rest of my life showing you just how much I love you.”
“What?” Rylee couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and she pulled away to look at Amar. The rest of his life?
“You heard right. I’m asking you to marry me, Rylee Hart. I’m madly, deeply, crazy in love with you, and I want you to be my wife and the mother of my children. Say yes.”
“Yes.” Rylee circled her arms around Amar’s neck and sealed her lips to his. “Yes, I’ll marry you. A hundred times, yes.”
An insurmountable passion flared between the two of them. Rylee just wanted to be with Amar and feel his mouth and hands on her. His kisses became hotter, fierier and more urgent. His tongue pressed forward in her mouth and mated with hers, exploring every nook and cranny. The two of them ignited a fire.
They forgot where they were until they heard two loud coughs. They sprung apart, and Rylee glanced up to see Chynna and Kenya at the door of the villa with their suitcases at their feet.
A grin stretched across Chynna’s face when she said, “We’re, uh” — she motioned to Kenya at her side — “going to go back to the ranch and leave you two lovebirds here, alone. Looks like you might need this place more than us.” She winked at Rylee as she and Kenya headed out the door. “The villa is yours for the weekend.”
Rylee blushed. “Thank you.”
When the door closed behind the twins, Amar tucked his arm underneath Rylee’s bottom, lifted her into his arms and carried her up the stairs. “Which room?” he groaned.
Rylee motioned to the bedroom at the far end of the hall.
Amar kicked it open with his heel and then slammed it shut. He lowered Rylee onto the bed and began removing his clothes as fast as he could. His shoes were first, followed by his tie and shirt.
Rylee didn’t wait for Amar to undress her. She quickly tore off the cardigan and hauled the tank and sports bra she’d been wearing over her head until her breasts were bared. She heard a sharp intake of breath and looked up to find Amar watching her undress. He’d stopped and was still wearing his trousers.
“Don’t stop,” Rylee said as she sat on her knees. “I want to see all of you. And you can see all of me.” In one fell swoop, she lowered down her thighs the leggings and bikini panties she’d been wearing. She kicked them off and then slid backward completely naked on the duvet toward the pillows and beckoned him with her index finger.
His eyes roamed over her body appreciatively, and they blazed a path from her breasts to her triangle patch. Amar quickly made mincemeat of his trousers and boxer shorts, and they followed the same path as the rest of his clothes, piled high on the floor, so he could join her naked on the bed. His entire body covered hers, and Rylee felt his hard arousal pulsing against her thigh. His tongue traced the outline of her lips and of their own accord, her lips parted, allowing him entry.
A shudder of desire swept through Rylee, and she responded by meeting his tongue and stroking it intimately with hers. Amar groaned but didn’t break the kiss. Instead, the kiss just intensified, going on and on and on, until eventually they broke free for air.
Amar paid homage to her breasts by tasting, sucking, licking, biting and devouring them. Rylee reveled that this man was hers. All hers.
His mouth returned to Rylee’s lips while his fingers skimmed her breasts, stomach and navel before claiming the area between her legs. His fingers stroked, probed and caressed her, making her wet with need. She wanted all of him and couldn’t wait until they were joined together as one.
“Amar, please.”
“Please what?”
“Make love to me.”
“Oh, I will,” Amar said. “I can’t wait, but first I want this.” His fingers pushed deeper inside her, and his mouth left hers to trail a path of hot kisses to her earlobe. He licked and teased her ear while his expert fingers teased her clitoris. He seemed to relish the moans and involuntary purrs that escaped her lips.
Amar could take it no longer. He had to be inside her. His erection guided him to his destination, and he leaned down to capture Rylee’s lips. He stroked her tongue with his while her muscles encompassed all of him. She lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist, bringing him even deeper inside.
“Rylee,” Amar groaned as she began writhing underneath him. “You’re not playing fair.”
“I know,” she murmured.
Amar grabbed her wrists playfully and pulled them above her head. He began riding her with an urgency that bordered on obsession. Rylee was his and would always be. He heard her whimpering sounds of pleasure as he pumped away. They were on a journey that Amar hadn’t taken with any other woman. Rylee had branded him and made him hers.
“Amar!” Rylee let out a shuddering breath, and he felt her milking him, clenching all around him, but he wasn’t there yet.
He gave several more quick thrusts and let out a huge guttural groan from not only sexual gratification but love that washed over him, claiming his body and his mind. In that moment, Amar felt at peace and knew he loved this woman and would never get enough of her.
