Wicked Hearts (Poplar Falls Book 3)

by Amber Kelly

  I’m not sure when I drift off to sleep, but I start at the sound of a loud commercial on the television. I look down to see Elle’s eyes are closed, and her breathing is heavy and even.

  I untangle myself from her and turn off the set and stretch.

  She rouses and blinks up at me.

  I bring my hand to her chin and lightly rub my thumb across her lip.

  She sits up and climbs into my lap.

  “Elle, sweetheart,” I whisper.

  She doesn’t say a word. She just wraps her arms around my neck and brings her mouth to mine.

  I open for her, and she caresses my tongue with hers as she lets out a small moan and settles her weight into my lap.

  My hand comes to the small of her back where the top of her shirt meets her jeans, and I find her smooth skin. I spread my hand there and pull her in closer to my chest.

  Our mouths disengage as she gasps when she feels me growing hard beneath her. My mouth moves to her neck, and she tilts her head to give me better access. I kiss my way down her throat to her collarbone. I lick the sensitive spot that connects her shoulder and neck, and she bears down on me.

  I groan at the contact and pull my mouth from her as I try to calm my body down.

  “Elle, sweetheart, we need to stop,” I manage to get out even though every single cell in my body is protesting that plan.

  “Why?” she asks as she tightens her hold on me.

  “I’m trying to be good, woman. You’re beauty and innocence. I shouldn’t touch you like this. I don’t want to taint your sweetness with my wicked heart,” I tell her. Anguish drips from my words.

  She brings her forehead to mine. “Don’t,” she whispers against my mouth.

  I look up at her. “Don’t what?”

  “Don’t be good. Not tonight. Maybe my heart wants to be a little wicked too,” she says, and her tongue darts out to lick her lips as her eyes focus on mine.

  Fuck me.

  How am I supposed to respond to that invitation?

  I’m just a man hanging on by a thin thread of decency.

  Then, she presses her mouth to mine again, and that thread snaps in two.

  Elle

  Walker stands to his feet and settles his hands under my ass, taking me with him. He walks us to his bed as I continue to kiss him. He disengages his mouth from mine and tosses me on the bed. I let out an excited gasp as my back hits the mattress. He stands there at the side of the bed. His eyes are blazing as he watches me scamper back.

  He lifts his shirt up over his head and tosses it to the floor before he crawls up the bed to join me. Then, he is there, covering me with his big body, and I wrap my arms under his and run my hands over the hard muscles of his back. He lets me explore his body as he bends his head and runs his tongue along my collarbone and up my neck. He takes my earlobe between his teeth and gently bites down, and I feel it all the way to my core. I moan my pleasure, and he nips at my ear again. I wrap my legs around his waist, trying to ease the ache building between them. I am so afraid that he is going to change his mind and leap from the bed as he tears his mouth from me.

  “Shit, baby,” he says in a strangled plea.

  He reaches behind himself and grips one of my legs, bringing it down so he can sit up to his knees.

  He starts to frantically pull the hem of my sweater from my jeans.

  I lean up so he can pull it over my head, and he slings it to the side and off the bed.

  He places his hand on the column of my throat and reverently slides it down to my chest. He gently tugs the lacy cup of my bra down until my breast springs free.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful, Elle,” he groans as he cups one breast and rubs the callous tip of his thumb over my nipple, causing me to buck up at the sensation.

  He lowers his mouth and flicks it with his tongue, prompting it to come to a hard peak before he pulls it into his mouth and tugs lightly.

  Oh my God. Every nerve in my body catches fire.

  He takes his time acquainting himself with the other breast before his hands glide down my sides and to the button of my jeans. I instinctively lift my bottom, so he can slide them and my panties down my legs.

  I’m a ball of nervous anticipation as he pulls my legs apart and sits in the space he created. I am lying here before him in nothing but my bra, his eyes glued to my exposed sex. I’ve never been so completely open and bare to another human being. I take a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm myself. I want him to touch me so badly.

