Stealing Hearts

by C. D. Samuda

  “Did you see him before he died like I suggested?”

  “No, I was on my way there when I got the news.”

  “I suppose he might have donated the mansion to some charity like he threatened.”

  “Nope.”

  She turned in her seat to look at him. “What’s going to happen to it?’

  “It stays in the family.”

  A loud squeal from her almost deafened him. “You mean he left you that old haunted place? Wow, at least he left you something.”

  “Yeah, like everything.” He tried to keep the sour tone from his voice, might have failed.

  “He left you everything?”

  “Yeah.”

  Shade shook her head and made a face. “Why don’t you look and sound happy about it?”

  “I’ll tell you everything later and you aint gonna like it,” he responded, reaching over and taking her hand. “For now, let’s enjoy the drive.”

  Chapter 28

  The servants greeted them like they were some royalty. It occurred to Braeden that they might have been wondering what would happen to their jobs now that the Master of the Manor was deceased. Seeing Braeden might have put their minds at ease.

  He’d taken off Shade’s ski cap and draped his jacket over her to hide the old clothes, at least partially. They didn’t seem to notice. Braeden needed to be alone with Shade, therefore he gave them the evening off.

  His switched off his cell phone which hadn’t stop buzzing since he left the city. Fortunately it had been on vibrate the entire time, or he would have tossed it out the window. Majority of the calls were from Kurt. He would get back to his disloyal friend at some point in the future, but for the time being, Shade was all he wanted to think about.

  He led her up the stairs and down the hall to the same suite they occupied a couple of weeks ago. As soon as they entered, he shut the door and gently pushed her up against it. His lips were on her before she could protest. Their kiss started at the door, then he pulled her in his arms and held her as though he would never let her go.

  Their tongues caressed each other as hand explored. When Shade started removing her clothes, he ended the kiss and stepped back. Gently, he stopped her.

  “No, not like this.”

  She stamped her feet. “No, you can’t just make me horny and leave me hanging.”

  Taking her hand, he brought it to rest where his cock was battling the front of his slacks. “You feel that? You know how much I want to be with you?”

  “Then why not now.”

  “I want to take it slow,” he said, tracing her lips with his thumb. “I want it to be extra special when it happens.”

  “We love each other, what could be more special than that?”

  Braeden’s heart stopped at her words. He could only respond by pulled her in his arms once more and cradling her head against his chest. Those words meant more to him that he could have ever imagined.

  “You mean it?”

  “Of course, you think I go around telling random men that I love them.”

  “Honey, you got to stop with the attitude,” he scolded, pulling away from her and removing his shoes. “You have so stop arguing about everything.”

  Shade refused to let Braeden control the situation. While he was scolding her about her attitude, she was removing the t-shirt, which belonged to him. After lifting it over her head, she tossed it at him. It hit him in the face.

  “There’s your t-shirt back,” she teased.

  He grabbed it and buried his face in it. “What are you doing?”

  She was now removing her jeans. “Getting undressed, what else?”

  Her bra smacked his forehead and she stepped out of the jeans. Her panties were next, wet as they were. Braeden stood spellbound as his eyes glued to her rounded breasts. She was running her hands along her stomach and ended at her cleanly shaved junction.

  “I shaved just for you the other day, but was too chicken to let you know.”

  Within a few seconds he was out of his shirt and tossing away his tie. “You’re driving me crazy.”

  She assisted him from his pants, while pressing her lips to his chest and trailing hot kisses over his chest. Braeden’s arms came around her waist, their bodies crushing together. His hot hardness pressed into her belly, fueling the desire that had been simmering for weeks.

  They tumbled to the bed together. He commandeered her breast, taking one nipple at a time, licking and sucking. Her body shuddered with the anticipation of what was to come next.

  “I don’t want to wait,” she whispered. “We’ve had enough foreplay. Just do it now.”

  “But I want to take my time to lick every inch of your body,” he whispered back. “I want make good on the promise I made.”

  “What promise?”

  “The one I made myself about parting your flesh and tasting your hot juicy cunt.”

  A tremor passed through her as gushes of hot sticky juice escaped her. “You’re making wetter than I already am.”

  “Let me confirm that,” he murmured, reaching down and pushing a finger between her thighs.

  Shade parted her legs to allow him easy access. He rubbed her clit with his index finger, before sticking it inside her. She cried out at the sheer pleasure that rocked her. She felt as though she was near the brink as his finger slid in and out of her while his thumb fiddled with her clit.

  “Now, you bloody bastard,’ she shrieked. “I can hold it any longer.”

  He finger fucked her harder. “What did I tell you about cursing?”

  In retaliation to his torture, Shade reached for his cock and began tracing it with the tips of her fingers. She then closed her hand around it and moved it up and down its length. She loved the thickness of it and the bulges which massaged her palm only served to make her ache for it even more.

