Brides on the Run (Books 1-4): Small-Town Romance Series

by Jami Albright

  “Play.” Aiden pulled her hand toward the slide.

  She laughed at his order. “Okay, little man. I’ll play with you.”

  He climbed the small ladder of the playscape while she stood behind him. When he positioned himself in the right place, he pointed to the bottom of the slide. “Catch.”

  “Alright.” She snatched him up to keep him from hitting the ground. If happiness had a sound, it was the way his giggles rang off the walls of the enclosed playground.

  “Again, again.” His short legs worked double time to get back to the ladder.

  They spent the better part of half an hour this way, and every time she caught him and swung him into the air he squealed with glee.

  It amazed her how many of Gavin’s mannerisms the kid had, the way he lifted one side of his mouth when he was about to slide like he was about to do the most amazing thing possible. Or how he cocked his head when she talked to him, and how his little brow wrinkled when she told him they needed to rest and drink some water. Except for the dimples and the white-blond hair, he was the spitting image of his father. She knew Gavin was talking to Kristy about a DNA test, but it was only a formality.

  “Hey, hey. I got a mushtush.” His grin was too much.

  “What, Aiden? What do you have?” He was speaking English, but she didn’t speak toddler.

  He pointed to his upper lip where there was a thin line of milk. “I got a muchtush.”

  “Oh, a mustache.” She laughed, and he beamed. “It’s a very nice mustache.”

  “Yeah.” He nodded, then jumped down and ran for the tiny house in the middle of the play area.

  “Hey.”

  “My name is Scarlett, Aiden. Can you say that?”

  “No.”

  “Can you try?”

  He huffed like she’d asked him to clean the toilet. Clearly, he had some of his aunt’s mannerisms too. “Scawit.”

  She ruffled his hair. “Close enough.”

  He shrieked and ran into the maze, then poked his head out. “Where is the boy?”

  “The boy?”

  “The biiiiig boy.” He puffed his chest out and spread his arms as wide as possible.

  Gavin. “He’s inside.”

  “With Kiki?”

  “Yes, he’s with your Aunt Kristy.”

  He spun plastic blocks attached to the metal rods. “Can he play?”

  Her heart almost burst. Gavin would love it so much if Aiden asked him to play. “Why don’t you go ask?”

  She opened the door and watched through the window as Gavin’s mini-me ran up to the table and asked his question. The two reactions to that request couldn’t have been farther apart. Kristy turned as white as a sheet, and Gavin’s face lit up like the sky on the Fourth of July.

  He got up and turned to Kristy and said something. She shook her head. With a shrug, he turned to Aiden, who held out a pudgy little hand. The Fourth of July look turned into something completely different. Like he’d hit the game-winning homerun in the World Series, on his birthday, while receiving a Grammy and opening the best Christmas present he’d ever been given.

  Her husband and his son. Happiness, fear, devotion, anxiety, and love slipped over her heart in a waterfall of tenderness.

  Tears she hadn’t expected blurred the scene. When they came through the door, she gave Gavin a thumbs up. The matching grins on both boys were cuter than anything she’d ever seen.

  “Come play, Scawit.”

  “I will in a minute. You play with Gavin for a bit. I need to rest.” No way would she take this moment from her husband. She sat at a table on the perimeter of the play area. At first, Gavin was tentative and overly careful, but Aiden quickly put an end to that. Soon they were both laughing and running around like crazy men. Unlike her, Gavin crawled up the bigger slides and went down with Aiden between his legs.

  It could be this way. She saw it all play out in her imagination. Their life. The three of them, together for always.

  Her phone signaled an incoming text. Without looking at the sender, she opened the message and gasped.

  Another picture.

  In it, she sat on a metal bench bolted to the wall, with a gang banger named Lil Roxy on one side and a homeless woman named Wanda on the other. Both rested their heads on Scarlett’s shoulders, sound asleep. It was hard to see all the details because of the cell bars, but her black pantyhose were ripped, her red curls were a riotous tangled mess, and her mascara-ringed eyes still held the same horror as in the previous picture.