Epilogue
“What do you think about a double wedding?” Rylee asked her family as they all gathered at the Golden Oaks Ranch for dinner two months later. She and Amar had just come back from a two-week vacation off the coast of France to visit Amar’s brother Tariq.
“With who?” her mother asked.
“With us,” Kenya James and her fiancé, music mogul Lucas Kingston, replied as they walked into the living room. Kenya was looking stylishly chic in her new haircut, summer dress and some slingback mules, while Lucas was dressed casually in trousers and a royal-blue shirt that
accentuated his dark features, from his complexion to his midnight eyes.
“Really?” Chynna asked, excitedly running her hands through her hair. “Oh, I can’t wait. This is going to be twice as much fun.”
“Yes,” Rylee said, nodding as she fingered the six-carat solitaire engagement ring Amar had given her. It still surprised her that she would soon be Mrs. Amar Bishop. So much had happened in such a short amount of time: their courtship, their engagement and now their impending marriage. “Amar and I are ready to tie the knot, and Kenya and I got to talking, and with her and Lucas’s wedding coming up in a few months, it seemed like a win-win.”
“Gird your loins, Kenya and Rylee, you’re going to be in for a bumpy ride,” Noah commented from Chynna’s side as he rubbed her expanding six-month middle. “You two getting married on the same day — it’s going to be grand.”
“You don’t mind sharing your big day, Lucas?” Caleb asked the mogul as he played his usual role of bartender and prepared Lucas a drink.
“The more the merrier,” Lucas replied. “I can’t wait to make Kenya my wife.” He glanced over at his amazing fiancée with adoration. “And if Rylee and Amar want to join the festivities, why the heck not?”
“Wow!” Caleb said. “There’s just a little too much love and romance in the air here. I’m going to have to escape before I catch what’s going around.” He handed Lucas his drink.
“Just wait, little brother. You’re next,” Rylee said.
“I’m not the marrying kind,” Caleb replied.
“You think so now,” Amar said, pulling Rylee toward him, settling his arm comfortably around her waist, “but wait until you meet the one.” He looked down at her adoringly. “Then you’ll see — because once you do, you’ll have no choice but to embrace the power of love.”
Amar bent down and planted a full kiss on Rylee’s lips in front of her family. He didn’t care about showing anyone and everyone that he and Rylee had a love for the ages.
Acknowledgements
My fans have been wonderfully supportive of my writing career the last decade. It’s because of them that I keep striving to hone my craft and create great stories filled with drama, love and passion.
A huge thank you to Alina Vale, DVM, I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you for all your insight, tips and helpful contacts.
Thank you to Dr. Denise Mose for her info on the Kentucky Derby. Wish I could have made it there with you in 2014. Maybe next year!
To my cheerleader of going rogue on ebooks and staying the course: Kiara Ashanti.
And in the words of Sprint, I thank my framily (friends and family) for all their support: Austin, Asilee, Kimberly and Cassandra Mitchell; Lateisha Sawyer, Tonya Conway, Therolyn Rodgers and Dimitra Astwood, Tiffany Griffin Bhushan Sukrham. Last but not least, a big kiss to my love, Freddie Blackman, you keep me grounded.
Restless Hearts
Dear Reader
Hope you found Restless Hearts, a satisfying conclusion to the Harts of Arizona series. I’d been marinating on this idea for two years after visiting the Westgate River Ranch in 2013 so I knew the Hart sibling: Caleb would be a bull-rider. I loved his carefree, daredevil attitude, juxtaposed to his gentleness and protectiveness when it came to naïve and innocent Addison, the only woman who could tame him. Having never been in love, Caleb doesn’t recognize until he’s pushing her away, by then it’s too late thanks to a devastating bull-riding accident that leaves him temporarily paralyzed. His quest to win her back is filled with so much romance and passion, Addison is powerless to resist him.
And added bonus for you and an absolute must for me was the double wedding of former couples: Kenya and Lucas and Rylee and Amar. I knew as a reader you’d become invested in these characters over the four book series and would love an update and happy ending just as much as I loved writing it.
The Arizona Harts series may be over, but I suspect the Texas Harts: Duke, Jada, Bree and London will resurface in the next year. Stay tuned for more details by visiting my website and signing up for newsletter at: www.yahrahstjohn.com. Or feel to drop me a line at: [email protected]
Best Regards,
Yahrah St. John
Prologue
Present Day
“It can’t be,” exclaimed Addison Walker as he walked in. The man so startled her, she almost dropped the glass of champagne she’d been drinking at the Dallas Country Club charity event.
Addison’s best friend, Collette Edwards, reached for and steadied Addison’s wavering hand. “Can’t be what?” asked a concerned Collette.
