by Selena Kitt
“How about private tutoring? Beyond our own kids?” I’ve suggested to her, just to make sure she knows I’m not asking her to abandon her Education degree or any activity she enjoys, such as droning on at the head of a class of thirteen-year-olds.
If she likes to work, so be it; she knows she doesn’t have to.
She knows I’ll do anything for her—anything to make any dream she has come true.
I close the distance between us and put my hands over hers.
“Surely, it’s not still kicking,” I say, sliding one of my hands underneath hers.
I feel the movement and my grin widens.
I kiss Nina’s forehead as I hold her and our karate-practicing baby against me.
Nina in my home always and in my life to stay—life couldn’t possibly get any better.
Again, my sweet Nina has saved me.
END
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About the Author
Rowena writes friends-to-lovers erotic romance and erotica with an element of unwillingness. She likes a bit of darkness involved as long as no one really gets hurt—at least, only in good ways. ;) Forced proximity and kidnapping romances are her favorites.
She enjoys making up circumstances in which two people are forced to confront their feelings—sexual and otherwise—to the object of their desire, feelings they have been hiding or running from because of a major barrier or conflict of interest. Usually, her characters have known each other for quite a while, so their first sexual encounter has been a long time…coming.
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Never Trust a Bad Boy - WICKED LIES (secret baby) by Minx Hardbringer
Chapter 1
Zoe
When Mrs. Hadley calls me down to her office, my heart tries to jump out of my chest. For a brief moment, I think I could be in trouble for something, although I have no idea what I could have done wrong. I’ve never been in trouble in my life, but that’s the kind of girl I am. I’m always concerned with making my parents happy and with doing my best. It’s funny because I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t know how to get into trouble if I found it.
Miss goodie two shoes, teacher’s pet, and a prude all rolled into one. I play with the hem of my skirt nervously as I watch the comings and goings of the office. No one ever looks happy in this office. No one except Mrs. O’Neal the school secretary. She always has a bright smile on her face.
“Why so glum, Zoe?” Mrs. O’Neal asks me as she peers around her computer.
“Hi Mrs. O’Neal. I’m okay. I’m just concerned because I don’t know what this meeting is about.”
“Haha. You’re too funny Ms. Miller. You don’t need to worry about this meeting.” She says and motions for me to come closer. “You want me to let you in on the details?” She whispers.
“Yes, please.” I whisper back.
“You have to promise you won’t tell anyone I told you.” She says very gravely.
“Yes, of course. I won’t tell a soul.”
“You’re valedictorian.” She says very quietly but claps her hands with glee.
“Oh, wow. Thank you Mrs. O’Neal. I guess I don’t need to worry.”
“You certainly don’t. Congratulations, sweetie.” She says and gets up to give me a big hug.
I’m being named class valedictorian, and I couldn’t be more stoked. I’d worked hard since elementary school for this honor, and my parents are going to be thrilled. I bounce out of the office, and go straight to my locker. I plan on sending my dad a text message telling him the good news, but then Josh Allen walks by my locker. I can already tell by the cocky ass smile on his face that my good mood is about to go down in flames.
Right as I’m going to hit send on the text to my dad, he walks up behind me and smacks my ass hard.
“What’s up Patty Prude? You let anybody pop that cherry yet?” He taunts, and all of his friends start laughing. “Maybe someone will give you a pity lay at Houser’s party. Probably not, though. Girls like you want an engagement ring before they’ll let a guy have a piece.”
The whole group howls at his mocking, and then continues down the hall. I don’t bother hitting send. Telling my parents about my news will make them want to celebrate, and all of a sudden, I don’t feel like having fun.
“I’ll tell them this tonight or maybe this weekend.” I whisper to myself and shut my locker.
My next class is AP chemistry, but there’s a substitute today. While everyone else is using the time to prepare for finals in two weeks, I’m sitting here thinking about Josh.
I hate him so much, but he’s totally gorgeous. Every part of me wishes that he would be nice to me, or at least ignore me so I can forget about him. He’s constantly teasing me and taunting me, and I have no idea what I did to draw so much of his attention. Ugh. I don’t know who I hate more, him for being such an insufferable prick or me for sitting here mooning over his intolerable ass.
I would never tell anyone, not even my best friend Stacey, that I’ve been crushing on him hard since the sixth grade. That’s about the time we stopped being friends too. All through elementary school he and I were close friends, but in middle school he started playing football and left me behind. Late in our sixth grade year was the first time he called me teacher’s pet, and it’s the first time I imagined kissing him.
No matter how mean he is to me, it only makes me want him more. It’s twisted, I know. Ever since that day in Mrs. Lott’s class, he’s made my blood pressure shoot through the roof in good ways and in bad.
