Claimed (23 page)
Authors: Clarissa Cartharn
“Yes.”
“And you
still
want to marry me?”
“Yes,” she laughed again.
He smiled and kissed her. “I’m arranging a wedding this week.”
“Jared, no,” she blurted out quickly.
He frowned again.
“If my father and Edmund finds out,” she explained quickly. “They’ll think I acted out because of you. They’ll have a vendetta to bring you and your family down.”
“It’s a risk we’ll have to take.”
“No. Let me live in your house in Central…”
He shook his head, cutting her short. “No, no, no. I can’t have you do that.”
“Hear me out, please,” she begged, cupping his face with her hand. “For at least three months… until they are sure that there wasn’t any man involved prior to my moving out. Edmund… he’s possessive…”
He lightly caressed the bruise on her face. “He did this to you, right?”
She lowered her eyes. “It’s n
othing. It doesn’t hurt. Really.”
“I’ll get him for that,” he growled.
“You can’t,” she let out hastily. “Jared, promise me you won’t?”
“
I don’t like what he did. I don’t like it at all.”
“I know, I know. But Jared, you have more to risk.
And I am here with you now, aren’t I?”
He leant his head against hers. “And that’s where you will stay.
Forever.”
“I love you,” she whispered, kissi
ng the corner of his mouth. “So you’ll let me stay at your house in Central?”
He sighed. “We marry first. And you’re staying there only for three months and no more. I visit you every night. Those are the conditions and I will not agree to anything other than that.”
“Okay,” she smiled.
He kissed her on
the end of her nose.
She chuckled. “That’s how you gave yourself away.”
He arched his brow, not understanding what she was getting at.
“You always kiss the end of my nose,” she giggled. “
No man has ever kissed me like that.”
He grinned. “I didn’t know I was doing it.” He threaded his fingers through her hair and tugged her head up to him. “How many men have you kissed?”
“I could ask you the same Archer,” she teased back. “But first tell me, are there any other amazing prowess you possess other than green glowing eyes and eagle wings?”
“You’re not repulsed by them?”
“I love you, Jared Ryder. I loved you the very first moment you dared shoot your mouth at me in my house. And I’ve loved you since. If these features are a part of you and make you who you are, then I love them too.”
He moved over her, growing hard again. His length jutted against her core and she groaned.
“Jared, you didn’t answer me,” she growled with delirium.
“I have the claws of a panther,” he moaned, kissing her jaw-line.
“Now, why don’t you tell me what’s your real name?”
“How did you know?” she widened her eyes in surprise.
He cupped her buttocks and tugged her up to him, grazing her core with his firm arousal. “You’re too smart for an Ellie,” he whispered, running his tongue beneath her ear lobe.
“
Helena,” she panted, arching her body into him.
“I like Helena,” he muttered, taking deep, rapid breaths.
She smiled as she wrapped her hand around his rock hard length.
He groaned, bringing his head down into the curve of her neck, biting deliciously into her flesh.
Winter’s End
Sometimes it takes a third to mend two broken hearts
Tormented by the rumours plaguing her once loveless marriage, young widow Emma Winston escapes to Breakish in the Isle of Skye with her two children. But her hopes of a new beginning is shattered as she finds herself torn between the man she once loved, her brother-in-law Richard Winston and wealthy playboy, Chris Cameron, the man who threatens to destroy everything she’s accomplished if he she doesn’t accept his offer of marriage.
Will Emma finally learn to follow her heart?
*****
Red Collar
If Cinderella was a prostitute, would the Prince still love her?
They were two people from opposite worlds with a passion that would bring them together and a love that would break them down.
Kate Ripley is struggling to provide for her four siblings and her ill-mother. So when she loses her job to an unpredictable redundancy, she resorts to the unthinkable. She acc
epts the offer of secretary and mistress to wealthy businessman, Clayton Reid.
She sacrifices her dignity for the sake of her family. But can she risk her heart and fall in love?
Clarissa
Cartharn
They swore they would only be friends... Until one of them broke their pact and fell in love
I don’t like reality television. In fact, I hate it.
