The Love Series Box Set: Volume One

by Davenport, Fiona

  Chapter 1

  Thatcher

  “There’s been a delay in shipping the materials for the renovation, Mr. Kendall.”

  I cursed and clenched the phone so hard I was surprised it didn’t crumble to dust. At least I hadn’t chucked it at the glass wall across from my desk like I’d been tempted to do.

  Nolan, my assistant, would have been fucking pissed if I cracked the glass, especially because it was right behind his desk. Then he probably would have tattled on me to Patti. I didn’t want to face the wrath of the woman who’d been like a mother to me for the past fifteen years. She technically worked for my brother, but the honest truth was that she ran this place and it would fall apart without her.

  “How far is it going to push back the project this time?”

  “Um, well—we aren’t sure. Two weeks, maybe?” he stammered.

  “You’re fired,” I snarled just before I heard the crunch of my phone cracking in my hand. “Fuck,” I mumbled when I pulled it away from my ear to inspect the damage.

  I pushed to my feet and stalked to my door. Nolan looked up when I came to a stop by his desk. “Headed to your dinner meeting?” he asked as he scribbled something on a planner sitting open before him. Nolan was a true millennial in most ways, but he still clung to some old traditions, like backing up digital calendars with paper ones. I didn’t give a shit how he organized things, he never missed anything. If I was late to a meeting, it was my own damn fault, as he would tell me afterward.

  “Yes.” I tossed the ruined phone into the air, and he instinctively caught it in one hand like I knew he would. He had mad reflexes, and I often wondered if he moonlit as a ninja. “Order me a new phone.”

  “Hulk smash much?” Nolan quipped with a raised brow.

  “And I need to find a new contractor for the renovation on my townhouse,” I deflected.

  He shook his head as he made notes. “Another delay? Seriously?” His annoyed tone validated my frustration. I wasn’t overreacting. “What’s that make? Four times?”

  “Something like that. This is taking way too fucking long,” I growled. “I need it done as soon as possible. I don’t care how much it costs, find me someone who can get it done in two weeks.”

  Nolan sucked in a breath and shook his head. “That’s going to set you back a pretty penny.”

  I shrugged. It wouldn’t even put a dent in my checking account, much less the overall total of my assets. “Get it done.”

  The only reason I’d been able to wait this long was knowing that everything had to be just perfect before I made my move. I was doing everything I could think of to ensure that when I finally went for my girl, I would’ve done everything I could to earn her love.

  I took a deep breath and tried to expel the residual anger from my phone call. My dinner meeting was crucial, and the last thing I needed was to take out my irritation on the man about to merge his business with ours.

  I sauntered into Justice’s office and leaned against the doorway, shoving my hands in my pockets. Justice was staring intently at his phone, more than likely, stalking his girl.

  His head lifted, and he scowled at me before snapping, “Remind me why this meeting had to happen tonight?”

  “Jamison is getting married this weekend, and he’ll be gone on his honeymoon for three months,” I reminded him. “We need this merger to go through before the fiscal year ends.”

  “Okayyy,” he dragged out the word. “But why a dinner meeting? This couldn’t have been done during lunch?”

  My gaze had wandered to the floor-to-ceiling windows across the room from me, and I meandered over to them. My eyes dropped down the forty-five floors below us to search out the view of Battery Park. We were too far for me to really see who and what was there. But it didn’t stop me from studying the scene in the hope of spotting her. “I’m not available for lunch meetings,” I finally responded, scarcely paying him any attention.

  After a minute, I felt him walk up beside me, and his curious gaze followed mine. “Want to give me a little more explanation than that, brother?”

  I swore and turned away from the window, my hands clenching in my pockets. “She’s there,” I bit out. “Every day. It’s the only time I have to see her.” The only time I could fucking breathe lately. Even if we’d never spoken, and she didn’t realize I was alive.

