Seducing The Bride Read online

  Contents

  Copyright

  Welcome

  Seducing The Bride by Shayla Black

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  About Shayla Black

  Connect With Shayla Black

  SEDUCING THE BRIDE

  Written by Shayla Black

  This book is an original publication by Shayla Black.

  Copyright 2019 Shelley Bradley LLC

  Cover Design by: Rachel Connolly

  Edited by: Amy Knupp of Blue Otter

  Proofread by: Fedora Chen

  Excerpt from Naughty Little Secret © 2006 by Shelley Bradley LLC

  Excerpt from More Than Want You © 2017 by Shelley Bradley LLC

  ISBN: 978-1-936596-62-1

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by an electronic or mechanical means—except for brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews—without express written permission.

  eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared, or given away, as it is illegal and an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  All rights reserved.

  ABOUT SEDUCING THE BRIDE

  Just how far will I go to claim her?

  I’m Hayden.

  I’m old enough to know better.

  I can have any woman I want—except Perrie Atkins.

  She’s too young. Off limits. Innocent. Forbidden.

  She’s my best friend’s daughter.

  Once, she had a crush on me. Now that she’s grown and engaged to another man, I can’t just let her go. But how many bridges am I willing to burn to convince her that she’s mine?

  Maybe if I tell her I’m in love with her, she’ll choose me.

  Then again, Perrie has shocked me for years—and now is no different…

  Enjoy this Forbidden Confession. HEA guaranteed!

  Prologue

  Hayden

  I’m going to hell.

  That’s not news; I’ve known for a while. But as I fantasize—not for the first time—about my friend and business partner’s barely legal daughter, I have no doubt purgatory has an engraved throne waiting for me.

  “Come on, slow poke!” Perrie Atkins grabs my hand and flips her gaze my way, her dark, wet hair clinging to her pale, so-soft skin.

  She giggles as she drags me back into the simulated ocean to wait for another wave, her dimples flashing with rosy-cheeked excitement. I can’t not notice that her pink bikini bottoms, which are held up by little bows, reveal more of her ass than they conceal.

  “Again?” I pretend to grouse.

  I secretly love spending time with her.

  Eight years ago, when I was fresh out of college and had just bought half of a successful construction business, not so much. But at the time, my partner, Dan, was a newly single father. Business was booming, projects were at a critical point…and I was green. So I pulled a lot of babysitting duty. After watching teen angst movies, baking cookies, teaching Perrie pre-algebra, holding her while she’d cried over her first crush, and bringing her to this water park a lot, I got to know her. And I found myself enjoying the witty, intrepid kid.

  Then…puberty hit. Things changed. It was fine at first. Perrie was still cute, going on about anime that confused me and K-pop music. I loved teasing her about her “favorite tunes.” How could she possibly know which song she liked most when they were sung in Korean? She got a pixie cut before her sweet sixteen and sobbed afterward. But I managed to coax a smile out of her when I called her my brunette Tinkerbelle.

  Then she decided to become a cheerleader her senior year. With her eighteenth birthday looming, and the skirts suddenly skimpy, I couldn’t deny that somewhere in the last few years of s’mores, arcade games, and bad B horror movies, she had grown up.

  I didn’t feel like a proud “uncle” at all. I felt like a perv for recognizing that Perrie was totally fuckable. Worse, I was dying to be the man who proved just how true that was. My fixation only seems more real because I haven’t had sex in nearly a year. She’s the only woman I want.

  Yeah, I’m going to hell.

  “What’s the matter? Getting old?” she taunts. “Should I sign you up for AARP?”

  I’m thirty—nowhere near retirement age. To her, I probably seem ancient. That’s depressing as hell.

  “What do you know? You’re barely old enough to wipe your own ass.”

  “Ha! Age is just a number. Besides…” She crosses her arms over her chest. “I’m better and smarter than you.”

  I don’t dare look at her beaded nipples poking her little bikini top. Well, not again. “Are you now?”

  We play this game a lot, too. She’s adorably competitive at everything—video games, sports, trivia, crosswords, driving records, reading lists—and I love that about her. She keeps me on my toes, encourages me, and makes me strive to be better.

  I already feel guilty for this blistering torch I’m carrying for her. But it’s worse this summer because it’s become absolutely clear that I don’t just want to peel off her clothes and pop her still-untouched cherry.

  I’m in love with her.

  Dan would crucify me if he had any idea what I was thinking about his baby girl. And I wouldn’t blame him.

  I absolutely, positively cannot cross the line with Perrie. Besides the risk of blowing up the business I share with the man I consider an older brother, there’s the girl herself. She’s got a big, bright future in front of her, starting with an Ivy League university back East—on a full scholarship. Yeah, she’s that smart. She needs to leave Phoenix, see the world, meet people, experience life. And she needs to do that without me.

  My head knows it. My cock hates that idea.