But then my frien
d, Sarah arranges a blind date. Imagine my shock when I discover that it is a documentary akin to
The Bachelor
series
.
I was determined to sign out, quit.
And then I discover the bachelor
isn't too keen on being the bachelor either. He needs an insider on the show, an advisor on the right woman for him. And I need a free trip to France. This was supposed to be a win-win situation. After all, I had laid down my rules. There was never going to be romance involved. And we were only ever going to be friends.
I mean, I didn’t want love complicating our relationshi
p. I needed to be real. He was rich and I was… well, not. When did fairytales like that come true?
But now I'm wond
ering- had I laid my rules down too fast? Why did it hurt that I was no longer in the running to be the right woman for Dante Dimitriou?
Zoe
Parker
“If you don’t give the guy a chance, you will never know,” pleaded Sarah Baker. “I’ve already told him that you would meet him. Come on, Zoe.”
Zoe Parker tossed her long dark hair behind her, perking her mouth in deep thought. “You know what, Sarah, that isn’t my problem. You decided to make the arrangement without consulting me. I don’t even know the guy. In fact, I know nothing about him. Why would I even want to go out on a date with him?”
“Blind date,” Sarah clarified. “And that is what it is all about. People who go on blind dates don’t usually know each other. And isn’t it enough that
I
know him?”
“Okay, let me get this straight again,” Zoe huffed tiredly. “He’s the friend of a friend of your brother’s best friend?”
“The friend of a friend of my brother’s best friend’s cousin,” Sarah said, rolling up her eyes in exasperation.
Zoe slumped into a chair. “That doesn’t even make any sense.”
“Yes, it does,” Sarah retorted. “You’re just making excuses again.”
Zoe threw her head back into the chair, resting it as she meditated on the pale white ceiling. How long had she known Sarah? Ever since she had started college and yet
here they were, still together, almost nine odd years later.
They moved through three apartments together, sticking it through the bad and the good. And how many dates had Sarah set up for her? She winced. She feared to count them.
She was twenty-six now, with a great job as a manager of the cosmetics branch of a department store. She loved it. It didn’t pay as much as she would have wanted, but it was alright. She didn’t have the time for a boyfriend to hang about her.
“He’s awesomely gorgeous and handsome,” Sarah persisted.
Zoe rolled her eyes at her. “Then why don’t
you
take him out?”
Sarah sighed and slumped beside her. “I wish I could. But I still have Benny.
My
Benny.”
Zoe smirked. “It’s Ben, Sarah
. The whole ‘Benny’ name just…” She shivered in disgust.
“Oh, shut up,” Sarah scowled, throwing a cushion at her. “That’s my love name for him. And besides, we aren’t talking about me. So are you going or not?”
Zoe lifted an eyebrow. It wasn’t a question. Sarah had more or less barked it at her which often meant a grouchy Sarah to live with for the next couple of weeks.
She gazed at the painting across her. Sometimes she wished she could escape into it- to feel the rustle of the autumn leaves in the trees above her as she would brush the barrel of the two horses grazing in the meadows about them.
She didn’t have a little country cottage with a field like that but her move to the family friendly neighborhood was a massive downgrade from her previous city apartment. She had inherited her quaint little house from her mother after she had passed away a year after going to college. Her father was also gone so there was just she all alone now. She had the option of selling the house but it entrapped far too many memories. Too many good memories. She didn’t have the heart to rid it off her and instead decided to move back into her family home.
She had mounted the courage to tell Sarah that she was leaving her well-paid position as office administrator for a more mundane life back in the suburbs. She didn’t expect Sarah to
have taken it so well. She discovered later why. Sarah was also leaving her job to join her in Oak Park.
“You don’t have to, Sarah,” she remembered telling her. In fact, she didn’t want to be burdened with the guilt of upsetting Sarah’s life. Sarah loved her freedom in the city. She loved the night life and the men that accompanied it. She couldn’t imagine her old friend settling down in a place as quaint as Oak Park.
