Hard Love (An Evans Mill Romance Book 2)

by Scarlett Brooks

  He flicked the snap on my jeans and shirked the denim down my thighs and off my ankles. He had expertly pulled my panties with them in the process.

  I had no reservations. No hesitation. No shame or embarrassment in the dark. It was like we were different people, rolling in heat and sweat.

  Luke growled. I felt the scruff of his stubble graze my thigh. I trembled at the contract, but I didn’t have time to adjust to the new sensation before his thumbs pressed into my skin, opening my legs wide. There was wickedness in the dark I’d never experienced. I let go of all my inhibitions. The seduction was overpowering as if I could conceal all the things I wanted while getting them at the same time.

  He pried my velvet lips wide. I dug my nails into his shoulders, guiding him to my clit. With a long slow lick he had me panting and whimpering.

  “You taste so fucking good,” he growled.

  My hips danced under his tongue until he had plunged so deep there was no other option but to come hard and wildly. The orgasm clattered through me, soaring through my veins.

  I yanked on the shorts Luke was wearing. There was nothing between us. The only thing I regretted about the dark was that I couldn’t see him. But I could feel him. I took his cock in my hand and almost let out a yelp. It was solid and wide. Long. And so damn thick. I knew I had taken on more than I could have ever expected.

  I rubbed my thumb over the precum on the tip, massaging it up and down.

  Luke held his breath. “Damn, that feels good.”

  I sat forward, lowering his shaft between my legs. Luke’s fist nudged mine out of the way as he nestled the thickest part of his cock against my heat. He paused at my entrance, stretching me with the kind of pain that felt so good it made my dizzy.

  “Don’t stop,” I whispered, trying to stop myself from panting. I’d never wanted to be fucked so badly in my life. “Please, don’t stop,” I begged.

  I didn’t want the magic to disappear. The recklessness was intoxicating. Our bodies taking control felt more right than any good decision I had deliberated over for hours.

  “Annabelle,” he groaned.

  I tilted my hips slightly and it was enough to coax him. To invite him in. To tell him to fuck me until I screamed his name.

  I thought he would slide in with a gentleness, but with a cock like his there was nothing gently about being claimed by Luke Lincoln. He roared as he pushed inside me, searing me with his massive steel rod. I thought I would split in half. I’d never felt so full or so taken.

  “Oh God,” I screamed. “Luke.”

  “Shh,” he growled. “You’ll wake up the whole town.”

  But there was no way either one of us was backing down. It felt too fucking incredible.

  We had opened Pandora’s box. Primal need took over. He rocked in and out, pushing me to a new level of insanity. I clung to him as his thrusts picked up in intensity.

  We panted, working our bodies to exhaustion. We found a rhythm that drove us both wild. A rhythm I didn’t know existed until Luke was inside me, grinding and hilting his dick to depths no man had accomplished.

  “You’re so fucking tight. So sweet, Annabelle.” He kissed me roughly and I climbed into his lap, rocking up and down.

  “I’m not sweet,” I argued, grunting between words.

  His fingers dug into my waist as he helped propel me up and down his shaft. Harder. Faster. My slickness coated him until the pain of his thickness eased and he could fuck me with nothing but extreme pleasure.

  He reached between us, plucking my clit rapidly.

  “Oh shit, Luke,” I whimpered. I clamped hard on his cock.

  He lowered me to the rug on the floor. We were behind his desk in our own little world. He slammed into me, pinching my clit, drawing an explosion from my body I’d never felt before.

  “I’m going to come if you keep doing that,” he warned. He pressed his forehead to mine. “I promise I’ll pull out in time.”

  “Don’t stop,” I begged. “Please, Luke.”

  I didn’t care that I was begging. I didn’t care that I had told him what I wanted. It felt too good to stop.

  I grabbed his ass, grinding my hips upward. I was close too. I needed to squeeze his dick. I needed to feel the pressure. I needed—

  “Fuck,” he groaned, shuddering in my arms.

