Excerpt from His Unwanted Wife (first draft)

I just love a story with some unrequited love, not to mention some very big obstacles. So I gave Cade and Sabrina both to contend with. I love these characters so much, and I'm really looking forward to getting into some edits!

Here's a very rough excerpt from my just finished MS, His Unwanted Wife! Enjoy!


Prologue

Sabrina clapped a hand over her chest to try and still her beating heart. Cade had never looked more handsome than he did tonight. And she was certain she’d never loved him more.
She knew there were plenty of people who would say that a young woman of eighteen didn’t know what true love was, but she did. She knew she did. She had from the first moment she’d seen Cade scowling in the entryway of her family home, his protective grasp on his mother’s arm, his misgivings about his newly inherited family clearly etched in his face.

He’d been the only man for her from that moment on. Not that he’d ever noticed her in that way. She was just his annoying stepsister as far as he was concerned But that was going to change tonight.

Smoothing her hands over the slinky burgundy velvet that hugged her abundant figure like a second skin, she began to walk out from her parent’s grand ballroom and onto the terrace. Cade was there, his hands gripping the railing tight, his focus on the ocean that crashed against the rocks below. He was so handsome it took her breath away. No, not just handsome, sexy.

One thing that had changed about her feelings in the past eight years was the nature of her desires. When she’d first met him she’d thought him the most handsome boy she’d ever seen, and she’d hero worshipped him to the point of driving him crazy.

She no longer worshipped him, not in that way. She wanted him. Like a woman wanted a man. She longed to kiss his sensual lips, to caress his chiseled jaw and twine her fingers through his thick dark hair. She wanted to kiss his neck, his chest. Everything. Everywhere. It had become an absolute madness inside of her, this need for him both emotionally and physically.

He was so handsome, his broad tall frame backlit by the silver glow of the moon. She placed her hands on her full hips, horribly self-conscious of the fact that she wasn’t the essence of female perfection. She felt wide and ungainly suddenly, not exactly like a sexy siren.
She took a breath the steel herself against the nerves that were threatening to overwhelm her. No going back now. Cade was her birthday present to herself. She wanted him and she wasn’t going to deny herself anymore. It was her birthday party after all. Shouldn’t she get the one thing she wanted most?

“Hi,” she said, suddenly feeling a lot more timid and a lot less like the brazen vixen she’d imagined she might transform herself into with a form fitting dress and stiletto heels. Instead she was just conscious of the fact that any rogue bubble of fat might choose that moment to shift and make itself visible to his piercing brown gaze.

“Happy birthday,” he said, lifting a glass of champagne in her direction.

“Could I have some of that?” she asked, gesturing to the fizzy drink in his hand.

“Maybe in three more years, princess,” he said, her childhood nickname sounding oddly intimate on his lips tonight. Maybe it was just her wild imagination wanting everything he said to sound intimate.

“I’m not a child, Cade,” she said, trying to make her voice sound a little huskier, a little more sensual.

“I didn’t say you were. But the law is the law.” He tipped back another sip, a mocking grin on his handsome face.

She rubbed her lips together to smooth out a lump she could feel forming in the dark red lipstick. “And you’re nothing if not an upright citizen.” Which served her just fine since, as of tonight, it was officially legal for him to take her to bed. The thought made her insides twist with nervous pleasure. She didn’t know that much about men, but she’d done a lot of research on the subject of sex. No sense going into anything a total novice, not when one could prepare.

She moved closer to him, the scent of his cologne combined with the musk of man teased her nose. No one smelled like Cade. He was intoxicating. A low pulse began to beat at the apex of her thighs and her nipples peaked. It was always like this when she was around him, and she was finally doing something about it.

“That’s me. I’m just an upstanding kind of guy,” he said with a lopsided grin.

“So how is…how is business going?” she asked, leaning in a little closer to try and catch some of that forbidden scent again.

“It’s going well.” He treated her to a real smile, one that showed his perfect teeth and her heart melted. “Our charters have increased by twenty five percent in the last quarter.”

“Who would have thought that renting out yachts and planes could be such a money maker?”
The teasing glint in his eyes melted her bones. “Well, I did. And I’ve more than paid back everyone who invested in the start up.”

She reached a hand out and put it on his arm. She shivered when his bicep flexed beneath her fingertips. His eyes snapped up and met hers, his expression inscrutable. Her breath hitched.

“Cade…”

“Sabrina! Cade!” At that moment Caryn, Sabrina’s best friend, came waltzing out onto the deck, her chin length bob sleek, not a dark hair out of place. Her figure was perfectly sleek too, none of the little bubbles of imperfect flesh destroying her smooth lines.

Her friend grinned and a little dimple appeared by her full lips. She looked back at Cade and saw she’d lost his attention. He moved away from her, the cold left by his retreating body heat had her feeling bereft.

Then he was at Caryn’s side, too close for it to be casual or accidental. He wound his arm around her waist and she flashed him a glowing smile.

Shock slammed her chest with the force of a brick, nearly knocking her back with the weight of it. Caryn looked sheepish, a slight flush covering her cheeks. “I didn’t want to say anything until I knew if it was going to turn into anything,” she said.

“What?” Sabrina’s voice sounded stupid and hollow to her own ears.

Of course Caryn didn’t know about her feelings for Cade, no one did. The sheer weight of what she felt for him, combined with the forbidden aspect of him being her stepbrother, had always kept her from confiding in anyone. But surely she had to be hallucinating. He couldn’t be with Caryn, not that way, not now.

Cade flashed her a wide smile and drew Caryn closer to his body. “We’ve been seeing each other for a couple months.”

“But because of our friendship we didn’t want to say anything in case it didn’t work out,” Caryn finished, her eyes sparkling.

“But since I’ve asked Caryn to marry me and she’s accepted, we thought it would be a good time to tell you.”

“We’re going to be sisters!” Caryn exploded. “Happy Birthday!”

Sabrina felt the hot rush of tears sting her eyes and she knew she couldn’t let them fall. The cake she’d eaten earlier rolled in her stomach and she wanted more than anything to lean over the railing and heave it back up. She swallowed against the suffocating ache that was climbing her throat. “Congratulations.”