Havoc Page 17

  Her grin gets my stomach shaky. It’s not the first time it’s happened, but it’s the first time I’ve truly admitted it. I put my arm around her neck and pull her in, feeling like I’m the luckiest guy in the world when she loops her arms around my waist and slides up next to me in line. I lean in, kissing her forehead, taking my sunglasses off so I can see her better. Hooking them in my t-shirt, I use my other hand to tilt her chin up. Those eyes of hers are amazing in the waning light of the night. They sparkle, and she looks at me like I made her life, hung the moon, and gave her the very best gift ever. I can’t help it, I have to duck in and get a taste of those lips. When we break apart, I smile back at her. “You’ll be safe with me, Leigh. Never, ever gonna let anything happen to you.”

  Here under the brilliant colors of a setting sun on a June night, I realize just how serious I am. Whoever tries to take her out of my arms will have a fight on their hands. Like I told her dad back in that fucking courtroom, I will rain down hell on anyone who messes with her. Tightening my arm around her, I hold her fiercely at my side. She’s exactly where she’s supposed to be, and I’ll be damned if I ever let her go.

  “Two?” the person taking the tickets asks as we step up to our turn in line.

  “Two,” I confirm, pulling the tickets out of my pocket and handing them over. “You ready?” I ask her when he opens our bucket.

  “As I’ll ever be, I may have to hold on tight.” She sits as close to me as she can in the middle. “Told you I’m scared of heights.” She jumps when he closes the door and we move up slightly. The shriek in her voice makes me laugh. I can’t remember when the last time was I smiled so much.

  “And I told you I’ll keep you safe. There’s no place in the world more peaceful than up here, in our own little haven,” I explain, turning the tone of my voice deep and low, hoping it lulls her into a sense of security.

  “Ohhh you’re good,” she accuses, kissing me on the nose before she looks out in front of us.

  “I have some practice,” I admit.

  “Do tell, we have no place to be.” She indicates how we’ve stopped as they let people on and off the ride.

  I tilt my head back, looking up at the stars that are starting to make their presence known. A part of me wishes we were down on the Gulf with the waves crashing so closely we could hear it. I can almost smell the salt of the ocean air and feel the heat rolling off the sand and blacktop. It hits me immediately that I want to take her there. I want to experience everything with her. “I was a confident, cocky, young guy.” I’m interrupted by a throaty laugh.

  “You? Never, like, I don’t see it at all.” She rolls her eyes and turns her face away from me, hitting my cheek with her braid.

  “I know, I hide it well.” I manage to keep a straight face as I talk to her for all of two seconds, letting the laugh escape. My fingers inch along the back of the bucket, before I grasp the end of her braid, playing with the hair there. “Anyway, my thing was getting girls I was interested in on here. They’d inevitably get scared at the top, and I’d have to calm them down.”

  She’s quiet for a few minutes as we move up to almost the very top. Soon we’ll do a few loops, when it’s been completely refilled, but right now I’m enjoying spending time with my wife. “If I were scared right now, how would you calm me down?”

  Her eyes are hooded when she turns her face to me. Almost as if she knows what action I’m going to take. I watch as her tongue sneaks out from between her lips and swipes against the dry skin. In its wake, the moisture allows the lights to mirror off the pink tint of her lip gloss. It’s all the invitation I need. I lean in whispering “I’d do a little something like this” before I go in for the kill.

  This kiss we share is different from any of the others we’ve shared. There’s a spark of teenage love in the air as we make out on the Ferris wheel at the Founder’s Festival. Admittedly, I haven’t done this since I was a teenager. There’s not much difference, though; I still can’t move much, and I’m just as frustrated as I was back then. My fingers play with the braid that’s driven me crazy all day. Not being able to take control is a problem, so I use the only thing I do have control of, my mouth and hers.

  I deepen the kiss, close to eating her up, here in front of the whole town, but I can’t seem to stop myself. My breathing is ragged when I pull back for a split second, before going back in, my tongue sweeping against hers, tasting the lemonade and strawberry sundae she had earlier. I’m drunk on the taste of Leighton. No one I know has ever enveloped my life the way she has – her smell, her taste – everything about her turns me on.

