Breach of Contract (Kavanagh Family Romance Book 1)
Page 27
I’ve thought about this moment for months. What I would say. How to say it. The best words. None of them come to me. I’m rendered speechless by the mere sight of Maisie Walker. On shaking legs, I swallow my fear and take a tentative step forward. She does the same.
Christian leans up to kiss her cheek and then he waves to the crowd with his own super-watt grin. He leaves to let our scene play out. I want to grab and kiss Maisie, never let her go. But the sentiment—it needs to come first.
No one speaks. I’m not sure anyone breathes. The club is quiet.
“I love you.” Those are the words I came up with and the four hundred people—they hear them. The oohs and ahs tell me so.
Maisie must hear them too. Her eyes close for the briefest second, but then they open and she does nothing but stare.
“I have loved you. Truly. Passionately. Every day. Each breath, I fall deeper. You’re it for me, Maisie Walker, and in front of family and friends, everyone . . .” I generally motion toward the crowd. I would say this to a billion people if I could. “. . . I want to give you everything.”
She bites her bottom lip. Chews it. Contemplation is written all over her face until that dimple pokes free, bobbing in her cheek. “You’re smoldering, Mr. Kavanagh.”
I nod, slowly, never taking my eyes from hers. God, she’s beautiful. “I can do better.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
I get down on one knee and surprise lights her face. Then her hand is on her heart, clutching her chest and accentuating her cleavage. I can’t help but notice. I’d like to bury my face in her tits. But priorities.
The ring is in my shirt pocket. Three carats, brilliant-cut, and unmistakable. You can see it shine a mile away. I hold it up for her to see. “I can’t live without you, peach. I’ve tried. But everything is nothing without you. Please,” I beg. Because I will, with her, for her, to anyone who’ll listen. “Marry me.”
God, that smile. And the dimple, it digs in as she reaches for my hands and tugs me to standing. I stare into her face. The face I love. The smooth, ivory skin, plump lips covered in some hideous pink. But I don’t care what color they are. I want to kiss them. Bite and suck them until she moans and pulls my hair.
“No,” she says simply.
I blink. “No?”
She shakes her head, still smiling. “Not quite a yes. That’s better. And exactly what I mean. But really, ask me in a year. I feel like the timing is off. And I’m all about my feelings now. Knowing them—”
“Maisie—”
“—understanding them. Owning them. What I feel right now is awe. Mr. Kav—”
“Peach—”
“—anagh. I walked a runway. And you’re here. Your family’s here. So is mine. Piper, Caden. Everyone.”
I lean into her forehead, the ring still between us. She takes my fingers and closes them around the diamond and my heart shutters. “I’m not saying no. I’m saying not right now. I’m about to start a grueling program and I can’t plan a wedding and focus on my studies.”
Oh. The meaning of her words settles under my ribcage and my pulse eases by a fraction. “When you’re ready, then?”
She looks into my eyes. I lean away so I can focus on the depth of her blue and the rest of her message. “I love you too. I do, Mr. Kavanagh. Madly. Deeply. Every day more passionately. I’ve missed you.” Her voice hitches and then her head is buried in my neck and her hands are in my hair. She hiccups and I cue the music to start. Then I pick her up. One hand under her knees, the other around her back, and the crowd goes wild.
Maisie doesn’t need saving. She does, however, need to be loved.
No problem. I’ve got this.
I’m going to show everyone I’m the man for the job.
Forever.
Epilogue
“When You’re Ready” 2:53
Maisie
A year-ish later—give or take a month or two
“AM I TOO much? Or can you take it, peach?”
He groans when I clench around him. My greedy body wants his big cock deeper.
“More,” he says. “Give me more.”
More? How does he always know there’s more? He flexes his goddamn hips, forcing himself farther inside. I might scream. Maybe I beg. I have before. Three times, in fact, each followed by an amazing orgasm. Here we are again. With one of our videos playing on loop, Vinnie is pressed against my clit. Jayce is on his knees between my spread thighs, naked and looming over me. He turns the vibe on high.
“God.” I love a good ménage with the two of them.
“He can’t help you right now, sweetheart. Just me.”
Just him. My world revolves around him—my boyfriend, my lover, my everything.
“Tell me how you feel,” he demands.
He always demands. But how can I talk as he takes my nipple in his mouth, biting, and then sucking the sting away. First one and then the other. I squirm. I ache. I reach for his hair and he shakes his head, looking up at me in the early morning dawn with the sun shining in his eyes.
“Bad, bad girl.” Placing my fingers on the headboard, he tsks his tongue and with just a look he tells me I’m in trouble. Those hips are my punishment. One smooth, fluid flex and my G-spot quivers. I quiver and buck beneath him.
