Blazing Hearts: Books 1-3 (11 page)

K
aleb moaned
into Erica’s mouth as he lifted her, setting her up and onto the bar top. He’d been thinking about doing this very thing since he’d first laid eyes upon her again the night before. Dammit. She was still a hellcat. And he loved it.

She wanted his cock so she bent, needing to use his shoulders to brace herself with one hand as she pumped his cock with her other. He smiled at her as he shook his head. “Now, I get to taste you.”

She groaned, reaching for him. “Kaleb.”

Undoing her jeans, he grinned and then jerked on her pants, pulling them down her legs and tossing them aside. He focused on her pink panties and lowered his head, inhaling deep. She smelled divine. He eased her panties lower, and when he found a small thatch of auburn curls on her mound, he couldn’t stop himself. He buried his face in it. He parted her slit and licked a line up it, her sweet taste coating his tongue.

Erica tossed her head back, her long hair spilling over the side of the bar top. She was a vision of beauty and sex. He slid his tongue over her clit and eased a finger into her, instantly moaning at the feel of how tight she was. She responded for him quickly, just as she’d always done.

Damn, he’d missed her. More than he’d ever admitted to himself.

Missed the sight of her. The taste of her.

She squirmed on the bar top, grinding her hips up against his mouth, her pussy dampening under the weight of his touch. His cock hardened. He licked her more, the taste of her coating his tongue. His entire body thrummed with need to be one with her. He hadn’t realized just how much he’d missed the feel of her until now.

Erica gasped and ground up against him. She ran her hands through his hair and tugged at him. He looked up at her to see need raw on her face.

“I want you in me,” she said, in a low tone.

Oh, he had every intention in being in her. But first he’d please her. He’d make her come so hard and so long she’d never want to be away from him again. He slid his tongue over her clit and she moaned, thrusting up, her pussy visibly clenching. He pushed a finger into her, fucking her with it. Soon he’d replace it with his cock and she’d be his fully once more.

For good.

Kaleb wasn’t one for admitting a weakness, and to him Erica was a big one, but being with her again changed that. He knew now that he didn’t want to live without her again and he didn’t care how weak it made him look.

He pushed his finger in and out of her more, his tongue working her clit. She came with fiery passion, crying out his name as her cream coated his finger. Kaleb climbed up and over her. He aligned with her entrance. She was tight but wet. It took some maneuvering but he managed to get a condom from his pants pocket, open it and slip it on before sliding into Erica.

Groaning, he pushed in deep. Her slick tightness held firm to him, causing his breath to catch. She eased her legs around him more, increasing the depth of his thrusts. He gritted his teeth, wanting to whisper words she wasn’t ready to hear just yet.

Hell, words he wasn’t sure he was fully ready to
say
.

He kissed her again, the taste of her sex on his mouth and now hers as well. Dammit. Did she have to feel so good? Did she have to make him lose control so quickly?

Yes.

Erica would have it no other way. He knew as much.

She bucked under him, making him go deeper. His ball sac drew up and he knew he’d come sooner rather than later at the rate he was going. He wasn’t proud of that fact. Normally, he had great control. Not with her.

Never with her.

Her pussy pulled his shaft, drawing moans of pleasure from him. He drilled into her and lost control of his thrust. She broke under him, coming hard and long, her pussy milking his cock. He could hold back no more. He let lose, sinking deep into her.

He thought she might push him off her and send him tumbling to the bar floor. She touched his cheek, her lips meeting his. They kissed until Kaleb had no choice but to withdraw from her.

He removed the condom and stared down at her, already knowing he wouldn’t bounce back if she left town again. She was his. As sobering as the thought was, it was the truth. One he’d spent too long blinded to. He wouldn’t let any more time be wasted. He just needed a way to make her see as much.

B
ringing Kaleb home
with her had sounded like a good idea when basking in the afterglow of her orgasm. Having him in her tiny, one-bedroom, rather run-down place, she wasn’t so sure anymore. With him in her home it said she was accepting more and wanting more.

Could she? Was she?

She headed to the kitchen, or what was currently being pawned off as a kitchen. It had a small one-bowl sink, one cabinet with a tiny countertop on it that currently housed a hot plate and a college-sized refrigerator. Oddly, the little apartment had become home in her mind.

From the expression on Kaleb’s face, he was shocked she was living like this. It was what she could afford. She’d heard he’d done well for himself. His truck cost more than everything she currently had in her tiny place and then some.

