Surrender (The Forbidden Series Book 3) (10 page)

Fifteen Months Later…

Kira

I slide my dark glasses down over my eyes to shield them from the bright Malibu sunshine as I look out over the ocean. I’ve never seen a colour so blue, and then I smile, because I have. Of course I have. I see that colour every day, when I look into the eyes of the man who changed my life.

‘Everything’s all set, beautiful.’

I spin around and smile as he steps out onto the deck, throwing his phone down onto the table as he passes. ‘We’re good?’

‘We’re good.’

He comes over to me and slides an arm around my waist, pulling me against him, kissing me slowly and I slide my arms around his neck and just enjoy him. ‘We open our second Playroom next Friday.’

‘You nervous?’

He shakes his head, and I believe him. Neal Cannon is a force to be reckoned with, I’ve learned that much over these past few months. He gets things done and people just respond, they flock to him; respect him. They know he means business. And now we’re about to open The Playroom, Los Angeles. We found the perfect location in downtown L.A., and in just a few days’ time we’ll show the West Coast how we do things in our world.

Am I still providing entertainment? Now and again, yes, but not as much as I used to. I don’t feel the need for that kind of excitement anymore, not now. I have Neal, and he’s all I need. I have Kandi-Ann, and sometimes we’ll give Neal a show when he feels like it; when
we
feel like it, and that works. It’s good. Our unconventional lifestyle is something that suits us just fine.

Is Joey following us to California? He’s thinking about it. But Bam-Bams, New York is more than enough to keep him and Benni busy right now. That, and fatherhood. They have a beautiful baby boy now – Eric. My Godson. And the reason I go back to New York more often than is probably necessary. Has it made me broody? Can I see Neal and I settling down and making babies? No. That’s not us. Marriage, children, normality – that’s just not us. I don’t think it ever will be. But we’ll dip into someone else’s normality every now and again, and we like that. But then we come back home and return to our own, darker world. I much prefer it that way.

‘OK, handsome, I’ve gotta run.’ I pull back from him but he catches my waist and swings me back into his arms. ‘I’ve got a meeting at the bank, Neal. There are still a couple of things that need to be signed off.’

‘Y’know, this businesswoman thing you’ve got going on, it’s becoming one hell of a freaking turn-on.’

‘I’m going to be late, baby. Come on.’

But the second he kisses me my arms are back around his neck and I’m lost. He’s pulling me under and I can’t escape, because I don’t want to. I’ll never want to.

‘Oh, you are such a bad influence,’ I groan as he unties my wrap-over dress and starts to push my knickers down. ‘I’m going to look so unprofessional when I turn up to that meeting late… Jesus,
Neal
…’

I wrap my legs around him and he’s inside me before I’ve had time to get my head around it, but it feels so good. I can never say no to this. To him. The warm sun’s hitting my exposed skin as he pounds into me, and every moan, every cry he pulls out of me, they’re coming from the very depths of my soul.

Do I love him now? Are those feelings there yet, the ones I was never sure would happen? Yes. They’re there. And yes, I love him. Now. I love him like fucking crazy.

I wind my legs tighter around him and his fingers slide between mine as he keeps my hands up against the wall beside my head, his mouth brushing over my breasts as he continues to thrust hard and fast, and I feel it now, that rush, that overwhelming tidal wave of white-hot heat. It starts at the tips of my toes and tears through me at a breathtaking pace, burning my skin and messing with my head but it’s beautiful.
He’s
beautiful.

His fingers tighten around mine and I feel his body stiffen slightly, his breathing heavy and uneven, and then he comes, and I kiss him, and I feel him inside me and I know we did the right thing. It just took us a while to get here. To this. But we’re here now. We’re here.

‘Jesus, Kira, you still kill me, darlin’.’

‘That’s my job, handsome.’ I smile, and I keep my legs wrapped tight around him because I don’t want to let go, not yet.

He returns my smile. ‘And you do your job so well, Mrs Cannon.’ He shifts his gaze to the white gold band on my left hand, stroking it lightly with his thumb as I slowly unwrap my legs from around his hips and he puts me down, kissing me as he does so. And once again I fall into him, his arm circling my waist as he keeps me pressed against him.

‘Mrs Cannon,’ I murmur, keeping my mouth on his as I cup his cheek. ‘I
really
like the way that sounds.’

‘It was always meant to be, Kira.’

I smile again, running my fingers through his hair. My beautiful man. My husband. My whole fucking world. ‘Fate, huh?’

‘Yeah,’ he laughs, and that’s a sound that makes me realise just how happy I really am right now. How truly, gut-wrenchingly, disgustingly happy I am. ‘I guess.’

I look at him, right into his eyes, and I let my stomach do those flips and let loose those butterflies that never stop escaping every time he’s near me. I let all of that go, once. I don’t ever intend to let it happen again. ‘I love you, Neal.’

‘I love you, too, Kira. I freaking love you, too, baby.’

I close my eyes as his mouth touches mine again, his lips warm and soft, the taste of him heady as we kiss here on the deck of our beautiful Malibu beach house. And I still can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe how much my life has changed; what we’ve been through. But we survived. We dealt with the pain and the crap and the people who said we’d never be more than each others’ obsession. We dealt with it all. We survived. We surrendered.

I met a man.

And he changed me.

Forever…

The End.

About the author…

Michelle Betham is an ex-media technician turned author of hot, edgy, gritty romance, usually involving rock stars, sports stars, and bikers. But not usually all in the same book. Yet. She is both self-published and published through HarperImpulse, a division of HarperCollins Publishers.
Addicted to binge-watching TV dramas she struggles to think of a life before Netflix, loves rock music, tattoos, spicy food,
superheroes (which involves an unhealthy obsession with Iron Man), and Keanu Reeves – a crush that's lasted over twenty years, and one she blames entirely on 'Point Break'. The original. She refuses to acknowledge any remake exists…

Her dream is to ride a Harley. And visit Las Vegas. And be able to eat any amount of chocolate without putting on weight.
She lives in County Durham, north-east England, with her husband and West Highland Terrier, where she can be found most days drinking tea and making up stories.

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