Happily Ever After: (A Cinder & Ella Novel)

  by Kelly Oram

  Also by Kelly Oram

  Serial Hottie

  Cinder & Ella

  Joni, Underway

  If We Were a Movie

  Sixteen Kisses

  The Ghost of You and Me

  The Jamie Baker Series:

  Being Jamie Baker

  More Than Jamie Baker

  Remember Jamie Baker

  The Science Squad Series:

  The Avery Shaw Experiment

  The Libby Garrett Intervention

  The V is for Virgin Series:

  V is for Virgin

  A is for Abstinence

  The Supernaturals Series:

  Chameleon

  Ungifted

  Scion

  FREE READ! SIXTEEN KISSES, BY KELLY ORAM

  All Cassie Caldwell wants for her sixteenth birthday is to finally be kissed. When Cassie’s older brother and his best friend—the lovable, sexy cowboy, Jared—discover her secret, Jared takes it upon himself to make sure her birthday wish comes true.

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  Published by Bluefields Creative

  Copyright © 2017 by Kelly Oram

  Edition 1.0

  Edited by Jennifer Henkes (www.literallyjen.com)

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  ISBN: 978-0-9977431-3-5

  For Karie, since this book really is all your fault.

  My eyes drooped as I lay stretched out on the plush couch, head propped up on the armrest, staring at the computer on my lap. It was getting late, and the words on the screen were all starting to blur together. I must have been closer to sleep than I thought, because I jumped when my instant messenger dinged at me.

  Cinder458: I miss you.

  I snorted. He was such a goofball. Shaking my head, I couldn’t help typing a response.

  EllaTheRealHero: Ha! You’re such a dork.

  Cinder458: I’m serious.

  EllaTheRealHero: That makes you even more of a dork.

  Cinder458: No, it makes me romantic. You’re such a brat.

  EllaTheRealHero: And you’re annoying. Leave me alone. I’m busy.

  Cinder458: But I miss you. I need you. Right now.

  When a hand began to lightly tickle my sock-covered foot, I glanced over my laptop and huffed in exasperation at the man typing on his phone at the other end of the couch. “Seriously, Brian,” I groaned. “I take the GED tomorrow. You told me that if I came over, you’d let me study. So far, I haven’t done much studying.”

  “You’ve already passed two practice exams. How much more studying do you need?”

  Brian, having had enough of my ignoring him, stole the computer off my lap and set it on the coffee table. My heart spiked as he crawled across the couch toward me, being mindful of my scarred and damaged legs. He had that look in his eyes again, the one that made women around the world fantasize about having his babies.

  I still couldn’t believe that of all the women in the world, he chose to give that look to me. We’d been an official couple for a week now, and the novelty of dating one of the country’s hottest movie stars still hit me on a regular basis. Especially at times like this, when he was trying to melt me with his smoldering bedroom eyes.

  He came to a stop inches from my face. His tall, muscular, perfect body hovered above mine, waiting for my permission to fall against me. Just waiting. Building tension without even touching me.

  Shivering, I sucked in a sharp breath. My head swam as he filled my senses. His body heat warmed me. His cologne—a subtle spicy musk—hit me as I breathed in, triggering my hormones as if it had been designed to do so. It was probably called Eau de Bottled Lust. “Brian, come on. Seriously.”

  “Ellamara,” he whispered softly. Dangerously. “Forget about your test already, and kiss me.”

  That did it. The man knew my weakness. With a groan, I lifted my arms around his neck and pulled his mouth to mine. He was more than ready for the kiss. We connected with passion, and he kissed me deeply. It was as if he’d been waiting his whole life to kiss me, and not just the last couple of hours.

  “It’s really not fair when you use your audiobook voice on me,” I breathed as soon as he released my lips.

  He smirked against my mouth. “I know.” His head moved to the side of my face, his lips finding something new to torture: the soft spot of sensitive skin just behind my ear. “Why do you think I used it?”

  My eyes rolled back in my head, and I buried my fingers in his soft, dark hair. Brian took that as the okay to turn our kiss into a full-on make-out session. He lowered his body on top of mine, angling himself slightly to the side so as not to squish my small, frail body under all of his weight. I nearly gasped, both from pleasure and fear.

  Having his hard muscles pressed against me from head to toe and his hands wandering over the top of my clothes was a new experience for me. We’d only been dating for a week now, but even for a week, I’d been pretty shy about getting physical. I’d never been serious with anyone before my accident, and after…well…I’d been downright scared of dating. Terrified, even.

  I pushed away my nerves for a few minutes, letting my desire rule my actions. Brian felt so good, and as anxious as I was, I craved him as much as he wanted me. As he readjusted our bodies, making us comfortable on the couch that suddenly felt way too small, my hands found his chest.

  I’d touched his amazing, award-worthy chest once or twice before. I’d rested my hands there while he held me and kissed me, but I’d never been in a position to explore it before. Fueled by lust and not thinking clearly, I dragged my fingers down his abs, feeling each individual muscle, hard and defined.

  I shuddered again. He was perfection.

