Deadly Past

by Reus, Katie

  Adeline laughed and shook her head. “Glad to see your pregnancy isn’t slowing down that smart mouth.”

  “Are you coming to the class tonight?”

  “No, but I gave my extra ticket to Serenity. She said she’d bring someone with her. I picked up an extra tutoring shift and though I hate to miss your class, it won’t hold.”

  “All right, I’ll see you later in the week then.”

  Adeline nodded and got into her car. As she did, she felt ridiculous for leaving, but if she stepped inside that auto body shop, she would have to make small talk with Mac Collins, and she did not have that in her.

  She couldn’t believe he’d actually asked her out, couldn’t believe he thought she was attractive enough to ask out. Or that she’d turned him down. He was like this walking, talking sex god. She’d once seen him without his shirt—by accident—and that memory was burned into her psyche.

  But her taste in men ran toward the epic side of awful. So she was going to save herself some heartache and say no. Though he’d probably just let it drop. Or she hoped he would. She just hoped it wasn’t awkward the next time she went over there to tutor Joe.

  As she pulled out of the parking lot, she shelved that thought. She had more important things to deal with than a silly crush that wasn’t going to go anywhere.

  Because she wouldn’t let it.

  Chapter 26

  Lincoln watched Autumn from his seat behind the canvas, barely able to concentrate on anything but her the whole night. She was a great instructor who paid attention to everyone in the class. She’d come over a few times to help him out tonight and every time she did, her cheeks flushed an adorable shade of pink, and all he could think about was how her cheeks had flushed pink when he’d made her come last night in the front seat of his truck.

  He’d definitely surprised her by showing up tonight, but when Serenity had told him she had an extra ticket, he’d jumped at the chance.

  He’d gone for very simple and had chosen a butterfly to paint, figuring it would look good in the nursery. Though whenever he thought of setting up a nursery, he didn’t want their baby to have two, one at her house and one at his. People co-parented all the time and it was fine, and deep down he knew it was too soon to ask her to move in—the thought of that was insane. They hadn’t even gone on a real date yet. They were going on one tomorrow, but he knew that the future was still up in the air and he didn’t want to get ahead of himself.

  Still, he liked the thought of living with her. The thought of waking up to her every morning got his heart racing.

  Especially after last night.

  He added a little note at the bottom corner as he finished his colorful painting and when Autumn moved in behind him, he looked up at her to see what she thought. He had almost no skills when it came to painting, but he could follow instructions, and she’d sketched out four different options for people to choose from tonight.

  Her eyes widened at his little note that said “from your daddy” at the bottom.

  “That’s really sweet,” she whispered, squeezing his shoulder gently.

  He pinned her in place with his stare. He wished they were alone right now, that everyone in this class would just leave so he could take her right on her desk, bury his head between her legs until she was crying out his name in pleasure.

  “Oh my gosh, that is the sweetest thing ever,” Serenity said as she came to stand next to Autumn.

  He rubbed the back of his neck as a couple more women came over and looked at the painting, oohing over it. This was just for Autumn.

  She leaned down, her sweet scent teasing him as she whispered, “That’s what happens when you’re so adorable.” Then she straightened and started walking toward the front of the room. His gaze followed, unable to not look at her. “Alright everybody, that’s it for the night. You guys know the drill, just leave your canvases here and you can come pick them up anytime tomorrow after ten.”

  After that, the class started closing down very quickly, with people washing their brushes and tidying up their stations with an efficiency that told him most, if not all of the people here, had done this before.

  He took his time, dragging his feet cleaning until everyone was gone. He didn’t want to wait until tomorrow night for his date with her and he wasn’t letting her walk to her car alone. Especially since she’d mentioned about her tire potentially being shot out. The fact that Coventry was dead made him feel better, but he still didn’t like that the mechanic had thought her tire blowout might not be an accident. He knew how jackasses hunted illegally on Industry Road, but the whole thing didn’t sit right with him.

  “So how’d you like the class?” Autumn said as she came to stand at the sink with him. Tonight she’d worn a loose-fitting, paint-splattered red dress with thin straps and yellow llamas all over it. It was clearly one of her work dresses but every time she moved, it shifted, pulling taut over her full breasts. Her pregnancy wasn’t showing yet, not in an obvious way, but her breasts already seemed fuller.

  “It was fun.”

  “Really?” Her tone was dubious.

  He grinned. “Yeah. I liked getting to see you in action. You’re a good teacher.” Not that he’d ever doubted it. Everyone always had good things to say about her teaching and she’d pulled in a lot of people to the cultural center from her classes alone. People talked in small towns and she was very well liked here. “And I plan to hang out until you’re done and walk you to your car.”

  She gave him a soft smile. “Thank you. The parking lot is well lit, but I do appreciate it.”

  Taking a chance, he bent down and brushed his mouth over hers, giving her plenty of time to pull back. He had no idea what they were at this point, but he knew he didn’t want to go another second without kissing her. They were in a weird sort of limbo between friends and lovers. She was having his baby but they weren’t exactly together, she’d just agreed to a date. But they’d also brought each other to orgasm last night in the front of his truck and would be raising a child together.

