Beautifully Revealed

by Bethany Bazile

  Beautifully Revealed

  By

  Bethany Bazile

  Copyright © 2013 by Bethany Bazile

  All rights reserved.

  Warning: No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Table of contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  Isabella

  20 years earlier

  “Mommy, Mommy, look what Daddy got me!” I squeal as I skip into the room. “I’m a princess, Mommy.” My mother swings around, her bleach blonde hair bouncing around her shoulders like luxurious satin flowing in the wind. Her grey eyes look exactly like mine, except they’re cold and empty. The haughty air she exudes always makes me feel inferior. Maybe I caught her on another one of her bad days because she’s looking at me that way again. I think she wants me to leave her alone but I want her to see that I can be a princess.

  “You’re not a princess and you never will be. I don’t know why your father wastes his time making you think you’ll ever be as beautiful as I am. You won’t.” She grabs the crown off my head, snaps it in half and throws it across the room. It feels like she tore my heart in two, tears well in my eyes and I fight them. I fight as hard as I can to keep them in, but they pour out anyway.

  “You’re such a fucking baby. Real princesses don’t cry, plus you look ugly when you cry,” she sneers at me.

  If I knew what I had done wrong to her I would fix it, then she wouldn’t hate me so much. I wipe my tears with the back of my hand and walk towards her. She towers over me in her stilettos, her face and make up are perfect, and she’s much like what I think an angel would look like.

  “Why do you hate me?” My voice screeches and I wish I could take back my question when she begins to laugh at me.

  “I don’t hate you,” she squats down and looks me in the eye. “I just don’t care about you. I never wanted you when your father forced me to keep you and I want you even less now. I wish you would get the point and stay the Fuck. Out. Of. My. Face.” She turns and strides out the room with the style and grace of a queen. The queen of hearts, who just walked out with the blood from my torn heart all over her hands.

  I knew that day I was finished trying to impress her, finished trying to understand her and finished trying to make her love me. She hates me and what hurts the most is that there is no way I can fix it, no way to make her see that I’m worthy of her love.

  I pick up the halves of my crown and sit on the couch trying to fit the jagged edges back together. Somewhere deep inside my eight-year-old brain I knew that much like my heart, once it was broken there was no way to get all the pieces back together the way it originally was. There’s always the smallest little fragments that fly off into the distance, lost to me forever.

  “What’s the matter, baby?” My dad walks into the room and sits down next to me. I should tell him about Mom, but I never do. He loves her and I don’t want to hurt him by telling him how mean she is to me. She’s always so sweet and sugary towards me when he’s around. It was confusing at first, the back and forth switches in her attitude towards me. As I got a little older I realized that it was all an act for my dad. I could only imagine how much more she would hate me if I told him how she treats me.

  “I broke my crown,” I sputter, tears pouring out my eyes as my dad wraps me in his arms.

  “That’s okay sweetheart, you don’t need a crown to be my princess.”

  I already knew that, I was just hoping I could be her princess too. I cry against my father’s chest, the ache from my mother’s hate burning a hole into my heart. He sweeps me up into his arms and carries me to my room then lies down next to me in my big princess bed and holds me. The love I feel in his arms doesn’t erase the pain from my mother’s words, but it dims the burn until I fall asleep.

  Chapter 1

  Isabella

  “Ella! I’m going to be late,” Liam calls from the foyer. I hop into the room on one heel while trying to put my other shoe on. Liam’s crisp blue pinstripe suit jacket is hanging open. The matching vest is buttoned up and stretches across his muscular body perfectly. My eyes slide down his body and stop at his snug fitted crotch. The distinct bulge is always present, even when he isn’t aroused.

  “I told you not to get in the shower with me.” I smile at him as I straighten up and grab my purse off the table. Mornings with Liam are the happiest part of my day. Waking up with my face cuddled into the crook of his neck has a serene affect on me.

  “I was trying to save us time,” he says, pulling me into his arms and nuzzling my neck. “Besides I can’t function at work without my morning dose of that sweet, wet-”

  “Liam!” I scream at him as his fingers slide up my skirt and skim the top of my garter. “Stop, you’re going to blame me if you’re late.”

  “It is your fault. If the scent of your pussy wasn’t teasing me, we could be halfway to the office by now.” He nips my neck, I jerk out of his embrace, and race to the elevator before we lose control.

  He steps into the elevator after me, crowding me into a corner. His dark hair is still wet, he attempted to slick it back, but stray pieces hang over his lust filled eyes. I’ll never tire of his intensity, his utter love for me. I want him as badly as he wants me, but sometimes I need to focus on the world outside of our little bubble. It’s been over a week since I thought I lost him and everything’s been so perfect I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I’ve never been lucky in life and I don’t expect to be lucky in love.

  “So are you set for tomorrow night?” he asks. “I’m excited to show off my girl.”

  Tomorrow?

  “What’s tomorrow?” I ask, confusion clouding my features.

  “Are you serious, Ella?” He steps back and glares at me. “MADDOX Magazine’s fifth anniversary party is tomorrow night.”

