Cherry Grove (The Cove Series Book 1)

by Leaona Luxx

  I take hold of her hips to keep her from running. “What happened last night before I got here?”

  With that she’s gone, her mind is somewhere else. I can tell just by looking at her that she’s going to dodge.

  “Umm, what do you mean?”

  Here we go, again. “Baby, I know something happened, but I can’t help if you don’t tell me.”

  “I can’t. Not yet, I’m still trying to figure it out.”

  I’m getting aggravated and attempt to plead my case, “Hadlea, I want to help, but I need you to tell me everything. Do you understand?” She nods, still not moving. I take this as a good sign to go on, “I want to be with you. It’s obvious something that you prefer I don’t know about is going on. Now, I can guess all day long or you can talk to me.”

  Her body trembles and she tries to wiggle free, which causes my own body to react, but this is too important.

  “I can’t. But I promise you, as soon as I can, I’ll tell you,” she insists.

  Studying her, I know she truly means it.

  “I swear, Malone. I’m going to work on some things and then, I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Just give me a few days, please. I want this; I want you.”

  Leaning down, she greedily takes my mouth and further discussion has been tabled for later. Rising to my feet with her wrapped around me, I take her to bed and sink as deep in her as I can possibly get.

  ***

  I wake with Hadlea draped around me, and I love it. It feels amazing. Holding her to me, I bask in the moment, knowing soon I have to leave her for work. She comes in closer, putting her arm around my neck.

  “Malone?”

  The sound of my name on her lips is my undoing. “Yes, baby?” Pressing her body against me, her leg comes higher on me, her body melding with mine.

  “I could get used to this.”

  I agree! “Me too, baby.”

  “I need you.”

  That’s all it takes. I’m going to be late for work, but for Hadlea, I will be late any day of the week. Running my left hand down to her ass, I place my right hand on her leg just above her thigh and pull her on top of me.

  “You want it?” I say looking at the heat in her eyes. Hadlea nods as she bites her lip. “Take what you want.”

  Her eyes go wide and she shakes her head. “I-I can’t One.”

  Oh, she can and she will. “Yes, you can, woman. Do it.”

  “I don’t know how. I mean, I’ve never...you know,” she hangs her head as if ashamed.

  “Look at me, baby.” Pausing, I coax her, by rubbing her leg to encourage her, and she finally glances up. “You can. Just do what you think is right. It’ll be great, I love you.”

  The heat in her eyes radiates through her center making her wetter. She leans down, runs her tongue around my nipple. I didn’t think it was possible to get any harder, but that show...DAMN! “Oh, good God, baby. I love that!”

  She bites down and runs the tip of her tongue across my caged tip, making a sucking sound. Letting go she repeats everything on my right nipple. It feels fucking incredible. I grind my hard cock up, rubbing it against her. She cries out and grinds her hips against me.

  Working her way from my nipple, she slowly licks, sucks, and bites her way up to my neck, never ceasing the slow, wet grinding of her pussy on my cock. Hadlea rises up on her knees just enough to grab my cock in her hand. Once she has it in hand, I expect her to line it up with her dripping entrance, but she doesn’t.

  Her eyes dart to mine. She looks like she is contemplating something. I don’t have to wait long before she takes in a deep breath and announces, “I need to taste this first.”

  Moving down my body, she squeezes my dick, feeling it, her hand stroking up and down. Her eyes stare at it as if trying to examine it from tip to base, sizing it up. Finally, she sticks her tongue out and licks the tip of it, gathering the bead of pre-cum that glistens at the head.

  Her tongue disappears back into her mouth, before placing a full kiss at the head of my cock. I’m ready to explode when she starts licking my entire length. Returning to the tip, she opens her mouth and inch by glorious inch, takes me into her mouth as one of her hands reaches between my legs and cups my balls.

  Indulging in my cock with her soft pink lips, she keeps going until I hit the back of her throat. From there, she begins to alternate between sucking me and moving her head up and down, swallowing me into her throat. She licks and laps my shaft, savoring it as if it were a meal.

  Fuck.

