Epilogue
Clay
2 years later
The scorching sun is beating down on me today. We’ve had the hottest summer on record and I’m ready to call it a day and it’s only lunch time. Swiping my forehead, I glance at the house which is eerily silent. Normally Essie is out on the porch with a little radio listening to music.
Since we’ve had our little boy, it’s been busy. He’s a little monster at the best of times, racing through the house, playing in the garden out front, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve found peace. After my life changed when my father died, I didn’t think I’d find happiness again.
“Clay!” Essie’s shrill tone comes from the house and I’m racing to the house in seconds. As soon as I bolt into the living room, I find her glaring at me as she breathes heavily holding onto her stomach. “My water broke.”
“Da, baabee!” My son points out the obvious with wide eyes.
“Oh shit!” Is all I can offer as I head into the bedroom to find her hospital bag we’d had ready when she hit the seven-month mark. The baby is two weeks early and her loud breathing echoes through me. We don’t know if it’s a girl or boy since we wanted to be surprised, and I can’t help the excitement, and pride I feel knowing we’ll soon have another addition to our little family.
Since Cody is at school, I’ll have to make quick work of locking up before racing to the hospital. There’s no time to waste as I head back into the living room and help Essie to her feet. She’s so beautiful, her womanly curves have filled out, her breasts are bigger and look incredible in everything she wears.
“It fucking hurts!” She cries out and I immediately scoop her up and carry her to the SUV. Since the money my father had stashed away came in, we’d managed to get back on our feet and still have spare for savings. With everything in full swing with the riding school, we’ve easily managed to put money away for Ryder’s schooling.
My son will have everything my father gave to me and more. “Baby, just breathe.”
“I am breathing!” she’s bites out, and I can’t help chuckling. “Do you think this is funny? Would you like to have the baby for me?” Her big blue eyes are alight with fury and she hasn’t looked any hotter. I love when she sasses me.
“If I could, I would, Honey Bee. You know that.” Once she’s safely in the backseat of the car, leaning in the seat, I head back into get Ry. “Come on, little man.” His eyes that match his mother’s peer up at me.
“Da, ma baabee,” he mumbles, holding onto his truck for dear life. Nodding, I manage to lock the house and make my way to the car. Once he’s strapped into his car seat, I slip into the driver’s seat and we make our way to the dirt road to town. Hitting the dial on the phone which is plugged into the Bluetooth headset, I wait for the call to connect.
“Dr. Tanner’s room,” his receptionist says with a smile in her voice.
“This is Clayton Walker, my wife’s gone into early labor. Please let Dr. Tanner know we’re on the way now.” Essie’s doctor has his rooms at the local hospital.
“Perfect, he’s just stepped in. I’ll let him know to be ready for your arrival.”
Hanging up, I focus on the road and pray everything is okay.
“Oh, God!” Glancing in the rear-view mirror, I notice Essie’s face scrunched in pain as the contractions hit her.
Moments later, I’m pulling into the emergency parking and we’re all three racing into the room only to be met with the doctor and a wheelchair for Essie.
It was an easy delivery. My little girl was born within two hours of us arriving at the hospital and she’s the most beautiful girl in the world, besides Essie of course. As I walk back into the room where my wife is nursing our daughter, I watch them for a moment before making my presence known.
“Hey, can you take her?” Essie glances at me with a soft smile. Her eyes are heavy, glistening with happiness, but when she offers me our sweet girl, I feel all the emotion from everything we’ve been through tighten my chest. Nodding, I lift the little bundle and set her in the crib they’ve allowed into the room.
“How are you feeling?” I ask, concern evident in my tone. I may be a lot of things, but protective of my family is my main concern. She looks tired and I’m worried that she’s not getting enough rest, but it’s been a long day.
“I’m good. The pain is slight but the medication helps,” her wince doesn’t go unnoticed and I’m at her side in a second. Reaching for her, I allow her to grip my hand, holding on as she shifts on the bed.
“You need to rest,” I inform her. Her big eyes narrow, regarding me with a smile that conveys how happy she is. Essie’s always had an expressive face, all her emotions are there, clear as day for all to see. Everyone she meets is enamored with her the same way I was when I first saw her.
“I will. Can you call Rhett and Chloe?”
“Already done, Honey Bee,” I murmur. Leaning in, I plant a soft kiss on her forehead and tug the blanket up to cover her. As she curls into the soft material, her eyes flutter closed and I settle in the chair for the night.
Ryder is asleep in the corner on the cot they’ve put in the room, my daughter who we’ve decided to name Isabelle, sleeps soundly in her crib. My family.
“I did it, Dad,” I whisper.
Somehow, I know he’s here. I feel his pride. I sense his love. And I know, I kept the promise I made.
Bonus Novella!
