Lush (California Kings #1)

Prologue

AN HOUR BEFORE THE ACCIDENT

The laughter spilled from the main hall of the yacht club, bright and careless, tangled with the relentless thump of music. I should’ve been out there, smiling, toasting, pretending.

Instead, I’d been hiding in this bathroom for nearly twenty minutes, like it could stop the slow, sinking dread pooling in my chest.

Smile, Laurene! Smile!

Conrad’s great.

Really? my conscience said. He was great. Great for the family, great for appearances, great for everything except me .

The door opened and shut softly behind me.

“It’s over.”

I refused to look behind me. I couldn’t. If I did, I’d crack.

Instead, I focused on putting on my lipstick, the motion mechanical. I looked immaculate— perfect —the kind of woman my mother would smile at with pride. But I hated the color.

This fucking burgundy.

The same shade she shoved at me for every happy occasion, every moment she wanted to control. A color that screamed her. Everything she expected me to be. Everything I despised.

I met his gaze in the bathroom mirror .

He loomed there, his suit rumpled and tie slightly askew, his dark hair rebelliously unkempt. He looked the exact opposite of his brother—wild, unapologetic, dangerous. Everything I wasn’t supposed to want.

“Don’t look away.” Every word wrapped around me like a challenge, and that rebellious part of me strained beneath my skin. But he wasn’t asking. He was demanding.

And I obeyed.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

I wanted him here. I needed him. But I couldn’t have him.

“I could say the same to you.” In the dim light, his green eyes seemed almost black. “Shouldn’t you be outside? Smiling for the cameras? Pretending you don’t hate every second of this?”

“This”—I pointed between us—“ends now. Get out before somebody sees you.”

His eyes held mine, and the way he saw me, like he was stripping away every layer, every excuse, was almost too much.

I turned. “This isn’t a game, Reese. My mama would burn the entire town to the ground if she knew about us.”

“She doesn’t know.” He stepped closer. “I was careful. No one saw me. We still have the plan.”

“Please.” I had to get through this night without more tears. “Let’s…let’s just cut our losses. I—I don’t know if I can do it now.”

He was behind me before I knew it, his weight trapping me against the counter. I closed my eyes, my breath catching as his exhale grazed the sensitive skin of my neck, hot and tantalizing.

“Can we think of something else?” A bitter laugh escaped my lips. “She always knows, Reese. You don’t understand?—”

“What I understand,” he said, his voice sharp, “is that you’re miserable . You’re about to marry my brother, and you’re standing here trying to convince yourself it’s what you want. Believe in our plan or is that what you want, Laurene?”

My reflection stared back at me, every detail curated by Mama. I wasn’t the heir; that was Erik. I was the one Mama had molded into perfection—beauty, poise, intelligence, social grace. I was her trophy. But now, with everyone watching, with Mama’s grand plans hanging over me like a guillotine, the plan we came up with didn’t seem like a grand idea. I just wanted Reese safe.

“What I want doesn’t matter.”

Reese’s hand, calloused and warm, cupped my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze in the mirror. “It matters to me.”

Smile, Laurene.

Smile and nod. Smile and comply. Smile and marry Conrad Ashbourne.

And I was so fucking tired of it.

Mama told me what to do, so I did it. I was marrying Reese’s older brother. A man I barely knew.

A man I didn’t want.

“Look at me,” Reese said, his voice low and intense.

A bruise marked his jaw, and I wondered how he’d gotten it. My chest tightened with a familiar mix of anger and worry, a combination that always left me off-balance. I hated how much I still cared.

His fingers skimmed down my throat, his lips barely grazing my ear. I shivered as his hand danced over my collarbone, drifting dangerously toward my breasts.

“Reese.” I tried to pull away from the spell he always seemed to cast on me. But his mouth found the sensitive spot on my neck, and I bit my lip to stop the moan that rose in my throat.

He released my flesh, a mark already forming. “You know you belong to me, Laurie.”

This was killing me. I could manage the rest of the world, but Reese? He was an uncontrollable wildfire. The way Reese touched me, the things he did—they clung to me, burned me, marked me .

Hating him would have been easier.

But I loved him, hopelessly, with everything I had left.

“I… Reese, mm-hmm—we can’t! ”

“I need you.”

The footsteps outside the door cut through my thoughts and chilled me.

“This is dangerous.”

We were in public. Anyone could find us like this. Our families already hated each other. This would be a scandal.

Reese’s hands slid up my thighs, lifting my dress, exposing my bare skin to the cool air. My fingers wrapped around his wrists, a feeble attempt to stop him.

“I hate you,” I said, my voice trembling.

“You don’t.”

His lips pressed softly against mine before he sucked on my bottom lip. I shuddered, felt myself weakening, my head falling back, throat exposed. His hands moved with an urgency that stole what little air I had left.

“Tell me you don’t feel it,” he murmured as he kissed me, his hands inching my dress up and over my ass.

“I…” The word stuck in my throat, and I hated myself for the hesitation. “I don’t.”

A lie. A weak, pitiful lie that didn’t fool either of us.

Reese didn’t wait for an answer. He spun me around, gripping my hips. His eyes locked on to mine—I saw anger, regret, and all the things we couldn’t fix.

“I’ve tried to forget you,” he murmured, “but I can’t. Stop lying to me, stop lying to yourself. I’ve been drowning without you.”

“You’ll ruin me.”

