by Lane Hart
When her lips part, our innocent kiss changes into something born of passion. It is hot, fierce and demanding. As I pull her onto my lap, her knees in the couch on either side of me, our breaths mingling in the space between us, I realize I was completely unprepared for this moment. Completely swept away by this woman that seemed to be the polar opposite of me and everything I’ve known.
Georgia’s arms wrap around my neck, pulling me closer as we kiss. Her heart thrashes against her chest, the rhythm in tune with my own. I’m drowning in her scent, warm and floral and light.
Without warning, she tears her lips from mine and peers down at me through hooded eyes. “I’ve never been with any other man but Benjamin,” she says softly like that admission is something to be ashamed of.
“Why don’t we just take it slow?” My words are much more chivalrous than my thoughts. I want her naked beneath me more than I need to draw my next breath, but there’s no way I am going to rush her.
With a playful nip, her teeth sink into my lower lip and she grinds herself onto my cock, and I know she can feel how badly I want her. “What if, for once, I don’t want to take it slow?”
When she reaches for the hem of her shirt and begins to pull it up and over her head, my mind snaps out of the spell she has me under. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! My hands dart out to cover hers, tugging her shirt back into place. “Not down here.” I point to the ceiling above us. “Kids, remember.”
Her cheeks flame the most gorgeous shade of red, and I revel in how her blush travels down her throat, disappearing beneath the neckline of her shirt. Pressing a kiss to her lips, I stand, wrapping her legs around my waist as I move. Quietly, we climb the stairs that way, stealing kisses and little nips as we get closer to my bedroom.
Closing the door to my bedroom, I keep one hand on her ass, holding her to me, as the other tugs at her shirt. Georgia takes the hint, and in the soft moonlight streaming in through the window, I watch as she removes her shirt. In an instant, her skin is pressed against mine.
Coiling my fingers into her silky soft hair, I tilt my head and crush my lips against hers. Since the moment I first saw her, I’d wanted this, but I’d told myself over and over again that she wasn’t for me. Now she’s here, coiled around me like a tiny little spider monkey, needing and wanting me just as much as I do her.
Our bodies fit together as if we were made for this, to fall into one another. To be one. Carrying her toward the bed, I release her, letting her fall to the mattress with a soft bounce. Through the dim light, we lock eyes for just a moment, and in her need burning there, bright and unmistakable.
I fit my body to hers, careful not to crush her beneath my weight, and all of my doubts and fears just disappear. Her skin is like smooth porcelain, her hands grasping at me, pulling me closer.
Before I know it, we’re both naked, I’m wearing a condom, and she’s turned me to my back. I watch her silhouette as she hovers above me, her long hair cascading down in front of her as she positions my cock at her entrance.
Our groans of pleasure fill the air and I almost forget the need to be quiet as she begins to move. Her pussy is tight, and warm, and oh, so silky as glides up and down, riding me to a rhythm that makes my toes curl.
With one hand, I reach up and cup her breast, pinching her nipple until she gasps, her hips swinging faster and deeper, taking every inch of me inside her. It’s embarrassing how quickly my release begins to build low in my gut and I know that at this rate, I’m not going to last much longer.
Shooting up, I press one hand into the mattress and the other on her hip, forcing her to move faster, our choppy breaths mingling in the air between us. “Tripp!” she cries.
I squeeze my eyes closed as she begins to tremble on top of me, but it’s no use. The soft moans of her release, mixed with the vice-like grip her pussy has on my cock sends me over the edge.
Her lips capture mine as we move, our hips thrusting slowly and out of sync with each other as we ride the wave of pleasure we’d just found. As our orgasms fade, our kiss slows, turning from one of passion, to one of connection. A kiss that I’ve never shared with anyone else in my life. Tender, soft. Filled with something that could even be love.
