Ready For Him: A Single Dad Next Door Romance Read online

  A SHORT STORY

  ALYSON HALE

  Originally published as a part of the anthology,

  Fourteen Shades of F*cked Up

  PETITION DENIED

  Anton

  “Summons (Family)

  Name of respondent: Anton Law

  You have been sued.”

  Blood rises into my neck. As a prominent lawyer in New York City, it isn’t the first time the word “sued” has been handed to me on a court petition. But from family court? And sent to my physical address? Surely there must be some mistake.

  Glancing around, I search the house for my beautiful wife. No matter how late I work, she’s always sitting up somewhere with a book and a cup of green tea, waiting for me. My long hours at work, sometimes overnight, are taxing on our relationship, but she’s always patient and puts on a smile no matter how tired she is. A strong feminist living as a kept woman, I know this isn’t the life Lana always imagined for herself, but she keeps going no matter what. Her sweet compassion and listening ear are like a balm for my exhausted spirit.

  “Lana! Lana, do you know what this is?”

  While I wait for her to appear, I glance down at the paper again, still sure it’s some sort of mix-up. Family court is only for divorced people, I always thought.

  My blood runs cold when I read the name in the “petitioner” line.

  “Lana Grace Law”

  All the strength leaves my limbs. My heartbeat pounds in my head as I crumple into a nearby chair in the entry hall of our lavish home. Sinking into the deep cushion, I scan my surroundings, unseeing of everything except the richness I’ve provided for my wife.

  She isn’t just clothed; she is robed in whatever name brand attire she wants.

  She isn’t just fed; she is served great food by the finest chefs.

  And she doesn’t just have a roof over her head. It’s a domed ceiling with a painting reminiscent of the motherfucking Sistine Chapel’s on it.

  Where the fuck did I go wrong? Was it something I missed? Was one of her needs not met in all the years we’ve been together? Is she upset that in five years of marriage, we’ve never had a child? I’ve begged her time and time again to have her IUD removed so I can fill that sweet cunt of hers with my cum and plant a baby inside her. I’ve longed for the day she’d surprise me at work with the call or sneak the news into a candlelit dinner.

  Nothing I’ve ever done in our seven cumulative years together could have led to this. Tears burn in my eyes as the walls of my heart crumble in on me.

  My wife, my world, my reason for getting up and going to work in the morning, wants to be rid of me, and I can’t for the life of me figure out what I’ve done to deserve it.

  My deep bronze hand shakes as I hold up the offending piece of paper. I want nothing more than to rip it to shreds. To pretend I never saw it. I’m halfway to jumping up and throwing it in the living room fireplace when Lana descends the staircase with bloodshot eyes.

  Her lovely dark hair is draped over her shoulder. Her full lips are parted, and her nose and cheeks are flushed. Even in her miserable state, she looks like a goddess at the top of that winding marble staircase. My goddess who wants to leave me and find another lowly mortal to service her needs.

  I gulp and hold up the paper.

  “Lana…what…”

  I choke, unable to form words. Scrunching my eyes shut, I block the moisture in my eyes with my thumb and forefinger. This is something I never saw coming. I want to lash out and fall at her feet in a sobbing heap all at once.

  “I know this must come as a shock,” Lana starts in a quiet voice that once sounded like a soft lullaby to me. She continues down the stairs.

  “What did I do?” My voice shakes. I register the pain buried in her deep brown eyes and the dark circles. It’s as if she’s stayed up crying for many nights. Why hadn’t I noticed it before? “What’s wrong?”

  As she touches down on the floor, I stand and shake the paper in her face, demanding an answer. Lana pushes it down to look into my eyes. My blurred vision can only make out her form. She’s wearing a navy blue strapless dress I’ve always loved. It accentuates every curve, pushing up her voluptuous breasts and hugging her small waist. I’m surprised it’s still wearable after the number of times I’ve marked it with my cum.