  Brian seemed to like me touching him, because he paused for a moment, as if surprised. And then something inside him just snapped. He found my mouth again, devouring me in a heated kiss.

  My heart pounded, and it became hard to breathe, but in the best possible way. My hands found the hem of his shirt and slid beneath the material. When I felt his blazing hot skin, I came back to myself. I squeaked in surprise and stilled my fingers. Brian growled in response. “Yes, Ella. Do it. Put your hands on me. I want you to touch me.”

  I wanted to. I wanted to more than anything, but I hesitated, surprised and a little embarrassed by what he said. His words had been a desperate request more than a command, but they had been so direct. Brian had a lot more experience in the dating department. There were only three years’ difference between us in age, but sometimes it felt like twenty. Every time things got physical between us, I felt like an innocent little schoolgirl dating a full-fledged grown-up man.

  When I didn’t act, Brian ripped his shirt over his head. He covered my trembling hand with his large strong one and guided my fingers to his body, splaying them across his stomach. This time, we both shuddered.

  His skin, so soft and hard at the same time, burned beneath my touch. It felt as if he were on fire, and it made me nearly combust as well. I quit being shy. I let my hands roam, exploring every inch of his stomach, chest, and shoulders.

  My lips found his neck and drifted to his bare shoulder as my hands m
et his back. His whole body tensed, and, with a low groan, he squeezed me to him, being a lot less gentle with me than he ever had been before.

  His hands slipped under my shirt, doing some exploring of their own, but when his fingers slid over my scars, they doused my desire as if I’d fallen into an icy lake. Gasping, I scrambled to sit up, and Brian immediately sat back, giving me space. His eyes bore into mine, filled with concern. “Did I hurt you?”

  My face heated with embarrassment. “No.”

  “Then what…” His voice trailed off as he solved the mystery. His expression turned pained. “Your scars?”

  I took a deep breath and chewed on my lip.

  Brian took my damaged hand in his and rubbed his thumb over the back of it. “Your scars are part of you, and I love all of you.” His thumb stilled, and he met my eyes with a searching gaze. “You believe that, don’t you?”

  “Of course I do. I just…” My throat closed up, and my eyes started to burn. I hated that this bothered me. It shouldn’t have. I knew he didn’t care about the scars. I knew that. But I cared. His body was flawless and beautiful. Mine was…not.

  “Ella,” Brian rasped. His voice was too full of emotion to take on that low, rumbly quality that makes me melt, but this new, strained voice was just as overwhelming. He squeezed my hand. “I love you so much.”

  He’d said those words often this week, and they nearly burst my heart every time. Now, with the emotions flying high between us, they nearly brought me to tears. I’d spent the last year thinking I would never be loved again. Brian had proved my insecurities unfounded a thousand times over. “I love you, too,” I whispered, swallowing back the raw feelings that were choking me.

  Brian tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear, caressing my skin as he did so. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. Stay with me tonight, and I will spend every minute until I take you home in the morning proving to you just how beautiful you are. Every. Single. Minute. Ella. You have my word.”

  He was doing the smoldering gaze thing again. The desire in his eyes would have melted most women, but it spiked fear in me. “I’m sorry.” I shook my head, trying to keep the movements slow so that he wouldn’t guess just how panicked I was. “I’m not ready for that.”

  Seeing through my flimsy facade of calm, Brian sat back and let the lust fade from his eyes. “Okay.”

  He didn’t question me. He simply accepted that I’d put on the brakes. He was the most perfect man in the world. My heart swelled with love, and yet guilt wracked me, too. So much so that I felt the need to try and explain. “It’s not just because of the scars.”

  Brian surprised me by chuckling. “Yes, I can see that.”

  His playfulness evaporated my guilt, but it tripled my embarrassment. I covered my flaming face with my hands and lay back on the couch, groaning. Brian had no sympathy. His chuckle turned into real laughter.

  I glared at him through my fingers. “Are you seriously laughing at me right now? Thank you so much, you jerk.”

  He pulled my hands away from my face, and I swatted his arm. He caught my hand in his, grinning down at me, his eyes sparkling with delight. “What? I think it’s adorable.”

  Now that was just hard to believe. I sat up again and gave him my most challenging stare—the one I saved for when we argued about books and movies. “I’m not ready to sleep with you, and you find that adorable?”

  Brian rolled his eyes but kept grinning. “Ella, I know you. I know you’ve never dated anyone seriously. I know your grandparents were very strict Catholics, and that your mom was way paranoid about you getting involved with boys too young.”

  “Yeah, and now I know why,” I grumbled. Considering I was an accidental, unwanted surprise that caused my parents eight years of strife, my mother’s paranoia made perfect sense. Unfortunately, it had turned me into an inexperienced prude and maybe even made me a little afraid of sex.

  “Whatever the reason,” Brian said, his smile turning from playful to serious, “I know this is all new for you. Yeah, I hoped you’d agree to stay tonight—had to give it a shot—but I’m not the least bit surprised you turned me down.”

  “And you’re really okay with that?” I bit my lip again, uncertainty creeping into my thoughts. “I know that’s not what you’re used to.”

