Love and Always (A Pound of Flesh #1.5) Read online

  Copyright © 2015 Sophie Louise Jackson Cover image © Tom Merton/Getty Images The right of Sophie Jackson to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  Published by arrangement with Pocket Star Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  First published in this Ebook edition in 2015

  by HEADLINE ETERNAL

  An imprint of HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP

  Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

  All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library eISBN 978 1 4722 2474 3

  HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP

  An Hachette UK Company

  Carmelite House

  50 Victoria Embankment

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  www.headlineeternal.com

  www.headline.co.uk

  www.hachette.co.uk

  Contents

  * * *

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  About the Author

  Praise for Sophie Jackson

  By Sophie Jackson

  About the Book

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Acknowledgments

  A Pound of Flesh series

  Find out more about Headline Eternal

  About the Author

  Sophie Jackson is an English teacher from Chorley. Although she read and wrote furiously as a child, she first started writing as an adult, to scratch the creative itch, for the website FanFiction.net, after reading the Twilight series in 2008. She wrote and posted a number of Twilight fanfics, chapter by chapter, and built up an impressive readership.

  For more information, visit Sophie’s website www.sophiejacksonauthor.com, and find her on Facebook www.facebook.com/SophieJacksonRomance and on Twitter @sophiejax.

  Prepare to fall for the powerful storytelling of Sophie Jackson:

  ‘[Sophie] writes the type of stories today’s reader wants: beautifully created characters filled with emotion, and a storyline that sticks with you long after you turn the last page’ Tara Sue Me, New York Times bestselling author of the Submissive series

  ‘A Pound of Flesh is an intriguing tale of acceptance, and understanding, and finding love in unexpected circumstances. What sets it apart from others is the way Sophie weaves storylines to build suspense before everything ultimately comes together, leaving the reader guessing and gasping until the very end’ J. M. Darhower ‘This forbidden love story is rife with danger and will impart that feeling of sneaking risqué books under the bedcovers with a flashlight and staying up past your bedtime to finish an amazing story. Jackson convinces readers that love can be found in the most unlikely places and situations. This one is entirely heartfelt, hot and should be the very next book on your TBR list’ Romantic Times

  ‘This book truly was outstanding and I can’t express just how much I loved reading it. It’s the kind of book that I felt in my chest and made me angry when life got in the way of my reading. I was thinking about Kat and Carter whenever the cruel world required me to put it down. The writing was beautiful and poetic; Jackson made me feel every single feeling and emotion. A Pound of Flesh is a breathtakingly beautiful story about conquering your fears, finding love, redeeming oneself, and reminds us all to never judge a book by its cover’ Holly’s Red Hot Reviews

  ‘Their relationship was intense, drama filled and certainly filled with sex. But I couldn’t have loved them more if I tried. It reminded me of Travis and Abby’s relationship from Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire and it certainly holds the appeal of Fifty Shades of Grey fans. This may be the book of the year for me’ Book Bitch Reviews

  ‘Wow!! I loved, loved, loved every single thing about this book. If you are a fan of forbidden love stories, you are going to love this one . . . Sophie Jackson has incorporated everything I love into this delicious story. It is a must read’ Hopeless Romantics

  By Sophie Jackson

  A Pound of Flesh Series

  A Pound of Flesh

  Love and Always (e-novella)

  An Ounce of Hope

  About the Book

  Theirs was a love that broke every rule. But the searing attraction between Wes Carter and Kat Lane was instant and impossible to deny.

  Against all the odds, this all-consuming love between prison tutor Kat and her dangerous, brooding student flourished and healed the deep scars borne by each of them.

  But as they face real life together and share the news of their engagement with those closest to them, Kat and Carter realise that they will still have to fight for their love if it is to survive forever and . . . always.

  Find out where it all began in the unforgettable A Pound of Flesh – and don’t miss Max and Grace’s passionate story in An Ounce of Hope.

  For Rosanna and Jaime, who I love. Always.

  chapter one

  Wesley Carter had never been a big believer in fate. Until recently, he didn’t believe in anything. Not even himself.

  If he’d been asked eighteen months ago, when he was sitting in a cell at Arthur Kill Correctional Facility, if he ever imagined he would be here, his response would have been a cynical laugh. Back then he’d been drifting aimlessly, stumbling from one ginormous fuckup to the next, with no rhyme or reason to his life, and no inclination to even find one. He’d been rebellious and lost, and happy to be that way.

  Until she found him again.

  Breathing in deeply from his place on the beach house’s sitting room floor, he could smell pine and cinnamon wrapped in the scent of lovemaking that clung to his skin like a warm blanket. Oblivious to Carter’s epiphany, Kat hummed blissfully into his collarbone, making a high, sated sound. Her naked thigh rested just below his belly button while her leg curved around his hip, with the heel of her foot pressing deliciously into his ass. His hand meandered from where he cradled her temple, over her hair to the damp, warm skin of her bare shoulder. He smiled and turned his head, whispering his lips across her sweat-speckled forehead, nuzzling gently, breathing her in, knowing that he’d never been more content. His woman, his Peaches, in their home, it was a dream he’d thought out of reach.

