ARROGANT BRIT (A BRITISH BAD BOY ROMANCE) (13 page)

“I think it’s about that time,” he murmured
in my ear, tugging the lobe between his teeth. “Are you ready?” He moved his
palm to allow me to speak, clenching my wrists with both hands and holding them
bound down.

I hazily nodded, a lustful grin crossing my
lips. “Do it, Dalton…. come inside me.”

With my permission granted, his movements
became more erratic. Smashing his hips against mine harder than ever, pushing
himself deeper into my slick chasm… he was about to lose control of himself. I
could already feel a deep, simmering growl from down in his lungs as he
punished my body, thrusting again and again…

With a long, strained grunt, his cock took
every millimeter it could, forcing itself deep down and unleashing his scorching-hot
seed inside. We both groaned with satisfaction as he pumped me full, his
fingernails digging into my flesh as he released everything he had into me.

After one final groan, he rolled off of me,
sliding down into place beside me. I flipped over to nestle up beside him,
feeling his massive chest fill and disperse with precious air.

“That was fucking
amazing
,” he murmured.

“Yeah, it seriously was,” I replied quickly.
“I’m so glad that we did this. This was perfect.”

“You think so?” He turned to face me.

“Of course… it’s been a fantastic night.”

“Night’s not over yet, love,” he smirked. “I
just need to recharge for a few minutes, but I plan on keeping you up until
sunrise…”

And so he did.

By the time we collapsed for the last time,
the better for half of a dozen orgasms under my belt, I was fulfilled in ways
that I’d never dreamed possible. As the sun’s earliest rays tried to penetrate
the drawn drapes against the glass, I felt completely assured that, even if we
couldn’t have any more than this one night…

…It was a night that would raise the bar
forever.

Chapter 12

The dreaded union of our parents hurtled
towards us with a vengeance, and soon we were standing across from each other
at a small altar in a quiet church.

The wedding itself might have been small and
relatively meager, but I couldn’t overlook the fact that our parents just
looked…
happy
together.

Privately, I was thoroughly disgusted that my
grandparents were present. They were seated in the front pew, the very image of
distinguished, posh irritation. It’s said that the English people keep a stiff
upper lip – Raleigh and Riana Carlyle embodied that stereotype to the end. They
were both dressed as if they had been kidnapped from some sort of regal,
high-society event, and the quiet disdain on their faces shamelessly echoed
that suggestion.

My father should have been able to treat his
blushing bride to a lavish wedding, wherever in the world that she wanted.
Unfortunately, his uppity, self-serving parents excelled at holding grudges,
and so Father wasn’t eligible to the Carlyle fortune.

It’s not like it was even his fucking fault.

People make mistakes.

William, if anything, had proven himself
worthy by pulling himself back from the brink of self-destruction. But it was
clear that they would never, ever see it that way.

Thoughts for another time,
I told myself as Dad walked down
the aisle with Sarah on his arm. I plastered a forced grin across my face,
glancing over at Clara.

Sarah looked beautiful in her rented bridal
dress, but Clara was the real winner here. With a modest dress that accentuated
her beautiful features and stunning shape, I could barely keep my eyes off of
her.

The maid of honor wouldn’t meet my gaze, but
I caught her checking me out, too – particularly in how my three-piece suit
tightly hugged my broad, built frame.

“Dearly beloved, we gather here today to
honor the unions of William Carlyle and Sarah Campbell…”

The minister, to his credit, performed the ceremony
as if they were being wedded on a mega-yacht cruise liner beneath the
beautiful, open stars. An older gentleman still clinging gracefully to his
youthful prime, he remained jovial and concerted throughout the entire
proceedings.

Dad and Sarah had elected to write each other
vows, which they recited:

“William, I never thought I’d love again
until I met you. You’ve brought a light to my life that I thought extinguished
by time, circumstance, and horrible life choices…” She glanced over at Clara,
apologetically, but her daughter merely shrugged with a smile. “But I can’t say
I regret those choices, given the wonderful girl that they’ve brought into my
life,” she turned back to her groom, “I know now that whatever decisions I have
to make… you’ll be there by my side, guiding me with your love and your
selflessness. I can’t picture a better man to stand across from me now, and I
promise you that I’ll see you through every burden that comes your way until
the day I breathe my last…”

William, who was more human than both of my
grandparents combined, was moved slightly to tears by her words. He took a deep
breath before giving his own vows:

“This life I’ve led hasn’t always taken me
down the right paths. It’s been hard, sometimes, keeping myself on the correct
road, ensuring that I don’t fall astray again… but ever since meeting you, I’ve
known in my heart that you are my guiding light now. I never believed in love
at first sight, not until I met you. It was some foolish concept that
hormone-driven youngsters championed, some false dichotomy that wasn’t really
there… but you showed me something else. With your love and your adoration, I
grew to trust you, to trust
this
, and
I just want you to understand how much I love you. I can’t fathom a life
without you now. Until my dying gasp, I will provide for you, take care of you,
and dedicate myself to relieving your stresses…”

The two gave beautiful sentiments in their
small speeches. All the while, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Clara, who
returned my gaze with an unwavering, silent stare.

Whatever emotion that was running through her
head, I couldn’t tell what it was; however, it spoke volumes to me that she
couldn’t break our fierce, mutual gaze.

