A Soldier For Bella (Love Conquers Life #4) (18 page)

“Baby, I need you to relax.” She takes a few deep breaths. “That’s it, baby. Open up for me.”

She takes a few more deep breaths and I can feel her relaxing around me. Once I’m sure she’s ready, I start slowly sliding my cock in and out of her while I continue to strum at her clit.

“Damn, Derek, that feels so good. Please give me more,” she begs. At her request I pick up the pace until I’m pounding my cock into her ass. I take both her beautiful globes and pull them apart and watch as she takes my full length in her ass.

“I’m going to come,” she whimpers.

“I’m with you, baby. Give it to me.”

My finger goes back to her clit, and I feel everything tighten as another orgasm takes over her body. I pull my cock from her ass and shoot my load all over her.

“My God, Derek, that was so hot. I can’t believe you just did that.”

“I told you I’ve wanted this ass for a while now, and I can finally say I’ve claimed it.”

As she collapses on the bed I quickly run to the bathroom and snag two washcloths, one for her and one for me. I need to clean myself off because I haven’t had my fill of her yet.

“I hope you’re ready to go one more time, because I’m not quite done yet.”

She rolls over and gives me her sexy smile, letting me know once again we’re on the same page.

Chapter 17

Bella

“I’m so proud of Derek and Carter. They work so hard to put these fundraisers together and they’re always a big hit,” I say to Patty as we’re getting our hair done for tonight’s event. This is a little more casual than past events, but as the wife and the fiancée of the men who have organized the event we need to look good so we can represent our men.

“Yeah, they make a really good team, don’t they,” she says as her stylist puts the finishing touches on her hair. I look at my friend and watch her as she glows with excitement for her husband. “We have to give some of the credit to Mom. She does help,” Patty adds.

“Yeah, she’s pretty great too,” I admit. “Plus, she sets up these appointments for us so we can come and relax prior to the event, although sometimes I think that is more Richard spoiling us than her.”

“He totally likes to spoil us, but I told him he has to go easy. He will want to retire at some point, and they need money to live off of.”

“What did he say?”

“He laughed at me and told me not to stress his retirement. He is more than set.” Patty shakes her head.

The two stylists pull our capes off and announce that we’re done. When we get to the counter, the girl confirms that our bill has been taken care of and tells us to come again. We stroll out to our waiting cars. With a quick hug, we each climb in to go home so we can finish getting ready.

As I pull up to the house, I notice a car in the driveway that I don’t recognize. This is a moment when I miss having Jordan by my side. Right now I’m scared to go into my own home. I know Brian is in jail, but what if he sent someone after us? I take a deep breath and think to myself,
you are fine. Just go in the house.
One more deep breath and I open the car door.

After running straight for the door, I listen for a second to see if anything in the house sounds off. When I hear nothing, I open the door and say, “Babe, I’m home.”

Derek is standing the kitchen with two other people. Their backs are to me, so I have no idea who either of the two people are until the woman turns around. My hands fly to my mouth as I gasp at the people in front of me. I run to them, and my parents wrap their arms around me in the biggest bear hug. We’re all crying now. So much for my professional makeup.

“Oh baby girl, Daddy has missed you so much,” he says as he kisses the top of my head.

I pull away from them. I’m a blubbering mess. “When did you find me? How did you know how to find me?”

“Your fiancé called us. He talked to us about the direction your life has taken. He informed us that you two were getting married, and he didn’t want to marry you without at least trying to make us a part of the day. It was a bit of a wakeup call for us. We realized we were missing out on so many of your accomplishments, all because we wanted to decide your career for you.”

“Darling, when we signed you up for modeling, we always thought it would be a fun hobby for you. We never thought you would make it your career, but you did and that threw us off. I’m sorry we weren’t better parents and more supportive of your choices.” My mom sighs. “Will you please forgive us and give us another chance? We want to get to know our little girl again and watch you finish your career from up close instead of in the back row.”

“Of course I forgive you,” I say with tears running down my face.

They hug me one more time, and then Derek says, “Okay, Sid, you have a job to do now.”