  Her small fingers danced through the sporadic hair on his chest, conjuring a satisfied sigh from deep within him. Opening his eyes gradually, he watched as the diamond he’d placed on the third finger of her left hand sparkled in the lights of the Christmas tree they’d made love under. Taking her hand in his, he brought it to his lips and placed a tender kiss on the stone.

  “It’s perfect,” she whispered, her voice slightly hoarse from the screams of pleasure he’d elicited from her not twenty minutes before.

  He dipped his chin at the same time she moved back and looked up at him. “You’re perfect,” he said and kissed her because Jesus, what else was there to do?

  She gripped the back of his neck and pulled him to her, making their bodies roll until he was back on top of her, cradled between her thighs. He smiled at the one leg of her work pants that was still attached to her ankle and the silk blouse underneath her that would have to be replaced after he’d ripped
it open in his haste to have her. Fuck it. It was only money. And who cared about shit like that when the love of your life had just agreed to marry you?

  In a brief moment of doubt, he pulled back from her eager mouth, tracing her flushed cheek with the back of his hand. “Did you mean it?” he asked seriously, watching her carefully. “Will you really marry me?”

  Her eyes met his and a slow smile teased at the edges of her lips. “Yes. With my whole heart, I meant it.” She lifted her head, hunting out his tongue with hers. “I love you.”

  “Christ,” he murmured, dropping his face to her neck, reveling in the sparks of lust and passion her words sent through his body. His hips undulated against her, driven by the want and desire he’d forever felt for her. “Baby,” he growled as he licked her throat, holding her grabby hands to the floor. “Do you know what your words do to me?”

  Her response, as she arched her neck, was a wanton sigh.

  He smiled. “I’m hard again.”

  Her moan was all the beautiful assurance he needed as he once again pushed into her welcoming body.

  To say that Carter entered WCS Communications with a spring in his step the next day would have been a huge understatement. Floating was a more apt description, walking on sunshine. He smiled and greeted the weekend staff with an enthusiastic good morning, garnering perplexed looks from those who’d only known him as a quiet, formidable ex con in the thirteen months he’d been the official CEO.

  But he didn’t give a shit. No one was going to piss on his parade today.

  “Coffee, Mr. Carter?” his PA, Martha, asked with a grin.

  “You know what I like,” he retorted with a wink as he strode into his office and placed his bike helmet on his desk. Shaking off his leather jacket, and replacing it with the double-breasted Tom Ford jacket hanging from the back of the door, he looked out across the exquisite view of the city his office was fortunate to have.

  Despite it being three days before Christmas, it was a brisk, sunny day in New York. The snow had managed to stay relatively low-key, but more was forecast in the coming days. And if that meant he was going to be snowed in with his fiancée over Christmas and New Year’s, who was he to complain?

  Fiancée.

  Shit, didn’t that just make him feel full of the cute and cuddlies?

  “Do I even wanna know what happened to make you smile like that?”

  Ben Thomas’s voice roused Carter from his daydreams, making his smile wider. He turned to look at his newly appointed business attorney and shrugged off the nearly overwhelming urge to shout his news across the office, out the window, down the phone to the New York fucking Times.

  Ben cocked a suspicious eyebrow. “Okaaaay,” he said, closing the office door behind him. “Well, I thought you’d want to know the latest. Austin Ford has opened a consulting firm in Chicago.”

  Carter frowned. “Chicago.”

  “Apparently. I’m not sure what his business will be consulting for, or whether it’s a euphemism for shady shit, but I’ll do some more digging. Adam doesn’t seem to know much about it.”

  Carter sat down and gestured for Ben to do the same. “Should I be worried?”

  His cousin, Austin, was one slippery motherfucker but, surprisingly, had been off the business radar for a long time. As far as Carter was aware, and from the small snippets of information he gathered from Austin’s brother, Adam, Austin had been keeping himself busy spending his millions, traveling the world, which suited Carter just fine. As long as he stayed the hell away from Carter. And his wife-to-be.

  Ben shook his head. “Nah. Don’t be worried. He won’t—can’t—touch you, Kat, or WCS. But I’ll keep my eye on him, find out who he’s dealing with.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  Ben had been an integral force in Carter’s reclaiming the family business from Austin. He was determined, loyal, and Kat trusted him implicitly. It hadn’t taken Carter long to realize that Ben would be an invaluable addition to his new staff at WCS. He’d pretty much offered the bastard all but the kitchen sink to lure him from his last position, but it had been more than worth it. As well as being outstanding at his job, over the past few months, thanks in no small part to Kat, Ben and Carter had also become good friends.

  “Keep me updated will you?” Carter asked as he pulled off his biker boots.

  “You bet,” Ben agreed with a smile, watching Carter remove his leathers, under which—Ben was relieved to see—were gray suit pants. Carter’s boots were replaced with more respectable shiny black Dior loafers, which he grabbed from underneath the desk.