“Please,” I beg. I will for him to move faster, to fuck me harder, to love me more. “More.”
He grunts into my skin and rears back.
“Oh.” Shit. He pushes inside me so deep he steals another piece of my soul.
“Feel good?”
I nod, what else is there? I’m stuck between Vinnie’s vibration and his big dick, moving in small, swiveling strokes. He swells inside me. I groan and squirm, writhe and find the spot. The wholly, all-consuming spot where pleasure burns along my spine and opens me to every pulsing heartbeat. I want him with me when I explode.
“Mr. Kavanagh,” I whisper, and he groans. It does it every time. He tosses Vinnie aside and comes off his knees, giving me his weight and his sweat-slicked chest. I love it. I love him and his mouth when he finds mine. But it’s not a kiss. No, we’re beyond that this morning. Too needy and close. Finally, my hands find his hair and we move.
The small, perfect jabs of his hips pull a moan from my lungs and I hold on tighter. So tight. My legs round his ass and we move. We move together. Always together. It’s Jayce over me, pumping into me, not letting up until I close my eyes and take in his breath. And his words.
“Oh, peach. You’re coming. Fuck, you’re coming. I feel you. I feel everything.” And then his lips press to my neck, to my pulse, and he loses himself in me. With me. He gives me everything.
Everything.
This is my favorite place. My favorite time. After we’ve lost ourselves in each other, and with his body stuck to mine, warm and breathless. New York could disappear, the sounds could stop, the rhythm of the city could expire and we would never know. It’s just us. For this minute, nothing else matters. Nothing.
But then he moves. His hand grazes my calf, still strung around his backside, and up my thigh, my mid-section and my breast to cup my cheek. When his nose brushes mine, I smile. I’m worn out, but over the moon with joy in my heart.
“I love you,” he says.
I love you. It never gets old. “I love you too. So much.” I kiss the growing grin on his lips and then do it again.
“So . . .” He pushes to his elbows to look into my eyes.
I brush the hair off his forehead and then loop my arms around his neck. “So?”
His smile grows. “Will you marry me?”
I laugh. Not because I don’t think he’s serious but because he asks me every day. Sometimes twice. I tilt my head to study the rigid line of his jaw, the whiskers that feel so divine against my skin, and his smirk that hasn’t left. I do love him. So much. But still—“Ask me tomorrow. I have a big agenda this afternoon.”
“Yeah?” He doesn’t miss a beat after my everyday answer. “School?”
His brow tugs down and his body is no longer connected with mine. I hate it and he kisses my displeasure away. But I would like to know what’s causing his. “What’s wrong?” I ask as soon as his lips leave mine.
Sitting up, his knees hang over the side of his mattress. I trace my fingers along the wide breadth of his back and he shivers under my touch. Although I still have my room at Lily and Henry’s, the majority of my time is spent with Jayce. He’s offered to get a new place, one we’d pick out together, but the timing hasn’t been right. It will be soon. Sharing that update is part of the surprise and will come later today. That news is sure to turn his frown upside down.
In the meantime, I pop up and press my breasts to his back, skin against skin. “What’s up, sugar?”
He grabs my hand. “Full disclosure?”
I nod, because that’s our motto. No secrets.
“Ash flew in last night, or I should say, early this morning. She called while you were sleeping. Some mysterious court date she needs me to attend as her counsel.”
I squeeze his shoulders. He’s careful with me about Ash, even though I’ve totally forgiven him for not telling me about their friendship earlier in our relationship. “I trust you. I trust Ash. If she needs you, then it’s important and you should help.”
Smiling, he drags me into his lap. “It’s you.” Another something he says often and my pulse always trips up. “The keeper of my heart. For now and always.”
I close my eyes and pull his mouth to mine. I kiss him. I kiss him again and hope he knows it’s the same for me. I kiss him until he groans and flips me onto the bed and I know we’ll be late.
I also know exactly what he needs.
FOR YEARS I thought about nothing other than being in a courtroom, arguing my point. The future didn’t turn out as I’d expected. I guess it rarely does. Life isn’t a play that comes with scripted parts. Decisions affect outcomes and mine have led me here, standing in front of a magistrate. I could plead my case, but it’s really Jayce who needs to decide my fate.
It’s rather pretty. Golden wood covers every wall, the tall judge’s bench and all the chairs. Piper and Lily add some color with their blush pink dresses, flowers to match. Then there’s me. The white is shocking in the rich room. A Maisie Walker original fits me like a glove, one I’m squeezed into. It has a slight rockabilly vibe with its cinched waist and flared skirt that ends at my knees. My cleavage could be called indecent. In fact, Caden said just that. But I like to think of it as a tease hidden under the lace covering my boobs and arms to mid-sleeve. A little flower tucked into my pins and curls completes my package. Now I’m just waiting for my next gift to arrive. And he does, on time, as per usual.