  “Hadlea, stop or I’m going to come. Please, I want to be inside you when I come.”

  It’s a plea, a demand, a need. Working her way back up my body, she places the head of my cock at her entrance and slides down, hissing as she sinks lower.

  “You sore baby?”

  Nodding, she continues to slowly work herself onto me, taking her time. “Just give me a minute to adjust.”

  I could stay like this forever, sunk in her pussy balls deep and never get tired of it. A little timidly now, Hadlea begins to move up and down my shaft gently. Clenching me within her walls as she rides me, she pulses with every upshift.

  Gripping her hips, I rise up and place my lips around her nipple to tease and suck. Her movements become more confident and faster. Nails dig into my shoulders as she races for her release. With every grind as she bottoms out, I meet her with an upward thrust of my hips.

  “Fuck me, baby,” I groan against her neck, nipping at her pulse point.

  Hadlea bounces up and down on my cock, and she moans, “Malone, I’m getting close.”

  Reaching between us, I place my thumb on her clit. Her core grasps my cock and begins milking me. I increase my pressure on her clit and wrap my other arm around her, reaching upward and place it on her shoulder. I hold her down on my cock as I push deeper into her, and I tell her, “Come for me, baby!” She cries out as she climaxes, her core contracting around me.

  Still riding her breathless high, her mouth sinks onto mine, claiming it. We devour one another, and I’m soon climaxing, filling her with everything I have to give.

  We fall backward, her on my chest, both of us out of breath. Lazily, I rub her back. I feel as if I’m drowning in pure bliss.

  “I’m definitely going to be late for work,” I let out a chuckle.

  We both laugh making our bodies slide against one another, causing new sensations to thrum through us.

  “If that keeps happening, we’re just staying here all day,” I comment wistfully, and it sets off another round of laughter. Unfortunately, we both know it will get us in trouble, ergo we have to stop.

  “You need to shower,” she says through a haze of sex and hair.

  “Why thank you for telling me I smell.”

  “I’m not sure you need to go to work smelling like sex or maybe you should...I just know you’re sexy as hell with that tool belt on.” She pretends to fan herself.

  Holding her tight with one arm, I pull her chin around with my spare hand, locking my gaze with her. “Hadlea, you were...WOW! I just...you’ve completely wrung me out.” I stretch upward while dragging her downward and kiss her. Against her lips, I proclaim, “Pure perfection. Nobody fits me the way you do.”

  She blushes then places a chaste kiss on my lips. I hold her against my lips, my tongue gaining entrance to her mouth and attacking. Things quickly heat up once again, but before we can lose control, she pulls back, breaking contact.

  “Work, man. Besides, your woman needs food.” She snickers as she slides from the bed, throwing on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

  Jumping into the shower at her insistence, I’m grinning like a fool and nothing, not even a snake bite, will be able to remove it.

  Lea

  Standing in the doorway, I watch as One leaves, waving when his truck turns onto the road. I move to shut the door, but stop when I hear a low whistle from the tree line on the outskirts of my property. Hair raises on the back of my neck as the reality hits me of who stands behi
nd the dense foliage.

  Fucking hell, I should have known: Cole.

  “Well, well, well… look at the fucking whore, all cleaned up. How are you, Haddie?”

  Asshole! I hate that name. Whipping around to face him, I almost stumble. He’s a lot closer than I originally thought, and he reeks of cigarettes and cheap liquor. “What do you want, Cole?” I demand, doing everything I can to not throw up. That’s it, Hadlea, calm and cool.

  “I think to start with, I want to fuck you. And then, you’re gonna write me a fat fucking check right before I fuck you again,” he sneers.

  Bile rises in my throat from his words, and I take a step back.

  “There you go, bitch, let’s get goin’.”

  I stop with my hand tight around my door knob. “I’m not paying you anything. I’ve given you enough. You’re not getting anything else from me!” I stand firm straightening my back, refusing to give in.

  “You’ll do as you’re told. And don’t worry, sloppy seconds was always your way.”

