Prologue
Dane
I sit and wait, biding my time in the dark. I’ve never been a patient man. Even less so when it comes to Kennedy, but she has given me no other option.
While I might not be patient, that woman could make me turn myself inside out to please her. It’s a foreign feeling to me. I never worry about pleasing anyone. I suck in a deep breath. The smell of honey and vanilla fills my lungs. It takes the edge off a tiny bit being in her bedroom.
All night my Kennedy teased me. She continued to float around the room pretending not to see me. Acting as though I didn't have my mouth between her thighs hours ago making her cry out my name. The only time I got a reaction out of her was when my mother started talking about potential women that I should wed.
Kennedy had stilled for a moment at my mom’s mention of trying to marry me off. She had almost dropped the bottle of wine she was bringing over to the table. Finally, her eyes met mine, and there was no missing the tears in them. They shouldn’t have been there. I’ve told her time and time again that she alone owns my heart. There will never be another for me.
It took every ounce of my control to keep from grabbing her throughout the night. So many times I wanted to reach for her. To invite her to join me at the table for dinner. To pull her into my lap. I hate the fact that she has to wait on me and everyone else here. I’m over it.
The dinner party my mother put on this evening was my breaking point. I’ve waited long enough to have Kennedy. I do not want to waste another second. I do not want her to be a secret, no matter what the consequences may be. She deserves so much more than that.
I relax when the door to her room opens, and she steps in. She flips on the lights, revealing me to her. Her eyes go wide before she quickly shuts the door, switching the lights back off.
“Dane.” She whispers my name.
Kennedy is the only one to call me by my real name. To everyone else I’m Oz. My cock has been hard this entire time that I’ve been sitting in her bedroom waiting for her. My name on her lips makes everything inside of me ache with need. “What are you doing in here? You’re going to get us caught.”
I stand from the chair, clearing the space between us. She places her small hands on my chest, gazing up at me with the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. Small freckles dot the tops of her cheeks and nose.
“You know why I’m here, love.” She bites her lip. She’s always so unsure of us, and I hate it. “I’m too old to be sneaking around the halls of my own home.”
Home is putting it mildly. The Osborne estate is massive with a staff of thirty. Kennedy was one of the new hires. She knocked me right on my ass the moment she swept past me, her brunette hair trailing behind her in her haste. She hadn’t even spared me a glance.
It took me some time to get her to even share more than a couple of words with me. Her cheeks would always be tinted a shade of pink every time I tried to have a conversation with her. I didn’t know a blush could be a turn-on. I was very wrong. Everything Kennedy does turns me on. She is unlike any other woman I’ve met.
She’s not from our world, and that seems to be a problem for her. I could give a fuck where she’s from. The only thing that matters is that she’s where she belongs now: with me.
I cup her face, and she leans into my touch, her eyes falling closed. “I missed you,” she says softly. I never knew I was capable of love until she came into my life.
“You don’t have to miss me.” I drop my hand to grab her by the hips, lifting her off her feet. I carry her over to the bed. “I’m done with this hiding shit. You’re going to be my wife. The mother of my children.”
I try to keep the anger out of my voice. My frustration and need are starting to spill over. I want to be able to wake up next to her every morning and have my cock buried deep inside her each night for the rest of our lives.
“Married?” Her eyes widen.
“I’m going to prove to you this isn’t some fling. You’re not my mistress or my dirty secret. You’ll be by my side and nowhere else.” Her eyes fill with tears again. Only this time she’s smiling. “I’m not your father, and I’ll prove that to you,” I vow to her.