I turn to Derek and give him a questioning look.

“I had Sid come over since I figured you would probably ruin your makeup after seeing your parents.” Sid walks around the corner with his makeup tote rolling across the floor.

I chuckle as I give him a hug. “Thank you for being here.”

“Oh, you know I can’t say no when it comes to you,” he says as he waves me off.

“Mom and Dad, this is Sid. He’s the makeup artist and hairstylist that prepares me for all of my shoots.” They exchange pleasantries.

My dad says to me, “Bella, honey, we need to get going if we are going to make tonight’s event.”

“You guys are going?” I ask, super excited.

“Yes, we are thanks to your fiancé and the tickets he gave us.”

I jump up from my seat and throw myself into Derek’s arms. “Thank you so much!”

“You’re very welcome, baby. I’m glad everything is working out.”

“Um, you, young lady, are going to be late if you don’t sit your butt back down and let me get to work.”

I giggle at Sid but head to the chair to take my seat, knowing full well he’s going to remove every ounce of makeup I’m wearing and start over.

Derek gives me a quick kiss and says, “I’m going upstairs to shower and get ready. I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Thanks again, babe. I love you.”

He smiles down at me. “I love you too.”

“Let’s go, you two. I still have to go home and change,” Sid says, breaking up our moment. Derek walks my parents out and heads up the stairs. Once Derek is upstairs and out of earshot, Sid says, “You know you have yourself a good man, right?”

“Of course I know that. I can’t believe he got my parents to come here to see me and they apologized. It’s amazing. I can’t wait to spend more time with them,” I say as I close my eyes so Sid can get back to work.

An hour later, I’m ready and relaxing as we wait for our limo to arrive. It should be here any minute now. Derek is answering a few emails and texting Carter to make sure everything is running smooth for tonight.

Derek approaches me. “The limo is here, baby. Are you ready?”

“Yes,” I say as I follow him to the front door with my clutch in hand. “Babe, you need to be prepared because I’m going to announce our engagement if the media starts going crazy about the case and Brian being in jail. Of course there’s always the chance it’s been leaked already too.”

“No worries, baby. Do your thing, and I’ll be right there to support you.”

We both climb into the limo and it takes off for the event. The club isn’t far so we don’t bother opening the champagne that is waiting for us on ice when we get in, although maybe I should have because when we pull up the venue there are a ton of reporters outside. As soon as the limo comes to a stop, the reporters go crazy trying to figure out who’s inside. They’re already snapping pictures so they can have the first glimpse on camera.

The door opens and Derek climbs out. He reaches in, takes my hand, and helps me from the limo. Of course loads of questions are thrown at me. This is the part of being a model that can suck sometimes. People take shitty pictures of you and they alter what you say. It’s so annoying.

“Ms. Campbell, is it true that you are now officially off the market?”

“I’ve been off the market for a while now,” I say with a smile as I look up to Derek.

“Yes, but there are rumors that you are engaged,” one of the reporters shouts to us.

I show them my hand and say, “They’re not rumors. Although we have not set a date yet, it is true that sometime in the near future I will become Mrs. Campbell-Thompson.”

I again look to Derek and he lowers his lips to mine in a soft kiss so they have a nice picture to go with their statement.

“That is all for tonight. We need to get inside to support this great cause. My fiancé and his co-worker Carter Montgomery have worked very hard to make this event a success.”

Derek places his hand on the small of my back as we enter the venue for the event. Just seconds after we head inside, the media checks out the people who got out of the next limo, and we are forgotten.

Patty gives us each a hug. “How was the media frenzy? Did you announce your engagement?” she asks me.

“Yeah, but they made it easy because they had already heard rumors about it.” I shrug my shoulders as the three of us continue on our way. She tells us where our family is, and we make our way to them to meet up with them.

We hug and greet everyone, and without even thinking, I spit out, “I need to watch for my parents.”

Everyone gasps, and Sandra asks, “Your parents are coming?”

I smile. “Yeah. Derek spoke to them and informed them of our engagement. They came to realize they were missing out on too much of their only daughter’s life. They were at our house when I got home from the salon waiting for me.”