He set his truck keys on the card table near the beat-up, old, plaid, recliner. The place had come furnished and she hadn’t been in a position to be picky.

Kaleb’s gaze swept to her. She knew what the look meant. Knew what he was thinking. She didn’t need to be told he thought this wasn’t good enough for her. She felt the ice around her heart melting away even more in regards to him.

“Bedroom is this way,” she said, wanting to think of anything other than the fact she wasn’t over him and probably never would be.

“Erica.” He covered the distance between them and took her hand in his. “I have a ton of room at my place.”

She put her fingers to his lips, silencing him. Tears threatened to fall, but somehow she held them back. “Take me to bed, Kaleb. Please.”

He nodded and kissed the tips of her finger. Tingles moved through her hand and up her arm, settling in her chest. This man excited her in ways no others ever had.

He nipped playfully at her fingers and then waggled his brows. He scooped her up and she laughed, her arms going around his neck as he led her through the door to her bedroom. Thankfully, he didn’t comment on the small size or the fact the bed had a permanent dip on the right side. One she hadn’t put in.

He laid her out on the bed and stood, removing his clothing slowly, his gaze never leaving her. The man got better looking every time she saw him. She still couldn’t get over just how muscular he was now. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him and everything looked so chiseled. She wanted to lick every inch of him. She doubted he’d object.

She reached for him but he bent, his hands going to the tops of her jeans. He undid them slowly, kissing the exposed flesh there. She gasped and laid back fully on the bed, letting him remove her jeans and kiss his way down her inner thighs. He bit lightly at her skin, making her giggle with a combination of need and nerves.

He parted her slit, and the minute his tongue came into contact with her clit, she nearly came directly up and off the bed. Her pussy was soaked and the sweet kisses to her clit only added to it. He pushed a finger into her core and she moaned, her body tingling, ready and willing to come.

Kaleb laughed against her mound and finger-fucked her more. He used his thumb on her clit and she orgasmed nearly instantly. Heat flushed up her neck and face and she made a strangled noise as her pussy convulsed around his finger.

He eased up and over her, pushing up her shirt, his mouth moving over her nipple as his cockhead lined up with her pussy. He thrust in and Erica cried out, her body still under the aftereffects of her orgasm. Each pump, each push sent her over the edge of culmination. She knew she sounded more animal than human but she didn’t care.

Wrapping her legs around Kaleb’s waist, she held tight to him, coming harder, knowing that with each passing moment she was surrendering more and more of her heart to this man, as well as her body.

Erica countered his thrusts, rotating her hips, drawing out the feeling of pleasure. He grunted and lost his momentum a moment, his lips grazing her ear. “I love you,” he whispered.

Her body tightened.

Erica wanted to shout, to run, to do anything. Instead, she came again, her body too satisfied with what was happening for her mind to fully catch up on all that had been said. She clung to Kaleb as he rammed in deep, holding steady, coming in hot waves.

She panted, her hands running through his hair. She knew she should return the words but she couldn’t. Not yet. She needed time. And she needed to be sure he hadn’t just said them in the heat of passion.

A
t the knock
, Erica opened the door to her apartment and couldn’t stop the smile that came to her lips as she spotted Kaleb standing there, a dozen roses in hand and a white take-out bag in the other from the diner in the center of town. She’d woken alone, assuming he’d run out on her, having a change of mind and heart about what they’d done.

He waggled his dark brows and held the bag higher. “Brought breakfast.”

She stepped back, letting him through. “I thought you hightailed it out of here.”

“Nope,” he said, easing against her, his body hard and hot.

She took a deep breath. “Mmm, that smells good.”

He laughed and dipped his head, kissing her again. “Come on.”

He walked through her place to the small table for two. He went about setting coffee and pastries out for them. She turned to get napkins, and when she returned to the table there was an extra box near her plate. It was small and black.

“Kaleb?”

He pursed his lips before paling slightly. As he went to one knee, she froze. “Erica, this is gonna result in a no. I know that but I’m askin’ all the same. See, I let you slip out of my grasp years ago and I don’t plan on lettin’ that happen again.”

She swayed and he caught her hands, his gaze locking on hers.

“Marry me.”

She blinked in surprise. “You are not the marrying type.”

His lips twitched. “This here ring says otherwise.”

She narrowed her gaze on him. “Where did you get a ring this time of day?”

