Rough and Rugged: Shameless Southern Nights Novels

by Ali Parker

  It would have made me feel sorry for him, if I wasn’t the exact same way. Tyson was the first person I’d turned to for any kind of help in years, and even that was only to get rid of those guys in the suits. To be fair, they were probably only after me because of his father anyway, but still.

  Tyson’s chest expanded on a deep breath, and one of his big hands shoved through his hair. Warmth traveled slowly through me. As weird as it was to see him like this, I knew I was getting to see a side of him he didn’t show many people and that he would show it to me made me feel special.

  “He’s your dad, Tyson. Of course, you don’t want to throw him to wolves. I totally understand that.”

  “You don’t have to be so sweet about it,” he said stoically. When he turned around again, his face was carefully arranged into a blank expression. Emotion still shone from his eyes, though. He couldn’t hide that from me, nor the series of small motions I’d noticed from him that betrayed how he really felt. “He may be my father, but he’s also a criminal, Eve. I’m a district attorney. I’m one of the prosecutors who put him away.”

  Again, I had to fight the urge to go to him. The pain in his voice was so clear it was torture just to hear it. I couldn’t imagine having to live with that day in and day out. Yet he did, and he did it gracefully and with integrity. I’d never once heard him complain about it, shift the blame to others or complain bitterly about the heat he had taken from the entire town for doing what he did when he was who he was.

  As much as I hadn’t spent all that much time with him, I had, after all, known about them for years and had listened intently to any scrap of information I could hear about them.

  “I’m not trying to be sweet,” I told him earnestly. “I absolutely believe in what I’m saying. A father’s love is something that is hard to find. We only ever really get one dad, after all. It’s not like you can easily replace him. Despite everything he’s done, I’m sure Roy really cares about you too.”

  Tyson’s expression softened, and his eyes turned tender, an unexpected fondness suddenly reflected in them. “Yeah. I guess you’re right. It sounds like you’re talking from experience, though. So what about your father? While we’re talking about this and sharing, what’s the story there?”

  I expected that the topic would turn to my father eventually. It wasn’t like we could talk about his continually and mine would never come up. Plus, Tyson was a freaking lawyer. He was curious and questioning by nature. I was never going to get away with not giving him any information about my dad.

  Despite having expected it, I felt like a giant snowball had exploded over my head when the question finally came. My entire body went cold and for a second, my vision blurred.

  “There’s no story there,” I lied when I finally pulled myself together. “I’ve never had his love, so there’s nothing much to talk about.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tyson

  “An egg white omelet, Ty?” Beau eyed my breakfast with a horrified expression on his face. “You’re in Cypress Creek, not Los Angeles.”

  I rolled my eyes at my brother. “People in Cypress Creek can try to live a healthy lifestyle too. We can’t all have bacon cheeseburgers for breakfast.”

  “Yeah.” Beau’s lips tipped into a smirk. “I guess it’s harder to keep healthy when you’re getting old.”

  “I’m thirty fucking six, not sixty,” I scoffed, pointing at him with my fork. “I hate to break it to you, but you’re also on the wrong side of thirty. Next time, you might want to think about your heart before you order that crap.”

  “It’s not crap,” he objected loudly, his eyes rounded and huge. “It’s delicious.”

  “Yeah, well.” I shrugged, purposefully taking a big bite of my food and faking a satisfying sound. I didn’t really love the omelets I ordered, but I figured looking after my health was the responsible thing to do. My brothers had never stopped giving me shit about it, so I made a point of pretending to enjoy it in the hopes of inspiring them to come over to the dark side. “Don’t come crying to me when you have a coronary.”

  Beau laughed and shook his head, giving me a salacious wink. “I’ll have worked all this off before lunch, I guarantee it.”

  Holding up my palms with my cutlery still in my hands, I pretended to gag. “Not while we’re eating, please.”