Exhausted, Georgia pulls her mouth from mine and drops to the bed beside me, her head resting on my chest, her hand splayed across my ribs where she draws tiny shapes and circles. Neither of us say a word, but that’s okay because right now, I think both of us are trying to comprehend just how we got to this moment, and not wanting to change a single second of what we’d just shared.
I could lay like this forever, Georgia in my arms, nobody else around to see us and wonder how we could fit together. Suddenly, we’re not North Side and South Side. We’re Tripp and Georgia. We’re inevitable.
Chapter Eight
Georgia
It’s just ten minutes past three in the morning when Tripp’s cell phone screams out into the darkness of his bedroom. Tripp is up and answering it before I’ve even registered what is going on.
“Yeah?” I place a hand on his muscled back as he sits at the side of the bed, the phone to his ear. “Fuck,” he mutters. “Be right there. Don’t lose sight of him, yeah?”
“What’s going on?” I ask as Tripp jumps to his feet and begins digging around in the dark to find his clothes.
“That was Zack,” he says as I turn on the light beside the bed so he can see what he was doing. “Says he just ran into Carter outside of Hendrix Park, high as a kite, beat to hell and scared shitless.”
I hop out of bed beside him and search for my own clothes. “I thought he was here, in his room?”
Tripp snorts and yanks his shirt over his head. “You and me both.” I’m just pulling on my pants when he turns to me and places a hand on my arm. “Look, I don’t want you coming,” he says. “Stay here. Be in my bed when I get home. There’s no need for you to go around Trey and those other pricks.”
Straightening, I gaze up at him, my face serious. “I’m coming, Tripp. If Carter’s hurt, and you have to deal with the Vipers, he’s going to need me. And even if he doesn’t, I can’t let you go there and sit around waiting to be sure you’re both okay.”
I can see the war going on inside his head, just by looking into his stormy blue eyes. Finally, after a few moments of contemplation, he nods.
The night air is even colder than it was when I’d come here a few hours before, but Tripp is moving so fast, I don’t have time to even think about it. He rushes down one alley and then another, skipping full city blocks with his knowledge of the layout of this part of town.
When we come out in front of Hendrix Park, both Tripp and I freeze at the scene in front of us. A group of Vipers stand toe to toe with Zack, who doesn’t appear to be phased in the least. Carter is on the ground behind Zack, his face filled with fear.
We don’t discuss it. We just act. Tripp is at Zack’s side in a flash, and I move to Carter, kneeling down beside him to see where he’s hurt.
“About time you got here,” Trey says, shifting his focus from Zack to Tripp. “Your buddy here was just telling us how easily the two of you could kick our asses.”
Carter’s face is beaten up and bloody, a small gash opened wide across his left eyebrow. His eyes meet mine and the fear in them crushes my heart. This poor, foolish kid didn’t know what he’d been getting himself into, but whatever had happened tonight, he realized it now.
“I want him out,” Tripp says from his place in front of me. “No strings, no blowback. Just out, clean and clear.”
Titters of laughter float on the night air, as if Tripp’s declaration was the funniest thing they’ve head all day.
“You know there’s only one way to do that,” Trey says, pointing to the broken kid in front of me. “Does he look like he’d survive that to you?”
Tripp looks back at his brother, worry creasing his brow, but I watch in awe as he wipes his face clean of emotion before locking eyes on Trey once more. “Not him. Me. You jump him out by
beating me.”
Carter and I gasp at the same time as all the men around us begin to roar their agreement and a vicious smile spreads across Trey’s face. “What do you think, Carter? Does your big brother take your beat down and you’re in the clear? Or you gonna be a man and take it yourself?”
Carter sways on his feet as he stands, his face twisting with agony every inch of the way. “No! Tripp, don’t do this!”
Tripp turns and rushes at his brother, wrapping a hand around the back of his neck and pulling him closer. “I have no choice, Carter. You saw to that. I won’t let you get swallowed up by this pack of assholes. You’re done being a Viper. Tonight.”
