Tudor Redemption (Tudor Dynasty Book 4) (18 page)

As
soon as we were both naked, I slammed my mouth over hers in a brutal, wet kiss.
Surprisingly, she returned it with much enthusiasm. I laid her on the bed and
spread her legs. I had one thing on my mind and that was to drive her crazy.

I
growled and plunged my tongue deep inside her wetness. I pushed her thighs open
farther as I twirled my lips around her nub. I gazed up and caught her watching
me. I licked her one last time, setting my lips over her clit and sucking hard.
Her body clenched as an orgasm ripped through, and she gripped my head with her
hands.

I
pulled away and threw her legs high as I centered my cock and thrust in. I
wanted her deeper, so I pulled out and flipped her over. I held her hips up as
I slammed into her again. I heard her moan as I began pushing in and out of
her. With my free hand, I rubbed her tender nub and sent her into her second
orgasm. As she was in the midst of her bliss, my balls tightened up as I came.
My entire body shook with the release. If this was heaven, I didn’t want it to
end. Ever.

I
awoke to an empty bed the following morning. Beth’s scent still lingered on her
pillow and the sheets. I noted her clothes were still in a disheveled heap on
the floor.

Wandering
out to the living room, I found her and Courtney sitting at the table, coffee
in hand, talking. Beth had on an old t-shirt of mine and what looked like a
pair of shorts from one of the girls.

“Good
morning,” she greeted me with a smile.

“Morning,
Daddy.”

“Good
morning, you two. Britt leave for work?”

“Yes.
I’ve got a piano lesson in a couple of hours, and then I’m going to an
audition.”

“Audition?
For what?” I inquired, sitting down next to Beth.

“There’s
a small orchestra forming. They’ll play at one of the theaters in town. My
teacher got me the audition.”

“I
thought you weren’t too interested in classical after you got your theory
finished.”

“If
it gets me into Julliard or another good music school, I’ll take it. It doesn’t
seem as though I’m ever going to get any serious respect from the rock or pop
communities around here.” She flashed me a smile as Beth set a mug of hot
coffee in front of me.

“Court,
I thought I’d explained that. My CD had no room for female background vocals. You
did an excellent job on keyboards. Which, by the way, gives you something for
your resume. Your time will come, I promise. If that’s what you want, it’ll
happen.”

“I
know. I was just trying to make you feel guilty. It worked.” She giggled.

My
cell started to ring from somewhere in the room. Courtney went in search of it.
I gazed at Beth longingly, hoping my daughter needed to leave soon. Finding the
phone, Court handed it to me.

It
was the realtor. “Good morning,” I said slowly. “Have you heard something back
already?”

I
sat there in disbelief as she explained that someone had beaten me. Offered
cash and of course the owners had accepted. She left me with little hope. If
the deal fell through, my offer would be the next one accepted. I thanked her
for her work and told her to stay in touch if things changed.

“What
is it, Dame? The house?”

“Yeah,
someone beat me to it. Offered to pay cash.” I felt like I’d been kicked in the
gut.

“Maybe
they’ll change their minds,” Court offered.

“I
can only hope. Guess I’ll wait and spare Amadeus the news he’s getting
strangers as neighbors.”

“Dame?
Perhaps now just isn’t the right time. You’ve got an awful lot going on right
now.”

“Yeah,
you’re probably right.”

“Maybe
you’re supposed to find your own island or another location where Uncle A lives,”
Court added.

“Thank
you, ladies. I’m sure you’re both right. Taking on a construction site would be
a full time job. Perhaps once the CD drops and things slow down a bit, I can
look.”

Chapter
Sixteen

In
the midst of all the preparation and work being done to ready for launch date,
I had almost forgotten my birthday was looming fast. The year before had been a
flash.

I
was perfectly happy to let this one go on by with little fanfare, but Amadeus
and Zara insisted Beth, the girls, and I come over for the day. Zara was going
to have salmon and crab, two of my favorites. Who was I to resist?

My
first give away that something was up should have been when Britt and Court
went on ahead of Beth and me. Their reason being they were helping Zara. Happiness
to have time alone with my Bethie was enough for me to dismiss their early
departure.

We
pulled up in front of Amadeus and Zara’s place a few hours later. The driveway
was littered with cars. I recognized most of them as being family.

“It
appears it’s a little bigger get together than Amadeus first let on,” I said as
we approached the front door.

“So
it seems.”

The
door swung open just as I was about to knock. Amadeus stood there with a stupid
grin on his face. “Come on in. Hope you don’t mind, but Zara and I invited a
few extra people.”

“So
I see,” I replied, punching him playfully on the shoulder.

I
took Beth’s hand and led her into the huge family room. I stood in disbelief as
everyone shouted ‘surprise!’ Not only were Angus and his entire family there,
but my mother and Peter were standing to one side. I caught Courtney and Ethan out
of one eye.