  “I can’t believe Kat lets you ride your bike to the office,” Ben said with a chuckle. “We have a car service, you know.”

  Carter rolled his eyes and held up a finger. “First, I’m my own man and I make my own decisions. Kat doesn’t ‘let’ me do anything.” He paused. “Unless I ask nicely.” Ben laughed knowingly. “Second, my bike’s name is Kala, and the car service can eat a dick. I like traveling in style.” He smirked. “Besides, chicks dig leather.”

  Ben snorted. “Fair enough. I also wanted you to know that the paperwork has been finalized on the O’Hare body shop.”

  Carter sighed and nodded. “With all the clauses I stipulated?”

  “Every one. Max will remain the primary owner. He’ll be paid a regular monthly income, as will his workers. The final debts have been wiped and the business is slowly creeping back into the black.”

  It was hard for Carter to smile, despite the relief that warmed his chest. “Good. Max doesn’t need to be worrying about that place while he’s . . . recovering.”

  “Agreed,” Ben affirmed. “You heard from him?”

  Carter sat back in his chair, glancing out the window. “Yesterday.”

  Ben didn’t push and Carter was glad of it. Hearing Max, his best friend, so distant, so tired and battle worn, had been very tough. He’d been at the rehab clinic for a little over three weeks, with no communication allowed for the first fourteen days. As much as he’d tried to hide it, Carter had been worried sick, frequently checking his cell phone for word that Max had busted out of the place, flipped out, or worse.

  The first call he’d received had done little to ease his anxiety. Max was beyond low, lost in a depression so thick, Carter couldn’t bear to think what would have happened if he hadn’t convinced Max that rehab was the way forward. In twenty years, Carter had never heard his friend sound so without hope, and it was truly terrifying.

  Almost immediately after his admittance, Max had been placed on heavy medication and the few phone calls Carter had received suggested it was helping. A little. Nevertheless, the boy still had a long way to go, and Carter would be there every step of the way. It had taken some rather aggressive coercing, but once Max had been admitted, and the days turned into weeks with no sign of Max going all Great Escape, Carter had begun to breathe a little easier.

  Carter wondered fleetingly what Max’s reaction would be to his engagement to Kat. Of course, Carter would want the son of a bitch there for it all, best man and all that shit, but would Max be happy? With all of Max’s baggage with his ex, Lizzie, hell if Carter knew.

  But remembering the dazzling look on Kat’s face when he asked her to be his wife and her emphatic yes was enough to bring the warm-and-fuzzy buzz back to the fore. It was like a huge fluffy fucking hug. With a short laugh that surprised both himself and Ben, he tried to shake off his excitement with a rub of his face.

  Jesus, he was losing it.

  Ben regarded Carter for a moment while Carter pretended to peruse some e-mails on his computer monitor. What the hell was written on the screen, though, God alone knew. Carter’s head wasn’t exactly in the game.

  “So are you gonna tell me what’s going on with you, or are you gonna continue to pretend you’re doing work?”

  Carter couldn’t fight the beaming smile that began to tug at his cheeks. “I proposed to Kat.” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, and the
relief of finally telling someone made him collapse back into his chair.

  Ben sat up straight, eyes wide and dancing. “And I’m assuming from your shit-eating grin that she said yes.”

  With his tongue between his teeth, Carter gave two big thumbs-up and laughed. Ben shot up out of his seat with his hand outstretched. Carter stood to meet him. The two men shook hands, followed by a manly hug and backslap.

  “That’s fantastic, Carter. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks, man,” Carter replied, pushing his hands into his pockets. “I was going to wait until Christmas Day, but when she came in from work yesterday, I just had to.”

  Ben nodded, smiling. “You look ecstatic.”

  “I am.” Carter rubbed the back of his neck. “Relieved. So happy. I can’t believe she said yes.”

  Both men heard the underlying apprehension in Carter’s voice. Regardless of the fact that he and Kat had been together for as long as they had and all they’d been through, Carter still had trouble believing that she had chosen him. Carter’s sigh of gratitude brought Ben’s hand up to Carter’s shoulder. “You deserve her. You both deserve to be happy.”

  “Thanks.”

  Ben cleared his throat. “So what did Eva say?”

  Fuck. Carter had tried not to think about Kat’s mother’s reaction, but the truth was, she and Kat’s grandmother, Nana Boo, were joining them for their first Christmas at the beach house, so Carter had exactly T-minus-forty-eight hours before the shit hit the proverbial fan.

  Carter’s happy-happy-joy-joy started backing the hell up at a rapid pace. “Well . . .”

  Ben chuckled. “Shit, man, you mean she doesn’t know? You didn’t ask her permission?”

  That brought Carter up short. “Say what?”

  He needed permission? What was this, kiddie hour?

  His face must have said it all. Ben held his hands up as they both sat back down. “It’s a tradition. When you ask a girl to marry you, you ask her father for his permission, passing on the flame so to speak. In Kat’s case, you’d have to ask Eva.”