Hiding Behind Love

by Karly Morgan

  “Where are we going?” I asked as I stumbled behind him, his pace quicker than my shorter legs could keep up with.

  He didn’t answer or slow down until he reached the side door of the stables, swung me around, and pressed my back against the wooden wall. His hand came up and cupped my cheek, tilting my head to the exact angle he wanted it so he could cover my mouth with his own in a kiss that spoke louder than any of his words. All of the angst, worry, hurt, love, joy, happiness, and fear he’d experienced since he’d met me bled into me through the joining of our mouths.

  Kolton pressed even closer as I responded just as passionately to each movement of his lips and body against mine. It was as if we’d been doing this dance with each other all of our lives.

  “I have to be in ya. Right. Now.” His voice was thick and gravelly with his need, and it made me hotter than I’d ever been for a man. He reached around and yanked open the door, surprising me when it didn’t fly off the hinges with the force he’d used to open it, and steered me inside without releasing me from his embrace.

  The door slammed shut behind us, and he bolted it securely so we wouldn’t be interrupted before yanking my sundress up around my waist and ripping my panties off in one hard tug.

  Just as eager as he was to be joined with him, my fingers were frantically fumbling with his belt buckle to get him free of the confines of his jeans but were failing miserably in their desperation. I needed to feel him moving inside me just as badly as he seemed to need to feel me wrapped around him.

  Thankfully, he brushed my hands aside and made quick work of the buckle, button, and zipper before shoving his jeans and boxer briefs down around his ankles and spinning me around so that my back was facing him.

  “I’m gonna fuck ya good and hard, darlin’. So good and hard you won’t want another man anywhere near ya for the rest of your life. You’re my woman, and that ain’t changin’, no matter what your goddamn daddy wants,” Kolton growled in my ear, anger and lust competing with the love I knew he felt for me as he bent me over the nearest hay bale, pooled my dress around my waist, and shoved his cock into me in one hard thrust. “Hold on, baby…I’m goin’ for a ride.”

  And he did just that. Pounding into me at a furious pace. Forcing screams of pleasure from my throat as he worked my body over just the way I needed him to. This wasn’t a slow, love-making type of joining. This was hard, fast fucking, and I was loving every glorious second of it with him.

  With one hand fisted in my hair and the other wrapped around me and rubbing hard circles on my clit, I came with a violence that shook me to my soul just as he came with a roaring thunder, spilling his seed inside me once again.

  It was that moment that made me remember we hadn’t once used a condom, and I hadn’t grabbed my birth control pills when I’d thrown my stuff together and left in a hurry. We were completely unprotected.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Kolton

  My God, sex with Carissa was a mind-blowing, out of this world experience, and I’d never get enough of her. The reality of having her was so much better than any fantasy I could’ve ever conjured in my head.

  “Kolton…” Carissa whispered, her voice sounding off after the incredible joining we’d just experienced.

  “What’s wrong, darlin’? Did I hurt ya?” I pulled back, not having realized I’d collapsed on top of her after that intense release I’d just experienced. I had to have been crushing her into the hay.

  “No. You didn’t hurt me…” her voice trailed off, and she stared at me with fear in her eyes that just didn’t make any sense.

  If I didn’t hurt her, why did she look so damned terrified?

  “You gotta help me out here, darlin’. What’s wrong?” I pleaded as I quickly pulled my jeans and underwear up and sat down on the bale she’d just been bent over, full of my cock, and pulled her onto my lap.

  “You didn’t wear a condom…” she said softly. “Any of the times we’ve been together.”

  “I’m clean, if that’s what you’re worried about,” I told her, hoping that would ease how upset she seemed to be. It didn’t, and I was completely baffled.

  “I’m not on birth control. I forgot it back home when I was rushing to get out of there...”

  And then what she was so afraid of hit me like a baseball bat to the head. I wasn’t upset at all. In fact, the image I’d had of her back in the kitchen, her belly swollen with my child, from before we’d married flooded my head and had me getting hard all over again, raring to actively get started on that mission. It was nearly impossible to rein in my inner beast that wanted to make her mine in all ways—including the mother of my children.

