Take a Chance on Me (Baymoor Book 3)

by D. A. Young

  He literally plugged life into her. His dick was an electric charge that jolted Annabelle awake, sweeping away all previous exhaustion. Her fingers dug into the leather as Graham flexed his hips and surged deeply then quickly withdrew, setting a relentless pace, hitting all the right spots, causing her honey to overflow. Annabelle matched Graham’s smooth powerful rhythm, meeting him thrust for thrust as she threw her ass back to meet him until her legs were quaking.

  “Mine, Doc?” Graham quizzed as he reached his hand around her and cupped her sopping pussy. Not once did he stop drilling into her as he urged her to answer. “Hmmmm?”

  “Yooours! It’s all yours, love!” Annabelle moaned her confirmation, gyrating against him, and light-headed from every level of rapture he was taking her through. The blood rushed to her bent head the higher he drove her, and Annabelle could feel another orgasm blossoming on the horizon. Suddenly Graham pulled her up and maneuvered them into the chair with her sitting on top of him, facing away with her legs wide open and draped over his thighs.

  Graham cupped her throat lightly and stole a kiss. “Then lemme see you work it for me.”

  Annabelle fell back against him, clutched the chair arms again and rode him like her life depended on him. Her hips dipped and swiveled as she arched up, rising and falling on his dick as Graham filled his hands with her breasts and caressed her aching peaks. The scent of their lovemaking permeated the air and was punctuated by their labored breathing and the melodies of the intimate symphony that their bodies were performing.

  “Mmmm, Graham!” Annabelle panted as she tilted her head back to him, working muscles she’d forgotten she had, but had never put to use in bed before him. “Don’t ever stop treating me like this, baby.”

  “Never, Doc,” Graham promised as he bit her chin, moving her up and down on his shaft. “Fuck ordinary, right?”

  “Yeeeah, baby.” She sank her teeth into his bottom lip, and Graham twisted her nipples in response then rubbed away the sting as she licked away his. “Fuck. Ordinary.”

  They were so damn good together, and their chemistry was too damn much for it to last. Graham could feel the tingling in his balls, and he knew Annabelle was close as she worked her hips faster, spasming uncontrollably around his dick. Her head tossed in a frenzy, whipping her damp curls about his face. Graham released her breasts to slide his arm under one of hers and wrap it around her shoulder, pinning her in place as he licked her neck and his other hand played between her nether lips.

  Yeah, too damn much. The sensory overload triggered Annabelle’s orgasm, and it tore through her so fast, she thought she’d pass out. In turn, it set off Graham’s release. He drove into her spent pliant form, holding onto Annabelle tightly as he buried his face in her curls and came, silently vowing to always make her feel loved and cherished.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Why are we walking again? We could have just driven the car over here.” Graham eyed Annabelle’s heeled boots on the wet road, prepared to assist her if needed. “As much as I loved seeing you butt-naked in those boots, right now, I’m wishing you would have changed into more sensible shoes.”

  “Sensible shoes? Bite your tongue, sir! The reason we’re walking is that I love the smell of the fresh country air. I missed all of this!” she explained, exuberantly flinging her arms wide open. “I can’t wait to hear the rooster’s crowing in the morning.”

  It was good to be back, Annabelle mused as she held Graham’s hand and they walked the short distance to Cinnamon Farms. It was fifty degrees outside, and while some cities in Maryland still had snow, here in Baymoor, the snow was gone while the damp, icy air lingered, mixing with this morning’s early rain. Annabelle burrowed her face in the hot pink wool scarf and wrapped both arms around Graham’s waist, huddling against him. “I can’t believe how cold it is, and these boots are killing me. I might need you to warm me up again, Mr. Carlton.”

  “You’re killing me in them boots, Doc.” Graham swung her into his arms as she giggled and kissed his cheek. He looked down into her pretty face, eyes twinkling with happiness underneath her hot pink beret with the rhinestone and pearl broach pinned to the front and her gorgeous, wide pretty smile.

  “How about I leave them on, and we can pick up where we left off later tonight after you’re done at the inn?” Annabelle cooed.

