Please don't forget to vote and comment!
The entire week passes real quick. Every day goes smooth, without any surprising visits of Victoria at the bar, thankfully. Braden tried to press me not to go to work anymore, but I just brushed him off, telling him that I won't hide from the world – especially not from his bitch of an ex.
I haven't seen much of Brooke. I spent a lot of time in Braden's suite, but when I did see her, she always looked down and got that faraway look in her eyes. She also told me that she and Aaron decided to end whatever arrangement they both had. She said it's for the best, seeing that he clearly can't give her what she wants from him and she also said she started to have mixed feelings about him.
I have no doubt that Damien has something to do with it, but I didn't press on her too much. I only hope she knows what she's doing. I just told her that if she needs me or needs an ear to listen she can always give me the call, no matter when.
And for Lily, we only texted a few times just checking up on each other.
It's Thanksgiving tomorrow and Braden started speaking some nonsense that he wants to buy me a new car as a gift. I flat out shot that idea down and didn't let him win this round. He already gave me way too much for my birthday and I forbade him to buy me anything for Thanksgiving or else we're going to have some big problems.
He caved in with some grunting and whining regardless and I only hope it wasn't so I stopped bothering him.
But as for him, I did get him a small gift. Well, it's not that small if I'm judging by the price (I paid almost thousand dollars for it and it was with a discount), but if he can get me expensive gifts, who's to say I can't give him something in return?
We're having a Thanksgiving lunch at Braden's suite tomorrow. He invited my parents, Brooke and Lily and Jared. I was really touched by it.
Even more by his reply when I thanked him for it, ''Everything to make you happy, gorgeous.''
Jesus. Smooth-talking as hell!
And so for the next morning, I happily wake up with Braden showering my face with kisses, making me giggle before I even open my eyes.
''Such a beautiful sound to hear first thing in the morning,'' he whispers sensually, nuzzling my neck with his mouth. I turn to him and give him a sweet, lazy kiss for a good morning.
But the sweet kiss just turns into something more. It gets more intense and more urgent. And when Braden climbs on top of me, I can feel his erection between my legs. I can't help but let out a soft, needy moan and grab him even tighter, not letting him get away from me.
It doesn't seem like he'd want to go away anyway.
When Braden releases my lips, I groan in protest.
''This has to wait. I want to give you something first, but it requires you getting out of that bed,'' he says excitedly, his whole face lit with happiness.
I narrow my eyes at him. ''I won't even start about how I said not to get me anything, but I'll give you your gift first.''
I roll out of the bed and go search for my purse where I left the gift for him. I get the small box out and give it to him.
He frowns a bit as he sees the box and the brand written on it and my stomach tightens. ''Didn't you say we won't buy each other anything?''
I lift my eyebrows at him and cross my arms in front of me. ''I said that you can't buy me anything, mister. I never said about me not buying you anything. Go on. Open it,'' I rush on.
He sighs and opens the lid to the box and an elegant, beautiful watch lies in there. Braden traces his finger softly over it.
''There's an inscription at the bottom of the watch.''
I nervously watch as he flickers his curious eyes to me and then takes the watch out, carefully, turning it around.
I made the store write a message that came to me in that moment,
To my better half and the love of my life;
because without you, I'm incomplete.
Forever yours, Rory
I see Braden's lips part as he re-reads the message, his fingers stroking the letters engraved on the bottom. ''This is ... thank you, baby. This puts my gift to shame.'' He chuckles to himself, still staring at the watch.
I give him a tender smile, so glad that he likes it. I give him a soft kiss. ''I doubt, seeing how extravagant your all gifts are.''
He chuckles and sticks out his hand for me to take, and when I do, he pulls me to him, wraps his arms around my back, slightly dips me back and kisses me fully, thoroughly, taking time by slowly, yet hardly moving his lips against mine.
His tongue explores my mouth, teasing it, seducing my own in their own battle until my world revolves only around him and everything and everyone simply disappear from my mind.
His teeth sink into my bottom lip and he's slightly grazing it, making a moan escape my mouth.