“It’s what friends do for each other,” Sarah had said. “We stick together. And I think I’m beginning to get a little old for the late nights. I’d like to give the slow life a chance. I might even find myself a rugged, toughie in those places who would be more interested in something more permanent.” She winked at Zoe.
In three months of her move to Oak Park, she had Benjamin
Lovatz eating out of her fingers.
“Zoe,” Sarah persisted. “You haven’t answered me. Are you going or not?”
Zoe sighed tiredly, running a hand through her long brunette hair. “Fine, then. When is it?”
Sarah beamed triumphantly. “On Friday.”
Zoe sat up, looking at her awkwardly.
“This Friday?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s three days from now.”
“I know, Zoe. I keep tabs on the days as well,” Sarah scoffed.
“I mean, how do you expect me to turn up suddenly at a blind date absolutely unprepared?” Zoe said in a mocking tone.
“It’s not exactly unprepared, is it? Aren’t I telling you about it?
It’s three days away. That’s more than enough time.”
“No, it isn’t,” Zoe darted an annoyed look.
“For you, maybe. But I need to psych myself up mentally and physically.”
“Don’t be such a
wuss. You’re making a fuss out of nothing.”
Zoe let out an impatient huff of air.
Nothing? This wasn’t nothing. It took her immense courage to confront any of Sarah’s choice of dates. They were all gorgeous; their muscles were always intact and well-defined in all the right places. She always felt so ordinary before them. She didn’t have the long blonde bleached hair and striking blue eyes that Sarah did. It was most likely that most of the men Sarah arranged for her were actually doing Sarah a favor, hoping to cash in on her approval and ultimately score a date with Sarah instead. How many of those men ever called her again? Only two- and that too to check in on Sarah.
“Where is it?” Zoe asked at last.
“At the Hotel Carpathia,” Sarah answered dismissively.
“Wait, what?” Zoe looked at her incredulously. “That’s in California.”
“I know,” Sarah shrugged her shoulders.
“You know? You know that the hotel’s two hours away, right?”
“I know.”
“And when do you expect me to return?”
“You don’t. You’re spending the night there.”
Zoe widened her eyes in disbelief. “You’re kidding me? Do you know how much they cost per night?”
“I know.”
“This is
the
Hotel Carpathia. Five stars? Like the Ritz or the Hilton? Are you out of your mind? I can’t afford that!”
“You don’t have to. He’s paying for it.”
“He who? This date?” Zoe stared up at her, stunned. “You’re not supposing that I sleep with him on the first night?”
Sarah looked at her as if Zoe had uttered the craziest suggestion.
“Of course not. He’s just paying for the entire gig.”
“Paying? What is he? Loaded?” Zoe scoffed.
Sarah shifted nervously. “Umm…yes.”
Zoe shook her head, still coming to terms with the sounds of the absurdist date she was going to. “Rich and you think he would be an ounce interested in me?”
Sarah put an encouraging hand over Zoe’s. “Listen, hon, it’s just a date. If he likes you, he likes you. If he doesn’t, there is nothing more to it. But at least give it a shot. I’ve also told him that you were going. So at least, turn up. For me, okay? For my ego’s sake?”
Zoe threw her head back onto her chair. “I can’t believe you already told him that,” she said in a low voice. She studied the decorations in the ceiling above her. It was an
Adamesque. Her father was always a fan of the Adam brothers and their interior decorative style.
“Derby House,
Osterley Park…”
she recited silently of some known buildings that still featured their work.
Her eyes skimmed to the crack in the corner of the ceiling. It was getting old. It
was
old and ugly. But she remembered also how her father had put it up with the help of his brothers. She couldn’t bear to replace it with something more modern and chic, even if she had the money- of which she had none, of course.
“Fine,” she breathed out at last. “I’ll go.”
“Yeah?” Sarah asked, excitedly. “Great then! I’ve even picked out a dress for you. It’s formal, just so you know.”
Zoe rolled her eyes. “Is there anything else you’re hiding? This would probably be the best time to come out with it.”
