Blissfully Taken (Blissful, #4)

  Blissfully Taken

  By

  Red Phoenix

  SMASHWORDS EDITION

  * * *

  PUBLISHED BY:

  Red Phoenix on Smashwords

  Blissfully Taken

  Copyright 2012 by Red Phoenix

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Your support and respect for the property of this author is greatly appreciated.

  Book cover design by CopperLynn; Phoenix symbol by Nicole Delfs

  Thanks to my content editor, Tameika Ortiz and my beta readers, Ava Rene VonGiebel, Kathy M. Krick, Tanya Keetch

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales are purely coincidental.

  Disclaimer: The material in this book is for mature audiences only and contains graphic sexual content. It is intended only for those age 18 and older.

  CONTENTS

  The End

  Interference

  Vendetta

  Romancing the Details

  Winter Wedding

  About the Author Red Phoenix

  The End

  Jenny awoke, but kept her eyes closed. His hand was playing with her breast using feather light caresses. When it started traveling south and tickled her stomach, she flinched and opened her eyes. His dark brown eyes smiled down at her. “Morning, Kumquat.”

  “Ah… Dan, I like this.”

  “What?”

  “Waking up to your face.”

  He chuckled. “More than just my face, my love…” Dan’s fingers traveled between her legs and began the light caress of her dark mound. He started off slow, waking her body gently to his lust.

  Jenny opened her legs to him and turned her head into his chest, breathing in his masculine scent. What a way to start the morning…

  He spread her wetness over her sex so his fingers could slide easily over her clit. She pressed against his hand and moaned softly. The fire was starting deep within. When she tried to reposition to return the favor, he whispered, “Don’t move. Just enjoy…”

  She lay back and let Dan weave his spell of passion. His fingers glided over her folds, flicking her clit, moving to her opening to tease the rim. She shifted as the tension grew; Dan knew her body so well it was uncanny.

  He penetrated her with two fingers and began stroking her G-spot. Jenny groaned as her hips naturally tilted in response to the stimulation. His fingers swirled around that sweet spot, taking away any chance of control for her. Her clit started pulsing in pleasure. “Dan…” she breathed.

  “Yes, Jenny…” he growled into her ear.

  “Aaaa…” Her voice cut off as she was overcome by the sweet climax he created. She pressed her lips against his chest as it rolled over her.

  “Nothing sexier than watching you come,” he said as he pulled his fingers from her and lightly spread the wetness on his fingers over her skin. Dan had a way of making her feel sexy and perfect, as if every part of her was to be treasured.

  “I love you.” She adored saying those little three words.

  He kissed her on her forehead. “I love you too, woman.”

  Jenny suddenly felt a stab in her heart. She buried her head in the pillow, willing it away -not wanting it to ruin the moment.

  There was no hiding it from Dan, he knew her too well. “Yes. We have to tell Ryan today. He deserves to be told the truth as soon as possible.”

  “This will crush him…” she whimpered into the pillow.

  “Ryan has been pulling away for a while now, Jenny. I do not think this will come as a surprise.”

  “I don’t know, Dan…”

  “Do you want to tell him together?”

  “No, I need to do this alone.”

  “Well, I will have my cell phone with me. If at any point you want me there, just call.”

  “It won’t be necessary.”

  “Still, know I won’t be far away.”

  She sighed miserably. A pit in her stomach was growing larger with each passing minute. “I’d better go after breakfast, I guess. The sooner the better.”

  He brushed back a tendril of her black hair from her cheek. “I agree. It would be better for all of us.”

  Jenny headed out as soon as breakfast was over. She might as well have skipped the meal since her stomach was tied in knots and she couldn’t eat a thing.

  “I’m near if you need me,” Dan reminded her, before he got into his own car.

  Jenny drove back to the city, trembling the entire drive. How would Ryan take the news that she was marrying Dan? That she was ending their relationship of four years? She hoped that Dan was right and that Ryan would see this coming. If not, it was going to be a heartbreaking confrontation.

  Jenny stood at the door, afraid to announce her arrival. Normally she would just walk in, but now everything had changed. She held her breath as she rang the doorbell and waited. The door swung open as if he was expecting her.

  Ryan pulled Jenny into his embrace and groaned, “You came back!”

  “Rye…”

  He ushered her inside and shut the door. “Sit down. Tell me what you are thinking.”

  She looked into his jade colored eyes. She hated that she was about to bring pain to those familiar eyes. “I’ve been with Dan.”

  Ryan pushed away from her and sat on the other end of the couch. “Why would you do that?”

  “It wasn’t planned, we both ended up at the cabin.”

  Anguish clouded his gaze. “The cabin.”

  “I came back today to tell you in person…”

  He put his hand out to silence her, standing up abruptly. “I don’t want to hear it. You need some time to calm down. You aren’t thinking clearly right now.”

  She stood up slowly and walked over to him. “Ryan, Dan and I…”

  Ryan yelled at her, “I don’t want to hear it! That fucking Dan… as soon as he saw the chance…”

  Jenny would not be swayed. “Ryan, we are getting married. Dan proposed yesterday.”