Carter’s hand reaches for mine, and though we’ve never even exchanged words before, our mutual fear bonds us together as we watch the scene before us unfold.
“Do it,” he snarls.
Trey glares at Tripp and Zack moves away from his best friend and positions himself behind me and Carter. His heavy hand lands on Carter’s shoulder and the other on mine. For one terrifying moment, I realize that he’s not there to comfort either one of us but to hold us still while this happened.
Trey’s fist is like lightning, and even though I see Tripp brace himself, he doesn’t attempt to dodge the blow. With a sickly thud of skin on bone, Tripp’s head whips to the side, blood flying from his nose.
My heart hammers inside my chest as I watch the group descend on Tripp, each one of them ready to get their blows in too. Zack’s hand tightens as I scream, and Carter cries out for them to stop.
It seems to last forever. Blow after blow, hit after hit, Tripp’s wide frame wobbles and sways but does not fall. Tears flow freely down my cheeks as I sob, big, shoulder shaking gasps of air ripping through my throat.
When Tripp’s body drops to the ground, I’m convinced the beating will end, but it doesn’t. The entire group of them surround him, their feet slamming into any part of Tripp they can connect with.
Carter clings to me, burying his face in my neck as we both cry.
Finally, after what feels like forever, Trey lets out a loud whistle, and the beating and kicking comes to an end. One by one, the men step away, and I can barely breathe as I take in Tripp’s battered body on the grass.
Trey straightens, his eyes coming to me and then dropping down to Carter. “This is your out,” he says, making sure Carter is listening. “I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to hear you. I don’t want to smell you. If I do …” He points his finger down toward Tripp. “This isn’t nearly as bad as the beat down you’ll get.”
Tripp
My ears ring and every part of me aches as I lay on the grass, my body coiled into the tightest ball I can manage. I’m pretty sure I have a few broken ribs, and I know for a fact that my face is swelling up already because the skin there feels like it’s being stretched tight.
“Tripp?” Georgia says from beside me, her hands fluttering about my body as if she’s afraid to touch me, and for once, I don’t think I want her to. The added pain would be too much to bear.
The pain throbs in my head and guts as my consciousness begins to wane. I’d taken more than one blow to the head and if the way my skull feels right now, I’ll be lucky if it’s not fractured,
I can hear Georgia and Zack’s voices droning on from above me, but I can’t focus on a word of what they’re saying. I fight the darkness, refusing to let it win, but in the end, darkness swallows me whole and leaves me floating in welcome silence.
As I peel my eyelids open, I’m not surprised to find myself in a hospital bed. Machines beep and buzz around me, and I spy Georgia curled up in a chair to my right, sound asleep. I can barely move, and every muscle in my body is seized up.
My chest feels tight where it’s bound in bandages and I know my eyes are swollen just by the limited vision I have as if I’m looking at the world through a viewfinder instead of my own eyes.
“Tripp?” Carter says from my other side, and I slowly force my head to turn and find my brother sitting up in his chair, his hands coming up to grip mine. “Oh, fuck,” he groans. “I’m so sorry, Tripp. So, fucking sorry.”
Tears well in his eyes and I can’t do anything but watch him. My throat is dry and feels as though it’s sealed shut.
“I should have listened to you,” he continues, the tears spilling over his cheeks. “I should have gotten out while I could. I didn’t mean those things I said. I just got swept away in it, ya know?”
Lucky for him, I do know. I’d been the young boy once, swept away in the fun and togetherness the Red Vipers seemed to offer. The true underbelly of them is never exposed to you until it’s too late. That doesn’t make it okay though. I love my brother, but I’m angry with him. Or maybe disappointed is more appropriate.
As I lift my trembling hand to rest on top of his bowed head, I realize that nobody is angrier with him than he is himself. I have to believe that the beating I took for him was for a purpose. That not only did it free him from the Vipers but that he learned a valuable lesson he won’t ever forget.
