Lust & Lies Box Set-Sexual Awakenings, Excess, Predator & Prey

by Kate Stewart

  “I’m your first kiss, Red. Nothing will ever change that and you can’t do a thing about it.”

  I let myself break for the boy I fell in love with. The boy who tried to protect me from the monsters lurking down the hall from my bedroom. The boy who gave me as much of a childhood as he could. The boy who loved me. I thought of our last day at the pond when I’d made a promise I would always keep to that boy, and I kept my memory there and didn’t let it drift to a single day after. And then I thought of the son he left behind with the same beautiful blue eyes.

  “I’ll teach him how to ride a bike. I’ll show him how to float. He’ll have it all, I promise you. I love you. Always.” I wiped my tears as I took one last look at our forgotten pond. “Goodbye, Laz.”

  I drove out of Dyer for the very last time.

  “Okay, just let me show you this last thing.” Amber scrolled through her phone and began sorting through the fabric samples in front of her while Joseph looked up at me with big eyes. “I bored.” I laughed as Amber frowned between us, then sighed.

  “Okay, maybe this is a bit much. You look tired. We can do this another day.”

  “Tank weezus,” Joseph said as I burst out in hysterical laughter.

  Amber cut her eyes at her son. “Okay, monkey, you get dressed for bed.”

  “Wead me a book?”

  “I’ll be right there,” Amber promised.

  Joseph shook his head. “No, Aylor.” He turned to me with a smile.

  “Okay, buddy,” I agreed.

  “Tank weezuz.”

  Amber straightened in her chair. “Aaron?!”

  Aaron poked his head out of the kitchen. “Yeah, babe?”

  “My son seems to think thanking Jesus is a necessary period to end each sentence. You wouldn’t happen to know where he got that from, would you?”

  Aaron winced with guilt. “Sorry, babe. We’ll get it right with the next kid.”

  Amber shook her head. “So cocky,” she said with a smile as he gave her a wink. She turned to me. “I worry, though,” she said as she looked toward Joseph’s bedroom. “He’s having problems with his speech. He’s just not getting it.”

  I looked over to my sister, who had transformed in the time I was away. Her recovery from the gunshot had been a slow nightmare, but Aaron had been there every step of the way. I’d visited often enough, but it was clear to me after a few trips she had someone new to look after her. In fact, I’d been visiting Charleston as an out of towner, not a resident.

  “You had speech problems too.”

  She looked at me in shock. “I did?”

  “You did, and a lisp. Don’t worry. He’ll get it.”

  “I don’t remember that.”

  “It was adorable,” I pointed out as she gave me wide eyes. Joseph called from bed. “AAAAYLOR. I WEADY!” We both chuckled as I moved to get up. “That kind of adorable.”

  Amber looked me over with a small smile. “You’ve changed a little.”

  I raised my brow. “How?”

  “Just a little softer around the edges,” she noted as she glanced back at Aaron, who was busy in the kitchen. “Nothing wrong with that.”

  Honesty. “I’ve been trying to figure some things out, let sleeping dogs lie, you know?”

  Amber’s faint dimple appeared. “Sleeping dogs can’t lie. They’re asleep.” We shared a smile at one of our old corny but shared childhood jokes.

  Amber stood and gave me a hug. “We miss you. Really. I know it’s hectic when you come, but Joseph asks for you all the time. I don’t mean to twist your arm, and I know you’ve been through a lot but—”

  “So have you,” I pointed out.

  Amber shook her head. “I don’t want to get emotional.”

  “Good,” I deadpanned, and we both laughed. Her eyes watered anyway. “What you did for us—”

  I cut her off, unwilling to take the credit. “You brought yourself here. Don’t forget that.”

  Amber took a step forward and wrapped her arms around me. My reaction was instant. We hugged for a silent minute as Joseph peered out his bedroom, a replica of Lazarus Walker, with an open hand waving for me to come to him. “I think it’s time I came home too.”

  “Good, because I’m pregnant.”

