by Jayne Blue
You’re supposed to be carefree when you’re nineteen. I was probably the oldest nineteen-year-old in the world, though. I’d had to be a grown-up from about eight years old on. Just after I turned seven, my mother got diagnosed with MS. It took her almost a year to recover from that first awful flare-up. For almost a year she could hardly get out of bed most days. She did though. I drew my strength from her. But my father was nothing but weakness. As soon as my mother got back on her literal feet, he was out the door for good. He said he hadn’t signed up to take care of an invalid and off he went. I never saw him again. He stopped sending my mother money the minute I turned eighteen.
With all of that in mind, I came to Emerald Point with my mother’s blessing and a warning to take care of myself. But why shouldn’t I have some fun for once in my life? Why couldn’t I do something reckless? I thought about all those things as I finished my cleanups for the night. Hell, Lisa was already gone. It wasn’t a biker that caught her eye that night but a frat boy from the University of West Florida. She told me not to wait up for her.
I grabbed my purse and headed out the back door, shaking off one of the cook’s offers to walk me to the bus stop. I wondered what might have happened if I’d taken him up on that. As it was, I got about three steps into the alley before a shadow crossed my path and stopped my heart cold.
“You did a fantastic job tonight, Harper,” he said. I turned and smiled. It was only Louis, my boss. It turned out the recruiter who hired me all the way up in Michigan was Louis’s cousin, I later found out.
“Thanks, Louis. It was a good night. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
There was no preamble to what happened next. Or if there was, the shock of his next move just wiped it away from the things I remember about that weekend. But the next thing I knew, Louis had me up against the brick wall as he tried to kiss me.
“Man, you the finest thing we’ve got on the floor tonight, Harper. There’s something about you. You’re not like the usual trashy townies who work for tips around here. Thank God.”
He was right. I wasn’t some trashy townie. Maybe I should have been scared and I guess I was a little. But I knew who I was and this asshole wasn’t going to do this to me. My fishnet stocking tore as Louis tried to put a hand under my skirt. That’s as far as he got. I always wondered if maybe Louis rethought the uniform after that night. We wore high, lace-up leather boots with reinforced tips. It came in handy when I shifted to the right and kicked him square in the balls.
Louis crumpled over and for half a second I thought he might be having a heart attack the way his face turned white. But he got his wits about him as I stepped over him. “Bitch!” he gasped.
“Don’t ever try that again,” I said. “Not on me, not on Lisa. Are we clear?”
Louis let out a choked laugh. “You won’t have to worry about it. Your ass is so fired.”
“Are you kidding me? There are laws against that, asshole.” On the outside, I was all bravado. Inside, panic started to churn my stomach. He couldn’t fire me. I’d never be able to get another job this far into the season. I wouldn’t make rent. I didn’t even have enough money to make it back to Michigan. All my careful plans seemed to pop like a bubble over Louis’s head.
Louis flipped me off. “Take it up with the ACLU, you stupid twat. You’ll have better luck turning tricks down here than you will finding another gig as good as this one.”
I opened my mouth to yell something about the EEOC but thunder filled my ears. An engine revved at the end of the alley and headlights chased away the shadows. My heart raced and I took a step back. The handlebars of his Harley gleamed and a strong, solid figure moved through the shadows with quick, sure steps. Nash charged forward, reaching me in three long strides. Louis scrambled back, cowering against the far wall. Fire filled Nash’s eyes and for a second, I thought he might be capable of murder.
“You ever touch her, you ever so much as look at her again, you’re a dead man. You got me? That goes for the rest of those girls in there. I’ve got eyes and ears everywhere. You know who I am.”
Louis’s mouth opened and closed like a beached trout gasping for air. He nodded and tried to crab crawl away. “Just get her out of here. I don’t want trouble. But she’s history. I’ve got friends around here too. Let her be your fucking problem.”