  It was enough for anyone to get whiplash.

  After everything she’d told him about her past, he understood her hesitance, but it didn’t mean he had to like it.

  Thankfully she leaned into him, clutching onto his shirt as she met his lips with her soft full ones. He nipped her bottom lip as he slid his hands down to her hips and pulled her flush against him. She had to feel his reaction to her—it was impossible to hide.

  “What are you doing to me?” she groaned as she slightly pulled back, her breathing erratic.

  “I’ll do anything to you that you want,” he murmured.

  “I just mean, you, me, us. Are we crazy to try anything?”

  “I think we might have done things out of order, but I don’t think we’re crazy. And who cares if we are? I want you, you want me, and we’re having a baby together. I want to give this thing between us a shot. The real question is, are you willing to?”

  She watched him for a long moment. “I am. And I already locked the front door,” she whispered.

  He blinked down at her, surprised at the raw heat that flared in her brown eyes. He’d just meant to kiss her briefly, to get a taste of her to tide him over until tomorrow because he was an addict where she was concerned.

  “Yeah?” he growled low in his throat.

  “Oh yeah. And all the windows in my office have blackout curtains. We have privacy.”

  He scooped her up into his arms, not about to turn away from this chance. “No one else will show up tonight?”

  She shook her head.

  Heart pounding, he hurried out into the hallway and straight across to her office. He kicked the door shut with his foot, his eyes on her face the whole time. She was finally letting him in. There was a shift between them—he could feel it. And he was grabbing this chance with both hands.

  She quickly wiggled out of his arms and moved a stack of canvases while he picked up a couple boxes full of sample paints off her desk
and slid them to the floor.

  Then he lifted her up onto the desk as he leaned over her body, pinning her in place as he devoured her mouth with his own. She tasted sweet, like the chocolate he’d seen her snacking on earlier. Since he didn’t want to rush things, he kept his hands planted firmly on her desk as he leaned over her, teasing his tongue against hers.

  She wrapped her arms and legs around him, rolling her hips against his erection.

  Screw going slow. “Gotta taste you again,” he managed to rasp out against her mouth. His whole body burned with the need to take her right here.

  She rolled her hips against his in response. He couldn’t tear his mouth from hers yet, so he slid his hands under her dress and grasped the edges of her thong. It didn’t take long to tug them down her legs and toss them aside.

  Though he couldn’t stop the energy humming through him, he slowly and gently lifted her left leg and kissed her inner ankle, watching her face as he did. He wanted to savor this time with her.

  Her chest rose and fell erratically as he slowly kissed a path up her legs, closer and closer to his end target.

  By the time he reached her inner thigh, her breathing was out of control, her dark eyes dilated as she watched him hungrily. When he finally buried his face against her heat, she speared her fingers through his hair, holding on tight.

  He liked the bite of pain from her nails as she writhed against him in complete abandonment. He loved that about her, that during sex, she didn’t hold back anything. No insecurities, nothing, she just gave as good as she took.

  He groaned against her slick folds, reveling in how wet she already was—all for him.

  “Not gonna take me long,” she managed to whisper.

  Good. As he continued teasing her clit with his tongue, he slid two fingers inside her.

  She arched off the desk as he thrust forward, curling his fingers back. That was what set her off. As she jerked against him, her inner walls clenched around his thrusting fingers and he didn’t ease up on her clit. He continued teasing and tasting until she squeezed his head.

  “Enough,” she gasped out, falling limp against the desk for a moment.

  He pushed up, looking down at her splayed out, her dress shoved up to her waist, her sex glistening from his mouth and her own release. She was sexy.

  Suddenly she shoved up from the desk, the spaghetti straps on her dress falling loosely around her shoulders.

  He tugged them all the way down because he wanted to see more of her, all of her. Her dress pooled around her waist and he immediately tugged her bandeau bra down before sucking one nipple into his mouth.

  She shuddered, moaning at his teasing even as she started working the button on his jeans. She had him freed in moments, her long, delicate artist’s fingers clenching around his hard length. He rolled his hips forward into her strokes, loving the way she gripped him tight.

  “Move back,” she whispered as she scooted to the edge of the desk. For a brief moment, disappointment flared inside him when she released him, but then she slid off the edge and turned over, bending over the desk.

  Oh, hell yes.

  With her round ass up in the air, her watching him over her shoulder, this was his fantasy come to life. Autumn was his fantasy. Everything about her called to him on the most primal level.

  He ran his palm over her soft ass cheek as he guided himself to her slick entrance on a groan. She was so damn tight, and he’d missed her for far too long.

  As he slowly thrust forward, savoring every second of this, her inner walls clenched around him tight.

  She sucked in a breath and let her head tilt forward, her long dark hair falling down her back like a waterfall as he began thrusting. But he needed to touch more of her, so he reached around her body, cupping her breasts. He teased one of her nipples, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger, and pushed deep inside her.

  “Lincoln,” she moaned, pushing her ass back against him, meeting him stroke for stroke.

  Each time he teased her nipple, he felt her inner walls contract harder around him. She could come again, he could feel it.

