Claiming What's Mine Read online

  CLAIMING

  WHAT'S MINE

  Leah Holt

  USA TODAY BEST SELLING AUTHOR

  Nora Flite

  Copyright © 2019 Leah Holt & Nora Flite

  All rights reserved. CLAIMING WHAT'S MINE is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Claiming What's Mine

  Connect with Leah!

  Also from Leah Holt:

  Also from Nora Flite:

  Connect with Nora!

  Prologue

  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

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Epilogue

  About Leah Holt

  Connect with Leah!

  About Nora Flite

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  Also from Leah Holt:

  CHAINED: A Bad Boy Romance

  HIS PRICE: A Billionaire Romance

  MY SOLDIER: A Military Romance

  BARE SKIN: A Billionaire Romance

  BAD BEHAVIOR: A Dark Mafia Romance

  DIRTY BEHAVIOR: A Dark Mafia Romance

  SWEET VIRGIN

  BEG ME ANGEL: A Dark Romance

  PUSHED: A Dark Romance (Dark Flower Series Book One)

  LOVE IN THE DARK: A Dark Romance (The Dark Flower Series Book Two)

  KEEP ME: A Dark Romance

  REDD: A Dark Romance

  BEAUTIFUL LIE

  ALPHA ON TOP: A Bad Boy Romance

  ALMOST GLASS

  QUEEN OF PENTACLES (Cards Of Love)

  WHEN IT RAINS... HE POURS

  MAN SEEKING WOMAN

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  Also from Nora Flite:

  Royally Bad (Bad Boy Royals Book One)

  Royally Ruined (Bad Boy Royals Book Two)

  Royally Arranged (Bad Boy Royals Book Three)

  Where We Began (Where We Began Duet Book One)

  Where We Ended (Where We Began Duet Book Two)

  Rock Me Deep

  After Our Kiss

  Never Kiss A Bad Boy

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  Prologue

  Jayden

  Eighteen Years Old

  Tink!

  A pebble hit my window, causing me to lift my head. Still achy and sore, I dragged myself out of bed and waddled over, pushing the glass open to find Blue looking up at me.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Being more adventurous, what does it look like?” Her smile invaded me just like it always did, making my body warm from head to toe.

  “You realize my dad isn't home, he's still in jail.” Smirking, I glanced towards the front door. “You could have just knocked.”

  Sneering, Blue shrugged her shoulders. “But this is more fun than me tapping on the door, isn't it?”

  “I guess,” I said, waving my hand for her to come inside.

  Slowly, I went down the stairs, unlocking the door to let her in. Blue leaned forward and softly kissed my cheek, then rested her back against the door frame.

  “You coming in or what?” I asked, taking a step to the side to give her room to pass by.

  “Is your sister here?” Poking her head in, she looked around.

  “No, CPS took her after my father got arrested.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I shifted on my feet. “She's better off with them, her life will be shit if she has to stay here with him any longer.”

  “Why didn't they take you?”

  “Because I'm eighteen.”

  “Right,” she said, shaking her head. “I forgot you're an adult now.”

  Leaning against the door frame, I kept my eyes on her. She was the prettiest thing I had ever seen. It was crazy that even after all this time, I still found more and more beauty in her.

  I loved the way her smile had changed slightly over the years as we got older. When we were younger, her smile was so big it showed all her teeth, putting that space between her two front teeth on display.

  Now, her lips would part, her smile thinner, protecting that space she decided to hate. But I knew it was still there, no matter how much she tried to hide it. And I loved it, because it was a part of her.

  The freckles on her nose had transformed from a few across the bridge to more than I could count, running over the tops of her cheeks. Each one of those freckles were different in some way, and yet all of them made up the face I loved.

  “Are you alright?” she asked, softening her gaze as her shoulders slouched.

  “Alright with what?”

  “With everything—with your sister being gone, with your father—”

  Holding up my hand, I cut in. “I'm fine, Blue. Beth is better off, she doesn't deserve this, she deserves more, she's always deserved more. At least she's still young enough to have somewhat of a decent childhood.”

  Nodding, Blue folded her lips down. “You might be right, but what about the two of you? Will you be able to see each other?”

  “Yeah, the social worker who came to see me in the hospital said we'd be able to visit and stuff, so it'll be good.”

  “I'm glad.” Reaching out for my hand, she curled her fingers around mine. “I have something for you, come with me.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “It's a surprise.”

  Blue started out the door, tugging me along with her. “Trust me, I think you're going to love this.”

