Come Back Home Again (Hope Valley Book 2)

by Jessica Prince

The moment we cleared the door, I began squirming until Hayes took the hint and placed me on my feet. I went down to my knees as quick as I could and went for the fly of his jeans, unbuttoning and unzipping carefully. My mouth started to water the moment I reached inside and pulled his thick length free of his boxer briefs. Christ, it was even better than I remembered.

  I hadn’t been with very many men in my life, but Hayes’s cock was far and away the most perfect one I’d ever seen. Looking up from beneath my lashes, I licked my lips and ordered, “Sit.”

  He did as instructed, his eyes lit with fire as he lowered to the edge of the mattress and reached back to brace himself on his palms. Then I went to work.

  Hayes

  Jesus Christ, she was un-fuckin’-believable.

  Tempie dragged the flat of her tongue up the underside of my cock before wrapping her lips around the head and sucking, those pale, expressive blue eyes pinned on me the entire goddamn time, letting me know just how much she was getting off on blowing me.

  Her head sank even lower, and I lost her eyes when her nose bumped my groin and her throat tightened around me.

  “Fuckin’ shit.” I’d forgotten she could do that. How the fuck had I forgotten that she was the only one I’d ever been with who could take all of me like that? She worked her way back up, bringing a hand into play and fisting the base of my dick as she started bobbing faster and sucking harder. It was the best head I’d had in twenty-one years. Only Tempie could ever get me off this way. The woman used to be able to work me up to the point that I’d see stars. I had to force my eyes from rolling back in my head so I could watch every second of what she was doing.

  “That’s it, angel,” I coaxed, snapping my hips and reaching a hand around to fist her hair. She moaned around me, the vibrations sending shock waves through my cock and straight to my balls. I was close. Jesus, I was so goddamn close.

  But I didn’t want to come like this. Not when I finally had my dream within arm’s reach for the first time in more than half my life.

  She let out a whimper of disapproval when I grabbed her beneath her arms and pulled her to her feet.

  “Baby, I wasn’t done,” she panted, her chest heaving and pressing her tits against her tight sweater.

  “You can finish me off with your mouth next time,” I said, reaching up to yank her top over her head. “I’ve wanted you every goddamn day for twenty-one years, and I’m not waiting another fuckin’ second.”

  I had her naked just moments later, then leaned sideways to reach into my nightstand drawer for a condom.

  The moment I had it rolled into place, Tempie climbed onto my lap, lined my cock up with her entrance, and slammed down so hard that we both shouted out at the sensation.

  “Goddamn it,” I hissed between clenched teeth. My fingers on her hips squeezed as I held her in place and fought to keep from coming. It was heaven, plain and simple. Being back inside my girl was the best thing I’d ever felt in all my life, and I wanted it, no.... I needed it to last.

  “Hayes,” she whimpered, those baby blue eyes completely wired as her body trembled. “Honey, I need to move. Please.”

  I’d somehow managed to forget this too, how wild she went whenever I was inside her.

  “Then move, baby,” I said, loosening my grip. She lifted up and drove back down, her head falling backward on a cry as she rode me hard and fast. I could feel her pussy tightening as she got closer. Her fingernails scraped down my back, and I knew she was about to come, but I wasn’t ready for this to end yet.

  “Slow down, baby.”

  “I can’t,” she moaned, grinding against me. “You feel so good, Hayes.”

  Jesus, she was killing me. “Tempie. Slow.”

  She didn’t listen, and I could feel my balls drawing up and that telling tingle at the base of my spine. I’d missed out on two decades of Tempie. No fucking way I was going to let this end yet.

  Grabbing her ass, I flipped Tempie around onto her back, chuckling down at the frustrated look on her face. “Told you to slow down, angel. You should’ve listened. Now I take over.

  She reached down and grabbed the hem of my shirt, pulling it off. Her heels dug in at my ass, shoving my jeans down as far as she could as she issued her challenge. “Then take over already.”

  Damn, I loved that.

