by Elks, Carrie
“The eagle? I got it in London when I’d been in Europe for a few months. I was missing home.”
“Will you get any more?” she looked up at him.
“Yeah.” His voice was gruff with restraint. “Probably.”
“Where will you put them?” she asked, tracing circles on his hard abdomen. “It’s getting pretty crowded around here.”
“I’ve still got a lot of bare skin,” he said, his voice low. “My legs, my forearms, my ass.”
Her lips twitched. “Your ass?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I hear it hurts less there.” Reaching for her hands, he pulled her back up until her face was next to his. “What about you? Any tattoos?”
“Nope. I’m as unmarked as the day I was born.”
“Can I check?”
This time she laughed. “You want me to take my clothes off?”
“You started it,” he joked, never in a million years expecting her to show him.
But the next moment, she was sitting up and pulling her dress over her head, revealing a white lace bra and matching panties, and her creamy, unmarked skin.
Damn. If he’d thought he was hot before, now he was burning up. Not just because she was beautiful, but because she was so damn unpredictable. He loved the way he could never guess what she was going to do next.
* * *
Maddie held her breath as Gray stared at her. His eyes were hooded and dark, as his gaze dipped from her face to her shoulders, and then to her chest. He swallowed hard and then turned toward her, reaching out a hand to roll her onto her back.
“It’s my turn,” he whispered. “Okay?”
“Yes.” It was more than okay. She craved his touch the way she craved him. The panic she’d felt when she’d taken her dress off was long gone, melted by his heated response. Her head tipped back, her eyes closed, and she held her breath as she waited for his touch.
When it came her body arched off the blanket. Soft, warm lips pressed against her ribcage, his hands curling around her waist to hold her in place.
“Is this all right?” he murmured into her skin.
“Yeah.” She nodded. “Don’t stop.”
She cracked open her eyes to see a wicked grin curl his lips.
“Wasn’t planning on it,” he told her.
He kissed his way across her ribcage, his breath warm, her skin warmer. Then he moved lower, reaching the softer skin of her stomach. She tightened her muscles and he chuckled, before continuing his way down, his lips grazing the top of her panties.
She held her breath again, feeling the ache between her thighs, waiting to see what he’d do next.
“No,” he murmured, so quiet it seemed he was talking more to himself than her. “Not yet.”
He pulled himself over her, his denim-clad thighs sliding between her bare ones, and cupped her face with his hands. “Can you feel what you’re doing to me?” he asked, pressing himself against her.
Yeah, she could feel it. Her thighs tightened around him in response.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, brushing his lips across hers. She slid her arms around his neck, needing the connection.
“So are you,” she told him, meaning every word. So damn handsome it shouldn’t be allowed.
“Nobody’s said that to me before. Sexy, yeah. Beautiful, never.”
“Then they’re crazy,” she said smiling.
He laughed again, then kissed her, sliding his hands around her back to unclasp her bra. Her breasts were aching, needy, and as soon as he released the fabric encasing them, her skin puckered at the cool night air. He lowered his head to capture a nipple between his lips, sucking soft, then hard, until she couldn’t help but moan.
He was setting her on fire, inch by inch. A kiss, a caress, a curl of his tongue, they were music on her body. He pulled back to take his jeans off, then moved his hands up her legs, warm and firm on her thighs. His fingers traced the elastic of her underwear.
“These need to come off.”
“Yeah, they do.” Her breath caught.
He nodded as he hooked his fingers around the white lace, dragging them down her heated thighs and throwing them behind him.
And then she was naked. On Jackson’s Ridge with Gray Hartson, and for some crazy reason it felt like the most natural thing in the world. He was still wearing underwear – black shorts that did nothing to hide his impressive excitement – but her eyes were drawn to the beauty of his body.
He was a work of art. Even the parts of him that weren’t painted with ink and history. Wide shoulders, sculpted chest, abdominal muscles that rose and fell like a symphony. And his face. Dark, needy eyes, lips parted, his breath coming in short pants the same way hers was.
Then he slid his fingers between her thighs and all thoughts of faces and chests were gone, replaced by a need building inside her. She was achy in a way she could barely remember feeling. How long was it since anybody had touched her like this?
Forever… never.
Nobody had ever touched her the way Gray was.
“Christ, you feel good,” he whispered, his voice catching. Then he put his fingers between his lips and sucked, making her eyes widen with shock. “You taste good, too.” He smiled at her response, touching her there again, and making her cry out his name.
“Do you know what you’re doing to me?” he asked her.
“The same thing you’re doing to me.” And she wanted it. All of it. Every part of him. Wanted him to play her the same way he played his songs. Soft, then hard, until the sound filled every cell in her body.
“Gray…” She slid her arms down his back, tugging at the waistband of his shorts. “I need…”
“What do you need?” he whispered in her ear, his voice hot and harsh.
“You. I need you.”
He slid his fingers inside her once more, then pulled them out. “Yeah, you do.” A smile pulled at his lips. He grabbed his wallet and pulled out a condom. Her throat was dry as she watched him slide it on. “But not as much as I need you.”