  Graham shook his head. “Nope. If you want some of the ‘good-good’, then you can move all your stuff in with me. The only thing you and I are doing later tonight is Skyping with babygirl.”

  Annabelle laughed until she realized he wasn’t laughing along with her. Her expression turned incredulous. “Wait. You’re seriously cutting me off?”

  “I’m dead-ass serious, Doc,” Graham answered grimly. “I’m not about to be anybody’s booty call. What I am about to be is forty. I know what I want. I want to take a walk. One that will lead us both down the aisle into a lifetime commitment. I want to wake up to your smile every morning, doing Rory’s hair, and answering any more questions she may have about why I shave my head.” He glanced down to make sure that he had her full, undivided attention. “I also wouldn’t mind hearing more little feet running around in our home as well. I think our kid needs some siblings to boss around.”

  “Do you mean all of it?” He was giving her all the feels with his vision and claiming Rory as his as well.

  Graham deliberately relaxed his grip and feeling herself slipping down his body, Annabelle squealed, tightening her clasp around his neck for fear of falling. Scowling fiercely, she yelled, “The hell, Graham?!”

  “See? You wanna play; I can play too,” Graham replied with a disapproving frown. “Of course, I mean all of it! Where exactly did you think this was going between you and me?”

  “I wasn’t just going to assume anything!” Annabelle informed him crossly. Taking a deep breath, she tilted her head back to the bleak gray sky, struggling to find the right words to make Graham comprehend where she was coming from. “I’ve never been in a real relationship where I loved someone wholly and the feeling was reciprocated. A relationship where there was a mutual respect and kindness with no strings attached or I wasn’t being manipulated! I love this between us, and I do want the ending you want…just not right now.”

  “I’m gonna need you to elaborate, Doc.” Graham’s stoic expression and calm voice made Annabelle’s stomach churn with anxiety.

  Her brown eyes pleaded with Graham to understand her point of view. “I need time to work on myself. I want to be the best version of myself for me, Rory, you, and Edith. The time we spent together was the best I’ve ever had aside from the time I’ve spent being Rory’s mother.” She shrugged helplessly. “But it’s all I know. Since leaving Baymoor, I’ve been on autopilot. Focused on laying low, Rory, and work. Any free time I’ve had hasn’t been spent constructively. I’ve been torn between fantasizing on how I could exact revenge unscathed and hoping no one found us. You’ve given me and Edith hope for something more. I want more with you, but I need this first because I’d hate to be a disappointment to you and everyone else I love.”

  Graham stopped at the end of the pathway to the barn, lowered her to the ground, and kissed her tenderly. “You’re incapable of disappointing me, but I get it. Growing up, I was angry about our lifestyle. Angry, frustrated, and helpless. That shit ain’t a good combination. I wasn’t the best student either, choosing to be a smart-ass knucklehead instead of buckling down and applying myself. I was bored out of my mind and wished I could be anywhere else. Only reason I went was because Eliza insisted on it.

  My freshman year, she was a student aid during third period. Eliza came to deliver a message to my P.E. class in the gym. I heard these slick-mouthed dudes talking mad shit about her, making lewd gestures, and catcalling to her. Then some other ones joined in. She ignored them, but I didn’t.”

  His voice chilled her more than the winter weather did. It was ruthless and unforgiving, and hating the change in him, Annabelle reached up to touch Graham’s f
ace. It didn’t relax into the soft lines she’d come to expect whenever she touched him. “What did you do?”

  “I made an example out of them.” It was a simple statement that spoke volumes to what Graham was capable of. “I needed everyone in that gym to understand what would happen to them if they ever thought to disrespect her again. I like to think they learned their lesson.”

  “Them is plural,” Annabelle spoke carefully. “How many kids did you fight?”

  “Three altogether,” he replied dismissively. “Anyways, the point—”

  “Three! You took on three guys?!”

  “The point is I was angry enough to do it. They were bigger and should have been stronger, but that’s how volatile I was,” Graham patiently explained to her. “I was supposed to be suspended from school but instead, my guidance counselor recommended a place for me to channel my emotions. It was a boxing gym run by a former Marine counselor named Cornelius Dalvin.” Graham smiled with fondness.