When I try to attack him with my lips once more, Braden leans back. ''I still have a gift to give you,'' he tells me.
I groan in protest. ''It can wait,'' I say all breathless and mushy in his arms.
Braden grins before straightening me back up and making sure I'm steady on my legs. He goes to the walk-in closet and I glare at his back. ''Dress up, I don't necessarily want people to see you half naked. That's for my eyes only,'' he adds darkly.
''We're going out?'' I ask incredulously.
''Yes, just for a few minutes,'' he calls out.
It makes me a tad bit suspicious, but I brush it aside and decide to just trust him.
Braden comes out of a closet before me, dressed in a pair of light blue jeans and a black sweater. I have to pause and stop pulling up my own jeans to look at him, giving him an appreciative look from head to toe.
I'm literally thinking about snapping a picture and make an altar dedicated to him. He's so ... Godly. So deliciously good looking I want to pinch myself sometimes to make sure that he is actually real and not one of my fantasies.
He notices me staring and a self-satisfied grin appears on his face, along with his fuck-me dimples. ''Do you need any help with that?'' He points his head at my jeans that I'm holding in place on my thighs.
I flush and look down, pulling my jeans quickly up and throwing on the first sweater I find.
His laugh rings in the room.
I trail after him as we go into the elevator and on the lowest ground – in the garage. My anticipation grows with every second that passes.
He wordlessly gets out of the elevator, wrapping his hand around mine and bringing me along with him, our hands swinging together. We walk past the various of glamorous cars before we stop in front of a white Range Rover.
With a red bow wrapped over the hood.
I immediately release Braden's hand, step back and cross my arms in front of me, glowering at him. ''This better not be what I think it is,'' I grit out, barely holding a scream of frustration in.
Braden grins sheepishly. ''It's my gift to you.''
When I continue glaring at him in full force, he frowns. He puts his hands in his pockets and looks at the car and then back at me. ''Don't you like it? We can replace it with any other one, if you'd like.''
I growl – literally growl at him. ''I can't fucking believe this!'' I scream out. It actually feels good to do it and to hear my voice echo in the garage. I throw my hands in my hair, pulling at them. ''I told you not to get me a fucking car, Braden. And what do you do? You get me a damn car!'' I screech out.
Braden's scowl deepens. ''Watch the language, Rory,'' he says, taking a threatening step forward.
But I'm on a roll, so I ignore him completely. ''Are you ever going to listen to me? Listen to what I say? For God's sake!'' I let my frustration out, breathing hard.
I walk back towards the elevator in a rapid pace. I can hear Braden's steps behind me, but I don't stop and I don't look back. I rapidly push the elevator's button, glaring at the doors to open.
When they do, I go in and push the button for the highest floor and Braden comes in after me. I'd rather see he didn't, but I just ignore him, tapping my foot on the floor.
''Are you going to be mad at me for buying you a car?'' Braden asks and as I turn my glare at him, I see he wears an expression of amusement, which makes me snarl at him.
''Yes, I'm fucking pissed at you, you idio—''
I can't finish my sentence, before Braden's body pushes mine on the elevator wall, his hands restraining mine on each side of my head. He leans his head closer to me. ''Watch how you speak, sweet girl, before I'll make you pay for the words you're saying.''
My head slightly spins from how near he is and every breath I take is filled with his scent, making my knees weak. But it's still not enough to calm me down and forget why we are in this state. ''Seriously, Braden, you better release me before I do something to make you regret touching me in the first place.''
His mouth quirks up. ''That's not what you scream every night in bed when you're actually begging me to touch you.''
I push against his hands with full force, but he's still too strong and he pushes me even harder on the wall, pressing the whole length of his body on mine, making me feel every single inch of him.
''Let me go, Braden,'' I cry out in frustration and anger. I'm too mad to think straight in this moment.
''Not until you're going to take that gift with a big smile on your face instead of arguing about it. It's not wrong to accept that kind of a gift, you know. I can afford it and I wanted to give it to you.''
