"Marry me."
Andreus stared at Monique. What the fuck was she saying?
"If you marry me, the press would target me as your wife, and they won't care about Hallie." She quickly reached for his hand and held on to it before he could pull away. "Please, Andreus. Please let me do this for you. You know...you know that what I'm offering you is the best way to keep Hallie's name out of the papers." Monique's voice took on an urgent note, with her next words tumbling out in a jittery rush. "No one will ever bother her. No one will even think of her. They'll be too busy talking and writing up things about us."
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Andreus knew what Monique was saying was true...but he also goddamn knew that while her solution would save the girl he loved from ruin, that same fucking solution would kill Hallie in a different way altogether.
If he took what Monique was offering, there could be no going back.
Andreus saw Monique's lip start trembling again when he firmly pulled his hand out of her hold. "Andreus, p-please—-"
"I want you to completely understand the ramifications of what you're suggesting before agreeing to anything."
Her eyes widened as the meaning of his words hit her.
"What's happening right now...is just the beginning."
"I don't care," Monique swore. "I'm ready to face everything—-"
"Even if I tell you I can't ever be a normal husband to you in any way?" His jaw clenched at the way Monique's face whitened, but Andreus didn't take the words back. Couldn't. Because that was the fucking truth, and it was a truth that would never change. "I'll always belong to Hallie—-"
"You can't be so sure of that," Monique whispered.
"I am."
Pain shadowed her eyes, but the knowledge that he was about to lose Hallie for good had numbed his heart, and the look of torment on her face did nothing to him at all.
"Can you...c-can you at least promise that you'll be faithful to me?"
"Yes." This required no thinking at all. Hallie was the only woman he was interested in, no one else.
"And that no one...n-no one will know I'm only your wife in name? W-Will you give me that at least?"
It was too fucking easy to read between the lines of what Monique was saying, and his chest tightened as he envisioned a day in the not-so-distant future and Hallie would look at him and cry. She would want an explanation that Monique's demand would forbid him to give. She would look at him like seeing him was killing her...and he had no choice but to let her go on thinking that.
Andreus squeezed his eyes shut, and the future he saw was so fucking bleak it sucked the life out of him.
I love you, Hallie.
This was the last time he would allow himself to think of her, and Andreus felt as if he had voluntarily stepped off a cliff before falling straight into an abyss of emptiness as he turned to Monique and heard himself say, "Yes."
Chapter One
Author's Note:
It's been a while since I last used a playlist, but for this very special book,
I ended up listening over and over to two favorite songs,
the first which I used in a previous book (Diana and Matthij's story).
This Guy's In Love With You by Herb Alpert
Never Ever Say Goodbye (cover) by Marion Aunor
HALLIE WAS ABOUT TO step into the shower when a hand suddenly covered her mouth from behind. An involuntary gasp escaped her even though her pounding heart already knew who it was. Her unseen captor spun her around, her wide-eyed gaze clashing against a pair of smirking dark orbs.
Andreus let out a low devilish laugh as Hallie shoved his hand off her mouth and hurriedly tried to cover her nakedness, with one arm splayed over her breasts while her other hand slid down to conceal her already-wet pussy from his sight.
"Andreus!" Her tone was half-chiding, half-laughing, her nipples already puckering at the way Andreus was leisurely running his gaze down her trembling form. She wanted him so, so much, Hallie thought helplessly. He was like an addiction she could never cure, and arousal tingled down her spine when he suddenly hauled her close.
"I missed you."
He whispered the words in a rough tone, his lips brushing against hers, and what little resistance she had left melted, with Hallie only able to whimper as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I missed you, too," she whispered.
He cupped her face, and the hunger in his gaze had Hallie swallowing hard.
"Did...did anyone see you slip in?"
"We both know there's only one person who shouldn't see me entering your bedroom, and the answer to that is no."
"Are you su—-"
Her voice faltered to a stop when Andreus stepped back and began undressing himself.
Aaaah.
She had to bite her lip really, really hard to keep herself from moaning. The sight of Andreus' lethally muscular body was still something she hadn't gotten used to, and she had a feeling this would never change. She just wanted him so, so much, and—-oh!
Her mind seized to function the moment he took her hand and led her inside the shower.
Oh...dear.
It was her last barely-coherent thought, with Andreus spinning her around as soon as the jets of hot water blasted down their bodies. And just like that, both of them were wet, with Hallie's aching breasts heaving in shameless need as Andreus positioned himself behind her.
Her eyes closed as the head of his cock nudged against the swollen folds of her vagina. His hands clasped her waist, and her whimper melted with his guttural growl as he pushed a single inch of his throbbing cock inside of her.
So, so big, she thought dizzily. Would she ever get used to—-
BAM, BAM, BAM!
Hallie jumped in shock, and Andreus groaned as her sudden movement had the entire length of his erection penetrating her.
Aaaah.
Hallie could only hastily cover her mouth at the way she was suddenly stuffed full of Andreus' member-—
BAM, BAM, BAM!
"I saw Andreus enter your bedroom, so I know the two of you are in there." It was her sister-in-law Kalli knocking on her bathroom door, and Hallie's head snapped around so she could glare at Andreus over her shoulder. You said she didn't see you!
A grimace worked over his lips. Sorry, princess. Guess I was wrong.
BAM, BAM, BAM!
"You have ten minutes to consummate your love—-"
A choked laugh escaped her, but this soon turned into another gasp with Andreus actually taking heed of Kalli's warning, and Hallie could only cover her mouth yet again as his cock started pounding her pussy...hard.
"I told Yuri that Andreus would only need five if he really works hard—-"
Color burst in Hallie's cheeks even as her head fell back against Andreus' chest, with the way one of his arms slipped around her so he could start palming her breast.
"But then your brother lost color when I said that, and I'm not sure—-" Kalli suddenly stopped speaking, but Hallie couldn't be bothered to wonder why, with Andreus' fingers having found her nipple, and aaaaah.
Her entire body shuddered as he started pinching the sensitive tip in perfect rhythm with the violently plunging thrusts of his member.