by C. M. Steele
“Right now, Debra, they are putting out the fire just to my left. We’ve been moved far away from the possible blast zone. It is believed that the suspect was Paul Peters, an intern in the District Attorney’s office. Police confirmed that Mr. Peters did not survive the first blast. According to reports, Mr. Peters fled the hospital after being spotted by the police, who subsequently gave chase. The chase lasted twenty minutes before a spike strip was laid out along Interstate 10. The suspect’s vehicle spun out of control and rolled into a ditch where it immediately exploded. Police believe there may have been more explosives in the vehicle. The motive in the bombing seems to be another attempt on DA Everett Russell, as he was at that hospital recovering. This is Gena Howard, reporting for Channel 7 News. Back to you, Debra.”
I turned off the television because we didn’t need to hear anything else about it at the moment.
“At least he’s not going to be able to come after us again,” Miranda said, trying to make it seem like Paul’s death was a good thing. It would have been better had he’d confessed to why he did what he did, but his death was still a good thing. He was so dangerous. Although no one died they could have.
“Yes, that’s true, sweetheart, but I wished I’d known why he hated us that much,” Russell said.
“Maybe the detectives will find out after they search his home.”
“What is going to happen with all of your friends that are here?”
“They are staying at a hotel, and I don’t know if they are going to go back. They said they would check in on us in the morning.”
“I’m really glad your friends came. It’s the only reason we made it out of the place in the first place,” her mom said.
“So am I.” Miranda yawned, which set off a chain of yawns in the room.
“I guess it’s time for all of us to get some rest,” DA Russell said with a chuckle. We hadn’t discussed it, but I wasn’t going to let Miranda sleep without me, so I was sleeping in her room. “Get some rest. Tomorrow, I’m sure will be crazy, but hopefully less dangerous than today.” He nodded goodnight to me and hugged Miranda before he and Mrs. Russell walked up the stairs to their bedroom.
“So I know that you have your own place, but since we’re staying here, do you have your old room?”
“Yes, I stay here on occasion when I’m too tired to drive home. So let’s go up and get some sleep. Tomorrow we can go to my apartment.”
~~~~~
What happened the next day through me for a loop. The entire Blake family came with Milo and Mike. When I thought the last of the people entered, my mother and sister walked in. I was wrapped up in hugs until they saw my woman.
“OMG, you’re so freaking pretty!” my sister screeched. “No wonder why he can’t wait to marry you.”
“Daphne, that’s not nice. Your brother loves her. That’s why he’s anxious.” She pulled Miranda to the side and said, “We have a lot to plan for. I know that you’ve all been through a lot, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t have a wedding in the meantime.”
“You think we can still pull it off?”
Mrs. Blake walked up and added, “Honey. We’ve got this. Leave the details to us. You pick out your dress and spend time with your dad. We’ll have it ready to go. Duke already told us your favorite color is blue. Is there anyone you want here that isn’t in town? We want to make sure we can fly everyone in by Saturday morning.”
“Um. My family all lives in Phoenix, but we’re not close to them,” Miranda said, embarrassed that there wasn’t any other family.
“It’s okay, doll. We plan on making a big family together. Your parents aren’t going to know what to do with themselves and all the grandbabies.”
“Hey, Duke, can we have a word with you?” Mike and Milo said.
“The office is down the hall,” Miranda’s father said.
“I’ll show you,” Mrs. Russell offered.
The guys, followed by Jackson and Mr. Blake entered the office. “If you need anything boys, just let me know.” She left us to discuss shop.
“What’s up, guys?” I asked. They didn’t have any information that I didn’t have.
“We just wanted to check on you. We know this has been a fucked up week.” Mike hugged me hard as fuck. “I’m so glad you’re still with us. Now, so what’s this need for a rushed wedding?” he asked with laughing until his eyes disappeared with his smile.
