His Reckless Heart (The Montgomery Boys Book 1)

by Jessica Mills

  “I’m sorry,” I said with a long exhale. “I didn’t know.”

  “I know you didn’t,” Jesse said. “I didn’t tell you. And I made sure I never let on to it.”

  “You told me some of it. You told me things were getting harder at home and that he was changing. You told me he was getting forgetful and was yelling. If you could tell me all of that, why didn’t you trust me enough to tell me more?”

  “It’s not that I didn’t trust you, Shannon. That has never been the issue. I opened up more to you than I ever opened up to anyone else. I was safe when I was with you. You didn’t judge me or make me feel like I wasn’t enough. When you and I were together, I had a chance to forget about what was going on at home and just enjoy life for a little while. Or at least tell myself I was forgetting about it.”

  “So why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.

  “Because you would have tried to help me,” he said.

  “Of course, I would have.” I pulled my head out from under his so I could look at him. “Of course, if I had known what was really going on between the two of you, I would have done absolutely anything in my power to help.”

  “But that’s the thing. There’s nothing you could have done. There’s nothing anyone could have done. It was what it was. My father was the man he became at the end because of something no one could fight or fix. I just happened to be the one to take the brunt of it. All telling you would have done is worry you and then get your father and who knows who else wrapped up in my father’s business and my brothers’ business. I didn’t want to embarrass anybody.”

  “It wouldn’t have been an embarrassment. But even if you feel that way, I wish I could have helped you.” I glanced down and let a breath slide out from between my lips before looking at him again. “I wish it could have ended differently for you both.”

  “Me, too,” he answered.

  I gazed at Jesse, really taking the time to look at him. The sharp line of his jaw was familiar but still different than it used to be. Of course, he was a grown man now. Even more than when he left. A man right at the beginning of his twenties was a far cry from one nearing thirty who had gone through what Jesse had during his years in the military. I lifted my fingers and ran them along the curve of his jaw and across his chin, pausing when my forefinger grazed his lower lip.

  “Did you ever wonder what might have been different if you never left?” I asked in a soft voice.

  Jesse looked down at me, his eyes searching my face in the same way, like he was trying to find all the ways the years had changed me.

  “I never had to wonder. I know how it could have been. How it would have been.”

  “And how is that?” I asked, my heart fluttering in my chest like a caged bird.

  “Like this,” Jesse answered.

  He leaned forward and kissed me.

  Chapter 25

  Jesse

  Slowly, we leaned back, our arms wrapping around each other tightly as our lips pressed in together. I slid my tongue inside her mouth and tasted her, and memories of kisses past bloomed in my mind.

  Summer sun and salt lakes and blueberry pies that lingered on her lips while we wrapped our bodies in one another and discovered each other with every touch sprung up in my mind in vivid tapestries. But unlike every other time they had come to me in the dead of night or while alone in the shower, this time she was in my arms, and the memories were only being added to. I yearned to make one I would never forget. And neither would she.

  Shannon’s hand slid down my chest and went directly to my belt buckle. I smiled and released her lips from mine so I could kiss her neck. Shannon was never shy about her desire or her sexuality and it always made me feel so much more for her in those moments. She knew what she wanted and how to get it from me, and I was always more than happy to provide it.

  Her fingers worked the belt open, and I made my way back up to her lips, but they were curled in a smile. Her eyes opened and the sparkle of anticipation and excitement was there, just as it always was. I grinned back at her and she yanked the belt out with an audible sound.

  I laughed and pulled her into me as her hand pulled at the button of my pants. I was hard already, my cock pressing against the tightness of the jeans, which meant that she was going to have to work a bit to get me out of them. Not that she wasn’t up for the challenge.

  While her fingers worked the zipper down, I pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it away. Her large, round breasts sparkled with sweat and I reached around her to unhook the bra. I wanted them in my hands and in my mouth as soon as possible.

  The snap of her bra opening was joined by the sound of my zipper being undone, and she slid her nimble fingers inside, wrapping them around my shaft and rubbing her palm along it. I groaned in pleasure at both her touch and the sight of her perky breasts falling out of the black bra, and I filled my hands with them.

  She leaned down to kiss me again. I lay on my back and I kissed down her neck as she moved her chest above me, and then I took one nipple into my mouth. Swirling my tongue around it, I lavished it with attention, kneading into the other with my hand.

  Cool air rushed along my center as she reached into the partition in my boxer-briefs and pulled my cock out into the air-conditioned room. I took a breath as her warm fingers wrapped around it and began to stroke me. She knew just how I liked to be touched, just as I knew just what she needed too.

  But before I could reach for her shorts, she moved herself down my chest, trailing kisses as she went along and removing my shirt to get to me. I tossed it off to the side as she made her way past my belly and yanked on the button of my jeans. It opened and I heard her giggle. A smile spread across my face at that sound.

  Fingers slid under the waistband and pulled my boxers down, along with my jeans. I helped her by kicking them off me. When I was finally naked, her hand wrapped back around my cock and her kisses began again, trailing down my thigh and working their way toward my center.

