Behind the Bar (Home in Carson Book 3)

by Renee Harless

  Gliding his lips from the edge of her jaw to her mouth, Landon brushed his lips against hers before pulling back only the slightest bit. A sheet of paper would barely be able to pass between the two of them.

  “Kerry, I’ve never said anything like that to anyone. Ever.” He paused, letting his words sink. Her eyes flitted back and forth as she took in the momentousness of what he was saying.

  “I want you, Kerry. In a way I’ve never wanted anyone. Tell me you feel it.”

  “I do.”

  “Can I have you now? I will do my best to be gentle, but I can’t make any promises. I’m aching to be inside you.”

  Her hands trailed a path from his shoulders to the back of his head, where she gripped his hair in her surprisingly strong fists. “I don’t want gentle. I just want you.”

  “Thank fuck,” Landon growled as he maniacally pressed his mouth against hers, consuming every ounce she was willing to give as she returned his kiss.

  His body was on fire as his stiff erection pushed against his jeans, aching against the rigid denim. He needed to free himself and get her naked before he went insane. Landon scooped Kerry into his arms with very little effort and walked the short distance over to the bed before depositing her in the center with the smallest of bounces.

  Standing, he took in her body, the glow of the single light casting her in a yellow shade that seemed to radiate from her skin. He’d never understand how he was so lucky as to be the one she chose for the night, but he knew not to question the way fate worked. He wondered for a split second, the shortest speckle of time, if she would change her mind if she knew of his past. Would she run scared when she learned of the things he had done?

  But he needed to stay out of his head or he’d ruin this beautiful gift of a moment he had been given. And the only way he could do that was to lose himself in her.

  With a quick slip of his fingers, he had the button on her jeans dislodged and the zipper pulled down before tugging the pants free from her lower half. Landon mumbled words that were incoherent even to his own ears as he took in her fair skin, only clad in the pale purple bra and matching lace panties.

  Landon kneeled on the bed, his hands on either side of her ankles as he spread her legs apart. Pressing his lips against the softness of her lower leg, Landon dragged his mouth and nose closer to the center of her thighs, leaving the smallest of pecks along the way until she was shaking against his hold. His hands followed the same path as his lips until Landon reached his destination, pressing his mouth against the heated lace and silk.

  He kissed the dark spot on the panties where her wetness for him was evident prior to gliding his hands the remainder of the way up her legs. His fingers stopped along the lower edge of Kerry’s panties and it took all of Landon’s control to refrain from ripping the material apart like a Christmas present so that he could get to the gift inside. Landon’s thumbs followed the line where the lace met Kerry’s soft skin, slipping his thumbs just inside the material as he reached the same area he had just kissed.

  “Are you ready, beautiful?”

  ***

  God, was she ever ready. Kerry had been ready for him the moment they shook hands at the bar. Her body was primed and waiting for him. Normally, she would have been embarrassed at the way Landon focused and licked at her soaked panties, but she wasn’t. The tent in his pants let her know that he was craving her in the same way she craved him.

  “I need to hear the words,” Landon explained as his hands slid across her stomach, the massive palms spanning the expanse of her hips. She leaned up on her elbows and took in the image of the colorful designs on his hands and arms in stark contrast to the unmarred skin of her waist.

  “I’m ready, Landon. I want to feel you.”

  “Where?” he asked as he hooked his fingers into the edge of her panties and began to slide them down her legs excruciatingly slow.

  Even to her own hears, Kerry could hear the huskiness as she replied, “Everywhere. Please.”

  “As you wish,” he said with the smallest of smirks as he winked up at her, tugging the lace material the remainder of the way down her legs, exposing her center to him.

  There was no preamble, no gentle ease of flesh like she expected. But Kerry should have known that Landon had his own plan, his own version of foreplay. Crawling across the bed between her spread thighs, he settled her legs on his shoulders as he sealed his lips against her swollen sex. Kerry’s arms collapsed and she fell onto the bed, her back arching at the sensation of his hot tongue.

  Quickly she felt one of Landon’s hands slide up her thigh until it covered her sex. One of his deft fingers maneuvered beneath his chin as he slipped a digit into her channel while his thumb swirled in circles around her sensitive bud of nerves.

  “Oh my!” Kerry cried out as her legs began to shake from their perch on his shoulder. It didn’t take Landon much effort before Kerry felt her body rising to the crest. Uninhibited, Kerry buried her hand in Landon’s thick locks to keep him in place as her legs tightened around his head. She was in complete ecstasy and craved her release as if it were her next breath.

  “Landon!” she cried out as her core tightened around his finger. His masterful tongue continued to lap at her folds as she rode wave after wave of pleasure. Kerry’s body was still reeling from the experience as the sound of a wrapper tearing caught her attention.

  Propping herself up on her wobbly elbows, Kerry’s eyes widened in fascination as Landon slid the latex condom down his shaft. He was larger and wider than any man she had seen or been with, and under any other circumstance, she would be terrified of him hurting her, but she wanted to feel him deep inside her more than she wanted anything else in the world.

