by Lindsey Hart
Leanne whirled at his approach. Her features, which had been serene and relaxed, instantly tightened into a hard mask. The distaste she felt for him was more than apparent.
“Why? Why can’t you just leave me alone?” she grumbled. She went to get up, but he put up a hand and she froze.
“Please, don’t leave.” Something in his voice must have stopped her because she slowly settled back onto the sand. She tucked the hem of her yellow sundress well below her knees.
“Why not? Why are you even here? Haven’t you done enough?”
“Honestly…” he sunk down beside her but was sure to leave a large gap of space between them. Leanne hugged Charlie closer like she could use him as a barricade. “I… I’m really confused.”
Her lips pursed. She didn’t want to talk, but it was clear she couldn’t leave it alone either. “About?” she finally asked.
He stared off into the sun, which was sinking lower and lower on the horizon with every passing minute. It wouldn’t be long until that golden glow left them in grey and then in total darkness. “I- I meant what I said, about love and all that shit being stupid. I really do think it’s just something that society tells us, a lie or a fiction or whatever. Marriage and all that, it’s an archaic thing. It’s the way the world has always worked and people want it to keep going on like that.”
“So you’ve said.” Leanne rolled her eyes. “Really? You came to tell me this again?”
“No. No- I- I wanted to tell you about my parents. I- well, there really isn’t a lot to say other than they got divorced when I was young. Ten. They were always fighting. My mom wasn’t easy, but she always blamed my dad. After they got divorced she told me that he didn’t love me. That he never had. She said he didn’t support us, didn’t want to provide for us because he didn’t want us in his life. She told me all sorts of shit. It wasn’t until I was way older that I found out it was a lie. When I was fifteen, she couldn’t keep me from going for holidays with my dad. Christmas and Easter and stuff like that. I finally realized she’d been lying to me about everything. He sent her lots of money. He tried to contact me all the time, but she always got in the way. She was the one who kept him from me. He really did want to know me. He really did want to have a relationship. It broke his heart, what she did.”
Leanne stared at him, lips slightly parted, like she wanted to say something, but couldn’t. He waited, giving her time. Finally, she pushed out a few words.
“So that’s why you’re all fucked up? That’s what you’re trying to tell me? That you don’t believe in love or romance because of the shitty example your parents set?”
“I don’t know. I don’t really know anyone else who ever made this whole marriage thing work. It all turns out like a disaster in the end. But that’s not what I came here to tell you. I came to tell you that despite all that, and whatever I think and however fucked up I am and whether my mom is to blame or whether I’m to blame, all that aside… I can’t stop thinking about you.”
Leanne’s eyes widened. “It’s wrong,” she hissed. “I… it doesn’t matter who kissed who or what we felt, if anything. We can’t ever let it happen again.”
“I know it’s wrong,” he agreed. “But it doesn’t change anything. It’s not because I saw you naked or because you saw me naked or because of that kiss. It’s because I’ve only known you for a couple days and most of that time was spent arguing or fielding off your disgust with me, but I can tell that you’re- that you have- something special.” He ran a hand over his hair, mortified at how cheesy his words sounded. This is everything I always made fun of. “I’ve just never found that in anyone else. Or felt it. I don’t know what to do with it…”
“You could try stuffing it up your ass,” Leanne spat sarcastically.
“I tried. Yup, I tried that. Tried for the past couple days, real hard. I can’t make it go away. I don’t want to stay away from you. I don’t want you to hate me. I guess I’m mostly just an asshole because I put this front up. I don’t want people getting close to me. I… god, I don’t know what to think anymore. I’ll just go.”
He stood abruptly but so did she. She stared at him and took a step back. She slowly set Charlie down on the beach. He scampered off, no worse for wear for his brush with death, to play in the waves lapping at the sandy shore.
Something in her face changed. “I want you to leave me alone.”
He nodded. “You say that, but I can hear what you’re not saying.”