  That night, I checked into a motel as I had in my previous trips to Charleston, never staying more than a day or two before retreating to Ray’s mansion—my mansion. I hadn’t been back to the penthouse. It was the last step of my self-imposed mission to try to move on with my life. In the late hours, I tossed and turned in that hotel room, desperate for some much-needed sleep, my body exhausted from hours in the car, my mind racing with thoughts of a new future. Against all odds, my position was still safe with Scott Solutions, and my partner had made it so. Still, even with my brief visits, I always worried there might be someone lurking in the shadows, some circumstance that would prevent me from resuming my life, from making another transition into the rest of it. I’d had to fight that fear every day for years, and it was time to put it to bed.

  I walked down Bay Street in the French Quarter with the key to the penthouse in hand. The garage was brimming with cars, a far cry from the deserted parking space of a year ago. Daniello and I had alone occupied the building. Even the elevator had a different feel. Opening the door to the penthouse, that feeling dispersed. The bed still sat near the fireplace, the sheets tangled. The stale smell of an unoccupied space drifted over me.

  Empty.

  I laughed at the irony. Through all the trials I’d been through in the last year, I was still inevitably alone.

  “But you aren’t alone.” I smiled as I thought of the baby boy that fell asleep on my chest, of my sister’s plea for me to come back home. I had family. I had friends. I had a career waiting for me.

  I walked over to the bed and stared at the sheets, the only sign that he truly existed. He’d left me nothing but his memory. I tried to shake my emotion away as rain began to pour down the large panes of glass in front of me. I gripped my arms as I stood at the window and spoke to a ghost.

  “I won’t say goodbye to you. I won’t. I can’t. Not you.”

  Taking a deep breath, I lay in our bed and stared at the ceiling as visions of my love danced around me, the way I knew they would if I returned to the only place that belonged to us, and finally drifted to sleep.

  “Taylor Ellison speaking.” I moved through the penthouse as the movers set Ray’s desk in the corner. My door sounded again as I looked at one of the men who’d just finished hanging a painting on the wall. “Do you mind getting the door?”

  “Sure, Ms. Ellison.”

  My penthouse was a madhouse of workers. I dove into the task of creating some sort of semblance of a home once I decided to stay in Charleston. I needed order, and that would never change.

  “Hey, partner, you getting set up?” Nina asked with syrupy sweetness on the other end of the phone. “I’m attempting to,” I said as I motioned to the men carrying the desk.

  The man I asked to answer the door called out behind me, “Ms. Ellison, it’s a grocery delivery.”

  I let out a sigh as I addressed Nina. “I may lose my shit today.”

  “I just heard that southern twang,” Nina chuckled as she refused to let me off the phone.

  “Get used to it.” I called out over my shoulder, “Money’s on the counter. Please have them unpack them.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “So, I’ll see you tomorrow?” Nina pleaded.

  “I’ll be there. Look for a six a.m. email.”

  “Wait—”

  I smiled as I hung up.

  Careful what you ask for, Nina.

  The truth was, I couldn’t wait to dive back in. I sat down behind Ray’s desk and spread my hands over the surface before I glanced at the two men exhausted from the haul. “Perfect. Thank you.”

  One of the men pulled a towel from his back pocket and wiped his brow. “No problem. Need anything else?”

  “I’m
all set.”

  Within a few minutes, I was alone. My penthouse was full of décor I had handpicked, a new personal hurdle I’d cleared. There was nothing staged about my new house or my new life. And for the first time in a very long time, I was excited.

  I still gave fuck all about shopping. And I’d actually purchased a floor of the garage for my cars and added a Studebaker to the mix. My stomach rumbled as I started to set up my office equipment, and I moved to make a quick trip to the fridge to temper it. I glanced around the nearly finished space with pride. Opening the refrigerator door, my smile vanished when I saw my grocery order had been royally screwed up. Rows and rows of pimento cheese sat on every shelf—in the butter box, in the door, in the vegetable bins. It was everywhere. In every available space.

  “What. In. The. Hell!?”

  “The South caviar.”

  I froze as my heart leaped to my throat and instant tears sprang to my eyes.

