by Inez Kelley
“You know what? I don’t need you to provide for me. I’m doing that all by myself, thank you very much. I needed you to love me, to respect me, to tell me the truth.”
To change his family’s fate, Carl Shaw took his shame to the grave. All Matt had to do was give his shame a voice. It was the hardest thing he’d ever done. “I couldn’t. Literally. I wanted to tell you a couple times but I couldn’t get the words out. I was afraid that if I told you I’d see that same pity... It was a lock, Kayla. It locked everything inside me and I couldn’t get it out.”
If he lived to be a hundred, he might forget his name, forget how to feed himself, forget how to wipe his own ass, but he’d never forget her eyes. They lasered onto him and burned him to the core with their fire.
“So what changed? Why now can you suddenly tell me?”
“I lost you.” A shrug lifted his shoulders. How could he explain that she was the key that turned the lock? How could he tell her that shame burned but losing her was like an acid scald, eating right down into his soul? “I looked in the mirror and realized this time there was no mine closing, no bank knocking at the door, no collectors calling. I lost the most important thing in my life because I couldn’t open my damned mouth and tell her the truth.”
“What is the truth, Matt?”
He reached for her, taking her hand in his. Her fingers curled with his, gripping hard enough to whiten his skin. He didn’t care if she drew blood. She wasn’t turning away from him and that was all he needed to know. “Remember what you said when I washed your hair?”
“I said a lot of things.”
“About your mom, what she did every time you moved? That it wasn’t the house but the family in it that made a home? Smart lady. Wish I could’ve met her. She knew all along something I just figured out.”
“What’s that?” So soft, almost timid, her voice trembled.
“That home isn’t a place you can go to. It’s who you’re with and who you love, who loves you. My home isn’t on this mountain. It’s wherever you are.”
Tears crested in her eyes. His free hand cupped her face and his thumb ran over the curve of her cheek. “I love you, Kayla. I don’t care where you live or what you own. I just love you. I know I hurt you, and I’ll gladly spend the rest of my life making up for that if you’ll never look at me the way you did that day. Like I was something you stepped in and couldn’t wait to scrape of your shoes.”
Her head jerked up as if slapped. “I never... Matt, either you have the shittiest sense of self-worth or you’re blind and can’t see what I see. You’re the strongest man I know.” She let her fingers trail down his arm, stroking his biceps. God, he’d missed her touch. “And I’m not talking about these. Whatever you came from, you’ve done a hell of a job with your life.”
“I’ve done a hell of a job fucking it up.” Hope knotted his gut. “Can I fix it somehow? What can I do to make this right between us?”
“Start with never lying to me again.”
“Never,” he vowed. “I promise.”
“Matt.” One hand landed on his chest. Under her palm, his heart thudded. “I need to know that I’m important to you. Just me.”
How could she doubt that? He pulled her close, cradling her head to his chest. The wood-fire scent of her skin tickled his nose and he greedily gulped it, wanting to bathe in the familiar fragrance.
“Jesus, Kayla, my life sucks without you. You’re the most important thing in my entire life. This whole mountain could burn to the fucking bedrock and I wouldn’t care. Missing you is killing me, pretty lady. I’ll do whatever I have to do to make you believe me. I’ll get on my knees. I’ll tattoo Property of Kayla Edwards on my ass. I’ll never set foot on this property again if you don’t want me to. You name it and I’ll do it. Just...just let me love you. Love me back.”
“You jerk.” Her smile was the most beautiful thing in the world. It lit up her entire face. “I love you, too.”
A weight disappeared from his neck. He gave a shaky laugh, relief sweeter than the sugar-laden air. Long, supple arms circled his neck as she hugged him. The feel of her was a million times more potent than the memories. Her breasts pressed against his chest and all the blood in his body surged southward. His fingers clenched on her sides. “Kayla?”
“What?”
“I need to curl your toes.”