  “See something you like?” he asked as he climbed back on the bed, gingerly caressing the skin around her sex.

  “I wanted to touch you and make you feel good too,” she said, her accent slipping free.

  Leaning forward, Landon caged her face between his arms as he swept his lips across hers.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll have your chance later, but if I don’t get inside you right now, I can’t promise that I won’t become maniacal.”

  “Oh,” she replied as his cock nudged at her entrance. For a moment, Kerry was worried that he wasn’t going to fit, but when he crushed his mouth against hers, she forgot her own name. Wetness pooled between her legs as her body grew hot from his tongue swirling in her mouth.

  She wanted more, needed more. Rocking her hips, Kerry moaned as the tip of his cock rubbed against her folds and swollen clit. As her body rocked against his erection, Landon shifted one of his hands down to his cock and guided it into her tight sheath as he thrust his hips forward.

  He took his time, which Kerry was thankful for. Inch by glorious inch filled up her channel until she was gasping at the fullness.

  “Landon,” she groaned, hoping to convey how much more she needed of him.

  “Only halfway there, beautiful. Want me to slow down?” he asked and Kerry couldn’t help but notice a hint of Irish brogue to his voice.

  “Don’t you dare!” she commanded as she shifted her hips to take more of him.

  “Fuuuuuuck,” he growled as he lifted one of her legs onto his arm and slid the remainder of his erection into her body with one single thrust until he was buried to the hilt.

  “Oh god,” she cried out as her body tightened around him. Kerry didn’t know it was possible, but she felt herself rising closer and closer to her peak as he slowly pulled back and then plunged forward again.

  “Goddamn, you’re so fucking tight. I’ve never felt anything so perfect,” Landon said as his movements became quicker and more frantic.

  Kerry felt her body’s waves of pleasure building, raising her need for release hire and hire. Shifting one arm behind her head, she gripped the edge of the bed and rocked her body in time with Landon’s. Their sweat-covered bodies slipped back and forth and the only sound in the room was their hips crashing against each other
and their heaving breaths mixed with moans. Kerry was so close. Her sex clenched tighter until she gripped Landon’s shoulder, clawing at his colorful skin as she attempted to keep her body on solid ground.

  Then suddenly, she was floating in pleasure. Waves and waves of rapture overwhelmed her body. She could feel Landon’s movements become jerky as she rode the final ripples of her release until he stilled above her, spilling his own release into the condom.

  “Fucking hell,” he murmured before collapsing onto the bed beside her, twisting her body to rest against his. “That was. . .” he whispered as he seemed to search for the words, but Kerry finished for him. “beyond.”

  “Yes, exactly. Nothing could compare to that.”

  Kerry felt her body relax and, as promised, she didn’t feel the slightest of regrets from their tryst. All she felt was peace. He had helped her release all of the tension that had been building for years. It was something she would be forever grateful for.

  “I need to take care of this.” He gestured to the condom on his still stiff cock.

  “I still want to touch you,” she said as she rolled onto her stomach as he left to the bed to head to the bathroom. Kerry enjoyed watching his taut backside move with each step.”

  “Don’t worry, beautiful. You’ll have plenty of time for that. We have all night,” he added as he tugged off the condom, tied off the end, and tossed it into the trash before turning back to her.

  “You can go all night?” she joked, arching an eyebrow in question.

  “Oh, believe me. With you? I could go for an eternity,” he told her as he ungracefully fell back onto the bed, scooping Kerry into his arms and rolling them until she laid on top of his body.

  “Now, what were you saying about touching me?”

  Kerry woke the next morning to sunlight streaming through the window. Summer in North Carolina, she remembered, started early in the day, so she had a hard time figuring out what time it was. A quick glance at the clock on the nightstand told her it was only about 6:30 a.m.

  Kerry was afraid to turn over and find the space next to her in bed barren, but she was also scared that she would find it occupied as well. Thinking back on the night, she couldn’t believe the things that they had done, the things that she had done. Kerry had never felt pleasure like what Landon had elicited from her. If that was what sex was supposed to be like, she had been missing out. Kerry also wondered if it was just a special skill of Landon’s.

  He was unlike any man she had ever met, more than willing to make sure she was taken care of first before he even considered his own pleasure. The men she knew were solely focused on themselves, whether it be in life or in the bedroom. But Landon made her feel things she had never felt before and want things she had never considered. Not that she had any say in her life up until this point.

  She knew that she couldn’t hide from her parents forever, but her night with Landon proved to Kerry how much she had been missing out on. Those reckless things that made you feel alive.

  Blindly Kerry reached across the bed and felt the cooling sheets. There was still a divot in the mattress, so she knew he hadn’t left that long ago. Turning her head, Kerry verified that she was alone, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Maybe the night hadn’t meant as much to him as it had to her.

  Sitting up in bed, Kerry moaned at her aching muscles and joints in places she didn’t know existed. Her hair probably resembled a bird’s nest and she feared taking a glance in the mirror, remembering the nips and bites Landon left on her breasts.

  Stretching her arms in the air, Kerry knew that she didn’t have time to think about all the things that happened the night before. No, she had a place to be and a cabin to get to.

