Reaper's Girl (Rockin' Country #5) Read online

  “You need to get that shit cut.” Jared gave him a hard time, throwing a hand into Garrett’s stomach.

  Garrett doubled over, making an umph noise. “I’m thinking I might grow it out for this era of the band.”

  Hannah, who’d been half-way listening to their conversation as she and Shell got sunscreen on EJ and him into his stroller, turned around, her eyebrows high. “You’re thinkin’ what?”

  He offered her the smile that told her he was trying to soothe ruffled feathers. “I’m thinking I might grow it out for this era of the band we’ll be embarking on in the next year. It might be the last time I’m able to do it. I’m in my early thirties and all.”

  She gave him a skeptical look. His hair was already getting long; the ends curled against the hat he wore. It wouldn’t take much for it to be down his neck. “We’ll see how it looks,” she said, but her voice wasn’t confident.

  “I’ll be hot, baby, just like I am now. You remember how much you liked Jax Teller with long hair? Need I remind you?”

  The group cracked up. She’d been so torn up when his TV show had ended. “Need I remind you my favorite look for him was when he came out of prison in season four and he was rockin’ the short hair?”

  Garrett grasped her face in his hands and leaned down, giving her a fierce kiss on the lips. “You’ll love it, babe. Trust me.”

  She trusted him with everything she had, so she’d do it one more time. Even if she were unsure about how he would look. “Let’s go.” She giggled as she grabbed EJ from Shell and strapped him into the stroller.

  * * *

  Hannah and Shell walked ahead of the guys, pushing EJ through the paths of the zoo. He played with toys they’d put in his stroller with him as they made their way from exhibit to exhibit.

  “How’s it going in the studio?” Shell asked.

  Hannah had a lot to fill her in on. Shell had purposely kept her distance, allowing Hannah the freedom to do what she wanted without anyone micromanaging her. It’d been the first time she’d ever been allowed the luxury, and she loved it. “Really great, next week though, I want you to come in and listen to the couple of songs we’ve finished. I almost have enough for an album, so not too much longer. We’re hoping to drop by November.”

  “Damn, girl.” Shell whistled. “That’s freaky fast.”

  “I know.” She nodded, looking a little awestruck. “Kurt’s listened to me, and he’s seen where my vision is going, and he’s backing me the whole way. This has been the least stressful situation I’ve ever been in,” she admitted. “So it’s moving along a lot quicker. When I don’t have to fight for everything I want, stuff happens. Remember the stress of last time? Garrett out in California, us trying to buy a house? None of that this time. I have my husband, son, and dog to come home to every night, and it’s helped me more than I thought it would.”

  “Well, you just let me know when you want me there, and I’ll be there. I’ve been waiting to take my cue from you, but if you’re this close to being done, we need to really work on the marketing package. Next week, give me a few ideas of what you’re thinking look-wise, and I’ll talk to some stylists for you. Everyone will need to be ready to hit the ground running once everything is mixed.”

  “Agreed.” Hannah nodded. It felt good to have control over where she was going, to have her crap together, for lack of a better word. Maybe that’s what had been missing before. She’d let everybody direct her and put her on their time schedules. She’d more than proven this time, if she were left alone with her vision and someone else who believed in it, she could get things done in half the time.

  “Babe.”

  Garrett’s voice carried like no one else’s, she’d know that babe anywhere. She stopped and turned around. “Yeah?”

  “We’re gonna go get something to drink, you two want anything?”

  She and Shell gave him their orders, along with EJ and his diaper bag so he could take care of that as well, and the two of them sat down while they waited for the guys to come back.

  “How are things going with Jared?” Hannah asked, glancing over at her friend. Lately, Shell had a glow about her that made Hannah wonder.

  “Really good.” Shell beamed. Immediately she glanced down at her wedding set, circling it around her ring finger. “Almost too good. It makes me nervous, but I think it’ll always be that way.”

