The Price of Love (Rockin' Country Book 2) (25 page)

Her eyes moved over to the French doors, eyeing the frost on them. “Isn’t it cold?”

“We can take a blanket and huddle together.”

That suggestion sounded awesome to her. She loved sitting near him and letting his body heat warm her. He was like her own personal furnace most of the time. “Okay, let’s go.” She got up from the couch and grabbed the two blankets that someone had left there for them. During the day, Nashville wasn’t too bad, but at night, it got cooler—definitely cooler than what Garrett was used to.

They walked out, both pleased to discover the lounger used to help stage the home was still there. Garrett had a seat on it and then pulled Hannah into his arms so that her back pressed against his front. They quickly covered themselves up with both blankets to ward off the cold.

“Maybe I should have worn a sweatshirt instead of a T-shirt,” she laughed, her teeth chattering against the cold.

Garrett ran his hands up and down her arms, trying to keep her as warm as possible. “Do you think it’ll be colder next week?” he asked, blowing out a breath to see it show white against the cold.

“Hard to say,” she shrugged. “Thanksgiving is iffy sometimes. Speaking of, do we want to have it here or not?”

It surprised him to admit it, but he did. “I do, I would love for everyone to get together in our new house. Do you think the west coast family would be up for it?”

She turned in his arms. “Garrett, the question is, are we up for it? We have nothing in this house except for a couch, a chair, and a bed. Do you think we could pull it together?”

“I think so. I mean, all we really need is furniture. I’m sure between the two of us we have enough
fame
,” he snickered at his own joke, “to get furniture in here. I’m sure our moms would love to cook in our new house.”

“Can we get Havock out here?”

“Definitely, I miss the dude.”

“Me too.” She smiled up at him, impulsively leaning up to place a kiss on his lips.

What started out as an innocent expression of happiness quickly heated up between the two of them. His large hands settled around her hips, adjusting her to the way he wanted her, his tongue coaxed hers out to play with his.

“Garrett,” she moaned, twining her arms around his neck and settling herself more fully against him. “We’re outside.”

“And there’s no one around,” he whispered against her lips. “That’s the awesome thing about this place; there is no one who could see back here for miles.” He gestured out to the woods that butted up to the back of the property. There were neighbors on either side of them, but none could see in the back of the house. “C’mon, babe, we have to christen our new house.”

“The house,” she laughed. “Not the back porch.”

“It’s an extension.” He ignored her protests, moving one hand up to curl around her neck. He’d learned in the time they’d been together that was her spot; she loved when he did anything with her neck. Lightly, he massaged the muscles there, no longer tense with the strain of separation. She was putty in his arms as he used his thighs to separate hers.

“I’m serious,” she protested.

He knew he had her when her neck tilted back, allowing his mouth to claim the soft skin there.

“Shit,” she whispered, giggling as she did so. “You make me do all the things I said I would never do.”

“Baby, I will gladly be your bad influence forever.” His fingers played with the hem of her T-shirt, pushing his hands up the back.

“So warm,” she breathed, arching into the strength of his hands. Her body began a slow grind against his, and she knew she was done for.

Moving his hands from her back, he cupped her chest through her T-shirt, not willing to take it off. It was cold and he didn’t want her to get sick, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have a little fun first. Molding his hands against the front of her shirt, he saw just how cold it was. The way she grasped his hair as he moved his head down and stuck his tongue against the pebbled flesh there enflamed him. His lips teased, and his hands moved in opposite directions, one grasping her hip, showing her the way he wanted her to move, the other tangling in her hair.

Hannah dared a glance down at him and moaned loudly. It was dark, but she could make out the edges of his lashes against his skin. His eyes fluttered lazily as he continued to work her skin between his lips. Needing to feel him the way he was feeling her, she unhooked her arms from around his neck and let them travel down the length of his chest and stomach. Once there she pushed up against the fabric but didn’t take it off. Her hands stroked the ink on his abdominal muscles before slipping past the edge of the sweat pants he wore.

“You sure you wanna do that?” he asked, letting her go for a half a second.

She moaned, nodding her head as he went back to work on her. Pushing his sweat pants further down his hips, she felt the hard length of him against her hand as she groped him in the dark.

In response, he hooked his thumbs in her own sweats and pulled harshly down on them.

She wasn’t sure how they managed it, but she got hers off and he got his down around his knees. It was just enough room for them to work with one another. Hannah sank down on him, sighing deeply in her throat.

“Every time, I wonder if this will be the time that you don’t blow my mind,” he confessed, caressing her stomach and helping her pump up and down against him.

“Surprised you, huh?”

Her voice was strained and damn near the most erotic thing he’d ever heard in his life. “You did, but I’ve never been happier for a surprise in my life. I was meant to find you, and I thank God every day that I did.”

She felt the same way, and there was no one who would ever be able to tell her different. After Ashton, she’d truly given up and thought that maybe love wasn’t in the cards for her. Maybe she was supposed to be an entertainer and make people happy that way. Meeting and falling in love with Garrett had been so far off her radar that she was pretty sure that no one was more surprised than her. If someone had told her this was where she’d be a year ago, she would have told them to go get their head’s checked. “Agreed.”

Like it tended to do between the two of them, the feelings and the chemistry took over. The only sounds were the sounds of nature and their bodies grinding against one another. Garrett moved his hand to her neck and then up, cupping her cheek. Using his thumb, he rubbed the pad of it against her lip. It was the biggest turn on of his life when she clamped it between her white teeth and nipped at the flesh there.

