The Clarke Brothers (Complete Series)

by Lilian Monroe

  That’s not going to happen, because he’s not even here. Will I have the courage to come up here tomorrow? I could just turn around and drive back toward the airport.

  I sigh. He’s not here. I resign myself to that fact and turn back toward my car. I keep my head down and stare at the gravel pathway, trying to hold back the tears in my eyes. I feel almost foolish for coming all the way up here. The gravel crunches underfoot and I’m lost in my own thoughts when the sound of his voice makes me jump.

  “Maddy?”

  He sounds almost hesitant. My head whips around and I see him standing there, at the edge of the clearing. He’s wearing his work clothes and has a bead of sweat rolling down his face. He looks like he’s been working hard, with his hair plastered to his forehead and his shoulders covered in dust. He wipes his hands on the front of his coveralls and takes a step toward me.

  “What are you doing here?” he asks. I open my mouth and suddenly my words are gone. I don’t know how to answer his question. I don’t know how to put my feelings into words and I don’t know what to tell him. I can’t tell if he’s happy or sad or mad to see me.

  I open and close my mouth like a goldfish as he closes the distance between us. His face is dark and unreadable and as he gets closer my heart starts to thump harder and harder. With every step, my voice seems to get further and further away.

  God, he looks good.

  He’s just a couple feet away from me, and all I want to do is run into his arms. He stops walking when he’s a step away from me. His eyes search mine and we stand there, inches apart, saying nothing. I open my mouth and my voice comes out as a hoarse whisper. I can only manage two words as I stare at the man I love, the man who makes me want to change my life.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper.

  Something snaps between us and in an instant his arms are around me and he’s crushing his lips against mine. He pulls me into him as I wrap my arms around his neck. I inhale his scent, loving the musk that fills my nostrils. A shiver runs through me as his fingers sink into my flesh. HIs tongue plays with mine and he kisses me harder than ever before.

  I can hardly breathe. All I can do is keep my lips on his. My fingers tangle into his hair and he growls as I pull it gently. He drops his hands to my ass and pulls me closer so that I feel his hard cock pressed against me.

  Finally, we pull apart and stare at each other’s eyes. We’re both panting. His chest is heaving up and down with mine as his arms squeeze me closer. I run my fingers through his hair and he groans in satisfaction.

  “You came back,” he growls.

  My eyes are prickling and all I can do is nod. “Yeah,” I reply, still not able to talk above a whisper. Without another word, he dips his chin down and takes my lips in his. I close my eyes and melt into him. My heart is flying and my head is finally calm. I’m home.

  42

  Aiden

  I know I should shower, or I should take my dirty work clothes off. I’m filthy from another day of working on the house. Right now, all I can do is kiss her and touch her and convince myself that she’s real.

  Holding her in my arms is the sweetest pleasure. Feeling her body tremble and seeing her eyes shine makes me want to howl into the night. I pull her closer and crush my lips against hers. Her body fits perfectly into mine and for the first time since she left, I feel whole again.

  I drop my hands to her ass and hoist her up. She giggles and wraps her legs around my waist as I turn toward the cabin. I kick the door open, breaking the doorknob as splinters of wood spray into the cabin.

  “I’ll fix it tomorrow,” I growl, not taking my eyes off her. She laughs and runs her fingers through my hair, squeezing them into fists and sending pleasure and pain through my skull. The sensation sends a thrill all the way down to my cock and all I want to do is plunge it into her. I carry her to the bed and lay her down, lying on top of her and covering her in a million kisses.

  I missed her moans when she was gone. I missed the way her body trembles when I touch her, and the way her eyes blaze with desire. I missed the way she breathes my name when I touch her. I run my hand between her legs and I can feel the heat of her center through her pants. She moans gently and pushes her hips up toward me.

  I don’t know why she came back, or how long she’ll be here, or what she wanted to tell me – but right now none of that matters. All that matters is her body next to mine.