  “I thought I was there to get in the ring, but Mr. D put me to work cleaning the gym. He insisted that I needed to watch and learn, but I was still too hotheaded to listen. Mr. D kept refusing me, saying I wasn’t ready, insisting that I couldn’t see the bigger picture. I was pissed and wanted to quit a few times but knew he’d never let me come back if I did. ‘Watch and learn, Carlton. Watch and learn.’ That’s all he’d ever say to me. I watched others get their shot in the ring and finally, I’d had it and quit. I told him that if I wasn’t going to get a shot then I didn’t need to keep coming.

  Two months later, Ingrid brought home Arthur Watts. He was a big man, dressed in a flashy suit and telling us he was going to ‘do right’ by Ingrid. In other words, he was there to stay. I watched the way he studied Eliza and Georgie.” His voice, dripping with disgust and abhorrence, made Annabelle shiver with dread at where this story was going. “The next afternoon, I was back at Mr. D’s place. Until that day, I’d never begged for a damn thing in my life. I promised him I’d make an effort to control my emotions, so he relented and allowed me to come back. I absorbed everything he told me and listened to the other boxers’ advice as well. I wanted to learn everything they could teach me because I knew the day would come when I would have to utilize it all.

  I was sixteen when Watts attempted to rape Eliza. I blame myself that he had the opportunity because I should have been there with her and Georgie. Instead, I stayed out celebrating because I’d finally paid my dues, and Mr. D, rewarded me with a match at the gym with an undefeated contender,” Graham confessed with a bleak expression.

  “The assault was in progress when I arrived home. By the time I made it to her, he was on top of Eliza about to…,” Graham paused to regain control of his emotions. Annabelle watched the uncontrollable twitch of his eyes and the fury brewing in them, feeling the violence seething through his tightly wound body. “All of my training went out the window and I rushed in blindly, again being led by my emotions. That was my second mistake. He got in a solid lick, but Eliza distracted him and gave me the advantage. It was all I needed to make sure he’d never get the chance to harm anyone else.”

  “You killed him?” Annabelle whispered, staring at his hands as in a trance. “Just like you killed Brenton and Jessie?”

  “Add Sherman to that list too,” Graham said tonelessly as he held his hands out for her. “These hands are coated in blood, Doc. I’m sorry if you feel some type of way about it, but I’m not tossing and turning at night, losing sleep with regret. I do what needs to be done.”

  Annabelle grabbed his large hands, curled hers around them, and locking her eyes with his, she brought his hands to her lips to kiss each knuckle. “Don’t ever apologize for doing what is necessary. You choose to make the world a better place by ridding it of monsters. What happened to you then?”

  “Judge gave me a break, but I fucked it up again over Ingrid’s ass and wound up in a group home where I fucked up some more. It was the only thing I was good at...well, that and computers. There was a kid named Lance in the home who was cold with technology. It was also the reason he was there. A high school dropout, he’d hacked into the school district system and changed his attendance record and added grades. Once he saw I was into it, Lance taught me everything he knew about cracking security codes and firewalls. I was hooked, and we’d get on a computer whenever we could. That’s how we discovered the group home owner’s son was into kiddie porn. We turned it over to the cops, and he was arrested.

  The owner retaliated by allowing us to take his car to the car wash and called the cops, insisting we’d stolen it and went joyriding. It was back to court, and I was basically invited to either the military or jail. The military set me straight, but so did Mr. D, who fought with my lawyer to have my record expunged. We stayed in touch, and he counseled me for years. He also recommended me to some of his buddies in the government after I left the Marines.

  Mr. D was a good man, but unfortunately, he passed away three years ago from pneumonia. I don’t know who or where I would be if him, Uncle Nate, Aunt Val, and my sisters had given up on me. I valued those therapy sessions and have been thinking about them a lot lately.” Graham shot her a meaningful glance. “Doc, I think that you’re on the right track, and I know a therapist that comes highly recommended. She’d be good for you and Edith if you’re open to the idea.”