  “Holden,” she whispers as she’s able to pull back, giving me little nips before I manage to disentangle my fingers from her braid and then use my palm on the back of her head to press our lips harder and closer together. “We’re in public,” she manages before I leave her breathless again.

  “I’m the police, what are they gonna do? Arrest me?”

  She giggles deep in her throat as I continue to own her mouth, loving the silky feel of her tongue against mine, the way she’s gripping my shorts with her fingers, the way she’s leaning into me. Fuck if I could get one leg on the bench seat, I’d have her laying over me. We’d really start rocking this bucket.

  “Holden Thompson! Knock it off or I’ll turn the water hose on you again!” I hear the voice of one of my old teachers from high school. Mrs. Bennett, if I’m not mistaken. She taught history and always caught me at my worst.

  Knowing she’s not lying, I finally end the kiss with Leighton, wiping the gloss off my mouth as I turn to her. We’ve stopped at the bottom and neither one of us noticed it. We were too far gone with each other. “No problem, Mrs. Bennett.” I pull the shorts I’m wearing discreetly at the crotch so I’m not giving everyone a show when I get up from here, and we exit our bucket.

  Leighton holds my hand as we travel down the ramp, barely holding in a laugh. When we’re finally out of the earshot of everyone else, she lets loose. “She got you with a water hose once before?”

  “Not one of my finer moments.” I grimace as I lean into her, hiding the front of my body from passersby. “I will tell you this though, baby girl. I sure as shit didn’t have a fucking hard-on like this with the girl she caught me with in high school.” I cup her cheek in my hand, forcing our foreheads together. “I don’t know what it is about you, but you affect me in ways I never imagined.”

  “You affect me too,” she breathes against my nose. “I try not to let you. I’m scared one day you’ll decide it’s time for me to go and my heart will be broken, but I’m losing the battle.”

  “Lose the battle with me, Leigh.”

  “It’s crazy.” She shakes her head, and I can feel her anxiety ramping up.

  “It’s not, but even if it is, Leigh…baby, be crazy.”

  I can feel the way she’s fighting against this, the inner struggle she’s having. The Holden I’ve always been wants to make the decision for her, force her to see what we can have together, make her understand what she means to me. But this Holden, the one who cares for her, and wants what’s best for her, knows I have to let her make her own decision. If she in any way feels like I’ve forced her into something, she’ll rebel, and I’ll be no different than her dad. I refuse to be that man.

  “I need time,” she whispers, her voice teary.

  “I’m not goin’ anywhere,” I remind her. “Take all the time you need.” I give her another kiss. This one chaste, tame, taking down our arousal a few notches. “In the meantime, enjoy me worshipping your body, because that’s one thing I don’t plan on stopping.”

  “Please don’t ever stop.”

  And those words give me hope. Hope that she feels the same way about me that I do about her. My past won’t allow me to say the words without being sure, but I know deep in my heart – there is absolutely no one else for me, and there never will be.

  Leighton

  This man undoes me with every word he says, every way he touche
s me, and every look he sends my way. He’s perfect, but that’s my problem. I’ve been raised to believe that no one is perfect, and if they are, then they want something from you.

  I’m trying really hard to change that way of thinking, but it’s hard, especially when you’ve been conditioned to think that way. If there’s anything I am, it’s conditioned to believe everything I’ve been taught since I was a kid. I’m trying very hard to change, but it’s a slow process. Slower than I even want to admit to myself.

  Wanting to bring the fun times back around again, I grab his hand and start walking over to where people are setting up lawn chairs and blankets. “Let’s go watch the fireworks.”

  “This is my favorite part of the night,” he admits, holding me close to his side.

  There’s one thing about Holden, he always needs to be touching me. At first it was disconcerting, but now I love it. I feel like he’s mad at me if he’s not touching me. Amazing how the human body adapts to those types of conditions so quickly. “I’ve never been able to watch the fireworks,” I admit softly as we go join the group of MTF guys and their significant others.

