Kings of Denver - COMPLETE BOX SET 1-4

by Sheridan Anne

  “Xander,” she scolds with wide, frantic eyes, desperately looking around to make sure no one overheard me.

  “Come on,” I whisper into her ear. “I need to get you back to the hotel.”

  I do just that and take advantage of her willing body until I get a call from the boys, saying there’s a celebratory dinner down in the hotel restaurant.

  Charli gets dressed to the nines and looks absolutely stunning while she sips on her champagne. I lead her down to the restaurant and we take our seats among the rest of the team.

  Jaxon appears later with his girlfriend Cassie and it’s not long before they are announcing their engagement which is when the party really starts. Drinks are bought and handed around while smiles and laughter are heard from every corner of the room.

  I take hold of Charli’s hand on my thigh and give it a small squeeze. She turns those beautiful eyes toward me with absolute joy radiating out of them. “I love you,” I tell her.

  She gets up from her chair and takes a seat on my lap. She kisses me gently with her arms around my neck. “Without you, I would still be lost. I’d be fighting with my own inner demons and hating myself for it,” she starts. “But you changed it all for me. You made me see that I was strong and turned me into this confident woman, a woman I never thought I’d get the chance to be. I love you so much, Xander Phillips and one day,” she says, with her eyes flicking toward Jaxon and Cassie before settling back on mine. “That’s going to be us.”

  I pull her in and kiss her one more time. “I can’t fucking wait.”

  Epilogue

  Xander

  Two years later

  I stand in my gym, looking around at this masterpiece before me. I can’t believe I’ve done it. Three months ago, Charli and I opened the doors to Warrior’s Paradise and every single day, I’ve had an influx of new members. I have to admit though, it’s hard work owing your own business, but that doesn’t make me love it any less.

  Seeing kids coming off the street, with nowhere to go, feeling like Warrior’s Paradise is a safe place makes me feel more accomplished than any of my wins in the professional league last season.

  Though, those wins are what has made all this possible. I was able to buy this place and fix it up. It took a lot of hard work, but eventually, we turned this place into the best gym equipped for MMA. Of course, I made it so it functions as your regular gym as well because Charli wouldn’t have it any other way, demanding that women have a place to train as well, but with my name attached to it, it is damn clear this is a gym designed for serious fighters.

  I still train with Cole every day and we regularly have arguments of whose gym we’re going to work out of. Though, I find when I win that argument, my training session is usually a killer one that has me wishing for sweet, sweet death.

  I make it home that night and find Charli dressed in a sexy black knee length dress with strappy high heels, just as I had requested of her. She smiles at me the moment I walk through the door with those stunning blue eyes still managing to take my breath away, and as usual, that damn dog of hers lays right by her feet.

  “You look beautiful,” I tell her seconds before I rush her and kiss her.

  “You don’t look too bad yourself,” she teases as I’m still in my training gear, though, she often tells me just how much she appreciates this look. The need to strip her naked and take her on the kitchen bench pulses through me, but I have a plan to stick to.

  “I’ll be ready in five,” I tell her before dashing into the bathroom and rushing through a quick shower. I come out precisely five minutes later wearing the cologne she loves and give her a big ass cheesy grin.

  “A suit?” she asks as her eyes rake up and down my body, appreciating the view. “Where the hell are we going?”

  “You’ll see,” I tell her as I take her hand and lead her out to my truck. I help her up and quickly dash around to the driver’s side, anxious to get tonight started.

  I drive in the direction of the gym, but take a few different turns and watch as her face creases in confusion, having absolutely no idea where we are or where we’re going. I find a park and flick the ignition off. I lean across and give Charli a quick kiss before hopping out of the truck and helping her down in her heels.

  I take her by the hand and start leading her to our destination. We walk down a street which is lined with shops and I watch the confusion sink in further. “Xander,” she says, scanning the names of the shops. “There are no restaurants down here. Are you sure we’re in the right place?”

  “Positive,” I tell her.

  We walk for a few minutes more until I stop in front of a storefront and pull a key out of my pocket before handing it to her. “Open it,” I tell her.

  She looks around, searching for a sign to tell her where we are, but so far, there isn’t one. Her eyes go wide with concern as she shoots a funny look at me. “No,” she hisses. “Where the hell are we? I’m not breaking into someone’s shop. I’m too innocent to go to jail, I’d never survive.”

  “Babe,” I tell her calmly, trying to hold back my grin at her comments because she couldn’t be more wrong, she’s the furthest thing from innocent. “Open the damn door.”

  She lets out a huff, but does as she’s told, after looking up and down the street twice more. She pushes the door open and I flick the lights on behind her. The shop instantly comes to life and she takes it all in.

  “What the hell is this?” she asks as her eyes flick from the right to left, then top to bottom.

  “This is your salon, Charli,” I tell her.

  Her eyes go wide as she turns back to me. “Are you serious?” she asks.

  “Yeah, babe,” I smile. “I’ve been working on it for a few months with Micky. There’s still some more work to do, but I wanted you to choose all the finishing touches so everything is how you want it.”

