Dark Hearts (Part 4) (The Bleeding Love Series) Read online

  But the biggest help of all in getting past all of that, in building a normal life now, has been Ollie. Our baby boy has changed everything. He’s softened both of us, helped me to open up more and feel; something which I’d started to do with Damon’s influence; but which has got better since I became a mother.

  It turns out I do have strong maternal instincts. I do have it in me. While there’s a huge learning curve to being a first-time parent, a lot of it has come naturally to me. Ollie brings something out in me that I never even knew I had within me.

  Damon has been amazing, too. He’s a great father. Ollie and I always come first with him. There’s no question about it. He even finally relinquished his chokehold over his club, Pillow Talk, handing it over to his managers to run at long last. Even though we’re in hiding, he could have still controlled things from a distance. People like us know how to facilitate what we need to in order to get things done. But he stepped down instead, so he could be with his family.

  I watch him burping Ollie.

  He catches me looking and asks, “Can we help you?”

  “You are helping. Both of you.” I move closer and snuggle with them. “I love you both so much.”

  Damon shifts Ollie in his hold and frees his arm. He wraps it around me and pulls me closer. “We love you, baby.”

  “Who knew we could manage it, huh?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Being normal.”

  He chuckles. “Indeed. A definite shocker.”

  We sit in silence for a while, just staring out at the serene lake.

  And then something occurs to me, much to my relief. “Damon, we can’t…get it on…tonight. Mark’s coming for dinner.”

  He looks down at me and grins.

  “What?”

  “He texted me while I was out. He can’t make it.”

  “But he comes by every other night.”

  “He has a date.”

  “A date? Really?” I ask intrigued. “With who?”

  “That waitress he’s had his eye on. Apparently, he’s decided he doesn’t give a crap anymore about the whole boss-employee line he was worried about crossing.”

  As Damon and I went to ground, so did Mark. He manufactured himself a new identity and reinvented himself. He bought a bar in a quiet, small town in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of miles away from our former home in the city, but not that far from us.

  “That’s great.”

  “Yep. It also means we won’t be interrupted tonight,” he says, that sexy smirk of his playing on his lips. He looks away and kisses Ollie’s head. “Except, maybe, by this little guy, of course.”

  “Uh…yeah,” I respond, awkwardly, because there’s no getting out of it now.

  I gasp as I suddenly feel Damon’s hot breath at my ear. He whispers, “Relax, baby. I’ll be gentle.”

  “I know. It’s just—”

  “I know what it is and I get it. But don’t I always take good care of you?”

  “You do, but—”

  “When I’m through with you tonight, you’ll feel as fucking sexy as I see you. You won’t question it again. I promise you.”

  I smile, trying to hide my nerves, but I know he can see it.

  I look away and study the grocery bags, trying to distract myself with anything; anything at all. And that’s when I notice a pile of papers on the grass beside them. I pull away from Damon and he lifts his arm to let me escape his embrace.

  I snatch up the papers and leisurely start going through them. “You picked up the mail from our P.O. Box.”

  “Yeah. Nothing exciting. Just newspapers from the city that my guys have sent our way and some paperwork for the club.”

  I nod. We’re keeping an eye on the news to monitor the investigation still going on into the compound explosion. Just a precaution. As far as the world is concerned, we’re dead. We want to make sure it’s kept that way and that no evidence turns up to the contrary. It’s just us being paranoid—a remnant of our old lives. A side-effect that’ll never go away. But we deal with it and it’s a small price to pay, considering.

  As I’m rifling through the mail, intending to read one of the newspapers, something drops from the pile. I glance at it. A card of some sort. A business card, it looks like.

  I snatch it up and turn it over.

  My breath hitches in my throat.

  Mario’s Pizzeria.

  “What the fuck?” I exclaim aloud.

  “What’s wrong, baby?” Damon asks.

  I show him the card and he frowns with concern. “That’s one of yours? One of your coded cards. How is that possible?”

  “It’s not. I’m well and truly retired.”

  I study the card, taking a closer look at the text and the cell number digits on there.

  I recognize something then. It’s using my code.

  “Oh my God.”

  “Alana?” Damon asks, shifting his weight and Ollie in his arms to crouch down beside me, so he can get a better look.

  I concentrate on deciphering the coded card.

  A huge sigh of relief escapes me. I can’t believe it.

  I was right!

  I eye Damon and tell him, “Congratulations, gorgeous.”

  “What?”

  “That’s what it says. It’s using my code. That’s what the deciphered text reads.” I smile. “Dean is alive. This is his message. He’s congratulating us on the birth of our son, Damon! Oh my God! He did it! He got out of there! He survived!”

  “Jesus Christ,” he breathes with disbelief.

  “I know. But he always was a survivor, through and through.”

  “Alana,” Damon cautions.