  Chapter Four

  Angie’s Diner was a staple in their small town. Something about the food made Landon miss his mother anytime he dined there. But comfort food was what he wanted even though he tried to do his best to stay at his apartment over the bar. Comfort. He wished that the beautiful blonde from the night before was there to ease the ache in his chest.

  She had rocked his world the night before. Kerry. The woman that looked like an angel sent to earth to knock him off-kilter. She was the perfect blend of innocent beauty and worldly knowledge. She knew what she wanted from him even though it took quite some cajoling to get her to express her desires every once in a while. And boy had she expressed them.

  Landon had always considered himself a thoughtful lover, always making sure the woman he was with felt one hundred percent of his attention. Her release was always a priority before he even considered getting himself off. Landon liked to think it was because he was a gentleman of sorts, but he still wondered if maybe it was due to the fact that he was thankful the woman was giving him the time of day at all.

  He had seen and done terrible things in his life and he felt like scum compared to many of the lovers he’d had. But Kerry had made him feel like the richest man on the planet.

  She had that quality that made him want to be better, do better. And that was a foreign feeling in itself.

  He had hated leaving her that morning. The image of her naked and wrapped around his body with her luscious hair that reminded him of silk spread across her pillow would be etched into his mind for eternity. It was rude to leave her without saying goodbye, especially after all of the ways they had fucked the night before, but she was too peaceful to wake. He had even stared at her for a few extra minutes, memorizing every curve of her body and face so that he’d remember that moment.

  Landon knew he had been a coward to leave without waking her or even leaving a note, but just in case she felt any remorse at their night together he would rather have been spared from that reality.

  He had no choice but to leave, though. He had a delivery that morning that had been rescheduled twice that he had no one else to sign for — another reason to hire help for his bar. There was already too much on his plate as it was.

  Not surprisingly, he had spent the entire drive reliving every moment with Kerry. Every touch, every word, and sensation played in his mind until he pulled up in the small alleyway behind his bar and realized that he didn’t even remember driving home from Asheville. He had been too lost in thought, too lost in Kerry to pay close attention to what he should have been doing.

  He really hoped that he could gain a grip on reality, and soon, because he had a lot riding on the opening of the bar. Not just his brother’s investment but Landon’s pride.

  Landon was so lost in thought that he almost missed someone occupying the stools on either side of where he sat at the diner counter. He took a sip of his sweet tea and turned to his right to find Preston, the town’s sheriff, eyeing him expectantly. On the other, he didn’t even have to turn around to know that Austin Connelly had taken the seat on his other side. The man had sold him the property and had even helped him get the proper permits for the bar’s renovation. He also had a quality about him that, once you knew him, you always knew you were in his presence. Landon had always felt the same way about his brother.

  “To what do I owe this pleasure?” Landon asked, addressing Preston.

  “Just checking in with you.” His friend eyed him curiously just as Ethel, the server, placed the plate with Landon’s lunch in front of him.

  “Checking in as in. . .wondering why I missed out on the date setup last night where you and Shelly were roped in instead, or checking in since my release. Which I should remind you was over two years ago.” Landon knew that he was being an ass to his friend, one of the few people that knew the full story of why he had landed in jail in the first place, but he was still irritated after everything that happened with Kerry the night before. She may not have had any regrets, but he sure as hell did. He should have never agreed to the one-night-stand. How foolish he had been not to get a phone number or plan to meet again. Landon took a hearty bite of his sandwich with a grunt as he waited expectantly for Preston to answer his question.

  “Maybe both? We didn’
t mind the dinner, of course, and thankfully Alexis also invited Tate, so your date wasn’t a third wheel of sorts.”

  “I never asked to be set up. All of your wives and sisters keep insisting that I need to be in a relationship to be happy. I’m perfectly fine with the way things are.” Landon knew his comment would fall on deaf ears since his friends could care less about his love life or his need for solitude, but for the first time, he actually didn’t believe it himself. Damn, Kerry for tossing his well-crafted world into upheaval.

  “Yeah, we know. They just want you to have someone there for you. Women tend to think that you need to be in a relationship to be happy.”

  “Like you all are?”

  Landon didn’t need to glance beside him to see the wide grins on his friend’s faces. Everyone in the town was deliriously happy, which made him and the other singles in town their target.

  “Anyway, how is the bar coming along?”

  “Almost done. Hoping to have her open in two weeks or so.”

  “Well, let us know if you need anything.”

  Silence grew between them as Landon ate his lunch and the men ordered their own meals. He could tell by the way they both stared at him expectantly instead of making conversation that they each had something more on their minds. Luckily Landon was saved as the rest of the Connelly family, their spouses and kids, and Shelly walked into the diner.

  Turning toward Austin, Landon cocked his eyebrow expectantly, knowing that his friend had something to say.

  “Fine. I was the chosen one.”

  Chuckling, Landon asked, “Chosen for what?”

  His friend rubbed his hands across his face and wove them into his hair as he mumbled, “To tell you that my mom and dad are having a cookout tonight and want you there.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand you.”