  Justice’s brows shot up to his hairline. It was an understandable reaction; I hadn’t told him about Imogene yet. I wasn’t completely sure why, if anyone would understand this consuming obsession for their woman, it was Justice. He’d been stalking Blair, the object of his love, for nearly two years. When I found Imogene, I realized I had more in common with my brother than I thought.

  “The one,” I expounded as I turned my tumultuous gaze in his direction.

  Justice contemplated me for a few moments, then asked, “So, what’s the problem? Why are you hesitating?”

  I shook my head. And that, right there, was the true reason behind my reluctance to confide in him. Justice was forced to wait for Blair because she was still underage. He wouldn’t understand my decision. I pulled my hands from my pockets and crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m not hesitating,” I disagreed. “I’m just not ready yet. Everything has to be perfect.”

  “Everything?” he asked, clearly still confused. “What are you waiting for?” The thing was, Justice had passed the time by putting his plans in place. He hadn’t considered what he would have done had he met Blair after she’d turned eighteen. I couldn’t help but imagine that he would have taken the same path as me and waited for a plan to come together rather than go off half-cocked.

  But, now wasn’t the time to get into it. “I’ll explain another time. We’re going to be late.”

  Justice looked like he wanted to argue, but he stayed silent and returned to his desk to grab his suit coat before we headed out.

  We snagged a yellow cab at the corner, and I rattled off the address of a steakhouse in midtown. Jamison Kennedy was waiting for us when we arrived. We’d met him in college, all three of us finance majors. After graduation, he’d worked as a stockbroker while my brother and I opened K-Corp, our investment banking firm. Eventually, Jamison had made a name for himself and started his own investment firm. His business boomed, and he ended up making his first billion a few years before us.

  Recently, he’d approached us about merging our companies. Since Justice and I had already made a couple of offers over the years, we jumped at the chance. We’d even made the lame joke that it was perfect because Kennedy fit right in with K-Corp. But, what we didn’t understand was why he’d finally agreed.

  Jamison stood and shook our hands before we all took our seats. “You boys still planning on being at the wedding this weekend?” he asked after we’d placed our orders.

  “What kind of groomsmen would we be if we skipped out?” I joked with a grin.

  He eyed me darkly. “The kind who get their assess kicked all the way to Timbuck-fucking-tu if they’re even a minute late. This day has to be perfect for my Hazel.”

  Justice took a sip of the scotch the waiter had just placed in front of him before reassuring Jamison. “As tempted as I am to be late just to see you try and kick my ass, we’ll report as scheduled, boss.”

  Jamison nodded his thanks, and we started talking business. Justice was barely paying attention, throwing in one-word answers from time to time while he vigilantly checked his phone.

  The plan Jamison laid out had him still running the division but stepping back considerably and relying on his VPs and managers. Knowing him as I did, I was well aware that he was as much of a workaholic as I was, so I voiced my curiosity. “What convinced you to lighten the load?”

  “Hazel,” he answered without hesitation. “I want to spend my life with her, not in my office with a scotch and a headache.”

  I laughed and nodded. “Fair enough.” It made sense since I’d been ruminating on the idea of working less once I’d brought Imogene home. I didn�
�t want to miss any time with her or our kids, and since I fully intended to put a baby in her without delay, it seemed like a good time to start the ball rolling.

  Justice stood suddenly and excused himself before weaving through the tables and exiting the restaurant. The look on his face told me he wouldn’t be returning. Jamison raised a brow in question, and I shrugged. “Probably something to do with a woman,” I answered, being deliberately vague. The last thing any of us needed was someone over-hearing about Blair, digging up the info, and making a big deal out of it while we were trying to make a smooth merger. Alarming stockholders would be a gigantic pain in the ass.

  As expected, I got a text a couple of minutes later that something had come up and he wouldn’t be back.

  The business discussion with Jamison concluded shortly, and we spent a few more minutes catching up as we waited for the check. After we paid and walked out into the spring night, he made me promise once again to be on time for the wedding. Then we separated, and I headed home.