  Hooking my forearm behind her knee, I pulled her left leg up and drove in hard and deep. Tempie’s head jerked back into the pillows, her eyes squeezed shut, and she cried out, her pussy squeezing me like a glove.

  “Yeah, baby,” she groaned, putting her other foot into the mattress and shifting her hips up against mine, meeting me thrust for thrust. “God, just like that.”

  “Fuck me,” I hissed through clenched teeth. I couldn’t rip my eyes off her face as ecstasy washed through her delicate features. “Most beautiful girl I’ve ever known.”

  Her eyes flew open and locked on mine, and just like when we were together, I could read every single thought and feeling rushing through her. “Hayes,” she whispered, her voice soft and full of emotion.

  My body began to slow as something between us shifted. What started as a hard and fast fuck had taken an intense emotional turn, and I could tell just by looking at her that she felt it too. “Still so goddamn beautiful.”

  Her hand came up and cupped my jaw as we moved together. “Still so goddamn handsome.”

  Letting her leg go, I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight against me as I pressed my lips to hers. Her arms and legs closed around me and she opened her mouth wider, taking the kiss even deeper just before every single muscle in her body strung tight and she cried out her release.

  I swallowed down every single moan and whimper as I powered in and out of her until I couldn’t take it anymore. Wrenching my mouth free, I shoved my face in her neck just like I used to and buried myself deep as I let out a long, hard groan, coming harder than I had in twenty-one years.

  Temperance

  Curling up on my side, I rested an elbow on the bed and propped my head in my hand, watching a now fully naked Hayes come back from the bathroom after discarding the condom. A slow smile pulled at my lips as a contentment I hadn’t felt in forever settled inside my chest and a spread warmth throughout my entire body.

  “What are you smilin’ at?” he asked, pausing just inside the doorway.

  “Just enjoying the show,” I answered, openly ogling every inch of him.

  Hayes’s laughter made that warmth inside me bloom even brighter as he came to the bed and whipped the covers back, climbing in to join me. I started to shift to make more room for him when his arm shot out, hooking me at my waist and pulling me back so my front was pressed along his side. Getting more comfortable, I draped my arm across his abs and threw one of my legs over his, settling my cheek against his shoulder.

  I hadn’t been held like this by anyone since the last time Hayes and I lay in bed together. I’d only dated a handful of men in Chicago, and every time one of them tried to hold me after sex, I pulled away, claiming I wasn’t big on cuddling. Every time I tried, my mind screamed at me like I was betraying something special, something that belonged solely to Hayes.

  But now that I was back in his arms like this, there was no denying how right it felt. Like I’d just come back home again.

  “Just so you know,” Hayes started, breaking the silence, “if I catch you tryin’ to sneak outta this bed tonight, I’m gonna tan your ass.”

  I let out a quiet laugh, turning to press my lips into his chest before resting back against him. “I’m not going anywhere.” After all, I was exactly where I was meant to be.

  The quiet descended once more, and the gentle beat of his heart matched with the soothing brush of his fingers against my ribs had almost lulled me to sleep when his chest rumbled against my ear with his deep voice. “How long are you planning on staying?”

  At the reminder of Chicago, my arm around his waist clenched. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I even wanted to go back. There w
asn’t much left for me back there despite having spent more than half my life in that city.

  I had my job, and I’d loved it until Perry started making that a misery. The very few friends I had were more like acquaintances who I saw only on the rarest of occasions. The studio apartment I lived in was only a couple steps up from Hayes’s place and didn’t hold a candle to my beautiful farmhouse. Truth was, the only person who’d probably notice I was gone would be the delivery boy from the Chinese restaurant I ordered takeout from twice a week.

  “I don’t know,” I finally answered. “That’s a question I’ve kind of avoided asking myself since before Reenie died.”

  Hayes pulled me tighter against him, offering silent support. “But what about your job? Won’t they be expecting you back soon?”

  “I doubt it. The hospital wouldn’t approve the time off I needed to take care of Reenie, so I took an unpaid leave of absence.”

