Chapter 1: Rekindling Old Flames

JAYDEN

“Thank God Hailey finally dumped that loser boyfriend.” Damien had to shout over the loud party crowd celebrating New Year’s.

Jayden Knight’s head snapped up. His whole body went tight. “Hailey broke up with her boyfriend?”

Damien nodded. “Right before she left Colorado. Asshole. Who breaks up with someone right before the holidays?”

Jayden’s hands curled into fists. “Did he dump her?”

Damien shrugged. “She didn’t say much and I don’t think she wants to talk about it. I’m just glad he’s finally gone.”

Damien turned toward his brothers, and Jayden shifted away. His eyes looked towards Hailey who was standing alone at the bar, sipping a glass of champagne.

She’s beautiful that it doesn't even make sense. His chest ached, like it always did when he looked at Hailey. It had been that way since the day he saw her at her high school graduation.

I should’ve taken her away then. Every time he saw her after that had been torture. Tonight was no different. He’d had to turn away just to stop himself from going over to her, tearing off her clothes, and making her his right then and there.

Hailey King was his private obsession and just one glance from her could change him from a calm, rational man into a possessive, out of control mess. She didn’t try to be sexy and honestly didn't need to because Just standing there was enough to drive him insane.

And now, for the first time since that graduation day, she was single and that made her impossible to resist now.

Jayden’s heart squeezed as he watched her smiling but still still look lonely, just like him. He wondered if she felt as restless and edgy as he did right now.

His eyes stared at her auburn hair swept up, the full curves of her body, and those killer stilettos that made him imagine fucking her while her heels dug into his ass, her voice screaming his name as she hit a powerful climax.

Fuck !. I can’t hold back anymore.

His cock throbbed against the zipper of his tux pants, painfully hard. Thankfully, his jacket covered him, hiding the fact that he had a raging hard-on for a woman he should probably stay far away from.

She’s Gavin’s little sister. Jayden had been close to the Kings for as long as he could remember. They all grew up in the same high end Boston neighborhood. Gavin and Damien were his good friends. That alone had kept him in check when it came to Hailey at least mostly.

The real wall between them had always been her boyfriend. Jayden didn’t share. And if he had Hailey King, there’d be no way he could handle even the thought of another man in her mind while he was fucking her. Besides, he knew Hailey too well to think she’d ever cheat. She wasn’t that type.

So he had waited, his need for her simmering just beneath the surface, barely under control every time they met.

She’s single now and there's no boyfriend in the picture. It felt like the lid had been ripped off everything he’d been holding back. His whole body burned with the urge to take her, claim her, make her his in every way. His eyes locked onto her like a predator.

Jayden set down his drink, turned, and headed toward Hailey,driven by one clear goal before he completely lost his mind.

HAILEY

Hailey King tried hard to stop looking at the most attractive man she had ever seen but she just couldn’t. She had known him for most of her childhood but she wasn’t a little girl anymore, and he definitely wasn’t a boy either.

I have to stop staring at him,she told herself. I’ll look away soon. I will. I’ll stop drooling over him. She repeated to herself over and over again like a mantra but her eyes stayed locked on Jayden Knight.

Hailey just couldn’t stop looking at the most gorgeous man on earth. Then she tried to act casual by sipping her champagne, but she was pretty sure her feelings were obvious. Jayden looked good in jeans and a t shirt. But in a suit at a New Year’s Eve party?

He looked breathtaking. He had a strong, natural charm that made it hard for any woman to look away. It wasn’t just his handsome face or fit body. It was everything about him. The way he moved, the way he spoke was just full of confidence and pure male energy that was impossible to ignore.

As he spoke to another man at the party, his expression looked serious and careful. No sign of the kind, warm smile she knew he had. He was probably talking to someone he didn’t know, someone who likely wanted something from him just like most people did.

Hailey held her breath when she saw Jayden nod quickly at the man and walk over to her brother, Damien. His face changed. He turned into the friendly guy she remembered. He clapped Damien on the back and gave him a real smile. His eyes lit up as he laughed and joked with her brother. The many sides of Jayden Knight.

Hailey sighed and finally looked away, wondering how many people actually knew the real man behind the billionaire image. She hadn’t seen him much in the past few years, but he couldn’t have changed that much.

She had made up her mind long ago and decided that she loved Jayden. At age seven, she had wanted to marry him. That feeling hadn’t really gone away, though now it wasn’t just about marriage. The feelings had grown stronger especially when she saw him again at eighteen. Now, at twenty-six, she still thought he was the most handsome, dangerous man she had ever known.

Of course, Jayden wasn’t saving her anymore. He wasn’t there to protect her from bullies like he had in grade school, when her hair was too red, her freckles too many, and she was too shy to fit in with the popular kids. Back then, Jayden had been her superhero who always stood up for her when she needed him.

And the best part? Jayden never told her older brothers about those painful moments. Even though he was close to Gavin, Damien, Jake, and Eric, Jayden kept every secret she asked him to. If her brothers had found out what was happening to her at the fancy private school she went to, they would’ve stepped in and gotten in trouble. That would have only made things worse with their angry, alcoholic father. He didn’t need much of a reason to cause more chaos. Hailey didn’t want to make things harder in a home that already felt like it was falling apart. Life at the King house was already bad enough.

But everything changed when she turned twelve. That year, Jayden left for college. She was heartbroken. But, like most teenagers, she eventually got over it. She only saw him now and then when he came back to Boston. As a teen, Jayden became more like a friend or just someone she knew. He wasn’t part of her everyday life anymore.

At least, not until her high school graduation. That was the day everything changed. From that day on, Jayden wasn’t her childhood hero or a family friend. No. Everything about how she felt for him shifted into something a lot more dangerous which was pure unbridled lust.