I clamp my mouth shut and just breathe through my nostrils. My relief is apparent when the elevator doors open and Braden releases me so I can finally dodge around him and out of it. ''You know what?'' I call out, turning around and just walk backwards, but I don't stop moving. ''You can shove that car in your arse for all I care!''
I hear a chuckle behind me. ''Don't you think it's a bit too big for it?''
His sarcasm and his making fun out of me riles me up even further, making me want to smash his face into the wall. No kidding there. ''Don't talk to me anymore,'' I scream at him childishly and turn around, making a pace towards the guest room, where I'll just shut myself in and try to cool down before our guests arrive.
But Braden has other plans, apparently, because he's behind me in a second, grabbing my arm, turning me around and picking me up, throwing me over his shoulder, making me yelp out in surprise and shock.
I grip at his hips to steady myself as he quickly walks out to his bedroom where he loudly shuts the door with his foot and then lightly throws me on the bed. No matter what, he's still being careful, but I still bounce on the bed a few times and a yelp escapes me.
I can't even breathe in fully before Braden's on top of me, his lips furiously working against mine. I groan into his mouth, wiggling my body, trying to get away from him.
Braden growls into my mouth, pushing his hips to mine even further to prevent my body from moving. ''Stop defying me, Rory. Stop defying me in the every god damned situation and let me care for you.''
When Braden curses, you know he's completely serious, because he rarely ever curses.
With a growl from him, he turns his head into my neck and attacks the skin, sucking on it and then biting it. Harshly. My back tries to arch from the back and it makes me only push into his body more.
''I'm going to buy you things, Rory. Lots of them and often. And if I want to buy you a car, I damn well will. Because I can. Because I want to. Because I want the best for you. And. Because. I. Love. You.'' He bites my skin after every word he says in the last part.
My breath hitches in my throat and there's no doubt Braden just left an enormous mark on my neck.
His hands roam down my body to the hem of my stomach and he hastily throws it over my head. His hands fall on my breasts, kneading them. ''God, I love your breasts. So big and perky.'' His head drops down and he puts my nipple in his mouth, twirling it around with his teeth.
''Braden ...'' I breathe out, my eyes closing in ecstasy.
Braden puts his hand on my hip and squeezes it while his mouth works magic. ''Are you still mad?'' he asks.
My teeth grit together and my eyes snap open. ''Yes,'' I say. I wrap my legs around his hips and clench them together, connecting our body together.
Braden hovers over me, his eyes staring down at mine. ''Work your anger out on me, baby. I want you to fuck the anger out of you. Use my body as you wish.''
Have I ever said how much of a turn on it is when Braden talks dirty to me, especially in the bed? Outside the bedroom, he always has some kind of a filter on his mouth, but in the bed ... I love hearing filthy words from him. I love when I make him lose control so much he forgets about everything else and focuses on me. I love that I bring him to the point where he feels an urge to curse – in bed only, of course.
Otherwise, it never means anything good.
I smirk up at him as I roll us around so I'm now on top of him and he grins that sexy grin that makes my pussy throb with the need of a release.
This is going to be so much fun. I pull the sweater off of his body, revealing all that perfect, rigged muscles to my greedy eyes, my hands are itching to feel them beneath my fingers. I'm dying to touch him, so I do. I put my palms on his stomach and feel his muscles clench, his breath leaving his mouth.
I flick my eyes up to his face and see him watching me with hooded, dark eyes. I flash him a secretive smile that usually doesn't mean anything good, but I think this time is an exception as I move my hands lower and start unbuckling his pants.
He helps me remove his jeans as he lifts his hips up in the air and he's soon laying naked beneath me, completely at my mercy.
''You're still over-dressed,'' Braden notes, his fingers tugging at the waistband of my own jeans.
I only raise my eyebrow at him. But when I don't move to take them down, Braden lets out a frustrated growl as he flips us back so I'm laying on my back again and he makes a quick work at pulling my jeans down my legs in a swift move.
When we're both naked, not hiding any inch from each other anymore, Braden suddenly grabs my chin roughly and makes me look into his eyes. I'm sure my eyes flash with fire as I stare up at him.