  I know what he’s warning me about right away. I shake my head. “Relax. I’m not going to try to find him. He made it clear to me before the mission that he would disappear for good. And it’s for the best…for all of us. I just…knowing he’s alive…I can be at peace now.”

  He nods, understanding. And then he pulls me into him. “I’m glad, Alana. I’m glad.”

  After a few moments, he gets to his feet, pulling me with him. He hands Ollie to me. “Put him down for his nap. I’m going to put the groceries away.”

  “Okay,” I say, starting off towards the house.

  But his hand gripping my wrist stops me. I turn back to him in question.

  “Alana, after you’ve put him down, I want you on our bed, waiting for me.”

  “I—”

  “After everything we’ve been through, we’re more than capable of working through your anxiety about this, aren’t we?” he challenges.

  He knows me well. Putting something to me as a challenge instantly gets me fired up. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve just never been able to back down from any challenge.

  It has me smirking at him. “Challenge accepted.”

  “So, that’s all I had to do?”

  “Well…I’m still—”

  He steps into me and cups my face gently. “I love you. All of you. Inside and out, Alana.”

  I know he does. So much. And I love him just as much.

  That’s when it all falls into place for me. I’m being ridiculous here. I haven’t let him see me totally naked, or be with me, since my six month of pregnancy. And he’s been so patient with me. He hasn’t complained. He hasn’t pushed it all these months, even though we’ve only done oral and I know it’s not the same to him as actually fucking me. Today is the first time he’s actually pressed the issue. Probably because I still haven’t come around on my own.

  All my life I’ve had issues with sex. But they’d never been about me being shy about my body. No, they’d been about what’d happened to me all those years ago with Forest. But Damon had broken through all of that. Not because of his well-known dominance and controlling tendencies. But because our love transcended all of that.

  And it can now, too.

  “Time to get back on the horse, Alana,” he says, winking at me.

  I eye his dick
through his jeans. “You really think a lot of yourself, don’t you? That’s one hell of a huge comparison, Damon.”

  “One I’m very proud of.”

  I laugh and nod. “Okay.”

  “Yeah? You’re ready?”

  “I am. I miss you…the feel of you.”

  “Alana, you have no idea.”

  I step up to him. “Thank you.”

  “For what, baby?” he asks as he wraps his arms around me and a now sleeping Ollie.

  “For understanding and not getting frustrated with my stupidity about this whole thing.”

  “It’s not stupid. I get it. Like I said, I love you. All of you. And that means I’ll do whatever I have to, to make you happy. And the only thing stopping you from being completely happy right now, is this one little hurdle. A hurdle we’ll get over together.”

  “You’re amazing. Do you know that?”

  “You bring it out in me, my love.”

  He pulls away and tells me, “Now, off you go. Ten minutes.”

  ***

  I’m half sitting, half lying awkwardly on the bed.

  I’m wearing my white fluffy bathrobe, because I couldn’t bring myself to arrange myself on top of the covers completely naked. Dammit. Damon’s going to be disappointed.

  I hear his footsteps down the hall and I tense up, getting nervous, because it’s been so long since we’ve actually done this. Oh God. I feel like a damn virgin all over again.

  The bedroom door creaks open and he steps inside.

  Completely naked.

  My eyes rake over his delicious body and I can feel myself getting hot and flustered just at the sight of him. God, it’s been too long since I’ve seen him in all his naked glory. Urgh. I’m such a fool to have waited so long. Me and my weird hang-up, since Ollie’s birth.

  He doesn’t say anything.

  He just stalks towards me with that familiar sexy, smoldering look in his eyes. A predatory look, telling me that he wants to devour me and ravage me in a whirlwind of passionate intensity.

  That look alone and the meaning behind it has my nerves leaving me and my arousal skyrocketing.

  He climbs onto the bed and straddles me.

  It’s then that I realize he’s holding one hand behind his back.

  He reaches for the belt of my robe with his free hand. Without any warning, he rips it free. It has me gasping in surprise.

  “Push it off your shoulders,” he commands in that dominating, no-nonsense tone of his.

  There’s no room for hesitation, for any reservations when he uses that voice. It has this inexplicable power over me, the ability to clear my head, to just feel and give into what he wants. It has me acknowledging on an instinctual level that it is what I want too. It draws me in. Connects us as one.

  I shrug my robe off my shoulders.

  He smiles happily. “Good. Now you’re ready.”

  “Ready? Ready for what? Sex?”

  He chuckles. “No, baby. Ready for this.”

  He pulls his hand out from behind his back and holds it out between us, palm up.

  “Holy shit,” I exclaim as I see the little black box there. “Is that—?”

  My words catch in my throat as he opens it to reveal a diamond engagement ring inside.