  Chapter 2

  Thatcher

  My eyes swept over the half-finished room, and anger bubbled beneath the surface of my calm façade. If I ever saw my old contractor, I was going to shove my foot so far up his ass he’d be chewing leather for months. I pushed my violent daydreams aside and focused on the new guy who was surveying the space and looking over my list of requirements.

  He finally wrote one last note on his clipboard and faced me. “We can definitely get it done, but to meet the time frame, we’ll have to work around the clock.”

  I nodded. “Whatever it takes.” I hardly slept these days anyway. I ached for my girl when I was in bed alone. If I did finally drift off, it was only to be woken up a little later drenched in sweat and crying out her name as I came like a fucking teenager. It was ridiculous. Thirty-four years old, and I was regularly having wet dreams.

  I mentally sighed. I knew the only way to relieve this constant ache in my heart and balls was to get Imogene in our bed and sink ten inches deep into her dripping pussy. I could almost feel the slide of my cock between her lips. It showed just how talented my imagination was considering I’d never had my dick between a woman’s legs. Or anywhere else on a woman’s body.

  For a long time, I’d thought I was simply broken. I’d even briefly wondered if I was batting for the wrong team. But there’d been no spark for either sex. I’d finally confided in Justice about it in my early twenties, and after a night spent with Patti and her family, he came to a conclusion that hadn’t occurred to me.

  “I’ve seen the way you watch Pattie and Don,” he told me as we’d walked back to our office building. We were still at the stage where every penny was being poured back into the business, which meant we were on intimate terms with the couches in our offices. “I’ve also observed it with other couples.” He stopped, and I halted next to him. He put a hand on my shoulder and looked me straight in the eye. “You want what they have. You long for it.” He was right. Patti and Don had exactly what I was hoping to find someday. They adored each other. Whenever they were together, it was rare that they weren’t touching in some way. I wanted a love like that. I knew I was capable of it, but I wanted my woman’s love to be mine as much as mine was hers.

  “Thatcher,” he continued. “Your heart and body are telling you what your brain hasn’t concluded yet. They won’t work until you’ve found the right woman.”

  He’d been right, but I hadn’t realized quite how accurate he actually was until the day I first saw Imogene. My heart had sped up and raced like it was in the Indy 500, and I’d had to step in front of a park bench to hide the hard on that was suddenly tenting my pants. I’d been sporting a semi ever since.

  “Mr. Kendall?” The contractor pulled me back to the present, and I pushed away all of my other thoughts. He handed me the clipboard, and I quickly scrawled my signature before passing it back. “My crew will be here in a few hours to get started.”

  “Thanks,” I said as I walked him down three flights of stairs to the front door. I had an elevator at the back of the house, but I rarely used it. It was going to come in very handy when Imogene was pregnant, though.

  The contractor and I shook hands, and then he was gone. The renovations were on the fourth floor, so I wandered back to the master suite on the second floor, intending to gather some stuff and sleep in the finished basement so I wouldn’t be too disturbed by the noise.

  Instead, my bare feet padded along the shiny, hardwood floors until I was standing in the doorway to the room just across the hall. It had been finished only a few weeks after I’d started the renovations on my brownstone. The changes had been simpler, and I wasn’t adding a sunroom onto it like I was on the fourth floor.

  The walls were painted a soft yellow, a big picture window looked out over the street, and it was flanked by two white, built-in bookcases. On the left end of the wall, in the corner, was a cream and wood glider with a teddy bear already propped in the seat, ready for some cuddling. The next wall had a white crib and changing table, as well as other necessary items for a nursery. The opposite corner of the room had a little nook with cupboards waiting to be filled with toys, and the wall beside it was taken up by a white chest of drawers and the door to a walk-in closet. Everything was neutral so it would work for a girl or a boy, but I had done it more so that everything could be easily changed based on what Imogene wanted.

  Staring at the nursery I’d had built for the babies I planned to have with her; I made a decision. Whether her other surprise was ready or not, I was bringing my woman home in two weeks.