Gray’s Kitten
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Prologue
You can’t stop your heart from wanting someone. You can’t stop your mind from thinking about someone. Even if it’s forbidden.
I should know, I’ve felt it for almost two years.
You see, I shouldn’t want him, or dream about him, and I certainly shouldn’t fantasize about his incredible body, those lips, and everything else that is him.
I first laid eyes on him when I was thirteen, too young to notice, and too innocent to know. However, when I hit sixteen and got my first boyfriend, that’s when it slowly sunk in that I wanted him.
We spoke almost every day. He’d text me sweet messages.
I’d giggle, he’d chuckle.
Our eyes would meet and I’d get that flurry of butterflies that seemed to be around every time he was. Over the years when I went to family events with my parents, he’d be there. As if he could feel my eyes on him, he’d turn to regard me. With those dark brown eyes piercing me, boring into me and that sinful side smirk that had my cotton panties wet.
The first time I brought a boy home, he was there, beside my step-dad and something in his glar
e told me I wasn’t the only one with jealousy coursing through my veins.
Two days later, he came around with a blonde bimbo hanging off his arm, offering me a smirk that told me he did it on purpose. Seeing his hands on her, his lips on hers broke my heart. I locked myself in my bedroom till they left. It might have been childish, but I couldn’t stand being in the same room as them. Seeing him flirt with her.
Shaking my head of the memories of that dinner, I try to focus on the book in front of me.
I’m lying in bed and studying when my phone buzzes beside me.
It’s him.
Grayson Connor.
Sliding my finger across the screen, I open the message and smile.
You’re a sweetheart, don’t let him break your heart. Or I will have to kill him.
Hitting reply, I lie back and tap out a message.
Can’t be having that. I’d miss you if you’re locked up and I couldn’t see you.
This is what we do.
We flirt. It’s innocent enough.
Only…
It’s not.
I shouldn’t feel a flutter of excitement. I shouldn’t be blushing or grinning.
We shouldn’t be doing this… thing.
Why?
Because Grayson Connor is my step-dad’s brother.
Chapter One
Mila
“What do you think you’re doing?” Pivoting on my four-inch heels, I regard the dark-haired man leaning against the kitchen island in the dim light of the full moon. It’s almost two in the morning and I’ve tried being as stealthy as possible, but obviously someone’s stalking me.
Rolling my eyes, I set my purse on the counter and ignore him. This is ridiculous, I shouldn’t have to explain myself. I’m nineteen, an adult. He treats me like a fucking child.
“I asked you a question.” His body heat is behind me, so close in fact I can feel his heartbeat thrumming against my back. Hands grip my tiny hips and he tugs me back against him. The curve of my ass is now pressing against what I can feel is a thick, hard erection. “I don’t like when you ignore me, Mila.”
His deep rumble shudders through me, and I have to close my eyes to keep my body from betraying me. Fuck. She’s a bitch because I’m already trembling and aching. My core pulsing, begging for more of what I can only imagine he can deliver.
“Why do you care? You’re not my father,” I hiss my response and he pushes me away so quickly as if I’ve scorched him. “What are you doing here anyway?” My anger isn’t warranted, but my jealousy is. I saw him earlier in the club that my friends and I walked into. He was sitting between two pretty women who were practically naked.
“I do care,” he promises. “I’m here because your father and I have a meeting early tomorrow.” He lifts a hand and rakes it through his dark brown hair, causing another wave of desire to flush through me at an alarming rate. My heart leaps into my throat when he pins me with those mocha eyes.
“I’m nineteen, legal, and an adult, you have no right to question me.” The words fall from my lips before I have time to think. His eyes heat and even in the dark, I’m hooked, caught in a web of self-destruction because the only thing I can think of his leaping into his arms and wrapping my legs around his taut waist.
“You may be legal, Mila, but I’ll be damned if I stand by watching you go out partying and fucking every boy in the neighborhood. Your father will have a fucking stroke if he knew.” The word fuck in his smooth, silky whispered baritone is enough to have my panties drenched with arousal.
Thoughts of Grayson Connor knowing I’m not a virgin sends the ever present confusing desire through me. I’m caught between knowing this is wrong, but my craving for Grayson, leaves me in a constant state of confusion. I don’t know how to stop it. It can’t be normal.
When my step-dad married my mother I’d just turned thirteen, and when I first met his brother I gawked, no one noticed, but I did and I think he did too. It’s wrong, so fucking wrong, but god I can’t help but ache whenever I’m near him. Now, at nineteen, he’s the only man I picture when I slide my hand between my legs.
My uncle elicits feelings from me that I can’t explain. The flurry of wings that tickle my belly when Grayson walks into the room and the ache in my core has me quivering when I think of his hands on me.