Nash grabbed Louis by the back of the shirt and hauled him to his feet. Something crossed his face as he decided what to do with him. Finally, he threw Louis to the ground and looked at me, his nostrils flaring. In the back of my mind, I think maybe he would have killed Louis if I hadn’t been standing there. A part of me would have relished that. I’m not proud to admit that, but in one fell swoop, Louis ruined everything. Nash stood there, his chest heaving with hard breaths. He carved a hand through his hair and kept it there.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded. “I can take care of myself.”
He shook his head. “I can see that. But let’s get you out of here.” He turned and climbed on the back of his Harley. His leather jacket creaked as he held out his hand for me. My heart thundered into my throat. Every warning bell inside me went off just then. An equally strong thrill went through me too. I could be leaving one kind of danger for something else. I was young and foolish enough to think I really could take care of myself. But when Nash revved his engine again, it heated my blood. Be bold. Be daring. Before I could think, I climbed onto the back of his bike and slid my arms around his waist. My senses filled with his scent. He was leather and motor oil, and the hint of something dark beneath that.
We went far and fast. The wind ripped through my hair, tearing out the ribbon I used to tie it back. He never asked me where I wanted to go. I never asked him to take me home. Instead, he took me to a deserted stretch of the beach far away from the resorts. Black surf rolled in under stars so bright and low I thought I could catch them.
It was perfect. This was bold and daring and so unlike me. Nash parked his bike on the road and offered me his hand. We walked down to the water together and he turned to me. Magic swirled around me. When the breeze kicked up, Nash peeled off his jacket and put it around my shoulders.
“You sure you’re okay? He didn’t hurt you?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t let him.”
Nash smiled. “You were pretty great. I doubt Louis is used to girls like you putting up a fight. It’s good you know how. If he had hurt you though …”
I put up a hand then grabbed Nash’s jacket to keep it from sliding off. “He didn’t. But thank you for coming to my rescue anyway. What made you turn around and come back?”
Nash took a step toward me. “You know, I’m not even sure.” His eyes seemed to penetrate straight through me. I felt naked beneath his gaze and realized how badly I wanted to be. Be bold. Be daring. God. Riding out here with Nash was the biggest dare I’d ever taken. No one who knew me back home would ever believe this was me. It felt so good though, exhilarating. I was on the edge of something dangerous and thrilling. I had the feeling this could be one of the best nights of my life.
“It’s amazing out here,” I said. “I’ve never ridden out this way.” Hell, I’d never ridden anywhere at all.
Nash just smiled and pointed to a small bungalow up on a hill down the beach. “I want to build there someday.”
“Do you own that?”
He shook his head. “Not yet.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“It’s small.”
“It’s perfect.”
Nash hooked a finger beneath my chin and tilted my head toward his. “You know, Harper. Some people might tell you riding out here alone with me wasn’t the smartest thing you could do.”
My heart raced. “Are you dangerous, Nash?”
He smiled. “Only to assholes like Louis.”
I laughed. “Well, I appreciate that. But it looks like I’m out of a job and probably a place to stay. Louis is also my landlord for the summer.” The minute I put it all into words, I felt mysel
f start to crash back to Earth. What had I done? What was I about to do? This wasn’t me. This was so careless. And yet, in that moment it felt like I had nothing to lose.
“He’s an asshole and a slum lord. You deserve better.”
“How do you know what I deserve?”
“Let’s just say I have an eye for detail. You’re different from the usual girls Louis brings into that place. You’re classier.”
I laughed and spread his jacket wide. “What was the tip-off? The outfit?”
Nash’s eyes raked over me, heating my blood again. I knew I looked ridiculous. Louis made us wear skirts so short you could see our ass cheeks half the time. We wore off-the-shoulder satin tops cut low enough to almost be obscene. If my mother saw me in this, never mind the MS, she’d have a heart attack. But I was nineteen. It was just for the summer. I’d already made more in my first two weeks than I could in a year at home. I wasn’t a stripper. Despite what Louis thought, I wasn’t a slut. I just served drinks. Or at least I did. Fuck, now I was unemployed and about to become homeless.