  * * *

  “Imogene,” I groaned as I pumped my hips in a steady rhythm. Her legs wrapped around me, and she arched her back, shoving her sweet tits in my face. They were perfect, like two scoops of vanilla ice cream with red cherries on top. They were going to be even more mouthwatering when they were dripping with milk. I bent my head to suck one tight peak into my mouth, sucking hard, as though I could already drink from her.

  My spine started tingling, and I lifted my head to grit my teeth as I pushed back my pending orgasm. I switched to her other breast, and Imogene clutched my biceps, her nails digging into my skin as she cried out in ecstasy. They were going to leave marks, and it made the caveman inside me roar with approval. I wanted her to brand me as hers, just as the love bites around her tits and the bruises she would no doubt sport on her hips from my firm grip marked her as mine.

  I popped her nipple from my mouth and kissed the valley between her tits before demanding, “Tell me you love me, sugar.” I needed to hear it. There was no stronger aphrodisiac than hearing my woman profess her love. I was completely obsessed with Imogene, and I wanted—no, needed—her to feel the same way.

  Her eyes met mine, and they were brimming with emotion. “I love you so much, Thatcher.”

  It was all I needed. I reached between us and pinched her clit just before I thrust in one last time, burying myself as deep as possible and coming with a shout. The second I started to release inside her, Imogene exploded, her head dropping back as she screamed my name.

  I rocked against her, prolonging our orgasms as long as possible. Eventually, we lay there, limp and utterly spent. I stayed inside her, plugging her hole so no come would leak out of her. My boys were on a mission, and I was doing everything I could to help them out. After a while, I grew tired from holding myself up so that I wouldn’t squish her petite body beneath my massive one. I fucking loved the way I could cover her from head to toe, though.

  Rolling to the side, I sighed in contentment as I cuddled Imogene against me. I kissed the top of her head and lifted her face, her lips searching for mine. I obliged her silent request, kissing her passionately. The taste of cinnamon and sugar burst on my tongue as it tangled with hers.

  My eyes opened, and I stared at the empty spot beside me on the bed. My body was sweating and shaking from the force of my orgasm, but as my hand slid over the soft sheets, feeling their coolness, the chill spread from my finger
tips to the rest of me. These dreams left me feeling bereft and alone. The funny thing was, despite coming during the dream, it wasn’t the ejaculation that had my dick going limp when I woke up. It was remembering that I was alone, and it was always a long time before I fell into another restless sleep.

  Chapter 3

  Thatcher

  Hazel and Jamison were like magnets, neither of them could be far from the other for long. It was clear how much they adored each other, and Jamison made no attempt to hide the fact that he worshipped her.

  They’d had a big, beautiful wedding ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which I still believe Jamison had to perform a hit for someone in order to get it on a month’s notice. That or he had a direct line to God, and they personally made a deal.

  Their reception was at the Plaza and required all guests to attend in black tie. The whole event was full of glitz and glitter. The guest list was littered with New York’s elite.

  It was incredible, but not my scene. I was pretty sure it wasn’t Jamison’s either, so it must’ve all been for Hazel. And yet, whenever I spotted her, unless she was looking at Jamison, her eyes lost some of their sparkle and she seemed almost uncomfortable in her own skin.

  Justice had ducked out early; to go home and brood over Blair, no doubt. I had intended to do the same, but my house was full of people and incredibly lonely at the same time.

  After saying goodbye to the bride and groom, I found myself taking the green line down to South Ferry. It was a warm evening, so I removed my tux jacket and folded it over my arm. Then I wandered along the park towards the bench where I stopped every day and watched Imogene.

  To my surprise, there was someone already sitting there. I hesitated, preferring to be alone with my misery, but a niggling feeling kept my feet moving. My heart started pounding, beating faster the closer I got. When I was only a few feet away, the person lifted her head and warm, whiskey-colored eyes locked with mine. My breath stuck in my throat as I stood there like a deer caught in headlights.