  I stand up and tear my coveralls off. They drop to my feet and I watch as Maddy pulls her jeans off and lifts her shirt over her head. The air in the cabin is cold, and my eyes drift to her hard nipples. My cock throbs and I lean down to take one in my mouth. She moans as my lips touch her breast, wrapping her fingers in my hair and reaching her other hand down to stroke my cock.

  I’m so hard it hurts. My whole body is pulsing for her. She looks at me with fire in her eyes and then everything is a blur. She’s screaming my name and arching her back. She’s pressing her body into mine and wrapping her arms and legs around me. Her nails are digging into my skin and every touch is making my body more electric. I kiss, and bite, and lick anything I come in contact with.

  We’re animals. I push myself into her with the full force of my desire for her. Her body melts into mine and mine into hers. I’m inside her, around her, beside her. We’re one. We make love until everything is spent, until she comes and I come and our bodies are more connected than they ever have been. We make love without saying a word to each other, letting our moans and bodies guide us.

  Her body is more perfect than I remember. She feels softer than I remember, and she tastes sweeter than she did before. It’s not until we’re lying side by side and the breath comes back to our bodies that we look at each other. She smiles and trails her fingers over my chest. I groan, catching her fingers and pressing them to my lips.

  “You came back,” I say, searching her face for answers. She nods. I watch her swallow, peering into my eyes and breathing softly. Her lips part slightly and her eyes get brighter.

  “I love you,” she says. I hardly hear the words, she says them so softly. To my ears though, they sound as loud as a scream. My mouth curls into a smile and I wrap my arms around her, pressing my lips against hers and feeling my chest rumble.

  “I love you too, Maddy,” I finally say when we pull apart. Her eyes water and she smiles at me, running her fingers through my hair and trailing them down my cheek.

  “I’m sorry,” she says. “For everything. For doubting you. For accusing you of lying to me. For asking if you burned the hotel down. It was me who was wrong. I was taking my own confusion out on you and it was wrong.”

  I shake my head. “Maddy,” I say, pressing her fingers to my lips again. “You don’t need to apologize. I’m just happy you’re here.”

  “What happened?” she says slowly. “At the hotel?”

  I take a deep breath and shake my head. “It sounds like it was a bit of a group decision in town,” I say slowly, not wanting to name any names. Not yet, anyway. “I took off after you came here. I went camping up north to clear my head and when I came back it had burned down.”

  She nods, running her fingers through my hair. “Are you happy it’s gone?”

  I stare at her, wondering what she wants me to say. I can’t read her face, so I decide to just tell the truth. “Yeah,” I say. “I’m glad it burned down.”

  Maddy looks at me for a moment and then I see a grin creeping across her face. “Me too,” she says softly. I laugh, and my body relaxes a bit more. Her lips part again and she takes a deep breath. “Can I stay?” she asks, again barely above a whisper. I can’t help it, I start laughing. I wrap my arms around her and laugh until she’s laughing with me, and then jump out of bed. I pull on some pants and a sweatshirt.

  “Come on,” I say. “I want to show you something.”

  She frowns, but doesn’t ask any questions. She pulls her clothes back on and I interlace my fingers into hers. I lead her out the cabin and up the path toward the big house
. She glances at me and I look down at her, smiling. I nod to the house, opening the front door and letting her step through.

  I’ve made good progress. The whole bottom floor is bare and ready for construction. I walk in after her as she looks around.

  “Over here is going to be the living room, open concept with the kitchen. I’m going to put the kitchen counters over here, with an island in the middle. We can have a small bathroom over here, and dining table here. I was thinking we could build a patio and have a place to have breakfast in the morning.”

  Maddy opens her mouth to speak but all she can do is shake her head in amazement. I grab her hand again and lead her upstairs.

  “There’s four bedrooms. Here’s the master. I’ll take the carpet up and get a good rug. The wallpaper can go, obviously.”