“Ha. I knew this was coming.” I shook my head at these fuckers. They weren’t going to let me live this down. I had talked way too much shit in private. At least they had to decency to rib me while Miranda was in the other room.
“You’ve had it coming for a long time. I do recall someone ragging me about falling like a fool,” Mike replied.
“But then again it was with my daughter so it was natural,” Mr. Blake joked. There was a knock at the office door right away. I wondered who would interrupt us when we’d just walked in. But along with Mrs. Russell, it was Agents Morris and Smith. As soon as they were let in Mrs. Russell closed the door again.
“Hello, Mr. Wyatt, may we have a word with you in private?” Morris said, looking around the room at the crowd of men.
“Actually anything you can say to me you can say in front of them.” There were no secrets between us. We were too close for that.
“Okay, but it’s regarding Ms. Russell.”
“What do you mean?” I ran to the door, thinking some crazy reason that she’d been taken away.
“She’s fine, but we found evidence in Peters’ house this morning.”
“What was there? Or am I going to have to drag it out of you?”
“Sorry, it’s just he had a shrine of Ms. Russell. He was completely in love with her. There’s pictures of her all over his house. They were some pictures that they took at parties, photo ops, but most of the had been candid photos that were taken from a window.”
I kept my shit together. The man may be dead, but I wanted to bring him back so I could kill him again. He was sicker than I had imagined. Peters was obsessed with her. And what was more fucked up was he was quietly obsessed with her. He didn’t go around trying to please her or vie for her time. She acted like he wasn’t anything more than a part of the competition.
“If he was so obsessed, why would he go after her?”
“It’s the typical, ‘if I can’t have you, no one can,’ mentality.”
“Then why the elaborate attempt to frame ADA Lowell?”
“We’re still working on it.”
“He probably attacked when he saw me approach Miranda and she didn’t push me away. We got along as best as we could at first, and, well, if she was this standoffish with all men, he would have noticed I was different.”
“Exactly. We’ve seen this many times. Once he realized that she was never into him, his hatred for her would grow. At the center of his shrine, he had her face with a broken heart over it.”
Morris took his phone out, pressed some buttons, then turned it to me. What I saw only made me more furious. He wanted her dead for her betrayal. Over her head there was the word cheater.
How was I going to break this to Miranda? Knowing what I know about her, she’s going to be strong on the outside, but live with the guilt on the inside. She’s going to think it was all her fault, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Miranda was shrewd and didn’t give most the time of day. It took me weeks to get to her and she wanted me. The man was insane and as much as I hated him, I knew why he was nuts about her. She’s perfection.
Chapter 14
The wedding was more than I had ever dreamed of. Duke's mom was a dress designer and owned her own place. Something Duke forgot to mention to me. That's why she was able to get so many gowns on short notice. Mrs. Blake, Zoey, April, and Daphne all helped get the ceremony together. My mother stayed with me as we got me into a stunning, strapless, white gown that made me look like a princess. My hair was up in a braid that was pulled and tugged in different spots making it look
so elegant. Daphne was watching those tutorials online and tried them on my hair. It was the last one that she did that I fell madly in love with. The accent pieces in my hair made the style look even more glamorous.
The dress was puffy at the bottom but moved so nicely. I twirled around in the large mirror in my parents’ bedroom, giggling like a silly little girl. “You look beautiful,” my mom said her voice cracking.
“Thank you,” I sobbed. “I feel so wonderful. I’m so happy that we didn’t let Paul win.”
“We’re all glad he did, but I believe there’s a handsome man downstairs waiting for you walk down to him.”
“Oh yes. I almost forgot,” I said with a laugh, practically running out of the room.
“Hold on, you forgot your veil,” my mom called out.
The wedding was fantastic. They managed to work miracles and to have the entire yard fully decorated. There were about forty guests, but I wasn’t really paying any attention. My eyes and mind had been focused on my groom. He was wearing a black tux. Men in suits. Damn, he was the king of hotness. I couldn’t wait until we were alone. He was talking to my father, so I shouldn’t have been looking at him like I wanted to have his babies or well at least make them.