“I tend not to judge people on what they wear,” Nash said and I recognized it for the challenge it was as I pulled his leather jacket tighter around me. I judged him too when I saw the Great Wolves MC patch. But there on that beach, Nash seemed like something different. I didn’t know him. This was crazy, reckless. But it felt so right. Heat flared between my legs and I wanted to give in to all of it. For once. I knew I’d have a hell of a lot to figure out come morning. For tonight, I just wanted to feel.
I don’t remember anymore who made the first move. Maybe it was both of us. I went up on my tiptoes and Nash met me halfway. His lips were warm and he kissed me hard. He leaned into it, making me arch my back as his arm came around and held me up. Oh God. He was hard and perfect and dangerous. I wasn’t this girl. I didn’t have one-night stands.
“I shouldn’t,” I whispered against his cheek as I ran my hands over the hard lines of his chiseled abs. I already had his t-shirt pulled from his waistband.
“You’re right,” he said. “You probably shouldn’t.”
“But I want to.” There it was. Bold and daring.
He kissed me again. My knees gave out and we sank down into the sand. I fumbled with the buckle of his leather belt. Nash’s hands were everywhere. He slid them beneath my skirt and dragged my panties down.
“Oh God!” I gasped. In another second he’d feel how wet I was already. I felt wanton, shameless, and oh so good.
“Yes!” I said, putting my hands on either side of Nash’s face. His eyes flashed with dark lust as he slid a finger between my legs. I took one hand away and ran it over his back then dragged his jeans down.
The stars held our secret that night. Maybe it was the danger of being out in the open like that. Maybe it was Nash himself. I always shied away from bad boys and he could be the most dangerous of them all. But I was so far away from home and tired of always worrying about the right thing. Not when the wrong thing felt so good.
Nash kissed me deep, nipping my bottom lip. He pulled the elastic of my ruffled top and pushed my breasts out. I groaned when he caught my nipple between his teeth.
“Fuck,” he whispered. “Do you have any idea how sexy … how beautiful you are? I couldn’t stop looking at you all night. You don’t belong with somebody like me.”
“Shh. I don’t want to hear about what I should or shouldn’t do. For once I just want to be.”
His low, sultry laugh sent a shiver through me. He pushed my knee down, spreading me wide beneath him. My swollen sex throbbed with heat as Nash positioned himself between my legs. He stroked himself. I went up on my elbows and watched him. He was huge and hard and my eyes went wide. A tiny bead of moisture dotted the tip of his dick. I licked my lips; the urge to take him in my mouth flared through me and he let out another low laugh when he followed my eyes.
“Fuck me,” I said, shocked at my boldness.
“First I want to taste you.” I let out a squeal as he spread my knees apart and did just that. Thank God for the pounding surf beside us. It drowned out my cries of delight as Nash worked me with his mouth and tongue. No one had ever done that to me before. My one partner, the would-be rocket scientist, was unskilled and fumbling. But this … oh God. This was heaven. Nash drew me out and made my toes curl as he slid his tongue inside of me. He spread me apart with two fingers and coaxed me, making my juices flow. He owned me that night, pure and simple. I thrust my hips wildly, out of control.
I quivered as he made me come so hard and fast. I ached for him. I felt my walls clench and shudder, begging to feel him inside of me. I dug my fingers deep into the sand and arched my back as he lapped at me. Just when I thought I’d reached the height of pleasure, he found some new way to use his tongue.
I don’t know what I must have looked like that night, panting and writhing on the beach with my skirt rucked up and my breasts spilling out of my top. I didn’t care. For that moment in time, Nash made me his. All of me. But I owned him too. When I thought I couldn’t take another second of his delicious torture, he stopped and rose above me. He stroked himself and gave me that wicked smile. I swear I wanted to lick that dimple in his cheek. He had me properly primed and I wrapped my legs around his hips as he finally slid himself deep inside me.
“Yes!” I screamed. “Oh God! Oh Nash!”
“Say it,” he whispered as he thrust himself deeper still.