He blushed. “I’ve got friends, and when I called them at the crack of dawn tellin’ them I wanted to make you my wife, they practically fell over themselves to help me make it happen.”

She watched him carefully. “You don’t have to put a ring on my finger to get me to stay or to have access to my body.”

“I’m puttin’ a ring on your finger because I love you, woman. Because I want you to know I’m in it for the long haul.”

“You’re done with all the other women?”

His gaze bore into her. “You are the only woman for me. I told you I love you and I damn well meant it.”

She fought the tears wanting to come. “I love you too.”

He winked. “I have that affect on the ladies.”

Laughing, she bent and put her hands over his and the box. “Can I have time to think about it?”

He glanced to the floor and nodded. “That isn’t a no, so yeah. I guess.”

“Kaleb,” she said, lowering herself before him. “You’re right. It’s not a no.”

S
mall Town Romances with Big Time Spice
!

New York Times Bestselling Author Kennedy Kovit loves real men. Men who are raw, sexy, say what they want and know how to please a woman. She loves crafting stories surrounding them and enjoys sharing her views on living in a small town. When not writing, Kennedy can be found enjoying the outdoors. You can read more about Kennedy *INANNA* and her upcoming releases by visiting
www.kennedykovit.com

T
ravis and Matthew
bid farewell to LeAnne six years ago. They assumed when she ran off to Chicago to live her dream she’d never look back at small town life. It’s what they’d wanted for her, or so they thought. When she resurfaces for a visit home, they know the time has come to make their move. They want her for themselves, and they’re sick and tired of the distance between them. They’re willing to do anything to make her stay. Now, they have to hope she can handle the idea of two of them at one time.

M
/F Contemporary Romance

Meredith is home again, ready to settle down in her small town and open the antique shop she’s always dreamed of owning. She’s had enough of powerful men trying to use her and wants to simply fade away from the dating scene and enjoy life. When she runs into the diner’s new owner, she quickly realizes her master plan might have been premature.

Landry left life in the fast lane for life on Main Street. He’s sworn off women for a while. They’re nothing but trouble. Meredith is no exception. In fact, he’s pretty sure she’s not quite right in the head, but for some reason he gets her offbeat, whimsical behavior and craves being around it, not to mention she’s smokin’ hot and oozes sex appeal. It’s hard to fight nature’s pull even while chanting, “I’ve sworn off women.”

Rating: This full-length contemporary novel contains explicit sex scenes told with frank, graphic language. The book has a quirky heroine who is not above bedazzling her way through life, even though she can’t seem to pretty-up her past and an ex-uptight hero who learns to laugh all while breaking his number one rule—no more women.

“Hey, Meredith.”

I glanced to the side to find my brother, Samson, grinning like a fool as he waited outside the door of the new town diner. He was entirely too chipper for my liking.

“Miss me that much?” I asked, pulling my sunglasses down to the end of my nose. I tapped the edge of them.

He took one look at my attire and grunted. “Those heels are too high for you and your skirt is too short.” He held the door to the diner open for me. “And your blouse is cut too low. It’s really thin.” He made a motion to take his outer shirt off and I groaned.

He’d get naked just to keep anyone from daring to see I had any shape to me.

“Samson, enough.” I rolled my eyes, laughing at him. “My heels are the same as I wear almost daily. The skirt goes past my knees and the blouse isn’t showing anything it shouldn’t. Stop overreacting.”

He didn’t look pleased with me as he ushered me past the diner patrons to a cozy corner near the counter. He practically pushed me into the seat in the back, going again for his shirt. I wouldn’t be the least bit shocked if he demanded I put a potato sack on.

I stood and put my hands on my hips, unconcerned if I made a scene. I’d known most of the people in the diner all my life. They were used to my theatrics by now. It was doubtful anything I said or did would sway their opinion of me much. “Samson, do not make me drag you by your ear out to the street before I kick you plum in your backside. I’ll do it.”

“You’ve done it before,” someone said, making me smile.

Samson reached for me. “Mer, you should cover up. I can see your…umm…” He glanced at my chest and paled. It was comical seeing how unable he was to say the word breasts when referring to mine. Apparently, in his world, anyone related to him did not possess them. “Please.”

“I’m a woman.” I shook my chest slightly and he grew green around the edges. “They come with the territory.”

“Don’t remind me,” he said, putting his head down.