  Even if Dan didn’t bury me alive in quick-dry cement for touching his daughter, I doubt Perrie thinks of me that way. Sure, I’ve caught her looking once or twice. Curiosity about the opposite sex is normal, and because she’s an only child, she spends her time with adults—mostly me. She’s mature beyond her years and positively hated the games high school boys played. But she’s human; she has hormones. Hell, I peeked into her room last week, thinking she was in bed with a headache…but I swear I caught her masturbating. Seeing her panting, flushed, and shuddering under her covers has plagued my sex drive since.

  I keep telling myself this is all moot. She’s leaving to start her amazing new life tomorrow morning, and our outing to this water park we’ve visited together many times is our last. But the subversive part of my brain keeps insisting I still have a whole night to find a creative way—preferably without clothes—to change her mind.

  God, I’m an idiot.

  “When we walked in, I saw they still have that Tempest machine in the arcade,” she remarked with a challenging smile. “Bet I can beat you again.”

  “You wish. This time will be different.”

  She raises that dark arch of a brow at me. “Because you’ve been practicing?”

  “Because I’m determined,” I lied.

  I’m actually relieved she’s found something else for us to do in public. As long as we’re not alone, I can’t be too reckless about putting my hands on her.

  “Here it comes!” Her smile brightens as the man-made wave spouts from the edge of the pool and swells across the water before crashing over us.

  The force of the water tugs at me and threatens to drag her under. Sputtering and gasping, she flings herself against me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and her legs around my middle. She’s petite, but her cur
ves feel so fucking seductive and lush.

  Our eyes meet. Her lips part. She blinks, water droplets clinging to her long black lashes. She’s mere inches away. All I’d have to do to kiss her is grab a fistful of her lush brown hair, pull her against me, and crush her lips under my own.

  Could I talk her into my bed and out of her virginity?

  Other than my conscience, every part of me salutes that idea, especially the overeager appendage between my legs. But if I let her near my cock, she’ll realize how badly I want her.

  To avert that crisis, I tickle her ribs and get the expected squeal in return before I carefully set her aside.

  She sends me a little pout. “Pushing me away already? You’ll be rid of me soon enough.”

  That softens my heart…if not the rest of my body. “I never want to be rid of you, princess.”

  “It still doesn’t seem real that I’m leaving. I’ve done all the paperwork and packed up everything, got my plane ticket …” She frowns. “Tell me I’m making the right decision.”

  “It’s a great school. You’re going to love it there and amazing things will happen for you.” That’s what I tell myself. “You’ll learn new things, gain independence…” Meet boys. Have sex.

  I try not to think about that. Sure, it would be better for her if she found some lucky guy who made her happy. But she doesn’t even know him yet, and I already want to punch him.

  “That’s what Dad says.”

  “What do you think?”

  She sighs. “It all sounded great…before I was hours away from leaving.”

  “You’re just nervous, and it’s totally understandable. Give it at least a semester. Then, if you hate it, talk to your dad. Dan will understand, and you two can come up with a plan.”

  “Can’t I call you instead? You know he’s not much for giving me advice.”

  I can’t argue with her there. Dan is a great guy, just seemingly ill-equipped to handle a teenage daughter on his own.

  “You can always call me,” I tell her. “But once you get there and settled, you’re not going to want to.”

  “Of course I will. I’ll miss you.”

  Her whisper spreads sparks through my blood. It seems like she’s saying so much with those three words. That’s got to be my wishful thinking.

  “I’ll miss you, too, princess.”

  After another few hours under the sweltering summer sun and a Tempest marathon in the arcade, I guide an exhausted Perrie through the dark parking lot.

  As I start my truck, she smiles over at me, holding up one of the arcade’s tokens. “One left over!”

  “Save it for next time we’re together. We’ll play again then, okay?”

  “Sure.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise. You know I never break those.”

  She doesn’t. I can always count on Perrie.

  Her little smile turns wistful. “Today was great. Thanks for everything.”

  “Always a pleasure. Ice cream?” I offer simply to prolong our last few minutes together. If she’d let me eat it off her body, I’d love it even more.

  For the first time ever, she turns down her favorite dessert. “Would you mind just taking me home? I…need to talk to you about something.”

  “Sure.”

  I wrack my brain to figure out what’s bothering her and why she hasn’t already told me. It doesn’t help that she’s unusually silent or that the closer we get to her house, the more pensive she becomes.

  When I pull into the driveway and park the truck, I turn to her with a frown. “Perrie?”

  She looks toward the house. All the windows are dark. Dan still isn’t home. Since he’s a workaholic, it’s no surprise.

  “Can you come in? I might need help getting my suitcases down the stairs.”

  “No problem.”

  I jump out of my vehicle and usher her through the front door. Inside the house, lots of Perrie’s things are already missing, like her ever-present Bluetooth speaker, her car keys, the random bottle of nail polish… Somehow, the place already seems emptier and she’s not even gone.

  Her leaving is going to be rough.