  “Damn him to hell!” Ryan turned on her. “You fucking take it back. You are not marrying that mother fucker. Do you hear me?”

  She stepped away from him. “I’m sorry, Ryan, bu...”

  “Don’t say it. Don’t you fucking say that to me! You and Dan, all this time... playing me for a fool. Kelly was right.”

  Jenny returned the fire. “Don’t you understand? Kelly did this! You let Kelly do this to us. It was perfect, the three of us together. But you let her ruin what we had.”

  Ryan rammed his palm into her chest and pushed her up against the wall. His voice was deadly calm in its hatred. “You are to blame, not Kelly. I will never forgive you for this betrayal.”

  “My betrayal? You’ve been siding up with Kelly for god knows how long, and you hurt me two days ago. Just like you are doing now,” she snarled.

  He did not loosen his grip, laughing angrily. “Oh, that’s it. Blame me. I bet you and Dan talked about me the whole time you were up at the cabin. Putting me down, laughing at my expense.”

  “It’s not like that. It has never been like that. Dan’s your best friend.”

  Ryan pressed harder against her chest, hissing. “Don’t… ever…call him that again.”

  Jenny struggled to breathe until he finally let go and she gasped for air.

  “I hate you, Jenny.”

  She wanted to protest, to say something to preserve their relationship on some level, but there was nothing that could fix it. Jenny turned away from Ryan and headed towards the door.

  “Don’t go.”

  She hesitated when she put her hand on the doorknob.

  “Stay, please.”

  Jenny sighed. “Ryan
, it won’t change anything.”

  His voice cracked, “I need you.”

  Jenny closed her eyes. This was Ryan, the man she had dated since college, the man she planned to marry once - the man she still cared about. She turned around and sat down when he motioned her to the couch.

  “Good,” he stated. “We’ve been here before. You get mixed up when you are around Dan. It takes distance away from him for you to think straight.”

  She was about to disagree, but he put his finger to her lips. “No, don’t say anything. Listen.” He put his hand down and continued, “I have loved you longer than Dan. I have loved you through good times and bad. You will never find someone as loyal as I am. I forgave your transgression with Dan. I misspoke out of anger earlier, I will forgive you now. However, this has to stop. You are not allowed to see that… asshole again. Ever.”

  She shook her head. “You aren’t listening to me. I’m marrying Dan. I already said yes and nothing you say will change that.”

  Ryan growled under his breath, “You are an idiot. He will leave you high and dry like he left Kelly. He doesn’t love you. He is incapable of love… or friendship for that matter.”

  “Dan loves me, Ryan, and I love him. I wish it was different. I wish the three of us could have made it work. But you pushed us away.”

  “I didn’t change. You did.”

  Jenny looked down at her lap and fiddled with the hem of her skirt. “Maybe we both did.”

  “We’ll go back to the way it was. I am willing to start over, just the two of us.”

  Silence dragged on for an uncomfortably long time before she finally braved an answer. “Well, I’m not.”

  Ryan shot off the couch. “Damn you to hell, Jenny! I have given you everything. Everything! How can you treat me so callously when all I have ever been is kind? Are you a fucking whore? Is Kelly right about you?”

  Jenny narrowed her eyes. “Kelly… it always comes back to Kelly. She is playing you like a puppet and you don’t even see it.”

  “No!” he screamed. “You played me, Dan played me…” Ryan paced around the room in a state of rage Jenny had never thought he was capable of. “God, I hate you! But fuck it all…” his face crumpled, “I still love you.”

  Jenny’s heart broke for Ryan. He loved her, he always had. He’d proven it at the cabin when he took her back, then later when he brought Dan into their relationship, but… if she had to make a choice it would always be Dan.

  “Rye…” she saw the hope rise in his eyes and realized she had to release him now. It would hurt both of them, but it was necessary to move forward. “Ryan, I care about you. I always will, but I am marrying Dan.”

  He fell to his knees. It shocked Jenny. She moved to comfort him and had to stop herself.

  Ryan looked at her in desperation. “Don’t.”

  Her lips trembled as she turned towards the door. There was nothing more to say. She needed to get out of there.

  “Boo…”

  Jenny turned towards him with tears in her eyes. He held his hand out to her. “Don’t leave me.”

  She opened the door and rushed out, her heart breaking in a million pieces. She ran to her car and took off, but she pulled over a block away and cried. She howled in pain - hating herself, hating what she had done.

  It wasn’t until she heard her cell phone that she came back to reality. She sobbed several times before answering Dan’s call.

  “Jenny, are you alright?”

  She could barely gasp out the words. “No… Dan… I am not.”

  “Did anything happen? Are you hurt?” he asked in concern.

  “Yes, something happened. I broke Ryan’s heart. He didn’t see it coming. I feel awful.”

  “I’m sorry, Jenny. I’m sorry he took it so hard, but it had to be done. He deserved to hear it first from you.”

  Jenny remained silent as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

  “Do you need me to come get you? Where are you?”

  “No, I’ll be fine. I’m just a block away from my pl… Ryan’s apartment,” she answered listlessly.

  “Do you want to meet somewhere?”

  “I think I need some time alone. I’ll call when I’m ready…”

  “Whatever you need, Jenny, just know I’ll be waiting for your call.”