I’ve never been with a boy, but I do wonder what it would be like with Josh. Sometimes I wonder what it would feel like to kiss him, or see his muscular chest without his football jersey. Heck, at this point, I’d probably die if I held his hand.
“Ms. Miller. Shouldn’t you be studying?” The substitute’s voice breaks my daydream.
“Yes, thank you. I was working on a my graduation speech in my head.” It’s a risk to let everyone know I’m valedictorian, but Josh isn’t in here, so I’m pretty confident I won’t get teased.
“You go girl.” Stacey turns around and high fives me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Sorry, I just found out.” I answer her, but I see the substitute glaring at us, so we turn around and go back to our books.
It doesn’t take long for word of my being valedictorian to travel through the school. By the time I make it to last period, Josh knows. He’s waiting for me outside of my class, and my stomach does flip flops when I see him standing there.
“Hey P.P. I hear we should be celebrating.” He says and reaches out to twirl a strand of my hair between his fingers.
A shiver runs down my spine, but I keep my cool. “You heard correctly.” I say as calmly as I can.
“Well, should we do something to special for the occasion?” He asks. “Maybe you should let me take you out.”
“Are you messing with me?” I ask, and I’m hoping that he isn’t joking.
“That would be cruel even for me.” He says and gives the strand of hair he’s holding a slight tug.
He isn’t messing with me, and Josh takes me out to dinner and a movie the next night. He picks me up in a gorgeous Mercedes and takes me to one of the nicest restaurants in the city. We talk and laugh like we’ve been friends for years, and at the end of the night, he kisses me after walking me to my door.
We go out a few times over the next couple of weeks, but Josh doesn’t want to tell anyone we’re dating. Well, he says that it’s not that he doesn’t want people to know we’re dating it’s that people can’t know he’s seeing anyon
e. Something bad is going on at his home, but he says once that’s cleared up, we’ll go public with our relationship. I want to believe him, but part of me is worried that he’s using me or that this is still some big joke.
Two Weeks Later
I can’t believe I told Stacey I would go to this party with her. Graduation is tomorrow, and I should be working on my speech. She reminded me that I didn’t have a party for my eighteenth birthday, and I feel guilty. I’ve spent so much time studying that I’ve neglected my best friend.
Stacey really wants to go, so I agree to drop in and make an appearance. I’ve spent the last hour trying on different outfits, and so far nothing looks right. Josh and I still haven’t gone public with our relationship yet, and I’m hoping this party is the turning point for us. There is no part of me that wants to be his secret girlfriend, but I understand him wanting to take things slowly.
“Girl, wear the black skirt and the red tank.” Stacey says without hiding her exasperation.
“I bought that to use as a Halloween costume.”
“And, you never wore it. Ditch the devil tail and the pitchfork, though.” She says and throws the tank top at me.
“I can’t wear that.”
“Yes you can. Stop being a prude. You’ll look hot. You need to have fun tonight. It’s like, your last chance. At the end of the summer, you’re going off to college, and I know you. You’ll be buried in books until you graduate law school.”
“Fine, throw me the skirt too.” I’m going to regret this.
I put it on, and I feel slutty. It’s okay to dress smutty for Halloween, but wearing something so revealing to a regular party doesn’t feel right to me. Stacey, on the other hand, threatens to set my graduation speech on fire if I take it off.
“It’s on my computer, dummy.” I tease her.
“Then I’ll set your computer on fire. Are you ready to go?” She gets up and walks towards my bedroom door without waiting for me to answer.
When we get to the party, I immediately find a corner to hide in, and Stacey wanders off to find something for us to drink.
“You want a beer?” She asks over her shoulder as she’s walking away.
“No.” I answer firmly.
“Will you drink a beer if I bring you one?”
“No.” Then she disappears around the corner.
After a few minutes, I start to wonder if I need to go looking for her. When I’m about to emerge from my corner, a guy named Johnny from my AP Literature class walks up and starts chatting with me. He congratulates me on making Valedictorian, and slaps me on the back. I’m half looking around for Josh, and half hoping that I can get out of here without having to have the are we or aren’t we moment. The worst thing would be if he completely ignores me.
Johnny was my competition earlier in the year for the honor, but a nasty round of flu that kept him out of school for three weeks knocked him out of the running. We’re talking about our plans for the summer and where we’ll be going to college in the fall when I hear a familiar voice behind me. Nope, him ignoring me isn’t the worst thing that can happen, and I’m about to learn that the hard way.
“Hey Patty Prude. Looks like you’re trying to cash in that v-card pretty hard tonight.” Josh teases me loudly enough for the entire room to hear.
