by M. S. Parker
He touched my necklaces. First, my grandmother's. Then, the diamond one he'd given me. I'd been worried they wouldn't go together, but they did. I’d broken tradition by putting the diamond one on myself because he couldn't see me before the wedding, but today of all days, it had been important to wear it, to wear both pieces of jewelry that symbolized that I belonged to him. His collar and his ring.
The rings…
Smiling, I caught his hand and brought it up to my lips. I kissed the cool metal. “Now everybody can see this,” I said, lacing our fingers together. “You’ve got this symbol and everybody knows you’re spoken for, that you’re taken.”
“Symbol or not.” He hooked his arm around my neck and drew me in closer before spinning me out into a quick circle on the dance floor. My skirt belled out around me and for a moment, I felt like Cinderella at the ball. Then he pulled me back up against him and I knew the truth. This was way better than Cinderella.
“You’ve owned me for a long time, baby.”
I smiled and leaned in closer. “I love you.”
“I want a dance!”
Molly’s cheerful voice interrupted us and I glanced up at Dominic. He grinned down at me. As Molly cut in, I found myself swept up in Jefferson’s arms. Maybe we weren’t going to slip away just yet.
But that was fine. We had the rest of our lives, after all.
Chapter 28
Aleena
“Here you go!”
I grinned at Molly as she put a giant cupcake down in front of me. “You realize my birthday was a while ago, right?”
Molly shrugged. “Yeah, but I’ve been out of the country.” She plopped a fat portfolio down in front of me and flipped it open. “Behold, dahling…” She drew the word out and waggled her eyebrows at me. “See what I’ve been up to.”
She sat down next to me and turned the pages as I ate my cupcake.
She was right. I hadn’t seen her since about a month before Christmas. She’d been right at my side in the few weeks before she left, but she’d been offered an opportunity and only an idiot would have said no. She’d ended up subletting her apartment and had only just recently gotten back from her trip to Italy.
A friend of her father’s had offered her the chance to study with him. The guy was a photographer and had been looking for an intern. Molly had always been interested in photography and when Antonio had been in the US over the summer, he’d seen some of her work and decided somebody needed to take her under their wing.
He'd also decided he should be the someone.
I’d assumed he was looking to make a move on her, but Molly had told me I had it all wrong. He’d lost a daughter a few years ago and Molly suspected he saw her as a surrogate of sorts. Or maybe he’d just been lonely. But what they had was plain and simple friendship.
Molly seemed older now, more mature…steadier. She’d always been steady and kind, but she had a focus now and she was looking to open a studio in New York soon. She’d come over today to take pictures of Dominic, me, and Carly Rose. Our daughter.
She was two weeks-old and the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life.
I knew I wasn’t wrong, either, because Dominic agreed.
A sound caught my attention and I looked up, watching as he came walking in, carrying Carly in his arms. A surge of love went through me at the sight of the two of them together. Dominic had been worried about being a father, but the moment he'd seen Carly, he'd been entranced.
A soft sigh came from the woman at my side and I looked over at her. “Man, the look on your face, Aleena.”
I had no idea what I looked like, but if it matched how I felt, I was probably smiling a thousand watt smile and glowing enough to light up the New York skyline. I'd never known it was possible to be this happy. It was hard to believe sometimes that we'd only known each other for a little over a year.
“Hello, ladies.”
Dominic jogged up the steps that led to the sitting area under the window where we were sitting. We’d moved out of the penthouse just after the New Year. Dominic had surprised me with a house as my Christmas present, telling me that a child needed a real home, not some penthouse that looked out over the city. We didn’t live in New York anymore, although we were close enough to get into the city within an hour. Dominic commuted for the most part, but sometimes he worked from home. He didn't even keep an apartment in the city for late nights. He didn't do those anymore. We did, however, still have the house in the Hamptons.
His primary concern these days was In From the Cold, and he'd been named one of the up and coming philanthropists of the year by one of the country's most important magazines.
“There’s my beautiful wife.”
“There’s my beautiful husband,” I said, smiling up at him. He bent down and kissed me hard and fast.
I took the baby from him and laughed as she made a sound that was familiar by now, a demanding little mew. “Hungry already, sweetie?” I asked her.