“Hello,” a deep foreign voice greeted me. I turned to see a man that was about the same height as Duke but had a lighter coloring and a long scare on his face.
“Hello,” I sheepishly replied back. After everything I’d been through I was ready to run.
“I did not mean to frighten you. I’m Nikolai.”
“Oh. Sorry. I’m sorry. You didn’t…”
“Ah, my dear you don’t need to lie. I know the scar is a bit off-putting, but my wife tells me it’s sexy.”
“It wasn’t the scar. It’s been the past week of fear. I didn’t see you at the ceremony.”
“That I can understand, but your eyes were focused on my friend.”
“Niko, are you trying to flirt with my wife,” Duke said, angrily. I thought he was serious until I saw the look on his face.
“You know very well there’s only one woman I flirt with.”
“By the way where is Bianca?”
“The restroom,” he remarked with unease which made Duke laugh.
“You did it again?”
“As always. I love my wife and I want lots of sons.”
“Are all you men the same?”
“Yes, they are,” said a beautiful brunette. She had an exotic look to her and then Nikolai wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close. “Sorry, I’m Bianca Rykov. Congratulations, you’ve got yourself a wonderful man. The calmest and most levelheaded of the them all.”
“What! They’re worse than you?” I asked Duke.
“Not anymore. I didn’t know what love was until I met you. They don’t know that I’ve become a caveman with you.”
“Oh no and fuck yeah, all in one. These men. It’s annoying when they get into other men’s faces for looking at you, but damn do I find my hubby’s Alpha tendencies hot as hell. In fact, I think we’re going to have to cut our stay a little short. Sorry to run, but there’s something important I need to discuss with Niko,” she said with a wink. Niko barely got to say goodbye before she was yanking him along.
“Come on, Niko.”
“It was a pleasure. Forgive me. Pregnant wife calls.” He left with a grin on his face.
“So, they’re an interesting pair. Do you think that’ll be us?”
“I don’t know. Nikolai is a lot like me and I suppose if Bianca was a bit older she’d be like you, but I think you’re more mature.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Not at all. Besides, from the look you were giving me while I was trying to have a civil conversation with your father was very telling. I thought you were going to rush me right on the spot. Do you know how hard it was to keep my dick down? Fuck the look you gave me could crumble an army of men.”
“And you’re just one man. I’m surprised you withstood it.” He didn’t know that I was about to pull a Bianca. My body ached for him. With everything going on it was hard to be alone and when we were, it was at my parents and we were too tired to try and be quiet.
Three hours of partying with tons of spoons to glasses, I was about to combust. My pussy throbbed every time they forced us to kiss. I never wanted to take away everyone’s glasses so bad. Whoever thought of that tradition was a real asshole. It was pure torture. We both looked sexy in our clothes, enhancing the need to touch each other.
“Your limo is ready,” Milo said. Those words were taken with greedy pleasure. I wanted to get Duke alone so I could take what I want and what I knew I would get—plenty of screaming orgasms.
I made quick work of saying goodbye to my family. Duke was taking his sweet time. I wanted to snap, but then again I didn’t want to start our marriage off on a bad foot. I managed to change into a simpler dress than I was wearing. It flowed like my other dress, but was shorter and lighter for easy access.
“Are you ready?” he asked in a grumbling tone. His hand held my arm firmly and it was like he was as tense as I was. “Please.” Once we got past all the well-wishers, I felt relief cascade off my shoulders.
“Take me to my chariot, brave sir,” I demanded, summoning him to me. He clutched my waist, and slammed his body close to mine. The look in his eyes was full of promise.
“Yes, your grace. I will take you in your chariot,” he growled in my ear. I moaned and wiggled my ass against him.