  “Would it be such a bad thing if we had a baby together?” I asked, completely unfazed by her admission. Realizing this was a topic we still hadn’t covered, even though Mama had tried to push us into it.

  “With things as they stand right now? It’s probably not the greatest idea in the world to bring a child into this situation. We need to see how things work out first before we make the decision to have children,” she said, chewing on that bottom lip of hers when she’d finished.

  It was something I hadn’t seen her do yet today, but it made me want to pull it from between her teeth and bite down on it myself like it had the first time I’d seen her do it.

  “What if you’re already pregnant?” I asked, pushing thoughts of taking her again to the back of my mind. This was a discussion that had to happen right now before we had sex again. Since I’ve had her bareback, there’s no way it would be as satisfying wearing a condom, but I would if that’s what it took to keep her in my bed.

  “Then we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, but for now, I think we need to get some condoms and start using them to be on the safe side. At least until we know for sure one way or the other.” Carissa wrapped her arms around herself.

  I wasn’t sure if it was herself she was trying to protect or a possible unborn child she might be carrying already. Maybe it was both.

  “Your wish is my command, darlin’,” I told her as I pulled her close against my chest and rocked her gently, just loving how she felt in my arms. “But ya know that with the possibility of you bein’ pregnant, it’s even more important that ya stay here with us. I won’t risk my possible child bein’ harmed by your father or Carver.”

  “I couldn’t put a child at risk that way,” she murmured softly into my chest.

  “Especially our child,” I stated firmly. “No matter what comes our way, we’ll deal with it together, and I’ll keep ya safe.”

  “How can you do that when you don’t even know what he’s capable of?” she asked, worry back in her voice.

  Why couldn’t one of us have a decent father? Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk. Either way, whenever Carissa and I had children together, I’d be the best damn father that kid could ever ask for. I didn’t care if we had a boy or a girl, as long as Carissa was the mother and I was the father and the baby was healthy.

  “But you do, right?” I asked, refocusing on our conversation. Carissa shivered in response to my question, and I knew whatever she’d seen or heard growing up must have been bad. “You’ll fill me in on what I need to know. We’ll get through this. I promise you that.”

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she warned me, and it grated on my nerves. I knew we hadn’t known each other for very long before ending up hitched and battling her overbearing father, but she should have more faith in me than that by now.

  “Ya gotta trust me more than that, darlin’. What’s a marriage without trust?” I asked her, tilting her chin up so I could get a good look at her face.

  “It’s not that I don’t trust you,” she said, her voice quivering, and I understood instantly what she was telling me.

  “It’s just you’re that afraid of what your daddy’s capable of,” I finished for her, and she nodded, tears glittering those gorgeous eyes of hers.

  We were interrupted by a loud pounding on
the door and Caleb hollering inside to us. “Sheriff’s here and he needs ta speak with the both of ya. Hope y’all are decent!”

  I heard his chuckle and rolled my eyes as Carissa groaned in embarrassment.

  “We’ll be there in a minute,” I called back before Caleb beat down the door with his fist.

  “I told him y’all were newlyweds, but he didn’t wanna listen,” Caleb yelled back, and this time I was the one who groaned in response. This man was something else altogether.

  “Go away,” I belted out, my frustration growing. I’d forgotten all about the sheriff being on his way over, thanks to Caleb’s call via Mama’s orders.

  “Nope. I’m ta walk back with ya ta make sure y’all don’t get otherwise distracted, per your mama’s instructions. Since I like my balls where they are, I think I’ll wait for the two of ya,” he yelled through the door, and I couldn’t help but laugh at how whipped she had him. “Don’t be too long neither. The chicken’s still on the grill, and she’ll have a conniption if it’s overcooked!”

  “Come on. We’ll have to finish this discussion later,” I told Carissa as I steadied her on her feet and got to mine. I straightened my clothes as she tugged and adjusted that hot little red sundress she was wearing.

  “I don’t have any panties to put on,” she whispered, horrified that she was going to have to be around others bare under that dress.