  Below the picture was another message from her tormentor. You meet the most interesting people in jail – Poppy. :-)

  That effin’ smiley face emoji must be the new sign of the devil.

  She was doomed. There’d be no coming back from these pictures. She looked at the boy who’d stolen her heart and the man who owned it and knew she’d never be more than an acquaintance to one and a memory for the other.

  Chapter 24

  “Sit here and close your eyes.” Gavin let Scarlett lead him to the sofa in the middle of the hotel suite.

  He clutched her around the waist, pulled her to him, and began an assault on one of his favorite places, the spot below her ear. “What do you have in mind, wife?”

  “I should’ve known you wouldn’t follow orders.” She removed his hands and stepped out of his reach. “Behave.”

  “Never.” Kissing that bottom lip caught between her teeth became his prime objective.

  “Come here.”

  A quick push and he landed on the cushions. “No. Close your eyes.”

  “Fine.” He threw his hands over his eyes. “Satisfied?” As he relaxed into the sofa, the lab results crinkled in his pocket. Tremors of joy raced through his body. That was all the proof he needed.

  It was official.

  He was Aiden Bradley Bain’s father.

  There was that feeling again. The one he’d had since the moment he’d seen Aiden. Like the first drop of a rollercoaster coated in melted caramel. He had no word for it, but it was now part of his DNA and he knew the ride would be more than he could’ve ever dreamed.

  A loud squeak and a muttered curse came from one of the bedrooms. What was Scarlett planning? He hoped it didn’t have anything to do with hot wax. Been there, done that, had the scars to prove it. Although, with her, he’d be willing to try again.

  “Keep ’em closed.” She was back in the room, and it sounded like she was rearranging furniture. This time the squeak was louder. “Shit.”

  He wanted to peek, but he kept his eyes covered and chuckled. “Ugly talk from such a pretty mouth. Do you kiss your daddy with that mouth, missy?”

  The fragrance of honeysuckle and vanilla surrounded him. He drank it in and hot fantasies raced through his brain in living color. He wasn’t a patient man. He took what he wanted, when he wanted it, and if she didn’t get on with the program, she could forget about him following her rules and being a good boy.

  Impatience evaporated in a heartbeat as long fingers ran through his hair, nails scraped his scalp and down his neck. The couch cushion on his right then his left sank as a delicious, heated weight straddled his hips. He groaned as she nestled closer to his engorged cock. Damn, this was better than any fucking fantasy.

  Warm breath licked against his ear. “The only man I want to kiss with this potty mouth is you.” Air rushed from his lungs and blood thrummed in his ears. She kissed him senseless. He had to have more.

  Gavin ran his hands under her shirt to find the skin he craved, but she broke away from him. “What the—?”

  “I love kissing you.”

  “Then get back over here and finish what you started.”

  She laughed. The warm sound spilled around him, doing funny things to his heart. He was hard as a brick and all he wanted was to make her happy. “Okay, woman, since kissing isn’t what you have in mind, what now?”

  She leaned in to rub her breast against his chest. Urgent kisses went up his neck, and just when he thought
he’d happily die on this couch, she bit his earlobe.

  “You’re so easy, Gavin. I never said kissing wasn’t on my mind. But there’s something else that needs to be done first.” She patted his pecs. “Keep your eyes closed. Good things come to those who wait.”

  “If I wait too much longer, I might be damaged goods forever.”

  “I promise I’ll make it worth your while,” she whispered in his ear. “Now close ’em.”

  Wound up as he was, he happily obeyed. He may have to sit there with his eyes shut, but she couldn’t stop him from thinking about her in the lace teddy or the other silky things he’d bought her.

  More shuffling, and the occasional grunt.

  “I hope all this noise means you’re naked and you’re setting up some kind of sexual obstacle course.” Now that would be fun.

  “Okay. Open your eyes.”

  The excitement in her voice was contagious and he was curious.

  He raised his lids.

  Aaannnd his eyeballs nearly fell out of his head.

