Authors: Olivia Starke
Heart's Paradise (24 page)
“I-I can’t ask it of you, Jonathon. It’s too much of a sacrifice.”
“Ask what?”
“You’ll have to give up your whole life for us. Everything you have in Dallas. Are you willing to leave what you know there? Your friends, family, your home. Everything.”
Their gazes held, and he knew the truth of it in his heart. He’d come there to offer her everything, and that’s exactly what he was willing to give. What did he have in Dallas? His family yes, but they were only a short flight away. Here in this small town in northern California lived all the things he’d ever wanted. A beautiful woman, and their clever daughter, what else could possibly compete with that? Here was the perfect life for him.
He kissed her knuckles. “Yes. Say the word and I’ll move here to be with the two of you. I-I want to marry you, Phoebe Heart. Will you be my wife?”
The words slipped out easily enough though he hadn’t planned to pop the question. But once out he would’ve never taken it back. He reached up and cupped Phoebe’s cheek, brushing his thumb over her trembling lower lip.
“Sarah’s at her friend’s house for the weekend,” Phoebe said.
“Okay.” Jonathon swallowed. Would she say no?
“She asked me if you were her dad. I asked her would she want you for a father and she said yes, but only if you wanted to be.”
The idea she’d figured it out left him proud. She was such a smart girl. And also sad, what man could ever turn their back on their own kid?
Phoebe’s father had.
And she’d built walls to keep the same thing from happening to her own daughter. Jonathon had a hard task of breaking those walls down.
“I wouldn’t have come here if I wasn’t wholly invested in being her father,” he assured Phoebe. “She’s been my life since I first learned the truth. And even if she wasn’t my biological child, I’d still be proud to call her my own. I swear to you that’s the truth.”
Phoebe chewed on her bottom lip. Jonathon waited, holding his breath, his heart beating a mad rhythm in his chest.
Chapter 26
Jonathon’s question held the weight of the world behind it. Phoebe’s future, Sarah’s future all hung on her answer. Could she marry this man? She peered into his silvery gray eyes, and felt them searching inside her for the answer that wouldn’t pass her lips.
Yes, she wanted to say.
Yes, I want you in my life. I want you in Sarah’s life. We both need you to make our family complete.
But yes was a big word. The biggest she’d ever spoken, and it stuck in her throat. Jonathon squeezed her fingers, and despite the honesty shining in his gaze all the what ifs taunted her.
What if he changes his mind? What if Sarah and I aren’t enough? What if he simply tires of us and moves back, destroying Sarah’s trust?
He’s not my own father, she reminded herself for the hundredth time. It wasn’t fair to compare him to a man she’d met only briefly so long ago.
He left for two months and never bothered to contact you.
She closed her eyes. “Why didn’t you get in touch with me before now?” she asked.
Jonathon stood and paced across the room before returning. He sat next to her on the sofa. “I wanted time to think. Time to see if I really did lose interest in us, but I can see now that’ll never happen. I could never lose interest in you or Sarah. Please, Phoebe, angel. This is the God’s honest truth. You’re everything to me. Absolutely everything.”
She stared into his eyes, sank into his gaze, and before she knew it his lips were on her. The kiss was sweet at first as he coaxed her mouth open, but once their tongues met, she craved more. She grabbed the back of his head, pulling him closer. He groaned, taking her with his mouth.
It wasn’t enough. She’d craved him every day. A constant ache, a constant fire in her bloodstream.
“Make love to me, Jonathon,” she pleaded against his mouth.
He pulled back, his hot breath caressing her lips. “What about your leg?”
She grinned. “We’ll work around it.”
He gently scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom, carefully placing her on the bed. With gentle hands he pulled her t-shirt over her head before tugging her shorts away. He rained kisses on every inch of bared flesh, and Phoebe melted beneath his mouth and his caress.