I presented the rings, and they placed them
on each other’s fingers. In their haste, I realized, they hadn’t even bothered
with engagement rings to begin with.

They made their final promises.

And with a kiss, our parents were wed.

The marriage document was signed, and the two
of us were the dedicated witnesses. Raleigh and Riana merely sat to the side,
watching the proceedings without the hint of
 
shedding a tear. To her credit, my
grandmother looked fairly pleased at least, although her husband had the
approximate emotional reaction of a brick.

There wasn’t any budget for a wedding
reception, apparently, but that didn’t stop them from redirecting things back
to their house, citing “caterers” on the way.

Clara and I rode in the backseat of their
car, as we had on the way there. We sat at opposite sides, staring out our own
prospective windows.

There was so much to say.

I didn’t like the gulf that had developed
between us since that night. She was all I could think about now, but we’d
barely spoken since checking out that following morning.

It was plain as day to see what she was
doing.

Clara was having second thoughts.

If it wasn’t a mountain of doubts over the
things we had done together with the world outside none the wiser, it was over
our relationship to each other now.

Of course, we were now
officially
stepbrother and stepsister… something that threw a
distinct wrench into my hopes to pursue things with her.

I couldn’t get a read on Clara. Although she
was only a few feet away, she felt like she was miles, maybe even worlds apart
from me.

It’s not like we could talk, with our parents
upfront and jovially celebrating as they drove us back towards their home. For
the moment, they’d decided to settle into Sarah’s house, since William’s
apartment in the city wasn’t exactly the more attractive option.

“You two look like somebody died!” Sarah
chuckled after apparently watching us in the rearview mirror. “This is a
happy
time! I want to see some
smiles
on those faces!”

“Oh, leave them alone,” William graciously
smiled. “I can only imagine that they’re just a little drained. We
did
spring this on them at the last
second, after all. Let’s let them have their space.”

I was never more grateful to my father than
in that moment.

Sarah glanced over at him, confused, but let
the sentiment drop. “Oh well. There’s plenty of good food that’ll be available
shortly after we arrive. Personally, I’m
starving!
”

I let the two of them fade away from my
attention as I reached into my pocket, withdrawing my smartphone. I wasn’t sure
if Clara had hers nearby, given the dress she was wearing, but I went ahead and
texted her anyway:

> Maybe we should talk.

A few seconds later, I heard the faint sound
of her text tone, and she withdrew her phone from her purse. I was afraid she
was going to ignore me, but she responded before switching on the vibration
setting.

> Talk about what?

I frowned grimly. This wasn’t good.

> About this. About us. You’re
being distant. I don’t like it.

Clara stared at her phone for a few moments,
shaking her head. She still wasn’t looking at me. Finally, she started typing.

> There’s nothing to talk
about. We had our night together. That’s over now. That was it. I had a great
time with you, but that’s in the past now. It’s time that both you and I move
on.

I was quietly furious, but I knew that she
was convinced of her point. There had to be
some
way
to get through to her, to keep this fire of ours burning bright…

> I know you feel that way,
but I don’t. You can’t deny that there’s something great between us. This
attraction… you don’t want to give it up. Neither do I. Let’s just see where it
goes, okay? I don’t want to lose you.

Clara looked up from her phone, and I got my
wish. She finally looked at me… but her look was filled with a mixture of
disappointment, anger, and bitterness. After a second, she typed in a final
response and tossed her phone back into her purse.

> That’s enough.

My spirits collapsed for the second time
since I caught wind of the wedding date.

She’s closing me off,
I bitterly thought.

It was arguably lucky that I didn’t have to
spend too much time in the backseat with her after that point. The roads became
familiar again, and within a minute we were pulling up to Sarah’s driveway.

The last time that I was here, I came face to
face with destiny. Clara, that seemingly harmless little infatuation of mine,
came face-to-face with me as we met each other’s parent. At that moment, this
was all some sick, cosmic joke, but it was a joke I wanted to see through to
the end.

Now that I was here, I realized that I didn’t
find the punchline particularly funny.

As soon as we were parked and the ignition
was dead, Clara jumped out of the car. Following her lead, my father stepped
out, crossing around to Sarah’s side and helping her out.

“Such a gentleman!” She cooed.

I excused myself out the back, snatching up
Clara’s purse. In her haste, she’d apparently forgotten it. As our parents
strolled towards the door, I caught up to her, stuffing it into her hands.

“You forgot this,” I remarked.

“I left it in there on purpose,” Clara
replied.

“What, so that I’d grab it and bring it to
you? A little cliché, don’t you think?” I smiled warmly, happy to make a little
banter.

Clara leaned in and, whispering under her
breath, she maintained eye contact and verbally twisted the knife: “No, you
idiot
, I left it in there so that you
couldn’t bother me over text messages for the rest of today.”

Dad and Sarah were at our side within a
moment, unlocking the front door and preventing me from responding. Clara
whisked a few strands of hair out of her face and firmly put her back to me as
she followed them inside, leaving me outside alone.

I thought that was as bad as it could get.

A car I didn’t recognize pulled up behind us,
and I glanced over my shoulder. To my immediate vexation, my grandparents
climbed out of the backseat, glancing at the house with veiled amusement.

Oh, not this shit now.

“Dalton, we didn’t get much of a chance to
speak,” Raleigh Carlyle greeted me as he approached, his wife on his arm. “I
daresay you look the very
image
of
dignity.”