  “Listen, Anton…I’m just not happy anymore. You and I have been growing apart. We never talk about our lives. We never do anything together. It’s just…” She stops and swallows. “It’s just not working. I’m going to go see the world like I’ve always wanted to.”

  “We could do that.” I try my best to keep the desperation out of my voice. “I can take vacation time and take you anywhere you want. Just name it.”

  “That’s the thing…” Lana takes in a deep breath and sighs. The last remaining fragments of my heart shatter at her next words. “I want to go alone.”

  “Why?” I reach for her hand, but she shakes her head and pulls it away.

  “I need to find myself. This life?” She gestures around us. “It’s not…me. You’d be better off with someone who fits in here. Who gets along with your family.”

  It’s no secret that Lana and my father, the senior partner at our law firm, don’t get along. She told him off at the last Christmas dinner because he wanted me to leave early and go back to the office. He wanted us to spend the last hours of our Christmas going over an important case that went to court the next day, but Lana would have none of it. She apparently doesn’t get that I loved her for that. She started a huge fight, but it was one hundred and ten percent worth it to spend the entire evening in her arms.

  “I don’t need someone who gets along with the Laws. I need you. My wife. Don’t you know how much you mean to me, Gracie?”

  A tear courses down her tanned cheek at the sound of my pet name for her. It’s a low blow, but I need every weapon in my arsenal right now. That nickname is her weakness. No one but her late mother ever called her “Gracie,” and hearing it from my lips has always done things to her emotions.

  “Anton, please understand. I’m not a lap pet. Being in the house all the time doing nothing is driving me insane. I never wanted to be a housewife, but this is even worse. I’m useless. Nothing but a trophy for you to show off to your friends. When is my life going to start?”

  A pang of guilt hits my chest. I know I’m guilty of showing her off too much, but who wouldn’t parade a woman with such sinful curves and scarlet lips? She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, and I’m proud to be the man who holds her heart. Never had the thought even occurred to me that I was making her feel worthless.

  “You have the freedom to do anything you want, Gracie. You know that, right? Anything at all.”

  “Yes, but I wouldn’t have earned it. I haven’t earned anything since the day you bought my engagement ring.” Her voice is rising and her skin is turning pink. Fire sparks from her eyes and sends blood rushing to my cock. This flame she keeps hidden inside her is the reason I fell in love with her in the first place. She is radiant. A dynamite blast waiting to be lit. I love setting her off. Sometimes I pick a fight with her just to see her turn like this so I can eat every inch of her.

  “You should be grateful for that, you know. I slave for you sixty hours every week. Some women would kill to have what you have,” I shoot at her, not thinking about my words.

  “Well then, why don’t you go off and marry one of them?” Lana’s words catch on a sob. Her body trembles with suppressed passion. “I know I’m a selfish, spoiled brat. I know I’m nothing but a strong-willed pain in the ass who doesn’t satisfy you nearly as much as some blonde bimbo who wants to sit around the house doing nothing all day.”

  “Doesn’t satisfy me?” I shake my head, mind blown. This has gone far enough. Drastic measures need to be taken, and I am so far past caring how crazy I am for taking them.

  I’ve been holding back with Lana for years out of fear of losing her, but tonight she’s going to taste
my desire for her. Every last drop.

  I grip the paper and take Lana’s arm with my free hand, yanking her up the stairs. I force her to follow me, despite her loud protests. Normally, I’d never lay a hand on her, but faced with the possibility of losing her, I’m completely out of my mind. My grip isn’t tight enough to hurt her, but it’s strong enough that she can’t get away.

  I pull her inside the bedroom we share and lock the door behind us in case one of the staff members accidentally stumbles upon us. Tossing the paper on the bed, I turn Lana full-on to face me and lean down to look directly in her eyes.

  “I’ll sign that paper on one condition.”

  “What’s that?”

  Keeping eye contact with her, I lean in even further until I’m a mere inch from her lips. Our hot breath mingles between us.

  “You’ll be mine tonight. Any way I want you. And you have to do exactly as I say.”

