Swamp Happens: The Complete Swamp Bottom Series

by Cora Kenborn

  “That’s just it, Addie. I’ve done nothing but worry about your point of view and your feelings for weeks.” Taking a step forward, I jerked open the driver’s side door and risked a glance over my shoulder. “When do you start caring about mine?”

  Shoving her body in between me and the open door, Addie curled her fists around my shirt, her devastated expression gutting me. “Don’t walk away.”

  “I’m not,” I said, dislodging her hold. “I’m driving.”

  With a grunt, I pushed past her and got into the cab of my truck, my limbs like dead weight. As tension knotted every muscle in my back, I started the ignition, focused on just getting the truck out of the parking lot without caving to her again. The minute I reached for the door, a surprised jolt shot through me as she wrapped her fingers around the overhead handle and climbed in after me.

  Kneeling on the seat between my legs, she braced a hand on each shoulder, her warm breath fanning over my face. “You’re wrong. I am ready.”

  Years melted away as her white dress rustled in the silence of the truck cab. If I narrowed my eyes enough, I could almost convince myself the street lamps flickering behind her were the bright glare of stadium lights and time had stood still. Swallowing a groan, I gripped the edge of the seat with both hands. It took everything I had in me not to touch her, but I needed every move she made to be on her terms.

  “Prove it,” I commanded, the husky tone in my voice leaving no question what I meant.

  “Right here?” Although she pulled back slightly, Addie’s brown eyes darkened, betraying her protest.

  “Right here. Prove you don’t care what people think, Addie. Prove you never really got out of my truck all those years ago.”

  I’m an asshole.

  What I was asking pushed her out of her comfort zone, but if Addie and I were going to make it, I had to play dirty. Part of me knew it was wrong to demand, but the part of me that knew Adelaide Dubois never backed down from a challenge stood the very real risk of blowing his load in his pants from the anticipation.

  Steel will swam in her eyes. Darting her tongue out, Addie licked her lips as her fingers unbuckled my belt with an assuredness I’d yet to see from her. My chest rose and fell with labored breaths, and the moment she dove her hand inside my jeans and released my aching cock, I lost my fucking mind.

  “Addie…”

  “Shhh,” she whispered seconds before bending down and taking me in her mouth. My mind blanked, and I threw my head against the back of the seat while sucking air through my teeth.

  “Jesus, fuck!”

  Hollowing out her cheeks, Addie braced her hands on my thighs and proceeded to drive me to the brink of losing what control I had left. If I didn’t stop her, I had little doubt this would end in about five seconds.

  Letting out a reluctant groan, I cradled her face and pulled her off her knees. As she braced a hand by my ear and leaned over me, I slid a hand underneath her dress and worked her lacy panties down her legs. “Stop pushing me away,” I said, my voice still rough from her onslaught. “I’m not going anywhere, do you hear me, Adelaide? Let go of shit that happened thirteen years ago and the goddamn fear put in your head by another man.”

  “Zep, I—”

  Staring at her mouth, I held tightly to her hips as I lowered her onto my cock, taking her hard and rough. “This is all you think about. You got it?”

  Her eyes rolled back, and she let out a low groan. “Yes.”

  I gave a sharp thrust upward, and she screamed, the sound music to my ears. “That wasn’t convincing enough.”

  “Yes!” she repeated, gurgling the word as I claimed her body with every punishing drive of my hips. Sweat dripped from our faces as I gripped her ass tighter and ground harder against her, our tongues locked together in a frantic kiss.

  In between obeying the clutch of my hands and riding me on her own accord, Addie mumbled hotly between kisses. “Tell me more about that night.”

  I didn’t have to think. The memory was always at the forethought of my mind. “You smelled like goddamn candy, Addie. You still do, and I can’t concentrate on anything but tasting you.”

  “Oh, God…” Her breath hitched, and a shudder overtook her, her walls tightening around me.

  I doubled my efforts, and she moaned long and hard as electricity sparked at the base of my spine. Lust morphed into determination, pulsing through my veins with blinding force. I needed to watch her come undone.

