Promises: The Complete Promise Series

by Riley, Alexa

  Just like I would do anything to have her, they seemed to do anything and everything to keep her from me. I growl at the thought of anyone thinking they can.

  Having been driven to the edge of madness, I raise my foot to kick the front door. But before I make contact, it flies open. Mark fills the doorway. I give him a hard look, and he holds his hands up before stepping aside and motioning for me to come in, taking me by surprise.

  “How’s your hand?” he asks, shutting the door behind me.

  “How’s Seth’s face?” I shoot back. My hand hasn’t been fine. I’d fractured a knuckle on his brother’s jaw after I watched Mark take off with my Madeline. Seth made some remarks that just didn’t sit well with me, that I was using Madeline and other things. I push back the thoughts, not wanting to punch another one of her brothers. She’s clearly already pissed enough as it is.

  Mark cocks a half smile and starts walking down a hallway. I glance around to see if I can spot Madeline anywhere, wondering whether I should just go in search of her. He stops and turns to look at me.

  “We need to talk first,” he says with a grim expression on his face, making a shiver of fear snake up my spine.

  “Is she--”

  “Come on.” He motions for me to follow him down the hallway until we turn and enter what I’m guessing is his office. He doesn't go to sit behind his desk but walks over to a little bar, makes himself a drink, and shoots it back.

  He holds the glass up in an offer, and I shake my head. I don’t want liquor on my breath when I go to talk to Madeline, which will be happening. I’m in the same house as her. I don’t know what is keeping me rooted to the spot and not ripping through the house looking for her.

  Oh yeah, the grim fucking look on Mark's face and the fact that he’d let me in without so much as a fight.

  “She hasn’t left the house since we got back,” he finally says.

  “I know.” If I didn’t have someone watching the house, then I was watching it. Just waiting for her to step out. People had come and gone, all of whom I’d had checked out, but they all linked back to Mark.

  He sets the glass down on the bar and runs his hands through his hair.

  “She hasn’t been herself. I think I fucked up.” He leans back against the wall. “I lied to her.”

  That has my stomach clenching and taking a step forward. I know Madeline has a reason to be mad at me. Hell, I fucking manipulated things to get her to me, but I’d hoped that she’d see why. That once she got to know me, she’d see I wasn’t who she thought I was. That we fit together. I needed her. The thought of her not needing me makes every part of me ache.

  At first I thought I’d give her a few weeks, but she never left her home, and it seemed like it was worse than I thought.

  “When we got back to the hotel she was different. Hell, in the cabin she snapped at me. That’s not Maddie. She’s sweet and soft. That just wasn’t her. Then, like I was saying, when we got back to the hotel she didn’t seem too interested in leaving. I could see the inner battle she was fighting, so…”

  “So…” I push, needed to know what he’d said to her.

  “I told her that you’re cold and how you tend to work.” He pauses, but I say nothing. What is there to say to that? I’m great at my job, and sometimes I have to be a bastard to get things done. Yeah, I was cold sometimes, but not with my Madeline. She melted any cold that I had. Has from the moment I’d laid eyes on her. Set it all on fire.

  “Then she asked me about you and other women. If you’d ever done what you’d done with her to them.”

  All the breath in my lungs freezes. I knew this was one of the reasons she held back from me in the beginning, believing some fake playboy image that wasn’t me.

  “I said yes,” he finishes.

  Before I know what I’m doing I punch Mark right in the jaw, that all-too-familiar sting shooting through my hand. He doesn’t fight me, just takes the punch. The wall behind him keeps him from falling, but I turn away from him as I try to get myself under control.

  “I think she’s in love with you, and I broke her heart.” I can hear the remorse in his voice.

  “Then why didn’t you speak up earlier?” I growl.

  “Thought she’d get over it but…” I turn to look back at him as he wipes blood from his lip. “She isn’t.”

  “So you’re not going to fight me on this?” I eye him. I don’t get why he’s finally giving in.

