Sue takes another drink then says, “Well, I may as well go ahead and say it. I’m sorry, Jenna. I thought this would be a fiasco. A total brawl. But it seems like it was you who told Rod to look for someone more fitting for him and you were right. These two balance each other out very nicely.”
Rod runs his arm around Ashely and she lays her head on his shoulder. “We do, don’t we?” he asks her.
Ashley nods. “We do, baby. We really do.”
She kisses him with a little peck on his lips and I see it in his eyes when she moves back.
He loves her!
And she looks like she loves him. My heart is pumping hard with how damn happy I am.
A tear falls down my cheek and Sue sees it. “Oh no! This is upsetting you. See! I knew it wouldn’t go as easy …”
I stop her. “Sue, no. That’s not it at all.” I wipe the tear away and look at Ashley. “I love this man. Not in the way that I want him. I want him to be happy. I always have. You make him happy. I love that.”
Ashley takes my hand and taps the top. “I know you love him. Thanks for your honesty, Jenna. I love him so much more than I knew was possible. And he loves you. We can all be one big happy family. Well, as soon as Reed gets here and fixes you guys up.”
“Thanks for understanding this craziness, Ashley. If Reed will have me back, then we will be one big happy family,” I say, and then the front door opens and there he stands.
“Jenna.”
I get up and walk to him as I hold up my hand with his ring on it. “Can I still be Mrs. Reed Manning?”
He nods, and then I’m wrapped in his arms. His lips touch my ear. “Angel, I’ve missed you!”
“I’ve missed you too. I don’t want to ever miss you again,” I whisper, because I’m crying like crazy.
His tall, muscular body feels so right as he holds me tight. Then he picks me up and carries me down the hallway to his bedroom.
Rod calls out, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”
I hear Ashely add, “Which means go hog wild, ’cause this man will do anything!”
They laugh, and I hear Sue join in. “You crazy kids!”
I bury my face in Reed’s chest and take in a deep breath, taking him all in. He kicks his childhood bedroom door open and takes me inside.
My heart is pounding as he sits me down on the bed and says, “Strip!”
Has Rod taught Reed about punishments?
I trail soft circles with my finger over her naked stomach as Jenna lies back on my small childhood bed and gazes up at me as I lie next to her.
“You had me afraid you were about to teach me a lesson, Reed,” she says with a smile on her beautiful face. A face I have longed to see for months, too many months.
“I am about to,” I whisper in her ear.
A shiver runs through her. “Really?”
I nod and nuzzle her neck, then leave one kiss on it. I had her get undressed, and I did the same, then climbed into bed with her, our skin touching the others.
I craved this for what seems like so long. This simple thing of our skins touching. It makes me feel different. Whole.
Her scent has my mind filled with only thoughts of pleasing her in ways that will assure her this is where she belongs, in my arms, forever.
“I’m going to teach you that you and I belong together.” I move my hand down until I get to her sweet spot and she moans as I run my fingertip lightly over her clit.
“Reed.” She moans out my name, and her body shivers again. “I missed your touch so damn much. I’m so sorry I ever let you go. It was the stupidest thing I have ever done and as long as you want me, I will never make that mistake again.”
“Good.” I kiss her neck, then give it a little nip as her hand travels up my arm and halts on my bicep, where she gives it a squeeze. “Did you miss the guns?” I chuckle.
“I did.” She turns and looks at me as I lay by her side.
She puts one leg over me and I roll onto my back and pull her on top of me. She sits up, straddling me. Her moist heat is on my stomach, and her breasts rise and fall with every breath.
I take her left hand and kiss the ring I gave her. “So you really want to marry me, huh?”
She nods and runs her hands over my pecs. I run my hands up to take her pert breasts into them. She sighs as I do and licks her lips.
“I don’t know what came over me this morning. Something in my brain clicked into place and I knew I had to get to you. I was ready to fight everyone to do it too.”
“How un-Jenna-like,” I say as I move my hands around and cup her ass in them as I push her to me.