  Luke tried to slide out in time but my second climax was exploding through me and I held on for life. I couldn’t let go, not when I needed to feel him inside me.

  His cum sputtered between us as he grunted in my ear. I felt it coat my stomach and slide along my leg.

  I exhaled as a waved of glitter shot through my limbs and raced through my veins. I quivered and moaned as the orgasm claimed me one pulse at a time.

  Luke waited until my breathing slowed.

  He exhaled. “Shit. I tried to pull out. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” I sighed. “There was no way for us to stop in the middle.”

  I waited for the awkward silence to follow. Luke kissed the side of my neck.

  “Wait here and I’ll be back with something for you.”

  “Okay.” I couldn’t have moved if I wanted to.

  He wrestled with his shorts and I heard his footsteps shuffle through the office. I had no idea where my clothes were and I was covered in Luke. I didn’t know whether to be mortified or feel like a complete sex goddess. I tried to just enjoy the moment—whatever it meant.

  Six

  Luke

  I patted the walls until I felt the doorframe. I knew better than to flip the switch and turn on the light. Annabelle was on the floor naked. I had to find something to cover her up.

  “I’ll be right back,” I promised, sliding out the door, careful not to let too much light in.

  I walked down the hall and into the bathroom. My face was red and my chest glistened. What in the hell had happened back there?

  I yanked a roll of paper towels from the supply closet and headed back to my office, not before I grabbed a glass of water for each of us. It wasn’t a drunken hookup. We’d only had one beer each, but after that kind of workout, we needed water.

  I closed the door behind me and walked toward my desk. I lowered to the floor.

  I felt Annabelle’s warm shoulder. I kissed it. It was instinct. It felt as if she were mine now. As if fucking her the way I did made some sort of claim on her. I was fucking crazy right now.

  She sighed. Something about her lit my body on fire. I couldn’t explain it. I couldn’t explain anything that happened.

  “I got something for you,” I offered, but her arms circled my neck. Instead of cleaning her up, I pulled her into my lap. Her legs wrapped around my waist. The water glasses were safely on the desk.

  I kissed her roughly. It was as if her lips were coated in sugar. I couldn’t get enough. I didn’t want to.

  My hands coasted over her breasts and hips. I cupped her perfect ass, squeezing lightly. I slid my leg around when I hit something metal with my shin.

  “Shit.” It stung. “I think I found your camera.”

  “Oh God.” Annabelle wiggled out of my arms. She searched on the floor until she picked up the camera. “I better get this in the case. All my pictures from today are on here. I don’t want to lose them by accidentally deleting something.”

  “I’ll help. Don’t move. Let me clean you up first.”

  I wrapped paper towels on my hand and began to pat Annabelle’s stomach and between her legs. She squirmed.

  “Be still,” I warned.

  “But it tickles.”

  Neither one of us wanted to say out loud what mistake we possibly could have made if I didn’t pull out in time. I didn’t make it a habit of fucking random women. I doubted Annabelle would believe me after what we had just done on my office floor. But it was the truth. There was something different about her. Something about what we had done to each other.

  “If I had a shower here…” My voice trailed off. “Or I could drive you to my place.”r />
  “It’s okay. I’m fine,” she explained.

  “Should I turn on the light?”

  “I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”

  I paused. “When you’re ready.”

  “Luke?”

  “Hmm.”

  “I don’t think I want you to turn on the light.”

  I rubbed the side of my face. “Your eyes will adjust. Mine did.”

  “No.” She leaned toward me. I could smell her shampoo. I could feel the warmth of her skin. I wanted to pull her under me again. “It’s not that.”

  “I don’t think I follow. Are you some kind of vampire?”

  “Funny.” She swatted at my chest. “No one else is here?” she asked.

  “No. The place is empty. It’s only you and me.”

  “Good.” She pulled away from me. I heard her scoop up her clothes, grumbling as she crawled around on the hardwoods. “I’m going to go.”

  “Come on. Don’t got yet. At least let me buy you a drink at Scrubby’s. You don’t need to run out of here.”