Leanne’s eyes shadowed. “I… it was wrong,” she said again, but with no conviction. “Whatever I feel, it’s not right.”
“Why? Because of our parents?”
“Because of all of it.”
“Okay… well- I can’t stop thinking about you. I came here tonight because I needed to tell you that. If you don’t feel the same or if you don’t want to feel the same or if you do and don’t want to do anything about it, then leave. Walk away now. But do it fast. Because in a few minutes I’m going to think that you’re still here because you want to be here.”
Leanne’s blonde lashes fluttered violently. “Markus- please… you need to go.”
“I’m not going anywhere. You need to leave. I promise if you leave now, I’ll leave you alone. I’ll deal with this on my own.”
“I…” she glanced behind her like the lake or maybe even Charlie, could save her.
“Leave, Leanne. Now.”
“I- I can’t.” She hung her head like she was admitting defeat. “I can’t leave, because the truth is, I don’t want to. I can’t stop thinking about that kiss. I can’t do anything. I feel totally useless. I- I’ve never felt anything like this either.”
He couldn’t take it anymore. When she raised her eyes and he saw it, the naked desire there, it unleashed everything he’d been trying so hard to hold back. He stepped forward at the same time she did. He wrapped his arms around her and slammed her in hard against his chest. He tipped her face up at the same time she twined her arms around his neck and pulled him down.
Their mouths met in hard, hot, hungry perfection. It was everything that they should avoid. It was wrong. It was… it was complete and utter heaven.
CHAPTER 13
Leanne
Lord, the hunger. She’d never known hunger like what she felt with Markus. It was as terrifying as it was consuming.
He wrapped her up in his arms as he ground hard against her. She could feel the hardness of him, the warmth of him, right through his jeans. She ground right back, parting her legs and slamming his knee at the juncture of her thighs, taking with an animal urgency she couldn’t control.
Markus’ mouth remained sealed on hers, eating her up, destroying her with a lust that matched her own.
His hand came between them, warm and steady on her thigh. It trailed up, found the hem of her dress and pushed it out of the way. He didn’t stop until he brushed her cotton panties. She gasped at the feel of his hand there, so near to where she craved him. The pounding ache was relentless, instant. She needed him to sate it.
Markus tore his mouth away. He looked at her in question, his eyes burning and hazy. Or maybe that was just her brain. Her brain was hazy, filled with the thick hazy clouds of passion.
“I want you,” he whispered against her temple. “But only if you want this too.”
She didn’t know what to say. There it was, he was leaving it up to her. She could stop. Could turn him away. Could still salvage whatever pride she had left. But no, she’d go on wanting him. At least if they did this, she could prove to herself that it was just like everyone else. It wasn’t anything special. It was just… just two people coming together and moving on after.
Markus’ eyes roved hungrily over her body. His hand slid over her panties gently. His thumb glanced over the tight bud of her clit and she let out a startled whimper. The sound only fuelled the desire in his dark eyes.
He moved his hand away, balling the hem of her dress in it, as though he was ready to tear it right from her bod
y. She teetered, off balance, her insides wild, her mind a whirling mess.
“I can feel how wet you are,” Markus said thickly. “Right through your panties. I can tell that you want me. But you can still say no. You can still leave and it will be over.”
“What will be over?” she finally panted.
“Whatever this is. I’ll stay away. I’ll make sure we aren’t tempted again. I’ll go back to Chicago and leave you alone. I promise. Just tell me what to do.”
“I…” she wished she could say the words. The words that would keep her safe. The words that would keep her sane. “I want this too,” she choked. It was not what she’d been trying to force out, but once the words tumbled from her throat she knew they were true. There was no denying it. She couldn’t let him go. she couldn’t keep wondering. It was just better that it was done and over with.
Lies. She could keep telling herself all the lies in the world and she knew it wouldn’t be true. She wanted Markus even though she told herself she didn’t. She wanted his body, wanted that sensual exploration, wanted him naked and grinding and sweating and out of control right along with her. Having him wasn’t about getting it over and done with. She couldn’t talk herself into believing her own lies.