Dominic sat down next to me and brushed my hair aside, watching as I unbuttoned my blouse to nurse the baby. He loved to watch me feed her.
“We’ll have to wait until she’s done eating to do the pictures,” I told Molly, grimacing as Carly latched on to my nipple. “Once she decides she has to eat, then she has to eat.”
“She’s the new boss of the household.” Dominic reached over and touched a soft, smooth cheek and I glanced up at him.
I heard a familiar snap and jerked my head up.
“It’s a gorgeous moment,” Molly said, lowering her camera. “Trust me. You’ll love it.”
I just rolled my eyes. Dominic leaned over and kissed me. “I’ll want a dozen of them,” he said, smiling as he leaned over and whispered into my ear. “How many weeks are left?”
I blushed and shot Molly a look.
“Just pretend I’m not here,” Molly said cheerfully.
As she fiddled with her camera, I slid Dominic a look. “Four,” I said under my breath.
Four weeks until the doctor released me. Four weeks until I could safely have sex with my husband.
“Does it bother you?” I asked quietly. I'd had the question on my mind since the doctor had given me the restriction.
“What?” He looked puzzled.
“Not being able to...” I flushed. “And knowing you're going to have to take it easy with me?”
He smiled and brushed back my hair. “Aleena, I love having sex with you. I love hearing you moan and scream with pleasure.” He kissed the top of my head. “But I love you more than all of that. You and Carly are my life. Sex is just...” He made a dismissive gesture with his hand. Then he grinned, a wicked glint in his eyes. “Besides, I'm sure we can think of other ways to keep ourselves entertained while we wait.”
Heat bloomed in my stomach. I was sure we could.
Carly made a noise and thoughts of sex went to the back of my mind. Like he'd said, it was important, but it wasn't everything. She was everything. He was. They were. My family.
This time, when the camera made its little electronic whine, I didn’t even look up. I trusted Molly to capture all of these moments, moments that I knew I would want to remember forever.
And we had forever. Dominic and me and Carly...and whoever else joined us.
My family.
The End
Coming in September: Blindfold, a new erotic series from M.S. Parker and Cassie Wild. Click here to get an email as soon as it’s available.
All series from M. S. Parker
Pure Lust Box Set
Casual Encounter Box Set
Sinful Desires Box Set
Twisted Affair Box Set
Serving HIM Box Set
Club Prive Vol. 1 to 5
French Connection (Club Prive) Vol. 1 to 3
Chasing Perfection Vol. 1 to 4
Pleasures Series
Exotic Desires Series
A Wicked Lie
A Wicked Kiss (Release August 25th)
A Wicked Truth (
Release September 15th)
Blindfold (Four part series coming in September)
Connect with the authors on Facebook:
Cassie Wild: http://Facebook.com/CassieWildAuthor
MS Parker: http://Facebook.com/MsParkerAuthor
Acknowledgement
First, we would like to thank all of our readers. Without you, our books would not exist. We truly appreciate each and every one of you.
A big “thanks” goes out to all the Facebook fans, street team, beta readers, and advanced reviewers. You are a HUGE part of the success of the series.
We have to thank our PA, Shannon Hunt. Without you our lives would be a complete and utter mess. Also a big thank you goes out to our editor Lynette and our wonderful cover designer, Sinisa. You make our ideas and writing look so good.
About The Authors
MS Parker
M. S. Parker is a USA Today Bestselling author and the author of the Erotic Romance series, Club Privè and Chasing Perfection.
Living in Southern California, she enjoys sitting by the pool with her laptop writing on her next spicy romance.
Growing up all she wanted to be was a dancer, actor or author. So far only the latter has come true but M. S. Parker hasn’t retired her dancing shoes just yet. She is still waiting for the call for her to appear on Dancing With The Stars.
When M. S. isn't writing, she can usually be found reading– oops, scratch that! She is always writing.
Cassie Wild
Cassie Wild loves romance. Every since she was eight years old she’s been reading every romance novel she could get her hands on, always dreaming of writing her own romance novels.
When MS Parker approached her in the spring about co-authoring the Serving HIM series, it didn’t take Cassie many seconds to say a big yes, and the rest is history.