''I'll fuck you so hard you'll not only forget the reason you're mad at me but your name, too,'' he promises lowly before his lips attack my jaw as he leaves open-mouthed kisses all over it.
My breathing speeds up. ''Less talking, more showing,'' I challenge him, pushing my hips up.
I feel his mouth perk up in a smile and in the next moment, his cock pushes into me – fast, hard and without any warning. My eyes widen as all the breath escapes my body and I dig my nails into his back.
Braden doesn't give me time to accustom to his length in me because he pushes his hips back and then thrusts forward again with such an intensity, it pushes me upwards on the bed.
Braden lets out a grunt of pleasure and intertwines our hands together over my head. ''Jesus. You feel so good, baby. So tight and wet. You make me go crazy over you,'' he grits out as his hips never stop thrusting into me with long, hard strokes that move me upwards on the bed every time and make me moan out loud.
''Stop defying me, Rory. Stop. Saying. No. To. Me,'' each word he says, it follows with a hard thrust.
''Never,'' I moan back, my hands gripping his tighter.
Braden drops his head into my neck, panting lowly and I can feel the sweat pouring off his forehead. ''You're making me crazy, baby girl. Every time you say no to me ... you make me lose my mind,'' he admits.
I arch my back off the bed as his thrusts grow even faster and my eyes roll back at the intensity and the fast pace that's making me climb to that sweet peek I know awaits for me. ''You're making me crazy, too, damn you!'' I cry out with a loud moan as my head falls back.
Just a few more thrusts, just a few more strokes.
Braden's head lifts from my shoulders. ''Are you close?'' His eyebrows are pinched together. I notice he's holding back his own release.
''Yes. Yes ...'' I let out, subconsciously pushing hard at his palms as a warning.
A small, evil grin appears on his mouth. ''I don't know ... You weren't a good girl today. I might not let you come ...''
My eyes widen at his and I wrap my legs around his hips in desperation and fear he might extract away from me when I'm, oh, so close. ''Don't you dare,'' I grit out. ''Don't you dare!'' I move my hips, grinding on him back and making him groan.
He attacks my lips with his own, moving them against mine, intensifying that feeling inside of me, that spot that's making me know I'll get to my release soon.
And as he releases one of my hands and puts his own on my breast, teasing my nipple, I'm done for. I end our kiss to throw my head back and let out a loud moan that just doesn't seem to stop coming out of me as I feel the first waves of my orgasms hitting me.
''That's it, babe,'' Braden grunts. ''That's it. Come for me, sweet girl.''
And I do. So hard the whole world spins around in my head, making me focus on only the pleasing waves that are travelling through my body.
I feel Braden thrust a few times into me before he howls, stills his hips and spills himself into me.
He seems drained, too, from the intensive release we both just experienced and his head limply falls down on my chest, his sweat mixing with my own.
We're both breathing hard. I can't do much more than just lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and try to catch my breath. Jesus. That was so good, it literally shook my whole world.
Braden lifts his head up to look at me, a lazy smile stretching his lips. ''Are you feeling any better now?'' he asks, his face full of amusement and I can also see a hint of pure satisfaction there. Smug bastard.
I can't help but mock him back. ''Totally. But I'm still not accepting the car.''
***
Brooke, me and Lily manoeuvre in Braden's fabulous kitchen, preparing the Thanksgiving lunch, while the men are in the living room, watching TV with a beer in their hands.
It's nice to have some girl time, anyway. My parents are yet to arrive, though, so it's just us for the moment. Minus Aaron, of course. I don't think Braden was unhappy that he didn't have to invite him, if anything, he was relieved, but really angry with him that he did something like that to Brooke.
''So, how does being engaged feel like, Lils?'' I ask her, hitting my hip to hers, making her stumble.
She jokingly glares at me. ''Oh, it's really good. You should try it.'' She winks at me.
And I completely freeze at what I'm doing, my hands pausing in mid-air. At my wide gaze and serious expression, Lily's smile freezes on her lips and she panicky gives Brooke a look.
''What? You don't want to marry him?'' she asks with pure disbelief.