  Braeden sucked in his stomach, his breathing shallow. “You little tease. I will show you.”

  With one swift move, he rolled atop her. Without wasting another second she wrapped her legs around his hips as he pushed forward, sinking his large cock into her. She closed around him as he filled her, stretching her to the limit.

  Shae gasped at the temporary discomfort. Braeden held himself still, reached down and brushed her clit with his thumb. She arched into him as bolt of electricity shot up her abdomen. Slowly he began to move his hips, his piston working the shaft.

  Cradling her head, plastered kisses over her face, both their bodies now moving in tune with each other. Her sighs and moans filled the room as Braeden growled with pleasure.

  The explosion inside her, was swift and intense, nothing like she’d ever felt. Gripping his shoulders she bit her bottom lip, groaning and arched into his rapid thrusts. She felt him swell inside her, as his strokes became hard and fast.

  “Ahhh,” he roared just as she screamed his name.

  He continued to move his hips until the last of his orgasm subsided. Shade held him close, her body trembling with the impact of her release.

  Chapter 29

  Shade watched the rain making rivulets on the glass pane. It was time she faced reality and know she could not hide forever. She was in love with a man who professed to love her. She couldn’t very well hide in the streets anymore. The press knew she was alive and soon the entire world would know it.

  “Good morning.” Braeden opened his eyes and reached over for a kiss.

  Heat spread over her like a blanket as she looked at him, recalling their night. “Good morning,” she replied in a hoarse whisper.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked, noticing her frown.

  Shade eased herself from the bed and went to stand by the window. A few seconds later, Braeden joined, wrapping his arms around her behind, she sighed, enjoying the joy of being embraced but such warmth.

  “Ten years ago, I ran away from home,” she began.

  “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

  She inhaled a shuddering breath. “I want you to know ev
erything. It’s time to tell the truth.”

  “Okay.”

  “I must first introduce myself,” she joked. “My name is Erin Ileana Steinberg, daughter of Conrad Steinberg, movie producer and director extraordinaire. He taught me that I was extraordinary and should never settle for the ordinary.”

  Braeden hugged her tighter as her eyes stung at the memory of a loving father. She allowed a minute to pass while she swallowed the lump that rose to her throat and blinked back the tears that were trying to break through her tough exterior.

  “The daughter of Mia Steinberg, award winning actress, a phony and complete bitch.”

  “Whoah!”

  “It’s true. When my parents separated I was fourteen. My father remarried before my sixteenth birthday and my step mother hated me. I blamed my father for the separation, thinking he was the one who cheated. Boy, was I in for a big surprise. I was sent to live with my mother and that’s when things took a weird turn.

  “It started off with her being drunk or strung out all the time. I was naïve and couldn’t recognize the signs of being high. But what couldn’t escape me were the men who frequented her condo.”

  Shade paused to take a deep breath and to rein in her emotions. They were hard to define. Anger, regret, remorse, grief and hatred all rolled into one. She’s stuffed those emotions into a bag and buried them somewhere deep inside. Now that bag was being opened and she could hardly control what was coming out. Braeden, perhaps sensing this, kissed her cheek and whispered to her that she was safe.

  “She never wanted me,” she continued. “I only overheard her telling one of her male friends during one of her high and drunken episodes. She’d always insisted I call her Mia and I never knew why until that moment. She lamented that she only married my father because he promised her fame and she never wanted kids. She got pregnant because my father wanted a child….” she trailed off. “That wasn’t the worse part….”

  It was Erin’s sixteenth birthday and she’d just arrived home from school. She didn’t expect much from her mother now that she knew the truth about who she really was. Her father was out of the country. They spoke via video chat that morning and he promised that when he returned home they would do whatever she wanted.

  This was the first time he was missing her birthday so she wasn’t upset that he wasn’t there as his work was important. The one thing she appreciated about her father was that he never allowed his personal life to get between the two of them. That was why his new wife hated her.

  A soon as she returned home and stepped into the apartment, her mother threw her a gift box. “Get changed,” she said.

  Surprised, Erin opened the box to find a sexy lace negligee. “What this Mia?”

  “Today is the beginning of the rest of your life,” her mother said. “Today you’re getting your first fuck.”

  Dropping the box, she started to leave the room. Her mother grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly back, twisted her around and landed a heavy slap on her cheek. Her eyes widened as she gawked at the woman.

  “Don’t you ever walk away from me when I am talking to you,” she snapped, pointing at finger at her nose. “Now get changed. I picked out the perfect man for you. He’s got experience and a nice dick. You will like it.”

  That day, for the first time, Erin felt fear. She was afraid of Mia. She saw the hatred on the woman’s face for the first time. Like a good daughter she changed and allowed her mother to lead her to the master bedroom which she was never allowed to enter until that moment.