As my eyes begin to drift closed once more, I gently squeeze the back of my brother’s neck. We had plenty of time to talk about this. Just as soon as I don’t feel like death.
Epilogue
Georgia
Tripp Fletcher is the most infuriating man I’ve ever met. Not to mention the worst patient. “You’re supposed to stay in that bed, Tripp. It’s doctor’s orders!”
Tripp waves me away, and I get a glimpse of his perfect ass under his hospital gown as he ambles toward the bathroom. “I have to piss, woman, and there’s no way in hell I’m letting one of those nurses hold my dick for me while I do it.”
As the door closes behind him, I wrinkle my nose in disgust. “You’re so stubborn,” I call out, knowing damn well he can hear me. His chuckle on the other side tells me as much.
Tripp had been extremely lucky. Three broken ribs, a smashed nose and a vast variety of cuts and scrapes. The bruising made things look much worse than they were.
Knowing that he was going to be alright had been a balm on my tattered soul. Watching the man I’d grown to care for so much get beaten to within an inch of his life had been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to bear. And when he’d lost consciousness on the ground that night, both my heart and breathing had stopped. Just ceased to function. It had been terrifying.
It’s been three days since the fight, and one thought that continues to pass through my mind is that Tripp’s volunteering to take his brother’s place that night was one of the bravest acts of love I had ever witnessed. I don’t know that my own family was capable of a love like that.
Tripp was so different than I’d thought he was when I’d first met him. His family meant the world to him, and he was twice the parent to his brothers and sister at twenty-two, then most people are when the children are their own.
As Tripp stumbles out of the bathroom, I rush to his side, gently lifting his arm and wrapping it around my shoulder. “Stubborn,” I mutter again, barely loud enough for him to hear.
He does hear though. Tripp barks out a pained chuckle and pulls me closer, pressing his lips to the top of my head. “You love it.”
That word. Love. As I get Tripp settled into his bed, and crawl in beside him, my head resting in the crook of his arm, I wonder if he’s more right than he might realize. I haven’t known Tripp for a long time, and I still have so much to learn about him and his life, but one thing I’ve learned over the past few days is that I’d once thought I loved Benjamin, and my feelings for Tripp go so much deeper already.
As I drift off to sleep in the arms of the bravest man I know, the realization that this might very well be love settles over me like a warm and welcome blanket.
Tripp
I feel her body relax completely against mine as she drifts off to sleep, and even though her body is pressed against my ribs, causing them to scream in pain, I don’t dare move her. I want her just where she is. Safe and in my arms.
Br
inging my free arm up, I coil a lock of her hair around my fingers, yet again marveling in how soft it feels beneath my calloused fingers. If you’d have told me two weeks ago that Georgia Addington would be mine, I’d have laughed in your face. Yet, here she is.
Silly girl. She’s far too good for a guy like me. A princess and a hood rat. An unlikely combination if ever there was one.
One day, she’s going to see it too. She’ll take a look at the house I live in or the lack of money in my bank account and she’ll realize that she’s too high class for the South Side. The very idea of that day coming makes me hold her tighter to my chest, despite the pain.
Georgia is the best thing that has come my way in a long time, and until she comes to that conclusion, I’m just going to hold on like hell and enjoy every second it.
Want more?
Want to read more about Tripp and Georgia? They’ve got so much more to say!
Hood Rat will release as a full-length standalone on February 22, 2019.
Sign up here for a one-time release notification!
About Geri Glenn
Geri Glenn writes alpha males. She’s best known for writing motorcycle romance, including the internationally bestselling series, the Kings of Korruption MC.
She lives in the Thousand Islands with her hubby, two young girls, one big dog and one terrier that thinks he’s a Doberman. Before she began writing contemporary romance, Geri worked at several different occupations. She’s been a pharmacy assistant, a 911 dispatcher, and a caregiver in a nursing home. She can say without a doubt though, that her favorite job is the one she does now–writing romance that leaves an impact.