  I was instantly hard at the thought of her that way and nobody knowing but the two of us.

  “Nobody will notice,” I promised, rubbing my hand over the curve of her ass. “Nobody but me.”

  She swatted at me, but I moved out of the way before her hand connected and snagged her shredded panties so they wouldn’t be found by one of the hands. I didn’t need to have to kick one of their asses for knowing what she wore under her clothes on top of everything else I had on my plate. As she reached for them, I shoved them in my pocket with a wink.

  “Now how would you explain carryin’ these around in their condition instead of them bein’ intact and coverin’ what they’re supposed to?” I asked, walking over and pulling her back into my arms. “’Sides, I love the thought of you almost completely naked under there. Easier access for me.”

  “Don’t you dare even think about trying anything with other people around, Kolton Reed!” she ordered, her voice elevating as her eyes flared.

  Damn this woman could turn me on like a damn light switch.

  “And what’re ya gonna do to stop me, Carissa Reed?” I taunted, loving how my last name sounded on her. It was the sweetest thing I’d ever heard in my life.

  “Move it along in there, lovebirds. My balls are in serious jeopardy out here,” Caleb’s voice rang out, and I quietly laughed. I doubted Mama would actually harm a single hair on that man’s head, but he firmly believed every threat she issued to him as if were gospel.

  “I mean it. No funny business,” Carissa stated, and it was so cute how she tried so hard to sound as intimidating as my mother did.

  Crossing my fingers behind her back like I used to do as a kid, I nodded what she thought was my capitulation. If she only knew what I had planned for her, she wouldn’t have let me off so easily.

  We headed toward the door, and I unbolted it to hear a relieved “finally” out of Caleb as I opened it.

  “Took y’all long enough,” he complained as we headed back toward the house together.

  I had my arm wrapped securely around Carissa’s waist, keeping her by my side but at a much slower pace than when we’d headed toward the stable. Then I was damn near out of my mind, crazed with need to feel her wrapped around my cock, assuring me she was still safely with me after that chilling altercation and my crippling fear she’d cow to her father’s demands.

  “Shut up,” I told him, shooting him a warning glare over Carissa’s head. If she hadn’t been between us, I might’ve slapped the back of his head the way Mama always did to us.

  “Not my fault ya were caught with your pants down,” Caleb continued to tease, and I seriously thought about shifting Carissa to my other side so I actually could slap the man.

  “We were just talkin’,” I told him, and he laughed as if it were the funniest joke he’d ever heard in his life.

  “Sure ya were,” he jabbed back, reaching up and snagging a piece of hay from Carissa’s disheveled hair and holding it up for our inspections. “Any idea how this got there, if all y’all were doin’ was flappin’ your jaws at each other?”

  Carissa turned the brightest shade of red I’d seen her yet. In fact, she was so red, she blended with the color of her dress the way a chameleon would with its surroundings, everything disappearing but that dark hair of hers and those vibrant hazel eyes.

  “Do ya always have to be such an ass?” I growled, grabbing the piece of hay and tossing it over my shoulder.

  “Since that would be borin’, yeah, I kinda do,” Caleb retorted, and this time I did shift Carissa to my other side, but Caleb saw it happen and moved out of my arm’s reach quickly for a man his age. “Don’tcha know hittin’ me would classify as elder abuse, and we do have the sheriff on the property…”

  “Oh, I’m pretty sure Sheriff Donovan wouldn’t file any charges, since it was you I slapped across the back of the head,” I drawled easily as we rounded the house.

  “Now why is Caleb gettin’ smacked now?” Mama asked, her voice completely void of surprise as she shot the older man a chastising look.

  “For tormenting Carissa and I when we were tryin’ to have a private discussion,” I explained, leaving out the details of his teasing.

  “Evenin’, Kolt. Sorry ta bother ya, but I do need your statement, as well as one from your new missus,” Sheriff Donovan cut in, effectively ending the banter between myself, Caleb, and Mama as he drew attention back to the matter at hand. “Congratulations on the weddin’. Came as a damn shock when I heard the news that ya was gettin’ married and Karlene wasn’t the bride.”

