A Soldier For Bella (Love Conquers Life #4)

by Alison Mello

  “Thank you for agreeing to marry me.” I lean in to kiss her on the cheek.

  We’re all finished with dinner, but we’re still sitting around a dirty table when the questions start to flow about what Bella wants for a wedding. Richard and Troy harp on me about treating Bella like the queen she is. I’m not surprised because Carter went through the same thing, so of course he’s enjoying that I’m going through it as well.

  The girls finally begin the process of cleaning up, simultaneously discussing the wedding. When they're finally done, they join us at the table, and Bella asks Patty to be her matron of honor. Since she’s brought it up, I ask Carter to be my best man since if it weren’t for him, I would have never met Bella. Of course they both happily accept.

  It’s starting to get late, and we’ve been sitting outside talking for hours. It’s been a blast but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was happy when our friends and family started calling it a night. It’s time to celebrate my engagement with my fiancée, and that is a party for two.

  We finally shut and lock the door. The house is clean and empty, so I slowly walk over to Bella with a look that tells her she’s my prey. Her smile grows because she knows what I want, and thankfully we’re on the same page. She runs up the stairs and I chase after her. As soon as we hit the top of the stairs I scoop her up, startling her. She screams.

  Gently placing her on the bed, I climb on top of her and look deep into her eyes. “Bella Campbell, I love you so much and can’t wait to make you my wife.”

  She giggles. “That’s good because I’m excited to become Bella Campbell-Thompson.”

  My brows shoot up. “Hyphenating, are we?”

  “Is that okay?”

  “Baby, as long as you say, ‘I do,’ and have my last name in there, I’m fine with whatever you want.”

  She bites her lip as I lower mine to hers. I kiss her slowly and softly, licking her lips as a way of asking for her to open to me. She doesn’t disappoint. Our tongues collide as she pulls at my hair. She’s trying to rush this because she wants me, but I want to take it slow. There’s nothing rushing us, and I want her to really feel me tonight.

  I break our kiss. “Slow down, my love. I promise to take care of you, but I want to kiss and touch every inch of this fantastic body tonight.”

  She licks her lips as I lower my lips to hers again. This time she slows it down as our tongues rub and dance with one another’s. I kiss down her jaw to her ear and then rub my tongue down the vein in her neck. Wrapping her hair around my hand, I gently pull her head to the side to give myself better access to her neck. I’m devouring her, licking her, kissing her, and nibbling on her, and she loves it. She whimpers and moans as I continue tasting her delicious skin. I lick back up her neck to her lips, where I again begin kissing her.

  I pull away to sit up, pulling on her arms to take her with me. Pulling her shirt over her head, I continue kissing and nibbling at her neck while I remove her bra and toss it to the side. As soon as she lies back down I lower my mouth straight to her beautiful breasts. I take one nipple in my mouth while I play with the other, rolling it between my finger and thumb. She arches her back as she moans.

  I kiss my way to her other breast and, between kisses, I tell her, “I’m. Claiming. This. Ass. Tonight.”

  She’s about to say something when I bite down on her nipple. Her words become a strangled moan. I have worked my fingers into her shorts and panties, where I slip them through her folds and discover she is so damn wet already. I roll my fingers over her clit and her hips instantly start to move in rhythm with my movements.

  I kiss my way down her stomach until I reach the top of her shorts. I make quick work of the button, disposing of them as quickly as I can. Wasting no time, I bury my face in her beautifully bare pussy, licking and devouring her clit. I’m hungry for her, and I want her come all over me. As I lick her clit, I take one arm and I press her legs into her chest so I have better access to her sweet pussy and tight ass. I stick two fingers deep inside her pussy to finger fuck her while I continue licking her.

  She’s moaning and whimpering as she presses her legs against my arm.

  I look up at her. “If you don’t stop fighting me, I’ll be forced to tie you down, baby.”