  He laughed again but mercifully took the cue to talk about something else and told me about a new project he was starting at work instead. Beau was moving up at his architectural firm, and whenever he told me about new clients who had specifically requested him or taking on projects no one else in the area would dream of doing, my heart swelled with pride.

  Eventually, though, it was time for me to talk to him about the reason I had invited him to have breakfast with me this morning. “I wanted to talk to you about my progress on the petition to get Dad out.”

  Beau stilled, his burger hanging in front of his mouth from limp fingers. “Okay.”

  “I have a meeting with Judge Carroway later today to find out what’s going to happen with Dad on Friday.” My stomach was tied in a million knots about it. “We’ll know by tonight whether he’ll be out by the weekend or not.”

  The thought that our father could get out of prison in a couple of days was surreal. It stirred up so many mixed emotions in me; I didn’t know what to do with them all.

  The main ones warring for attention were fear and excitement. Fear for obvious reasons, but excitement because in a way, we would be getting our dad back.

  Beau, on the other hand, looked entirely unimpressed. He shrugged his shoulders and finally took the bite of his burger he had been about to take when I brought it up. After he swallowed, he shook his head. “Whatever happens, it’s not a big deal. We’ll take it as it comes.”

  I stared at him, wondering if my hearing was starting to go wonky in what Beau referred to as my old age. “It’s not a big deal? Are you even listening to yourself right now? It’s a very fucking big deal.”

  “Why?”

  My mouth suddenly felt filled with dust and what little appetite I’d had vanished. “I don’t have time to tell you why Dad should stay in prison. You already know, and I’ve had enough of explaining myself.”

  Beau’s head jerked back like I’d slapped him. I could practically see the argument we were about to have in his stormy eyes as he formulated it. Before he could say anything, though, a pair of tanned, skinny arms wrapped around his neck from behind.

  “Hey, baby. You almost ready to go?” Charise asked, sliding into the booth beside my brother. The fight fled out of him at an astonishing speed.

  He turned to her as she was moving into the booth as if he just couldn’t help himself, like there was a field of gravity around her only he was attuned to and had no choice but to give in to. At that moment, it was clear to me that Beau was falling in love.

  Regardless of how often we talked about Charise when we saw each other, I hadn’t seen him with her often. Though he had told me he thought he was falling in love with her, there was no doubt about it in my mind anymore.

  The strange thing was that usually when I saw my brothers, or anyone else, during this time of their relationships I had to fight not to roll my eyes in disgust. I didn’t feel that way this time. The way Beau was smiling at Charise and nuzzling her neck, whispering God only knew what into her ear, made me wonder if that would ever be me.

  It was only a passing thought, but it wasn’t one I’d ever had before. No woman had ever made me want that before, and though I still didn’t, I felt like if there was one woman who could get to me, it would be Eve.

  Thankfully, I didn’t have time to think too much about it. I raced through my breakfast like a third fucking wheel on a date with his brother and his girlfriend, paid the check and left them to their canoodling. I had to see a judge about a petition.

  Judge Carroway’s chambers were in the old court building. It still had hardwood floors, intricately carved wooden details on the walls and
high windows. The judge’s secretary waved me through when I arrived. “He’s expecting you, Mr. Lovett. Go right on in.”

  I nodded my thanks and closed the solid door behind me when I walked into the judge’s chambers. Judge Carroway sat behind an ornate wooden desk and didn’t get up when I entered. “Ah. Mr. Lovett. Have a seat.”

  “Thank you, sir.” My gut was churning given the situation, so sitting down was a blessing.

  Carroway closed whatever file he had been working on and lifted his sharp eyes to mine, folding his hands on his desk. “I have some news, Mr. Lovett. Your father is going to stay in prison.”

  The sigh of relief that escaped was louder than it should have been, but there was no taking it back now. I felt like I was inhaling oxygen properly again for the first time in weeks.