Her lips fall on mine for only a second, then she sits back up. “I hope you like this new Jenna. I’m done being the silent little thing who lets everyone else’s happiness get in the way of hers.”
“And mine,” I add, then push her back to me.
Her mouth lands on mine and this time I move my hands to hold her face and kiss her long and hard. Our mouths mingle like they never were apart.
As if a day hasn’t passed without us touching one another. But days have passed. Too many of them, and now that my body knows she’s here, it wants her very badly.
My cock grows with an ache to be inside her and I roll her over without letting our mouths part. She pulls her legs up, bending her knees, and I push my aching cock deep inside her.
Our moans fill the room, and I have no doubt anyone who might be walking by the bedroom door can hear us. But I just don’t care.
Immediately our breathing increases and so do our heartbeats. I pull my mouth away to let us both get some much-needed air. Her green eyes glisten with tears as she looks up at me and cups my face in her soft hands.
“I have dreamt of this. I never stopped loving you, Reed. Not for one second. Nothing feels the way you make me feel. I know without a doubt you and I are meant to be.”
I make a hard thrust and give her a smile. “We are, Jenna. We belong to each other. And very soon in name as well.”
The heel of her right foot grazes my calf as she runs her foot up my leg, sending a heat through me. “Faster,” she whispers.
I give her a hard thrust and do it over and over until she’s about to burst. But then I pull out of her and she frowns at me.
With a kiss to the tip of her nose, I flip her over, then pull her back until she’s on her hands and knees. Standing beside the bed, I’m at the perfect level to ram deep into her and she makes a terrific groan as I go back inside her.
“Reed!” She puts her head down on the bed and her ass goes up higher as I yank her back by her waist to meet every hard thrust I give her.
I slam into her over and over until I feel the slightest tremor inside her that tells me she’s about to climax. Then I pull out of her and she moans and falls to the bed.
“Reed, this is torture.”
“But the sweetest kind of torture, my angel.” I pick her up in my arms and take her to the wall and hold her hands up over her head. “Wrap your legs around me.”
She smiles as she pulls her legs up and wraps them around my waist. My cock slides into her again and the way her face glows lets me know it makes her extremely happy.
I slam into her over and over. Then I move her hands to wrap around my neck and kiss her as I press her body against the wall. Her tits smash under my hard pecs. Her stomach is soft against my tight abs.
Her legs start to shake, and I know she’s near again. This time, I let her.
She makes a high shriek and my mouth stifles what would be a very loud sound if we weren’t kissing. Her body convulses around mine and I have no choice but to climax right along with her.
I move back to the bed with her and nearly fall on it as our bodies fall apart together, hers milking every last drop it can from my cock which fills her up.
Our mouths part only a little as her hands run over my cheeks. “Reed, I love you. I love you so much. I’ll never stay a night away from you ever again. Not ever. I love you, I lov
e you …”
Pulling back to look at her, I see tears streaming down her reddened cheeks. “Jenna, I love you. It might’ve been a tough bunch of months, but it served its purpose. I know you truly love me. I know you won’t be leaving me one day for something you thought you might have lost with my brother. I know you won’t be wondering if another man can make you feel like I do.”
She sniffles. “No one can make me feel like you do, Reed. I know that now.”
I kiss her cheek and find the salty tears on my lips, which I lick. “I love you, Jenna. I won’t ever let you get away from me again. Not ever. You’re stuck with me, girl.”
“I’m very glad to hear that.” She pulls my face back down to hers and kisses me sweetly.
And finally, our lives can really begin!
Epilogue
JENNA MANNING
“Maddie, have you seen Glen’s left shoe?” I shout toward the kitchen.
Reed smacks my ass as he comes up behind me. “Here you go, Mama. The always evasive shoe our son keeps hiding in a different place every time we go to leave anywhere.”
“After three boys, how did we get one who hates to leave the house?” I ask as I hold our one-year-old down and try to get him to let me get the shoe on.