  I’m going to puke as rage fills me. I want to kill this man. “You need to leave. There’s an order of protection in place.”

  He leans against the door jamb mocking me, “Protection? Like your little toy that just left? He fucked you ten ways from Sunday. He ain’t coming back. He wouldn’t even mess with you if he knew you were a whore.”

  I grit my teeth and spit, “Leave, Cole, or I’m calling the police.”

  He really laughs this time. Instantly the switch flips. His hands dart out, one grabs my arm and the other twists into my hair, pulling it, jerking me toward him. “You’ll get my fucking money and you’re going to suck my cock when you hand it over, understand, you fucking bitch?”

  I want to kill him. I will kill him.

  “Nod your fucking head if you understand, you piece of shit.”

  I nod, not because of the pain, but because I can’t stand being this close to him a minute longer.

  “That’s what I fucking thought, cunt.” Cole lets me go with a hard shove. My head hits the corner of the door and I stumble to the floor, blood already running through my strawberry blonde hair. That’s when he kicks me so hard I gasp for air, grabbing my side.

  I lay there, trying to steady my breath, as I wait for Cole to deliver another blow. Nothing happens. Slowly rising to my knees, my head swims making my vision blur.

  Holding to the door handle, I pull myself up. Gathering my senses, I place my hand over my wound to try to slow the bleeding, as I open the door.

  Standing in the hall bathroom, I apply pressure to my still bleeding wound. It’s going to need stitches. Damn it.

  The front door opens and I hear him before I see him. Hawk.

  “Mom? Mom, it’s Hawk. Mom?”

  “In the bathroom,” I say with a cringe.

  “Mom. Oh, God Mom. My friend called me and told me some man had you cornered.”

  “It’s just a cut, I’m fine.” Rising from my sitting spot on the side of the bathtub.

  “Let me see.” Hawk towers over me, so he’s looking before I can say no. “Uh, no. Mom, it needs stitches. Can you walk?”

  “It’s my head Hawk, not my legs.” Pushing past him as best I can.

  “I’m calling the police. Who did this? One?”

  “No! I fell, that’s all. Are you taking me to get stitches or what?”

  CHAPTER NINE

  One

  “Mom?” Taking a look around, I call out again. “Mother?” I walk further into the house.

  My mother remarried a few years after my father’s death. Cal Hamilton is a good man; he raised me as his own. My parents moved to the coast once I decided staying here was in my best interest.

  Raleigh held nothing but heartache and trouble for me. Cal never tried to replace my father, but he was my dad. He loves me, and he loves my mother. He’s spent endless hours helping me develop my company that my father had left me.

  My mother wasn’t an easy woman to win. Her heart belonged to my father, but Cal gave due diligence to help her through her broken heart. Many times while my marriage fell apart, they tried to give me advice, but little did we know, greed was disguised as love. Finally, I hear her.

  “Mom?”

  “I’m here, honey. What’s wrong?” She knows the minute she heard my voice, mothers.

  “What makes you think something’s wrong?” Kissing her on the cheek, I then follow her to the kitchen.

  “Because it’s written all over your face.”

  Wow. Open book, am I? “It is? It is.”

  She laughs in her singsong way that reminds me of my little sister, Thayer. I’ve loved her from the time I knew our mother was expecting her; she had my heart. Thayer also knew it. I gave her and Chord more than my parents did. Not because they couldn’t, but I was older with money to burn, so why not?

  “She running?” my Mother asks.

  What the hell? How did she know? “She’s hedging. How did you know?”

  “I know running, son and I know running from love. Lea seems to be doing both. Tell me about her.” Releasing a frustrated groan as I sit, she brings me a glass of sweet tea. “I’d ask you if you wanted something, to eat but a man in love doesn’t eat like a woman who’s lost her love”

  Shaking my head, I state the obvious. “I’m crazy about her. But she keeps acting as if she could bolt at any time.”

  Giving me a knowing smile and a nudge to continue. “I know. How can I help?”

  “How can you see my sincerity, but Hadlea thinks it’s not real?”