I can’t even tell any of my friends about it because I’m scared of the judgment, and I can’t even imagine what Aunt Shanika will say.
“Fine, I’ll not go fucking around, if you give me my privacy,” I stalk past him, thinking it’s done when he grips my arm, tugging me against his rock hard body. For a thirty-two-year-old man, he’s toned beautifully.
“Do not use that tone with me, Kitten,” he bites out close to my ear sending electric sparks trailing through every inch of my body.
“Why? You going to put me over your knee and spank me, Uncle Grayson?” I quip playfully, but the way his eyes glower tells me he’s considering it. Squeezing my thighs together, I bite my lip to keep from moaning as the images play out in my mind. Fuck, I’d love for him to do that.
“Don’t tempt me, Kitten, I’m not averse to doing just that.”
Suddenly, he releases me and stalks down the hallway toward the guest bedroom.
I toe off my heels and pad down the opposite hallway still reeling from the interaction with him. Jesus, I’m so fucked. Pushing the door to my bedroom open, I step inside and shut it behind me.
Thoughts of what Grayson Connor does to me is wrong on so many levels, but I push him to do it, I taunt him mercilessly. Shoving off my pink miniskirt, I glance in the mirror. I’ve always been slim, my breasts aren’t huge, and my long black hair hangs in waves down my back. My olive skin gives me an all year round tan and boys hit on me all the time. Too bad the only man I want is forbidden.
When my mother passed away three years ago, I admit I went off the deep end. The only man who understands me is my uncle. He’s the one I’ve had to confide in and he’s been amazing giving me advice and helping me through the worst.
My step-father on the other hand is the complete opposite, he would lock me away in a tower if he could. As long as I have my phone, I’ll still be able to talk to Grayson. If he wasn’t around, I wouldn’t have been able to get through the three years after losing my mother.
Somehow, over that time, I’d fallen. Head over fucking heels. So, whenever he tells me about yet another notch on his bedpost, I go off the deep end, finding some willing college boy and fucking my frustration out.
I know dreams of him will haunt me tonight and I’ll wake up with my hand stroking my pussy until I find relief. Only, the desire never abates, it only grows stronger. Images of being below one of the most important men in my life have me once again pulsing with need.
Is it wrong to want your uncle to fuck you?
Because I want Grayson Connor to do just that.
But is it wrong to want to make love to him too?
Yes, it is.
All I have to live with are what ifs.
Chapter Two
Grayson
Last night when I caught Mila sneaking in after curfew, I wanted to tell her father, but I know my brother and he’ll only worry. So I decided I won’t say anything to Gabe. I’m concerned she’s still acting like a rogue teenager.
It’s just hit six in the morning and I’ve been in my brother’s gym for almost an hour, but I can’t stop the thoughts of her in that tiny mini skirt she wore last night. She had me rock fucking hard for my niece and I jerked off thinking about how her ass felt pressed against my dick.
Lifting the weight, I can’t help watching the sweat drip from my chest. Before I have time to think the door swings open and Mila’s lithe body strolls through the threshold. She’s dressed in Lycra leggings and a sports bra. Her long hair is tied into a messy bun and she looks like sin.
“Morning, Grayson,” she coos and I know she’s trying to taunt me. She loves it. She doesn’t realize I know exactly what she’s doing.
“Mila,” I grunt, and with great difficulty I drag my gaze from her and concentrate on what I’m doing. The mirror allows me to drink in her perfect form as she straddles the spinning machine and my cock thickens imagining her riding me.
Get a fucking grip.
“What are you doing today?” she questions, her voice soft and melodic and I have to put the weights down before I kill myself from dropping them on me.
“Your father and I are meeting a supplier, but I’m heading in early because I need to get the paperwork at the office. Then I’m having lunch with Colette,” I add on knowing she hates the woman. I’ve been fucking her for two months now and every time we come around, Mila’s face glowers with anger.
I realized early on it was jealousy, and I played it to my advantage.
It may be juvenile, but when Mila brings her boy toys home, I’m rabid. We play this game of cat and mouse and each day my restraint slips a little more. The need to pull her across my lap and spank her pert little bottom is enough to have me straining in my boxers every time she’s around.
To mark that smooth, olive skin with my handprint is tempting, too fucking tempting. Turning, I head toward the door, stopping at the bike I watch her for a moment.
“She’s so wrong for you, Grayson.” Her pout is adorable, and I regard her with a smirk.
“And why is that, Kitten?” Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I watch her gaze trail down my glistening torso.
“Because, she’s just not right for you. I don’t have a reason.”
Leaning in, I hear her breathing hitch. Her chest heaves as she falters her movements. “And who would you suggest I fuck?” I study her movements closely and notice her squirm at the word fuck. I’d love to bend her over this machine and drive into her.
Dirt Road Promises Page 13