Reed takes the shoe from me. “Here, you hold ol’ Wiggle Britches here, and let me stuff his chubby foot into his shoe.”
Out of the kitchen, and into the little den area off of it where we are, come our other kids: Tanner, who’s eight, Roland who’s five, and Panther, who’s three.
Yes, Reed got to name one of our four sons!
But that’s the last one he’s getting to name. And Panther is the only one who got his father’s dimpled chin.
Tanner shouts, because he apparently knows no other way to communicate, “Come on! Gee whiz! You have one kid to get dressed, Mom!”
I wipe the sweat off my brow from the struggle with our youngest and shoot a wicked look at our oldest child. “One kid? Tanner, this one kid is like three of them.”
With his shoe on and his brothers running through the room on their way to the front door, Glen busts out of my hold and follows as fast as he can after them.
Reed opens his arms and I fall into them. “Whew! And only three minutes behind schedule.”
He laughs. “You’re nearly on time, Jenna. Come on, I’ll give you guys a ride, then go to the office for a bit. Then I’ll go back to the school and pick you up for a nice lunch. How does that sound?”
His arm wraps around my shoulders as he leads me out to our Suburban. I lean into his firm body. “That sounds fantastic. Since I moved up to being a third-grade teacher, things have been rough.”
He nods as we get outside and I see the others have left Glen to try to climb into his car seat on his own. “Dang it, Tanner!” I shout. “Can’t you see your baby brother needs some help?”
“I tried to help him and he bit me!” he shouts back at me.
Panther lets out a loud growl. “And I’m the one named after a wild animal. You should switch our names!”
And just like that, Reed and I stop and look at each other. “Oh, no!” we say simultaneously. “Just like Rod!”
Reed opens the passenger car door for me. “Climb in. I’ll strap the little devil down.”
I get in and look back as Glen hits at his father and then lunges at him with a screeching sound. Roland is in the seat next to him and watches the scene with a little bit of horror in his expression.
Reed manages to get the baby strapped in and wipes the sweat off his forehead. “Shit, son!”
I remind him of the young ears in the car, “Reed, the kids.”
With a wink to me he says, “Sorry, boys.”
He closes the door and walks around to get in as Tanner says, “That’s okay, Mom. We’ve heard worse words.”
I shake my head and turn around as Reed gets into the driver’s seat. “Now how many more of these things did you say you wanted?” he asks with a grin.
With a smile, I answer, “I want a girl, Reed.”
He shakes his head and pulls away from our home, which many see as a mansion, but really is a home to us and our kids. No matter how fancy it may seem, it’s full of love and hopes, dreams, and lives that go on just like anyone else’s.
And I love this life we have!
REED
Of course, it has to be storming like crazy when Jenna goes into labor with our daughter. We had one more son after the notorious Glen, who is nearly the spitting image of my brother. And if Rod had been anywhere near my wife in the time frame she got pregnant, I’d have given that boy a DNA test.
As Rod had been in another state for the whole year, I had no choice but to accept the fact the little devil came from my own loins.
Two years after Glen came another son we named Patrick, after Jenna’s dad, who passed away that year. Her mother was invited to come live with us, but said she’d rather stay in the house she and her husband had lived in their entire marriage.
I bet it’s really because our house is kind of chaotic, with all the boys running wild, though!
I make my way to our bedroom where Jenna is walking around, trying to get through another contraction, it looks like, as she holds her back and stops to lean against a wall.
“She’s on her way, my angel. The midwife will be here as soon as she can. The weather is pretty awful.” I run my hands all over her back as she makes little panting sounds with her breathing.
The pain subsides, and she turns to me. “Reed, I don’t want to do this anymore. Can we stop after her?”
I laugh. “As if it was me who told you to keep having babies, Jenna. But if you want to hear it come out of my mouth, then here you go. Jenna, honey, can this be our last little bundle of joy?”