  I forgot. I’ve been so lost in our week of unusual blissful existence, I haven’t thought about anything, including this upcoming party.

  “I’m sorry, Liam, I forgot.” Damn, how am I going to pull off getting a dress to a high profile party in one day? Liam pulls out his wallet and hands me a credit card.

  “Take the day off, go get a dress. I want you on my arms tomorrow night, Ella.”

  I push his hand away and shake my head. “I don’t need your money, Liam. I can buy my own dress.” The last thing I need is for Liam to think I need his money. I took the car as a gift, but it was bad enough that he thought I only needed him for sex, I’m absolutely not going to let him think I need his money.

  “Ella,” he says looking at me in that, “I’m the man let me take care of you,” way. I don’t care if spending money on me makes h
im feel like he’s a man; I’m not budging on this. “Take it,” he says slipping it into my bag. As the door slides open, I take his card out my purse and follow him into the parking deck.

  I stop beside him as he opens his car door. He pulls me into his arm and kisses me, never feeling me slip his card back into his jacket pocket before I head over to my car. He watches me with one foot perched inside his car until I pull out waving at him victoriously as the top on my convertible comes down.

  I race into Maddox Enterprise in a hurry to get some reinforcements. The office is eerily quiet when I step in, and Lillian’s desk is empty. Lillian is always here before everyone so I rush to Rich’s office to see if he can help me track her down.

  I swing the already cracked door open, and the first thing I notice are Lillian’s breasts swaying. Rich’s pants are around his ankles as he powerfully thrusts into her from behind. I gasp loudly and Lillian squeals as she tries to push away from Rich.

  “Oh shit! I’m sorry.” The sight of Rich ramming into Lillian over his desk is burned into my brain as I pull the door shut and walk to my office. Rich and Lillian? I didn’t see that coming at all. I’m not sure if I should wait for Lillian to go shopping or leave without her. I hope it won’t be awkward now that I’ve seen her naked at the height of pleasure. Who knew our resident sexy geek had the ability to make a woman produce those kinds of noises. I chuckle into the empty room, happy that my friends have obviously found some happiness in each other. There’s no way Lillian would have sex with Rich if she didn’t have serious feelings for him, it would ruin their friendship.

  Less than five minutes later, Rich walks in after a light tap on the door. He smiles at me sheepishly as he sits across from me. As much as I love Lillian, Rich and I have grown closer in the last six weeks. Maybe it’s our closeness in age, but I feel like Rich is the brother I wish I had growing up, someone to confide in and protect me from my mom when her hate knew no bounds.

  “So…” he says nervously.

  “So…” I repeat. “Seems my friends, who are always trying to get me to open up, are keeping their own secrets.” Rich runs a finger over his lips and leans towards me.

  “I didn’t intentionally keep this from you. Lillian refused to give us a chance, and then she forbids me to even talk about the possibility of it. It has been hell keeping this from you. I would love a woman’s opinion on how to get her to see that we could make this work.” His eyes are hopeful; I can tell he’s relieved to get this off his chest.

  “You seemed to be doing a perfectly fine job at convincing her before I interrupted.” I’m not sure I’m the best candidate for relationship advice anyway. I could barely spend more than a few weeks at a time without fucking up my relationship.

  “The sex is…” his face turns a rosy shade, and I can’t help but to laugh at him. “Yes the sex is great, but she won’t let me in.”

  “Oh she let you in,” I laugh at him, “deep in.”

  “Come on, Isabella,” he whines. “What am I supposed to do?”

  “Aww Rich,” his desperate plea is making me a little sad. I really hope Lillian cares about him as much as he seems to care for her. “You and Lillian are good friends, if the attraction is there then why won’t she give you a chance?”

  “She thinks I’m too young, I’m twenty-five and she’s forty-one. I don’t think it’s a big deal. She goes on and on about me being young enough to be her son one minute, then the next minute she’s begging me to fuck her. I don’t get it, woman are too complicated.”

  “I think you two would be fantastic together, but…” I hate to be negative about it, but Rich is my friend so I won’t lie to him. “She has a twenty-year-old son; you have to see how this would be weird for her. I’m not saying to give up, but give her some time to adjust to the idea.”

  “I hate that you’re right,” he says getting up from his seat. He walks around my desk and kisses my forehead. “Thanks for the realistic view on this.” I watch him leave the room hoping Lillian is up to an extended lunch.

  I press the intercom on my phone and call Lillian into my office. Besides Liam’s mom, Anna, Lillian is the only woman I’ve ever connected with in anyway. I was pretty sheltered as a little girl, my dad thought it was good for me to be home schooled so until I was fourteen I had very little interaction with the outside world. I begged and pleaded with my dad to let me go to a real high school, and when he finally agreed I had daydreams of making real girlfriends and maybe meeting a cute boy or two. That dream was shattered pretty quickly once I realize all the girls already had their cliques and my appearance only made them feel threatened.