  “Thank you,” she whispers with a lump in her throat as tears of happiness starts overflowing in her gorgeous blue eyes and dropping down her cheeks. “This is… I don’t know, I have no words for how amazing this is. It’s my dream to have my own salon.”

  I step forward and wipe the tears away. “I know,” I tell her. “Now, there’s no time for tears, you need to see the place first.”

  She gives an excited nod as she wipes the rest of the tears, “K,” she murmurs, taking hold of my hand and allowing me to lead her around the salon. I point out all the work that’s been done and what still needs her final say on. I show her where the register will go and where she can have shelves of products for sale.

  “You’re going to have to come up with a name,” I tell her.

  “Shit,” she laughs. “But I swore after all the drama of picking a name for the gym that I’d never do it again.”

  “Tough shit, babe,” I grin, remembering the hell of a time we had narrowing down the list of names for Warrior’s Paradise. I couldn’t have been happier with the outcome, but it was a long journey. “Why don’t you keep it simple. ‘Charli’s Salon’.”

  She stops in her tracks and looks around fondly. “Charli’s Salon,” she says, trying it out. “I like it.”

  “Well, that was easy,” I murmur.

  We come to a door and she pushes her way through. “What’s up here?” she asks, taking in the stairs.

  “Go up and see,” I tell her as the nerves start taking over.

  I follow her as we head up the stairs and she pushes through the door. She lets out a surprised gasp as she finds the rooftop terrace completely overtaken with flowers and fairy lights that twinkle against the night’s backdrop. “Oh, my god,” she whispers to herself as she takes it in. “This place is amazing.”

  I close the door behind me and drop down to one knee. I wait patiently as she takes it all in before slowly turning back to me with tears in her eyes. The second she realizes what I’m doing and takes in the big diamond ring sitting in the velvet box that I’m holding out to her, she lets out another gasp and looks at me with absolute love i
n her eyes.

  “Charli,” I start. “Since the day I saw you working behind that bar at Micky’s, I knew you were going to be mine. I watched you grow into this beautiful strong woman and still to this day, you continue to surprise me with how far you’ve come. I’m pretty sure I fell in love with you that very first day and since then, that feeling has only grown. I no longer know how to live my life without you and what’s more is that I don’t want to,” I say, letting that sink in before I continue.

  She wipes a stray tear and I make sure she’s hearing every single word I am saying. “Charli, will you do me the greatest honor of becoming my wife?”

  She drops to her knees in front of me, “Yes,” she cries, throwing her arms around me and crushing her lips to mine as she continues, “Nothing in this world would make me happier. I love you, so much.”

  “I love you, too,” I say, taking the ring out of the box and sliding it onto her finger before pulling her back into me.

  Our bodies come crashing together as she reaches for my suit jacket, slipping it straight off my shoulders before grabbing my shirt and ripping the buttons right off in her desperation to feel my skin on hers.

  Her hands find purchase on my chest and begin roaming over the rest of my torso while I grab the hem of her dress and pull it up before tearing her undies from her body. She undoes my pants and pushes them down just enough to let my erection spring free.

  I take her by the waist and shuffle us around until I can bring her down on top of me. She lets out a groan as she sinks down and allows me to fill her completely. Fuck, I will never get used to the feeling of being inside her.

  She begins to move, like really move and before I know it, she’s exploding around me with tears of joy in those beautiful eyes while I come inside her.

  I lean back against the door with Charli in my lap. She comes forward and rests her forehead against mine while her fingernails run through my hair. “That was amazing,” she whispers with her lips resting against mine.

  “You’re amazing,” I counter. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “Yeah, well let’s just hope you don’t need a hip replacement and you can still rock my world when we’re ninety,” she smirks.

  “Baby, no matter what, I will always rock your world.”

  The End.

  Tank – Book 4

  The Kings of Denver

  Introduction

  Sophie

  He’s the best thing that has ever happened to me.

  Ruggedly handsome, sexy and absolute dynamite in bed.

  Five years later, I’m proud to call him my husband and have his unborn child within me.

  Nothing can change how I feel about him.

  Nothing could tear him away.

  Tank

  She’s the love of my life and the mother of my unborn child.

  I have the world at my feet and am proud to say I’m one hell of a lucky bastard.

  If only she had listened.

  Things would never have changed.

  WARNING: Tank is a steamy romance with a HEA and NO CLIFFHANGER. It contains sexual content and coarse language. It is recommended for mature readers. Please be aware that some scenes may cause stress for some readers.

  Prologue

  Sophie

  4 months earlier

  “Shit” I curse as I throw the blankets back and scramble out of bed.

  “What’s wrong?” Tank murmurs, but I don’t have a chance to reply as I rush into the bathroom, flick the lights and begin throwing up chunks into our toilet.

  “Babe?” Tank questions suddenly at the door. He takes one look at me and rushes in to grab hold of my hair which is currently getting a new hairstyle.

  “Get out,” I cry. There are a lot of things I’m willing for this man to witness me doing, but throwing up isn’t one. We’ve been married for a few years now and yes, they have been glorious, but I’m still a woman, and this woman needs her damn privacy when she’s blowing chunks.