I glanced past him at a table full of women I didn’t know. They were watching my brother as if he were fresh meat. Annoyed, I shot them a diva stare and cleared my throat, catching their attention. “He’s about to eat lunch with me. I’d appreciate it if you weren’t mentally undressing him the entire time. I won’t be able to digest my food.”

Samson’s eyes widened a second before he tipped his head, laughing hard. “Oh, Mer. I missed you.” The women glanced away and I was thankful. The last thing I wanted to think of my brother as was a sex symbol. In my mind, Samson was anything but one.

Peggy and Marsha, two town locals and mother hens, grinned as they spotted Samson and me. He groaned. “Sorry ahead of time,” he said. “I thought we could enjoy a meal out together without anyone pouncing on you.”

I snorted. With a town the size of Paxton Falls, everyone knew your business and made it theirs in no time flat. “Fat chance of that.”

They approached. Peggy winked. “Samson never mentioned you were coming in for a visit.” Her swagger was almost as legendary as her deep, southern drawl.

My brother stiffened.

Taking a deep breath, I prepared to face the firing squad. “I’m not visiting. I’m moving back to the area.”

Peggy touched her chest lightly, and Marsha gasped loud enough to draw everyone’s attention. “You’re moving home?”

Hushed murmurs filled the diner. I waited for them to die down before staring around at everyone. “Yes,” I said. “I’m moving home.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Peggy asked, swatting Samson in the back of the head. “We could have had a welcome home party for her. We could have had cake.”

“And cookies,” Marsha added, giving Samson the evil eye.

I snorted and decided to come to his rescue. “Actually, he only found out this morning when I called him on my way in from the city.”

Peggy and Marsha circled us like sharks. “What brought this on?” Marsha asked.

Samson straightened in the chair. “I’d like an answer to that myself.”

More than one reason had caused me to pack several bags, load up my car and drive straight through the night to come home. None of which I wanted to get into with the town gossip gals, even if I did love them like family.

“It was just time for me to make a change,” I offered, hoping it would be enough.

Marsha seemed to catch on to the fact that I didn’t want to get into it all now. She pointed at the specials on the board above the counter. “Looks like he has quite the selection.”

“He who?” I asked. As smiles formed on both women’s faces, I knew I’d just been baited.

“Landry,” Peggy said, smiling innocently. “He owns the diner now. Bought it after Old Man Henry passed.”

Marsha gestured to the specials again. “He’s handsome too. Wonder if he’s married.”

I was quite sure she already knew the answer to that question. From the look on her face, she was up to something and so was her buddy.

Samson chuckled. “No. Landry isn’t married.”

Peggy and Marsha perked, appearing way too interested in the diner owner. Knowing they’d be badgering Samson for juicy details, I excused myself and went in search of a restroom, or anything that would prevent them from turning their attention back to me.

I was headed to what I assumed was the way to the restrooms when my childhood friend Jeremiah entered the diner. He spotted me and smiled wide. “Mer, what are you doing home?”

“She’s moving back,” Peggy supplied.

Jeremiah’s jaw dropped. “No way.”

“Way,” I said. “And I have got to pee.”

He grunted. “Still as sweet as ever. I need to talk to Samson a sec. You staying so I can catch up with you?”

“Yep.”

He headed past me and I turned, walking right into a muscular man in a red t-shirt. His chocolate brown gaze fell on me just as the plate he had in his hand wobbled. I reached up fast, steadying it, unable to look away. He was simply breathtaking.

Tall, dark and bearing food. What more could a girl want?

I took a step to the side and he moved the same way. Clearing my throat, I attempted to move again and found him mirroring me. He let out a nervous chuckle and I smiled.

“Sorry,” he said, his voice deep, making my insides tingle.

We attempted to go around one another again only to once more walk into each other. Unable to help myself, I burst into laughter. I took hold of his steely waist and gasped at the feel of him.

His dark gaze heated as he stared down at me from his six-four perch. I wasn’t exactly short at five-nine and enjoyed being next to men who were taller than me.

I licked my lower lip, suddenly thirsty for more than water. “Uh, you stay. I’ll go.”

“Meredith?” Marsha asked, her voice piercing the diner. “My, my, what have you bumped into?”  

Peggy clapped her hands. “A hunk!”  

I wasn’t known for being shy. I did what felt natural. I touched the man’s hips and began to move toward him and then away again, all the while singing a song from a group I loved. It was about mating and the games played to achieve it. It had a very James Bond style to it, a vibe I loved. I assumed he’d be like anyone else meeting me for the first time, confused. When he held the plate up and moved his hips, I lost it, laughing and clinging to him.

