“Come, sweetheart. Show me you can come with only me, without anybody watching or us watching anybody else. I want you. All of you, loving me.”
“I do. God but I do love you.” She bit her hand to hold back a scream as the first waves of satisfaction coursed through her. “Yesss.”
Later, as they lay in Bye’s bed, the house phone rang. “Four is back. He wants to talk to us downstairs.”
* * * * *
Four had made his apology to Slade and come out of the meeting with all his bones intact. Ms. Hudson had told Karen the next day that she thought her father might come around, but not to count on a miracle happening any time soon. Now, today was their wedding day and Bye stood in the garden by the makeshift altar, wishing he could give his bride the one gift she wanted most. The one gift that was beyond his ability to produce—Slade Oakley, sober and ready to celebrate his daughter’s marriage.
Bye took her wedding band out of his pocket and read the inscription inside. Love & peace, BC5 & KO said as much of what was in his heart as the jeweler could fit in the small space. The bluebelles etched on the outside matched the ones on his mom’s engagement ring. He smiled at Karen’s belief that his grandfather had chosen them because he’d loved the flowers that dotted the Bar C’s pastures.
He looked out at the fifty-some-odd guests seated in white caterer’s chairs in a horseshoe-shaped pattern around his mom’s beautiful flower beds. Women in picture hats and designer dresses, men in tailor-made suits and boots sat listening to a local band playing soft, romantic songs Karen had selected.
Deidre smiled at him when he caught her eye. She and her friend had driven up from Canyon Lake for the weekend, because while she wasn’t ready to come home, she’d said she wasn’t about to miss her brother’s wedding—even after Bye had told her she might see Jack there.
There he was, on the opposite side of the horseshoe, sitting with Liz Wolfe, who looked more animated than usual as Jack drew her into a conversation. Bye guessed Karen had heard him right when he’d told her he was going after the Laughing Wolfe since Four had cut him off. He hoped neither Jack nor Liz would get hurt.
He saw Buck wink at him from his seat near the aisle. He’d brought a date, someone Bye didn’t know, but they both made a respectable picture. It was the first time he’d ever seen Buck wear a suit, and the woman was young, pretty and well dressed. She looked too classy to be one of the unattached party girls who played at the Neon Lasso, but she wasn’t somebody Bye recognized from school or around town.
Four stood at the edge of the crowd, talking with Mavis Wolfe and some other neighboring ranchers while he kept looking toward the access road. Was he waiting for some late arrival or an uninvited guest? Bye gave a mental shrug, since Diego had stationed several cowboys to check invitations before letting anybody on the ranch today. He wondered who or what his father might be waiting for, since it was past time for him to signal the band to start playing the wedding march.
Then he saw a black stretch limo make its way up the road. Four broke away and came to him. “Slade is coming. I managed to persuade the folks at the rehab center that he should get to see his daughter’s wedding.”
“Why the limo?” Part of Bye was thrilled that Karen would have her dad here. The other part was scared to death there would be a scene.
“The only way they’d let him come was if they sent him with three security guards and Ms. Hudson. They needed the limo to carry everybody all the way from Lubbock in reasonable comfort.” Four signaled the band to start the wedding, and motioned to Karen to come down off the porch where she’d been waiting. When Four left and joined their new guests, the minister from the church in town joined Bye at the altar, his round face wreathed in smiles.
Bye took a deep breath and concentrated on his beautiful bride, coming to him like a dream come true in a strapless white lace gown that brushed the manicured grass aisle. She’d decided against a veil, choosing instead to wear a single white gardenia in her upswept hair—just as she’d vetoed having the traditional attendants. When she reached the altar, he took her hand and brought it to his lips. “Four got a present for you, sweetheart.”
She glanced in the direction Bye indicated and tears came to her eyes. “How?”
“There’s not too much my old man can’t do if he puts his mind to it. How about we get married, and then we can go talk to your pop.”
Smiling through her tears, Karen looked up at Bye. “Yes, let’s do just that.”
The End
Author’s Note About the Caden Kink series…
I hope you’ve enjoyed Lovers’ Feud, and that you’ll keep an eye out for the next stories that chronicle the growth of Four Caden’s other children, Jack Duval and Deidre Caden, whose lives were changed forever by Mae Caden’s death and the revelation of Four’s hypocrisy. Look for Shotgun Relations and WildOne for Jack’s and Deidre’s stories.