  The more attention I got from boys, the nastier the girls became, so I grew a thick skin when it came to female cattiness. After I got involved with a senior jock things got worse. When he got tired of me constantly saying no, he called me a cock tease, and lied to his friends about fucking me which ended with me being labeled the school whore. That incident scared me off boys and sex, until my innocence was stolen. Then I decided to take what I needed, and fuck everyone else.

  Lillian knocks on the door before entering, cautiously avoiding eye contact with me. She sits in the seat Rich just vacated, and a usually bubbly Lillian is mute. I begin to laugh and she glances at me oddly. “Lillian it was just sex. You’re acting like you’re walking out in front of a judge and jury.” A small smile plays on her lips and she shakes her head.

  “Isabella, he’s so much younger than me, it’s just wrong. I try to keep the boundaries up, but there’s this crazy attraction between us that I can’t resist. I’ve never felt anything like it with any other man,” she sighs then slumps back into the chair. “I’m a child molester.”

  “Lillian, stop. That man is no child. If what I walked in on is any indication, he is a very real, very virile man so cut the child shit out. Yes he’s a lot younger than you, but he’s mature, smart, and he’s one of your best friends. What more can a girl ask for? Stop fighting what your heart wants to appease your mind. I’ll bet you’d be happier if you’d just listen to your heart.” I’ve become a relationship counselor in a matter of minutes. Imagine that.

  “I don’t know, Isabella. I’ll think about it.”

  “Well I have just the way to get your head off your younger man issues. How about we take an extended lunch? I need a dress for the MADDOX magazine party tomorrow night.”

  She sits up in her chair, and her eyes widen. “You didn’t get a dress yet? Isabella, what are you thinking?”

  “I forgot it was this weekend. So what do you say? I have someone coming to cover the phones in an hour so we’ll be free for the rest of the day.”

  “Hell yeah, nothing like a shopping spree to get a girl to forget her troubles.”

  ********

  I come away from the shopping trip with three dress options for the next night, and I managed to talk Lillian into bringing Rich along with her to the party. After much coercing she grudgingly agreed. I fumble with my key as I stroll in from the lobby with my hands full of bags.

  “Liam!” I shout soon as the door opens. I missed him more than should be possible, and I'm beginning to think it’s not healthy to be so strongly affected by a man. “Where are you? I missed you,” I say as walk down the hallway. This condo is seriously too big for two people.

  I run into a mass of curly hair as I turn into the study. I drop my bags a little startled before I realize it’s just Gabby. “Hey, Gabby, I’m sorry I didn’t see you there,” I say while gathering up my bags.

  “Hi, Isabella,” she grabs a bag and hands it to me before heading for the door.

  I stare at her departing back until I feel Liam’s arms wrap around my waist. “I don’t think she likes me.”

  “She doesn’t know you and she’s very overprotective of me.” His lips brush against my neck sending goose bumps across my skin. The only person I’ve seen Liam have any personal connection with is Gabby. It makes me unusually distressed that she doesn’t want me with Liam. She s
eems to be to Liam, what Lucas is to me, and if that is the case she’s his only family. I feel like I need to connect with her so she doesn’t feel the urge to run out of a room every time I appear, I just don’t know how to go about it. The fact that I want to connect with anybody is a huge step for me.

  Liam lifts me up into his arms, and carries me to our room. The bags in my hands hit the floor as soon as we cross the threshold. He tosses me on the bed and I watch him strip off his suit piece by piece. I follow his lead and begin to quickly strip off my clothes, by the time he’s naked and striding towards me with his cock pointing heavenwards, I only have my panties on.

  He yanks my legs from underneath me and I fall flat on my back. I gasp as I feel his warm mouth close over the thin strip of silky cloth covering my pussy. The feel of his tongue over the silky material makes it even more erotic. He sucks on my clit and my hips jerk up towards him and I’m seconds away from ripping the panties off. I want to feel his mouth on me, I want him to make me so wet that I can feel it dripping down my ass.

  He looks at me and smiles. He knows what I’m aching for, and I begin to whine when he returns to flicking his tongue over my soaked panties. “Liam, please just lick me.”

  “I am licking you,” he chuckles.

  I sit up on my elbows and glare at him, “Take the fucking panties off so I can feel your tongue.”

  He returns my glare and backs off my aching middle. “Whose pussy is this?”

  Great, now I’ve provoked his dominant side. If I don’t tell him what he wants to hear he’ll keep me begging for hours.

  “It’s yours,” I mumble.

  “You don’t tell me what to do with this pussy. You take what I give you and I want you to watch me while I eat you.”

  I nod my head at him, watch him lower his head, and begin making slow lazy circles over my clit through the fabric. Watching his tongue glide over my swollen sensitive bud is so stimulating I can feel my body begin to quake. Umm…the slide of his tongue feels amazing, but I know he can keep me on the edge like this for a long time. He bites down on the edge of my thigh and I yelp in surprise. His tongue traces the edge of my panties and I shift my hips to get him to go under the material and explore.