“Lord…” Markus ground out. “Please tell me that you- that you- uh- I didn’t bring anything…”
“Oh.” She flushed, her whole body heating up at the implication of what they were about to do. “I’m on the pill. I’m- I’m okay, if you’re okay.”
“I haven’t been with anyone in a long time.”
She could tell he was being honest. She nodded briefly and then his hand fisted in her hair and dragged her face back to his. He kissed her like there was no coming up for air, like he’d die if he didn’t. He nipped her lips and she nipped them right back. He thrust his tongue into her mouth and she stroked it with hers.
His other hand, which was still balled up in her dress, tugged it roughly. Her hands fell to the straps, in a hurry to shed it. She had nothing on underneath but her panties. The dress fell away and she broke the kiss. She stepped away from it but didn’t miss a beat. Her hands were on Markus as his were on her body. She ripped at his t-shirt, got it over his head and flung it into the sand. She worked his jeans off next, tearing and clawing at the button until it came undone. She pulled the loose-fitting denim down his impressive legs, those granite, rock hard legs that she’d admired for so long.
His hand palmed her breast. He didn’t look like he cared that there wasn’t much there. He rolled her nipple over his fingers until the little pink bud was hard and straining. Every single caress sent a jolt of electricity searing through her body.
She worked at his boxers, tearing them down, finally baring him. His cock stood up, impressive and thick. She could literally see it pulsing. She throbbed as well, throbbed right along with him. She’d never wanted to just skip everything else, to just take him inside of her and fuck him until the ache was gone and she could breathe again.
Her hand wrapped around the base of his cock and she worked every single inch of him right to the tip. She circled her palm there, coated her hand in the slick moisture.
Apparently, two could play at that game. He tugged out of her grasp and she could only watch in fascination as he fell to his knees in the sand. He slid her panties, plain white cotton, completely unimpressive and also completely soaked, down her legs.
Leanne closed her eyes. She imagined she could feel the kiss of the moonlight on her skin, a sweet caress, before she felt Markus’ breath, hot and tingly on her thigh.
And then his mouth, his sweet, amazing warm mouth was on her sex. He licked her slowly, torturing her, killing her, driving her right to the brink. She knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that no matter what they did, no matter how sated they felt in the moment, the ache for him was never going to go away.
CHAPTER 14
Markus
Leanne was proof that perfection did indeed exist in the world.
She was glorious. She was honey in his mouth, her body sweeter, more beautiful, than anything he’d ever known.
He ached for her. He wanted to throw her down in the sand and bury himself to the hilt inside of her. He wanted to let loose, for there to be nothing between them, but what was elemental and basic.
He could have gone on, tasting her, lapping at her, for as long as she needed him to, but her hands pushed him hotly away.
“Oh god,” she panted. “I… I need you to- to fuck me.”
Hearing those words, dirty, sexy as hell, filled with absolute lust and need and drenched in white-hot desire- it was more than he could bear.
He didn’t need to answer her. His hands, hard and unrelenting on her hips, guiding her down to the sand with him, it was all she needed to hear. He laid her down gently, down onto the beach.
“What if I get sand in-”
“You’re not getting sand anywhere it shouldn’t be,” he promised thickly.
His hands slid around her hips to her glorious curved ass. He cupped her bottom roughly, digging his fingers in. She let out a startled gasp which ended in a whimper as he brought her hips up to meet him. He held her there, away from the sand, while she scrabbled with her feet for a foothold.
“Wrap your legs around my waist,” he instructed roughly.
She proved to be more than adept at following directions. Her sleek, shapely legs, so smooth and lithe, twined around his hips.
He couldn’t wait. He knew he should go slow and hold back and try and draw it out, but there was not going to be any of that. Not with Leanne. He kept one hand under her hips, supporting her. With the other hand, he guided himself straight to her opening.