  She was glad Dan wasn’t pushing himself on her or treating her like a breakable doll. She sat in her car replaying the last six months. The innocent trip up to the cabin, the blizzard… Dan’s seduction of her. The realization she loved him. Ryan’s eventual acceptance and the threesome that formed from that mutual love. Why couldn’t it last?

  Kelly.

  Why did Kelly have to ruin it all? What did she gain by driving them apart? Revenge, sure… but what benefit was that to her? Was there comfort in knowing that Ryan was hurting as much as she’d been hurt? How shallow and cruel of the bitch. Ryan hadn’t done anything wrong. It seemed odd that Jenny had been friends with her for years and not been aware of the heartless creature underneath that energetic personality.

  Jenny wiped away the tears and drove to a hotel near her work. Until she knew what she was doing, she needed a place to stay. She lay down on the hard bed and stared up at the ceiling. She was getting married to Dan. The reality of it was slowly sinking in and helped to soften the blow. She dug out her phone and called him. “If you want to meet me over at the Continental, I’m in room 142.”

  “Excellent. I’ll be there soon.”

  She waited impatiently for his arrival, needing to feel Dan’s arms around her. She rushed to the door when she heard his knock, swinging the door wide open. Her relief was short-lived. “What are you doing here?”

  “I just heard, but I had to hear it from the whore’s mouth.”

  Jenny tried to slam the door shut, but Kelly pushed her way inside. “Oh no, you are not getting rid of me that easy, ho. You are going to have to face me.”

  Jenny backed away from her, grabbing her cell phone.

  “Are you really such a coward? Are you calling Dan to come to the rescue?” she asked in a patronizing tone. “That would be perfect.”

  Jenny put the phone down. “I am not a coward.”

  “You are a lot of things, Jen. Cunt, backstabber, bitch, cheater, whore… the list goes on. Fucking two men at the same time? My god! But no, that wasn’t enough for you, was it? You have to stab Ryan and me in the heart by marrying my man.”

  “You lost Dan all on your own, Kelly. He pursued me, it wasn’t the other way around.”

  “I know what happened up in the cabin. You fucking spread your legs and begged him. I can just imagine it. You couldn’t keep your hands off my boy toy when the opportunity presented itself. All this time I thought we were friends. God, I was so wrong!”

  Jenny’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve got that right.”

  Kelly delivered a hard slap to her right cheek. “Don’t turn this on me, whore. I didn’t make moves on your boyfriend.”

  Jenny rubbed her stinging cheek. “Yeah, but you twisted Ryan’s mind to your way of thinking. We were happy together but you just couldn’t let that happen.”

  “What you were doing was an abomination! You think I was going to sit by and let that continue under my nose?”

  “It was none of your business. You broke it off with Dan. You gave up your rights to him.”

  “I dropped him because I didn’t want what you defiled. He was dead to me the moment he touched you. Just as you are dead to me.”

  “Is that why you tried to drive me off the road? You’re fucking insane, Kelly!”

  Kelly rushed her, grabbing a fist of Jenny’s long hair. “Don’t ever call me crazy, you cunt!” Jenny struggled out from under Kelly’s grasp, kneeing her soundly in the gut.

  “Stay away from me. From all of us!” Jenny screamed.

  Kelly cradled her stomach, hissing, “I will make you pay.” She started backing towards the door. “You are not marrying Dan…you fucking whore. I promise you that.”
br />   “Nothing you can do will stop us from getting married. Nothing!”

  Kelly suddenly was back in her face. “Wanna bet?” She cackled like an old woman on her way out of the hotel room, leaving the door open.

  Jenny wilted onto the bed, shaken by the confrontation. She literally screeched when she saw a figure at the door. Dan ran into the room demanding. “What happened?”

  “Kelly.”

  “How did she find you here?”

  Jenny shook her head. “I don’t know, Dan… Ryan must have called her after I told him our plans. But,” she felt a sickening knot building in her stomach, “she must have been there. She must have followed me from his place.”

  Dan enfolded her in his protective embrace. “We have to file a restraining order.”

  “Okay,” she agreed weakly.

  Dan stroked her hair murmuring over and over again, “I am so sorry, Jenny.”

  “I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand how truly nuts she is.”

  Dan guided her to his car and drove her to the police station. Jenny was fine with their decision to bring the police into it until she saw the officer who had humiliated her twice before.

  “You,” the man said disdainfully.

  Jenny turned around and immediately exited the building. “What good will it do anyway, Dan? A restraining order won’t prevent her from getting to me if she’s determined.”

  Dan prodded her back into the police station, insisting on a different officer. The new policeman took down her complaint and had her fill out the required paperwork. “Expect to hear within two days,” he said before handing her copies of the paperwork. Jenny left the station not feeling an ounce better.

  “You are coming with me, Jenny. I already talked to my friend, John. His place is excruciatingly small, but Kelly can’t bother you there. The complex has a guard at the door. I don’t want you to worry about being alone until this situation is resolved with Kelly.”

  She was surprised at the relief she felt. A cramped place with others close by made her feel safe. “That sounds good.”