by Jenika Snow
“Look at me, My Queen.”
I opened my eyes and stared into Victor’s, feeling my love for this man grow. Our relationship might not have started off in the most conventional of senses, with him all but forcing me to marry him, but the truth was I was glad things worked out the way they did. He was a ruthless and brutal leader to all who came up against him, but to me he was a gentle giant, treating me like the queen I now was by title.
“I love you,” he said in a husky voice and leaned in to kiss me softly on the lips.“I love you too,” I replied and wrapped my arms around his neck, resting my head on his shoulder.
I knew without a doubt I was his world, that he would do anything for me. And now I was having his baby. Who would’ve thought a commoner like me would now be standing by the king as a queen and carrying the future heir?
Life had a funny way of working out. That was for sure.
Epilogue Two
King Victor
Five years later
“Papa, Papa.” Asher came running up to me, his dark curls bouncing. I scooped him up and held him as I walked over toward Willow, who stood over by the gardens holding Bethany. She was already starting to show with our third child, and if I had my way we’d have a dozen more. To hear my children’s laughter, see their little faces looking up to me for guidance and protection, showed me what the meaning of life really was.
Stopping beside Willow, I adjusted Asher on my hip and wrapped my arm around her shoulders, bringing her in closer. Bethany started giggling and held her arms out for me. I took the little girl in my arms, setting Asher down on the ground and watching him chase a bird before it flew off.
I wrapped my arm around Willow again and leaned in to kiss her on the neck. She looked over at me and smiled before resting her head on my shoulder. For long moments we just stood there, watching as the birds flew above, the butterflies and bees moving around the flowers in the garden.
“Crazy, isn’t it?” she asked before looking at me and rising on her toes, pressing a kiss to my lips.
“What is, my love?”
“That this is where life has taken us.” She looked at me and grew serious. “Who would have imagined I’d be your queen? Who would have thought I’d be standing by your side with two gorgeous children and one on the way?”
I didn’t need to think about what she said to know how I thought, what I felt. “I saw it,” I said honestly and turned her so she faced me fully. “I knew this would be the outcome from the moment I saw you.” And then I leaned down and kissed her, knowing that for the rest of my life this feeling—my love for her—would only grow.
The End
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ONE MORE NIGHT
By Jenika Snow
www.JenikaSnow.com
[email protected]
Copyright © May 2018 by Jenika Snow
First E-book Publication: May 2018
Photographer: Wander Aguiar
Cover model: Jonny James & Rachel B.
Photo provided by: Wander Book Club
Editor: Kasi Alexander
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: The unauthorized reproduction, transmission, or distribution of any part of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
This literary work is fiction. Any name, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.
Please respect the author and do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials that would violate the author’s rights.
When my sister passed away I adopted her daughter, Dolly, and raised her as my own. We were all we had left in this world and I was going to try my hardest to make sure she never wanted for anything.
That’s why I needed someone I trusted to watch over the most important person in my life. Being a businessman meant I was out of the house a good portion of the day, a necessary evil to provide for Dolly. A live-in nanny would ensure Dolly got the best care possible when I wasn’t with her.
And when I saw Emma for the first time I didn’t just see a caretaker for Dolly. I saw a woman who had every caveman instinct in me rising up like a primal beast. I felt possession and need for Emma the likes of which I’d never experienced before.
I didn’t just want a nanny anymore, I wanted Emma … all of her.
She might think this was just another job, but before our time was up Emma would realize she was mine and I wasn't letting her go.
Warning: Guys, this book is going to give you whiplash for how insta-crazy it is. Talk about a hero who can’t keep his hands off his woman! This may look like a sugary sweet read—and it is—but make no mistake: it’s filthy as hell. We have one alpha hero who instantly falls for the heroine and won’t let her go. Maybe a little obsessive, but hey, that’s what we like.
Chapter 1
Emma
“You’re firing me?” I looked between my two employers, a husband and wife who had more money than I’d ever see in a lifetime. “I don’t understand. Did I do something wrong?” I felt my heart start to pound harder and faster. I looked over at the infant in the highchair, Cassie, the daughter my employers had no time for. I started taking care of Cassie three months ago. Getting up with her in the middle of the night, feeding her, giving her the love her parents didn’t. It was rewarding all by itself, even if it was tiring and strenuous.
“Firing is such a negative word,” Morgana said, her perfectly made-up face twisting in disgust. “We like to say trying a different path.”
I lowered my brows in confusion at her response. “Finding another path?” I found myself repeating.
Morgana looked over at Robert, her husband, but he looked less than pleased even to be having this conversation, as if he had more important things to do.
“We just don’t feel you’re a fit for the household.” She shook her head slowly.
This wasn’t about being a fit for the household; this was about Robert having grabby hands and Morgana not liking it. Apparently when your husband sexually harasses the help, that means you fire them. That’s how you deal with the issue of your husband being a big asshole.