  I drag in a deep breath as I follow her up the stairs, grateful that she’s put on shorts. They’re so tiny that the curve of her ass hangs out under the hem, but they cover more than her bikini bottoms. I’ve got to be grateful for small favors.

  Inside her room, I spot two big suitcases near the door and reach for them. “Both of these?”

  “Yeah. Wait.” She wraps a tentative hand around my arm, looking downright nervous.

  “You okay?”

  She bites her lip again, seemingly hesitant and agitated. “You like me, right?”

  As a person? Or as a woman?

  “Sure. We’re been friends for years,” I say carefully.

  She sighs. “What if I don’t want to be friends?”

  My heart stutters. “I don’t understand.”

  But I think I do.

  “I’m not making sense.” She raises her chin and pins me with an unblinking stare. “Hayden, I’m in love with you. I always have been. I want you to spend tonight with me. Please.”

  Perrie Atkins just propositioned me. Holy shit.

  I swallow, struck mute. My mouth hangs open. My heart revs. My cock… Well, it’s predictable.

  Before I can say a word, she launches herself against me, winds her arms around my neck, and slants her lips over mine.

  All thoughts freeze under an onslaught of oh, hell yes.

  Her kiss is wholly unpracticed, but I’m aroused as fuck because I’m finally feeling Perrie.

  My brain screams that I need to push her away…but the rest of me has a totally different scheme. It’s irresponsible and will lead me straight to Hades, but I’m voting in favor of sin.

  With a groan, I grip her ass in my hands, then turn to push her against the wall, plunging into her mouth and devouring her like I’m starved because I am.

  Her little whimper as she wraps her legs around my hips goes straight to my dick. She clings to me with her whole body, parting her lips wider to accommodate the insistent stab of my tongue and spilling more of her candy flavor for me to consume.

  As I recklessly inhale her, I shove aside every thought except this moment.

  A million images of us together in her bed—me rooting through her virgin flesh and rutting on top of her without clothing or anything as practical as a condom between us—bombards my brain. My patience goes up in flames. After one kiss, I’m more aroused than I’ve ever been in my life.

  Fuck, I have to stop. Now. If I don’t, I won’t be able to. Then every filthy fantasy swimming in my brain will become a reality.

  And all of Perrie’s grand plans for the future will come to a halt. Her life will be over.

  I can’t be responsible for that.

  Heaving in a ragged breath, I shove her away from me. “No.”

  Still panting, she sends me a pleading stare. Tears swim in her big green eyes. Her lips look so goddamn red and lush from our rough kiss, it’s all I can do not to grab her again.

  “Hayden…”

  Somewhere, I find the will to put more distance between us. “I said no, Perrie. I won’t spend the night with you. I don’t see you like that.”

  “Bullshit.” She looks down at the hard length beneath the fly of my shorts. “You’re lying.”

  No matter what my mouth says, my dick gives me away.

  “I want a woman. You’re just a kid.”

  “I’m not adult enough because I’m a virgin?” She looks hurt.

  “Sexual experience has nothing to do with it.” The last thing I want to do is encourage her to find the first hard prick to take her innocence. “But you’ve never paid a bill or spent a night under a roof you’ve had to earn. Hell, last month, you were still venting about high school.” Since she’s been running the household in her mom’s absence for nearly eight years, accusing her of immaturity is a low blow. But I can’t feel b
ad about saying whatever will put a stop to her ruination. “We’re at different places in our lives, Perrie.”

  “You love me,” she hurls. “I know it. The way you kissed me proved it.”

  Shit. “The way I kissed you proves I’m a guy who likes pussy. And if you weren’t Dan’s daughter, I’d probably take it. But you are, and I don’t want to fuck up a friendship. So I’m going now.”

  I turn to leave her room before I do whatever it takes to wipe that crestfallen look off her face and replace it with a sated smile.

  “Wait!” she calls out.

  The desperate catch in her voice nearly does me in.

  “Take this.” She marches in front of me and slaps her last game token in my hand, then sends me a determined stare. “Save it. Every day I’m gone, I want you to look at it, feel it, and remember me. Know that I’ll be saving myself for you. One day, Hayden Hughes, you’ll want me. Not just my pussy. Me. When that day comes, return the token to me. Anytime, anywhere, I’ll be yours for the night. Then I’ll prove I’m all the woman you need.”

  The little metal disc burns my palm as she sidles past me, toward her adjoining bathroom.

  As she slams the door, I shove the token in my pocket with a curse. Of course she wouldn’t give up easily. Persistence is one of Perrie’s qualities I usually admire. Tonight, it makes me fucking afraid that she really will wait until the memory of that blistering kiss breaks me down and I’m unable to resist her anymore.

  “That day isn’t coming,” I yell through the door to her, but they’re empty words. “I’ll see you during Christmas break. And we won’t talk about this then—or ever.”

  When I shove my way out of the house and drive off into the night, I’m not relieved. In fact, I can’t help but wonder if I’ve just made the worst mistake of my life.

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