  She bites her lip and nods. Now that we understand each other, I suck her clit back into my mouth but pull my finger from her pussy and slowly work them into her ass, using her own juices as lube. She’s trying hard not to fight me but she’s losing control. She’s about to explode, so I continue to work her clit, sucking on it and rolling my tongue over it. As soon as she explodes I shove both fingers deep into her ass, stretching her and working her as she explodes on my tongue.

  “Fuck, Derek,” she screams out.

  “Trust me, baby. Soon enough.” My fingers are still working her ass. “Relax for me.”

  I blow on her clit as I lick her from her ass to her clit. She flinches, and I love it. I do it again, but this time I continue licking her clit, demanding another orgasm from her. My fingers are working in a scissor motion. I want to stretch her good because she’s getting it in both holes tonight. We’ve been working up to this for a while, and she’s ready.

  “Yes, Derek,” she moans. Each time I’ve worked her ass she’s had some killer orgasms. I know she’s going to love feeling my cock buried inside her.

  She’s already on the verge of another orgasm, so I let go of her legs, but like a good girl she holds them in place. My thumb goes to her clit, and I bury my tongue deep inside her hole. She’s on sensory overload when suddenly she screams my name as another orgasm rips through her body.

  She’s panting when I finally pull away from her pussy with her juices glistening my lips and chin.

  “Are you ready?” I ask her as I pull my fingers from her beautiful ass.

  She nods at me, so I quickly flip her over, grab her hips, and pull her up so her ass is in the air. I take the lube from the nightstand and rub it all over my cock with one hand and her ass with the other. Placing the tip of my cock at her puckering hole, I slowly push my way through her tight ring.

  “Give it to me, Derek,” she yells at me.

  I slap her on the ass. “Calm down, I don’t want to hurt you,” I growl.

  “You won’t. Please, just give it to me.” She’s panting as I push myself deeper inside of her, working her clit with my finger. “Yes, babe, give me more,” she says, so I slam my full length deep inside her ass and pause for a moment so she can adjust to my size.

  “Baby, I need you to relax.” She takes a few deep breaths. “That’s it, baby. Open up for me.”

  She takes a few more deep breaths and I can feel her relaxing around me. Once I’m sure she’s ready, I start slowly sliding my cock in and out of her while I continue to strum at her clit.

  “Damn, Derek, that feels so good. Please give me more,” she begs. At her request I pick up the pace until I’m pounding my cock into her ass. I take both her beautiful globes and pull them apart and watch as she takes my full length in her ass.

  “I’m going to come,” she whimpers.

  “I’m with you, baby. Give it to me.”

  My finger goes back to her clit, and I feel everything tighten as another orgasm takes over her body. I pull my cock from her ass and shoot my load all over her.

  “My God, Derek, that was so hot. I can’t believe you just did that.”

  “I told you I’ve wanted this ass for a while now, and I can finally say I’ve claimed it.”

  As she collapses on the bed I quickly run to the bathroom and snag two washcloths, one for her and one for me. I need to clean myself off because I haven’t had my fill of her yet.

  “I hope you’re ready to go one more time, because I’m not quite done yet.”

  She rolls over and gives me her sexy smile, letting me know once again we’re on the same page.

  Chapter 17

  Bella

  “I’m so proud of Derek and Carter. They work so hard to put the
se fundraisers together and they’re always a big hit,” I say to Patty as we’re getting our hair done for tonight’s event. This is a little more casual than past events, but as the wife and the fiancée of the men who have organized the event we need to look good so we can represent our men.

  “Yeah, they make a really good team, don’t they,” she says as her stylist puts the finishing touches on her hair. I look at my friend and watch her as she glows with excitement for her husband. “We have to give some of the credit to Mom. She does help,” Patty adds.

  “Yeah, she’s pretty great too,” I admit. “Plus, she sets up these appointments for us so we can come and relax prior to the event, although sometimes I think that is more Richard spoiling us than her.”

  “He totally likes to spoil us, but I told him he has to go easy. He will want to retire at some point, and they need money to live off of.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He laughed at me and told me not to stress his retirement. He is more than set.” Patty shakes her head.