  “Walker,” I say to get his attention, and his eyes lift to mine, “please.”

  He gets a wicked grin, and his scratchy voice asks, “Please what?”

  I close my eyes as his little finger begins to rub tiny circles on the inside of my thigh.

  “Tell me, Elle, what do you want, baby?”

  I keep my eyes squeezed shut as I make my whispered request, “Lick me.”

  He releases a guttural groan, and I open my eyes and watch as he lifts my knees over his shoulders and settles in. He kisses the skin between my belly button and the apex of my thighs, and he looks up and locks eyes with me before moving lower.

  His tongue darts out, and he runs one long, slow lick up my slit. I feel the tingles all the way to my toes. Then, he uses his fingers to spread me apart, and works his tongue to tease me into a frenzy as he thrusts it in and out of my opening over and over again. I grab the sheets at my sides with my fists and hold on, so I don’t rocket off the bed. He watches me, and he begins to leisurely run his tongue through my folds again.

  I shudder as he speaks, “You taste so damn good, Elle. Just like I knew you would.”

  His warm breath makes my need throb more intensely, and I whimper before I release the sheets and grab his hair to guide him where I need him most. I feel his chuckle vibrate against me, and I cry out as he takes my clit into his mouth and sucks while rolling it with his tongue before biting down.

  In that moment, I hold my breath as my knees lock, and desire courses through me. White-hot liquid pleasure shoots from my core to his mouth. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before.

  He slides a finger inside of me as I am riding my orgasm down. I let my knees fall to the sides to give him easier access to me, and he takes the invitation. He bears up and removes his pants and kicks them to the floor. He returns to the bed, and his eyes focus on me as his hand finds me again. His finger slides up and down my swollen lips, getting me wetter and ready for him. He removes his fingers from me and sucks them into his mouth. I come up to my elbows and watch as he climbs back up my body.

  “We can stop right here if you want,” he says, giving me a chance to halt this.

  I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him down on top of me, and I kiss him with everything I have. Our tongues wrestle, and I plant my feet and brace up, trying to get him where I want him.

  He breaks away. “Wait,” he says.

  I reach between us to stroke him, letting him know I don’t want to wait anymore.

  He growls as I slide my hand up and down his hard length.

  I watch him stretch over and open the nightstand drawer, before he brings a foil packet to his mouth and tears it open with his teeth. He shoots up, and I study him as he smooths the latex over his throbbing cock.

  He reaches for my leg and pulls me open wider as he comes back down and confesses in my ear, “It scares me, how much I want you. No woman has ever driven me wild the way you do.”

  It scares me, too, but not enough to stop this.

  “I need to be inside you now,” he pants before I feel the tip of his shaft at my entrance.

  He pushes in, and his breaths become ragged as he says, “You’re so tight and wet. I’m trying to be easy, but damn, you feel so good.”

  I raise my hips in encouragement, and he demands in a strangled voice, “Don’t move, please. Ah, let me. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  I ease back into the mattress and relax as he presses deeper into my tightness. I feel the burn
of the stretch, but the pleasure on his face is so much greater than my pain as he seats himself fully inside of me. He holds himself still for a couple of heartbeats before he looks down and kisses my nose.

  “You okay?” he asks, concern evident in his voice as it dawns on him that I’ve never done this before.

  I dig my nails in his back and pull him deeper into me.

  “Yes, I’m so good,” I cry.

  That’s when his thin hold on control snaps, and he starts to move in and out of me in a rapid rhythm.

  It feels good, so good. He claims every inch of me in that moment, and I let him have it all.

  I feel the pressure in my belly begin to build again, and I start chanting his name. He brings a hand between us and massages my clit with each thrust, and I’m drowning in sensation as my body is again reaching for the eruption that is coming. I plant my feet and arch up to meet every jolt of his hips until I can finally take no more and explode around him.

  My body quakes as I come hard. Walker continues pumping in and out until his back bows, and he cries out while his orgasm is milked from him while I spasm around him.