Markus already knew she tasted like heaven, but as he slipped inside, he found out that she felt like it too. She was tight. So fucking tight. He managed to slow it down, to cool himself off, so that he wouldn’t hurt her. He eased his way inside, stretching her gently, sweetly.
She moaned and whimpered and her hips thrust and ground and gyrated. The damn natural seductress in her was trying very hard to unleash the beast that he was trying to keep under control. He knew that one more swivel of those sweet hips of hers and he was going to lose it.
He slowly filled her and she took all of him. She was so wet that it helped, even if she was tight and he was… not that small. She enveloped him and he wasn’t sure who was throbbing, if it was her or him or maybe both of them together.
Markus ground his molars together. He closed his eyes and tried to keep his shit together. The first thrust made them both wild. Leanne bucked below him, writhing and riding against him, begging him silently, with her body, for more. He gave it to her, thrusting faster, slipping out and plunging back in, filling her up.
Their moans and cries of pleasure filled up the night as his temp increased. He couldn’t help himself. He was thrusting hard, harder and faster than he wanted to, but she was glorious, her body infinitely sweet, the sounds she made, the feel of her wrapped so tightly around him… god, he couldn’t help himself. She didn’t seem like she wanted him to help it.
When Markus opened his eyes, he realized that Leanne’s hands were fisted in the sand. Her face was twisted with pleasure, with the pursuit of rapture. Her hair was splayed out in the sand. Little granules clung to the blonde tresses.
He thrust harder and she tightened around him in response. Her lips parted and she whimpered again, a feral sound that shattered the quiet of the night. His hands dug into her hips as he lifted and steadied her as he thrust harder. He lifted her higher so he could sink in deeper and she went wild.
He had to close his eyes and stop looking at her or he was going to finish right there and it would all be over. He had to go someplace else, someplace in his head, and hold it together. It didn’t help that she was writhing, out of control beneath him, her pelvis slamming into his, their hips crashing and banging and slapping together.
He tried to drown it out, to block it out, to shut it down and just concen
trate on something else for a few seconds until she found her pleasure and he could finally allow his own release.
There was a strange sound in his brain, a noise, like the clap of thunder far off in the distance. It toned down to a gentle roar, the sound dim and throbbing in his ears. Through the pleasure, through the fog in his brain, the house, the absolute fucking perfection of Leanne, the roar came closer. It started slow at first, a hum in the distance and grew louder with every passing second.
His eyes flew open. When the wave of light washed over them both, he knew that they were in deep fucking trouble.
He blinked against the headlights while Leanne shoved at him. He froze, unsure what was happening was even real. The truck doors opened and slammed shut. Voices traveled across the yard. Leanne ripped away, literally nearly kneeing him right in the balls. She scrambled around on the beach, searching for her clothes. She began desperately pulling them on as their names were called.
The fog grew thicker, like it was a bad dream closing in on him after the most intense pleasure of his life. The voices in the background grew louder in intensity, screaming and yelling, but oddly enough, not at them. No, at each other.
He finally got himself together enough to realize that his dad and Sarah were standing there in the middle of the yard. They weren’t looking at him and they weren’t looking at Leanne. No, they were arguing, yelling, screaming, pointing and gesturing, at each other.
Leanne finally got her sundress on enough to cover the bare essentials. The one strap hung down at her side and the other was crooked, on the wrong arm. The dress was at the wrong angle. She stared at him, her eyes blazing fire, her face, her gorgeous, incredible face, twisted with rage.
“I guess you got your way,” she hissed. “It looks like this wedding isn’t going to happen after all.”
CHAPTER 15
Leanne
Leanne couldn’t remember a time in her life when her mom hadn’t been the strong one. Sarah had always done what it took to survive. She’d made it through, a mother at sixteen, even after her parents kicked her out. She had no one to look after her, no one to support her. She’d climbed her way out, gone back to school, made something of herself, got herself a career, all so that her daughter could have the things she needed and wanted.