  “I didn’t want her with you because I thought you were cold and could never love her like she deserves to be loved. She’s soft, not like the rest of us.” He walks over to the sofa and sits down. “She’s the heart of this family. Even more so with Mom gone. And I didn’t want to see that broken, but it is. I think I only made things worse.”

  I can see why he thinks I might be cold with her, but he has no fucking idea. There was nothing like that with Madeline, but it’s not him I have to convince of that. She’d seen it herself already, until he’d made it all a lie for her.

  “Where is she?”

  “Don’t hurt her.”

  “I will do everything in my power to never hurt that woman.”

  “Upstairs, second door on the left.” I’m halfway out the door before he can finish. I bolt up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and fling open her door.

  She lets out a squeal and shouts. “Could you knock?” She turns, trying to cover her very naked body but freezes when she sees me. Her eyes go big. Her lush lips part.

  I step into the room, shutting the door behind me and flipping the lock. The sound echoes in the room. She grabs a towel from the bed and tries to cover up her perfection. But it’s too late. I’ve already seen it. Even the small little bump on her belly that makes a whole new set of feelings rush through me.

  “How did you get in here?” She takes a step back, and it makes my heart feel like it’s being ripped from my chest.

  “Mark let me in.”

  Her eyes go even wider at that.

  “He told you?” Her hands go to her belly. “I was going to tell you. I just needed more time. I…” Tears fill her eyes, and I can’t stop myself from going to her. I pick her up and place her in my lap as I sit on the side of her bed. She doesn't fight me. Just sinks right into me like she belongs there. Because she does.

  I let her sweet smell wrap around me. Fuck, I’ve missed that. The blanket I’d taken from her hotel room has long lost the smell of her.

  My hand goes to her stomach protectively. “No, he didn’t tell me.” I kiss her neck, and she leans into it.

  “I’ve missed you,” she mumbles, and I watch her mouth close tightly, like she can’t believe she said it aloud for me to hear.

  “I’ve more than missed you,” I tell her, making her look up at me, her eyes still filled with tears.

  “I kept hoping you’d come for me, and when you didn’t, I thought maybe I was just some weekend fling for you.” I see defeat in her, and I hate that she thinks I didn't come. I lived on the porch until I was made to move.

  “I did.” I kiss her neck again before pulling back to look in her eyes again. “I tried anyway. Then today I kind of snapped and your brother just let me in.”

  She glances at the door like she thinks he might come bursting in the room at any moment.

  “He’s not coming, baby. He knows he fucked up. He lied.”

  Her mouth falls open a little bit.

  “There has never been anyone but you. When I told you that on the island, I wasn’t lying. I never once in my life chased after a woman, and I will never chase after one unless it’s you. You, I’d chase forever, even if it meant I’d never get you. I’d still make the chase just to try.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Madeline

  A tear slips free and then another. “I should have known.” Why hadn’t I questioned my brother?

  I guess because I didn’t think he’d lie to me, but I was wrong. I’m sure he thinks he had his reasons, but it’s still beyond messed up. I
’d been on that island with him. I knew how he felt. I could see it in his face, but I questioned myself. I’d never been on the receiving end of a man’s affections before.

  I’ve been miserable. I’d never wanted to leave that island, not even after everything they’d told me he’d done to get me there. I’d wanted to stay. I liked the idea that he’d fought so hard to get me close to him. But it shattered me when Mark made it seem like it was something he’d done before.

  “Don’t cry. No one can rip us apart again unless we let them. And I won’t let that happen. I will always come for you. Always.”

  “I love you,” I tell him. I never stopped over the past few months, even when I wanted to hate him, I still loved him.

  “I love you, too, my sweet Madeline.”

  He turns us so I’m lying on the bed, and he moves over me, pushing the towel out of the way. His big hand rests on my little baby bump, and his eyes are just a touch teary.

  “On the island? How?”