  “Fuck, you’re still just as tight as you were back then but ten times sexier.” I moved so fast my words ran together. “You became mine that night, Addie. I don’t care who you gave yourself to afterward. You’ve always been mine.”

  I wrapped a hand around her neck and pulled her against me, claiming her mouth once more as I reached between our bodies and pushed her over the edge. Addie arched her back and screamed a tortured version of my name as she came. The sight of her provoked my own release, and I roared explosive curses, recklessly spilling inside of her with a force I’d never experienced.

  Shaking and spent, Addie collapsed against the steering wheel, her spine prompting a long blow of the horn. We should’ve cared it would draw attention to us, but we were too exhausted to give a damn. Plus, if I were being honest, the wail of the horn signaled what I’d always known.

  The flag was still there.

  Adelaide Dubois had never gotten out of my truck.

  42

  Killer Swamp Bees

  Pope

  Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana

  I watched my knuckles turn white as my grip on the steering wheel tightened. It was like a lifeline I was holding onto while playing chum in a sea of churning water and sharks. I’d done the meet the parents thing before, but for some reason, this time seemed a hell of a lot scarier.

  I wasn’t intimidated by Bam-Bam’s veiled threats or Babs’ overt ones. No, the cause of the lead boulder in my stomach had nothing to do with Savannah’s protective cousin or her bat shit crazy, alcoholic grandmother. It had everything to do with the fact that I was meeting her father for the first time. I’d grasped my terrible mistake in the middle of the night when I shot up in bed in a cold sweat, realizing that to her father, I might as well be Roland Bordeaux’s little brother.

  In the past six months, I hadn’t even made an effort to meet her parents. Mostly, it was because I didn’t want her questioning when she would meet mine. However, that also meant that they didn’t get a chance to get to know me before they found out my family was wealthy.

  “Why the hell is he swerving all over the damn place?” Savannah asked, pulling me out of my downward spiral.

  I blinked away the fog and stared at the back of Zep’s truck in front of me. Sure enough, they were swerving all over the road. I squinted at the back window and saw Addie’s arms flailing.

  What the hell?

  Maybe I was glad Zep refused my offer to drive. When I’d mentioned I had room for everyone in my jeep, Zep grumbled about never riding bitch in another man’s car and dragged Addie to his pickup like a caveman. I didn’t blame him. Anytime I could get alone with Savannah was all right by me.

  Savannah threw her hands up in frustration. “Oh dear God, what the hell is she doing now?”

  We both watched in horror as her older sister opened up the slider and tried to crawl out of the back window of a pickup truck going seventy miles per hour. It was like watching a reenactment from a Dateline special where a kidnapped woman escaped her attackers by mustering up enough courage to jump out of a moving vehicle.

  I eased off the gas and dropped behind them a few more car lengths, just in case. When she was about halfway through, she was suddenly yanked back into the cab.

  “Oh, thank Christ! I’m going to chew her ass out when we get home. That was some bullshit.” Savannah fumed.

  “She’s your blood.” I just shook my head at what was yet another Dubois antic to add to the growing list.

  “You should know that doesn’t mean shit.”r />
  Ouch, that stung.

  “I’m sorry. At least now I know a little of what you felt meeting my family.”

  I could practically hear Savannah rolling her eyes beside me. "My parents will be fine. They're going to love you. Babs is the wildcard in this situation. Depending on the vodka to weed ratio, she might try to shoot you. It’s kind of hit or miss.”

  Tearing my eyes from the road, I tried to assess if she was serious. Unfortunately, she was. “I’m sorry, did you just say your grandmother might shoot me?”

  “Don’t worry about it. She uses buckshot, and she spent all of her prescription money on vodka, so she hasn’t gotten new glasses in a few years. The worst that could happen is a few pellets in the ass. She doesn’t aim to kill. Well, unless you’re Roland.”

