Page 15 of Claimed By my Best Friend

It’s perfect, the moment. I ride his cock until we’re both winded and go slack against him.

“You have ruined me, Paula,” he rasps, wrapping his arms tightly around me. “I belong to you just as much as you belong to me.”

“Hmm.” I nuzzle his neck like I’m touch-starved, reveling in the feeling of his arms around me, and I’m only beginning to enjoy the moment when I am rudely interrupted by the ringing of my phone. “Ugh, I don’t want to take that,” I whine.

“It could be important,” Darrell says, reaching over to where I dropped my bag earlier and digging around for my phone. “It’s your father.”

My head whips back to see the phone he’s holding, my father’s name flashing on the screen. I wince, sure he’s calling me to scold me about being with Darrell. I have no doubt news moves fast in Valor Springs, but this was unusually fast.

“I’ll take it,” I say, straightening up, and after a little maneuvering, I move back to my seat. I brush my hair from my face and straighten my clothes before swiping a finger on the screen to take the call. “Hello?”

“Get your ass over to your uncle’s!”

The call drops, and I turn to Darrell, worrying my lower lip with my teeth. Surely he can’t be this mad about Darrell and me being together? He doesn’t even know Darrell very well. I never thought my father to be narrow-minded or hold prejudice against someone just because he has a lot of tattoos or that he’s a few years older than me.

Darrell is the best man I have ever met. He treats me with care, he protects me… The man loves me.

No, I don’t care what my father thinks. There is nothing he can say or do to make me give up Darrell.

Chapter Seven

Darrell

For as long I can remember, the Tate family has always been viewed as one of the most respected in town. They’re untouchable, which is saying a lot because Valor Springs has a powerful crime family living here. The Tates are a different kind of untouchable, the kind that stems from generations of wealthy, influential men and women.

Paula’s grandfather was the mayor, and when he retired, her Uncle Dane was asked to serve as interim mayor, despite being a rancher by trade. The only reason he wasn’t handed the position permanently was because he refused. Paula’s father stayed in the city after finishing law school and worked his way up to becoming the attorney general. He and Paula’s mother had met in law school, and she had been a powerful attorney in her own right. Not long after her mother’s sudden and tragic death, Paula moved from the city to Valor Springs, and her uncle helped her get her position at Valor Springs Elementary.

Her background is the polar opposite of mine. Valor Springs doesn’t have dirt-poor residents, but my family wasclose. I never got to know my mother, and my alcoholic father hated my guts. He and I constantly fought before he drove off the road and into a tree after a night of drinking. This happened when I was serving time in jail, and when I got the news, I wasn’t sure how to react. Was I supposed to cry over a man I never had a relationship with or mourn the fact that we’d never have an opportunity to try?

As we pull up at her uncle’s ranch house, I feel a sense of dread set in me. I’ve always been wary of rich people, and it’s no secret Paula’s father has never quite been supportive of my friendship with his only daughter. I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want my daughter near someone like me either, but that doesn’t change the fact that I am utterly in love with Paula.

She’s everything.

It’s Paula who reaches over for my hand this time, and I turn to find her lips stretched in a beautiful smile that lights up her whole face. “You don’t need to come in if you don’t want to,” she reassures me. “I know you are tough and scared of no one, but my family can be a lot. I can handle them alone.”

“No.” My voice comes out hard, so I soften it a little before forcing on a smile. This is just a small hurdle we have to get over, and then everything between us will be perfect. “I’m sorry, angel,” I rasp. I bring her hand to my lips and kiss it. “I don’t want you facing them alone. It’s me they have an issue with. I want to be there for you. For us.”

She beams at me, leaning in, and I do so as well. What is meant to be a simple kiss quickly turns obscene as our lips collide in a fever of need. I tunnel my fingers through her hair and deepen the kiss, twining my tongue with hers and losing myself in the velvet-soft texture of her mouth. Christ, I could spend an eternity kissing this girl, and I plan on doing so. Heck,I want to do more than kiss her, but I imagine fucking Paula in her uncle’s driveway would not sit well with her family. I would just be proving to them that I am the scoundrel they think I am.

I haven’t been that in a long time.

“Want you,” Paula whimpers into the kiss, and that’s all I need to come to my senses.

I break the kiss and close my eyes, dropping my forehead down on hers. Our breaths mingle hotly between us, and it’s a moment so intimate it makes my chest clench painfully. “I want you too, angel, but we need to go inside and see your family.” I push back to look into those beautiful green eyes I adore. “Later, we can go back to my place, and I will fuck you on every surface. I’ll lick your pussy and make you come on my tongue before rutting you hard.”

She exhales shakily. “Now there’s something to look forward to.”

“Good, now let’s go.”

She nods, and we both climb out of the truck. I take her hand in mine when we rejoin at the front, and then walk together to the entrance. Paula opens the door for us without knocking, and leads the way down the hall into a room at the far end.

“My uncle’s office,” Paula whispers from my side, and I nod. She knocks briskly on the door before pushing it open for us. Paula guides me inside, her hands firmly clasped in mine. I can feel the nerves in her, which contradicts the confidence she’s portraying like armor, so I squeeze her hand reassuringly.

The office, like the rest of the house, screams wealth without being flashy. It’s dimly lit with heavy, dark wooden furniture. The first thing I notice is her dad sitting beside a large desk; his expression is one I’m all too familiar with. It’s that ofa prosecutor. He looks up at our entrance, his eyes narrowing slightly as he takes in my presence. “You brought him.” His voice is hard, but it doesn’t have the effect he expects it to. Fortunately—or unfortunately—I have dealt with men like him a lot. In and out of Valor Springs.

Behind the desk is Paula’s uncle, perched in an old leather chair, his gaze sharp, but warm, and he smiles at me genially. Now him, I know for a different reason. Unlike Paula’s father, who only makes occasional visits to Valor Springs, Dane Tate has been a fixture here my entire life. He knows me better than anyone else in this room.

Fuck!

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