He pushes through the double doors in a rush. Ash stands next to him and winks in my direction—in on the plan all along. She stuns, like every best man—er, woman, should. But it’s Mr. Kavanagh who steals my show with his dark hair, broad shoulders, and a snug black suit and tie. He swallows a question.
My heart thumps. My head spins. My knees shake. A barrage of thoughts scatter my brain: Was this a mistake? Should I have asked? Maybe he wanted a long engagement.
His eyes close for the briefest second and then he stares. He takes in my dress and his hand lands on his heart. His smile pumps the air back into my lungs. The slow spread of his lips over his teeth into the biggest grin I’ve ever seen has me stepping forward, anxious to marry the man of my dreams.
He glances to his left, then the right. Familiar faces fill the room—our closest family and friends. Although Mr. Kavanagh loves me loud and in front of millions, I wanted our special day to be private. The party will come later.
Maggie snaps a picture. On his phone, Lachlan pipes in “Here Comes the Bride” and everyone laughs. Mr. Kavanagh does not. He focuses on me. I wait for him. I’d wait forever for him and it seems like I have to as he slowly walks the aisle.
He sings songs to me on the daily, some unfamiliar and others wildly popular, but all of them ring true in my heart. Because he does. He is my musical, the lead in my play. His voice and all his words don’t need to be spoken aloud. It’s as though they were always only meant for me and I can hear him just fine. My soul and his are on excellent terms.
Today is no different, except it’s my turn to speak. My turn to give him everything. Me. Our future. My words. Our forever.
I’ve practiced my speech. Played the sentences back and forth, front and back, and I know them inside and out.
“Jayce.” I give Piper my bouquet and lick my peach-stained lips when he reaches me. “Mr. Kavanagh.” His smile flickers and my hands shake so I grab his to steady myself. They’re warm, solid, and he holds me up like he does every day. “You said, ‘when you’re ready.’”
He swallows thickly, never taking his eyes from mine. “Yeah?”
“Well, I’m ready now.”
“Is that right?”
My heart. I’m not sure it’s going to make it. “I love you. I have loved you. Every minute. Every day. I’m ready now to live all of those minutes, all of my days with you by my side. You are my joy and laughter. Maybe not all of it, but a big part. If I’m going to fight, I want it to end with you. And I know it won’t be—”
“Maisie—”
“—perfect. I’m not perfect. It’s going to be hard. But I would rather try with you every day, than be with Henry Cavil for just—”
He chokes on a laugh. “Peach—”
“—one. You are, and always will be, my dream come true. My lover, my only lover and best friend. You’re the greatest teacher and my favorite gift I’ve ever rec—”
“Mrs. Kavanagh.”
Breath sticks in my throat. A hiccup. Is that a tear? The first one. It brims on my lid and Piper passes a tissue over my shoulder. I bite my lip to hold back the flood. “That’s what I want.”
Grazing my jaw with his finger, he tips my chin so I have nowhere to look but into his glowing eyes. “Now and forever, mine?” he asks in a low, gravelly tone. So low the words are just for the two of us.
I nod, nod, nod and he smiles, so broad. So happy I feel it in my chest. With his hand plastered to my ass, he turns us to the judge and whispers, “No worries, sweetheart. We’ve got this.”
And he’s right. We totally do.
The End
Thank you for reading Breach of Contract! I hope you’ve enjoyed Jayce and Maisie’s story. Please consider leaving a review as it helps an author so very much!
Also by Elizabeth Miller
Sound of Silence – Piper and Caden’s story
Kavanagh Family Romance Series
Breach of Contract – Jayce Kavanagh’s story
The Midnight Series, McKenna Chronicles – Charlie and Colin’s saga!
Midnight
Midnight Sky
Only Tonight
Midnight Sun
Read the entire Midnight collection, on sale for a limited time!
Coming soon! Be on the lookout for an upcoming surprise project! And – Ash Crawford’s story: Smoke & Ash
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About Elizabeth Miller
She wears many hats. Some include wife, mother of two small boys, writer, reader, lover of gummy bears and Henry Cavill. She’s a proud Indie author who adores a broken hero, a feisty heroine, and lots and lots of sexy times. In 2013 she decided to flex her writing muscles and began her debut novel: Midnight. Published in 2014, she cont
inues writing sweet romantic, okay maybe a little bit erotic, suspenseful adult contemporary novels with characters you’re destined to fall in love with. Connect with EM, she loves to chat with readers.