  He scoffs as he manages to get the hairband off my wrist and somehow puts my blonde hair in a bun. He gets up and starts wetting a washcloth while my forehead comes down to rest on the cold porcelain of the toilet.

  After two more chunk blowing episodes, I’m finally able to get up off the bathroom floor. I instantly fall into Tank’s big arms and he wraps me up as if, after all these years, I’m still the most precious thing to him. “Feeling better?” he asks as he reaches for the washcloth and presses it against my face.

  “Yeah, actually. Heaps,” I tell him. How strange to go from feeling queasy as shit to feeling perfectly fine. I pull out of Tank’s arms, desperate to brush my teeth and get myself back to normal. Actually, I might even jump in the shower and wash my hair after that.

  I head over to the vanity and smirk at Tank’s attempt at getting my hair out of the way. I swear, if I was outdoors, a bird would mistake this mess for its nest. I pull open my drawer and dig in to find my toothbrush and toothpaste, but my hand lands on a little box of tampons instead.

  I don’t know why, but something strange pulls at me until it clicks. My whole body freezes as I start doing the math. No, I couldn’t be, could I?

  “Babe, what’s wrong?” Tank asks, alarmed by my sudden silence and wide eyes.

  “Get out,” I demand, knowing there’s no way he’s going anywhere unless I physically make him. Using all my strength, I push and prod at him until I can manage to slam the door shut between us, but let’s be real, the man is an absolute monster, if he really insisted on finding out what’s on my mind he could have done it easily. He’s giving me this moment of privacy and I couldn’t be more grateful.

  I dash back over to the vanity and pull out the box of pregnancy tests that we keep for those ‘just in case’ moments. I grab all four of the bastards and tear them open. “Babe?” Tank says on the other side of the door as I make myself comfortable on the toilet. “What the hell is going on in there?”

  I pop the lids on all the tests and position them between my legs in one hand. I mean, why only pee on one when I can pee on them all, right? Nervousness takes over and I really have to concentrate on what I’m doing. ‘Relax, Sophie. It’s just a little pee, you do it all the time,’ I tell myself over and over again trying to get my body to relax enough.

  “Babe?” Tank demands.

  “Shut up,” I yell at him. “You’re ruining my concentration.”

  “Concentration? What the hell do you need concentration for in the bathroom?” he questions.

  “Argh,” I groan. “Be quiet.”

  He lets out a frustrated groan of his own before I hear him flop down on the bed, but if I was a betting woman, I’d say he’s sitting as close to the bathroom door as damn possible, ready to pounce on me the second I open it.

  With him out of the way, I’m able to get this shit done. My body finally relaxes enough and the stream of pee comes happily flowing. Pee goes everywhere as I try to stick my head as far between my legs as possible to make sure each of the tests gets a sufficient amount of pee, but damn, this shit is a lot harder than you think.

  I get up off the toilet and quickly go about pulling my pants back up so I can nervously watch the tests for the next two minutes. I lay a tissue down on the vanity and think better of it before grabbing a few more then laying the tests down on top. After all, these bad boys are covered in urine and come to think of it, so are my hands, ugh.

  I wash my hands and wait as patiently as possible.

  “We’re you seriously just trying to pee?” Tanks asks from the other side of the door.

  “Yes,” I groan, rolling my eyes.

  “Why the hell did I get pushed out then?” he demands. “I’ve seen you pee millions of times and you know… it’s never really taken this long before.”

  “Oh, my god, Tank,” I grumble, “Would you shut up? I’m still concentrating,” I tell him as I start to see the first little line beginning to appear on the tests. Holy cow, just a little wh
ile longer.

  “Babe, let me in.”

  “No.”

  “I swear, I’m knocking this door down in three seconds,” he tells me.

  A second little line appears on all four of the tests and I scramble to get the box to double check the results. “Wait, wait, wait,” I demand as he begins counting down.

  “Three.”

  My finger hovers over the little pictures in the results sections.

  “Two.”

  One line. Not pregnant. Two lines. Pregnant. Holy shit.

  “One.”

  I grab the tests and turn towards the door with tears in my eyes, but it’s too late, the door is currently flying off its hinges. “What’s the matter?” Tank asks, practically throwing the door aside as he sees the tears in my eyes.

  He rushes towards me, but I step back out of his reach as a smile slowly begins taking over my face. He looks down at me in concern, clearly very confused with what the hell’s going on. I hold up the tests so he can see what it is I’ve been doing. “You’re going to be a Daddy,” I tell him as the tears of happiness overflow and run down my face.

  “Are you serious?” he questions as he plucks the tests out of my hands and studies each of them with his heart in his eyes.

  “Yeah,” I practically giggle, but he doesn’t take my word for it just yet. He grabs the instructions off the vanity and searches for the answers he’s looking for. His eyes flick between the paper and the tests at least one hundred times before a wide grin comes over his face. “Fuck, yeah,” he exclaims, throwing the tests up in the air so he can free his hands before crushing his lips down on mine.

  “Ugh,” I grunt, pulling back from him. “I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.”

  “I honestly don’t give a shit right now,” he says. “We’re going to be parents,” he adds, probably a little in shock.

  “Great parents,” I confirm.