“Nash! Fuck. Nash!” Over and over again he made me cry out his name. It was as though he wanted to sear himself into my memory and make it impossible for me to call this what it was supposed to be. He wouldn’t be just some one-night stand or random hook-up. He would command and control me, rock my world, and make it so I never forgot. I knew I wouldn’t. I knew no matter what else happened in my life I’d think back to this night on the beach and the bad boy who gave it to me the best I ever had.
I bucked and thrashed as Nash fucked me well. I gave into the carnal parts of myself. I didn’t think I could come again, but I did. As Nash rode me and touched me in the deepest parts, I gave into it and crested the wave again and again. When he seized up, I reached for him; cupping his heavy balls, I stroked him. He let out a primal noise and let himself go right along with me.
It was reckless. It was perfect. It felt like forever.
When we finally spent ourselves, Nash helped me pull my dress back together. He buttoned his pants and put his jacket around me again. I sat between his legs, resting my head on his shoulder as we watched the stars and the surf.
* * *
Present Day
I heard the surf in my dreams last night just like so many nights before. Sunlight stabbed through the window blinds and I opened one eye. My nightstand clock read 5:45 and I punched my fist into the pillow. My bedroom door creaked open and I had just enough time to move to the side of the bed as a nearly four-foot, fifty-five-pound avalanche slid into the space next to me.
“Get up, lazy bones,” he said, rolling his L so it came out like “wazy.”
“Hey, that’s my line,” I teased, tousling his shock of blond hair.
“Gam said she’s gonna make French Toast in a cup! She says you better get a move on or you’re gonna be late for work. She says that would make a bad impwession.”
Laughing, I opened my arms wide and Wyatt slid right into them, resting his head on my shoulder. He looked up at me with those brilliant green eyes. The kind that matched the water this part of the world was named for. When he smiled, he had a familiar deep dimple in his right cheek.
Emerald eyes. Emerald coast. Just like his daddy’s.
Chapter Four
Nash
* * *
“This might just be the dumbest fucking thing we’ve ever done,” King said as we parked our bikes in the public lot across from City Hall.
I slid my aviator glasses up my nose and smiled at him. King punched his fist into his palm and watched the line of people file into the mayor’s office. A canvas sign hung
over the building that read “Welcome to Muffins with the Mayor.” King unsnapped his black riding gloves and set them on the seat. His black hair spilled out of his helmet, sticking out like a lion’s mane when he took it off.
“Run a comb through that at least,” I said. “Try and look respectable.”
King flipped me off and I laughed. He wasn’t wrong. This was fucking stupid. But I had a strong hunch if the two of us strutted into the lobby looking like we did, the mayor’s people were smart enough to take us somewhere private. Sure enough, one of the local TV stations had sent a crew to cover this non-event. The last thing Mayor Dodge needed was a photo op with the GWMC. We might have cleaned up our act, but our past reputation still followed us around.
“You know anyone in there?” King asked.
I shrugged. “Not anymore. Two mayors ago I had a girl I spent some time with who worked for the zoning board. She didn’t stick around after the next election cycle.”
King shook his head. “Sheeit. Something tells me it wasn’t the polls that scared her off. You swear to God we’re not going to walk in there and come face to face with another one of your … uh … loose ends.”
It was my turn to flip King off. Like he didn’t chase as much tail as I did. Emerald Point was a small damn town and that shit cut both ways. King looked at me sideways. I knew him well enough to guess where this conversation was headed. He’d seen me talking to Harper last night and knew me well enough to know I fed him bullshit about who she was. Honestly, I don’t know why I did that. If I’d told him the truth … she was a girl I got familiar with a long time ago … it wouldn’t have been different than a dozen other times I’d said something similar. He probably wouldn’t have so much as blinked. But Harper Mays was a girl I straight up never thought I’d see again. She didn’t belong here in Emerald Point, not all those years ago and certainly not now. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Maybe she needed my help but was too afraid or too proud to ask for it. I wished she’d left me her number at least. For now, I’d just have to wonder.