Maybe this was a blessing in disguise. Because it didn’t matter how many times I told Robert how inappropriate his leg brushes to my arms or back were, or how I didn’t appreciate the lightly laced sexual things he said to me. And all it ended up doing was having Morgana blame me even more.
“We just don’t feel you’re the right fit for Cassie,” Morgana said, her voice and tone clipped, as if I were annoying her.
“I—I don’t know what to say.” I looked between the baby, Robert and Morgana, not sure what to say.
“We’ll give you a day to clear your stuff out of the guest house,” Morgana said, dismissing me.
I didn’t say anything else as I headed toward the guesthouse. This was my second position, and although I hadn’t seen myself staying here permanently, I had at least hoped it wouldn’t be a temporary position like my first one was.
I moved past the pool and into the small one-bedroom house. Closing the door and leaning against it once in my room, I stared at the interior. A single bed, one nightstand, a plain dresser, and one picture of an ocean view hanging on the wall. On the nightstand there was a frame, one I’d brought from home: a picture of me and my mother, which had been taken years ago. It was right before she passed away and the only item that held any value to me.
But the room itself was sparse, especially given the extravagant detail put into the main house.
I walked over to the small closet, grabbed my bag a
nd started packing my clothes. I would head to the agency tomorrow and look to see if they had any openings in the same area. I’d look for one with a contract, one that wasn’t month-to-month like Morgana had done. No doubt she went through nannies like days of the week.
Maybe this was a blessing in disguise? I’d find something that would make me feel like an extension of the family. And to be honest, that’s what I wanted. With no family aside from ones that were so distant they didn’t even know who I was, I was looking for that missing piece since I’d lost my mother.
Tomorrow was a new day, right?
* * *
Jacob
I never thought I’d be a father, but after my sister Raina passed away I became just that.
A two-year-old little girl had come into my life not knowing what was up or down, how to process just losing her mother, and I was her sole caregiver.
Dolly was this rambunctious little girl who’d brought meaning into my life for the last five years. And for those years I’d been her father, the one person she depended on, looked up to.
We were all we had left in this world.
Even five years after my sister’s passing I could look at her little girl and see Raina staring back at me. Dolly, with her wild mane of golden locks, the curls bouncing when she ran around, was just like my sister had been when she was that age.
I’d ended up having babysitters help throughout the years. And as much as I hated the way my schedule was, that I had to have people look after her so much, I was tired of having so many people coming in and out of her life.
And so having someone live with us and be there for Dolly, making sure she had a stable environment, was a priority. I just wished I would have thought about this and done it well before now.
I looked at the website for the live-in nanny positions, knowing that this was a big step bringing someone into our lives, into our home to look after Dolly.
But with summer break coming up I needed someone who could be here with her at all times, keep her occupied, make her feel the love she deserved when I wasn’t here. I didn’t just want someone to babysit her. I wanted someone who could be that other figure in her life, the one she was missing out on because her mom was gone.
What she needed was a mother. But that was something I didn't know if I could ever give her. As a man focused on Dolly and work, I didn’t have time for relationships. In fact, I’d been so consumed with making sure Dolly never wanted for anything, that her mother’s passing didn’t consume her, I hadn’t been with a woman romantically for five years.
But I hadn’t wanted nor needed anyone in my life like that. I’d never found anyone who was good enough for Dolly … good enough for me. Celibacy worked just fine.
I exhaled and ran a hand over my short hair. Bringing up the nanny portfolio, I skimmed the prospective women. I don’t know how long I stayed at that computer, but I was getting a kink in my neck and the eyestrain was giving me a headache. I was about to say fuck it when I clicked on the last portfolio.
The picture had everything in my body tightening. I read her details, feeling my heart start to pound a little harder, this possessive need in me rise unexpectedly.
Name: Emma Marsh
Age: Twenty-Four
Gender: Female
Education: Associates in early childhood education.
Experience: Less than one year
I continued reading about her background, how she only had two previous positions in this field, the most recent one having lasted only a handful of months before she was let go. I stared at her picture. She was smiling almost shyly, her eyes big and blue, her hair blond like sun-kissed wheat in a field. I felt everything in me tighten the longer I stared at her image, this overwhelming feeling consuming me. I wanted her. I wanted her really fucking badly. It was sheer control alone that made it so I wasn’t sporting a huge fucking erection right now.
I’d set up an interview with her and pray like fucking hell she got along with Dolly, because something inside of me demanded I make her mine. It was primal, fucking insane, but it felt so right on every damn level.
I was insane, confused, but I couldn’t have talked myself out of this even if I wanted to.
And I sure as hell didn’t want to.
I needed Emma Marsh and everything inside of me told me to go after her.
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