“Oh my,” Sandra says.

“I know. I bawled like a baby. Thank God Derek, realized it would be an emotional moment. He had Sid on standby to fix my makeup.”

“I’m so happy for you,” Sandra says, but the look on her face tells me she may have mixed emotions. I think she likes treating me like a daughter.

“Sandra, you know this doesn’t change anything between us, right?”

“Oh, of course not, darling. You will always be like a second daughter to me.”

We hug quickly, and the conversation changes as I watch for them. Just when I’m feeling like they’re going to pull a no show, I spot them walking through the door, looking a bit nervous. I quickly pull Derek with me to greet them. As soon as they spot us, I see instant relief on both of their faces.

“Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad,” I say quickly as we hug. “Come on, we’ll introduce you to our amazing friends.”

After a round of introductions, Carter and Derek have to take off to get the night rolling, leaving the rest of us to take our seats at our table. We are sitting front row at a reserved table. There are two large rectangular tables at the front, and the remainder of the tables are round. One of the rectangular tables is ours, and the other is filled with Tobey’s friends and family. We all take our seats as Derek and Carter appear on the stage.

“Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Derek Thompson and this is Carter Montgomery. We would like to thank you all so much for being here tonight. We have a great show planned for you, and dinner is about to be served. If you can all take your seats, we’ll get the night underway.”

Derek hands the microphone to Carter. “As Derek said, I’m Carter Montgomery and I too would like to thank you all for being here tonight. Because of your generosity, the generosity of this fine establishment, and the comedians performing for you tonight, we have raised enough money to not only purchase the TVs for Briar House, but to also train three of the six service dogs we were trying to raise money for. That is amazing, and I thank you!” There is a huge round of applause as everyone cheers for such a good cause. “Unfortunately our work will never be done.” He pauses, and the clapping dies down. “There will always be a soldier who needs a service dog or a TV that needs replacing in one of our rehab homes. I thank you for your support and I hope that you will continue to support our service men and women who have worked hard to keep us safe. Please, enjoy your night.”

The room again erupts into a round of applause. Everyone who had been sitting is now rising in a standing ovation as Derek and Carter exit the stage. Some soft music starts playing, and the DJ says, “Our first act of the night will be out in just a few minutes. I hope you all enjoy your dinner and the remainder of your evening.”

When the guys join us at the table, Richard raises his glass in a toast. “Here’s to another successful fundraiser by these two men.” Everyone clinks glasses.

Carter adds, “And here is to my mother-in-law for being so supportive and helpful.”

“Hear, hear,” everyone says just as our first course is being served.

A short time later the main course is just starting to be served and the first comedian takes the stage. The guy is pretty funny, but it’s obvious he’s nervous and just starting out. His act is short, but he does a nice job and everyone cheers him on. The DJ announces the second act, and he takes the stage. He starts out by thanking everyone for coming and mentions how proud he is to support an awesome cause.

His act goes on a bit longer and he is way funnier than the first guy. Finally the main act comes on while we’re having dessert. This guy is hysterical. His entire act is a story, and he talks about all of the funny things he does in his life. He jokes about pranks he pulls on the people in his life and everyday things that happen to him. We’re all laughing so hard. My cheeks hurt, and there are tears in my eyes. This guy is great.

About forty-five minutes later, he walks off the stage after thanking everyone for coming and supporting a great cause. People are now mingling and chatting about the show. A few have stopped by to congratulate Derek and Carter on a great night, and some have made their way out of the ballroom in search of souvenirs from the concession stand the comedians have set up.

“Derek, thank you so much for inviting us. This was a really fun night, and it’s been really nice to see Bella again,” my mother says as she hugs him.

“You’re welcome. I hope you will visit with us and continue to be a part of our lives.”

My father shakes his hand. “We absolutely will. We spent far too long away from Bella, and it’s time we all make up and move on.”

“I’m so glad to hear you two will be coming around and that you’re finally okay with the path I’ve chosen,” I say as I hug each of my parents.