He followed, doing the same, holding me with one arm and balancing a plate in the other. “Mmm, is that a devil in my pocket?”  

I tipped my head, staring up at him, shocked he’d clearly heard of the song. It wasn’t exactly well-known. “Willing to be a contestant? If so, I’ll arm wrestle Peggy for you.”

“Sit,” Samson said, his voice low and warning.

“Can’t,” I answered.

“And why is that?”

Shaking my head in a dramatic fashion, I glanced over my shoulder at Samson. “Hello, did you miss that I’m in the middle of an impromptu game of chance? You cannot just walk away from that. It would be—”

“Sacrilegious,” the man supplied.

I laughed.

Samson grunted. “Do not encourage her. She’s crazy enough on her own.”

I winked. “No doubt exists that all women are crazy; it's only a question of degree.”

The hunk near me chuckled. “W.C. Fields. Nice.”

Impressed, I faced him, my hands returning to his hips. “Alas, my love, our time has to come to an end.” I licked my lower lip. “Nature calls.”

“Pity. I was enjoying our time together,
my love
.” He moved at the same time, brushing the entire length of his body against me as he moved past. From the look in his eyes, he knew exactly what he was doing—making my body teeter on the edge of igniting. Though he seemed to be equally affected. At least I assumed he was, since he walked right into an empty chair while he was still watching me.

Samson was up in a heartbeat, coming for me, giving the man a hard look. “Meredith, did you decide what you wanted?”

“Oh, pick him!” Peggy said, pointing to the stud in the red t-shirt.

Grinning, I glanced around for a restroom, wanting to not only hide, but splash water on my face as well.

My cell phone rang and I sighed, reaching into the pocket of my skirt to retrieve it. I made a move to take it outside and backed right into the hunk in the red t-shirt. He wagged his brows. “How about I stand still?”

I blushed and knew my entire face was now red, something that didn’t happen often. “Sounds like a plan.”

I opened my phone and did the strangest thing. I put my palm on the man’s chest as I greeted the caller. As soon as I heard the voice on the other end, I cringed, annoyed that I’d bothered to answer it at all. “Brice, what do you want? I quit, remember. I used small words in my resignation letter to keep it simple for you. Should I have pasted pictures instead? Ooo, maybe I should have penned it across my chest. You know, where you always seemed to be looking.”

“I want you back, Meredith,” he said, sounding desperate. “I can’t do this without you.”

“Oh, I know you can’t. I tried to tell you as much, but you were too busy talking down to me like I was one of your little followers. You know, the ones who can’t wait to snag a rich husband.”

“I said I was sorry. Please, don’t—”

I rolled my eyes. “I wasn’t aware apologies came in the form of you showing up for work drunk off your ass, all the while trying to grab mine. Just because your daddy owns the company doesn’t mean you’re fit to take over running it. Grow up, Brice.”

“Meredith, I know. More than you. I need you. You keep me on track. You’re my right hand. I don’t know how I did it without you.”

I snorted. “Oh, I know exactly how you did it before me. You walked out to that secretary pool and picked the doe-eyed ones, the ones you knew would spend more time under your desk than at their own.”

He exhaled loudly. “See. This is a prime example of why I need you back. You don’t shy away from keeping me in my place.”

“You don’t need me,” I said. “You need the number to a high-priced whorehouse. Wait, isn’t that on your speed dial?”

“Cut me some slack, Meredith. I’m eating crow here.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Cut you some slack? Uh, no. I walked in, almost straight out of college, and you saw a young girl from a small town, one you thought you could bully and order around because in your mind, small town equals simple. Little brains and lots of legs and tits. Isn’t that what I heard you telling Materson?”

“Well, no, I didn’t…umm…”

“Don’t bother denying it, Brice. Did you ever read my resume or did you hire me based on looks? You know what, don’t bother answering that either. I think we both know which you did.”

 He whimpered. “I’m begging here, Meredith. I need you back. I can prove how much I’m committed to making this right with you.”

“How can you prove it? Did you take vows to be a monk? Start going to sex addicts meetings? Pull your head out of your ass? I’m all ears,
Mr. Jonston
. How can you prove that you’re committed to making anything work?”

“First, tell me where you are.” He swallowed hard. “Are you at your father’s house?”