  “Why not?”

  I clamp my mouth shut on reflex. I hadn’t meant to let those words slip past my lips, but now that I have, I have to let him know I trust him. Our eyes meet, and I hope he realizes how much it costs me to give him this bit of information. I hope it goes a long way in him believing I’m not playing him.

  “You about to tell me some deep, dark secret, babe?”

  He’s joking, but he doesn’t know how important what I’m about to tell him is. I’m betraying the only family I’ve ever known, and no matter how shitty they’ve been to me, they are my family.

  “The Founder’s Festival always has everyone at it, including a shit ton of police to help with crowd enforcement. How do you think all that ’shine gets moved, Holden? When nobody’s watching.”

  His face is pale in the darkness as it clicks with him what I’m saying. “Leigh, did you just tell me what I think you told me?”

  I nod, swallowing roughly against the lump in my throat. Hurting family is hard, regardless of how it happens. He’s immediately grabbing his phone out of his pocket and I’m reaching around, picking up our stuff. “What are you doing?” he asks, as he holds the phone to his ear.

  “Aren’t you going to go?”

  His eyes flash with something I’ve never seen before. “After everybody’s seen me here with you today? I’d be signing your death warrant, sweetheart.”

  Whoever’s on the other line picks up, and I listen to his deep voice in the darkness of the warm night. “Have Ace and Menace go check out,” he looks at me for verification.

  “Old Chapel Hill Road.”

  His eyebrows shoot up, because we both know that’s a location none of them knew about before this moment.

  “Old Chapel Hill Road,” he relays to whomever he’s talking to. “Have them take some uniforms. If they see something, have them observe and take pictures. We don’t want an arrest; we want probable cause for a search warrant.”

  He swipes his thumb over the phone, ending the call. Taking a deep breath as he looks at me, his nostrils flare before he gathers me in his arms and pulls me deep into his chest. “You’re safe with me.”

  The tears escape before I can hold them back. “I know,” I whisper, although right now, I’m really not sure I am. They’ll come now. This will make them come for me.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Havoc

  I’m draggin’ ass on this hot night. We were prepared for moonshine to move tonight, thanks to the tip from Leighton and some other intel we picked up. Spoiler alert, it didn’t. Instead we sat in the woods, sweating our balls off. Nothing happened and the heat zapped us all. I hate when a plan doesn’t come together, and it’s not very often that mine don’t. Failure for me is a hard pill to swallow.

  I park my truck in the driveway, grabbing my stuff as I groan. My shirt’s wet, and my pants are rubbing against my legs in the most uncomfortable way. I want to get in the house, take a shower, and sleep with Leighton curled against me.

  We’ve been missing each other the past few nights. She’s had a paper due, and I’ve obviously had work to do. I’m pissed that those nights I’ve spent away from her have been for nothing. Coming up empty-handed is not my idea of a damn good time.

  I’ve grabbed my stuff, and I’m fixing to head to the house when I happen to look at the garage and see there’s something on the door. It gives me a weird feeling, like when you know a rifle scope is pinned on you. I place my stuff back in my truck and grab my gun from where I have it holstered, holding it in my hand as I make my way across the driveway. It’s hard not to show fear, because it’s there. My heart pounds, sweat pours down my back and face, and I’d be lying if I said my hands didn’t shake when I grab the piece of paper that’s been taped to the door.

  Neither of you are safe. Don’t drop your guard. We’re still coming for you.

  “Son of a bitch.” I know it’s from her dad. He’s still pissed she told us about the still over off Old Chapel Hill Road. We thought it would disrupt the flow, and it doesn’t seem to have done so, but maybe we did disrupt something. Looks as if we possibly put a kink in a part of their operation. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be trying to scare me away.

  I grab the piece of paper, put it in my pants pocket, and head back to my truck. In reality, I need a minute to let all of this sink in, but I know leaving myself out in the open like this isn’t smart. Picking up my stuff, I don’t waste any time getting into the house.

  “Leighton? You here?”

