Epic Love Stories--Complete Box Set

by Kelly Moore

  My eyes snap open with his breath tickling my ear. I want the very same thing, but I didn’t know it until right this moment. “Yes, please,”

  He angles a glance down at me. “I like that,” he says, then brackets my waist, rubbing the arc of my hipbone with his thumbs.

  I reach down, remove his hands, and pull my cover-up off. His brown eyes penetrate my skin as he admires my body. I inhale sharply when he toys with a tendril of my damp hair.

  “You are so fucking beautiful.” His hand slides down my tattooed arm, and his fingers entwine with mine. “Where is your bedroom?” His voice cracks, and I find it endearing.

  I press my lips together and don’t say a word as I lead him into my room. I sneak a glance up at him, and his bottom lip is firmly planted between his teeth.

  I snake my hands under his shirt and push it off his shoulders. He shrugs out of it quickly then has his hands back on me. “I’ve wanted this since I sat on the train across from you.”

  I’d like to say the same, but it wasn’t long after that. My mind is reeling that he is really here, standing inches from me with his strong hands stroking my body. “I want this now,” I whisper.

  He needs no further encouragement. The ties on my bikini bottoms tickle my legs as they fall to the floor. The feel of his hand on my ass has me dizzy as his tongue swirls like silk in my mouth. I willingly sink into the hard planes of his muscular body, and my tongue teases back in rhythm with his.

  Our steps take us backward until I feel the bed behind my knees. My hands leave his neck and graze down his body until I’m sitting on the edge. I boldly reach back and untie my top, throwing it to the floor. He inhales sharply and bends down, placing a kiss on that perfect spot on my collarbone. It makes me completely brazen.

  His belt comes undone easily, but I fumble with the button on his jeans. I feel his smirk against my skin as he pushes me back onto the bed with his body. His hot tongue finds my taut nipple and sucks it into his mouth and provokes a hiss to escape my lips. I lick the dryness from them, and I can taste the sweetness of him in my mouth.

  I let my body melt into every sensation he has lit inside me. Soft kisses trail around my belly button. Just when I think he’s going to dip between my thighs, his firm hands grasp my hips and flip me over.

  He brushes my hair off my back and nibbles the base of my neck. His body is pressed into mine, and I can feel his cock through his jeans, pushing into my ass.

  “You are so damn sexy.” His breath is now behind my ear, and he’s licking and kissing his way down to my shoulder.

  I try to say something, but my voice won’t leave my throat. It comes out as a sensual groan. He keeps nipping and kissing until I’m nothing but a puddle of need.

  “Please, Will.”

  He flips me back over. “Please what, Maggie?”

  “I want to touch you.”

  He bites his bottom lip again. “You taste like salt and coconut, mixed with sand.”

  He scoops me up and walks me into the bathroom, turning on the shower.

  I smile and step under the spray of the water. When I open my eyes, he’s stripped naked and standing outside the shower door, staring at me.

  “Are you going to gawk at me or join me?” I ask, reaching my hand out for him to take. He steps inside, and I get a better look at his saluting cock. It’s thick, but not too large. It’s the perfect size, and I find my mouth no longer dry. The water cools the flames on my skin, letting me regain my senses. I trace his abs with my fingers as his hands smooth back my hair in the spraying water.

  My turn to taste his skin on my lips. I press a kiss in the middle of his chest and slowly go to my knees. I’ve never had a man in my mouth before, but I instinctively know what to do. I cup one hand underneath him as I wrap my other around his shaft. I gaze up at his face as my lips surround the tip of his cock. His head falls back as I take him in deeper. Pressing my lips together, I suck my way back up to the tip. God, it feels so smooth and silky on my tongue. I lick my lips and dip down again, but this time, he yanks me to my feet.

  “That was the sweetest thing I’ve ever felt, but if you put me in your mouth again, this will be done before I’ve even gotten started.”

  I swallow hard seeing how turned on he is from my touch. “I want you inside me.”