  Desire came to a screeching halt into a big-ass wall of what the hell?

  Balloons were everywhere. Blue ones, silver ones, and one giant It’s a Boy! A car seat sat atop the loaded-down service cart. Some kind of folded-up contraption with a picture of a playpen on the side rested on the bottom shelf. Gifts, large and small, all wrapped in blue and silver paper with huge bows, covered the rest of the trolley.

  She threw her arms above her head. “Happy Daddy Day!” she yelled, clapped her hands, and ended with blowing an obnoxious noisemaker.

  His world made a sharp shift, and it took the rest of him a minute to catch up. The synapses in his brain were firing too fast to form words. All he could do was sit bug-eyed and mute.

  “Oh, no. Do you hate it? I shouldn’t have surprised you. It’s a shock. You’re in shock.”

  Nobody in his life had ever done anything like this for him. Nobody had ever given a shit. Nobody but this crazy little redhead from Texas who’d completely rocked his world.

  “Gavin, say something.”

  Without taking his eye off his bounty, he took her wrist and pulled. She landed across his lap with a squeak. This was where she belonged. He cupped her face in his hand. She needed, no, he needed her to understand what this meant to him. “Not one person in my life has ever done anything like this for me. I’m blown away. I love it. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” Her warm hand brushed down his cheek. “I want you to have all the stuff for your new life with Aiden.”

  What he needed for his new life with Aiden was her. She got him. He’d never understood the intoxicating power of that until now. He was drunk on it. Smashed out of his mind on the happiness and contentment she brought to his life.

  For someone who lived by his words, he couldn’t express what he wanted, but he could show her. With a slight adjustment, he laid her on the sofa. The leather conformed around her with a groan. Her gorgeous hair fanned out like a crown of fire. He stroked her full bottom lip with his thumb and died just a little when she sucked it into her mouth. Not to be distracted from the message he had to make her understand, he continued with his exploration. Fingers glided along her throat, pausing to feel her run-away pulse.

  “You’re so damn beautiful. Las Vegas was the best decision I’ve ever made.” He shifted his weight on top of her. “Never doubt it.”

  “Gavin, please.” Her unfocused expression and restless hands across his shoulders told him what she wanted.

  His response was lips to lips, tongue to tongue. She was open, wanting, waiting.

  “I want you, Scarlett. Can I have you, baby?”

  She wrapped one leg around his hip and tilted her pelvis up to meet his. “Yes.”

  Being with her was the best thing he’d ever done, better than making music, better than playing concerts, better than adoring fans. Her sighs of pleasure were the only applause he needed to hear.

  “Lift up, sweetheart.”

  She sat up and skimmed her thin cotton top over her head. Pale pink lace with pebbled nipples underneath sent hot blood to all parts south. His hands trembled as he unhooked the front clasp of her bra and pulled the cups away from her spectacular breasts.

  “Take your shirt off, Gavin.” She lay back to watch.

  He was happy to comply, it was gone in a heartbeat.

  She sighed and lowered her lashes. “I want to see all of you.” A saucy smile tilted her lips. “Strip.”

  He wasn’t sure when he’d lost the lead, but he wasn’t about to argue. He stood and started to unbutton his jeans. “You too.”

  A slow blush stained her creamy cheeks, and she raised her hips off the sofa, and pushed her clothes down. Soft curves ended where he most wanted to be. She was perfect. She was his.

  He ditched his pants and paused when he heard her sharp intake of air.

  “Your body should be immortalized in marble and worshiped.” She reached out and touched his hip.

  “I don’t care a thing about being immortalized, but feel free to worship all you want.”

  She laughed. “Come here.”

  He lay down on the sofa to circle her nipple with deliberate slowness. The velvety touch of her soft skin under his calloused fingers was a jolt of electricity through his body. It scalded away the bad shit from his past and left nothing but sweetness in its path.

  He cupped her breasts and laved open-mouthed kisses on the tips.

