Run With Me: (a Sin With Me romantic suspense prequel)

by Lacey Silks

  Could I find true happiness with Xavier, the way Mary said I could? I hoped so. I had that delightful feeling in my stomach when I thought about Xavier that way. It wasn’t butterflies and it wasn’t a stampede of bulls, but it felt wonderful and right. It felt special.

  “Thank you for taking care of Hope.”

  “It’s the least we could do.”

  We heard footsteps along the platform and both turned. Jack came with two steaming cups of tea in his hands and handed one to each of us.

  “Is it time yet?” Mary asked.

  “After the tea, darling.” Jack whispered. I set the cup on the dock, stood up, and hugged Jack. “Thank you for everything.”

  “Hey, we said no goodbyes.”

  “I know. I’m just sad.”

  “Be happy, Anna. Today’s a good day. Today is the beginning of your new life with Hope and Xavier.”

  “I’ll forever be grateful. For everything, Jack. You’ve taught me so much.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. You’re the one who opened our eyes to the kind of love a family should have. You risked everything to keep your little one safe.”

  Mary caressed her stomach, smiling. Lost in thought, she looked across the river, and I turned my attention back to Jack.

  “My offer stands, Anna. Anything you two ever need, just let me know. Xavier will find a way to contact us. You saved our son’s life. I will give you anything you ask for.”

  “All I ask for is that you’re both safe.”

  “We will be. I’m gonna go get our bags.”

  I threw my arms around Jack one last time, or what I thought was a last time because over the next hour, as we said our ‘see you laters,’ it took all my energy to actually let my friends go.

  That evening, I lay Hope in her crib and took a shower. As soon as Mary and Jack left, Xavier began making arrangements for our travel the next day. He was still downstairs, sitting in the kitchen of the little house we’d rented in the middle of nowhere, flipping through papers and checking maps. I didn’t want to interrupt him.

  I stepped out of the shower and pulled the robe’s ties together. When I came out to the bedroom, Xavier was sitting on the bed. His legs were stretched out and he was wearing his sweatpants.

  “Hi, are you finished?” I asked.

  “I think so. We leave in the morning. How are you feeling?”

  Looking at him without his shirt made me feel anxious and excited at the same time. A quick flash of need passed through me. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d had sex. Actually, I was pretty sure it was when Hope was conceived.

  “I’m okay, I guess.”

  He patted the bed for me to come sit beside him. Something about the gesture made me feel nervous, but in a good way. I came up to the bed and stood in front of him. He sat on the edge, his legs resting against my hips.

  “Anna, you can’t ever tell anyone where the money is. Not even me.”

  I gasped.

  He knows.

  Our gazes connected, and I replied, “What money?”

  “Good. Now, you do know that you’re stuck with me for what may be the rest of your life, don’t you?”

  I looked into his eyes. That connection I’d felt when I first saw him was back. It had always been there, though I hadn’t realized how strong it had become until now. I wasn’t sure exactly when I’d fallen for Xavier. It must have happened over time, and now that I recognized this new feeling in my chest for this man, it felt wonderful.

  “I’m not stuck. I’m right where I want to be, which is next to you. But is that what you want, Xavier? Can you live on the run for the rest of your life? I mean, I didn’t really give you much choice.”

  “You never have to question where I want to be because whenever I’m with you, I’m right where I need to be.”

  He lifted his hands to my hips and drew me closer to him. At the sight of his sweats lifting over his crotch, I felt my nipples pebble. They almost hurt. That, and my heart began beating harder. It was also getting hotter in the room.

  “Anna, I understand if you don’t feel the same way. The past few years have been hell for you, and if you tell me to back away, I will. I’m a patient man.”

  “They weren’t all hell, and I do feel the same way. I think I have for a long time. I just needed answers, and now that I have them, I want to move on. I want to move on with you. I’m in love with you, Xavier Black. You heal my heart. You make me feel safe and special. You give me hope.”

  He pulled me to his body and sealed his mouth over mine. I fell forward onto him as he leaned back on the bed. The intimate kiss quickly turned into a fervent one. His needy tongue guided mine. It pried my mouth wider and wider as Xavier snaked his hands underneath me to untie my robe. The fabric slid off my arms, then off my body. I wasn’t sure how he’d managed that, but it didn’t matter. Lying naked over him, feeling his erection against my stomach, was even more exciting than the thrill of watching the bulls run. My heart raced and my mind was spinning with emotions I’d never experienced. They were deep and passionate, full of need and sorrow at the same time, but also full of new expectations, and I had no doubt in my mind that this was the right way to begin a new life.