* * *
His mouth took hers without elegance, without artifice. Kayla’s lips parted beneath his. The taste of him burst into her bloodstream, flavored with maple. It quieted the jagged edges of hurt, healing them. Her toes curled.
She’d missed him so much.
Twining one hand in his hair, she gave back every thrust of his tongue, every sweep and lick. He palmed her ass and lifted her from her feet. God, she loved the strength in him. Wrapping her legs around his hips, she ground down on his zipper. His growl heated her mouth. The heat spiraled through her, unfurling and wrapping around her bones. He rocked into her, pressing the bulge in his pants upward, teasing her through two layers of denim.
She tugged, pulling his head back until she could nibble at his jaw. There was one spot, behind his ear, just below his hairline, that she loved to nip. A shudder worked his shoulders as his groan echoed in the austere room. He didn’t bother pulling back the faded quilt or sheets, just lowered her onto the mattress and climbed over her.
She let the syrup bottle land on the quilt and grabbed for his shirt. Her top landed in the evap pan. His hit the water heater. The strap of her bra caught on the drain valve and hung there. Her tennis shoes plopped to the floor seconds before he skimmed her jeans down her legs, taking her panties with them. His pants got hung up on his boots.
“Goddamn it.” He jerked to a sit and tore at the laces.
“Hey.” She circled her arms around his shoulders. “Slow down. I’m not going anywhere.”
He snorted. “I’ve been cock-blocked by my feet.”
“And rescued by my hands.”
She climbed from the bed and knelt before him, working the knots loose and pulling the heavy boots off. Peeling the denim off his calves and shucking his socks to the side, she dropped a kiss on his knee. The spicy woodsy scent of him filled her nose. Devastating loss had come so close and they’d avoided it by such a narrow margin. Sudden relief pressed down and tears sprang to her eyes. She laid the side of her face against his thigh to hide them.
Matt touched her hair. “You going to hate me if I say having you naked at my feet is a fantasy come true?”
When she was a little girl, all her fantasies had revolved around that shining knight on a white charger rescuing her from a tower and whisking her away to his kingdom. The adult woman revised the fantasy. Her knight wore denim and cotton, drove a white pickup with a lumber logo. He hadn’t rescued her. She’d done that herself. But he had pride in her abilities and her strength. The kingdom belonged to her, and she wanted to share it with him, as equals. One tear leaked out.
“Hey.” Matt tugged her up. “Why the tears, pretty lady?”
“Why’d you give me a rocking chair?”
His eyes closed. “What you said that day, it was like you read my heart. I ordered the chair the same week. I wanted all that. I wanted all that with you. When everything fell apart, I still couldn’t stand the thought of you not having that dream.”
“I want the dream with you, Matt. I love you.”
“This place has some of my best memories. Today is one of them. I got to hear you say the three most beautiful words in the world to me. Memories are the one thing no one can ever take away. I want to make a hundred more, all with you, so that when I’m old and stooped and waiting to die, I can pull them out and relive them.”
“Are you sure?”
He stared straight into her eyes. “I’ve never been this sure of anything in my life. My futu
re, the only future I want, is with you, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing.”
His bristly cheek fit like it had been carved especially for her palm. She stroked her fingers across his mouth then slipped them around his neck and into his hair.
“Come here, lumberjack. Let’s make a few more memories for us both.”
His smile was easy, creasing his face and crinkling his eyes. He laid her back. Her spine hit something small and hard. She squirmed, then pulled the syrup bottle from behind her.
Matt’s eyes flashed with inspiration. He took the glass from her and opened the cap. He poured a single drop onto his finger then touched her tip of her nose. She laughed as he kissed the sticky drop away. “I love your nose. It wrinkles when you want to laugh but are holding back.”
He slicked his syrup-coated finger across her lips then licked it away. Lips parting under his kiss, she moaned against his mouth. Time stopped as they kissed. Something powerful in his kiss reduced her bones to liquid. She hooked her arms around his shoulders, grounding herself. He needed a haircut, and the longer length gave her more to grip, more to slide through her fingers.
