Between Commitment and Betrayal (Hardy Billionaire Brothers, #1)

by Shain Rose

She appreciated the thought? I’d appreciate bending her over my knee and spanking her ass for defying me every chance she got. Could I send her that?

And not when her name needs to be cleared.”

?????????????

You’re as small as a raindrop.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Rainwater can be dangerous. It can flood … take a life, wash away cars, it can move mountains. A raindrop is small but together, with others, they’re a force.”

I was taking notes, filing it away for next time. Because I wanted a next time. I was going to die trying for a next time.

“I’m going back to bed, Mom. You’re my sunshine.” “My only sunshine,” she replied

“Everly, my wife gets what she wants, and if I don’t know what that is, I just get everything.”

“Can you commit, Drop?” I glared at him as his sea-green eyes narrowed before he raised one arm up and suddenly, I felt the inside of his fist wrap around the bar against the outside of mine. Then his chest was against my back, his other palm gripping the bar next to mine as he hopped up, caging me in. Our bodies pressed against one another’s as he crisscrossed his calves under my shins and lifted. My body weight was gone. The shake in my muscle gone. The strain of hitting number nine in my reps gone. “Nine, Drop,” he whispered

“You like to rush me, Drop. You don’t need control now though. I know how to eat your pussy without your assistance and guidance. I set the pace, and you take it like the good girl you are, right?”

“Not going to turn around?” “Why would I? People pay millions to have masterpieces in their homes, to stare at them displayed for their eyes only. You naked in front of me is a masterpiece, and I don’t intend to ever miss an opportunity to stare, babe.”

He stopped and grabbed several hair bands that I had in a small jar on my dresser, putting them on his wrist one by one. I swiped on some mascara and was applying lip gloss but stopped and pointed the applicator toward his wrist. “What are you doing?” “You always forget these things.” He shrugged like it was nothing,

“Makeup won’t change that your eyes rival the color of the sea, Drop. Or that your lips were made to be kissed by mine.”

I was lost in what Declan was. He’d bottled my worries and anxieties so I could try to enjoy something. He’d brought me along to do this with his family like I mattered too.

“Without me, Declan.” “Without you,” he muttered and then he was toe-to-toe with me, looking down at me as I looked up at him. “You realize that for the past couple days, I haven’t had a thought without you in it. My mind doesn’t work without you in it. My dreams, my nightmares, my subconscious, my conscious … none of them operate lately without you.”

“Be home at a reasonable time, Everly, or I’m coming to find you.” Then, he walked past me out the door and held up three fingers. “Three times now you’ve opened the door instead of me.” Why did him counting like that send shivers down my spine?

“Let’s show your boyfriend and husband what you’re made of then. I’m pretty sure you already own their hearts, but I think Declan’s going to bleed out and still crawl to your feet when all is said and done.”

“If a woman wants to indulge in a relationship with you—” “They’d have to take my attention off you first, which is near impossible at this point,”

He slid the ring back on my finger and said against my cheek near my ear, “You’re mine tonight, Everly.” My gaze drifted to his finger, and my eyes widened at the string there. “Where did you get that?” “I made the bracelet you threw at me into my ring.” He shrugged.

“I did everything I had to do so that we can start over. No inheritance hanging over our heads. I need another chance, babe. We need another shot because I’m sick of this bullshit. I’m sick of not having my meals with you. I’m sick of not having you. I’m sick of wanting my wife and thinking she’s just out of reach. You’re truly my wife. Not out of convenience, not because of a will. But because I love you. I can’t see straight without you.”

“The guesthouse is gone.” “Because you’re foolish.” “Because I can’t worry about you down there every fucking day. I take care of what’s mine, Everly. You’re mine. The baby is mine. And what’s mine stays in my bed next to me where I know they’re safe.”

even if Everly’s brought me to my knees a time or two in front of them.” “Really? You spar with her?” “The first time I met her, she probably could have knocked me out. She stole my pride that day.” He smirked. “Then she stole my heart a few months later.”