  “I am and that was the same conclusion I’d drawn myself,” Annabelle admitted, feeling overwhelmed with relief that he did understand. “Thank you. I wish that I wasn’t in a position to need it but—”

  “But then you wouldn’t have Rory. The important thing is you didn’t stay,” Graham reminded her firmly. “If you had, who knows what both of your lives might look like right now, or if you’d even be alive. Don’t let the guilt get to you, or it’ll smother you. Since meeting you, I’ve wondered what would have happened if I had straightened up my act and come here to live with Uncle Nate and Aunt Val. What if I would have known you back then? Maybe I could have stopped it?”

  “Have I mentioned you’re the best, Mr. Carlton? But you can’t even think like that. Besides, you probably wouldn’t even have noticed me,” Annabelle gave a self-deprecating laugh as she tucked both hands into her wool coat. “I was a bit of a late bloomer who didn’t give a damn about jazzing up my looks or having a sense of style. Trust me; someone like you would never have noticed someone like me.”

  Graham shot her an angry scowl. “Quit selling yourself short, Doc. Trust. Me. I would have noticed. You don’t move like other women; you’re the exception. I don’t mean to sound cocky, but females have been pressin’ up on me forever, but I wasn’t thinking about them back then. I was solely focused on my sisters, but once I hit the group home, I made up for lost time and then some.” Graham brushed the curly tendrils out of Annabelle’s eyes. “With you, Doc, I was especially attracted to the way that you weren’t sweatin’ me.”

  Annabelle leaned into him, and Graham’s arm encircled her shoulders as they walked up the road. Dryly, she responded, “Since I’ve experienced firsthand how sprung you’ve got these women, and know why, I’ll take that as a compliment…While I keep receipts, Casanova.”

  Graham cringed at the nickname. “C’mon, Doc, don’t do me like that. It’s you and only you. We both know it, so don’t even front.”

  Annabelle pushed away from him, walking up ahead of Graham. “Damn straight it is. After the way I let you take advantage of me in your office, you better have my name engraved on your junk.”

  “Junk?” Graham exclaimed with an affronted glare at her back. “Woman, this is grade A quality dick you’re insulting! Remember that during your self-imposed exile, sleeping all alone as the room starts closing in on you. The minutes will pass like days as your junk shrivels up from dehydration caused by your rash choices. I suggest you reconsider before the realness sets in. The ‘itis’ ain’t nothin to play with.”

  “I can’t even begin to fathom the level of ridiculousness you’re on,” Annabelle called
over her shoulder. “By the way, how many babies, Mr. Carlton? I always pictured having at least one child, but I’m open to the possibility of more. After marriage, of course.”

  “Getting married isn’t even a question. More babies aren’t a contingency, but if you’re at least open to the idea, that’s all I could ask for,” Graham replied as he caught up to her and put his arm around her again.

  Suddenly, the air was filled with the call of Cinnamon Farms guardian animal, George Jefferson, standing at the top of the hill bleating at them.

  “Neeeeaaaahhh!”

  “Georgie!” Annabelle broke away from Graham and ran toward the pygora goat who began to trot toward them. “Georgie, baby, it’s Dr. A!”

  She dropped to her knees, uncaring of the possible damage to her tights, and the espresso-colored goat ran into them as Max appeared and followed behind at a slower pace.

  “Neeeeaaahhh!” The animal’s pace increased until he was in Annabelle’s arms. She angled her head away from his small horns as he rubbed the side of his face against her neck, practically purring.

  The furball had a soft spot for women, especially his, Graham thought with amusement. “Should I leave the two of you alone?”

  George Jefferson opened one eye, bared his teeth at Graham before sticking his tongue out at him. “Baaaaaah!”

  “That means ‘you ain’t shit’ in goat,” Max informed him helpfully as he joined them. He chuckled at the finger Graham gave him then held out his arms as Annabelle straightened up. “Hey, A.B.! Welcome home!”

  “Thanks, Max. It’s good to be back. I’m looking forward to getting an early start.”

  They exchanged a big hug as Tavish then Wade also joined the group with enthusiastic greetings of “Great to see ya, lass! Yer a bonnie sight for these eyes!” and “Welcome home, Annabelle!”