  “Aiden…” Maddy breathes. She turns toward me, her eyes shining bright as she wraps her arms around my neck. “Are you serious?”

  I laugh. “I just gutted my childhood home. Yes, I’m fucking serious,” I growl, touching my nose to hers. Her smile widens and she laughs with me.

  “This is incredible! Can I help?”

  “So, does that mean you’re staying?”

  Maddy grins and nods her head slowly. “I was thinking I could start a garden shop. I liked working at the community garden. I’ve got a bit of money,” she says, glancing around. “Actually, I’ve got a lot of money. I was thinking we could have a garage and a garden shop in town. Maybe a small hardware store.” She glances at me and my heart starts to beat a little bit faster.

  “A garage?” I ask slowly.

  She nods. “If you want. We’d be business partners, obviously. Fifty-fifty. But I was thinking there’s nothing in town like that. There’s enough traffic and surrounding communities that would need a mechanic like you who has his own garage.”

  I laugh and pick her, spinning her around in our future bedroom. I kiss her one more time and wrap my arms around her. We sway gently from side to side, smiling at each other. There are so many things that are unsaid between us. We’ll have to have so many conversations, get to know each other so much better. Somehow the thought of it excites me. I know that I have all the time in the world to tell her about my past and to learn about hers. I kiss her once more, and decide to ask her one of the thousand questions I have for her.

  “Why did you leave so quickly?” I ask her. “Was it because of me? The rest of your coworkers stayed way longer. Some of them are still here.”

  Her face falls and she shakes her head. “My dad died,” she says. Her voice is tense and she looks up at me. “I had to go home for the final days and the funeral. He was sick, remember? I told you. He took a turn for the worse. I got the call the night the hotel burned down.”

  “Maddy…” I breathe. My heart squeezes for her and I hold her tight. She shakes her head.

  “It’s okay. I wish you could have met him. He’d have loved you. I think he just wanted me to find my own way, or my own place in the world.”

  “And that place is Lang Creek?” I ask, my voice tight as I hold the woman of my dreams in my arms.

  She laughs and shrugs. “It’s wherever you are,” she finally answers. This time when I kiss her, it’s more tender than before. It’s a kiss that knows I’ll be able to kiss her again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. It’s a kiss that says I’m truly and completely hers.

  Epilogue

  Madeline

  One year later…

  The whole town shows up to the grand opening of the new shop. I look at the big sign at the front: C & C Home and Hardware store. Clarke and Croft. People are already calling it C&C’s, and it feels like we’ve been accepted into the community. It probably helps that everyone thinks Aiden burned the hotel down. Everyone except the McCoys were celebrating for weeks.

  He finally told me that his brothers and the sheriff were the ones who did it. I didn’t know how to react. I still don’t know what to think of it. It’s wrong, obviously. Arson is never right. But somehow it feels appropriate here. The hotel was like a stain on the mountainside, and now it’s gone. The company decided to take the insurance money and abandon the site. There’s been a half-assed remediation attempt, but for the most part it’s been left to the forest to reclaim. The police investigation never solved the crime, obviously. Sheriff Bill Whittaker has had a bounce in his step for a whole year.

  I glance around at our new shop and shake my head. I’m a small business owner in a small town. It’s nowhere near as prestigious as working for my father’s company, or being a rising star as an environmental engineer, but I don’t care. I’ve realized that none of that matters. Aiden has taught me what does matter, and that’s love, and life, and wilderness.

  There are balloons, and music, and food, and drink. Everyone comes in to see the new store. Aiden is beaming, wearing his new branded “C&C’s” shirt. I’ve never seen him as happy as when he got rid of the old coveralls that had the McCoy name on the front.

  Old Man Wilson comes up to me and shakes my hand. “You did a great job with the place,” he says to me, glancing around. “And a great job with the man,” he adds with a wink. I laugh, looking over at Aiden again. He’s smiling and talking more than I’ve seen him do since the day I met him.