  He collapses beside me.

  We lie there, tangled up in sweaty limbs and sheets for a long time before our breathing slows and our pounding hearts calm.

  “Shit, baby,” he says as he settles on his back and pulls me into his side.

  His big body literally takes up the entire bed. I have a sliver of space between him and the wall. He pulls me up and over his chest and tucks me close. I lay my cheek on his chest and close my eyes. My body is completely spent.

  He absentmindedly rubs circles on my back as he kisses the top of my head.

  “Walker,” I whisper his name into the dark.

  “Yeah, baby?” he replies.

  I lift my head and rest my chin on his chest.

  He raises his head to look at me, and I see it. Everything has changed between us in this instant. Everything.

  He runs his fingers through my hair and caresses my scalp. We don’t need the words. Not now.

  I sigh and lean my head back into his gentle touch.

  Before I know it, sleep is pulling me under.

  Walker

  I awaken to a loud knocking on the door.

  Elle is curled into the crook of my arm. Her soft breath tickles my bare shoulder. I pull her closer, and she sighs in her slumber and tightens her arm around my waist.

  The pounding starts again, and I hear Payne’s voice coming from outside.

  “I know you’re in there, asshole. Let me in.”

  I slip out from under Elle as quietly as I can and pull on a pair of sweatpants. She rolls over and wraps herself around my pillow and continues to sleep. I walk over to the door and swing it open.

  “What the hell, man? Why are you making so much racket this early in the morning?” I ask him in a whisper.

  He tries to dart past me and into the shack, but I use my big body to block his entrance.

  “What are you doing, Walker?” he asks as he steps back in frustration.

  “I was sleeping. Now, I’m standing here, freezing my ass off, looking at your ugly mug at the break of dawn,” I bark at him.

  “What are you hiding in there?” he asks.

  Shit.

  “Not hiding anything.”

  “Then, why won’t you let me in?” he asks.

  “Not exactly the time of day I usually have guests drop by, man.”

  He plants his hands on his hips and drops his head in irritation. “Please tell me she’s not in there?” he pleads.

  I don’t know how he knows, but if he is here, looking for her, it can’t be good.

  He waits, and when I don’t answer, he looks up and meets my eyes.

  “She’s in there,” he surmises.

  I nod because there is really no point in denying it.

  “Geezus, Walker, have you lost your damn mind? That is Elle Young, not some bar fly you bring home to play with for a night.”

  I see red. “You think I don’t know that? It isn’t like that. Not with her,” I hiss.

  He looks taken aback by my admission. Truth be told, I’m a little shaken by it myself.

  “So, what, you want to date her?”

  “I …”

  I don’t finish my thought because I feel a warm hand on my bare back, and I twist to see Elle standing there, peering out from under my arm. Her hair is a knotted mess, and she still has a satisfied, sleepy look on her face. She’s never been more beautiful.

  “What’s going on?” she asks sleepily as a yawn escapes her.

  Payne stares past me at Elle’s mussed appearance, and he starts shaking his head before he focuses on his boots again.

  “It’s just Payne, sweetheart. Go lie back down. I’ll be there in a minute,” I tell her.

  She gives me a coy smile. “Okay,” she whispers before she presses a kiss to the skin at my ribs.

  Then, she glances past me and out to the porch.

  “Good morning, Payne,” she says brightly. Not the least bit fazed at being caught in my bed.

  “Morning, Elle,” he says while everting his eyes.

  She shuffles back into the house, and he looks up at me.

  “What the fuck are you doing, Walk? Dallas called me, freaking out, half an hour ago. She told me to get my ass out here as fast as I could. Elle hadn’t come home last night, and Braxton has been out, looking for her. Ria called Sonia’s this morning to ask Elle if she could stop in town for her on her way home because she assumed that was where she stayed. Sonia’s man picked up the phone, and he told her Elle wasn’t there and that he hadn’t seen her all night. Ria got worried. She tried to call Elle, and her phone went to voice mail. She called Braxton, and Braxton got ahold of Sonia, who told him that she left Elle at the bar alone last night. He flew in to a panic and drove out to Butch’s house and woke him up. Butch told him that she left with you last night. You weren’t answering your damn phone either, and he’s probably on his way here right now. Sophie called Dallas, scared that Braxton was going to kill you if he found Elle here.”