She nods. “Yes, it can. If that’s how you want it, darling.” She smiles, and I take her hand and lead her to the bed.
“You should get all comfy until your midwife gets here.”
The door flies open and in run the five boys, who all jump on the bed. Glen shrieks, “Baby?”
I shake my head. “Not yet. I’ll bring her out to meet you guys as soon as she gets here. Now kiss your momma and let me get you back to your bedrooms. You all have school tomorrow, and it’s late.”
After exchanging a lot of I love yous and kisses and hugs, I manage to wrangle the boys back to bed at eleven p.m. When I get back to my wife, I see the midwife is drenched, but she has made it.
“Thank God! I was afraid I would have to deliver this one. She’s going to be our last, I’ve been told,” I say as I climb on the bed next to Jenna and hold her hand as she starts taking in deep breaths with another contraction.
The midwife checks Jenna and looks as us with a smile. “She’s at ten. She can push with the next one. I did cut it very close making here in time.”
Jenna looks at me with a red face and tears fall. “Reed, we’re about to meet our daughter. Our baby girl.”
I kiss the tears away and give her hand a little squeeze. “I know. Are you happy, Jenna?”
She nods. “More than I ever thought possible. Thank you, Reed. Thank you so much.”
I tweak her nose. “Thank you, Jenna. You’re the one who made this life we share possible. I love you more than you will ever know.”
“And I love you.” Jenna’s lips touch mine. Then they harden as she pulls back from me with a deep groan. “It’s time!”
We look back at the midwife, who’s wiping tears out of her eyes so she can see. “You two are so perfect for each other. It pulls at my heart. Okay.” She sniffles. “Let’s see what we have here. A head full of blonde hair, it seems.”
Jenna pushes, and her face goes really red. Then she stops and looks at me. “Wow! That was hard, and she’s not even out yet.”
I gently stroke her arm. “You’re doing so good, Mama.”
With another wave, Jenna goes red again and makes a loud grunting sound. Then I hear our daughter crying.
It’s
the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. “You did it, Angel.” I kiss her cheek, and she closes her eyes.
“We did it, Reed. You and me. Together, we made ourselves a family.” Her head leans against my shoulder as the midwife holds up our daughter and we gaze at her like she’s a precious work of art.
We did it!
ROD
My brother moved his family out to a place in Wyoming to get his kids out of the city and into the country. Seems his twelve-year-old son, Glen, was getting into trouble already, and they wanted to see if a change in environment might help him to straighten up.
When Jenna called and asked if I could bring my family to come see their new place and maybe see if there was anything I could say to Glen to get him on a better path, I had to come.
“Wow,” Ashley says as we turn into a driveway lined with giant trees. “This is gorgeous. I like it better than the mansion they had in Bel-Air.”
I roll down the windows and take in the fresh air. “You and I are going to take the bike out for a ride while we’re here. The kids can visit their cousins for a little while, so you and I can spend a little Mommy-Daddy time.”
Our two daughters in the backseat of the truck both groan. Miranda, our fifteen-year-old, whines, “The cousins!”
Her twelve-year-old sister, Hope, joins her. “Dad, do we have to? Can’t you take us with you?”
“No room. Sorry,” I say, and give Ashley’s hand a squeeze. “Your Aunt Jenna will probably take you girls shopping. That will be nice, won’t it?”
“I guess,” Miranda says. “But this isn’t Beverly Hills, Dad. It’s the middle of nowhere.”
I pull up in front of a monster-sized place that looks like a hotel instead of a home. The front door opens and there stand my brother and his wife.
My heart always does this little dance when I see my old flame. I love that girl still, but in a sister-in-law way now.
My legs are stiff as I climb out of the truck, followed by my family, and Jenna has me in a hug before I know it. “Rod! I’m so happy you came all this way.”
After exchanging hugs and hellos we go inside, and I see young Glen looking at me with eyes just like mine. The steel-blue in them glistens as he sees me.
His Sweet Torment: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 50