  “You must be shown love to know it. She’s never been given love. I’m sure you think being a mother makes you so understanding of love, but it doesn’t. Love comes in many shapes and forms. Love’s not easy, it’s work. Lea needs work.”

  I’m in awe of her. “She does. She pushes me away every time I get close. I can see it in her eyes; she wants us, but it’s like she’s scared. She won’t tell me what happened to her.”

  Mom tenderly pats my hand. “She will. When she can.”

  I think I’m losing it. I stand and begin to pace, thrusting my hands through my hair as I tug on it.

  “This is driving me crazy. I’ve never wanted someone the way I want her. She’s maddening. Did you know she started her business and launched the sale of it on her own? An article quotes her as saying, she wanted to do it so she read how and did it. She read about it, then sold a site worth millions of dollars, all on her own. And how about those men she’s raised?

  “Damn, Mom, she’s almost better than you. They’re amazing, smart, honorable men. How can she be so smart but not understand me? How can I show her I love her when she keeps running from it? The background check Cal got, which by the way, I’m still pissed over, said she put herself through college and worked three jobs to do it.

  “Took care of her parents as they died. She’s amazing, acting as if she doesn’t deserve me, when I’m pretty sure no one can compare to her, at all. We talked the other night, her hair fell all around her face, and she was breathtaking. Did you know her hair is naturally curly, almost a wave in parts? And her eyes, they turn from green to blue when she cries. I really hate when she cries. She’s perfect but how the hell can I make her see it?”

  Turning to my mother again, she wipes her eyes. Is she crying? “What is it, Mom? Am I wrong for wanting her?”

  She stands, crossing the room she takes me in her arms. “Malone, love her the way she needs you to. Do you understand me? If you do this, you’ll never know a greater love.” I look at her as if she’s speaking a foreign language.

  “I don’t know how. I want to know; I want to know for her. I love her, but I want her to know she’s loved. Loved the way she never thought she could be, like she thought she never would be. Is she even capable of being loved? I don’t know but I’m willing to be her teacher. I need to be the one who brings her heart to life. She deserves so much. How do I make her believe?”

  “By never ceasing to give her the love she d
eserves, even when she doesn’t.”

  Huh? I’m sure I’ve heard her wrong. “What do you mean? I’m not even sure I have it in me. I’ve done this once and look how it turned out.”

  She reclaims her spot on the other side of me. “Love doesn’t always come easy. It’s never free; it comes at a price. Are you willing to pay it? Are you willing to love this woman when she may very well, walk away? Care for her even if she can’t care for you? Lea’s had a rough life; she’s grown cold to the world. And love came at a price, even with her children.

  “Malone, your marriage was bad. Sometimes it’s not what we didn’t do, sometimes it’s the things we did. You continued to love and support Montgomery. What did you do wrong?”

  Her words ring true but doubts plague me.

  “Montgomery took a toll on me. I sometimes wonder if I’m capable of loving someone the way they need to be loved.” I look into my mother’s eyes as they glisten with restrained moisture.

  “I know you can and will.” As she pats my hand from across the table. “Now, tell me how you’re going to do this.”

  Well, shit! I didn’t have a clue.

  “Well now, Mother, I’m not so sure of that.” We laugh together.

  She imparts this gem of wisdom. “Just be.”

  What did she say? “Come again?”

  Whispering she says, “Just be.” I’m not sure I understand, but she moves on to a new subject.

  After leaving my mother, I drive to the beach. I find a place to just think, just to be with my thoughts of Hadlea. I need to understand what my mother meant by ‘just be’ when we were talking about Hadlea. ‘Just be”’ what, though?

  Be strong? Be understanding? Be steadfast? Be unmoving? Be determined? Be unshakable? Be what? There is nothing more in this world that I want; more than to be the man Hadlea deserves. The man she needs.

  But, how the hell do I come to the point of understanding what that is without her telling me, or at least letting me close enough that I can figure it out? Wait. What? Was that it? Could that be what my mother meant? As fast I can get to my phone, I dial my mother’s number.

  “Hello, Malone,” she answers in her singsong way.