After the first waves of shock at her words disappear, I roll my eyes at her. ''Of course I do, silly. I think it's him that doesn't want to ... marry me,'' I tell her, shrugging, trying to appear casual. ''We didn't really talk about marriage.''
''Yet, I hope? You didn't talk about marriage yet? But ... I mean, you're expecting a child with him and you two are obviously crazy about each other. What's stopping you?''
I shake my head at Lily as a saddening feeling settles in me. If she only knew ... ''It's ... complicated, Lily. I actually doubt he'd ever want to propose to me.'' I mask my hurt with a smile that takes all my effort to put it in place.
I see Brooke cross her arms in front of her. ''Why the fuck not?'' she asks, clearly displeased, but mostly curious.
I purse my lips and take the time to think that through. Yeah, why the fuck not? We both love each other. We're about to have a baby together. And we're going to move in together. What more does he want from me to prove my love to him?
It might be his past that's holding him back. I understand he has a bad experience with it, but Victoria is such a vicious bitch, I can't even understand him to want to marry someone like her. He's honestly way too good for her and I just can't see what he saw in her in the first place. She's giving off such a bad vibe ... could it be possible that he was so blinded by the love he felt for her he didn't see her for what she is?
It's all very confusing.
''I don't think that's a question I'm entitled to answer, Brooke. I mean, it's cool if he doesn't want to marry me ...'' I try hard to hide my true feelings at how I feel about it.
I do actually want to marry him, but I don't want to pressure him about it. I want him to want it, too.
I don't know why, but I suddenly look toward the kitchen doorway and my stomach drops at the sight of Braden leaning on the door frame with his arms crossed in front of him. He has his eyes trained solely on me. I can't say what his expression on the face means, but I see he's thinking about something.
It just strikes me that he had to hear what we were talking about, at least some part of it, and my stomach clenches even further and a bile rises in my throat. Oh, God ...
I don't know for how long we silently stare at each other across the room, but he's first to break our gazes as he looks on the floor. ''Your parents just came. I thought you might come out and say hello to them,'' he quietly informs me, still staring at the ground and he seems unable to lift his gaze.
''Yes. Sure. Thank you,'' I say politely, speaking over the lump in my throat and over the ringing in my ears. I hate how awkward the air turned around of us and I'm afraid to look at either Brooke or Lilly. ''Keep an eye on the dishes for me, yeah?'' I mumble as I walk towards the doorway.
Braden moves away from it before we could meet or before I'd go past him. I hate how soon the tension enveloped us both.
I greet my parents and they both envelop me in a big hug. Braden offers my dad a beer, but he declines because he's driving. So Braden offers him to let his driver take them both home, so my dad is holding a beer in a hand in just a minute. He also persuades my mum for a glass of wine – and my mum rarely ever drinks.
Him and his charm.
''How are you feeling?'' My mum asks me, holding my hands in front of me.
I know she's not asking how I am right now, but she wants to know about the pregnancy. I think she's still kind of in shock and probably has some doubts, but I knew she always wanted grandbabies, so she's mostly happy about it, judging by the pure happiness shining from her eyes.
I shrug and smile at her. ''I'm good, mum. I'm really good.''
I catch Braden staring at me across the room with a beer in his hand. It seems like my dad is telling him something, but he has attention trained solely on me. I catch that same deep look he had on before – the thoughtful eyes and a brimful expression. It makes me wonder what's going through his head.
I lower my eyes on the ground because his stare is making me nervous for a reason unknown to me.
I know he heard our conversation in the kitchen, I just wonder how much exactly he heard and what are his thoughts on it.
Judging by the grim expression on his face, I don't think it's any good.
I go into the kitchen soon after that and go prepare the last things for the lunch while Brooke sets the table.
I forget about Braden's foul mood and have much fun with my girls. At one point, I swap Lily on her butt with the dishcloth, making her gasp out loud, turning her icy, yet playful glare in my direction, making me laugh so much, I double over.
''Oh, honey. You just provoked a monster,'' she teases threateningly, taking a dishcloth in her hands, too. I shriek out and run out of the kitchen into the dining room, putting a table between us.
