Mr. Judge: A Man Who Knows What He Wants

The age difference doesn’t bother me.

I imagine peeling away her clothes and revealing her young supple body. My balls throb as I practically feel her wetness, coating my hand, and hear the sounds she’d make as I brought her to an earth-shattering orgasm.

She might already have a boyfriend. I have to remember that.

And even if she’s single, it doesn’t mean she’d be interested. I know nothing about her.

Which makes this all the crazier.

She’s a stranger, and yet I can’t stop thinking about claiming her, taking her dominantly and savagely, and after, when she’s lying sweaty and content in my arms, whispering in her ear that I want her pregnant. Our child growing inside of her.

Our future is damn bright.

“Slow. The fuck. Down.”

I don’t usually speak to myself, but these seem like special circumstances.

To distract myself – or try to – I pick up the phone and call my secretary.

“Yes, Judge Prescott?” she says.

“Lisa, please find out what shelter Bones is being taken to.”

Lisa’s been with me for years. And I can hear the smile in her voice when she says, “You did say you were looking for a dog.”

It’s true. For the past couple of months, I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a pet, a companion to fill my big empty house. I’ve had girlfriends over the years, vain attempts to try and feel what Piper ignited in me within a moment. Less than a moment.

But lately, I’ve stopped trying. I thought it was never going to happen for me.

I had a dog in the past, an energetic Golden Retriever, but work and life got in the way. Now I’m ready for another one, and what better candidate than Bones?

He deserves a good life after everything he’s been through.

“I’ll find out,” Lisa says.

“Thank you.”

I run a hand through my hair, letting out a sigh through gritted teeth. The tension in my body is difficult to handle, my chest pumping, my manhood growing harder and harder with each moment.

Then I smirk as an idea occurs to me.

There might be a way I can see Piper again, in a setting that won’t be suspicious, in a way that will give me time to see if it’s possible she feels the same way I do.

I almost laugh.

Maybe not the same exact way.

What are the chances she was struck by this feeling, that she’s fantasizing about a family and a future and all the things we’re going to do together?

But I’ll at least be able to see if she could see me as a romantic partner.

Romantic partner.

Fuck that.

She’s my woman, mine.

My soul mate.

No other man is ever going to touch her.

If this was a different time, I’d charge into her village and claim her, throw her over my shoulder and carry her home.

I need to be close to her, to get another greedy look at her curvaceous body, at the shyness battling with the bravery in her eyes.

I know one thing without a doubt.

I’ll never be able to forget her.

CHAPTER THREE

Piper

“You got off extremely lucky,” Mom says, aiming her sternest expression at me.

I sit on the other side of the kitchen counter as she prepares the lasagna. Mom is built the opposite of me, lean and tall, with dyed hair that falls straight to her shoulders. The moment she started turning gray, she declared she was going to dye it herself.

“I can’t believe he just let me off,” I whisper, my arms wrapped around my waist.

It’s been a day since I stood in the courtroom, staring up at Judge Pearce Prescott, my mouth dry and my heart thundering in my chest.

It took everything I had not to completely lose my cool, letting out a breathy gasp every time his steely gaze settled on me.

At six and a half feet tall, his hair peppered with iron, his grim-set jaw as hard as iron, he’s the most handsome man I’ve ever seen. His hard body screamed primal and powerful and possessive.

No, I remind myself, for probably the twentieth time.

Or the two-hundredth.

He wasn’t possessive at all. He did nothing to make me think he’d want to claim me, that he was feeling the same crazy emotions swirling around in me.

The moment I laid eyes on him, my mind started doing insane things. It screamed at me to leap across the courtroom and find my way into his arms.

“Did you hear me?” Mom snaps.

“I know,” I whisper. “It’s weird, Mom. As I was giving my testimony, I was sure he didn’t believe me. I was sure he knew Chris was telling the truth. But he sided with me anyway.”

“Hmm,” Mom mutters. “Maybe. I’m not sure. I didn’t spot that. I think the neighbors’ testimony helped a lot. Everybody knew how horribly that man treated his poor dog. At least he can’t hurt him anymore. That’s one good thing that came out of this. But you could’ve ended up in jail.”