He hovered over her, his eyes trained on hers, and she could see herself reflected in their depths. They stared at each other for a long moment before she could feel his hardness against her.
Dipping his head, he captured her lips with his, swallowing her cries as he pushed inside. He groaned. His hips moving fast, his lips taking everything she could give, his body making hers sing until they reached the crescendo.
And when he took her there, watching with dark eyes as the pleasure overtook her, she could feel him following close behind. He was moaning, his elbows digging into the blanket beside her, his hips thrusting against hers as he reached his peak.
And when it was over, pleasure still washing over her, he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, whispering sweet words in her ears.
It felt like heaven and hell had collided and made a whole new world just for them.
A world she never wanted to leave.
Chapter Eighteen
It was a beautiful day. The hazy sun had beaten its way through the wispy clouds, leaving behind a cerulean blue sky that stretched for miles above him. Gray was kneeling on the roof of his father’s house to assess the damage, taking photographs of the holes that he’d send to the Johnson brothers for their advice when he heard a car pull into the driveway.
He didn’t turn around at first. Mostly because he was used to people coming and going. Aunt Gina’s friends, Becca’s old schoolmates, and the occasional visitor for his father. And he’d noticed that Tanner still had everything delivered here – even his online shopping. Funny how home always had that pull on him.
“Hey,” a female voice called out a minute later. This time he turned, pressing his foot down to keep his balance on the camber of the roof. The sun was so bright it still hit his eyes in spite of the shade his hard hat provided. He blinked and lifted his hand.
The car in the driveway was a sparkling silver Mercedes. And standing next to it was the last person he
expected to see.
“Ash?”
She smiled at his instant recognition. “I heard you were back in town. I thought I’d come say hi.”
For a moment he thought about telling her he was busy – which he clearly was – and send her away. But he knew without a doubt that Aunt Gina had already seen her, and would give him hell if he didn’t show any hospitality.
“Give me a minute,” he called out. “If you go around the back, Aunt Gina’s in the kitchen. I’ll meet you there in a few.”
Her smile faltered a little. “Oh, okay.”
As she walked around the side of the house, Gray let out a sigh. He’d been riding a high all morning on memories of last night. His father had bitched him out about the pipes creaking throughout the night and he hadn’t given a damn. It was like listening to a bird chirping to him. He was too busy thinking about the way Maddie’s body had felt so goddamn soft and enticing to care what his father had to say.
But now her sister was here and it was like she was holding a needle, ready to puncture a balloon. He’d have happily gone a hundred years without seeing her.
When he walked into the kitchen, pulling his hard hat off and ruffling his hair, he saw her sitting with Aunt Gina, the two of them sipping sweet tea. They were leaning over Ashleigh’s phone, flipping through pictures. Their heads lifted to look at him as his feet stomped against the floor.
“There you are,” Gina said as he kicked his boots off and left them on the mat. “Ashleigh was showing me photos of Grace and Carter. I can’t believe how much they’ve grown. Have you seen them?”
“I saw a picture at Maddie’s house.”
Ashleigh blinked. “You’ve been to my house?”
Damn. He had absolutely no idea what Maddie had said to her sister about him – if anything at all. Were they supposed to be friends? Acquaintances? Enemies?
“She helped me out at church a couple of weeks ago. I went to thank her.” He leaned casually against the door, taking Ashleigh in. She’d always taken care of her appearance, but there was an expensive sheen to her she hadn’t had before. Like somebody had airbrushed her in real life, taking away the interesting features and blemishes that made her human.
That made him think about the cluster of freckles on the back of Maddie’s neck that looked like the big dipper. He’d kissed his way down them last night, making her shiver against him. Her ass had been pressed against his groin and it had sent a jolt of pleasure right through him.
“I heard about that. Typical Maddie, making you jump over fences.” Ashleigh unleashed a smile. “She gave Della Thorsen such a fright. You’d think my sister was still a teenager, not twenty-five-years old.”
“I’m thirty-one,” Gray pointed out, his voice deep. “If anybody was leading anybody astray it was me.”
Ashleigh’s smile faltered for a second. “Well thank you for protecting her. She’s still so young in many ways. I guess that’s what comes of never really leaving home. Not like the two of us. She’s never been wise in the ways of the world.”
Was she talking about Maddie Clark? Smart-mouthed, sharp as a knife, and never knowingly taken advantage of?
“I don’t think she needs my protection.”
“No, she doesn’t.” Ashleigh took a sip of the sweet tea. “Actually, while I’m here there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.” She slid her eyes to Aunt Gina. “Alone, if that’s okay. Maybe we can take a walk in the yard.”
Gray took a deep breath. He’d rather be up on the roof listening to his father bitch than talking to his long-ago ex, but from the way Aunt Gina smiled, he knew that wasn’t an option. “Yeah, sure.”
“Great.” Ashleigh stood and walked over to where he was standing. He could smell the deep notes of her perfume. “Thank you for the sweet tea,” she said, smiling at his aunt.
“You’re very welcome. It was lovely to see you again.”
He slid his boots back on and opened the door, gesturing for Ash to walk through. She took her time, lifting her head to smile up at him before sliding her body past his. She was wearing a navy dress that skimmed her slim body, her hair tied up to expose her long, slender neck. There were no freckles there, just pale creamy skin.
