Wicked Knight
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Wicked Knight
by Tierney O'Malley
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Erotica/Romance
www.extasybooks.com
Copyright ©2012 by Tierney O'Malley
First published in 2012, 2012
NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.
CONTENTS
* * * *
He vowed never to love again. She is afraid to love. A passion so strong they cannot resist.
Ruggedly handsome pediatrician, Dr. Tristan Knight, is done with marriage. Once is enough. Eager to avoid making another mistake of getting trapped in marriage vows, Tristan wields strong control to suppress his growing attraction to his sister's friend, Julie Parrish. But his resolve is tested when an unusual request for help lands on his lap—marry Julie.
Author and former model, Julie Parrish has been trying to keep her image clean, otherwise, her drunkard father will get the inheritance her mother has left her. She will never let that happen. But her stepmother, Marla, has learned about the will's stipulation. Since then, she's been attempting to prove to the lawyers that Julie is far from being clean. Fortunately, her mother has added an out to the will. Marriage. So when Tristan surprised her by offering his help to end her problem with Marla, she accepts. But Julie wants more than just a ring. She wants the elusive doctor's heart.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Wicked Knight
Copyright (C) 2012 Tierney O'Malley
ISBN: 978-1-77111-080-8
Cover art by Martine Jardin
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
Published by eXtasy Books
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Wicked Knight
A Knight Brother Novel
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By
* * * *
Tierney O'Malley
To my brother, Cesar Caidas
The world will never be the same without you.
I wish I could talk to you one more time.
Love, Si
Chapter One
* * * *
“God damn it, Bors! That was uncalled for.”
“Bullshit!” Bors yelled back and shoved Tristan. “Learn the game, Doctor. Or quit playing. Such a fuck—”
Julie cringed at the sound of flesh hitting against flesh as the two brothers collided. Why football was such a popular game and pastime, she had no idea. They pushed, hit, and tackled. In her personal opinion, the men played the game to boast their pure macho chauvinistic prowess. And watching the Knight Brothers tackle and plow each other to the ground to gain possession of the football was all that—power showmanship.
Loud grunts and cursing that would put a drunken harlot to shame mixed with the sounds of shoes scuffling on the dusty yard with patches of green and brown grass. The spring sun beat down on them, making their sweat shine and more visible. From the doorway, Julie stood and watched the brothers use their bodies to slam against each other repeatedly. What a nutty way to show their love for the game, she thought.
Yet, the brothers were far from nutty. They were all magnificent specimens and a remarkable sight—as remarkable as the panoramic view of the Olympic Mountains, Peninsula, and Puget Sound. She switched looking from the view to the men.
Yup, equally remarkable
Over six feet in height, physical strength, and weight, rugged and powerful, dark hair, blue eyes, and oozing with sex appeal—what more could a man want to possess? She often wondered if they were gods from Olympus. Really, the only place she'd been where handsome men—nearly perfect in everything physical—was at the studio where she had a photo shoot for a GAP commercial.
Unlike the clean-cut, manicured men with super white teeth in the modeling agency, these guys didn't mind getting dirty at all. Watching the Knights brought the same reaction to her insides as the panoramic views of the snow-capped Olympic Mountain range and breathtaking sunsets. All made her sigh.
Bors, the longhaired FBI Agent in the family, the one who looked dangerous and lethal just when he walked, let out a profanity so vulgar Julie quickly filed it at the back of her brain. The villain in her new novel could use those words.
“Fuck, you nearly broke my arm.”
“Learn the game, sissy. Or quit playing.” Tristan smirked at Bors before he positioned himself at the back of the line. Kirsten, her best friend and only girl in the Knight family, told her Tristan always played as a quarterback.
“Fuck you!”
“Damn it, you two. Just play the goddamn game.” Percival, the ever peacemaker brother, stood in between Tristan and Bors, shoving each brother on the chest.
Julie smiled. Percival worked for the government, too, as a computer analyst. His eyes showed intelligence. Among the brothers, Percival had the face any woman would call an angel. A woman could drown in the deep pool of his blue eyes. Not her though.
“Darlings, please play nice. Bors, your curse jar is almost full,” Katherine, the boys’ mother, said smiling, without a hint of alarm in her voice.
How in the world the woman remained calm when it looked like her sons were ready to squeeze the breath out of each other, Julie had no idea.
“Sorry, Mom!” Bors apologized sheepishly to his mother, then turned around to hit Tristan on the shoulder with his own.
Tristan moved toward Bors, then stopped. He shook his head at his brother, who grinned in return. “Cheap shots. You learn that from being an FBI agent?”
“I call it a smart shot, you asswipe.”
Julie couldn't help herself as she burst out laughing.
The men stopped their bickering and looked at her. All looked pleased for making her laugh.
“Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt. Carry on.”
Overgrown kids.
“Wanna play, Julie?” Gawain asked.
“Oh, no. Thank you.”
What, play with you guys so I can get tossed on the ground like a sack of flour? No way.
Gawain, the playful brother, touched his heart, making a big show of being hurt by her refusal to play. She liked Gawain. The youngest boy could not only charm the pants off a female goat, he was also the funniest. Youngest maybe, but when it came to height and build, he wasn't far behind his brothers.
“Alright. Let us know if you wanna join.”
The fight for the football began.
Julie watched the brothers taunt and pretend to box before properly continuing with their game. She'd known the Knight family for six months now, and learned that cursing was part of their day-to-day conversation. Despite their roughness though, they were a fun bunch and without a doubt, gentlemen.
Kirsten, lucky girl, was so fortunate. Four wild and deliciously appealing brothers named after the Knights of the Round Table surrounded her. Not only did she have brothers to protect her, they doted on her like the precious little sister she was. Kirsten showed her the tree house the brothers had made for her, complete with lights, windows and a secured door so the critters couldn't come inside. She thought it the coolest and sweetest thing any brother would do for a sister.
Unlike her.
An only child with a pathetic family that consisted of her drunkard father as estranged to her as the aliens from outer space, her dickhead stepbrother, Sebastian, and the most evil stepmother, who was intent on destroying her name so she could get her mother's fortune.
Julie thought about Marla. She bet, right this minute, her stepmother was busy digging for some kind of an insane accusation to throw at her. The thought of her father's third wife soured her mood.
She'd exchange her so-called family for cats and dogs anytime.
“Are you disappointed I introduced you to this family?” Kirsten tipped the water bottle to her lips. Sweat still dripped down her temples.
“Meeting your family was the best day of my life. Better than the time I received my first acceptance letter from St. Mary's Publication,” Julie answered, her eyes still fixed on the men.
“You told me you screamed until you lost your voice when you got the email from your agent. I don't remember you screaming when you met my family. In fact, you were kind of speechless at first.”
“Okay, fine. Maybe better than holding my first print book in my hand.”
“Are you kidding me? I was ready to forget you as my friend because you acted like a lunatic while ogling the copy of your
thirteenth
book. Can't imagine seeing you the first time you had your very first print in your hand.” Kirsten pretended to shudder. “Glad we weren't friends then.”
“Whatever. Your wonderful, raucous, nice, and beautiful family is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. Period.”
“They say the same thing about you. They all thank you for saving me.”
“Nah, I bet anyone wouldn't hesitate using the epinephrine on you. I just happened to be sitting by you at the right time.”
“The medics said you were the only one helping me. The rest of the bus passengers were just looking while on their cell phones, as if I was some kind of a freak show. A couple of teenagers even took my picture and posted my unflattering, blotchy face on their MySpace. If it weren't for Percival, the pictures might still be floating around cyberspace. Who knows? Maybe those teens printed a copy of my picture and posted it in some dirty public toilet.”
“Why would they do that? So they could scare the rats?”
Kirsten squirted her with cold water.
Laughing, Julie licked her lips and ignored her wet top. “Well, I'm glad I was there. I got to meet the best fashion designer in all of Washington. And, here's the best part...I get frequent invites to come and enjoy free food and lodging here, in the picturesque Orcas Islands.”
“Me, too. Even now that we all have our own places, this is still home for us. With our busy schedules, we always look forward to coming here to get together.”
“Hey. Same here.”
“Mom and Dad, too. I think they wish everyday were a holiday so we'd stay here forever, like when we were kids. They've been looking forward to this spring reunion.”
“Who wouldn't want to have you all around? Love everything about you, your family, and especially the free entertainment. Like this one.” Julie pointed at the men. “Can't beat that.”
“I know. Aren't they silly?”
“Their silliness is what keeps me accepting your invites. Thanks, by the way. I needed this vacation and the entertainment.”
“No problem. Carly thought my brothers were entertaining, too. She liked all of my brothers so much she tried seducing all of them, even when she was already married to Tristan. Of course, my brothers didn't jump on the
opportunity
, if you could call it that. The nerve of that woman! She forgot we are all loyal to each other and we'd find out about her ludicrous stunt.”
Julie had heard snippets of what happened with Carly and Tristan's failed marriage. “You all came together to help him bounce back.”
“We are his family. No way were we going to let him live like a hermit in a shell, growing his beard and missing his meal. We are all here for each other.”
Julie thought about when she was in elementary grade. There were so many nights she missed her dinner because her mother and father were busy fighting. And for a daughter of well-to-do parents, she often went to school late, and with an empty stomach. Now as an adult, she never ran out of food within an arm's reach. Maybe her past had to do with her cravings for anything considered edible.