  “I guess I wasn’t so good with remembering my pills, or maybe I was and they just failed. I don’t know. But it seems like we made a baby. On the first try.” I can’t help but shrug my shoulder and let out a little laugh as Kenton smiles at me.

  I can’t believe I’m showing already. Most of the stuff I’ve read online said I wouldn’t for a while. But it looks like our little one is ready for the world to know. I was so overwhelmed when I got back and missed my period. Then I missed it again four weeks later. It was then I had to tell Mark I needed a pregnancy test. I was scared to tell him, but he did so without question. He lied to me, and now looking back, maybe this was his way of trying to help. I was so upset about being separated from Kenton, I couldn’t leave the house. I had no desire for anything. Then I found out I was having his baby. A spark inside me grew because I knew deep in my heart that if I told him, he’d want to be a part of the baby’s life. And that meant a part of my life. I could never reconcile what he’d shown me when we were together with what Mark told me. Now I know it was because it was all a lie. I met the real Kenton when we were stranded, and I believed everything he said. I should have gone with my gut instead of letting someone else tell me how to feel. I could punch Mark in the face for what he did, but Kenton is here now, and all’s right with my world.

  “I came here every night and sat on your front steps. Mark threatened to get a restraining order, and I backed off a little.” He looks up to me and gives me a sad smile. “I just stayed on the other side of the street. But every night I came here and hoped you’d leave. I only needed one second to explain and make you see that what happened was because I care so much for you. From the moment we met, I’ve been gone for you, Madeline. I’ve felt like I couldn’t breathe these past two months. And now here I am, with you in my arms.”

  He leans down and places a soft kiss on my lips. I melt into him, missing his touch. His hand rubs my baby bump, and he pulls back.

  “And now we have this. Our love made this little miracle, and we’re going to be bound together for the rest of our lives. Tied to one another in every way possible.” He reaches in his pocket and takes out a small box.

  My hands go to my mouth, and I look up at him in shock.

  “Madeline, I bought this for you after the night of the fundraiser when I first saw you. I had it with me on the island, and I’d hoped you’d leave there wearing it.” He takes a deep breath and continues. “Things changed and didn’t go according to plan, but I came here today to kick in the front door and drag you out if I had to. Then that plan changed, and here I am, holding you and finding out I’m going to be a dad. This ring has been with me through all of this, and it’s time I put it on your finger where it’s meant to be.”

  He opens the box and pulls out an enormous emerald-cut diamond solitaire. I don’t know much about rings, but I know this sucker would make Kim Kardashian jealous.

  “Oh, Kenton,” I mumble around my hands, unable to move.

  He gives me a shy smile like he knows the ring is a breath away from being obnoxiously big. “I just wanted to make sure everyone knew you were taken.” He pulls my hand from my mouth and slides it on. “There. Perfect.”

  I stare at it, seeing it sparkle in the light, and I’m stunned silent for a moment.

  “Wait. Did we just get engaged? You didn’t ask me to marry you.” I cock an eyebrow at him in question.

  “Men only ask when they aren’t sure of the answer they’ll receive. There’s no alternative to you being with me, Madeline. So there’s no point in asking.”

  He leans down, kissing my mouth to keep me from saying anything else. And his lips and tongue are so thorough that he dissolves whatever feeble protest I would have tried to make. He moves down to my neck, nibbling on me as he goes, and kisses down between my breasts.

  “I never got the chance to taste all of you on the island, but I’m taking care of that right this second,” Kenton says, moving lower down my body.

  He places a soft kiss on my baby bump before shouldering between my thighs. I tense them a little, shy at the thought of him seeing me there.

  “Relax, sweets.”

  I look down between my legs and see him give me a wicked smile after using my nickname, a name I’ve missed so much these past eight weeks. Then he looks down, staring at my pussy and licking his lips.

  Before I can stop him, his mouth is on me, and I have to grab a nearby pillow to put over my mouth. The feel of his warm, wet tongue on my pussy is so incredibly good that I nearly pass out when he sucks on me.