He whispered, “I love your mouth...and all its hidden talents.”
More syrup was painted along her throat only to be lapped away. He angled, swept a kiss to the side, and nipped at her. “I love your neck. This spot right here makes you sigh.”
It charged white-hot lust through her veins. He sucked and her hands clenched, keeping that tantalizing sensation for a dozen heartbeats. A work-hardened palm scraped up her rib cage to cradle her breast with reverence. He lifted it, brought it to his mouth then slicked his tongue down the valley.
“I love your breasts.” He mouthed one stiffened peak. “Have dreamed about them since I met you.”
He held the bottle over her. A thread-thin drizzle poured out, draping across her breasts from nipple to nipple. He sucked the maple syrup away and lavished attention on each crest until they ached with sweet agony. The rough growth on his face scratched against her and heightened every touch. He nibbled down her stomach. “I love your tummy. It got an ulcer, which eventually brought you here, to me.”
Warm, golden syrup filled her belly button. Circling around her navel then delving into the tiny well with his tongue, Matt pulled sensation she’d never imagined from her skin. She traced his broad shoulders, running her fingers down his back and bringing her nails up. His hiss whistled against her belly.
One broad lick tickled her side. Not terrible, but enough that she squirmed as his scruffy chin touched her. “I love that you’re ticklish and can laugh in bed.”
Kayla tensed, waiting for his mouth, but he surprised her. He shifted, lifting her leg and stroking her little toe with one finger, leaving a sticky trail behind. “I love that you wear weird colors on your toes like orange glitter and metallic blue.” He dropped a soft kiss on her toe. “I love that I can make them curl.”
Oh, how he could make them curl. She couldn’t wait for it to happen again. His adoring inventory went higher.
“I love your legs.” His hands trailed up her calves and onto her thighs, dotting syrup, and his caressing mouth followed behind, licking it away. “I love them wrapped tight around me, when they’re peeking out of your skirts, when you rub that pink lotion into them at night. I know that even in my sleep I’ll feel them slide against me like smooth silk.”
High inside her thigh, his kiss brushed with the barest touch of his lips. It was shockingly powerful, spiraling need deeper into her body. She tensed, her center pulsing and wet, wanting his hand, his mouth, his cock to ease the delicious ache he’d created.
Matt sent her a wicked grin and leaned over her. Lifting a piece of her hair, he brushed it across her nose. “I love your hair, how it falls on my chest when you cuddle, how it looks all scattered in the morning, how it shines in the sunlight.”
One long finger traced her brow and he brought his lips to the corner of her eye. “I love your eyes. They snap and crackle when you’re mad but when you’re excited, like now, they simmer like pure maple syrup.”
His hand slid down her arms, across her hips and palmed her ass. “I love your ass. If I told you half the things I think of when you bend over, you’d run away screaming.”
“Try me.”
A low rumble of laughter rolled over skin. He pressed an openmouthed kiss to her collarbone. “I love this spot, right here.”
“Why?”
“Because it belongs to you.”
Tenderness wedged under her ribs. He blurred in her sights and she traced her fingers over his cheekbone. At some point in her lonely, solitary life, she must have done a good deed to some hidden heavenly angel. That was the only reason she could think of to be so blessed at this minute.
His hand rested on her stomach. It began a slow trek down, threading through the damp curls to caress her inner thigh. Easing her legs apart, he caught her eyes. Kayla held her breath as the syrup bottle tipped. The smallest drop of maple syrup fell on her wet pussy. He dipped his head and licked it away.
One finger slicked across her center then sank deep. Kayla bit back her moan as he began to thrust.
“I love this, because you let me inside you here. Because when you come, your body clings to me, tells me I made you feel good and...and makes me feel like I can do anything as long as you’re with me.”