I’m sure I turn every shade of red visible to the human eye, and even Johnny starts to laugh. I feel something rising inside of my stomach, and my skin feels like it’s buzzing with electricity. Before I know what’s happening, I open my mouth and shriek at him.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, Josh? Why do you always have to be such an insufferable dick?” I regret yelling as soon as I’m done, and hot tears flood my eyes and run down my cheeks.
I run out of the room and down the hall. When I find an empty bedroom, I slip inside and shut the door behind me. After a couple of minutes, there is a soft knock on the door. I don’t respond at first because my face is in my hands and I’m sobbing. I’ve never been so angry, embarrassed, and love-sick at the same time.
Why do I let him get to me this way?
I should want to hit him, but more than anything, I want to rip his clothes off and show him that I’m not a prude. The knock comes again, and this time it’s a little louder. When I don’t respond again, the knob turns and the door starts to open. I curse myself under my breath for not locking the door.
A soft gasp escapes my lips when I realize it’s Josh.
“Can I come in?” He asks quietly as he shuts the door and locks it behind him.
“Looks like you already are anyway.” I say and shoot him my best death glare.
“Wow, you are hot when you’re angry. Did you know that?” He says and a devilish smile crosses his perfect lips.
“Are you for real flirting with me right now? Or, are your boys going to jump out of the closet so you can all laugh at me some more.” I do my best to maintain my death glare, but his smile is melting my anger away fast.
“Zoe, I’m so sorry. I messed up. I was just teasing you like I used to, and I never even considered how it would make you feel. I wasn’t trying to embarrass you, I swear. I think in a way, all that bantering was my pathetic way of flirting with you, and I actually expected you to come back with a smart ass response. It was too soon for me to joke around with you that way, and I’m so sorry.” He says and sits down on the bed next to me. “You are so beautiful.” Josh whispers and brushes a strand of my hair behind my ear.
“You said you were sorry twice.”
“That’s because I’m really, really sorry sweetie. I promise, I’ll make it up to you. I’ll let everyone know that you’re mine later tonight, and I won’t tease you like that again.”
“I was hoping you would say that. I was starting to think you wanted to keep us a secret, or worse, that this was some sort of elaborate joke.”
“No, Zoe, we’re for real. I’ve had some stuff going on at home, and I was afraid to get too involved with you before it was straightened out.”
“Is everything okay, now?” I ask quietly.
“I don’t know, baby. But, I do know that I want you by my side no matter what happens. If you want to be, that is?” He looks so sincere, terrified, and heartbroken that I have to believe him.
“Yes, Josh. I’m here for you no matter what.”
Chapter 2
Josh
Zoe is truly gorgeous. Most of the guys at our school don’t realize it because she’s also practically a genius. She might be a genius. When I pushed her hair back behind her ear, it felt like lightning struck me. I’ve never wanted to be with someone so much in my life.
I have a secret. I’m a virgin too. If Zoe knew that, I’d be humiliated. Maybe if I keep up the cocky, arrogant, alpha male persona she won’t be able to tell. I want to keep the rest of it secret too, but if I get any closer to Zoe, I’m going to have to tell her the truth about my family. To keep her safe, I’m going to have to tell her what the Allen family is really like. We talk for a while, but I just want to be with her right now. There will be plenty of time later to tell her my sordid secrets.
I grab the back of her neck and claim her mouth. My tongue pushes against her lips, and while she resists at first, Zoe eventually parts her lips and allows me to caress her tongue with mine. It doesn’t take long for her to come back to reality, though.
“What are you doing?” She says when she tries to pull away from my embrace.
‘Whatever I want. Now, hush. I can’t please you if you don’t let me.” I tell her and hope she doesn’t punch me.
Zoe moans and my mouth covers hers again. I stand up and pull her to her feet so I can strip off that slutty little outfit she’s wearing. We definitely need to have a talk about her showing off what’s mine the way she did tonight. I shouldn’t be so jealous and overprotective, but I’m afraid of what would happen to any man who looked at her the wrong way or, have mercy on him, touched her.
“I like this.” I say and throw the tank top on th
e floor at our feet. “But if you ever dress this way for anyone other than me again, I’ll take you over my knee and spank that gorgeous ass.” Then, I yank her skirt down.
She’s standing there in just her bra and panties, and a deep blush colors her cheeks. I grab her and take her over my knee. Her panties are soaked, and the first slap that lands on her round ass echoes through the room. I slap her buttocks a few more times before I strip off her panties and unclasp her bra.
Now that I’ve got her naked, I throw her down on the bed and stand up. While I’m taking off my clothes, Zoe gets up on her elbows and watches me undress. She bites her bottom lip in a way that makes me feel like I’m losing control.