  The judge paused for a moment when he heard me sigh, the only sign that he understood and acknowledged the tremendous weight he had just lifted from my shoulders. “I kicked your appeals up to some colleagues in the upper circuits, and they granted your order. He’s staying put.”

  “Thank you, sir.” I repeated the only three words I’d spoken since entering his office, even though everything had changed since the last time I said them. Dad is finally safe again.

  Carroway nodded, gave me a tight smile and motioned toward his door. “You’re excused, Mr. Lovett. You have a good day now.”

  I resisted the urge to thank him again before doing as he suggested and hauling ass out of his office. Only Carroway’s secretary saw me leave, but it didn’t matter so much now. I had filed the appeals on behalf of the DA’s office, and Carroway had been assigned the case. Calling me in to tell me what the decision had been was par for the course and in no way unethical. Technically, whoever had filed the petition should also have been present, but it wasn’t my job to make sure they were.

  The sun seemed brighter when I left the courthouse, the heat comforting and warming now instead of stifling or suffocating as it had felt earlier. I heard birds chirping in trees and children laughing in the park I passed on the way to my car.

  I couldn’t hold back the grin that came to my lips. I sent a group text to my brothers letting them know the court’s decision and looked at my phone.

  If I was being honest with myself, there was only one person I wanted to share this news with in person. One person I wanted to see and one person I wanted to celebrate with. Eve.

  Scrolling to her number, I pressed call and waited for her to answer. “It’s me. Can you talk?”

  “Sure.” She sounded surprised to hear from me, but I could also have sworn I heard a smile in her voice.

  “I need to see you. Is there any way you can get out of work early?” I sure as shit wasn’t going to my office today. I felt like a concrete block had been lifted from my chest and shoulders. I wanted to savor the air I could breathe again and the adrenaline that always coursed through my veins when I got a successful result.

  Eve spoke to someone on her end of the line, her voice muffled like she was holding her hand over her phone. Then she was back. “I just cleared it with Penny. I’ll leave the bakery in an hour.”

  “Excellent.” A wide smile spread on my face. I knew exactly how I wanted to celebrate this success, and it was with my head buried between Eve’s legs. “I’ll come to your place. Just text me the address. I’ll bring lunch.”

  “No,” she replied quickly, then cleared her throat. “That’s okay. I’ll meet you at your place.”

  “I’ll see you in an hour.” We disconnected the call.

  On my way home, I stopped to pick up two chicken and avocado salads for lunch and got some ice cream since it was a celebration. Eve arrived five minutes past the hour and walked right into my open arms.

  “I won,” I whispered into her sweet smelling hair, dropping kisses on the top of her head. “My father is safe, and there’s nothing they can do about it now.”

  She released me with a soft squeak. Her emerald eyes were bright with happiness, shining like gems as she looked up at me. “They granted your appeal?”

  At my nod, Eve launched herself at me, embracing me and practically climbing up the length of my body. I caught her willingly, hooking my hands under her thighs as I laughed.

  “I’m so proud of you,” she said. Sliding her hands to my cheeks from where they had been intertwined behind my neck, she ran her nose along the length of mine. “I guess this means you won’t be needing me anymore.”

  “On the contrary.” I caught her lips for a long kiss that turned feverish quickly. “I need you now more than ever.”

  A soft smile spread on her full lips just before I claimed them again, holding her against me by her legs as I walked us to my bedroom, where I planned on spending the rest of the day showing her how much I needed her.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Eve

  “Oh my God, Tyson.” I licked my lips, my throat dry from all the panting. Lying on my back on his bed, my neck was arched, and my head was pushing back into his pillow.

  I could have been lying with my head on a rock and it wouldn’t have made a difference. I was too far gone, too close to being swept up in mind-numbing pleasure to care about anything but him not stopping. Tyson’s head was buried between my spread legs, his tongue laving at my folds and his fingers thrusting into me.