  Brian shook his head, giving me a rueful smile. “You are nothing like what I’m used to. That’s exactly what I love about you, and you know that.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “But nothing. Stop feeling self-conscious. I consider myself the luckiest man in the world to have found a woman who loves me instead of the movie star. I’m not going to screw something this special up by pressuring you into things you aren’t ready for. I promise.”

  His words were so romantic. He was being so amazing, and understanding, and supportive. Still, I had to go and ruin the moment with an obnoxious snort of laughter. “That sounded a little too perfect. I really hope it wasn’t a line from one of your movies.”

  One thing I’d learned about myself this week—for all that I loved sappy romance in books and movies, I couldn’t handle it in real life when it was directed at me. I loved it; I just had a hard time believing I deserved it. I was no silver screen princess. I wasn’t a heroine from a novel. I was just a normal girl with a million flaws, too much emotional baggage, and a broken body.

  Brian sighed. “One of these days, Ella, you’re going to learn how to take a compliment.”

  He rose to his feet with a yawn and a stretch. He still had no shirt on, and watching his muscles expand and contract beneath his golden skin, I regretted killing the mood. My eyes snapped back to his face when he cleared his throat. He flashed me a cocky smirk, which I answered with a sheepish grin. “Sorry. Just taking advantage of the free show. Most girls have to buy a ticket to get this view.”

  Brian cocked a brow at me. “Who said this show was free?” He’d been kidding, but his voice quickly turned heavy, and his smile disappeared. “Being my girlfriend comes at a very steep price.”

  He wasn’t joking. The past week had been insane. The world was obsessed with Cinder and Ella. The only peace we’d found was inside the privacy of our homes. And considering my house came with an awkward family who gawked a lot—and usually a bunch of my stepsisters’ friends all hoping to meet Brian—we’d spent most of our time together holed up in his house.

  “You’re worth it,” I promised, sliding my arms around his waist. He squeezed me tightly against him, and I reveled in the feel of his bare chest against my cheek.

  “I hope you still think that after the newness wears off.”

  The worry and insecurity in his voice broke my heart. “I’ll always think it,” I assured him. Then, wanting to lighten the mood again, I brushed my fingers over his stomach and said, “Especially when you have abs like these.”

  Brian’s eyes flashed with desire. He released a growly purr of approval as he lowered his mouth to mine. “So it’s my body you love me for, is it? Not my brains? Or my sense of humor? Or my charming personality?”

  “Mmm. Nope. Just your body.” I ran my hands up his stomach and twined them around his neck. “And maybe your kissing abilities.”

  “Maybe?”

  He sounded genuinely hurt, but then, he was an actor, so he should sound sincere. I knew he was only trying to work me over, though, so I shrugged. “Eh. It could be your money, I guess. It’s hard to tell exactly what does it for me.”

  Brian snorted but didn’t bother with a witty comeback. Our time for the night was coming to an end, and he apparently would rather spend it kissing me than bantering. I indulged him until the alarm went off on my phone. We both sighed. “Time for this Cinderella to get home.”

  Brian slipped his shirt back on—a travesty, though necessary, I supposed, if he was going to drive me home. After handing me my cane, he collected his wallet and keys. “You know,” he said as we headed out to his garage, “I’m pretty sure Prince Charming got to keep Cin
derella at the end of the movie.”

  I laughed as he helped me into his car. Once he was seated behind the wheel, I said, “I’m pretty sure Cinderella didn’t have an overprotective father she was trying to reconcile with.”

  Brian cracked his neck and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “Your father doesn’t deserve the respect you give him.”

  I resisted the urge to sigh as he opened his gate and pulled out onto the winding, narrow canyon road he lived off of. There was a lot of tension between Brian and my father. The day after the premiere, my dad had a background check done on Brian. Never mind the gross invasion of privacy; all he cared about was that there had been a strong theme in the results—women.

  Needless to say, my dad wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of such a notorious playboy dating his daughter. Brian, on the other hand, didn’t think my father had any right to an opinion where I was concerned. Balancing the two dominant men was proving difficult.

  “This is almost the last time you have to worry about it,” I said, patting Brian’s hand. “After Christmas, you’ll help me move out. Then I’ll only have to respect Vivian’s dads’ rules.” I giggled at the thought of them issuing me a curfew. “Given the way both Steffan and Glen adore you, I doubt they’ll care what time you bring me home.”

  Brian turned onto Mulholland and zipped along the top of the ridge to the neighboring canyon that my father and Jennifer called home. It was a little mind-blowing to think that all these months I’d lived less than three miles from Brian and never known it.

  “What if I didn’t bring you home?” Brian asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  He shot me a quick glance before turning his gaze back to the dark, twisty road. His brows were pulled low over his eyes, and his leg bounced nervously. “I mean, what if, when I help you move out, I bring your stuff to my place instead of Vivian’s?”

  Did he just suggest I move in with him? I laughed, but it quickly died. When it became obvious he wasn’t joking, my jaw fell open. “Are you serious?”