  “Somehow that doesn’t make me feel any better. Thanks for that, sweetheart.”

  Reaching across the console, she gave my thigh a light squeeze which caused my mind to tumble down another rabbit hole altogether. “I do what I can.”

  Soon, we turned off the highway and onto a winding dirt road that led to Savannah’s parents’ house. We pulled into a makeshift parking lot that was less of a lawn and more of a graveyard for car parts. There were about a dozen vehicles varying in age and color, but one particular pickup stood out amongst the rest. It looked like it’d been welded together from the parts of half a dozen different trucks to form a sort of Frankentruck. It had to be Bam-Bam’s.

  “What the hell was that?” Savannah called as we climbed out of the jeep and met up with Addie and Zep.

  Addie’s hands were immediately flying all over the place as if she’d been ready for the attack. “There was a fucking bee in the truck! It tried to murder me.”

  Savannah matched her animation and raised her a level of incredulity I’d never seen from her. “So you decided to climb out of a moving vehicle?”

  “The thing kept dive-bombing my head.” Addie argued.

  Zep laughed and looked toward the sky. “Only you would risk a pileup on the interstate to get away from a bee.”

  Addie stamped her foot, causing a puff of dust to float around her sandaled feet. “I’m allergic!”

  Savannah slapped her sister’s arm. “Bullshit! You’ve never even been stung by a bee.”

  “Well, I could be allergic. We don’t know. I could’ve died.”

  It was like watching an HBO version of The Three Stooges, only the middle-aged men were replaced by two attractive sisters with mouths like sailors.

  Zep ran a hand over his beard and shook his head. “Fucking crazy ass Dubois. I’m telling you, man, it just gets worse the older they get. I need a fucking beer.”

  I followed behind Zep, trusting that the girls would make their way once they were done berating each other.

  “They’re here!” Bam-Bam hollered from the porch as we rounded the side of the house. A chorus of cheers erupted from the two dozen or so people crowded around the front lawn.

  “This is a family barbecue?” I mumbled under my breath.

  Savannah laughed, coming up behind me and slipping an arm through mine. “Around here, everybody’s family.”

  There was a joke in there somewhere, but I thought it best to leave it be. Savannah had just begun to warm back up after the debacle with my family the previous weekend. I wasn’t about to risk setting her mood off again.

  A couple in their fifties flanked by Bam-Bam and Babs approached our little group.

  “Daddy!” Savannah called out and launched herself at the older man who scooped her up and twirled around as if she were a little kid. Addie embraced who could only be her mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek before the sisters alternated. Once the family reunion was over, six pairs of eyes landed on Zep and me.

  I reached out my hand first, years of social etiquette coming to the surface. “Hello, I’m Quentin. It’s nice to meet you.”

  Their father reached out his hand to shake mine, but just before he made contact, Zep ruined any chance I had at making a good first impression.

  “Quentin? I thought you said your name was Pope? You lying about that too?”

  That motherfucker knew damn well what my name was. He was just trying to steer the heat off himself.

  So much for bro code.

  “Shut up, Zep!” the girls scolded in unison. It was creepy—like The Shining twins creepy.

  “It’s Quentin Pope,” I corrected. “Most people just call me Pope.” Finally, his calloused hand clasped mine, saving me from the awkwardness of having my hand stuck out there like a limp dick at a porno shoot.

  “Robert Dubois, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. But one thing you need to learn about this family, Mr. Pope, is that we’re not much for handshakes.” Without warning, his grip on my hand tightened, and he jerked me forward into a backslapping hug.

  Relief washed over me. The first hurdle was cleared.

  “Oh, now you leave him alone.” The woman next to him slapped at his shoulder as she chastised him. “Hi, sugar, it’s such a pleasure to meet you. I’m Marianne, Addie and Savvy’s mama,” she said, engulfing me in a hug.

  Two down, God knows how much more.

  Zep stretched his arms wide and snorted. “What the hell am I, chopped liver?”