  What she saw there was a bordello. Red satin sheets, ropes, leather whips and everything you would expect to find in a sex toy store. The man was good looking, and gentle with her as she lay there and took whatever her mother ordered him to do. He did not intentionally hurt her and she could see the compassion on his face. But it was her first time and his cock was huge. She’d never forget the pain.

  That night while her mother was high and drunk, her usual nightly routine, Erin left and never looked back. Soon afterwards she heard that her father got divorced. She decided she would return home when she was eighteen, but her father died before her birthday.

  “I remember the story now,” Braeden said. “The lost princess. Everyone thought one of your mother’s boyfriends might have done something to you. She was interrogated but set free. You father never stopped searching for you.”

  “I know and I hated doing that to him.” Her voice cracked as tears pooled in her eyes. “It’s my fault he died so soon. I broke his heart.”

  Spinning her around, Braeden brushed away her tears, then crooked a finger under her chin. “That’s not your fault. Don’t blame yourself.”

  “How can I not?” she lamented. “But when my mom tried to make me take those drugs, couldn’t live with that. I didn’t want to go back to live with my step mother. I just wanted to disappear. I know I was being selfish, but I was shattered inside, know I wasn’t wanted. My father was shooting a movie in India and I had nowhere else to go.”

  ‘Stop blaming yourself,” Braeden encouraged. “He probably had health issues way before you left.”

  “You think so?”

  “Hmm.”

  It was emotional moment for her and Braeden allowed her to vent while supporting and comforting her. After holding her close for a long time. He took her back to bed and made long beautiful love to her. It was way past midday before they even left the suite and that was because they had missed dinner and breakfast, and were afraid that they would have no more energy to make love again.

  Epilogue

  Two weeks later …

  Live music echoed through the ballroom of the old mansion. Shade (as she preferred to be called and Braeden agreed), made a mental note of all the things she would need to change when she redecorated the place.

  Their wedding reception was a grand affair as per the wishes of her husband. As far as Shade was concerned, she would have been happy without a reception at all, but the invitations to attend events started pouring in especially after the press conference where she revealed her true identity.

  What she was most happy about was that the two best friends made up. Kurt’s intention was not to put her in arms way, but to give Braeden the opportunity to make an informed decision about his future. Kurt thought that if Braeden knew who she was, he would jump at the chance to make this a real marriage. She couldn’t fault him for that as he was looking out for his friend.

  During the last two weeks, they spend most of their time at the mansion getting to know each other better. They left three times. Once when Braeden attended the board meeting where he was appointed chairman and a new CEO appointed. The other two occasions were when they visited their parents’ graves.

  When they were leaving the cemetery the day they visited Braeden’s father, Shade took his hand. “We should do this right and visit your grandfather as well.”

  “Do I have to?”

  “Yes, we need closure, both of us.”

  It wasn’t easy for them both talking to a dead man, explaining their feelings about the pain he inflicted. By the time they were done venting, they were both tearful, Braeden more so. Because even though he’d carried resentment for the old man all those years, he still loved his grandfather. That was why he worked hard for his approval.

  Arms wrapped around her, a chin resting atop her head. “Penny for your thoughts?”

  “Cheapskate!”

  “Who you calling cheapskate?” Braeden laughed. “I’ll have you know I’m a very high maintenance kind of guy.”

  “Then you’re a miser.”

  “I will have you know I am very charitable.”

  She twisted around. “A penny? Really?”

  “Okay, how about a billion dollar for your thoughts?’

  “Are you making fun of me?”

  “Nope. Tell me how much your thoughts are worth and I’ll gladly pay.”

  With a coy smile she raised on her toes, because even though she was wearing four inch
heels, he still towered her by several inches. Her lips brushed his ears and she savored the sound of his drawn in breath.

  “I’ll tell you what I’m thinking only when I get you alone. I want to pull out your hard thick cock and wrap my hot wet tongue around it. Then and only then will I tell you what’s on my mind.”

  “What are you waiting for?”

  With that said, Braeden took her hand and pulled her towards to the stairs.

  “What are you doing?” she protested. “There are guests here.”

  “They won’t even notice we’re not in the room.”

  And the rest is history…

  The End

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  ALSO BY THIS AUTHOR

  DIRTY BY DESIGN SERIES:

  Dirty Encounter

  Dangerously Dirty

  Riding Dirty

  Dirty Proposal

  More books to come in series.

  LOVE’S ABANDON SERIES:

  His Sacrifice For Love

  Breath of Fire

  Complete Abandon

  A TOUCH OF LOVE SERIES

  The Scent of You

  The Scent of Christmas

  Orchids are Forever

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  C.D. has been a fiction and non-fiction writer for many years, creating compelling stories, web content, articles and poetry.

  She spends most of her days writing. She has always known that she would be a writer. She spent her adulthood dreaming of writing her own novels while working a 9 to 5 job. With determination, she quit her job and started working at home full-time as a freelance writer. In 2016 resigned freelancing, dedicating her time to pursuing her dreams of being a novelist.