  He touches my swollen lips with his fingertips. “Wait right here.” He steps out of the shower, grabs a towel, and dries his cock. Reaching down, he pulls a condom out of his jeans and rolls it on. As soon as he steps back in, he grabs my hips, lifting me up, pushing my back against the tile wall. He angles his body beneath me, bracing one leg. Then, he lowers me onto him slowly, allowing my body to adjust to his girth.

  Once he is fully seated inside me, he starts to move. I watch him looking up at me gritting his teeth. “You are so tight, Maggie.”

  “You feel so good.”

  My words drive him crazy, and he starts to move faster. Our breaths are mingled together as we fall deeper into one another. He reaches in between us and rubs my core. I scream out his name as I start to throb. He thrusts his hips, and the throb turns into an explosion of sensations. I feel myself pulsating around his cock, pulling him deeper into me.

  I can’t breathe. I can’t feel anything other than him inside me. My chest heaves as my lungs long to draw in air. A feeling of euphoria swarms over me as he continues to delve deeper and harder. This is a drug I could get addicted to.

  “Maggie!” he yells, then his pulsating matches mine.

  My body is limp as he lowers me to the ground.

  He removes the condom and throws it on the shower floor, then wraps me tightly against his chest. I think if he wasn’t holding on to me, I’d simply slide down to the floor.

  “Are you okay?” He chuckles.

  “Yeah!” I smile against his chest. “That was amazing. Can we do it again?” I look up at him in time to catch his laughter.

  “If you give me a minute, I’m sure we can,” he says, opening the shower door.

  I grab two towels and dry us off. I lead him back over to the bed and pull down the sheets.

  The hours after that are pure bliss. We get lost in each other until exhaustion takes us over.

  Knocking at the door has me uncurling from Will’s arms. He’s puffing out a soft snore and tucks himself further into the bed. The knocking gets louder, and I quickly get dressed.

  Hank is in mid knock again when I open the front door. He’s holding a bottle of wine and a shoebox full of pictures.

  “Oh my God, Hank. I completely lost track of time. Come on in.”

  “I’m glad you finally answered the door. I was going to call the cops. I thought maybe that young man that was looking for you earlier today had done something to you,” he says, stepping inside and looking around.

  He did something to me all right, but not what Hank was thinking. “Will is a friend of mine.” I take the bottle of wine from him and head to the kitchen.

  “Looks like more than a friend to me.” He’s pointing to a shirtless Will, who is standing in the bedroom doorway.

  I laugh to keep from being embarrassed. “Will, this is Hank.”

  “Yeah…we met earlier. Nice to see you again, Hank.”

  He chuckles. “How about you go put a shirt on while I help our gal in the kitchen.” He shoos Will away with his hand.

  “I was hoping he was the one you’ve been waiting for.”

  “What? I’ve not been waiting for him.”

  “I told you love had already found you.” He sits at the small table.

  “You…that’s…” I’m so flustered, I can’t get the words out.

  “What has you all tongue-tied, Mags?” Will is buttoning up his white shirt as he enters the kitchen.

  My face flushes thinking about taking it off him. “Nothing.”

  Hank chuckles again and wraps his arm around my shoulder.

  Chapter 9

  “That has to be the best Greek salad I’ve ever had.” Hank leans ba
ck in his chair and wipes his mouth with a napkin. “Tell me, Will, have you ever been to Greece?”

  “No, sir. But it is on the top of my list of places to travel.”

  I pick up the plates from the table and put them in the dishwasher as Hank takes out pictures of his travels with Alice to show Will.

  “She was the love of my life.” I hear the catch in his voice even with my back to him.

  “She was beautiful, Hank.”

  “I knew what I had in her from day one. Do you know what you have in this one?”

  I turn around, and he’s pointing at me. “It’s not like that, Hank.”

  Will sits back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest. “What is it like, Mags?” He’s smiling.

  I throw the dishrag on the counter. “You two are trouble.” I laugh at them. “Hank, we are just getting to know one another.”