  “So, good, Gavin. So, good.” Breathless pants filled the air. Her lids lowered and she arched toward him.

  Each movement, each breathy whisper, let him know how lost she was in his arms. Be here with me. He had to make sure. He wasn’t just the bad-boy rocker. He was Gavin. And he needed to know she saw him. “Look at me.” Gravel lined the harshness of his command.

  Surprise and worry reflected in her puzzled gaze.

  “I…I didn’t mean to sound…” What the hell was he trying to say?

  Scarlett smiled and his heart grew ten sizes. Everything was in her eyes. That unnamed emotion he’d been grasping for all his life. “Hey.” She traced his clenched jaw. “I’m here. I’m with you.”

  Passion shot through him like a rocket blast and his mouth crashed down on hers. She opened for him and urged him further. Her hips restlessly pulsed under him. The smell of sex swirled around them. He had to have her soon or he would explode.

  “Open for me.”

  She let her legs fall apart and he slipped into her wet entrance with one finger then two. She gripped his shoulder and cried out.

  “Easy, baby, easy. I’ve got you.”

  He trailed kisses down her body, swirled his tongue in her navel and paid homage from one hipbone to the other. The erotic exploration continued to the inside of her luscious thighs. He glanced up at her. “Do you trust me?”

  Her fingers thread through his hair. “Yes.”

  It was all the permission he needed. He claimed her with his mouth. Every movement and lick took her to where he wanted her to be. Her pleas ricocheted off his heart. Every desperate moan was a victory cry for him and he didn’t stop until she screamed his name.

  He gathered her in his arms while she trembled in the aftermath. She pressed small kisses in the crook of his neck and sighed.

  He pulled back to see her face. “You like that?”

  “Mmmm, soooo much.”

  Her half-drunk smile made him grin. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. But I want all of you, Gavin.”

  He ripped a foil package open. “You can have whatever you want.”

  With a quick slide, he was inside her. Her soft heat around his hardness nearly robbed what reason he had left. “Scarlett, you feel—”

  Her nails scored his back. “Stop talking, rock star, and move.” Desperation coated her words.

  “Like this.” He rocked his hips.

  “Yes…ah, yes.”

  They moved as one, climbing and searching together. They each took. They each gave. Being with her,
inside her, was like nothing else he’d ever experienced. This was making love. This was real. What he’d known since Vegas, but was too stupid to realize, crystallized with each thrust.

  Fuck. I’m in love.

  Afraid she would run, he kept the words locked away. So, with each stroke, each sigh, each kiss, he communicated what he couldn’t say out loud.

  Stroke.

  I love you.

  Sigh.

  So much.

  Kiss.

  I’m scared shitless, but I don’t care.

  He poured love into her until they lay spent and satisfied.

  When it was over, she owned him, body and soul. She freed the brokenness in him. Baptized and resurrected him with her sweetness, and made him a new man.

  Scarlett moved to the music, while people pressed in all around them. Perfume, body odor and lust rose around them. The deep bass of the song pulsed through her body, like musical foreplay.

  After her surprise baby shower and their afternoon of sex, they decided to go out and celebrate. They’d ended up at this crowded, dark club with go-go dancers behind glass walls above the bar and in cages around the room. It was the perfect place to blend in and go unnoticed.

  Their love-making had been different this afternoon, stronger, deeper, almost sacred. It changed things, and it almost certainly meant she’d walk away from this relationship with a broken heart.

  Gavin moved in behind her, and all thought of protecting herself fled. The music wove around them and tied them together. One of his hands burned a path down her side to rest low on her hip. Calloused fingers played with the hem of her skirt and rucked the fabric up to find the sensitive skin of her thigh. There were people all around, and she could have cared less. He was all that mattered.

  His other arm wound around her waist and drew her to him. She arched back to press her bottom into him. They fit together perfectly. Goosebumps fanned over her skin when he trailed warm kisses up the column of her damp throat. In this moment she could forget this was pretend and let her love for him lead her. She flung her arm up and around his neck and tangled her fingers in the smooth strands of his hair.