  “Do not turn around.”

  I struggled to find my voice as I sobbed out my reply. “Please let me see you.”

  “I fear I am not the man you remember.”

  I pushed out an “I don’t care,” and inhaled hard as his scent hit me. “Oh, God, please let me see you.”

  His breath hit my ear. “Have you thought of me?” His words were hoarse as he gripped my hair and his lips ghosted over my neck.

  Still reeling, I gripped the door as my legs threatened to give out. “You said you wouldn’t come back.” My heart leaped to a runner’s pace as I felt his chest at my back. “Please let me see you.”

  “I am a changed man, Taylor Ellison.”

  “I don’t fucking care.” I moved to turn, and he stilled me. Kissing my neck, he pushed my shorts down and slipped his fingers between my folds before he pressed on my clit.

  “You are wet for me.”

  “Please, let me see you.”

  He rubbed his thick length across my lower back as my whole body convulsed in need.

  “I am thinking you have missed me.”

  I shuddered at the feel of his fingers and tilted my head back.

  Pushing my T-shirt up over my breasts, his warm hand cupped one of them just before he pinched my nipple through my lace bra. The cool air from the open fridge that swept over my body did nothing to stifle the heat between us. We were both match and gasoline, and the inferno grew hotter as he whispered to me.

  “You are always mine.”

  Warm tears ran down my cheeks as I embraced the moment. Even if it was stolen, even if it was all we had, I was his, and I let him know it.

  “I love you.”

  In a quick move, he captured my chin and then my mouth with a fiery kiss. I exhaled the months we spent apart and reveled in the feeling of our mingling tongues. He devoured me as I shook in his arms.

  When we pulled apart, I caught his lust-filled eyes as he peered down at me.

  “Phoenix.” He withdrew his hold as I twisted in his arms and gripped him to me. We collided.

  Angry.

  Hungry.

  Desperate.

  And in love.

  Every part of me was molded to every inch of him. Shedding his clothes, we moved to the bed, where he pinned me down and hovered above me. Full lips twisted as his emotion-filled eyes told me nothing had changed, his heart had remained faithful. There wasn’t a trace of indifference, only love.

  He leaned in carefully and took my lips again as he thrust inside me. Wrists pinned, I screamed out as he poured himself into me with every deep stroke. Buried fully, he fucked me as he watched my reaction to him, capturing my gasps with dark eyes and the rest of me with his greedy body. He gave and took as he claimed me until my cries satisfied him. I shuddered beneath him, each orgasm only spurring him on. Our breaths mingled as he lifted my wrists and re-pinned them above my head, only giving me access to his mouth. I tugged at his lips, begging for them as he swiveled his hips and went deeper. My whole body arched as he pressed in with one last thrust and freed my hands. I clutched him to me, my heart pounding as he collapsed.

  “I just want to go to my death fucking you. Is that so much to ask?”

  I chuckled as I gripped his hair and he smiled up at me. “Hi.”

  Trying not to ruin the moment, but terrified of not knowing, I had to ask.

  “How are you here?”

  His smile deepened. “I got on a plane.”

  “Please don’t.” I pleaded. “Please don’t joke. Not now.”

  Daniello lay back into the bed and pulled me to his side. “The boss freed me.”

  I reared back so I could see his face. “Donato?”

  “Tula.”

  I lifted to sit as I peered down at him, not wanting to miss a word. “Tula?”

  “She is the rightful heir of the family. Has always been. My father and Donato were set on the old ways, and many of the family would refuse to take orders from a woman.” Daniello surveyed the penthouse with pride. “I believe you and I know that a woman is very capable.” He chuckled. “Well, maybe not a moody south woman.”

  I slapped his chest with unbelieving eyes. “She just freed you?”

  He grimaced. “It is a little more complicated than that.”

  Blood pulsed in my face. “I swear to God if you don’t start talking—”

  Daniello clamped my lips together. “Tula has always wanted to be boss. She embraced the life very young.” I recalled how Tula played nonchalant at the chaos before the party. Remembered the command in her voice when she spoke around the table. Her menacing tone with Donato. She was more than capable.