“Use your tongue to soothe the bite,” he told her, barely hanging on. This woman did it for him, in the biggest way. If anyone asked him to pinpoint it, he wouldn’t be able to, it was everything about Hannah.

She did as she was told. It excited her, to be able to surprise him, to do something that would take her out of her comfort zone. They had a lot of time to make up for, and she knew she was going to love making up that time with her husband.

With the thumb she’d just bitten and licked, he moved his hand down to the middle of her body where they were joined and pressed against the most sensitive part of her. Something about that gesture slammed through her and made her body clench.

“Fuck, Han” he ground out against her.

His lips were everywhere, and she gave up trying to follow them; her body clenching had made her hungry for more. She wanted what it seemed like only he could give her. “I know,” she told him, grasping his hair in her fingers and tugging hard.

It was that touch of dominance that she exerted that set him off, which in turn set her off. As always, neither one of them knew where they were for a few moments afterwards.

“Did you really cuss?” he asked, his face a mask of shock.

“I think I did,” she talked against his neck, where she had collapsed. “In fact, I know I did. I didn’t mean to, ’cause you know I think it’s crass. But sometimes, with you, I wish I could say all the things I think.”

“Oh baby, me too. One day I will make you tell me exactly what goes on in that head of yours.”

She stayed quiet against his neck, smiling slightly. Those thoughts were her secrets and her secrets alone.

*  *  *

G
oing shopping anywhere, including the pet store, two days before Thanksgiving was probably not the best idea that Garrett had ever had. It was beyond stressful, but at least in Nashville people didn’t bother him. Not to mention he was very happy for the reason that he was at the pet store. His family should have arrived at Nashville International Airport a half hour ago, and they were bringing Havock along with them. He and Hannah had decided to divide and conquer—which meant she was at the airport and he was at the pet store.

His patience was beginning to wear thin with the line in front of him, but he needed everything that his cart was loaded down with. By some holiday miracle, their house was furnished—in a way they both liked—and was waiting on their family. The one thing they had forgotten was stuff for the dog, and both of them had felt awful. In his hand, his cell vibrated. He unlocked the screen and opened the message from Hannah. It was a picture of her and Havock. The text below it read: “Got our boy!”

He loved that she loved the dog as much as he did. The dog loved her even more, and now that they were together their lives would be normal. They had their house, their dog, and a few more months before they would have to be out on the road. Black Friday’s record had been turned in, and while the record company wasn’t thrilled with what Garrett and the boys had done, they were willing to give them some leeway. Finally it was his turn in line, and he quickly put all the stuff up on counter and then paid for it before walking outside into the crisp night air to put it all in the Land Rover. It had been busy when he got to the store, and he’d had to park around the side of the building.

“Did you get a leash for your bitch?”

Garrett was for sure the person talking wasn’t speaking to him, but he also knew that no one else was putting anything in their cars. He sighed, knowing he didn’t want to look up, but he did anyway. Standing not too far away was Bryson Grant. “Come again? I don’t think I heard you correctly.”

Bryson sauntered up closer, watching as Garrett continued putting away his purchases. “I asked if you got a leash for your bitch.”

He had a pretty good idea of what the young prick was talking about, but wanted to be sure. “My dog is male, dude.”

“I was talking about your wife.”

He tried, he really did. He tried to curb the anger that coursed through his veins. Garrett tried to harness and leash it, but Bryson’s attitude straight up pissed him off. He shook his head and licked his lips. Slamming the back of the vehicle up, he turned around. “What the fuck did you just say to me?”

“You heard me. I know you’re the reason that Hannah wouldn’t record that song with me. That was going to break me into the mainstream and that’s her fault.”

Garrett couldn’t believe that this guy was a friend of Hannah’s. He couldn’t believe he was sitting here listening to him spew this bullshit. “C’mon.”

Bryson’s eyes widened and he took a step back. “What?”

“You, you wanna talk like a big-ass man, then c’mon. I’ll beat your ass like a big-ass man.” He grabbed the back of Bryson’s neck and pulled him back behind the building and quickly got in his face. “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are or what your beef is with my wife, but I’m about to be all up in your business.”

“Man, I didn’t mean to…”

“You didn’t mean to call my wife a bitch? You didn’t mean to throw her under the bus and talk shit about me in the press? You didn’t mean any of that?” Garrett asked, putting his head up against Bryson’s ear. He didn’t want people to hear what was being said if anyone was around.

“I didn’t want to cause problems.”

“You know what my problem is with you, motherfucker? The fact that you like my wife, and I don’t mean as a friend. I’m not a dumbass and I’m not blind. I can see just fucking fine. I see the way you look at her; I’ve heard the way you talk about her in the press. You might be hot for her, but let me tell ya something, she’s not hot for you. She’s got all the man she needs right here. If I ever hear about you talking shit about her again, if you check her out again, if you even breath inappropriately towards her, I will kick your ass from here to next week.”

“I heard that about you.”

Garrett didn’t know if this guy was brave or just fucking stupid. “You doubt it?” he asked, grabbing Bryson by the collar and shoving him hard up against the wall.

“Talkin’ is easy.”

Garrett smiled, laughing. “You think I talk shit?”

“I’ve heard that you talk shit.”

“Who’d you hear that from? Ashton Coleman? He was talking out the side of his mouth for a couple of weeks after I got through with him.”

Bryson just couldn’t keep his mouth shut. “Regardless of what you did to Ashton Coleman, you tell your wife that she owes me a number one hit.”

That was it, Garrett was done. Done listening to him, done being nice and done with it all. It wasn’t in him to let shit go—especially when someone was talking about his wife. “I gave you a chance,” he said as he reared back and let his fists do the talking.