  “Now why would my boy go marryin’ that two-bit tramp when he’s got this beautiful, classy girl who’ll do right by him?” Mama demanded to know, and I groaned miserably.

  I prayed she wasn’t getting ramped up for one of her rants or that the sheriff would diffuse her before she did. One person Mama absolutely couldn’t stand was Karlene, and the thought of having her as a part of this family had been a bone of contention since the first time I’d ever brought the girl home.

  “Easy, Mrs. Reed. I didn’t mean nothin’ by it. I was just sayin’ that I didn’t realize Kolton had been seein’ anyone, let alone thinkin’ of marryin’ the girl,” Sheriff Donovan drawled, holding his hands up in surrender as he turned to face her. “I agree with ya that Karlene’s just trouble waitin’ ta happen, and Kolton’s better off without her.”

  “Damn right he is,” Mama huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back, still glaring at the sheriff for bringing it up to begin with.

  “And this must be the lucky lady,” Sheriff Donovan said, holding his hand out and stepping toward Carissa.

  Instinctively, I pulled her closer to my side, even though I knew the man wasn’t a threat to her at all. Giving me a questioning look, Carissa reached out her hand and shook the sheriff’s.

  “I’m Carissa Waters…er, Reed,” she introduced herself awkwardly. “Carissa Reed.”

  “Nice ta meet ya. I’m Sheriff Ben Donovan,” he replied with a warm, friendly smile that had the green-eyed monster inside me sitting up and taking notice.

  It was unreal how I’d gone from not wanting a woman to being ready to remove the arm of the sheriff, a man much older than Carissa with a slim chance in hell of standing a chance with her to begin with.

  “So, I need ta speak with each of ya individually ta get your statements as ta what happened here earlier.” I narrowed my eyes, unwilling to leave my wife’s side for even a moment with her father and Carver lurking around somewhere.

  “Sure. We could go talk in the living room, if that’s all right with Bonnie
and Kolton?” Carissa easily responded before looking to me and Mama for our approval. She needed to adjust to this being her home as well and not having to ask permission.

  “Wherever ya want to, darlin’. This is your home now too,” I told her and placed a gentle kiss on her temple before reluctantly releasing her into the sheriff’s care.

  “We’ll just be a few minutes,” Sheriff Donovan assured me as he followed behind my new wife.

  Caleb’s hand on my shoulder was a steadying force that helped prevent me from trailing them to the door and lurking in the kitchen to make sure he didn’t step one toe out of line with her.

  “He’s not the enemy,” Caleb reminded me, but I was too tense and worried to care. Until she was safely back in my arms, I wouldn’t have a moment’s peace.

  “You really do love her. I knew she was the one,” Mama said, smiling contentedly as her arms relaxed and moved to the arms of the chair she was resting in. “Ya can thank me anytime.”

  “How did ya know?” I asked, sitting down in the chair opposite her and leaning forward so my elbows rested on my thighs, trying desperately to curb the growing need to go make sure Carissa was safe, even though I’d just seen her two minutes ago.

  “How did I know what exactly? That she was the one ya were meant ta be with? That the two of ya would make a perfect couple?” Mama asked, her grin growing with each word she uttered, rubbing it in about how right she was. “That that girl was meant ta be a part of this family? What exactly are ya askin’?”

  “All of it, I guess,” I answered, my ears listening hard for any sounds of distress from the woman we were currently discussing.

  “For one, there was no mistakin’ the chemistry cracklin’ around the two of ya. I said it before, but y’all didn’t wanna listen. Y’all might’ve been in denial, but the rest of us weren’t,” Mama told me before taking a sip of her sweet tea that had been sitting on the ground next to her. “For another, ya didn’t turn her away like ya would’ve anyone else. Ya didn’t know her from Eve, but ya couldn’t bear the thought of anythin’ happenin’ to her if ya chased her off. Also, ya were so concerned about why she was runnin’ ta begin with.”