  A moment of panic flashed in my mind. “Wait – I’ve never had an orgasm.”

  “What?” He rolled to the side. I lay naked on the bed, in full view, without covers, feeling the adoration in his gaze.

  “John and I… I mean, we were both so inexperienced. I’m not sure how it’s supposed to feel. What if I miss it?”

  Xavier laughed, then removed his sweats. He wasn’t wearing any underwear, and I couldn’t stop staring at his stiff dick. “Oh, Anna, you have no idea how much you’ve just turned me on. And you have no idea what I’m about to do to you.”

  His promise snaked through my limbs, awakening a need deep inside me. He kissed my shoulder, drawing his mouth over my collarbone then down to my breast, where he licked a nipple. His right hand was on my other breast, gently squeezing the weight before it slowly slid down to my belly, then to between my legs. I felt him touch me in that sensitive spot, and my body jerked upward.

  “I promise you, you won’t miss it.”

  I writhed underneath him as his fingers moved over that spot, over and over again. I closed my eyes, getting lost in the building sensation between my legs. I wanted to open them further, but stopped him again. “How will I know?”

  “When you want to scream my name out loud, then you’ll know.”

  I didn’t ask him to stop again. It felt too good. His touches, tender kisses, and the way he loved me, physically and with his heart, felt beyond perfect. If there was anyone I’d ever want to run with, it was Xavier.

  Somewhere in Arizona

  “Come on, kid. That’s not how you clean a gun.”

  “Gun,” the boy repeated.

  “Mateo, what are you doing? He’s barely four.”

  “What? It’s not loaded. It’s better that he learns how to use one early. He’s going to be the best shooter in the state.”

  “You think that’s good enough? Fifty million dollars is a big chunk of change, Mateo. The bitch has it, and we have to find her.”

  “You’re wrong, Pablo. What you’re looking at here is not a child. It’s an investment in our future and our children’s future.”

  “How do you propose this little one will find the money, brother?”

  “It’s simple. Mikey will be a detective.”

  *

  Turn the page for a Sneak Peek at the next book, Sin With Me

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  Sneak Peek at Sin With Me

  Prologue: Eight Months Ago

  “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been one month since my last confession.”

  Waiting to hea
r these words each time she stepped into the confessional was like testing a man’s patience in the last seconds of an orgasm. Her smell infiltrated the space as soon as she entered, and my blood flow took its usual path south, down to my groin. I lowered my head in defeat. The next three to four minutes would be torturous.

  “These are my sins…”

  My attempts to block out her captivating voice failed, just like they did each time she spoke. Listening to her sins wan’t fair to her or her faith, but a man like me had no choice. A man like me was forced to sacrifice his own needs. I wouldn’t betray her trust. I would keep her sins inside of me, as my own, and hope that one day I’d be forgiven for doing so. As I sat in the dark confessional, the nagging pain in my chest didn’t matter, and neither did the nuisance of a hard dick. Maybe if I stashed my desires for this woman deeper… would that help? I doubted it.

  “I had lustful thoughts about someone I shouldn’t have, Father.” The words hit my ears like a two-ton wrecking ball, drawing my attention back to the woman on the other side of the latticed opening. Alarm bells went off in my head, and I couldn’t shut her confession out any longer.

  Damn it, Kate!

  “I want to stop these thoughts, but I can’t. I… I think I love him,” she continued.

  What?

  My ears perked up with jealousy. Who was the lucky man on the receiving end of Kate’s infatuation? Pace was a small town, and rumors of a new romance should have reached me within hours. Could he be the answer I’d been looking for, to stop my longing for her? As I heard a tremble in her voice, which my ears had translated into a soft moan, I pictured them together. The image of her bending over in front of him, with her ass high up in the air, turned my dick from hard, to pure steel. Now the idea of walking out of the church to find him and strangle him grew sweeter.

  “How long has this been going on?” This was not a standard question by any means. It wasn’t what I’d been trained to say, but at this point, I couldn’t help it. Especially not after what had happened between us. I needed to know more.

  “Six months, Father. I’ve been hiding my feelings for this man for six months.”

  At the declaration of her time frame, something stirred within me. I reached between my legs and adjusted my crotch. I’d been wrong when I thought that I couldn’t get any harder. The tightness beneath my zipper intensified at my touch, and I almost cursed under my breath. At this moment, I doubted that any sins I committed would ever be forgiven. Just my thoughts alone would buy me a one-way express ticket straight to Hell, right down a slide called I fucked a woman.