“Caleb.”
Collette’s head immediately perked at the name that had caused Addison so much heartache four years earlier. “What about him?”
“He’s here.”
“In Dallas?”
Addison nodded. “Not just in Dallas. He’s at the party. Over there.” She inclined her head.
“Are you sure?” The words died on Collette’s lips as she spun around and indeed saw Caleb Hart—the one and only man Addison had truly loved. He’d walked in with an older gentleman wearing a designer tuxedo.
“Very,” Addison stated. “What the hell is he doing here?” Collette shook her head. “What are you going to do?”
“Do? I’m not going to do anything. I haven’t seen the man in four years since he broke up with me. What I am going to do is go find my boyfriend.”
“So you’re going to act like Caleb doesn’t exist, after everything he once meant to you?”
“Shouldn’t be that hard,” said Addison, “since he did the same thing to me.” She turned to leave, but Collette touched her arm.
“Addy, are you sure you want to leave things this way. Don’t you want to go over there and have it out with that son of a bitch, tell him how he broke your heart?”
“And give him that kind of power over me? Absolutely not. I made my peace with what happened between us years ago. I’ve moved on with Raphael.”
Seconds later, Addison was walking away, leaving Collette to wonder if she’d truly gotten over Caleb.
Caleb tried to remain present in the conversation his uncle, businessman Duke Hart, was having with an investor in his new oil refinery project. But that didn’t stop Caleb from staring at Addison as she walked away from Collette. It had been four years since he’d seen her last, and she was just as beautiful if not more so than she’d been all those years ago. Her usual straight hair was in a sophisticated updo, allowing a clear view of her delicately carved oval face, doe-shaped eyes and temptingly curved mouth. But there was something different about her. She was wearing makeup. When they’d been together, he’d preferred the natural look and had told her she didn’t need it. And she still didn’t.
And her body ... she’d matured into it even more. She wore a long lavender gown that hugged all the right curves. He could only catch a peek of her feet in the sparkling sandals, and it instantly reminded him of the night they’d first met when he’d removed her sandals one by one and had kissed his way up to the heaven between her thighs. And heaven it had been. She’d had her first orgasm thanks to his expert fingers.
He’d been a fool when he’d pushed her away, but how could he have allowed her to stay by his side as a paralyzed man? Had he known that a delicate high-risk surgery and rehab would give him the ability to walk again, he would never have let her go. But he didn’t have a crystal ball to predict the future, and at the time he felt he had to let her go, for his sake as well as for hers.
“Caleb, did you hear me?”
Caleb blinked several times. “I’m sorry, Uncle Duke. What did you say?”
“Seems like someone has their head in the clouds,” Duke commented.
“Sorry, Uncle. What was the question?” Caleb’s mind was scrambled. How could he think straight when Addison was the one who got away?
“Hey, baby brother
.” Rylee came toward Caleb a half-hour later and gave him a long overdue hug. She was attending the event with her husband, Amar Bishop, who had been invited by a business associate. “It’s so good to see you.”
“You too, sis.” Caleb squeezed her back. “It’s been too long.”
“And whose fault is that?” Rylee asked, putting her hands on her slender hips.
Caleb smiled sheepishly. “Mine.” He had been MIA of late at most family events at the Hart family ranch in Tucson, Arizona. He just hadn’t had the courage to visit Golden Oaks after his accident. The thought of getting back on a horse or anything with the ability to throw him would make him break out into a cold sweat.
“Yeah, it is,” said Rylee, punching him square in the shoulder.
“Ouch!”
“You deserve it,” she admonished. “Amar and I had to fly nearly two thousand miles just to lay eyes on you. And I must say, you’re looking good.” A broad smile spread across her face. “How the heck are you?”
“I’m good, I’m good.” Caleb smiled back. “And look at you,” he said as he grasped her small hand and spun her around. “Married life agrees with you. Or shall I say, being filthy rich agrees with you?”
Rylee blushed. “Thanks, I guess.”
Caleb knew it had taken her awhile to become accustomed to Amar’s lavish lifestyle of limousines, private jets, designer clothes and fancy cars. After nearly four years of marriage, she hadn’t quite embraced it, but Rylee was starting to dress more like the wife of a billionaire husband with holdings in Internet, publishing and television, rather than a veterinarian at a small dude ranch. He’d heard that Rylee was now in charge of Amar’s stable of Arabians that he’d inherited from his late father, Sheikh Abdul al’ Mahmud, as well as freelancing her vet services to high profile clients.
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