Captivated by Love (Grangers Book 1) Read online

  Yes, he knew. Marriage to the woman who had been his first love was good for Caden. He went into the office every day, but Sheppard wondered if Caden ever thought about returning to the concert circuit he’d given up to help his brothers save Granger Aeronautics.

  “And then there’s Dalton.”

  Sheppard chuckled and shook his head. His youngest son was…special. Marriage was definitely good for him, especially when his wife was a woman like Jules. The two of them were good together and constantly challenged each other. Sheppard was convinced that if it hadn’t been for Jules, Dalton would have taken off to parts unknown, chasing behind some skirt, the moment Sheppard had walked out of prison a free man. Wanderlust had been Dalton’s middle name. But still, Sheppard wasn’t sure how much longer Dalton would be able to dedicate his life to Granger Aeronautics. He knew his son had used up all his vacation days--and then some he didn't really have on the books--to accompany Jules, who was a private investigator, on a couple of her business trips.

  “You’re ready to go back, Sheppard. Granger Aeronautics is calling your name.”

  “Is it?” He’d always thought so, but lately he wasn’t sure. Being incarcerated for fifteen years had a way of making you take another look at your life. A lot of things that used to be important to him had become less so. He shook his head slightly. There was one thing he could say about his wife… She knew him and had an uncanny ability to read him at times.

  She didn’t say anything for a minute as she studied him with that intense gaze of hers. She looked closely into his eyes and he was certain she saw the love he felt for her. But with the lifting of her brow, he was sure she’d detected something else as well. “Umm, but then maybe it’s not. Tell me how you feel, Sheppard.”

  He drew in a deep breath and then taking her hand, he led her across the room and back to bed. This would be a conversation he wanted to have while they were lying down with her body nestled next to his.

  The moment they got underneath the covers, he pulled her to him, their limbs automatically entwined, her head resting against his chest. “Lately I’ve been thinking about not returning to Granger Aeronautics on a permanent basis.”

  “Why?”

  He paused a moment and then said, “Dad had planned to retire before I was arrested for Sylvia’s death. Once I was convicted, retirement had no longer been an option for him and he’d worked tirelessly for the next fifteen years to keep the company afloat for his grandsons.”

  “And for your return,” she added.

  “Yes, for my return. Had I come home when Dad assumed I would, I would be doing the same thing he’d been doing, right about now…thinking about retiring and leaving the company to my sons. Jace is doing a fantastic job. I don’t want to get in the way. He loves GA as much as I once did.”

  “Once? But not now?”

  “Not with the passion I use to. My heart is elsewhere, Carson.”

  She twisted around in his arms and met his gaze. “Where?”

  “The Sheppard Granger Foundation for Troubled Teens. I’m needed more there than at GA.”

  Carson didn’t say anything as she thought about her husband’s admission. It was one only a man such as Sheppard could make. He had been locked up for fifteen years. He’d been inside the walls, had seen what prison could do to a person if they didn’t have an advocate on the inside who was not afraid to fight their battles. But the foundation Sheppard had established after being released from prison took things even farther. It was created to stop at-risk teens before they could even get that far, to keep them from going to jail in the first place.

  She’d known that he had been working with Reverend Luther Thomas, even from inside the walls of prison. She’d heard the story from Sheppard that Luther, a convict himself, had been released after being locked up for six years before his attorney fought for and won a new trial. New evidence was submitted that proved the DNA on the rape victim didn’t belong to Luther. Even better, it was found that the real rapist was already doing time for a series of other rapes.

  Luther, even while inside, had been instrumental in helping Sheppard retain his sanity during his first year of incarceration. He had told Sheppard that being in prison didn’t make a person guilty; it just meant the odds had been against him or her. And when that person knows of their innocence, they have nothing to be ashamed about. It had not come as a surprise to anyone that, after leaving prison, Luther had gone back to college and gotten his PhD in Social Work as well as become a minister.

  It had become routine that when any of the young men Sheppard had mentored was released and had no family or friends to return to, Sheppard would recommend that they go to Luther. The agency Luther founded helped them ease back into society. It encouraged them to obtain college degrees, find meaningful employment and work hard to regain their dignity and self-respect. Over the years, she’d met with Luther on Sheppard’s behalf a number of times. He’d even officiated their wedding. She agreed with Sheppard that Luther had a way of inspiring people.

  She snuggled closer to him. “So, what’s your plan?”

  He chuckled. “Just like that? You’re not going to try talking me out of anything?”

  She leaned up on her elbow, then looked down at him and smiled. “Of course not. It’s your life. I’m just along for the ride.”

  Sheppard hooked a hand around her to lower her head to his mouth. Her lips parted on contact and he slid his tongue inside. Carson had a way of making him feel as if he was the luckiest man on earth. Their tongues tangled relentlessly with a degree of passion that made his erection throb. Made every nerve-ending inside his body feel rejuvenated. When she moaned, he deepened the kiss, getting even more aroused by her taste.

  He pulled back and stared into her beautiful mocha-colored face, gazing into her copper brown eyes beneath long curly lashes. “Don’t you think we’re getting too old for this?” he asked as his hand began moving up her inner thigh.