  We walked through the field, finding our way into her backyard and to the old barn tucked away on her property. No one had used it in decades, not since my mother was a really little girl, and the Smithson's lived there.

  My mother had told me a few stories about the horses, and how Mrs. Smithson would let her brush them for as long as she wanted. But when Mr. Smithson died, his wife went crazy, and the entire place was abando
ned, until Blue and her family moved in.

  “What are we doing here?”

  “You'll see,” she said with a smirk as she pulled back one of the wood planks so we could slip inside. “In here.”

  Bending my body, I contorted my arms and back so I could squeeze through the thin opening. “We haven't been here in forever.”

  “I know, it's been years. I think I was twelve the last time we played hide and seek in this barn.”

  “Is that what we're doing right now, are we about to play hide and seek?”

  Blue looked at me over her shoulder as she picked up a lantern she had stashed against the inside of the barn, and turned it on. “This way,” she said, jerking her head and walking forward.

  The barn floor was covered in old hay and debris, the roof was caved in on one side, the beams crossing over each other like wood on a fire. You could still make out the pens that the horses called home and the trough where they drank.

  Damaged nests from sparrows speckled the mangled mess like scars. There were broken egg shells on the ground, with unbound spirals of bedding from the nests, stretching like cobwebs between the rafters.

  I had played in this barn a million times, long before Blue. My mother never wanted me to , but I was never really good at listening. The inside had changed with time, but the scent, that never changed.

  It had this musty smell, like mushrooms and stale, wet laundry. The aroma hung in the air like a thick blanket, so dense you could almost see the cloud floating. But the weird thing about that place was no matter how awful it smelled, I liked smelling it.

  It made me think of my mother, it brought back memories of pretending I was a knight when I was kid, and hide and go seek with Blue. The scent brought me back, it drummed up moments that were worth revisiting, the few memories that were good.

  Walking behind her, I could barely see past the glowing stream that spread out across the dirty floor as we got deeper into the barn. Placing the handle of the light in her mouth, Blue dropped to her hands and knees and stuck her head into a large opening between the fallen beams.

  “Are you serious? I don't know if I can fit in there anymore.”

  “You can fit,” she said, her mouth full of metal wire.

  “Is it safe?”

  Whipping her head over her shoulder, she stared at me like I had ten heads. “Since when do you care if something is safe?”

  Shrugging my shoulder, I just mumbled, “I dunno.”

  I don't. But I care about you.

  “Don't be a baby. Come on.” Crawling inside, Blue disappeared into the back hole.

  Bending down, I poked my head inside. The smile on her face was a mix of excitement and nerves as she watched me, her eyes moving across my face in the dark.

  “We barely fit back here anymore?”

  “I think we fit fine,” she said, her voice soft as she set the lantern by her side.

  “And why are we here again?”

  “I thought I told you already?”

  “No, you didn't tell me anything.”

  Creeping forward, her lips twisted playfully as she moved in, her eyes sparkling with the delicate light off the lamp.

  Pressing her lips to my ear, she whispered. “I'm ready.”

  “You're read—” I started to say, then stopped as the realization of what she was talking about quickly sank in. Letting my eyes connect with hers, she flicked her gaze to the side, guiding me to look.

  There was a small bed of hay all spread out, with a thick comforter and a few pillows on top. It wasn't fancy, it wasn't decorated with scented candles and rose petals like I thought she would want for her first time.

  But this was all her, this was what she decided.

  “You're sure about this?”

  “I wouldn't have brought you here if I wasn't.”

  Blue slowly moved to the hay bed, turning to her side and settling onto the blanket. Smiling, her legs crossed over each other, ankles rubbing back and forth, her hand gently running up her stomach and between her breasts.

  Every hair on my eighteen year old body stood tall, along with something else. Swallowing the lump that formed in the back of my throat, I ran a hand down the back of my neck, doing my best to stay cool and calm.

  “I just want to make sure you really know what you're doing, we don't need to do anything if you don't want to.”

  Blue sneered, using a single finger to call me in. “I know what I'm doing, and if you spend any more time talking about it, you'll ruin the mood.”

  Smirking, I stalked forward on my hands and knees. “I don't want to ruin the mood, that would be awful for your first time.”

  Her smile thickened as her eyes fluttered against her lashes. “Will you just shut up and come here.” Stretching out her arms, she wriggled her finger to draw me in.

  This was it, this was the moment. The point where we both experienced what it meant to not just say I love you, but to feel it in the most personal way. She was giving herself to me and I was doing the same.