  He takes my hand in his free one and squeezes it. “I wanted to make sure you were ready. I’ve had this ring for months, Alana. But a lot has happened. A lot to get used to. Retiring and walking away from the only life you’ve ever known. Leaving your home behind in the city. Moving in together. Becoming a mother. It’s been a lot to get used to and it’s had your head all over the place as you’ve tried to acclimatize to it all. I’ve seen it. I knew I had to wait until you worked through it on your own. And now…this final act tonight…overcoming your reservations here…it means you finally have.” He kisses my hand and then says, “You mean the world to me. I can’t imagine my life with anyone else in it, but you. I’ve wanted you for a very long time, Alana. And this…making you my wife will solidify that. A symbol that you’ll be mine forever. So, my love, will you? Will you marry me, Alana Halton?”

  A very uncharacteristic girlish shriek erupts from me then, startling both of us. I lunge at him. Not expecting it, the impact drives him off the bed and we both tumble to the floor, me on top of him. We burst out laughing.

  “I’m taking that as a yes?”

  “Of course it’s yes, Damon!”

  He moves us into a sitting position and takes hold of my left hand.

  I watch as he pulls the ring from its box and slowly slides it onto my ring finger.

  Our eyes meet and we both grin excitedly.

  “I love you, Damon.”

  “I love you, my sexy little fiancé.”

  He runs his hands over my body then, slowly and softly, exploring every inch of me. “Jesus Christ, I can’t believe you’ve been hiding this exquisite sight from me for so long. You look amazing, Alana. Truly.” He cups my breasts. “And I’m loving these.”

  “They’re huge.”

  “Holy hell, yes, they are. Beautiful.” He leans into me and kisses my forehead. “Thank you for trusting me.”

  “That’s what I do,” I joke.

  “I know, baby. I know. And I love you for it.”

  He pulls back then and gets to his feet, helping me up with him.

  “Now, let’s see if I can make you squeal again like you did a moment ago.”

  “What? No!”

  He lunges at me, driving me onto the bed. “Oh, yes.”

  I moan as he buries his face in my neck. “I’m so happy, Damon.”

  He pulls back to look at me, his eyes full of such intense adoration that that and the fact that he just proposed to me, has me choking up.

  He smiles and gently strokes my cheek. “Me too. And it’s only going to get better from now on, Alana.”

  I relax beneath him.

  As his lips crash down on mine, I wrap my arms around his neck. Perfect. He’s so perfect. We’re so perfect together. I never thought I’d have this. I never thought I’d be able to love someone like this.

  But now that I do, I’m never letting go.

  THE END

  Other Books by Franca Storm

  STANDALONE NOVELS

  Contemporary Romance

  Comfort Zone

  REVIVE ME NOVELS

  Coming of Age/Contemporary Romance

  BAD IMPRESSIONS

  DAMAGED HEARTS NOVELS

  New Adult Romance

  READY TO LOVE

  BLACK THORNS SERIES

  Motorcycle Romance

  RECKLESS (Black Thorns, #1)

  SOULLESS (Black Thorns, #2)

  FRACTURED MAGIC NOVELS

  Paranormal Romance

  WRECKED

  THE BLEEDING LOVE SERIES

  Romance Thrillers

  All Or Nothing (Bleeding Love, Part One)

  Battle Born (Bleeding Love, Part Two)

  Love’s Lies (Bleeding Love, Part Three)

  Dark Hearts (Bleeding Love, Part Four)

  THE REDEMPTION SERIES

  Romance Thrillers/Romantic Erotica

  Over The Line (Redemption, #1)

  Undertow (Redemption, #2)

  Reckoning (Redemption, #3)

  Salvation (Redemption, #4)

  THE TWISTED DESTINY SAGA

  Paranormal Romance

  Fated Desire (Twisted Destiny Saga, #1)

  Fated Betrayal (Twisted Destiny Saga, #2)

  Fated Ties (Twisted Destiny Saga, #3)

  Fated Love (Twisted Destiny Saga, #4)

  Fated Blood (Twisted Destiny Saga, #5)

  Thank you for reading!

  Did you enjoy Dark Hearts?

  If you have a few moments to spare, I would really appreciate it if you could leave a brief review on the page where you bought the book. Thanks again and see you soon!

  About the Author

  Franca was born in Surrey, England and currently lives in Niagara Falls, Ca
nada with her husband and their labrador, Rocky.

  She is a long-time lover of erotica and romance novels, especially those with sexy-as-sin alpha males. She decided to try her hand at writing her own and writing romance is now her obsession and the perfect way to put her dirty mind to good use!

  She writes stories about bad boys with big hearts! Her writing spans many different sub-genres of romance: contemporary, biker romance, paranormal romance, new adult, romantic erotica and romance suspense. She’s got a ton of stories to tell and many more works up her sleeve.

  Join my mailing list HERE!

  Contact Franca Storm at:

  francastorm.com

  https://www.facebook.com/francastormauthor

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