He gently nipped her nipple, sending delirious pleasure through her, and she arched, begging him for more. Jonathon moved down her body, drawing small circles on her skin as he went, teasing her with ideas of what might come. His hand slipped between her thighs, and his fingers found her wet, and ready. She opened as much as she could, but it wouldn’t be enough for him to fit.
“Damn it,” she hissed between her teeth.
Jonathon chuckled. “It’s okay, we’ll make it work. Can you roll onto your stomach?”
He helped her as she took the new position, leaving her legs together. He straddled her thighs, and slowly entered her from behind. Hot shivers raced through her as he hit all the spots she desperately wanted him to hit. He slid deep, and withdrew, slid deep and withdrew. A slow, inflaming rhythm stoking a fire hotter and hotter deep within her core.
She clutched the blankets, panting, pleading, feeling like she’d fly apart any second. His speed increased as he nipped the sensitive skin along her shoulders.
“Ah, angel, I’ve wanted you so much,” he said, his passion-ragged voice driving her closer to the brink.
She clung to the edge, letting the waves sweep her higher and higher until the world shattered into brilliant stars. She cried out, and he thrust into her once more before he pulled out. She felt the warmth of his cum on her thigh.
He collapsed next to her, and they lay in bliss for several long and wonderful minutes. Would she ever find a man who was as perfect for her—and Sarah—as Jonathon? He took some tissues from the box on the nightstand and cleaned her thigh before gently kissing her now throbbing leg.
No, she never would find anyone who was so perfect. He reached out and stroked her hair away from her face. She slowly rolled to her back, careful not to jar her leg, and lay her head on his arm.
“Yes,” she whispered.
He gave her a satisfied smile, complete with adorable chin dimple. Butterflies beat in her stomach.
“Yes?” he asked.
“Yes, I’ll marry you.”
The happiness she saw in his eyes made her cry.
* * * *
Phoebe had wanted a wedding in the quiet solitude of her beloved redwoods, but had finally settled on an extravagant affair in Dallas. After all, her husband-to-be had agreed to leave his life behind to move to northern California, so she could give him the wedding he and his family wanted. Jonathon’s family seemed a bit suspicious of her, but they’d welcomed Sarah with open arms, and her daughter had fit right in with the extroverted group.
Her leg had healed to where she’d walked down the aisle without need of a walker or cane, though it’d been at a turtle’s pace to keep her limp from being so visible.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Jonathon wrapped his arms around her as they gazed out over the Indian Ocean. The setting sun colored the blue waters with bright reds and orange. A palette belonging on a painted canvas. Had it been this beautiful the first time they’d been on the island nearly a year before? She tried to remember, but couldn’t recall much while Jonathon nibbled at her earlobe.
“I can’t imagine a better place for our honeymoon,” she said, snuggling deeper into his arms. “Or a more appropriate place.”
They’d batted around locations to have their honeymoon, but nothing had seemed quite right until they’d watched
Paradise
. The show had done a good job of both making them look competent in their skills and foolish in the way they’d handled what would be obvious to the viewers—that they were well on their way to being in love. Phoebe couldn’t say she was happy with the series, but she couldn’t regret doing it. After all, it’d brought her Jonathon, and had given Sarah her father. That was worth a few curious gazes and snickers from strangers on the street.
This time, a yacht docked off shore, and on the beach they had a halfway decent non-alcoholic champagne and everything else they’d need to make this island stay comfortable. And she had Jonathon, a man who still brought butterflies to her stomach every time he shot her his devilish smile or a wink. Or were those butterflies the movements of their new little addition growing in her womb? A boy, and God willing they’d have several more children in the coming years.
Jonathon often joked he was in a competition with his sisters to see who could pop out the most Breck babies. She’d said two more, he’d countered with six, and somehow she’d found herself agreeing to four, Sarah included. Sarah was thrilled with the idea of a bunch of brothers and sisters. Phoebe hadn’t realized how lonely her extroverted daughter must’ve been as an only child. Phoebe was an only child, but she’d always been happy with being by herself.