  Her tongue slid out and snaked across until it reached the base of my rod and then swirled around it. I groaned again at the soft, warm tongue as it began to slide up my shaft, and I moaned loudly as she reached the tip. She rolled her tongue around it and then plunged down, taking me into her mouth.

  She held herself there for a moment, and I nearly came at the sensation of her lips on my cock, her tongue sliding up and down my shaft and the walls of her mouth pressing in on me from all sides. I breathed heavily and tried to control myself as she began to bob up and down. One hand slid underneath to massage my balls while the other curled around the shaft at the base and stroked me as she lavished me with attention.

  She was focusing herself completely on me, showing me how much she missed me in the years I was away by pleasuring me in a way only she could. She knew me so well, and her body carried the expertise of how to bring me incredible pleasure, and she used that knowledge to stroke me at just the right angle, turning her wrist in just the right way at the right time to bring sensations I hadn’t felt in so long. I knew I couldn’t hold on for long, but even then, I wouldn’t be done.

  My hand filled with her hair and her eyes focused on mine. She knew how close I was, how easy it was for her to bring me to orgasm. She wanted it. My eyes were wide, and my jaw locked open as I felt myself losing control.

  “I’m going to come,” I whispered hoarsely.

  Instead of stopping, she increased her speed. Her eyes rolled back and shut as she focused on bringing me to climax. I leaned back and let her hands and tongue do the work of so many years to release me from tensions past. Suddenly, my body jolted, and I came hard, and she sank herself over me, pulling me into her and letting me empty myself.

  When my body stopped shaking, she kissed her way up my chest again and our lips met for a long moment. I rolled her on her back and broke the kiss to stare deeply into her eyes. My cock was still hard, and I knew it would be for a while yet. It still had more to do.

  “Your turn,” I said, and
the giggle rose up again.

  I kissed down her chest, making sure to take each of her breasts into my mouth in turn, and then I trailed my lips down to her navel. I pulled on the shorts and they slid off to reveal lacy black panties underneath. I ran my tongue along the edges of the panties, eliciting a coo from her, and then I breathed a cool stream of air along the places my tongue had just been.

  She squirmed as I did, and I reached up to pull her panties down. When they slid off her and were tossed away, I marveled at her perfect body. There had never been a body like hers that was so exquisite—not to me. So molded just for my tastes. So uniquely, undeniably sexy.

  Sliding off the bed so I knelt on the floor, I pulled her to me. My ribs still ached, but I ignored them for now. This was more important. Her legs wrapped around my shoulders and I slid my tongue through her folds. She shivered and bucked underneath me as I wasted little time finding her pearl. Taking special care to encourage the fold to open, I slid a finger inside her, and she clenched around it. Her legs squeezed around my ears so that the sound of her moans was like I was hearing it underwater. I smiled as my tongue danced on her sensitive area and my fingers slid in and out of her with increasing speed.

  Suddenly, her body shook, and her fingers wrapped in my hair as she climaxed. I increased my speed and she began to curl up as if she couldn’t take any more. I stood quickly, maneuvered myself to her opening, and plunged inside. Her mouth gaped open, but no sound came out as I hovered there, deep inside her, and her body adjusted to my girth. She propped herself on her elbows and I pulled her forehead to mine so our eyes were locked on one another as I inched my way deeper into her.

  Shannon whimpered and I released her neck. She slowly fell back onto the bed. As she did, I slid out of her most of the way and then pressed in again, letting her adjust to me as I tried to go as deeply as her body would allow. I rocked a few times gently until our hips ground together, and her body relaxed. There was a need in her eyes when she looked up at me again, and I knew what it meant. I wrapped my hands around her hips and pulled myself into her deeply.

  “Please,” she whispered.

  I rocked back and slammed into her, and her moan filled the room. I rocked back again, and this time, my voice joined hers. My hips moved quickly now, pushing me deeply and quickly into her pussy with the force of years gone by. Her legs opened to accept me more fully and I pulled her into me with every thrust.

  I wanted to fuck her until neither of us could remember the time we spent apart, the nights we spent alone, or the days we spent wondering about one another. None of that mattered now, and I wanted to prove it. With every thrust, I wanted to erase another day we weren’t together.

  I curled down on top of her and she scooted back so my knees were on the bed again. I pulled her ass up so she was angled a bit and kept thrusting into her. She was crying out with whimpering sounds, and they only seemed to fuel me to go faster, harder, deeper into her.

  One of her hands reached for mine, and I wrapped my fingers in hers. The other hand found its way to my other, and it did the same, and I pulled them up over her head. Her feet wrapped around the back of my thighs and I pounded into her as she gave herself completely to me. There was no hesitation, no holding back as her body opened to me fully. I responded with a roar as I fucked time out of existence so we were young and innocent and together again, like we always had been.

  I sat back on my heels, pulled her legs over into a position I knew she loved, and pressed her knees together as she lay on her side. Her eyes shut tight and her head rocked back as her fingers filled with the bedsheets. I was slamming into her now, and our bodies, slick with sweat, made noise as they came together. Her pussy was wet and slippery, and I glided in and out of her easily as I brought myself closer to another release. It seemed she was close as well, and I wanted that moment, that pure moment, of our bodies coming together.