  She chuckled. “Speak for yourself, Sheppard. Nobody told you to marry a younger woman.”

  He began stroking her between her legs, running his fingers through the curly hair covering her feminine mound, deliberately igniting a fire inside of her. “The difference in our ages bothered me at first.”

  He heard her sharp intake of breath when he eased a finger inside of her. “I know, but I refuse to allow you to let it. It was meant for us to be together,” she said on a breathless whisper.

  Sheppard truly believed that now, although he hadn’t at the time. All he had to do was remember their beginning. One, he’d thought, could never have a happy ending. More than once he’d tried to convince her that she deserved someone else but she had refused to listen.

  “Just remember that we’re making up for lost time,” she said breathlessly, as he worked his finger inside of her. His erection thickened. He felt hard and achy and loved making her come this way.

  “We’re doing anything and everything that we couldn’t do then,” she added, barely getting the words out.

  A smile touched his lips. That was true. Was that the reason he was driven to make love to her every single day? Sometimes two or three times in the same day? Trying out positions he’d only dreamed about over the past fifteen years? Positions he had no business knowing about, let alone trying. “No more talking, sweetheart.”

  “You won’t hear a complaint from me.”

  He eased her on her back and hovered over her, with his finger still firmly planted inside of her, while his thumb stroked her clitoris. He liked looking at the emotions on her face whenever he gave her pleasure. “You’re ready for me to stop?”

  “No.”

  He didn’t think so. Arousing her could arouse him and he could feel his erection expand even more. She gazed into his eyes and the intensity did something to him. And then her body began quivering all over, especially the area between her legs. But he didn’t stop and when she threw her head back and screamed his name, he lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her right into a
n orgasm.

  #

  An hour or so later, Sheppard was still awake, holding a deeply satisfied Carson in his arms. He was pretty damn satisfied himself. Multiple orgasms were something he’d never experienced before her. And at his age, who would have thought such a thing possible without some type of sex enhancing drug. The only drug he needed was lying here in his arms. His wife was pretty damn potent.

  And as he lay there, inhaling the scent of their lovemaking and loving the feel of her naked body entwined with his, he couldn’t help but reflect back, taking a stroll down memory lane to the time they’d met. The very first time he’d laid his eyes on Carson Boyett was a day that had changed his life forever.

  PART ONE

  THE PAST

  The past can only be accepted.

  It can’t be forgotten, edited or erased.

  And it can never be changed.

  Anonymous

  1

  Delvers Penitentiary – 6 Years Ago

  Sheppard, Warden Smallwood wants to see you.”

  Sheppard Granger nodded. “Okay, Ambrose. How’s your mother?” he asked the prison guard. Ambrose had told him last week that his elderly mother had slipped and fallen, breaking her hip. The guard had been very worried.

  “They got her in rehab. She’ll be there for another couple of weeks and then Kathie and I decided to move her in with us for a while.”

  “That might be a good idea,” Sheppard said, walking alongside the man. “And how are Kathie and the boys?”

  He knew Ambrose Cheney was thirty-six and had three young sons below the age of eleven. His wife Kathie was a school teacher. From the moment Sheppard had met Ambrose, he’d liked the younger man. Unlike some prison guards who let power go to their heads, Ambrose treated all the inmates with respect. In turn, Ambrose was well-liked and respected.

  Sheppard wished he could say the same of some of the other guards, particularly Wayne Cullers. Everyone stayed out of Culler’s way, including Sheppard. The only good thing about Cullers was that he’d be retiring in a few months. At least, that was the word among the prisoners. Sheppard hoped so.

  “Everyone is fine,” Ambrose said, breaking into his thoughts. “The boys are growing up fast. Eating me out of house and home. Kathie and I hope we’ll be able to afford college when the time comes. Right now, the grocery bills are killing us.”

  Sheppard knew first-hand how much growing boys could eat. He thought about his own three sons. As always, thinking about them and what he’d missed out on over the last ten years caused a deep pain to settle around his heart. This was not how he thought his life would turn out. He should be sitting behind a huge desk at Granger Aeronautics and working with his staff as they went over the designs and developments of yet another aircraft. It had been hard adjusting to prison life, especially knowing he hadn’t committed the crime he was doing time for.

  “You’re walking like you’re in a hurry, Sheppard.”

  “Sorry about that.” Ambrose was tall but not as tall as Sheppard and he slowed his stride so the younger man could keep up.

  Sheppard had gotten transferred to Delvers from Glenworth a few months ago and was still trying to find his way around. When he had entered prison ten years ago, he’d been assigned to Glenworth Penitentiary, a place known to house mostly hardcore criminals. He had definitely been out of his element there and the first two years had been difficult. He’d come from a family of wealth and prestige. So, he’d been ill-equipped when he’d come up against men who’d grown up with nothing and resented him. He’d gotten roughed up a few times, threatened and bullied. But he had refused to be broken. It was only a miracle that during his third year, he’d shared a prison cell with a man name Luther Thomas.