  Lana

  Anton’s words send a shiver down my spine. I try to stop the rush of fluid that coats my panties at his words, but it’s pointless. His black eyes narrow on me, and his smirk leaves a tantalizing crease in his left cheek. The heat of his rigid body is mere inches from mine. I feel its pull on me like never before.

  Anton Law has always possessed my being like this. From the moment we met, my body has belonged to him. It comes to life at his touch. My pussy clenches and burns for his fingers, tongue, and cock. The feeling of being tangled up in him has kept me numbed for years to the emptiness inside, but the more he falls into bed exhausted without so much as a “good night,” the more the chasm in my heart grows.

  It’s gotten to the point where I stay awake for him, let him fuck me, and then he falls asleep and I go back to my book. On and on that went over the past couple of years until I felt like nothing but a sex toy. It’s the only reason he even keeps me around; that, and his intense desire to become a father and pass on the family business.

  If one more round with his toy is enough to satisfy him and let me go on my way, is it that big of a deal?

  My hands are tied. If I want my freedom—to feel like a woman again instead of an owned and discarded fuck toy—I have to let him use me one more time.

  And my body will enjoy every millisecond even if my deeply independent mind is screaming in protest.

  I can only manage a nod as my husband’s lips connect with mine, filling and breaking my heart all at once. I had heard of trophy wives before and even scorned them in my mind, but when I became one, I finally understood how much it hurts. Anton is considerably older than me, almost twelve years, but that has never mattered to me. His hard, stony body, rugged jaw, and dark curls that touch his creased forehead don’t even have anything to do with it. It’s his laugh. His slow smile. The way he kisses my neck from behind and makes tingles shiver down my spine.

  My love for him is unquestionable, but over time it’s become clear that love is the furthest thing from his mind. What he feels for me is pure lust. He can’t keep his hands off me. Even in front of his parents at Christmas, he kept feeling his way up my leg and whispering heinous things in my ear all night. Instead of feeling like part of the family, I feel like an outcast. Like they all know why I’m there, and they despise me for it.

  I’m only twenty-six-years-old. We’ve been together since I was nineteen. There has never been another man in my life, and in my heart I know there will never be another one after him. He’s it for me. He holds my entire heart. Yet if I want to know freedom, to feel like a woman again, I have to give myself over one more time and let him go.

  “Deal,” I whisper against his lips, which are soft in contrast to every other part of him. I get lost in him again as he lowers me to the bed. His weight pushes the air from my lungs, and as my mouth opens, I’m swept away by his tongue. He curls it around and around mine.

  “God, you taste incredible,” he gushes into my mouth. “Even better than the day I met you.”

  I secretly admit to myself he tastes incredible, too. His flavor is spearmint with just a hint of cigar. When we first met, I noticed him popping gum in his mouth every time he finished a cigar, and one time I asked him about it. He said he’d started doing that the day we met because he wanted to taste good for me.

  At least some things never change.

  Anton lifts my arms above my head, and I relish the out of control feeling it gives me one last time. I don’t notice him bringing a set of handcuffs around my wrists until it’s too late.

  I yank against the handcuffs, but my wrists are bound tightly against the mahogany post and wouldn’t budge. Panic builds up in my lungs. I can’t get free. We’ve done bondage before, usually with scarves, but I’ve always been sure I could escape if I needed to.

  When Anton lifts his weight off of me, I buck on the mattress and whimper. He clamps his hand over my mouth and a wicked grin curls his lips upward.

  “Easy, my darling. We wouldn’t want anyone interrupting this little arrangement, would we? It would be a shame if those papers could never get signed. Rest assured, I would make sure that could never happen if you were to back out now.”

  Tears build up in my eyes. I shudder against his hand, which once felt so reassuring and now feels threatening. Anton seems to sense the real fear in me, and alarm sparks in his eyes. He removes his hand from my mouth.

  “Shh, shh, I’ll never hurt you, Gracie.” Anton kisses my protests away. “But I’ve been taking it easy on you for far too long, and that’s not fair to you. It’s time you felt the intensity of my desire for you. The way I crave you all the way down to the core of your being.”