His hands slid over my ass, and I felt him squeeze before giving it a firm slap and I gasped. I trailed my hands up his chest and he caught one, lifting it to his lips to kiss the center of my palm.

Just one more time.

Words fell apart as his hand slipped between my thighs, pulling my thong aside. I felt him dip a finger into my wetness and breach my tight walls. My nails dug into his shoulders, and he gently pumped before, in one fluid motion, he hoisted me onto the counter. I tightened a hand on the edge of the counter, my other clutching his shoulder as he rocked me against him.

“Marry me.”

I had to remember why we were all here tonight.

“I’m engaged now. To Conrad ,” I said. “Your brother .”

“You don’t belong to him!” His voice thundered. I flinched, but it wasn’t fear—it was frustration. “You belong with me.”

This marriage was a merger carefully crafted by our parents. My feelings didn’t matter, and neither did his.

“You’re the only thing that makes sense,” he whispered.

My pulse hammered in my ears, drowning out the sound of reason.

“You don’t love him.”

Conrad and I… We barely existed in the same space outside of the public eye. There were no romantic illusions between us. No promises of love. Just a duty to uphold, a role to play. Over time, I’d get used to a loveless marriage.

Women in this town did it all the time.

I’ll find a way to survive and thrive because I was a King.

I felt his hands tremble slightly as he held my face.

Be strong, Laurene. “I have a responsibility?—”

“Trust me.” His voice was so sure, like he knew my heart better than I did. And maybe he did. “How many more years are you going to smile and pretend and keep up that goody-two-shoes shit? You were made to create, get dirty and sexy… with me. ”

I shook my head. Reese didn’t get it.

“I’ve loved you through every storm, every moment of doubt. I see you—the real you. And I love every part of you, even the parts you think are unlovable and broken. Just be with me. I don’t care if Dad disowns me. Let Conrad and Jennie take the company—I’ll give up everything just to keep you by my side. Please, just give us a chance.”

I wanted to believe him, but I knew better. I knew how my family would handle him. Mama’s threat was clear. If I defied her—if I didn’t marry Conrad—she’d disown me. No trust, no family, nothing.

“You want that art gallery? It’s done, sweetheart. We could disappear. Bali, Santorini, Paris? Just name the place, and I’ll get us there.”

“Millions of dollars are on the line, Reese. Our families won’t just let us disappear.” I slapped his shoulder.

“Should I just stand by? Watch them own you, own us ?” His voice cracked, raw and furious. “Hell no. They don’t get to take you from me.”

I wanted to run with him and never look back. “Running won’t solve anything.”

“Giving in is not the answer either!”

I can’t desert my family. Reese’s gaze softened, and he gently wiped away my tear.

“We’ll figure it out. But we fight, Laurie. We fight for us.”

“Kiss me.” Just one more time. Before I break his heart completely.

His lips were on mine in an instant, and the world disappeared. All the guilt, the shame, the fear of what would come next melted away. There was nothing but Reese—the heat of his breath, the way his hands clutched me like I might vanish, the desperate press of his body against mine.

A moan escaped my lips, and I felt his tongue teasing mine and I opened my mouth. He grunted when I wrapped my legs around him and felt his hardening length against my core.

“I love you,” he gasped out when he broke the kiss. “Seeing him with you, it tears me apart. Conrad can have the money and the company, but he can’t have you. Not you, please .”

He slid his hand beneath my dress, forcefully tearing away my thong, and I spread my legs.

“Fuck, you’re soaked already.” His gaze flickered over my face as I squirmed under his touch, and his mischievous smirk returned. “Let me love you forever.”

Our clothes fell away in a frenzy of need, even knowing that outside the door, everyone we cared for waited with my fiancé. He reached into his pocket to grab a condom and rolled it on. Using my wetness, he ran his dick between my slick lips as he kissed me, capturing my gasp as he slid in, and I stretched to accommodate him.

“Reese!” I cried out.

“Good girl.” Reese moved with me. “Just take it like you always do.”

I clung to him, desperately trying to memorize every touch, every kiss, every inch of his skin against mine.

“Yes.” I hoped this temporary surrender would bring Reese peace when he saw me walk down the aisle. “Yes!”

Our bodies moved in a familiar, frantic rhythm. He repeated my name as I felt my body tighten, heat curling and building in my gut with each thrust as he fucked me with no mercy.

“ I love you ,” he murmured, repeating it like a chant. “You’re under my skin, deep in my heart. I’ll never let you go.”

He will hate me forever for what I’m going to do.

Reese was so thick; I felt him everywhere, his thrust sloppy against me in his desperation, and I leaned back, moving his hair from his face.

“I love you,” I allowed myself to say finally. I hated it was too late.

He played with my throbbing clit, shifting my leg over his shoulder. His intensity suffocated me, leaving me breathless. I touched his cheek and felt his steady spirit.

“Don’t ever doubt how I feel about you,” I whispered.

Reese leaned closer, slowing his strokes, but making sure to keep hitting my G-spot. My mind short-circuited as he brought us closer to the end. I panted heavily, lifting my hips, winding them in a circular motion as I came down to meet him.

“You gotta trust me. Trust the plan. Now cum for me. Only me.”

It was sudden—almost violent. I screamed Reese’s name and scratched at his suit, wishing I could leave marks on his skin. He came right after, crashing into me, and I savored his moans as we tried to catch our breath.

“You’ll never get rid of me. I’m here.” He placed a finger on my chest above my heart. “I’m in your heart, forever. ”

Someone knocked on the door.