''Truce! I want truce!'' I call out between laughter.
''Too late, you already started a war,'' she says back.
She makes a turn to the right to go around the table and I jump up, sprinting in the right, too.
''What is going on here?'' I jump up again, but this time from Braden's voice scaring the hell out of me.
I turn around to look at him, staring at us with wide eyes while Jared is behind him with his hands in his pockets, grinning at us in amusement.
''We're just playing around,'' I explain to Braden. I can't gauge his reaction to us, but he continues staring at me for some reason, his expression never falters, never shows any feelings. It makes me frustrated.
''Okay, the lunch's ready. Everyone be seated!'' Brooke breaks the uncomfortable staring match that's going on between Braden and me, breaking some of the tension in the air.
Jesus, what is up with him so suddenly? He's so moody it's hard to keep up with him ...
After everyone's seated, we all take hands and as soon as Braden wraps his big, warm palm around mine, an electricity travels through my whole body, jolting me in my seat.
Braden's eyes snap to me and I wonder if he felt it, too.
We all say our prayers with our eyes closed. In my mind, I thank to have the people I most care about and love them all with my whole heart here with me today.
As soon as we're done with the prayers, we all gratefully dig into the food, all of us starving already. Well, at least I am. But then – when am I not hungry?
A conversation comes alive at the table and it's nice to hear and see everyone content and having a great time.
''So, Lily, did you two decide on the date of your marriage yet?'' my dad asks Lily.
I see Braden's shoulders slightly tense and I look at him curiously, but his eyes stay trained on his plate.
''We decided we're going to wait until after the baby is born,'' she says, looking at Jared with a loving smile and squeezes his hand affectionately. It makes my stomach clench and I take a big sip of water.
Braden's phone rings right then, making all of our heads snap to him.
He takes his phone out and looks down on the screen then looks at us apologetically. ''Excuse me, I need to take this. Business calls.'' And he stands up and walks into the other room.
I lower my eyes on the plate momentarily, wondering why is he so withdrawal. I suck in a huge breath and then plaster a somewhat fake smile on my face so no one notices anything, although Brooke and Lily are looking at me suspiciously.
''He really does work a lot, doesn't he?'' Jared murmurs, his voice nothing but curious.
Thank God Brooke saves me by answering. ''He's a big guy out there and the work never rests for him.''
Thankfully, my dad changes the subject by commenting on how good the food tastes, which makes us all girls beam proudly and thank him.
Braden comes back minutes later when we're just joking about me and Lily raising our children together. His eyebrow slightly raises in my direction when he hears what the conversation is about and a small smile appears on his lips. I feel his hand landing on my thigh under the table, squeezing it affectionately and it seems like a weight is lifted from my chest.
We're okay. He seems in a better mood now, less tense and I sag in my chair from relief. I don't know what for, I just dislike the tension between us.
I grin back at him.
A ping of the elevator interrupts us all and we all turn our heads.
''Are you expecting anyone else?'' I ask Braden quietly, looking at him in wonder.
His eyebrows are drawn together. ''Not that I know of,'' he murmurs.
A gasp sounds and I recognize it's from Brooke. My head turns to her, but she's standing up, staring towards the elevators with mouth hanging open.
''What the hell are you doing here?'' she hisses, her hands balling into tight fists.
My head swiftly turns, a dread traveling through my body and a cold sweat breaks into my forehead when I see Victoria coming towards us with her child in her hands.
''Hello, everyone. Braden, baby. You're having a family gathering and you didn't think to invite me and your son?''
And everyone in the room falls dead silent.
Hey, lovelies! Wow, I can't believe this is already 20th chapter! We came so far with this story and I feel so proud!!
Okay, so I made twitter. You can follow me if you want, tweet me, message me, see what I'm up to (I also post a few lines from the upcoming chapter sometimes if you're interested). Go follow --> @patriciaxbooks (https://twitter.com/patriciaxbooks)
Have a nice Sunday! I hope you liked this chapter and see you next week. xx