  Sweat builds up in my pores. I’m not sure what to expect as Anton pulls down from my lips and kisses over my collarbone. I’ve never felt completely out of control during sex. In fact, I usually prefer being on top. Being at his mercy is terrifying, yet exhilarating somehow. Squirming underneath his touch, I fight him, but that only seems to turn him on even more.

  Anton

  I pull my wife’s zipper down and yank her dress off, ignoring her kicking against me. With her dark hair fanned out over the pillow and her full, round breasts splayed for my pleasure, I’ve never seen anything more tantalizing. Before I do anything to her, I need to make sure she wants this, but I’m certain she does. Her moans and the obvious hardness of her round, small nipples mean more to me than the fruitless jabs of her knees into my hardened core. When I steal a glance at her pussy, I can’t help but grin at the way it glistens. No matter how hard she fights, she can’t hide her desire for me. It’s written all over every inch of her body. She is still mine.

  Easing into my planned night of debauchery, I run my rough hand over her smooth, naked flesh and capture her lips in another kiss.

  “Lana Grace Law, you are mine, body, and soul,” I whisper softly between kisses. “Trying to escape me is futile.”

  “You’re a bastard,” she growls, her brows drawn down in anger.

  I shoot her a grin that makes her pelvis quiver. “I think you’ll come to forgive me enough times.”

  Clicking my tongue, I kiss my way down her body without another word. When I reach her nipple, I bite down just hard enough to draw a reaction. Lana screams.

  “Fuck,” I mumble against her round breast, kissing around its wide circumference. I pinch the other nipple, pulling another cry from her body. Then I move to another area of her body where my fingers can get lost.

  My fingers slide into her warm wetness, making her shiver with repressed delight. I bring my thumb up to rub her clit, wringing a soft moan out of her. My touch is her weakness, and I know it. She melts underneath me.

  Leaning down even further, I replace my thumb with my tongue. Her warm skin closes around mine and I groan against her, the vibrations of my voice pulling a deep moan out of my wife’s chest. I know every ridge and curve of her sex, and tonight I’ll be using that knowledge to my advantage. Interchanging my tongue and my thumb, I lick around the edges of her pussy’s lips and back up to her clit. Reaching up
with my free hand, I feel for a hard nipple and squeeze it, savoring her cries of delight.

  “Oh, Anton! Fuck! I’m getting close,” she screams, bucking her hips.

  “Give me what I’m owed,” I command deeply against her skin, keeping my rhythm inside her pussy.

  Lana screams and whimpers as the walls of her sex close around my fingers, pulsing with pleasure. I lick the palm of my hand as her sweet, honey-like juices coat it. The mere smell of my wife’s pleasure is almost enough to make me come undone.

  I wait until the right moment to remove my fingers from her lush oasis and take her ass firmly in my large hands, flipping her over to her stomach. I tear off my black suit, tie, and white shirt while she lays naked and helpless in front of me, looking back over her shoulder.

  “Anton?” she whimpers nervously.

  As I remove my last article of clothing, I chuckle darkly. “You thought we were done? That was an appetizer.”

  When I take hold of her hips, I feel Lana tense underneath me. I pull her ass up to sheath my cock and run my length up and down the tightness between her cheeks, gnawing on my lower lip at how perfectly it fits me. Holding her firmly with one hand, I give a resounding smack to one ass cheek, leaving it red.

  “Ow!” Lana’s cry of pain is overlaid with passionate breath. She bucks her pussy against my cock, unconsciously begging for more. I’ve never spanked her that hard before, but it looks like she likes it.

  “That’s for leaving me to find the ‘petition for dissolution’ in the mail.” My voice is hard with anger. I smack her again, a little harder. “That’s for never telling me you wanted to travel and see the world.”

  That particularly hurt me. She never talks about her dreams. I knew she wanted to see places, but I never knew the desire was so strong. It kills me to be so clueless about my own wife and what she wants.