  “Lately you kind of have a glow,” Hannah pressed lightly.

  Throwing her head back, Shell laughed. “Oh hell no, I’ve been doing CrossFit with him. As much as I hate to admit it, the endorphins it gives you is incredible.” She glanced around. “Don’t let him know I told you that. I still like to bitch about it.”

  She and Shell were still giggling about it when the guys came back with drinks.

  “I’m gonna hold him for a little while,” Garrett told her. “He was getting hot in that stroller, and I think he needs to burn off some energy.”

  “If you saw the way he ran from the bathroom to the snack bar, like zero to five thousand, you’d know the energy he has to burn off.” Jared shook his head, glancing at the toddler. “I didn’t even know he could go that fast.”

  Hannah grinned up at her son. “Sounds good to me.” She consulted the map. “Do you wanna go over to the giraffes and then hit the playground? They have one here for little kids. Maybe he’ll be ready to take a nap afterward.”

  He carried EJ as Jared pushed his stroller, giving them the option of walking as a family. She loved when Garrett held their son, loved the way his biceps bulged slightly, loved the way his big hands encompassed almost their son’s entire body. She knew how safe she felt in his arms and loved that EJ felt just as safe. Even now he leaned his head against his dad’s shoulder, nibbling on a banana the guys had bought him at the snack counter. He had no cares in the world and had no doubt his dad could protect him from anything.

  Her phone dinged in her pocket, and she grabbed it, noticing she had a photo she’d been tagged in on Instagram. Pulling the picture up, she saw it was a picture of them probably taken minutes before, walking.

  “People know we’re at the zoo. Do you think we should leave, or you think it’ll be okay?” she asked as she showed him the picture.

  “We’ll stay unless a lot of people start to approach us. I think we’ll be fine.” He put his arm around her neck, pulling her into his body as they walked.

  She wanted to melt against him. There wasn’t one person who could make her feel safer than her husband. She loved the way he put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him. There had never been a place built for her like this; she fit perfectly tucked there, with EJ perched on his other shoulder. If anyone looked at them, they’d see a man who’d once been one of the wildest she’d ever heard of domesticated and happy with his wife and son. Nothing else made her heart fuller and happier than to realize how far Garrett had come. She’d come a long way, but so had he, and together they were making an amazing life for their son and any other kids they might have in the future.

  Hannah was thinking about that more often than she had before, which was crazy considering she was back in the studio and getting ready to embark on the craziness of tour life. But she had to admit, seeing her baby boy grow up was making her really want another one. For now though, she’d keep that thought to herself.

  Chapter Eleven

  * * *

  “I love this picture.” Hannah grinned later on that night as she lay on the couch in Garrett’s arms, looking at her phone.

  When they’d gotten to the giraffes, EJ had been more excited than they’d imagined and perked right up. Shell had snapped a picture of them as a family, and it had immediately become her new favorite.

  “That is a really good one.” Garrett yawned as he put his arms around her. “Today was a really good day.” He clasped his hands at her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

  She loved when she sat like this, every inch of her body encompassed by him, his hot breath on her neck,
his big hands at her stomach. There wasn’t an inch of their bodies that didn’t touch each other, and there wasn’t a part of her that didn’t feel completely wrapped up in his love.

  “It was. I’m so glad we can still do stuff like this with him. I worry that at some point maybe we won’t be able to.” She bit her lip as she scrolled through the pictures on Instagram that people had tagged them in.

  “Nah, I think it’s fine,” Garrett soothed. “As long as people don’t start coming up and asking for things, and as long as we teach EJ about strangers, things will be fine. You see all these pictures, but not one damn person bothered us. I think that says a lot about the respect level here in Nashville. I’m not sure we could do that in Huntington Beach.” He pushed her hair back from her neck. “I don’t regret for one second that we make this our home.”

  Neither did she, but it was nice to hear him say it every once in a while. “I don’t know why I get worried about this stuff randomly.”