  Shannon writhed under my grip and I knew she was getting close. Her voice was rising in short, moaning bursts as she neared another orgasm. I was rocking into her, one hand sliding up to clasp onto one of her bouncing breasts as the feeling started to overwhelm me. I knew it was only moments before I was going to explode, and I pulled her leg back over so I was curled between them again. Her hands grabbed my ass and pulled me into her, and I came hard, a roar coming from deep in my chest as an incredible orgasm took over my body, making me lock still where I was for a moment as I emptied myself into her. Her body milked me and I slowly crumbled into her arms, our lips meeting once again for a deep kiss. We stayed that way, curled together, until I was spent and our hearts stopped racing and began to beat slowly together.

  I lay there cradling Shannon long after she fell asleep, just wanting to savor the moment. My body still ached from the beating I took, but for the first time since I’d left Green Valley, I felt content.

  Chapter 26

  Shannon

  Being out until hours after midnight and then still not getting to sleep until well after that made for a late morning. I woke up Saturday in a bedroom that definitely wasn’t mine but that was basked in late morning sunlight. It took me a couple of seconds for reality and the memories of the night before to completely settle in and to remember I was in Jesse’s room.

  I stretched languidly against the sheets, then sat up, pulling the blankets up with me. I looked over at Jesse. He was still sound asleep. Flat on his belly, he had his arms tucked under the pillow and his face almost turned down into it. His expression was peaceful and calm.

  I didn’t want to disturb him. Something told me he hadn’t gotten a lot of good deep sleep like this in a long time. Maybe since he’d left Green Valley. Possibly even before that.

  As much as I would have liked to just stay there with him, that really wasn’t an option. I couldn’t hide away from the entire world forever. I had to get out of there. Fortunately, I didn’t have a desperate dog at home at my studio waiting for me. Beau always had a sleepover with his grandpa on nights when I was going out, just in case I was out late or needed to crash at Sara’s house.

  I never wanted him to be alone all night without anybody to walk him or feed him in the morning. I wanted to go back by my apartment and at least get a shower and change into clean clothes before I went to get him. Not that there was really any legitimate rush to going and picking him up. Dad loved having him over there and I was pretty sure my pup enjoyed it just as much. There were plenty of times I showed up to get him and he greeted me enthusiastically, only to turn right back around and go inside like he enjoyed the visit but would be happy to linger for a while.

  Even still, I didn’t want to take the whole day away from Dad, and I knew the longer I took, the more likely it was he would be brimming with questions when I showed up. There was a slim chance he hadn’t heard about the fight yet. I was clinging to that chance.

  Just like I supposed any good father with a daughter was, my daddy was still resistant to me going out to the bar. I did it every week and never got into any trouble because of it, but he was still nervous. I knew as soon as he found out about the scuffle in the parking lot, I would be on the receiving end of his angry scowls and some homespun wisdom that essentially boiled down to I shouldn’t be out gallivanting around places like that.

  Of course, I had it under good authority he and my mother did plenty of gallivanting at The Junction when they were young and dating. But those memories seemed to have been erased from his mind when it came to dealing with me.

  Being a full-grown woman didn’t seem to give me much sway, but most of the time, I didn’t really mind. It was nice having him worry about me. I just didn’t necessarily need that worry to turn into a bigger situation. Or to stretch into Jesse’s bedroom.

  I took one last look at Jesse to etch that new memory of him into my mind and then reached over the side of the bed to scoop my panties up off the floor. I wriggled into them, then wandered around the room getting dressed. I’d just buttoned my shorts when I looked up.

  Th
e man standing in the doorway eating an apple startled a scream out of me, and I jumped back before realizing who it was.

  “Morning,” Sawyer, Jesse’s youngest brother, said cheerfully.

  I pressed my hand to my chest, but before I could say anything, I noticed Jesse sit bolt upright in the bed. At first, I thought my scream had just woken him up and he was trying to orient himself with suddenly being jostled out of sleep.

  Then I realized something was wrong.

  He didn’t look right, not like himself. I took a step closer to the bed to get a better look at him. He looked frantic. His eyes were wide, but they weren’t focused or looking around the room. His gaze was staring right at me, but it was like he couldn’t see me. His chest heaved and breaths came out of him fast and ragged like he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs to breathe. Fear spiked up in me and I rushed toward him.

  “Jesse,” I called to him. “Jesse! Are you okay? What’s happening?”

  Sweat beaded up on Jesse’s forehead and started dripping down his face. His body trembled and his skin was pale. I suddenly realized what was happening and turned to Sawyer. He had dropped his apple to the floor and took a step toward me, but I held up my hand to stop him from getting any closer.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Stay where you are,” I said. “You need to stay away from him.”

  “He needs my help,” Sawyer insisted, trying to lunge for his brother.

  I knew he was only trying to go to his brother’s aid. Seeing him this way probably terrified him, especially if it was the first time he’d experienced it. But he needed to stay back, or he could make the episode worse. It was already dangerous for me to be this close to him. It was also the only way he was going to come through it.