In Shotgun Relations, Jack seeks the recognition he feels Four denied him and his mother. Bitter that he grew up without a father or access to the assets of the Bar C, the Harvard-trained lawyer sets out to fight, literally as well as legally, for what he believes should be his. Having been neatly excluded from any claim he might make on Four’s holdings, he decides to imitate his Caden ancestors by seducing and marrying a woman with significant land and wealth, Liz Wolfe.
A serious lifestyle Dom since he discovered BDSM while working in a dungeon during his college and law school years, Jack introduces Liz to the sensual joys of submission. A willing sex slave, Liz hands over her body without reserve. As for her heart, she will hold on to it until her Master makes the right choice…between love and money.
Shotgun Relations, coming soon from Ellora’s Cave.
About the Author
Ann Jacobs is a sucker for lusty Alpha heroes and happy endings, which makes Ellora’s Cave an ideal publisher for her work. Romantica®, to her, is the perfect combination of sex, sensuality, deep emotional involvement and lifelong commitment—the elusive fantasy women often dream about but seldom achieve.
First published in 1996, Jacobs has sold over forty books and novellas, some of which have earned awards including the Passionate Plume (best novella, 2006), the Desert Rose (best hot and spicy romance, 2004) and More Than Magic (best erotic romance, 2004). She has been a double finalist in separate categories of the EPPIES and From the Heart RWA Chapter’s contest. Three of her books have been translated and sold in several European countries.
A CPA and former hospital financial manager, Jacobs now writes full-time, with the help of Mr. Blue, the family cat who sometimes likes to perch on the back of her desk chair and lend his sage advice. He sometimes even contributes a few random letters when he decides he wants to try out the keyboard. She loves to hear from readers, and to put faces with names at signings and conventions.
Ann welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
Tell Us What You Think
We appreciate hearing reader opinions about our books. You can email the author directly or you can email us at Comments@EllorasCave.com (when contacting Comments, be sure to state the book title and author).
Also by Ann Jacobs
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D’Argent Honor 2: Eternally His
D’Argent Honor 3: Eternal Surrender
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4: Eternal Victory
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Gridiron Lovers 1: Naked Bootleg
Gridiron Lovers 2: Forward Pass
Gridiron Lovers 3: Hot in the Clutch
Gridiron Lovers 4: Coach Me
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Heart of the West 1: Roped
Heart of the West 2: Hitched
Heart of the West 3: Lassoed
Her Very Special Robot
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Lawyers in Love: Eye of the Storm
Lawyers in Love: Gettin’ It On
Lawyers in Love: In His Own Defense
Lawyers in Love: Mastered
Mutual Fantasy
Necessary Roughness 1: Sackmaster
Necessary Roughness 2: End Run
Necessary Roughness 3: Best Reception
Necessary Roughness 4: Prime Defender
Out of Bounds
Pleasure Partners 1: His Pleasure Mistress
Pleasure Partners 2: Pleasure Slave
Pleasure Partners 3: Enslaving the Master
Pleasure Partners 4: Imperfect Partners
Pleasure Partners 5: Perfect Master
Pleasure Partners 6: Her Alien Masters
Pleasure Partners 7: Training the Master
Tip of the Iceberg
Topaz Dream
Wrong Place, Wrong Time?
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Print books by Ann Jacobs
A Mutual Favor
A Shining Future
Another Love
Bound by Love
Controlled by Love
Dallas Heat
Dark Fantasies anthology
Enchained anthology
Eternally His
Firestorm
Forbidden Fantasies anthology
Full Circle
Haunted
Heart of the West
Home Field Advantage
Lords of Pleasure
Men in Motion
Necessary Roughness (anthology)
Out of Bounds
Pleasure Partners 1 & 2: Alien Pleasures
Pleasure Partners 5 & 6: Alien Masters
Sandstorms
Sex, Love and a Bit of Magic anthology
The Defenders
The Prosecutors
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
www.ellorascave.com
ISBN 9781419939013
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Lovers’ Feud Copyright © 2012 Ann Jacobs
Edited by Grace Bradley
Cover design by Syneca
Photos: MarishaSha/Shutterstock.com
Electronic book publication July 2012
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Table of Contents
Synopsis
Titlepage
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Author's Note
About the Author