  Luther, who’d been wrong convicted of rape, had been instrumental in helping Sheppard retain his sanity. He was the one who’d encouraged him to use his skills as a business executive to help others and the two of them had come up with a plan. Together, he and Luther had begun programs in prison such as Toastmasters, Leaders of Tomorrow and the GED program. Their efforts had been successful and recognized by the media and even the governor.

  They’d even implemented mentoring programs to turn around the lives of several inmates. Sheppard’s strong points as a businessman had always been in strategic planning. With the warden’s help, he’d put that well-honed skill to work by reaching out to several corporations and convincing them of the need for education and vocational training for inmates. As a result, several business classes had been instituted. By the time he’d left Glenworth, an inmate could get his associate degree in a number of fields, and Sheppard was glad that quite a number of young men had done so. For the past four years, he had received national attention when he’d been the recipient of the Born Leader award from the Governor’s Commission on Prison Reform.

  Several prisons around the country had wanted him to relocate to establish such programs at their facilities; however the decision had always been his to remain at a facility in Virginia, not far from home. With the governor’s help, he’d established a number of satellite classes that connected inmates with well-known universities.

  Sheppard was proud of all the men whose lives he had helped turn around. Those who were now free men were having positive impacts on their communities. Some had gone back to school, many even to college, and others were business owners—successful men.

  Six months ago, upon the recommendation of the warden, the governor had approved Sheppard’s transfer to Delvers, a prison located thirty-minutes from Glenworth, that housed less-serious offenders, mainly young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four. Sheppard was to work closely with Warden Smallwood as a trustee, initiating various projects to ensure that the less serious offenders didn’t become serious ones in the future. He’d been assigned a team of twenty inmates to mentor, and working with the young men had made the days bearable. It was also good that Delvers had a warden who cared.

  Sheppard liked Adam Smallwood. The man was a visionary with a huge heart. He was determined to decrease the length of time the inmates spent at his facility instead of trying to increase it. But more than anything, Smallwood wanted them to be productive citizens when they left Delvers. Sheppard whole-heartedly agreed with that concept.

  And so, here he was, on his way to probably meet yet another young inmate needing his help. The administrative area was on another floor and located on the other side of the huge building. Sheppard didn’t mind the long walk and tried to get in as much exercise as he could each day. He tried not to think about the fact that his home in Sutton Hills had its own gym. No one lived in the house now and his three sons, now grown men, had scattered.

  In the beginning, it had been hard to be separated from his sons. They’d lost their mother and then months later, they’d lost him as well. He knew from his father how a number of their friends had turned their backs on the Granger boys because their parents wouldn’t allow their kids to associate with the sons of a killer. Hearing that had been hard on Sheppard, and he could just imagine what all they’d gone through. Sadly, he used to call some of those same people friends. That was one of the reasons his sons had decided that they wouldn’t return home after leaving Charlottesville for college.

  Jace, his oldest son, who had been sixteen when Sheppard had left for prison, had finished law school and had taken a job in Los Angeles; Caden, who’d been fourteen, had also finished college and was pursuing his dream of being a musician. Last time they talked, Caden had told him that he’d joined a band--the Depots--as their saxophone player.

  And then there was Dalton, his youngest son, who'd also gotten a college degree...just barely...and only because he had to maintain his grades to play football. That paid off when he’d been drafted to play professionally in the NFL after college. Dalton had been a few days shy of turning twelve when Sheppard had left. The youngest, he had often been referred to as Sylvia’s baby and she had pretty much spoiled the boy rotten. Things had come too easily
for Dalton and it was evident he was beginning to feel entitled. Sheppard knew from talking with his father that Dalton still had that mentality. Unlike Jace and Caden, who returned to Charlottesville occasionally to visit their grandfather, and who, over the years, came to visit Sheppard pretty regularly, his youngest son seldom came home.

  According to his father, Dalton had pretty well walked away from his family. Then again, Sheppard was well aware that Richard had pretty much given up on Dalton, too, claiming he was as selfish as Sylvia had been and was living a wild life off the money he’d earned from his life as a professional football player. He was living in the fast lane and throwing away most of what he made on fast cars and faster women.

  Richard Granger was convinced if his youngest grandson got his hands on his trust fund at twenty-five, he would squander it all. That was why Richard changed the terms of his will. Unlike Jace and Caden, who got access to their funds at twenty-five, Richard had amended Dalton’s trust fund so that he couldn’t get a penny out of it before he turned thirty. That action had pissed Dalton off to no end and he hadn’t spoken to his grandfather since.

  Jace was the only one who’d married, but according to Richard, even that was on shaky ground. As the oldest grandson, there had always been a special bond between Jace and Richard, and it hadn’t surprised Sheppard that Jace had confided to Richard about the deplorable state of his marriage even though he never mentioned anything about it whenever he visited with Sheppard.

  Sheppard figured it was mainly because Jace wouldn’t want him to worry about anything. But Sheppard had news for him. When it came to his sons, he worried. He wished Jace and his wife Eve could work things out, but according to his father--who didn’t like Eve anyway and hadn’t wanted Jace to marry the woman--it would be for the best if they divorced. Richard claimed he’d never seen Jace so unhappy.