  “You’re a mom.” He rubbed his chin against her bare shoulder. “He’s your son, and you’re protective of him. But you know,” he dropped his lips to her neck, “that I’m your husband and I’m his dad, and you also know how protective I am of the two of you. They’d have to get through me to get to either one of you, and you know I’ve got some big shoulders and some rough edges. Nobody will ever take what’s mine.”

  She loved when he went all alpha male. Some women might see it as setting back the feminist movement, but good Lord; he made her hot when he talked like that. “Trust me, I know you’ll protect us, I know that with everything I have, but people make me nervous because they’re wild cards. We don’t know what’s going on in their lives. But,” she clasped her hand with his, “I won’t allow EJ to be scared to go out in public because of who we are, or because of what any of my own hang-ups are.”

  “See.” Garrett kissed her again. “You’re a mom, and you want the best for your son. It’s okay to have these fears, babe. Just don’t let them take over your life.”

  She breathed deeply as she leaned against him, happy he agreed with her. There had been times they had been scared to go out in public—situations overseas where they’d felt actual fear. Hannah refused to let her child feel that kind of fear.

  “Someday there’s going to come a time, though. You know that, right?”

  “We’ll prepare him when that time comes. My wish is he can grow up with as much normalcy as we can give him, until he’s ready to embrace the public life.” She carefully chose her words.

  There was no doubt in her mind their son would follow in his dad’s footsteps. The indication was there already. When they watched Black Friday play, EJ would stomp his feet, clap his hands, and she was pretty sure even at the age of one he knew how to headbang with the best of them.

  “I don’t know why you’re worrying about it right now,” Garrett commented as he moved his hand up and over the top of the shorts she wore. Feeling his big hand spanning her stomach was one of her favorite things.

  “It’s kinda what I do.” She shrugged. It was the nature of the beast. Being in the public eye for so long caused her to worry about things at the most inopportune times.

  Sighing, she went back to her phone, scrolling through the thousands of pictures she had been tagged in. Resting the back of her head against Garrett’s chest, she continued to look, clicking on certain tags, smiling or giggling when something caught her eye or struck her as funny. He continued to stroke her stomach, and she thought nothing about it.

  Until about five minutes into her scroll, when she felt his hand start moving towards her chest. Immediately, her breath started to come a little faster, and her heart kicked up its beat. Glancing at the clock on the cable box, she saw it was almost midnight. EJ was asleep and would be for hours. Havock was upstairs with him, and for all intents and purposes, she was completely alone with her husband. Waiting to see what he would do, she all but held her breath.

  It was a slow trek, but his hand made it all the way up to the edge of her bra. Trying to act like it didn’t affect her was becoming harder—much like the appendage poking her from behind. His fingers didn’t stop at the band around her chest; they continued up, both hands palming the lacy cups, causing her flesh to overflow, until skin touched skin.

  “How about I take your mind off of that little worrying thing you like to do?”

  Garrett’s voice was deep in her ear; it was the voice she loved. The lazy, sexy, aroused voice that let her know in no uncertain terms she was in for a good time. If anyone had ever told her she’d be the type of person to enjoy such a physical relationship with her husband, she would have said they were lying.

  But here she was. Nipples hard. Heart pounding. Panties wet. And he’d just taken her to heaven the night before.

  Hannah laid her head back against his shoulder and sighed as she closed her eyes. The sigh was the sound of her giving in to whatever her husband wanted to do to her.

  “Relax,” he whispered in her ear as one hand smoothly made its way down her stomach, slipping into the waistband of the shorts she wore. The fingers pushed past the edges of the panties covering the hot spot of her body that wanted him the most. As soon as he made contact, she groaned deeply, pushing up against him.

  “I got you, Han.” His voice was deep, a growl, not the soothing tone he normally used with her.