“You
didn’t happen to have any part in planning this, did you?”

“Me?
No, never. Ethan had a couple days off. Just happened to be at the perfect
time.”

I
walked around and greeted everyone, making Mother and Peter my last stop. I was
curious to see how she would greet Beth.

“Damien,”
she started. “This is a long way from where you were ten or twelve years ago. I
knew you had the fight in you and you proved it to us.” She hugged me, all
teary eyed. I understood what a hard road it had been for her as well.

“I’m
so glad you and Peter got to come. You made my day.”

“I
insisted she take a break from the triplets,” Peter joked.

“Beth,
you remember my mother, Grace. This is her husband, Peter MacNichol. Mother,
Peter, Beth Asher, Ethan’s mom.”

Mother
jumped in and took over the conversation. She was obviously happy with Beth.

Peter
made his way to my side as the two of them chatted. “She’s been nervous about
meeting Ethan and Beth, if you can believe that.”

“What
does she think of Ethan?”

“Very
taken with him. Beth obviously did a fine job with him.”

“Yes,
she did.”

“There’s
also no denying him either,” Peter whispered.

“Yeah,
I know. It’s eerie.”

Though
the weather was cooling down, it was still nice enough for the younger ones to
go out and play outside. Beth was fitting right in, helping Amadeus referee a
volleyball game. I watched from the deck as the game got underway.

Mother
joined me, putting on a light jacket as she neared. “I like her. She adores the
girls, and appears to have raised quite a nice young man in that son of hers.”

I nodded my head, saying nothing.

“She obviously loves you. Amazing after
all these years. It goes without saying that you love her as much as you did
back then.”

“More,” I replied.

“What are your plans, if I may ask? Do you
want to marry her?”

“Yes, I do. Right now, there’s a lot going
on. We’ve discussed it, but agree I need to get through the CD launch. Perhaps
in the spring.”

“How long have you two been seeing each
other?”

“Don’t you mean how long have we been
sleeping together, Mother? Two months, I think. It took a little while for me
to get over the shock of what had happened with her all those years ago.”

“I see.” She paused. “Don’t look back at
what could have been or happened. Things weren’t meant to be until now.”

“It took me a while, but I finally
realized that it won’t change anything.”

“I’ll look forward to her joining our
family. Though I doubt you’ll make it to spring to marry.” She patted my arm.

“We’ll see. Right now, I have enough on my
plate.”

“I know, but you’re good at staying
organized. I think I’m going to see if Zara needs any help with the little
ones.”

I knew not to say a thing. She loved
helping with everything. Instead, I walked back in the house where it was
warmer. I found Angus and Peter discussing some sort of foolishness.

“You’re not going to let him make you part
of whatever it is he’s planning are you, Peter?”

“Me? Nooooo. I know better than that. No,
we were discussing how it’s too bad you didn’t get the house in the cove. It’s
large enough that, between the two, everyone could have comfortably stayed here
when we get together.”

“True, but I didn’t. No point in wondering
what might have been.”

“I wonder who bought it. Wouldn’t you like
to know, Dame?” Angus asked, his eyes filled with mischief.

“No, not really. They won’t be my
neighbors, doesn’t affect me one way or another.”

About then Elizabeth came wandering
through, jacket in one hand dragging behind her.

“Where you off to?” Peter asked.

“I want to play ball.”

“They’re a little too rough for you to
play with, Elizabeth,” I said. “Why don’t you see if Uncle Angus won’t find a
ball to toss with you?”

“Go find a ball, Uncle Angus,” she
demanded, pointing at him.

“Okay, okay, varmint. Let me see what I
can find.”

She clapped her hands, happy she’d won her
way. Then, she turned on me. “Uncle Dame, are you going to marry Beth? Is she
going to have a baby so Wolfie and I can play with it?”

I heard Angus snickering as he walked out
of the room. Peter’s face gave him away.

“Yes, Beth and I will get married someday.
You need to ask your mama and daddy about giving you and Wolfie a baby brother
or sister, because Beth and I won’t be doing that.”

“Mommy says no way, and Daddy says you and
Beth will.”

“Don’t listen to everything your daddy
tells you. He likes to tease.”

Angus showed up with a ball, and I helped
her get her jacket on.

“Show him who’s the boss, Elizabeth,” I
said, watching her try to grab the ball from Angus.

“She’s quite precocious, isn’t she?” Peter
laughed.

“That she is. I suspect she’ll give her
parents a run for their money.”

“Have you given any further thought to a
concert on the night of your release, Dame?”

“Yeah. If I can find a venue, I’d love to
do it. But it has to be right here in Seattle. Line up some guest artists, some
surprises throughout the evening. I think it would be a great way to launch the
CD.”

“Times running out, you know.”

“I know. I’ve been speaking with the club
Ethan played at a few months back. Before he went on tour. The Register. It’s
plenty big enough and security’s awesome. I’m trying to nail them down on the
date. It has to be the day it drops.”