  He was already so damn close to climaxing he didn’t think he’d be able to last, not after fantasizing about her for the last nine weeks. No, he had Autumn in his arms and underneath him again and he wasn’t letting her go.

  “Faster,” she demanded suddenly, her voice tight with need.

  He could definitely oblige. He thrust harder and dropped his hand from her breast to her clit, hoping to wring another orgasm from her as he pumped inside her.

  The faster he thrust, the more she trembled.

  He lost all sense of time as his climax built inside him, his balls pulling up tight with a raw need.

  When she cried out his name, her back bowing for one long moment as her orgasm hit, he finally let go.

  As she came, he emptied himself inside her, reveling in the fact that he was completely bare. The most primitive part of his brain took over and he felt as if he were marking her. Every second of this was pure heaven and he wanted to claim her, forever.

  Though he hated to separate from her, he eventually pulled out of her, wincing slightly as cool air rushed over his now half-hard length. They needed to clean up, but he just wanted to hold her.

  “This was an incredible way to end the night,” she said with a soft laugh as she turned around, completely rumpled and perfectly sexy.

  Every territorial instinct lit up. Mine.

  In response, he cupped her cheek and kissed her, softly this time, gently stroking his tongue against hers, trying to tell her without words how much she meant to him.

  She linked her fingers together behind his neck, holding tight as she pressed her breasts to his chest. In that moment, he wished he’d had the mental capacity to remember to take his damn shirt off earlier, but all he’d been focused on was getting inside her.

  “You want to stay over at my place tonight?” she whispered as she pulled back.

  Surprised by the offer, he nodded. No way in hell would he ever say no to her.

  And something told him that this was the beginning of something real between them. He hadn’t been kidding, they’d done things backward with her getting pregnant so soon, but he didn’t care. Normal was overrated anyway.

  He wanted her in his life forever.

  Chapter 27

  As Autumn knocked on Lincoln’s front door, ready for their date, her phone rang. When she saw her mechanic’s phone number, she immediately answered just as Lincoln opened the door.

  She mouthed the word sorry as she answered.

  “Hey, Enzo” she said.

  “Hey, Autumn,” Enzo said. “Sorry for calling so late, but I wanted to let you know that your tire is in. You can pick it up anytime you want this week as long as it’s before five.”

  “Thanks. I’ll stop by tomorrow after school.” She followed Lincoln into his kitchen, inhaling whatever those delicious scents were—and staring at his fine ass as he moved.

  “Sounds good. Listen, I looked at your tire again and found a bullet inside the rubber. I missed it originally because of the way it was lodged.”

  “Oh wow. So it was a bullet.” That…was disturbing.

  Lincoln shot her a look over his shoulder from the stove, but didn’t say anything.

  “Yeah, and I know you said you were on Industrial Road, but I still don’t like it. That’s dangerous shit right there.”

  “Did you save it?”

  “Yeah. And I’m going to call the sheriff’s department about it. I think Lincoln needs to know.”

  “I can tell Lincoln myself—I’m actually with him right now.” She sat on the barstool at his island top. “But he’ll probably want to see the bullet.” She had no idea what kinds of testing the sheriff’s department could do, but hopefully something.

  Lincoln gave her a questioning look but didn’t interrupt.

  “Oh, I’ll be dropping it off for sure.”

  After she’d wrapped up her con
versation with Enzo, she quickly relayed what had happened to Lincoln, who had gone incredibly still as she told him everything.

  “Did this happen the same day you had that confrontation with Mark Cadman?”

  She paused, then nodded. “Yeah, but I seriously doubt it was him. I mean… I guess it could have been, but that seems like an extreme reaction.”

  “Cadman’s an asshole.” Lincoln’s expression had gone dark now.

  “Let’s not talk about him,” she said as she eyed the stove top. “Why don’t you tell me what you’re cooking?”

  “We’re going to talk about him later. I’ve already had one of my deputies bring him in for what he did at the school. He claimed he was just trying to talk to you, but he’s been officially trespassed against the school. He’s not allowed to be there anymore. Just so you know.”

  “Yeah, Sheila told me. And Mark’s mom came in with their son. Mark Jr. was so embarrassed by what his dad did. Turns out he’s struggling with his parents’ divorce, mainly because he seems to hate his dad. He doesn’t want to play football anymore and thought that if he failed my class, it would be an easy way to get benched instead of just quitting the team and pissing his dad off.”

  Lincoln shook his head as he headed back to the stove top. “That sounds like teenage logic for you.”

  She nodded. “It definitely does. So I’m letting him make up all of his work. And it looks like he’s going to be quitting the team for his final year. I guess he only ever played for his dad and has no interest in it at all.”

  Lincoln shook his head, his jaw still tight. “Families can be complicated.”

  She snorted. “No kidding.” She slid off the stool, not wanting any distance between them now. She leaned against the countertop next to him and inhaled in appreciation. “My mouth is literally watering right now.”

  He grinned. “This is one of the easiest things to make but it’s always a winner, at least for me and my brothers. It’s a simple rigatoni pasta with vodka cream sauce, shrimp, and I added a few vegetables like spinach because you can’t taste it, but you’re still getting all the nutrients.”