  His other hand pushed the lacy cup of the bra she wore down in a quick motion, leaving her skin bare to his palm. Roughly he cupped it, pushing his flesh against hers, grasping until he held the hard nub of her nipple between his forefinger and thumb.

  “Garrett,” she breathed as he went back and forth between her two breasts. He pulled in time with his finger strumming what had become a super sensitive clit.

  “You’re so wet,” he spoke in her ear. His voice deep, dark; his tone the sexiest she’d ever heard.

  Her eyes closed, she let herself be overtaken by her other senses. Her sense of touch, her sense of sound. Hannah rotated her hips towards his fingers, using her feet and legs to push closer to the fingers wreaking havoc on her body.

  “So warm, so tight,” he was still saying in her ear. “Always so goddamn ready for me.” His own breath stuttered, and it caused her nipples to tighten even harder.

  She reached behind her, grabbing his thighs, using the leverage to push up against his hand, to take his fingers deeper as they plunged into her warmth. Breathing heavily through her nose, she let out a whine as he crushed his palm against her clit, giving her the contact she needed.

  “My dick’s so hard.” Garrett continued weaving his spell around her. “As soon as you come, I’m taking what’s mine. So good,” he breathed heavily in her ear, reaching out with his tongue to caress the lobe before he lightly grazed it with his teeth. “Gonna feel so good as I fuck you with aftershocks still coursing through your body from this orgasm I’m about to give you. Won’t even take my sweatpants off, just gonna push ’em down until I can get my cock out, gonna rip your shorts and panties off, and then I’m gonna get mine. You want that don’t you, babe?”

  God, yes, she wanted it. She wanted it more than she wanted the orgasm she could feel approaching at lightning speed. “Yes,” she answered. “I want it so bad.”

  “Then take it.” He picked up the pace with his fingers. “Take it, baby. Get there.”

  Hannah did as she was told, taking her pleasure, turning her head so she could grab his lips with hers, using his mouth to quieten her cries of pleasure.

  True to his word, before she realized what was going on, he’d flipped them over so she lay on the couch, panties gone, shorts gone, and his body over the top of hers. As she looked down, his hand steadying his cock as he drove it home, she pushed her head back against the arm of the couch, ready to let him take her wherever he wanted her to go.

  Chapter Twelve

  * * *

  Garrett couldn’t believe how hot she’d made him, just by being Hannah. He’d been almost positive when they’d
gotten married that at some point sex would become just sex—it happened to almost every couple—but he’d been surprised every time they’d come together like this. Sometimes it was sweet, slow, and passionate; other times it was hot, dirty, and completely out-of-this-world exciting. He loved that he was the man who’d helped her discover this side of herself. Loved even more that he was the only man who’d ever get to see her lose herself the way she did with him.

  “Every time with you, it’s like I feel something new,” he rasped into her ear as he braced himself by grasping the arm of the couch with both hands.

  His arms encircled her face, and he used the opportunity to bend down and capture her lips with his. It was a slow but intense fuck this time. He wouldn’t pull all the way out, but he let himself go deep, grinding against her mound, drinking in the soft sounds she made.

  The coupling was powerful; made even more so when she reached up, lacing her fingers through his. The connection he had with her was one he’d never had with another person before, and sometimes it threatened to smother him. Right when he felt like he couldn’t breathe, a huge gasp of air would flow through his lungs, and he’d realize how much he loved her, and it all felt brand new again. He’d never had that before, and knew he’d never need to have it again. Just the thought of not having Hannah in his life caused him to squeeze their entwined fingers as he thrust again, this time slower, but harder and deeper, causing them both to shiver.

  Their shirts rubbed against each other, creating friction, making his chest warm. A trickle of sweat worked its way down his back. He was so attuned to everything going on around them, happening to them, he could feel the moisture as it made its journey. It added to the eroticism of the encounter, but it wasn’t until Hannah let go of his fingers to take his shirt in both her fists that he picked up the pace.