  “You know what you know, Maggie,” he says.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask.

  “The minute you lay eyes on your soul mate, you know it.”

  “Maybe that worked for you and Alice, but not for everyone.”

  “I happen to think he’s right,” Will chimes in.

  “Wait, what are you saying?”

  “I’m saying the minute I laid eyes on you, I wanted you.”

  “Wanting someone and knowing they are your soul mate are two different things.” I sit at the table with them.

  “Not for me it’s not. I wouldn’t want a woman without being in love with her.”

  “You’re making my head spin, Will. No one said anything about love.”

  “I did,” they both say at the same time.

  “I knew love had already found you. I so much as told you so.” Hank has a shit-eating, I-told-you-so smile on his face.

  “If I didn’t love you, I wouldn’t have given my business to someone else to run to spend the summer with you. I told you, I came here for you to fall in love with me.”

  I press my fingers to my temples. “We barely know each other.”

  “I know enough, and about an hour ago, we knew a lot about each other.” Will laughs, and I turn bright pink.

  “Will!” I yell at him to stop.

  “I knew I loved you like a daughter the moment you walked up to my door in the rain. We’re soul mates too, so to speak.”

  “You two are too much.” I hop up from my chair. “Is there any more wine? I really need a drink.”

  Hank picks up the bottle in the middle of the table and dumps it upside down. “All gone, Maggie.” He taps the bottom with his finger. Not even a drop falls out.

  I grab my purse off the counter. “You two visit, I’m running to the store.”

  “I’d love peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream,” Hank yells after me and throws me his truck keys.

  There is only one store open when I get into town. Unfortunately, they have no wine or liquor, but they do have what Hank wanted. I pick up the brown paper bag and head back to the truck. The stars in the sky get my attention. They’re so big and bright, I feel like I could reach out and touch them. I sit on a bench outside the store to admire them. My mind runs to the conversation with Hank and Will.

  I know that I have feelings for Will, but I haven’t had time to process them. He was so unplanned for me. Phillip would tell me to go with my gut. My gut says that Will is someone that I could fall madly in love with, but I’m not sure about their instalove theory. I’m definitely attracted to him, and his touch does things to me that I don’t like to admit. And, well, I most certainly like having my hands on him. Is that love? I don’t know, but I’d like to find out. I can’t believe he’s really here for the summer. He did say he came here for me to fall in love with him. I’d like to explore my feelings for him; I just wish that my heart knew right away. I think it’s part of my DNA to be cautious. I’m so unsure of myself, how can I be certain of another person that I hardly know?

  I do know the thought of Will makes me smile and warms my heart. Maybe that’s what love is. Maybe they’re both right, and I’m just cynical.

  Hank’s truck sputters as I start it up. The old red faded pickup has over 300,000 miles on it. I think it’s time he bought a new one. If I know Hank, he has some story about Alice that fits into this truck, and he’ll never get rid of it. On the dark ride home, I can almost see Hank and Alice in this truck and the happy life they had. I want that more than anything, but I never thought it was in the cards for me. I’m willing to try, and the thought of a life with Will makes me tingle all over.

  The truck sputters again when I drive up into the gravel driveway, and I turn it off. Walking into the kitchen with my brown paper bag, both of the men halt their card game to take the bag from me.

  “Did you find cobbler,” Hank asks, rummaging through the bag.

  “Yep, that and the ice cream you requested, but not wine,” I mumble.

  He chuckles. “You know my market is the only one in town that sells wine and it’s closed right now.”

  “You could have told me that before I took off.”

  “Then I wouldn’t have gotten cobbler and ice cream,” he says as he takes down three bowls.

  “He has a point there,” Will adds, laughing.

  I won’t admit it to them, but I love their banter. It feels like we have all been friends for a lifetime. Maybe that’s what love is too.

  “Good night, Hank. It’s your turn next week to cook. Make sure you have plenty of wine.” I holler at him as he gets into his old pickup truck. His tires crunch on the gravel as he drives off.

