Page 1 of You're My Person - For Always

Prologue

Kingsley

—Two Years Ago—

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Kenna narrowed her eyes and shook her head, stubbornly refusing to listen. Kingsley stepped toward her, pinning her to the wall. She needed to learn a big lesson.

Don't ever fuck with a Stafford.

"You're playing a dangerous game, brat." He raised his arms and planted his hands on the wall behind her.

Kenna arched her back. The front of him warmed. He looked between them. His cock throbbed to attention. She'd pushed her full breasts against him.

"You kissed me back." She softened her voice. "Your hand was on my ass."

He growled. "I was trying to get you off me."

Her hand cupped his cock through his jeans. "Explain this."

Fire lit his veins. It was impossible not to see how Kenna had grown up through the years. He stayed away just long enough that she'd physically change each time he returned to check on her.

The young woman standing in front of him was not the young girl who was mad at the world. Kenna had bottled all the anger and hurt she'd experienced in her short life into an out-of-control passion.

A passion she directed toward him any chance she could get. Instead of embracing her friends, foster parents, and teachers, she'd given him every precious emotion she refused to give everyone else.

And he knew what a fucking gift that was, even if Kenna hadn't hit the point where she understood what she was doing or why she chose him.

She only wanted love.

Being loved is a basic need, and most people take it for granted because it comes easily and freely.

But Kenna had only experienced losing love, and the pain had scarred her.

At one time, Kenna had all the love a girl could want, and she lost it all, one by one when her mom died, her dad died, and the state of Idaho took her away from her younger sister when they split them apart within the foster care system.

She wanted that love back more than anything, and she turned to the one person she felt safe with to fill that deep-seated need—him.

She fucking had his balls in her hand and knew she could do whatever she wanted to him.

Kenna's head tilted more, and she stroked him, sure of every touch. His toes curled in his boots. She wasn't old enough to have the kind of confidence that came with the experience of women twice her age.

He grabbed her wrist, halting her. "You're playing with fire, Kenna."

Her eyes searched his. "I'm not afraid."

His grip tightened, but his resolve to stop touching her wavered. He could feel the heat from her body, smell the sweet scent of her arousal, and see the challenge in her gaze. He leaned in, their faces millimeters apart, and whispered, "You think you're ready for this?"

Her pulse beat at the base of her neck, and she licked her lips, daring him. "I've been ready for a lot longer than you think."

Kingsley's gaze dropped to her mouth, and he bargained with the devil for a split second. It was only the two of them. No onewould know if he fucked her. She'd been asking for it for months. Hell, years. Since she was sixteen years old, Kenna had made it clear she was open to having sex with him.

He snapped his gaze back to her, angry for believing they were the only two that mattered. "You don't even know what's going on."

He was her protector. Her guardian until she was old enough to live independently.

He'd done a favor for his dad. When Ridge Stafford spoke, people listened—and that included his sons. He and Zane promised to look after Kenna and her younger sister, River.

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