His head whipped around and he looked stunned. Then confused. "I don't know how to digest that, Ethan," he mumbled. "It's a lot to take in." He held out his hand, and a trickle of relief floated through my veins as we shook. At least it was something.
After he was gone, I shut the door and turned to look for Lilah. I didn't have to go far. She was standing right behind me, her face masked with the same shell-shocked expression Samuel had been wearing.
"Were you telling him the truth?" she rasped.
I prowled over so I was standing practically toe to toe with her and cupped her face in my hands. "It just hit me that I haven't told you, baby girl. I'm so sorry, those words should have been for you first." I kissed her lips softly.
"You love me?" she parroted.
"More than anything." I slid my hands down, over her tits, down her flat belly, around her waist, and they landed on her ass. Gripping her cheeks, I hoisted her up so her legs came around my hips, and she grabbed onto my biceps. "I love you and our little one more than words could ever say," I whispered before sealing my mouth over hers.
Our kisses were drugging and I was addicted, I knew I would never get enough of her taste. I stumbled around for a moment before finding a wall to press her back against and ground my erection into the juncture between her legs.
She tore her lips away and I growled in protest, seeking them out again. "I love you too." I stopped and lifted my hooded gaze so our eyes met. Her crystal blue pools were overflowing with emotion and it spread warmth throughout my body. Since I was already on fire for her, it blew my desire up by epic proportions.
I dropped her to the ground and fell to my knees. Making quick work of her button and zipper, I had her bare from the waist down in seconds. With lust controlling my mind, I spread her legs and dove in to lick between the folds of her pussy. She was wet, so fucking wet. I latched on to her clit and sucked hard while plunging two fingers inside her. A few thrusts and she was screaming my name. I kept at it, holding her tight when her knees buckled.
She was practically tearing my hair out with her grip, and it was sexy as fuck. I surged to my feet, whipped out my cock, lifted her and yanked her down as I pumped up. She cried out, and I felt my eyes roll back in pure bliss.
"Fuck! You are so damn tight every time, baby girl. But you're drenched and I slide right in. Yes! Take it, Lilah." I braced her securely against the wall and drove in, over and over.
"Ethan! Oh yes, I'm-oh! Yes!"
I fucking loved it when she got loud.
"I'm going to-"
I halted abruptly, though it took everything in me to do so. "What's the rule, Lilah?" I snarled.
"I can't hold it back, Ethan!" she whimpered.
"You will," I commanded, then resumed fucking her, hard and fast.
"Please, please, please." She was chanting, writhing with the effort to hold back.
My balls tightened and drew up, a tingling spreading from the base of my spine. "Together, baby girl," I grated. A few seconds more, and I roared, "Now!"
Color and sensation burst in front of my eyes. Shudders of pleasure wracked through my body, and I could feel the same tremble from Lilah. The walls could have come tumbling down and neither of us would have noticed.
"I love you so damn much," I whispered when I was finally steady on my feet.
"I love you too, Ethan."
Chapter 12
Delilah
I probably should have left good enough alone, but I just couldn't leave things the way they were with my dad and Ethan. I waited until after Ethan had left for his office, since he had a couple meetings he said he couldn't miss, and I got dressed to go out. Ethan had left me a set of car keys, so I grabbed them and went out to the SUV they belonged to. Then I headed to my dad's office. I was hoping that the element of surprise would be enough to get him to really listen to me.
Getting in to see him wasn't as easy as I had expected it to be, though. The receptionist's job description must have included the term "guard dog."
"I'm sorry,"-except she didn't sound even the tiniest bit apologetic-"but without an appointment, there really isn't any way you'll be able to get in to see Mr. Wentworth today."
"You don't understand," I breathed out heavily. "He'll definitely want to see me."
"It's okay, Sandy," an unfamiliar masculine voice said from behind me. "I'll handle this."
I turned to find a short, portly man standing there. He had a receding hair line, and a shifty look in his eyes that were in contrast to the expensive suit he was wearing. He offered me an insincere smile and lifted his hand to wrap it around my elbow.
"Miss Brooks, is it?"
"Yes," I replied warily.
"Thanks for coming in. You saved me a phone call and a trip out to see you."
"Um, okay."
"If you'll follow me this way."
He didn't really give me a choice, not without causing a disturbance, so I allowed him to lead me into a corner office down a long hallway. After he settled me into a chair, he walked around his desk and plopped down into his own seat. While his back was turned I sent off a quick text to Ethan, letting him know where I was since there was something about this man that made me uncomfortable.
"I'm Marcus Chesterton, Samuel's lawyer."
"It's nice to meet you," I whispered, in an attempt to be polite since it most definitely wasn't nice. My dad apparently had a slimy lawyer on staff. How wonderful.
"I wish I could say this was going to be a friendly conversation," he sighed. "But what I have to tell you isn't going to be pleasant."
What the heck? I didn't appreciate his patronizing tone, and I had literally no idea how he could have something unpleasant to discuss with me. "Pardon me?"
He yanked open the top drawer of his desk, pulled out a sheaf of papers, and laid them down in front of me. "This is your father's will. If you'll read through it, you'll notice that there's no mention of you anywhere in it. Lola, as his fiancée and eventually his wife, is his sole beneficiary."
I shoved the papers back towards him. "Not that the money matters to me, but he didn't even lay eyes on me until four days ago. It's not as though he's had the time to think about changing his will."
"I can understand why you'd like to look at it that way," he conceded. "But he's known about you since your mom turned up pregnant. Yet, in all these years, he's never made any arrangements for you in the case of his death."
"He didn't?" I wasn't willing to admit it to this man, but that part hurt. A lot.
"I've drawn up each and every one of his wills, and there has never been mention of his possible offspring in any version. Samuel's worth millions of dollars, and I've done an excellent job making sure you would never be able to lay claim to a penny of it . . . at his repeated request. I've tried to talk him out of it time and time again, but he wasn't willing to listen to reason."
"No," I cried, shaking my head. "It isn't possible."
I wasn't upset about the money. I couldn't care less about that. But I felt sick knowing the extent to which my father had gone to cut me out of his will. I'd convinced myself that my mom must have been mistaken somehow, that my father would never have done what she'd accused him of. But this new information made me question my decision to let him into my life.
"Look, Ms. Brooks. I've known Samuel his entire life. He's never wanted children. It doesn't make him a bad man, he's just not the fatherly type. You'll do much better on your own, out of this town, and away from his influence."
"I can't leave town. This is where Ethan lives. He has a business here. We can't just pack up and go."
"Ethan?" he parroted with a stunned expression on his face. "Ethan Parker?"
"Yes." I held up my left hand and turned it so he could see the ring. "We're engaged to be married. Surely you can see why what you're suggesting is impossible."
"It's even worse than I thought, you poor girl." He heaved a deep breath, stood, and walked around to my side of the desk. "Ethan is Samuel's best friend, and quite protective of him. He'd do just about anything for him-including taking care of the potential issue of the long-lost daughter who suddenly turned up."
"What? No!" I shouted, jumping out of my seat. I shoved Marcus in my attempt to get around him. I almost made it to the door, too, until he grabbed my arm and yanked me around.
"Where do you think you're going? We aren't done!"
"Out of here," I cried. "You're a lunatic if you think I'm going to believe a word you've told me. I might have fallen for it for a minute, but only because I haven't had the chance to get to know my father well enough yet."