  My heart feels light. Aiden appears beside me and slides his arm around my back. He kisses my temple and I melt into him. I’ll never get tired of being in his arms. The front door jingles and in walk Mara and Margaret McCoy. Aiden tenses beside me and I rub his back to help him relax. They look around the shop and saunter over to us.

  “Congratulations,” Mara says with the same fake smile as her mother.

  “Thank you,” I respond. The four of us stand there awkwardly.

  “So I guess you’re our new competition,” Margaret says as she looks Aiden up and down.

  “I guess so,” Aiden responds. “Back to the way it was before.”

  Margaret purses her lips and I squeeze my arm around Aiden. I can feel the tension in his body and I know how hard it is for him to keep his cool. He’s stiff until Mara and Margaret nod, turn around and walk out. Aiden and I exchange a glance. He sighs.

  “I’m going to take back Dad’s business,” a voice growls behind us. I turn to see Dominic staring after Margaret and Mara. He glances at Aiden. “I know that you’ve moved on, and I’m happy for you. You should enjoy your new life. I’m not ready to move on, though. Not yet.”

  “What are you going to do?” Aiden asks. He stares at Dominic for a few moments and I feel like there are wordless things being said between them. Dominic cracks first as a grin breaks across his face.

  “I’m not going to burn the McCoy hotel down, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  Aiden laughs and shakes his head. “Just don’t get yourself into trouble.”

  Dominic nods and glances at me. “I’m happy for you. For both of you.” He wraps his arms around me in a big bear hug. I laugh and try to pull away when the breath feels like it’s being squeezed out of me. He finally lets me go and winks at me. “Take care of my brother.”

  “Will do. Take care of yourself.”

  “Always.” He shakes Aiden’s hand and heads off out of the shop. I glance at Aiden and he shakes his head.

  “I can’t control him,” he says with a shrug. “I just hope he doesn’t get himself into trouble.”

  I don’t know what to say, so I rub Aiden’s back in response. We turn back to the customers and greet and smile and laugh until CC’s grand opening is over.

  My eyes are closing after an exhausting day. I can hardly stay awake as we drive up the mountain, back up toward the cabin that I now call home. I know every twist and turn and by the time the car stops I’m ready to collapse into bed. Aiden glances over at me and smiles.

  “Come on,” he says. “I want to show you something.”

  I know that look in his eye, and I can’t say no. I take a deep breath and force my eyes open as I get out of his truck, following him up the
path. When the big house comes into view, my jaw drops. For the past three weeks, Aiden hasn’t let me anywhere near it. I had no idea he was done. He lets me in the front door and the ground floor steals the breath out of my lungs.

  It’s tastefully decorated, with old and new furniture. The whole place is open, and I can see the gleaming new kitchen at the back of the house. My hands fly up to my face as I look around. I finally look at Aiden and shake my head.

  “Aiden, it’s…” My voice trails off and I take a step into our new home. “It’s beautiful.”

  “You like it?”

  “Like it?” I say. “You did this?”

  Aiden laughs. “I had some help.”

  “I feel like I’m on HGTV or something,” I say with a laugh. “This is incredible!” I’m like a kid, running from room to room and squealing over everything. I helped him choose the finishes and paint colors and furniture, but seeing it all put together is better than I could have imagined. There are a few picture frames on the shelf in the living room, and I see a photo of my dad next to one of his. My chest tightens and Aiden puts his arm around my shoulder. He kisses my forehead and the two of us look at the pictures of our fathers, side by side in the place of honor on the shelf. He takes my hand and guides me up the steps. He opens the door to the master bedroom and the tears finally start falling down my cheeks.

  I have a new home, a new business, and a man that I love. I didn’t know happiness like this was possible. Aiden wipes the tears off my face and wraps his arms around me.

  “What do you say we christen the new bed,” he says with a wink. I laugh and tilt my chin up toward him. When he kisses me, I feel happier than I’ve ever felt before. I’m more than happy. I’m in love, and I’m finally home.

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