  Will wraps his arms around my waist from behind me and kisses the back of my head. “I like him, Mags.”

  “Me too. He would have made a great father.”

  “Yeah, those seem to be a rare breed.”

  I turn in his arms. “I’m sorry things haven’t worked out with your dad, but at least he’s always been around, and he adores your mother. I’m not even sure my parents liked one another.”

  “How did you turn out to be so good?” He kisses the tip of my nose.

  “I honestly don’t know. Lip and I had to practically raise ourselves.” I take his hand and lead him back into the house. “I don’t really remember a lot of those years. It’s like I laid down for a nap and when I woke up, I was all grown up, living in an apartment, and teaching young minds.”

  “Do you think you blocked it out because of the drugs?” He plops down on the couch.

  “I don’t know, and it’s not something I like to dwell on.” The old habit of rubbing my arms repeats itself.

  “I wish I could black out a few years of my life.”

  “Oh yeah, what would that be.” I sit next to him.

  “In high school, I was bullied all the time. Since Patrick was only a year older than me, we were always at the same school. He’d get wind of what was going on and beat the crap out of the person when he found out. He got expelled once, and I thought my dad was going to kill him. He wouldn’t listen to anything Patrick tried to tell him.” He lays his head back on the couch. “I think my dad thought I deserved to be bullied.”

  “That’s terrible. Didn’t your mother defend you?”

  “She did.” He shakes his head. “My dad always accused her of siding with me.”

  “With how different they are, I’m surprised that they’ve managed to stay together.”

  “He’s different with her. Most of the time he worships the ground she walks on, at least until I came along.”

  I scoot back to the corner of the couch and drape my arm over the back so I can turn and look at him. “I don’t understand.”

  “Mom doted on me. Not that she didn’t love Patrick equally, but she used to tell me that I had extra-special abilities that I needed help with.” He laughs. “I was a small kid and believed her. I didn’t think at the time that I had a disability.” He draws a leg up on the couch. “He hated the fact that I was defective, in his eyes,” he says using finger quotes.

  “You�
��re not defective, Will. I’m betting you excelled in math skills and analytical thinking.”

  “I did.”

  “That tends to be the pattern with dyslexic children. That’s what I tell the parents to focus the child on when they are struggling but obviously highly intelligent.”

  “My mom and dad were fighting one night. Patrick and I could hear them from our room. We snuck downstairs to see what was going on. It was the first time we’d ever heard them fight. Dad was sitting at his desk, looking over my report card. My mom kept telling him that I just needed more help. Dad said that I was damaged and would always be stupid. My mom came unraveled and took off her shoe and threw it at him, hitting him in the head. Mom stormed out, and we took off running back to our rooms. We didn’t see my dad for an entire week.”

  “I’m starting to not like your father very much.” I lock my fingers with his on the back of the couch. “Why did your mom take him back?”

  “I don’t know, but he was nicer to me after that, at least until I was older.” He leans in and kisses me. “That’s enough of my sob story. I want to carry you off to bed.”

  “I’m okay with where we are.” I smile at him.

  He places his hands on my thighs and pulls me down on the couch, underneath him. “This works for me too.” His mouth consumes mine with heat. I love the feel of his tongue moving with mine and his hips rocking back and forth with a need so strong he can’t quit moving. I’m so into his kiss, I don’t realize he’s stripped me out of my clothes.

  He leans up and digs a condom out of his jeans pocket. He places the foil pack between his teeth as he tugs his jeans below his hips. I take the packet and rip it open.

  “What’s taking you so long?” I say breathlessly.

  “Eager, are we?” He takes it from me and sheaths his hard cock.

  I impatiently wrap one leg around his bare ass, encouraging him to hurry up. He grabs me by the shoulder and sits me up, placing me on the edge of the couch. He’s on his knees in front of me. Taking my hips, he draws me forward onto him. I rest my hands on his shoulders, and he braces his hands on the back of the couch.