As soon as they were outside, she turned to him. “Actually, a walk in the yard is a bad idea. It’ll ruin my shoes. Perhaps we should sit somewhere.”
He gestured at the old bench by the gate and she shook her head. “Not in this dress.”
“Maybe standing will be better,” he said, trying to bite down his annoyance. This was Ash. the girl he’d once cared about. He owed her politeness at the very least. “What can I help you with?” he asked her.
“How’s your music career going?”
He stared at her for a moment, trying to decipher what the hell it was she wanted. “Yeah, pretty good.”
“And you’ll be leaving soon?”
“I will?”
She shook her head. “That was a question. I’m asking you when you’ll be going back to wherever it is you live.”
“I live in L.A.”
“Okay, so when will you be going home?”
His lip curled up. “You seem pretty set on getting rid of me. Should I take that personally?”
She let out a sigh. “You can take it as you want. And I’m not set on anything, I was simply making small talk.”
He glanced at his watch. It was almost lunch time. “Okay.” He shrugged. “I’ll be heading back home in a few weeks. And how are you? I hear you’re living in Stanhope. Is that going well?”
“It is.” Her voice was icy cool. “I’m very happy there. And I want to make sure I stay that way.”
“You think I might be a threat to your happiness?” His brows knitted together. “Why would that be?”
“Because everywhere I go, all I hear about is you and Maddie, and I’ve no idea what’s going on. I have people calling to tell me you’ve been spotted together in all kinds of places, and I don’t like it.” She lifted her head defiantly. “Whatever happened between us should stay between us, Gray.”
This time he couldn’t stop the laughter from exploding. “You think I’m chasing your sister to hurt you?”
“Aren’t you?”
“No.” His expression was incredulous. “Why would you think that?”
“Because we parted on bad terms.”
“I left and you were angry at me. I got over it.” Gray rubbed his chin with the heel of his hand, still trying to figure out what she was thinking. “It’s old news, Ash. More than ten years old. I’m not here to hurt anybody.”
“So there’s nothing going on with you and Maddie?”
He licked his dry lips, staring at her through narrowed eyes. “Have you asked her that?”
“Yes.”
Of course she had. “And what did she say?”
“That there was nothing between you two at all.”
He ignored the jabbing pain of her response. “Then that’s your answer.”
“But I know she has a crush on you, she always did. Even after you left she was always talking about you. I couldn’t go anywhere without hearing that damn song you wrote. And she played it constantly.”
Well that made him feel better.
“A lot of women have crushes on me.”
Ashleigh rolled her eyes. “I see stardom hasn’t deflated your ego.”
He shrugged. “It’s part of the job. And not the part I enjoy, frankly. It gets old pretty quick.”
“That’s another reason you should stay away from Maddie. Your job. I don’t want you hurting her.”
“Why would my job hurt her?” he asked, perplexed.
Ashleigh pressed her lips together and looked him in the eye. “You’re a rockstar, Gray. A musician. People like you aren’t made for people like her. Maddie’s a simple, small-town girl. She tried leaving once, and it almost killed her.”
“What?” He frowned. “How?”
“It doesn’t matter. Just stay away from he
r. That’s the only way you won’t hurt her. Promise me that.”
She had to be talking about New York, and how Maddie left Ansell without graduating. “How did it almost kill her?” he asked again.
“That’s not my story to tell. But I’ve seen her at her lowest and I never want to see her like that again. Don’t hurt her, Gray. She’s not resilient like we are. Just leave her alone.” Her phone buzzed, and she sighed, pulling open her navy leather purse to check it. “I need to go, I have an appointment in half an hour.” She looked up at him, the sun glinting against her eyes. “Goodbye, Gray. I hope you found whatever it was you were looking for when you left town all those years ago.”
He blinked even though he was shaded from the sun. “Goodbye,” he said. Her words were ringing in his ears as he watched her walk around the corner of the house. A minute later, her engine fired up, and he could hear the whine of her wheels against the driveway as she reversed out.
Did he find what he was looking for when he left Hartson’s Creek right after his twentieth birthday? Or was it here all along after all?
* * *
“Give me cake. Lots of cake. And coffee.” Laura slid into a chair at the counter and leaned heavily on it, shaking her head. “Cream, five sugars, and keep the caffeine coming.”
Maddie grinned at the expression on her friend’s face. “Bad day at the shop?”
“The worst.” Laura shook her head. “If I have to spend another hour with Marie Dean I swear I’m going to get arrested for murder. How can one woman hate so many clothes? I ordered twenty different dresses at her request and she’s not happy with a single one of them. I tried to suggest she try online shopping, but then she told me that she hates paying to send things back. I tried to point out that I’m going to be paying to send all those dresses back, but it went right over her head.” Laura took in a mouthful of air. “Sorry, I’m ranting.”
“Rant away. We all have those days.” Maddie poured her a mug of coffee, adding plenty of cream. “Here, you add the sugar,” she said, pushing the bowl toward her. “I don’t want to be held responsible by your dentist.”