  The two stylists pull our capes off and announce that we’re done. When we get to the counter, the girl confirms that our bill has been taken care of and tells us to come again. We stroll out to our waiting cars. With a quick hug, we each climb in to go home so we can finish getting ready.

  As I pull up to the house, I notice a car in the driveway that I don’t recognize. This is a moment when I miss having Jordan by my side. Right now I’m scared to go into my own home. I know Brian is in jail, but what if he sent someone after us? I take a deep breath and think to myself, you are fine. Just go in the house. One more deep breath and I open the car door.

  After running straight for the door, I listen for a second to see if anything in the house sounds off. When I hear nothing, I open the door and say, “Babe, I’m home.”

  Derek is standing the kitchen with two other people. Their backs are to me, so I have no idea who either of the two people are until the woman turns around. My hands fly to my mouth as I gasp at the people in front of me. I run to them, and my parents wrap their arms around me in the biggest bear hug. We’re all crying now. So much for my professional makeup.

  “Oh baby girl, Daddy has missed you so much,” he says as he kisses the top of my head.

  I pull away from them. I’m a blubbering mess. “When did you find me? How did you know how to find me?”

  “Your fiancé called us. He talked to us about the direction your life has taken. He informed us that you two were getting married, and he didn’t want to marry you without at least trying to make us a part of the day. It was a bit of a wakeup call for us. We realized we were missing out on so many of your accomplishments, all because we wanted to decide your career for you.”

  “Darling, when we signed you up for modeling, we always thought it would be a fun hobby for you. We never thought you would make it your career, but you did and that threw us off. I’m sorry we weren’t better parents and more supportive of your choices.” My mom sighs. “Will you please forgive us and give us another chance? We want to get to know our little girl again and watch you finish your career from up close instead of in the back row.”

  “Of course I forgive you,” I say with tears running down my face.

  They hug me one more time, and then Derek says, “Okay, Sid, you have a job to do now.”

  I turn to Derek and give him a questioning look.

  “I had Sid come over since I figured you would probably ruin your makeup after seeing your parents.” Sid walks around the corner with his makeup tote rolling across the floor.

  I chuckle as I give him a hug. “Thank you for being here.”

  “Oh, you know I can’t say no when it comes to you,” he says as he waves me off.

  “Mom and Dad, this is Sid. He’s the makeup artist and hairstylist that prepares me for all of my shoots.” They exchange pleasantries.

  My dad says to me, “Bella, honey, we need to get going if we are going to make tonight’s event.”

  “You guys are going?” I ask, super excited.

  “Yes, we are thanks to your fiancé and the tickets he gave us.”

  I jump up from my seat and throw myself into Derek’s arms. “Thank you so much!”

  “You’re very welcome, baby. I’m glad everything is working out.”

  “Um, you, young lady, are going to be late if you don’t sit your butt back down and let me get to work.”

  I giggle at Sid but head to the chair to take my seat, knowing full well he’s going to remove every ounce of makeup I’m wearing and start over.

  Derek gives me a quick kiss and says, “I’m going upstairs to shower and get ready. I’ll see you in a bit.”

  “Thanks again, babe. I love you.”

  He smiles down at me. “I love you too.”

  “Let’s go, you two. I still have to go home and change,” Sid says, breaking up our moment. Derek walks my parents out and heads up the stairs. Once Derek is upstairs and out of earshot, Sid says, “You know you have yourself a good man, right?”

  “Of course I know that. I can’t believe he got my parents to come here to see me and they apologized. It’s amazing. I can’t wait to spend more time with them,” I say as I close my eyes so Sid can get back to work.

  An hour later, I’m ready and relaxing as we wait for our limo to arrive. It should be here any minute now. Derek is answering a few emails and texting Carter to make sure everything is running smooth for tonight.

  Derek approaches me. “The limo is here, baby. Are you ready?”

  “Yes,” I say as I follow him to the front door with my clutch in hand. “Babe, you need to be prepared because I’m going to announce our engagement if the media starts going crazy about the case and Brian being in jail. Of course there’s always the chance it’s been leaked already too.”

  “No worries, baby. Do your thing, and I’ll be right there to support you.”