  “And he doesn’t reciprocate them?” I asked.

  “He can’t, and he never will. He loves someone else.”

  Thank God! I saved the sigh of relief for when we were finished.

  “So this man is married?” A sudden need to meet him and assess him to see whether he was even worthy of this woman grew in my chest. I wanted to run out of that confessional, take her in my arms, and spin her around, grateful that he couldn’t love her back—at least not the way she deserved to be loved. My eagerness to hold her as she cried on my shoulder grew. Then just as quickly, the realization that she wasn’t making sense set in. I would have known if there was another man. The only notable man in Kate’s life was…

  “Yes, he is, Father. He’s married to the church. He serves God.”

  I took in a sharp inhale, somewhat expecting her next words.

  “It’s you, Father.”

  Dear Reader: I’m sorry to leave you with so many unanswered questions. I know what you’re thinking… is Mikey dead? Is he alive? Does John ever re-unite with his daughter? What happens to Jack and Mary? These questions couldn’t be answered at the time Anna and Xavier’s story took place. They had to go into hiding. Years passed and Hope and Cameron grew up without ever meeting each other until new circumstances drew them both back to Pace and they they were forced to .

  You can find Hope and Cameron’s sizzling story, in Sin With Me.

  Happy reading!

  Lacey Silks

  This and That…

  Also known as Acknowledgments

  Sometimes books happen when you least expect them to. This was the case with Run With Me. About three-quarters through writing Sin With Me, I realized that there was a larger story to be told. That’s part of the reason why Sin With Me is releasing later than I planned - Anna and Xavier needed to tell their story.

  A huge THANK YOU to Linda Romer for helping me find that perfect quote about hope: “Learn from yesterday, Live for today and Hope for tomorrow.” It sounds like a tattoo quote, doesn’t it? Yes, I will probably get that inked on my body, I just have to find the right spot. Also a big thank you to all my newsletter subscribers who have submitted almost 350 quotes about HOPE. I read through them all and I can’t even tell you how uplifting it felt. While “Learn from yesterday, Live for today and Hope for tomorrow” is attributed to Albert Einstein, some argue that there’s no solid evidence that these beautiful words were spoken/written by him.

  To my readers, thank you for your continuous support. I am so blessed to do what I love to do for a living and to think that someone wants to read those crazy stories roaming in my head… well, that’s just crazy. Write to me! I love your emails and messages ❤️ Thank you!

  To my entire family, thank you for listening and just… being there when I go crazy with my schedule. You are all my blessing. You are my life.

  Also by Lacey Silks

  Dazzled by Silver (prequel to the Layers Trilogy) Layers Deep (Book 1) Layers Peeled (Book 2) Layers Off (Book 3)

  Crossed (prequel to the Crossed Series) Layers Crossed (Book 1) Double Crossed (Book 2) Crossed Off (Book 3)

  When Things Go Wrong (short prequel) Cheaters Anonymous (Book 1) Loyal Cheaters (Book 2) Broken Cheaters (Book 3) Chloe (Book 4)

  Perfectly Equipped (short prequel) Perfectly Seduced (Book 1) Perfectly Kissed (Book 2) Perfectly Loved (Book 3)

  Friends to Lovers Series

  My First, My Last

  Yours and Mine

  Right In Front of You

  Only You

  Manservants Series

  Run With Me (prequel)

  SinWithMe (Book 1)

  Play With Me (Book 2)

  Baby Me (a Sin With Me novella)

  Short Stories

  My Only One | Dance With Me | Teacher’s Pet

  Bossy Request | Over The Limit | My Neighbor’s Will

  Mistresses (a five story collection)

  Connect with Me Online:

  Mailing list | Facebook | Instagram

  BookBub | Twitter | My Blog

  About the Author

  USA Today Bestselling Author Lacey Silks writes erotic and contemporary romances with a touch of suspense. Her stories come from her life, dreams and fantasies. She’s a happily married wife with two kids who uses her husband to test out the more intimate scenes for her writing – he said he doesn’t mind it at all.

  Lacey likes to make her readers blush and experience the story as if they were the characters. Drawing on the reader’s most sensitive emotions through realistic stories satisfies her more than… …ok not really, but you get the point ;) She likes a pinkish shade on a woman’s cheeks, men with large feet and sexy lingerie-especially when it’s torn off the body. Her favorite piece of clothing is a birthday suit.

  If you enjoyed the story, please consider leaving a review. All authors depend on the support of their readers to find an audience. Make your opinion count!

  Mailing list | Goodreads | BookBub

  www.laceysilks.com

 

 

 
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