  “Jesus Christ, angel. You’ve been livin’ this whole goddamn time on just what you make at the diner?”

  I smiled down at him and shook my head. “I have plenty in savings. Then there’s what Reenie left me, and the only time I’ve touched the trust I got from my parents was to pay for nursing school. I’m doing just fine, honey.”

  He seemed to relax at that and asked, “So what does this mean for your position at the hospital?

  “They’ve probably already filled my spot by now, but I’m not really worried about that. I’ve got plenty in savings, and now that I’ve filed that restraining order, it’s not like Perry and I can work in the same place anyway. And nurses are more dispensable than doctors.”

  “That’s bullshit,” he grunted in quiet unhappiness. “If they get rid of you, you need to fight it. They had to have known what that fucker was capable of when they brought him on. It’s not like his record isn’t public knowledge. All it’d take is a goddamn google search to see that asshole has a pattern.”

  “It’s not worth it,” I replied honestly. “I mean, yeah, the administrators talked to him when I went in and complained, but it was nothing more than a slap on the wrist. I’m not sure I want to work at a place that lets shit like that slide.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “And besides, there’re plenty of hospitals in Virginia, right? Or I could even go into private practice.”

  His chest expanded, and his arm grew even tighter. “Glad to hear you say that, angel. You have no goddamn clue how glad, but before we get into the future, we need to clear some things up.”

  My skin grew uncomfortable and itchy at the change in his tone. “What things?”

  “Krista Duke and Harley Madison.”

  Hearing those names was like having a bucket of ice water dumped over my head. I tried to sit up, but Hayes’s arm was like a steel band around me.

  With no other choice but to stay in place, I shifted, stacking my palms on his chest, resting my chin on the back of my hands so I could look up into his eyes. “Hayes, we don’t have to talk—”

  “I don’t remember that night with Krista, but I know it happened. And I know why. It was the same reason I slept with Harley.”

  I thought back to what he’d said to Harley in the diner, and I remembered that Krista was a brunette with blue eyes as well. “You really slept with them because they looked like me?”

  “Krista was a sweet girl, but she never even registered to me until I hit that party and started doing tequila shots like they were water. I saw her hair and eyes and was drunk enough to see her as a replacement. And Harley… well, you already know how she is.”

  I did. She was a raging bitch from hell.

  “I wasn’t a choir boy while you were gone, Tempie. I didn’t take a vow of abstinence while I waited for you to come back to me. But as twisted as that sounds, every single one of those women was a placeholder for you. Even if that wasn’t my intention when we started up.”

  “Why are you telling me all of this?”

  His eyes turned to deep melted chocolate as he pulled me farther up his chest. “Because I don’t want any more secrets between us. I’m not gonna lie to you, angel. I want you back, and I hope like hell that what just happened in this bed means you want me too. And to make that work, we need to put all our cards on the table. But mostly, I need to know you forgive me. I need you to forgive me, baby. And if you can’t, you need to say so right now, because I barely survived losing you once. There’s no way I could do that again.”

  My sinuses began to burn as I fought back the urge to cry. “I forgive you, Hayes. I forgive you, and I want you too. I want us to have a second chance.”

  A look of relief so stark it made my heart ache rolled over his face. “Thank fuck,” he breathed, letting his head fall back against the pillows. “Gotta say, Tempie, it’s good to hear that, ’cause I’m not sure how well this would’ve worked if I had to cuff you to my bed ’til you came around to my way of thinking.”

  With that, I flopped against him and let out a long, loud belly laugh so strong my stomach ached by the time I was finished.

  Hayes rolled me over, pinning me beneath his strong body. He kissed me, then reached over and turned off the lamp on the nightstand, coming back and shifting us until my back was pressed into his chest and his arms held me against him.

  “Hayes,” I whispered into the darkness a few minutes later.

  “Right here, angel.”

  I pulled in a deep breath, trying to find the right words. “Just so you know, there hasn’t been a single man in twenty-one years who could live up to my memory of you. I just... thought you to know that.”