  We both climb into the limo and it takes off for the event. The club isn’t far so we don’t bother opening the champagne that is waiting for us on ice when we get in, although maybe I should have because when we pull up the venue there are a ton of reporters outside. As soon as the limo comes to a stop, the reporters go crazy trying to figure out who’s inside. They’re already snapping pictures so they can have the first glimpse on camera.

  The door opens and Derek climbs out. He reaches in, takes my hand, and helps me from the limo. Of course loads of questions are thrown at me. This is the part of being a model that can suck sometimes. People take shitty pictures of you and they alter what you say. It’s so annoying.

  “Ms. Campbell, is it true that you are now officially off the market?”

  “I’ve been off the market for a while now,” I say with a smile as I look up to Derek.

  “Yes, but there are rumors that you are engaged,” one of the reporters shouts to us.

  I show them my hand and say, “They’re not rumors. Although we have not set a date yet, it is true that sometime in the near future I will become Mrs. Campbell-Thompson.”

  I again look to Derek and he lowers his lips to mine in a soft kiss so they have a nice picture to go with their statement.

  “That is all for tonight. We need to get inside to support this great cause. My fiancé and his co-worker Carter Montgomery have worked very hard to make this event a success.”

  Derek places his hand on the small of my back as we enter the venue for the event. Just seconds after we head inside, the media checks out the people who got out of the next limo, and we are forgotten.

  Patty gives us each a hug. “How was the media frenzy? Did you announce your engagement?” she asks me.

  “Yeah, but they made it easy because they had already heard rumors about it.” I shrug my shoulders as the three of us continue on our way. She tells us where our family is, and we make our way to them to meet up with them.

  We hug and greet everyone, and without even thinking, I spit out, “I need to watch for my parents.”

 
; Everyone gasps, and Sandra asks, “Your parents are coming?”

  I smile. “Yeah. Derek spoke to them and informed them of our engagement. They came to realize they were missing out on too much of their only daughter’s life. They were at our house when I got home from the salon waiting for me.”

  “Oh my,” Sandra says.

  “I know. I bawled like a baby. Thank God Derek, realized it would be an emotional moment. He had Sid on standby to fix my makeup.”

  “I’m so happy for you,” Sandra says, but the look on her face tells me she may have mixed emotions. I think she likes treating me like a daughter.

  “Sandra, you know this doesn’t change anything between us, right?”

  “Oh, of course not, darling. You will always be like a second daughter to me.”

  We hug quickly, and the conversation changes as I watch for them. Just when I’m feeling like they’re going to pull a no show, I spot them walking through the door, looking a bit nervous. I quickly pull Derek with me to greet them. As soon as they spot us, I see instant relief on both of their faces.

  “Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad,” I say quickly as we hug. “Come on, we’ll introduce you to our amazing friends.”

  After a round of introductions, Carter and Derek have to take off to get the night rolling, leaving the rest of us to take our seats at our table. We are sitting front row at a reserved table. There are two large rectangular tables at the front, and the remainder of the tables are round. One of the rectangular tables is ours, and the other is filled with Tobey’s friends and family. We all take our seats as Derek and Carter appear on the stage.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Derek Thompson and this is Carter Montgomery. We would like to thank you all so much for being here tonight. We have a great show planned for you, and dinner is about to be served. If you can all take your seats, we’ll get the night underway.”

  Derek hands the microphone to Carter. “As Derek said, I’m Carter Montgomery and I too would like to thank you all for being here tonight. Because of your generosity, the generosity of this fine establishment, and the comedians performing for you tonight, we have raised enough money to not only purchase the TVs for Briar House, but to also train three of the six service dogs we were trying to raise money for. That is amazing, and I thank you!” There is a huge round of applause as everyone cheers for such a good cause. “Unfortunately our work will never be done.” He pauses, and the clapping dies down. “There will always be a soldier who needs a service dog or a TV that needs replacing in one of our rehab homes. I thank you for your support and I hope that you will continue to support our service men and women who have worked hard to keep us safe. Please, enjoy your night.”