“True. Do you have a contingency plan?”

“I do, but I’d rather not use it. It’s an
old warehouse they’ve converted into a club. It’s huge, and I’ve heard
conflicting stories about how well it’s managed or how well security works.”

“Push the first one. If the fellow is any
sort of businessman, he’ll know what he gets will be huge. On another topic,
have any of your old band mates approached you since word has gotten out about
this solo CD?”

“Indirectly. The chatter is I’ve got an ego
of enormous proportions and that I’m going to fall flat on my face with this
project. I’m not up to it. Whatever that means.”

“Jealousy, it appears.”

“Yes, I suppose. Julia was involved with
them. May still be. Therefore, I don’t take anything coming from any of them
seriously. If she’s in the mix, she’ll try to stir things up.”

“Best to keep them at arm’s length then.”

“Always,” I replied.

It appeared the mighty volleyball players
were wearing out. Amadeus and Ethan collapsed breathless and sweating on a
couple of lounges still out. “It appears the warriors have been overtaken by
the women.”

Peter chuckled. “I suppose we’ll be blamed
for not joining them and keeping the split a little more even.”

“How about we go find out?”

“You’re mean, Damien. Mean, but smart.”

“Not doing anything Angus wouldn’t.” I started
walking toward the slider.

****

After dinner, everyone settled into the
family room. My family knew I wasn’t big on gifts and such when it came to my
birthday. But you know families-they never listen.

I let Courtney bring me gift bags. Simple
gestures, stuff for my boat. Gift cards. Then, Ethan bent over, picking up a
smallish package wrapped in newspaper.

Beth, who was sitting to my right, spoke
quietly in my ear. “Accept this. He’ll explain to you in private later.”

“Damien, happy birthday.” He passed me the
box and sat down to watch.

Once I’d unwrapped the newspaper, I found
a keychain with two keys attached. I stared at him, trying to make sense of it.

“They’re the keys to your house in the
cove.”

“What? You bought the house? I don’t
understand. I can’t accept this, Ethan.”

“Yes, you can,” Beth whispered.

“Seems I can and will,” I corrected myself.
“I’m speechless. Thank you.” I stood up, intending on shaking his hand. Instead,
we ended up in a hug. “You really didn’t have to do this.”

“I’ll explain later. I didn’t want you to
lose your chance at a dream.”

A few minutes later, a bunch of us were
walking to the house. Another group would follow in a vehicle. Ethan and Beth were
on either side of me.

“Mom told me about the house that day. She
was afraid you had more than enough to handle and didn’t need purchasing a
house and construction on top of it. So, I made some inquiries, found out they
wanted cash, made an offer, and paid for it free and clear.”

“I don’t know what to say, other than
thank you.”

“The deed’s in your name. Mom said you’d
never accept such a large gift, so I drew up some papers. A loan, if you will.
Not the entire amount. The rest is a gift for all you’ve done.”

“I haven’t done anything,” I whispered. I
could hear my voice cracking. “All I’ve done is give you a business opportunity
to further your career the way you want to.”

“I know, and that means more to me than
you’ll ever know. I thought perhaps you could teach me to sail sometime. I
recall you saying it relaxed you.”

“I can do that. Wow. Now, to find a
contractor.”

“Already done. Got a local guy Amadeus
recommended. He’s going to come in and do all the drywall. When he’s finished,
you can either have him stay on to finish, or you can find your own guy.
Consider that part a small wedding present from me.”

“Ethan!” Beth hissed. “Stop moving the
cart before the horse.”

“Oh, I think the cart is hitching up
behind the horses, Mom.” He grinned.

We walked up to the iron gate, and Ethan
punched in the code. Once inside the house, there were all sorts of
oh’s and ah’s
as everyone made their way
inside.

Beth wandered with me in silence. I was
too overwhelmed to say anything.

“Daddy, this is so cool. It’s going to be
beautiful,” Court gushed.

“Yes, it is,” I replied. I noted Angus
standing outside alone on the deck. This wasn’t like him. Usually, he’d be
right in the mix of things. “I’m going to see what Angus has up his sleeve.”

“You want company?” Beth asked.

“No. Why don’t you and Court check out the
lower level?” I opened the slider and walked over to my brother. “What’s up? I
figured you’d be walking the property or the house.”

“I will. I was enjoying the view.”

“That’s bullshit. I know you, don’t forget
that. When you’re quiet, you’re up to something or something’s wrong. Which is
it?”

He looked around. “You’ve got to promise
me not to say a word to anyone. Not until Mother is gone. The last thing I need
is her nosing into my personal life.”

“I won’t say a thing until you give me the
word.”

“You remember that inner ear problem I’ve
been dealing with over the past couple years? Well, the doctors want me to come
off the road. No more touring. Which, to my wife, means no more money. Ashley
wants a divorce,” he bit out.