  Staring down at her, I started kissing her neck, letting my lips feel and taste her skin. She was soft, sweet, her skin scented in honey and roses. Using the tips of my fingers, I pulled up the edge of her shirt and ran my hand across her belly.

  She was shaking, her stomach jumping and bouncing as my fingers moved higher. Blue let out a sound I hadn't heard before, it was low, sultry, and it made the muscles in my gut clench tight like corded rope.

  That's when it happened, a switch flipped inside me, making my body ignite. I felt primal, like I had been stripped of every ounce that made me human and was left with only the animal that lived inside.

  Slipping her pants off her legs, I watched her breathe through her nose slowly, waiting for me, anticipating what it might feel like to have me inside her.

  We had talked about this day, and I promised her when she was ready I would be gentle and kind, I would take my time and make sure she wasn't in pain.

  And that was what I was going to do, no matter how much my body wanted to tear her innocence into pieces. Pieces that would ultimately destroy and envelop her entire soul.

  I made a promise, and I was going to keep that promise. Even if it killed me slowly.

  Unbuttoning my pants, I lined myself up, and laid my body on top of hers. Pressing forward, I heard Blue gasp under her breath.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, staying still, not willing to go any further if she was hurting.

  Closing her eyes, she nodded. “Yeah, I'm fine.”

  “Are you sure? I don't want to hurt you.”

  Letting her eyes connect with mine, she bit her bottom lip. “You won't hurt me.”

  Moving my hips, she dug her teeth into my shoulder, taking out any discomfort on my flesh. Her body was hot and tight, wrapping around me like a snake. There were legs around my back, arms reaching over my shoulders, nails scratching on my skin, and fingers through my hair.

  There was a change in her, I felt it as her body relaxed and her nails went from piercing to raking, to tugging at the roots of my hair. Electricity surged through my body, running from my head to my toes and back up again.

  If I could have paused time right then, right at that very moment, I would have. I would have lived in that moment forever, I would have held onto it and never let it go.

  Because that moment wouldn't last, nothing after that ever lasted. Whatever good I had in my life was about to vanish, as if it was all a dream and I was about to wake up.

  Blue rested her head on my chest while I ran my fingers through her hair. We laid quietly, and I felt my lids getting heavier and heavier, until there was nothing.

  “No! No!” I heard her scream loudly.

  Jolting awake, I opened my eyes to see a man's hand dragging Blue out of our little nook by her ankle. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, her mouth quivering as she begged the man to listen.

  “Stop! Just hear me out!” Blue's eyes shot up to mine, her face twisted in sadness and fear. “Dad, please
, if you'd let me explain. . .”

  Her father. . . Shit.

  Pushing myself up quickly, I tried to climb to my feet, only to slam my head against a large wood block. Dropping to one knee, I rubbed the side of my head as I crawled out from under the beams.

  “Mr. Fable—” I tried to say as I stumbled to my feet, my head throbbing where a lump was forming.

  “You,” he snapped, not letting me get out another word as he threw a finger in my direction. “You don't talk, you have no place in this. She's my daughter, which means I say what she can and can't do.”

  “Sir, if you would just let me—”

  Expanding his lids, all the white of his eyes were exposed. I could see the tiny red veins spidering their way across the giant orbs like jagged rivers. “You're lucky that I'm a forgiving man, but don't test me. This is my daughter, I'm a father first, and I'll do anything to protect her, especially from someone like you.”

  Dropping my shoulders forward, I pulled my eyes away, and shut my mouth. He was right, it was simple as that. Jayden Henry was not the boy any father would pick for their daughter.

  “Dad, please, I love him.”

  “You don't know what love is, Blue, you're too young to understand it.”

  Trying to jerk her arm free, Blue dug her feet into the ground. “I'm not too young, I know what love is, and I love him!”

  “Enough, Blue, we're going home.” His eyes narrowed, seething with hate. “Tomorrow I'm tearing down this barn.” Pulling her along, her father kept his head on the door that led outside. “You're never seeing that boy again, never again. You hear me? Never. He's ruined you, he's made you break your vow of purity, he's a beast.”

  “He didn't make me do anything! I wanted to do this! It was my choice!” Her fingers dug into his wrist as she tried to get out of his grasp, but her father was too strong for her.

  Snarling, he bared his teeth. “You broke a vow and you lied. The daughter I know doesn't lie, she doesn't go against the word of the Lord. This boy is the opposite, he's the devil, making you do things you would never do.”

  “But—”

  “No!” he snapped, his voice dark and heavy. “We're done talking, you're never seeing that boy again, it's done. I already told you that once before and you defied me, you disregarded the rules. But this, you went too far this time.”