  “Come for me, baby.” I felt his lips and his breath on me as he murmured the words, his thumb starting to circle my clit.

  My muscles tensed, pure bliss flaring from my core to my extremities. “If you insist.”

  I barely recognized my own voice. It was so breathy and hoarse, it actually sounded sexy even to me. Tyson groaned, and the vibrations from the noise gave me that little bit extra I needed to go soaring over the edge.

  I had to fight against the urge to close my legs. The sensations were so intense as I came that I had tears in my eyes when I finally resurfaced from the sea of pleasure he gave me.

  “You okay?” he asked as he rose, a wicked grin spreading on his lips when he looked into my eyes.

  I nodded, breathing too heavily to even bother trying to say the words. Watching me carefully, he started moving his fingers again. “One more?”

  A loud moan fell from my lips when he leaned forward and sucked my clit into his mouth. I was so sensitive that I nearly came again just from that one simple suck. Squirming under his firm grip on my hip, I put my hand on his cheek and lifted his face away from my pussy. “You first.”

  “After this.” Before I could stop him, his fingers were hitting the most exquisite spot inside me, and his tongue was swirling around my clit. Okay then, after this.

  I relaxed back against the mattress, screwing my eyes shut and getting lost in what he was making me feel. Tyson was widely regarded as being a fantastic lawyer, but I swore his true talent lay in the bedroom.

  Minutes later, if that, I screamed his name and came so hard that my ears rang when he was done licking me through it. This time when he looked up at me, I could see he was pushing to his limits.

  There were small beads of sweat on his forehead, and his muscles were so tense they looked almost locked. I’d ripped off his clothes when we got into his bedroom earlier, and the reason for his obvious discomfort was clear.

  His cock was so hard as he sat back on his knees before coming to lie down beside me that it looked painful. I could help with that.

  Wetting my lips with my tongue, I let my hair trail down his abdomen as I got to my knees. I trailed kisses over his chest and abs on my way down to my destination, catching the drop of pre-cum at the tip.

  “Poor baby.” I wrapped my hand around his base and relished the resulting hiss. “I’ve been neglecting this today, but that ends now.”

  I figured since Tyson hadn’t made me wait or beg for it once this afternoon, I would return the favor. Stroking the bottom of his shaft, I took him as far into my mouth as I could manage. A primal growl rang out in the bedroom as his hands flew into my hair and gripped it so hard, the sti
ng bordered between pleasure and pain.

  “Fuck yes, Eve. Suck me.” A tremor ran through the muscles in his thighs. “Just like that.”

  I wasn’t a fan of being called “baby” or “babe.” My name was Eve, and I preferred when people used it, but with Tyson, I found myself not minding having him alternate between meaningless pet names and my real name.

  Flattening my tongue against the underside of his head, I started stroking him harder and faster. I felt him get closer. It was in the way his hips jerked, and his muscles worked under my hands. I peeked up at him, finding him staring down at me.

  As soon as our eyes met, he let out a low groan, and one of his hands released my hair to tap my shoulder. I didn’t lift my head off him and doubled my efforts instead.

  “Eve.” His voice was strained and rough. I tightened my grip and did this thing with my tongue I’d read about once. It worked like a charm.

  Tyson stiffened almost immediately and gripped my hair as he found his release. Like he had done for me, I licked him through it and slowed my pace once it was over, giving him time before I pulled away.

  Feeling him come apart and tasting him as he did made me so needy my body had already forgotten he’d given me two spectacular orgasms just a little while ago. It was desperate to feel him inside me.

  I looked up again, expecting to find him collapsed on the bed with his chest rising and falling on heavy breaths. I was right on only one account. He was breathing heavily, but his eyes were dark and hungry, half-lidded as our gazes caught and held. “Get on top of me.”

  “What?” I tore my eyes from his, my gaze darting down to his cock. Arching an eyebrow when I saw it swelling again, I looked back to him. “Are you kidding me?”