  When I initially don’t hear anything my heart drops. Then, I hear her off-key singing in the kitchen, and I can breathe again.

  “Right here,” she yells as I enter into that part of the house. “How was it tonight?” she asks, looking at me.

  “Shitty. I’m tired, I want to take a shower, and go to bed.”

  She comes over and wrinkles her nose at me. “You do stink a little.”

  “I stink a lot,” I laugh. “I can smell myself. Cute of you to act like I don’t smell so bad, though.” I lean in, giving her a kiss without touching her, glad to know she’s okay. “How was your night?”

  “Same old, same old. Did some homework, cooked dinner for just me.” She throws her bottom lip out, and I reach in, catching it with my teeth.

  “I hated being away from you, too. Hopefully not much longer.”

  She makes a noise of protest in her throat, as I pull far enough away she can’t try to haul me towards her. “Let me go take a shower.”

  I take one in record time, sighing heavily as I appreciate the feel of clean skin. I never realized how much I needed it until I was stuck in the sand for a year. Now? A shower can sometimes be my favorite thing. Putting on a pair of boxers, I tiptoe through the house, checking the locks, the windows, and arming the alarm system. I’m still on edge from the note I found.

  Do I think they might make a play for her or me? Maybe – depending on if Jefferson can get anyone to make the play with him. I’m not scared, and I’ll kill him before he can hurt either one of us. I’m beyond sure of that.

  When I enter the bedroom, Leighton is on her side, facing away from me. Her eyes are closed, and her breathing is even. Turning off the TV and the lamp, I climb in behind her, but tonight I want to be close to her. I reach over, pulling her against my chest. When she situates herself, her tit falls into the palm of my hand and that’s all it takes for my dick to take notice.

  We’ve been passing ships lately, and I’ve missed the fuck out of her. Dropping my mouth to her neck, I lightly kiss the flesh as I squeeze her breast in my hand, rubbing my palm against the hard nipple. I’m making no demands; it’s a lazy seduction, one I hadn’t planned when I laid down behind her and brought her into my arms, but I want her. I want her body sliding against mine, her nails trailing down my back, and the heat of her pussy wrapped around my cock. I shift around, pushing my boxers do
wn to my knees, kicking them off with my feet, as I turn Leighton over onto her back.

  “Holden,” she moans, her eyes closed, her legs widening for me.

  I brace my knees against her thighs, pushing her shirt up and over her head, leaning down to capture a nipple in my mouth. I bathe it with my tongue, growling when I feel her nails digging into my shoulders, the sharp intake of breath that tells me she’s awake. “Shit,” she pushes her head to the side, thrusting her chest deeper into my mouth.

  “Feel good?” I moan as I nip at her skin, sliding down her body until her thighs bracket my shoulders.

  “Holden,” she whimpers when I take two fingers, testing out how ready she is.

  “Yeah?” I glance up, my eyes on hers in the dim light of our room.

  “I don’t know if I can handle it.”

  I flash her a grin, accompanied by a wink. “Then you better hang on, baby.”

  She’s not ready when I push those two fingers into her, at the same time as I use my mouth to suck on her clit. My tongue worries the piece of flesh, before I pull slightly; pushing my fingers in before pulling them out, making sure she’s ready for this. Making sure she’s ready for me. Her fingers push my head down, as she opens her thighs wide to my body.

  “I want you inside me, Holden, not your fingers.”

  That’s all the nudge I need. Dragging myself up her body, I spread her thighs further apart and push myself home, moaning as she grips me.

  “Feels so good,” she breathes into my neck as I put my hands on either side of her head, in a push up. We slide along the sheets, but when she grasps hold of my ass, I know she’s right there with me. “Harder,” she begs.

  “Whatever you need, love.”

  “You mean that?” Her eyes are dark as they look into mine. Her face is pleading, when she hooks her legs around my waist.

  “I love you, Leigh. I’ve tried so hard to not make things complicated for you, tried to keep my feelings out of every equation because I didn’t want it to cloud any judgement. But I love you.” I bury my head in her neck. “You mean the fucking world to me.”