  Annabelle didn’t know me. I didn’t screw and bail on women. How else would she think she was being treated if I let her go like this?

  “I don’t think so,” she argued. “I have a lot of work to do. I need to get the shots in for the calendar and I have another shoot in the morning. A bride actually.”

  I reached out, trying to find her in the dark. I caught her neck and drew her lips toward me. It was instinct. I kissed her, sucking the corners of her mouth. Her tongue wound around mine. God, this woman could kiss.

  “You don’t have to go, Annabelle. We could do things in reverse.”

  “Reverse?”

  I chuckled. “Dinner? More conversation? The normal stuff. Isn’t it my turn to play twenty questions?”

  “I’m fine. I promise. You don’t have to do anything. Really. Everything is okay. I’ll pack my equipment and get out of your way.”

  I heard the confidence in her voice. I wasn’t going to be able to change her mind. Maybe Annabelle wasn’t like the other women in Evans Mill. She didn’t expect an attachment after sex. I didn’t know what to think about that.

  “You’re not in my way,” I offered. “Stay.”

  She exhaled and I consumed the softness of her. My mouth toyed with her lips. My fingers tangled in her hair. It was unfortunate she wore a shirt on once again. I’d never felt or tasted such perfect tits in my life. They fit in my hands like tender fruit. And her hard puckered nubs had begged to be sucked. I’d never known a woman to get under my skin this fast. I wanted to peel the shirt away and lick every inch of her. I wasn’t done. I didn’t think we had even cracked the surface on our chemistry. She turned me on in a way I didn’t know was possible.

  “It was fun, but you don’t owe me anything, Luke. We don’t need to make excuses or apologies.”

  “I’m not apologizing for anything.” I curled my fingers against her jaw, holding her mouth against mine. “There’s a reason I want you to stay, and it’s not to say I’m sorry.”

  I pushed my tongue between her lips and she purred at the contact. She wrapped her warm palms against my neck. My cock started to stiffen under the thin athletic shorts.

  “Oh no.” She shook her head.

  “Oh no, what?” I growled.

  “It was perfect, Luke.”

  “Was?” I was confused.

  “Stay here in your office until you know I’ve pulled out of the parking lot. Okay?”

  “But—”

  “Promise me,” she insisted.

  I hesitated. I didn’t like how this was ending. I wasn’t ready for her to leave. There was more about her to know. More to touch. More to try. More to talk about.

  “I promise.”

  Her lips brushed mine for the last time as she crawled out of my lap. “It was nice meeting you, Luke Lincoln,” she whispered.

  My hands fell away. “It was nice meeting you, Annabelle Simmons.”

  She rose from the floor. The door opened, and then she was gone. I thought about jumping up and chasing after her. I thought about running down her car in the parking lot before she turned onto the street. Hell, I thought about a lot of things.

  But I kept my promise, and waited until her headlights faded from view.

  Seven

  Annabelle

  The door closed behind me and I ran to the front counter of the store. Everything was right where I had left it. I had never even opened the tripod case. How long had it been since I took the first picture of Luke? It was as if we were in a time warp of sex and lust ever since we fell in his office.

  I packed my camera in the protective bag and hurried down the front steps of Lincoln Lumber. I brushed the bangs from my eyes. Why did it feel like I was running away when I should be locked in Luke’s office with him? He wanted me to stay. Why didn’t I?

  I settled the camera case on the floor behind my seat, and started the ignition. It might have been the first time my tires spewed gravel. I was in a rush to leave. But why? There was a hot man lying half-naked, asking me to stay with him. Asking me to have more sex. Dinner. Drinks. Maybe even breakfast.

  What in the hell was wrong with me?

  I tilted the rearview mirror. The sign for the lumber business was dark. I couldn’t see Luke’s office window any longer.

  I wanted to get home to the two-bedroom apartment over my studio. Back to the place where things were normal and uncomplicated.