  “Oh, don’t you go gettin’ your knickers in a twist.” Marianne stretched up on her toes to give Zep a smacking kiss on the cheek. “You know we love you, Zephirin.”

  Soon the four of us were swept up in greetings and hugs. Everyone in attendance seemed to be a long-lost family member. Even though I was the only one who hadn’t grown up with everyone at the party, I didn’t feel like the odd man out.

  A woman who’d been introduced as Cousin Charlene cornered the four of us. She was about eighteen months pregnant with twins. I had never seen a belly that big. It looked like the babies might burst out of her Alien style. Somehow between stories of morning sickness that turned into all the time sickness and a movement called free the nipple, I’d been abandoned.

  Once I managed to disengage from Princess Placenta, I went in search of Savannah. I scanned the yard full of tables and crazy ass people, but I couldn’t find the one little psycho I was looking for.

  “You look lost, sugar.”

  I turned around to see Marianne standing behind me, a curious expression on her kind face. She had the same warm smile as Savannah, but her eyes were sharp like Addie’s.

  “Uh, yes, ma'am, sort of. I was just looking for Savannah. Do you know where she went?”

  She reached up and patted my chest. “Try down by the docks. It’s her favorite spot. If she’s not out here or in the house, that’s where she’ll be.”

  I was already moving before she finished. “Thanks,” I called over my shoulder as I made my way down in search of the crazy, beautiful woman I’d walk through fire for.

  I jogged down the embankment, and away from the party. Sure enough, Savannah lounged in an Adirondack chair at the end of the dock, her legs hanging off the side of one arm.

  She turned her head as my heavy footfalls caused the old wooden planks to creak. “Hey, what are you doing out here all alone?”

  The contented smile on her face knocked me sideways. I could spend the rest of my life looking at that smile. Reaching down, I scooped her up and took her place before setting her back down on my lap, so we were both looking out at the water.

  “I like to come out here to think,” she murmured.

  Burying my nose in her hair, I breathed in her sweet scent. “Your mom said it was your favorite place.”

  She giggled and turned her head, planting a soft kiss on my lips. “Are you seriously going to talk about my mama when your dick is poking me in the ass?”

  She wants to play, huh?

  I skimmed my hands up her bare legs, bunching up the material of her skirt along the way. Her breath hitched, and I took it a step further, biting down on her neck with enough pressure to send a shiver running through her body.

  “I want yo
u,” I breathed into her skin as if I could imprint the words there.

  Her breathing became more erratic the further my fingers traveled up her thighs. “My family is up there.”

  Yes, her family was up there, and to any sane person that would be enough of a cold-water dump to deter any plans for getting hot and heavy. Unfortunately for me, Savannah’s brand of reckless insanity was rubbing off on me because I didn’t give a single fuck who saw us.

  “They can’t see past the tree line, and no one is going to come down here.”

  “They might,” she argued, but there was no fire in it.

  “We can be quick. I need to feel you come around my cock. It’s been too long.” I realized I was begging, and I didn’t care. The overwhelming need to feel her was stronger than any sense of pride I felt. “Lift up,” I instructed, guiding her hips, so she hovered just above me.

  I made quick work of my zipper and hooked a finger under the crotch of her panties, pushing them to the side. With one hand, I braced myself at her entrance and without having to say a word, she lowered herself onto me. We both groaned in a mix of pleasure and relief.

  I pressed a wet kiss just below her ear. “I’ve missed this.”

  I hadn’t realized sex could be so intense. That there could be this clawing need inside my chest to feel her all around me. But it was just another one of the indescribable things that Savannah did to me.

  She set a slow and leisurely pace, rocking back-and-forth on me, but it wasn’t enough. I needed more. It had been a week of torture and soft and slow wasn’t going to cut it. I gripped her hips and surged up into her perfect body. It was pure bliss.

  I was close. Her body was beginning to melt into mine, but she wasn’t there yet. Slipping a hand under her skirt, I found her clit and began massaging her in tight circles, my frantic pace set by the fire burning up my spine.