  “How did she do it?”

  Daniello traced my nipple with his finger, and I grabbed it as he sighed in frustration. “Capo is a captain. He was next in line.”

  “And?”

  “And she made it happen.”

  “Donato?”

  Daniello nodded slowly. “He was never supposed to rule the family. And after me, Capo was the only other choice. He has the title, but he will not rule. And she will do it better than anyone before her.” Daniello winked. “I feel bad for Capo. Tula will be boss and bitchy wife.” Daniello chuckled as he ran his fingers down my side.

  “Did you know this when you said goodbye to me in the SUV?”

  Daniello frowned. “Yes and no. It was Donato’s driver who took you, so I had to make sure he was convinced I was taking my position. And there was also a chance it would not work. Donato had gained much loyalty with his reign. But he underestimated Tula. And I have a persuasive way of making things work.” Donato was dead. I was sure of it. He pulled my hair away from my neck and placed a tongue-filled kissed next to my ear. “I have missed you, Phoenix. My world grew so dark without my sun. I watched for you every night. Why did you not return for so long?”

  I clutched him like a lifeline. “I had to let go of my past. It was eating me alive.”

  He nodded in understanding. Still, I cursed the minutes and months of despair I’d dwelled in.

  “What took you so long?”

  His eyes softened as he peered up at me. “I had to make sure the family respected the new order of things. Accepted Capo and would not make a move for his place in the family. I had to make sure Tula was safe.” He lifted my hand and pressed a kiss to my palm.

  “So now?” I refused to let myself hope.

  Daniello gripped my chin. “I told you, I am a changed man. I have become very boring.”

  I furrowed my brow as I thought of Amber and Joseph, of the risk of having him in my life. “No more contracts, no ties, nothing?”

  Daniello held my gaze and made sure I heard his every word. “My sister told me I had sacrificed enough for the family with vengeance for Matteo. Make no mistake, she is serious about her position, but she knows that is not the life I want. She likes you very much.”

  Gratitude swept through me for the fierce woman who had just given me my life back. I owed Tula my happiness and had no idea how I would repay her. It was the love of his sister that
saved us. I knew how powerful that love was.

  I cursed my trembling lips, still needing to hear it. “So, you can stay?”

  Daniello scrunched his nose. “A green card? Boring.”

  I straddled his hips, elated tears running down my cheeks. “And boring vacations?”

  Daniello cupped my neck and pulled me down to his lips. “The only thing I want now is to be boring with you, Taylor Ellison.”

  I grinned through the inch between our ready mouths, unable to resist. “Bored.”

  Daniello narrowed his eyes and fisted my hair. “And now you will suck my cock with no reward.”

  Eight months later

  Boring. The man thought we would be bored. I smiled at my fiancé as he ordered Joseph to bed with a gentle tongue. His mother was in labor at the hospital with another son. Cedric was there as well, but I had a feeling it was more for the nurse he’d taken up residence with in the last year. He seemed happy but kept his distance when Daniello came back into my life. I knew I’d hurt him, but it was never intentional, and he seemed to become more accepting as the months passed and found a love of his own.

  Daniello lay in Joseph’s twin bed, his feet hanging off the edge as he gathered him into his arms.

  “Seuss,” Joseph squeaked.

  “I do not like the Seuss books,” Daniello deadpanned to Joseph and waved a palm in the air.

  I cleared my throat in the doorway. My beautiful man stared back at me with menace. “I don’t like the Seuss books, Joseph.”

  I chuckled as he rolled his eyes. He still had so far to go. As Daniello slaughtered One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Joseph giggled, dwarfed in his massive arms. For a brief moment, I saw a flash of Laz as he looked up at his future uncle curiously. I twisted my heavy new ring on my finger and admired it before I closed the door with a swollen chest and called to check on my sister. Aaron’s elevated voice told me enough as he briefly updated me and hung up. Amber had gone through a risky pregnancy with the damage from the bullet she took. Her newest son was a miracle baby. But I believed in miracles.