Sarah bit her lower lip. “Ummm… of course not.”
Zoe narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “There is, isn’t it? What is it, Sarah?”
“Nothing,” Sarah said, her voice carrying a little tremble.
“Out with it.”
“It’s nothing. I swear.”
“He’s a creep, right?”
“No.”
“A nerd?
I love nerds.”
“No!” Sarah scrunched her nose in disgust and hurried away towards her bedroom.
“Partially insane? He would be if he wants to go out with
me
,” Zoe pestered, following her.
“No! No!”
*****
Three months ago
Another golf ball plopped into the deep, blue waters. The waves of the calm Pacific Ocean bobbed against the old, now converted liner.
“So what do you say, Dante?” Connor asked, enthusiastically.
The sea breeze fluttered his hair as he leaned forward eagerly, watching his taller friend pick another golf ball at his leisure.
“Did you know this is one of the best inventions man has ever made? Eco-golf balls,” he said, testing its strength in his palm.
“Sure. Other than polio vaccine and electricity that powers this gigantic barge,” Connor remarked, sarcastically. “Come on, Dante, don’t change the subject. Are you game or not?”
Dante ran a hand through his dark, rich hair. “I thought it was a patented series.”
“It’s different. It’s going to be a documentary.”
Dante strolled slowly over to the table and picked up his glass of orange juice. His eyes skimmed the horizon looming in amber light at the end of the ocean. The sun was a giant, golden ball settling down for another night.
He loved the ocean. It was where he was most at peace. After taking over his father’s shipping business at the mere age of eighteen, he had struggled to gain the trust of his board and his employees. Twelve years later, he now had finally managed to ease off on his workload and enjoy the spoils of his hard effort.
But then Connor had arrived with the most absurd idea he’d ever heard. He hated being in the spotlight. He never was comfortable with the attention he received having been labeled as one of the wealthiest heirs in the shipping world.
Yet, he couldn’t just simply dismiss the idea. Connor Wilde was the closest he’d had for a brother. They met at high school as room-mates. Connor’s father was a high level executive at a technological company- that was until he was caught tampering with the company accounts. When Connor’s dad received a conviction of fraud and six years of imprisonment, this was the first of the many misfortunes that would face his best mate.
At nearly eighteen, Dante confronted his own set of hardships. His dad was found slumped on the floor of his mistress’s house. He died soon after of a heart-attack. Thankfully, Petrelis Dimitriou had some sense of loyalty to his first family and left everything he possessed to Dante. Undoubtedly, his mistress had threatened to contest the will claiming her right as a de-facto wife. But for a lad of eighteen, Dante had great insight into doing business. Petrelis had made certain that Dante start his education on the family business as early as ten.
He drove up to Isabella’s house one day, surprising his father’s mistress of nearly five years. He had never spoken to Isabella prior to that and he never spoke to her after that. No one really discovered what transpired between the two.
All his mother ever knew was that Isabella had dropped her lawsuit, accepted Dante’s two million dollar offer of compromise, as well as the house she had shared with Petrelis in compensation.
Loyalty ran strongly in Dante’s blood. So it was natural that as soon as he was officially announced as the rightful heir of the
Dimitriou empire, he sought Connor out. But Connor was too proud to accept any financial assistance, preferring to pave his own road to success. However, he ironically didn’t mind lazing in Dante’s luxurious houses or accompanying him on his exotic trips while doing it.
He looked at Connor over his eyebrows, frowning. “I don’t know, man. This entire gig looks dodgy. It’s something I don’t need in my life. And as for the legal aspect, you would have to run it by Blake Coleman.”
Connor sighed in annoyance. “Right- Blake, your solicitor. Well, guess what? I already have. I knew you’d bring him up as an excuse. And as for the attention, come on man, you need
some in your life. Don’t you want to find out if women are interested in you for who you are and not for all your wealth?”
Dante rubbed his forehead tiredly. “I don’t see how that reasoning helps in this case. Won’t the women know that I
am
rich?”