  “Fuck,” I mumble into the pillow, and I hear Kenton laugh.

  “That’s it, sweets. Muffle those screams. Wouldn’t want your brothers to hear what I’m about to do to you.”

  His hands come up and dig into my thighs. I’m sure I’ll have bruises, but I’m so far gone with pleasure that I can’t be bothered to care. I want him gripping me, holding me down. It’s a reminder that he’s here, that I’m not without Kenton anymore.

  I bite into the pillow as I feel my legs start to tremble. Dear God, the orgasm he’s building me to is going to rip me in half. His tongue moves back and forth from my opening to my clit. Back and forth, back and forth. The easy rhythm is driving me insane, and I’m going to climax any second.

  Kenton brings his fingers up and thrusts two inside me, quickly filling my small channel and forcing a grunt from me.

  “I want it,” he growls and goes back to sucking on me.

  Between his mouth and the steady rubbing of his fingers on an oh-so-perfect spot inside me, I’m clawing to peak. I grip the pillow tighter and bear down on his face, screaming my orgasm into the cotton.

  I nearly come off the bed from the intensity of it, but Kenton holds me tighter and doesn’t let me move an inch away from him. My shouts are borderline hysterical, and I’ve never felt anything so intense in my entire life.

  Ripping the pillow away from my mouth, I gasp for air, thinking I’m going to pass out.

  Kenton nuzzles my sensitive sex, rubbing his nose and mouth against my wetness, coating his face. I should be embarrassed, but all I feel is drained. It’s like someone just sucked the life out of me.

  I start to laugh as I think how Kenton’s mouth did exactly just that. Sucked me dry.

  “Are you happy, sweets?” he asks, kissing up my body.

  My eyes are half-closed, and the smile on my face would rival the Joker’s. All I can do is nod; completely depleted of any energy.

  I feel his cock pushing against my entrance, and I wonder at what point he got naked. I don’t remember him removing his clothes, but I’m pretty sure a bulldozer could drive though this room and I wouldn’t sit up to watch.

  He pushes into me, and in one long thrust, his hard shaft is rooted in me. Suddenly, before I can grip onto him, he pulls out completely and moves back between my legs.

  “Kenton,” I start, but his mouth goes back to my pussy, cutting off my question.

  He sucks on me for a few more moments, getting me clos
e to edge faster than I thought possible. Just when I’m ready for my second climax, he moves back up my body and thrusts inside me again.

  “Oh God,” I moan, feeling his full size inside me.

  “I can’t stop wanting to taste you.”

  His mouth lands on mine, and his tongue pushes inside. My taste passes between us and I moan, clenching around his cock. It’s dirty and yet somehow so intimate that I cling to him, loving the taste of us together. I want to taste his cock right now, but I want to keep us connected like this.

  He breaks the kiss only to move down enough to take a nipple in his mouth. His thrusts are hard, and it feels like this has been years in the making, not two months. But I knew after the first time we made love that one time would never be enough. Once with Kenton was merely a tease, and now I get a lifetime to make up for that.

  I feel his teeth graze my sensitive skin, and my nails grip his ass, begging him to go deeper. Our first time on the island was slow and sweet. This time it’s ravenous. I want to breathe him in and taste his passion for me. I open my mouth on his shoulder and bite down a little, feeling my climax approaching like a freight train. I don’t know if I can take another one like before, but my body isn’t about to stop it.

  When it hits me, I shout against his skin, trying to muffle my orgasm. The pleasure rolls through my body, and I feel his cock grow thicker and start to pulse. He’s cumming inside me, and for some reason, that makes my climax even hotter. Knowing that my body is giving him what he needs and he’s giving me the same makes it feel perfect.

  Being with Kenton feels like I’m finally complete. Being in his arms and under him is what I’ve been dreaming of since the moment we met. I kiss his shoulder where I bit him and he rubs all over my body. It’s like he can’t keep his hands off me, and I’m more than okay with that.