We were only going to my apartment, now our apartment, but we had every intention of enjoying the Sunday together before I had to go back to school. The university was going to allow me to make up the last two weeks of assignments all things considered. I didn’t want to have to redo the semester over, so a honeymoon was out of the question for the time being. Technically, we already had a really short one in France. We decided that we’d finish out my three months here, graduate, and move to Seattle where he was working at the Blake and James law offices. They also said I could intern there, and once I got my license I could practice with them.
Duke helped me into a large limo. I’d never seen one with a back area so big, but I’d only been in corporate ones. This looked like there was definitely a purpose for this one. Duke rolled down the divider and said, “Please take your time.”
“Yes, sir,” the driver said with a wicked smile. I didn’t even care that he knew what we were going to do. I wanted my husband.
“You’re my husband.”
“That I am. I love you, Miranda.” He pressed his hand on the edge of the seat as he leaned over me and kissed me hard. His lips claiming me. “My wife,” he whispered. Slamming me against the seat. Then all of the sudden the seat started to slide down. I was completely flat on my back with Duke covering me with his body. I moaned, feeling his cock on my belly. He was so hard and thick that I knew it wouldn’t be long before we were both coming in a heaping mess. With his hips, he rocked against me, almost setting me off without being inside of me.
His eyes raked over me and I knew he was ready to devour me, but we didn’t have time for that and I wanted us both to come. “Doll, you belong to me now. All of you belongs to me, and I’m ready to claim you.”
“I want to go for a ride, Duke,” I boldly admitted.
“Fuck yeah,” he said with a determined grin. He sat back and undid his dress pant, pulling out his cock he gave it a stroke, rubbing the bead of cum all over the tip. My mouth watered, but he wasn’t going to let me have it. Sitting all the way back against the opposite side, he wagged his finger at me beckoning me. Lifting up my dress, I wasn’t wearing any panties, so I climb up his thick ridge and slid down.
I let out the breath I was holding and tossed my head back. My pussy clenched. I was still getting accustomed his thickness. I thought I was going to come when I felt his cock pulse inside me. Lifting my head to look back at him, we made eye contact and that was a heady experience. My heart was pounding when he cupped my bared ass
and started giving me a great ride. The driver put on some music and I felt the freak in me just get unleashed. Rolling my head along with my hips, I caught my rhythm while I slid my hands into his hair and pressed my chest into his face. Moaning against my breasts, I shivered with desire. His eyes looked up at me while he bit through my dress.
“Ah,” I sighed; my body simmered with heat and need. I parted my lips awed by the feeling of pure sex goddess coming from me. He ran his hands over my breasts over my dress, squeezing and running his hands higher. His eyes never left mine and gave me so much promise.
Duke slipped his thumb in my mouth as his other hand gripped my hair. “Suck,” he commanded, tugging on my hair while he watched me lick and suck. I felt like I was performing for him and it only made me hornier. I worked him hard until he pulled my face to his, kissing me like he’d needed to breathe. As soon as his tongue tangled with mine, I came.
“Duke,” I screamed.
“Yes, my duchess. Come,” he roared. I felt his seed shoot into my pussy while I rode out my orgasm. I fell on top of his chest, completely beat. Our bodies were covered in sweat and half our clothes. He wrapped his arms around me, hugging me.
He pressed the intercom button. “Driver, take us home.”
“Yes, sir. Congratulations again.” I blushed, but I knew he didn’t hear us. Thank fuck for technology and the freaks before us.
He moved me off of him, sitting me nicely on the other side while he fixed himself. Afterward he picked me up and sat me on his lap. “Mrs. Wyatt,” he said in reverence, capturing my mouth with his.
Epilogue
Four months later…
“How do you think you did on the bar exam?” I asked when she walked into the door. We’d just moved to back to Seattle and she wanted to take the exam as soon as we got settled. I had to work so I didn’t pick her up, but that damn exam was long as hell and she just walked in the door.