And Sarah had loved helping with the wedding plans, and had served alongside Cybil as maid of honor. Phoebe would never tire of hearing her call Jonathon “Daddy”. Jonathon couldn’t have looked prouder of the title.
Jonathon nuzzled her hair before kissing the sensitive spot beneath her ear. “I love you, Mrs. Breck,” he said. “I still think they need to name this island Heart’s Paradise. I’m taking it up with the Maldivian president.”
Phoebe giggled and shifted in the sand to get more comfortable on her leg. “I think it’d be appropriate to name it Our Paradise, don’t you think?”
He growled low in his throat. “And what would you have me do to make the name stick, eh?”
She giggled again and leaned close, whispering several illicit ideas into his ear until he grabbed her and kissed her long and deep. “You’ll be the end of me, angel,” he said after pulling back from her lips. His silver gaze glowed in the fading light of day.
“And you were the beginning of me, my love,” she replied.
He cupped her cheek, tracing her bottom lip with his thumb. “Thirteen years ago you deserved more from me than a fast fuck,” he said. “I’d do anything if I could go back and make it more special between us.”
He’d often said the same thing to her, he wasn’t one to let go of guilt easily.
She sighed and told him the words she always did. “You gave me the world that night. You gave me a heart and soul when you blessed me with our daughter. It might have taken a while, but you also mended my broken heart.” He blurred as tears pooled in her eyes. “You’ve promised me everything, and that’s exactly what you’ve given me. I love you so much, Jonathon Breck.”
“And I love you.” His voice was a husky rumble that rasped her nerve endings and set fire to her bloodstream. He kissed her again, a kiss only a new husband and wife could share, and they made love beneath the setting sun on the sands of paradise.
About Olivia Starke
Olivia Starke calls the Ozarks home. One of the most beautiful areas in the country, she loves hiking trails with her dogs, kayaking on the numerous waterways, and enjoying southern Missouri’s fresh air and sunshine.
She’s also ‘Mom’ to four dogs, a growing number of kitties that show up at her door, and four VERY spoiled horses that do little to earn their keep. Not that she’d ever hold that against them.
She’s a HUGE fangirl of
Doctor Who
and to a lesser extent
Supernatural
, and has a pretty interesting love triangle (or square?) going on in her head between the Doctor and the Winchesters. She is also sort of completely in love with BBC’s
Sherlock
.
Olivia’s Website:
Reader eMail:
About The Billionaire Bachelor Series
Book 1:
The Baby Contract
Now Available
Book 2:
Heart’s Paradise
Now Available
More Beachwalk Press Titles by Olivia Starke
Project Terminal: Devil’s Virus
The Baby Contract (book 1 in The Billionaire Bachelor Series)
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Liam Whitmore III is floored by the surprise stipulation in his father’s will—provide an heir within one year or he’ll lose the controlling portion of Whitmore Incorporated to his cousin Spencer. The corporation is Liam’s life. He’ll do anything to keep his cousin’s hands off of it, including finding a woman who’ll bear his child. Though finding the right woman seems an impossible task since he doesn’t have room in his life for anything except running the company. He doesn’t want a wife, just an heir.
Abby Haden’s family is about to lose their ranch, the only life her ailing father and brother have ever known. She feels helpless and is desperate to help. When the most coveted bachelor in Austin, Liam Whitmore III, also known as the Takeover Tyrant, offers to pay her to have his child it seems too incredible to be true. She’s all but given up hope of ever having a baby. Not only will her dream of being a mother come true, but she can also save the family ranch.
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Content Warning: contains graphic sex, explicit language, mild violence, and a heroine with a history of domestic abuse
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Jamie Shultzer’s life is in a tailspin. Her husband has left her for another man, and to top it off, she’s stranded on a desolate highway in the middle of Nebraska. The last thing she needs is another complication, especially when it shows up as the tall, sexy as hell, and much too young for her, Mark Adams. Though to be fair, he’s only ten years too young, and she has to find some way to repay him for rescuing her.