  I felt his muscles go tight, and his arm around me squeezed to the point it was difficult to breathe. When he spoke again, his voice brimmed with emotion, letting me know just how much that meant to him. “Thank you for sayin’ that, angel. Now get some sleep.”

  Oh yeah, I thought as I began to drift, completely wrapped up in Hayes. I’m finally back home again.

  Chapter Twelve

  Hayes

  My eyes opened and went to the alarm clock beside my bed—five fifteen, just like clockwork. My alarm wasn’t set to go off for another forty-five minutes, but I’d been like that since leaving the Corps.

  The only difference between all those other mornings and this one was that when I woke up, I did it with a huge fucking smile one my lips.

  Scrubbing at my face with one hand, I used the other to reach across the bed and pull Tempie’s warm, soft body against me. Only she wasn’t there.

  “Fuck,” I hissed, shooting up and looking in that direction. My heart sank like a stone in water and rage filled my veins as I jumped out of the bed and pulled my jeans back on, not bothering with the button once I had them in place and zipped up. The sheets were still warm and the pillow was depressed from where her head had been resting, so she couldn’t have been gone long. Thinking I could catch her in the parking lot and do exactly what I’d promised the night before—tan her ass for bailing on me—I started out of the bedroom and down the hall at a quick clip.

  “Son of a bitch.”

  I jerked to a stop, relief flooding through me as I whipped my head toward the kitchen to find Temperance standing there in nothing but my shirt from the night before. The sleeves were rolled up, and the hem hit her at mid-thigh. Her hair hung loose and wild all around her, and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever seen her more beautiful than she was right then.

  “What are you doin’?”

  She pointed a fork at me and shot me a glare. “You’re supposed to be asleep,” she said in lieu of a response. “How am I supposed to surprise you with breakfast in bed if you’re awake?”

  I turned my attention to the stove. My one and only shitty pan was on a burner, and six pieces of bacon were crackling inside of it. It was only then that the smells penetrated the frantic anger I’d been feeling at the thought of Tempie running out on me, and the tension in my shoulders melted completely away.

  “I woke up and you weren’t beside me,” I said quie
tly as I moved into the kitchen. Taking the fork from her, I tossed it aside, then pulled her into my arms and held her close, finally able to relax now that she was pressed against me. “I thought you left.”

  Those expressive eyes filled with sadness as she pressed her palms deeper into my chest. “I promised I wouldn’t, honey.”

  Resting my forehead against hers, I closed my eyes and pulled in her intoxicating scent. “I know. And I’m sorry for freaking out. This is just gonna take some getting used to, you know? I’ve dreamed about getting you back for twenty-one years, angel, but I never really thought it would happen.”

  Her fingers pressed beneath my chin, forcing my head up. When I opened my eyes, I was hit with her beautiful smile, and I knew the truth right then and there. I’d never fallen out of love with Temperance Levine. She’d burrowed into my heart when I was fifteen years old, and she’d never left. She was the reason I never moved on, never met someone and started a family. She was the reason I lived in this shithole apartment. Because I couldn’t imagine my life without her, I’d spent the past twenty-one years in a holding pattern, simply existing instead of living.

  But all it took was that one smile and the shadows that had been casting my world in gray dreariness burned off, and the sun shined through, bright and brilliant.

  “You have nothing to apologize for, Hayes.” Then her smile fell away and a fake scowl took its place. “Except maybe ruining my surprise.”

  I let out a chuckle and pressed my lips against hers. “Hate to break it to you, baby, but I haven’t slept past five fifteen since I turned twenty. But you wanna make me breakfast in bed, I’ll be happy to climb back into it and act surprised if it makes you feel better.”

  She let out a giggle and gave me a playful shove, putting pressure on my arms until I let go so she could move back to the stove and turn the bacon. “No point in that now. You’ve ruined it. You’ll just have to eat breakfast sitting in a chair like a normal person.”