  Shit.

  I move out of the way, and he follows me in.

  Elle is dressed and sitting on the end of the bed.

  “I heard,” she says. She waves her phone in the air. “I cut it off last night, and I just listened to all the messages.

  “I texted Bells, and she said she’d cover for me. Payne, can you drive me over to Stoney Ridge and drop me off?”

  He looks at me and back to her. He doesn’t want to be in the middle of my mess, and I don’t blame him.

  “Yeah, let’s go. Your brother will be here shortly,” he says, giving in.

  “Maybe not. I texted him to tell him I was fine and just asleep. He asked where I was, and I asked him why. He texted me back a long, ragey answer, and I haven’t replied yet. I’ll text him when we are on our way and tell him I stayed with her and that he can come get me if he wants.”

  She is staying awfully calm.

  “You don’t look nervous,” I observe.

  She smiles. “I’m twenty-four years old. I shouldn’t have to explain what I do to anyone. It’s nobody’s business. I’ll cover, and I’ll pacify him this time but only because I should have let someone know I wasn’t coming home. I always do, so I understand why they are worried.”

  “We’d better go, just in case,” Payne insists.

  “I’ll be right back,” she says and hurries to the bathroom.

  Payne paces in front of the kitchen island and then looks back at me. “I sure hope you know what you’re doing. Sophie and Dallas are obviously suspicious. I’ll tell them you were alone when I got here, but I doubt they’ll buy it. I can’t see Sophie keeping something like this from Braxton. It won’t take long before everyone is onto you two,” he warns.

  The truth is, I have no fucking clue what I’m doing. I wasn’t expecting last night to happen.

  “I’ve tried my best to stay away from her, but I j
ust don’t have any fight left in me. I don’t know what we’re doing, but I know what we’re not doing. I’m done keeping her at arm’s length. I can’t, not anymore,” I admit.

  Payne blows out a big breath. “How long have you two been … you know?” He gestures toward the bed.

  “Nothing physical happened before last night, but the past few months, we’ve been … I guess you can call it growing closer. I don’t know how to explain it. It just is,” I admit.

  “You need to have a man-to-man conversation with Braxton, then—before he finds out from someone else.”

  He’s right. I do.

  “I know, and I will. I just don’t want him to see us together before I figure out what to say.”

  Elle comes out. She’s washed her face, and her hair is in a ponytail.

  “I’m not ready for him to know either,” she agrees. “We’ll talk to him together, but I just want some time to see what this is and enjoy it before I have to start fighting to defend it. Does that make sense?”

  She turns her pleading eyes to Payne.

  “It does, but I don’t see this ending well.”

  She walks over to me and pushes up onto her tiptoes to give me a kiss. “I’ll see you later?” she asks.

  “Yeah, I’ll be out to Rustic this afternoon.”

  I take her face in my hands, and I kiss her thoroughly—until Payne clears his throat.

  “Okay, see you later, then. If Braxton comes out here, just tell him you dropped me off with Bellamy last night. I’ll handle the rest,” she says. “Bye, Woofie,” she calls behind me.

  “Did you just call my dog Woofie, woman?” I ask as she walks out to the porch.

  “Yep,” she tosses over her shoulder as she walks past Payne and toward his truck.

  “Don’t call him that sissy name. He already had his balls cut off. No further humiliation is necessary,” I call after her, and I hear her chuckle before she hops in and slams the door.

  Payne gives me one last long, disapproving look before he turns and follows her.

  He gets in the truck, and they pull out and head in the opposite direction from where Braxton would come.