He set the open bottle on the ledge by the bed. She had no idea when he’d grabbed the condom and sheathed himself. He parted her knees, fit between them and sank inside her in one fluid move. She clenched, the sweet burn of stretching around him the most intoxicating drug ever created.
Tongue on tongue, swirling, tasting, licking, they kissed. Kayla pulled him closer, reveling in the heavy press of him atop her, inside her. He rocked, delving into her with a slow, controlled grind. Her hips lifted, drawing him deeper.
“I love you, Kayla. Everything. Your mind, your body, your spirit, your heart.”
Her ankles locked behind his ass and she clawed at his shoulders. Heat intensified, baking her in his embrace. Her clit throbbed and she arched, needed more. “Matt, please.”
He answered her wordlessly in faster moves, sharper snaps of his hips. Luscious friction melded them, made her softer, him harder. They matched, two halves of a whole. His kiss grew rough, less refined, more raw and unsophisticated. Fever consumed her, raging through her body, setting fire to her senses. Every nerve ending tingled. Her nails left red tracks in his skin. The bed frame shimmied beneath them, scratching against the concrete.
Harsh lines in his neck bulged as his jaw went stony. The first pulse of his orgasm swelled inside her. The force propelled her over the brink and she sobbed, burying her face in the curve of his neck. Fireworks exploded, her body shuddering beneath him, cradling him, taking him. Tears streamed over her cheeks.
Matt’s cry echoed into the pillow as his hips thrust one last time, deeper, harder than before. She held him until his muscles relaxed and his breathing slowed. Rolling to his side, he tugged her closer, until her cheek rested above his heart.
Her laugh shook the bed. Matt opened one eye. “What’s so funny?”
“I’m just happy.” She ran her fingers across his stomach. “And I can’t wait for my turn to play with the rest of that syrup, lumberjack.”
“I’m not a lumberjack.”
“Then what are you?”
He moved, leaning over her and staring straight into her eyes. “I’m yours.”
Kayla curled her toes. This is where I belong, what I’ve been searching for forever. I’m home.
* * * * *
The sexual chemistry burns hot in these sultry contemporary romances by Inez Kelley, available now!
Turn it Up
Dr. Bastian Talbot and self-proclaimed sex goddess Charlie Pierce heat up the airwaves with t
heir flirty banter as radio hosts Dr. Hot and the Honeypot. Off the air, they’re best friends...but Bastian wants to be so much more. He wants Charlie—in bed, and forever.
Problem is, Charlie doesn’t do commitment. Sure, she’s had X-rated fantasies of Bastian, but he was always just a friend—until he impulsively proposes and unleashes the lust they’ve been denying for years. Charlie’s willing to explore where their wild chemistry leads, but she won’t marry him. And he won’t have sex with her until she accepts his proposal, despite her seductive schemes.
Sweet as Sin
John Murphy is tormented by nightmares. A bestselling young-adult author, he writes the ultimate fantasy: stories where good always triumphs. He knows better. His past has shown him the worst in people—and in himself. When he moves next door to the sexy, vibrant Livvy—a woman completely unlike his usual one-night stands—he’s driven to explore every curve of her delicious body.
Pastry chef Livvy knows that giving in to the
temptation that is John Murphy won’t lead to anything permanent, but she deserves a passionate summer fling. John discovers she’s as sweet as the confections she bakes while Livvy slowly unravels his secrets. But what will happen when she uncovers them all?
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About the Author
Inez Kelley is a multipublished author of various romance genres. She spends most of her time in a cramped little office surrounded by a multitude of books, a few plastic geckos and her computer. The growing horde of dust bunnies, her children’s request for meals and a never-ending laundry pile vie for her attentions. As a former 911 dispatcher, she is used to calamity and doesn’t get too worried until either someone is bleeding or the fridge is empty. With one teenage daughter and growing twin boys, those things occur regularly.