  I wanted to put on a pair of cozy pajama pants and sit on the couch with a pint of ice cream. It was a safe place to savor the fact that I had just had the most intense and epic orgasms with a hot chiseled man when I should have been working.

  I turned up the volume on the radio. Technically, it wasn’t work. I was volunteering for the charity calendar. Did that make it more unethical? I wasn’t sure. My body glowed and hummed with the warmth of sex. Sex with Luke Lincoln. It made thinking harder than it should have.

  He was a sex god. A master at all arts that involved his body. His mouth. His shoulders. His muscular biceps. And his cock. I blushed. It was incredible. Every inch of him.

  I bit my lip as I turned onto the next street. That thing he did with his tongue and my clit. I squeezed my knees together, trying to suppress the memory. I moan slipped through my lips. I would never forget it. I almost felt sorry for the next man I slept with.

  I didn’t know who I was back there at Lincoln Lumber, but I liked her. She didn’t care that she was off schedule or that the encounter wasn’t planned. That woman was rebellious and adventurous. Even if it was only one night—I liked that I now knew that side of me existed.

  I parked in the lot behind the studio. I ran up the stairs to the apartment and went straight to the shower. I peeled my clothes off and threw them in the hamper while the shower steamed up the small tiled room.

  It had taken weeks for me to paint and clean the apartment when I moved in. I embraced the retro pink tiles and the mint green kitchen. The studio space below had been much easier. All it needed was a good scrubbing and a coat of white paint. I used it primarily to display bridal portraits. One day I hoped it would be a gallery for other photographers.

  The hot stream of water felt good on my shoulders. I washed my hair and soaped my sore body. I traced over the places Luke had touched. God, he was good with his hands too.

  But it wouldn’t happen again.

  I wasn’t that kind of woman. Was I? I wasn’t going to go back for seconds. Once was enough. Once was perfect.

  I turned off the water and reached for a towel. I didn’t have time for a relationship. Not even dates. Wasn’t that the point I had tried to press on Milly earlier today? I was a career woman trying to make her mark on Evans Mill.

  Luke had already done that. He had a thriving business. He carved out his place here. This was my turn. My chance. And I wasn’t about to screw it up by getting distracted, no matter how many abs he had.

  Eight

  Annabelle

&
nbsp; 2 months later

  “No. No. No.” I stared at the plastic stick in my hand. I placed it on the bathroom counter and took a step back. It rested next to the first four tests I took. They were in a neat and orderly line. It was something I could control.

  The reading on all the tests was the same. I had an unopened box with a sixth test inside. I sat on the edge of the tub, shaking my head.

  I was pregnant. Knocked up. Bun in the oven.

  Holy hell. What was I going to do?

  I couldn’t be pregnant. I mean, I felt pregnant. It was why I ordered an entire case of tests online in a guaranteed concealed package. The last thing I needed was someone at the pharmacy to recognize me and whisper that the new photographer who had moved to town was pregnant. Single and pregnant.

  I didn’t have a boyfriend. I didn’t even have a booty call. What I had was a memory. An incredible memory with a man I barely knew.

  I thought back to that night. The night with Luke Lincoln. It was wild and free. Arguably the hottest night of my sexual existence. But I had left under the cover of darkness. Other than working on his photos for the calendar I hadn’t seen Luke since. I hadn’t talked to him and I made sure not to drive past Lincoln Lumber. It helped that it was on the outskirts of town. I could take other roads out of Evans Mill.

  Our paths didn’t cross. I shot weddings the past eight weekends and a few engagement sessions. Milly had even referred to one of her friends for a pregnancy shoot. Business was steady. It was good. I had been unusually busy since the calendar was completed.

  I wasn’t embarrassed or ashamed. There were plenty of good reasons not to run into Luke. It was more about keeping that memory intact. I didn’t want to ruin how perfect sex with Luke was by starting a relationship. He wasn’t obligated to take me to dinner, or stumble through an awkward moment at my front door after a movie. It had been simple. Easy. Hot. Memorable.