Down & Dirty 3_A Shameless Southern Nights Novel

by J. H. Croix

  I licked her nipple lazily, sucking it between my teeth until she was clawing at my back, whimpering my name. I rolled her other nipple between my thumb and forefinger, savoring when she gasped and arched into me. When I lifted my head to find her dark gaze waiting, my cock swelled.

  Trailing my fingers lightly over her belly, I leaned up to catch her lips again. Her fingers tangled roughly in my hair as she kissed me, moaning into my mouth.

  I needed more. Now. I kissed my way down her neck, across her chest and down her stomach until I reached my destination. Shifting my shoulders, I settled between her thighs. Leaning forward, I drew my tongue over the seam of her sex. Her head rolled back as I explored her slick folds, darting my tongue into her core.

  Closing my lips over her clit, I slid a finger inside her and pressed my hips into the mattress for some relief at the feel of how hot she was, how slick and wanting. Slipping another finger into her, her hips bucked against my mouth.

  Marie’s hand caught one of mine, lacing our fingers and gripping hard. I could sense her release was close. Sucking her clit into my mouth again, I held her steady as her hips nearly came off the bed.

  Her breathing became choppy and the hand clenching mine tightened painfully. A few more flicks of my tongue and she was there, writhing and turning her head to cry out into a pillow as she came.

  When she started coming down, I drew away and settled over her, not able to wait one more second to be inside her. She was as desperate for me as I was for her, curling her legs around me and wrapping a hand around my cock to guide me inside.

  “I missed you so much, Jeremy,” she breathed, arching into me as I sank into her creamy clench. My control was at the end of its tether. Pleasure lashing at me.

  “Missed you too, baby. I love you.”

  I groaned as I sank into her, the base of my spine already tingling, moaning as we started moving together. I kept my eyes on hers as I leaned down to kiss her.

  Each stroke and every thrust took us higher, closer to the edge. Finally, reaching between us, I pressed my thumb to her clit. She shuddered, her channel clamping down around my cock as she breathed my name.

  One more deep stroke into her, and my balls tightened, my body going rigid as I poured my release into her.

  Collapsing to her side, I rolled and hooked my arm underneath her to bring her with me. I didn't want to let her go, not even for a second.

  Neither of us said much as we caught our breath. There had been enough words spoken between us tonight, I just needed to be with her now. And it looked like Marie felt the same way. I felt raw. The emotional intensity of the day had been close to overpowering.

  * * *

  I completely forgot to set the alarm on my phone. I woke with a start when I heard Austin calling for Marie from the kitchen.

  "Baby." I shook her shoulder lightly before deciding that planting kisses all over her might be more effective and definitely more fun.

  She giggled and pushed my head away from her neck, whispering as she opened her eyes, "Jeremy, stop. Not fair."

  "Totally fair," I countered. "I woke up first, that means I get to decide how you wake up."

  "You'll pay for this," she mumbled laughingly, tensing and sitting up straight when Austin called out for her again. "Crap. What’s the time?"

  Her eyes slid to her bedside clock and grew to the size of saucers when she realized how late it was. Bolting out of bed, she dressed quickly in yoga pants and a loose T-shirt and called out, "Coming, sweetheart."

  I smirked, catching her wrist to pull her in for another kiss. "Not yet, but you could be soon."

  She swatted me on the shoulder, giving me a look that was somewhere between chastisement and encouragement. "Not now. Austin's awake."

  Her lips turned down, sadness replacing the humor in her eyes. "And that means we need to talk to him."

  "We?"

  "Yes. We,” she insisted. "You said you wanted to move forward, this is what moving forward looks like. We have to help him through this, and then we'll talk to him in the next couple of weeks sometime about us. Okay?"

  My pulse started racing. This was it. If we were going all in with our relationship and told Austin, that meant we were finally done hiding. From everyone and everything. For good.

  But first, we had to get through the heartbreaking task ahead. "Go on ahead. Let me just get dressed and I'll meet you in the kitchen."

  "See you out there,” she said, darting out of the bedroom and to her son.

  A few minutes later I found them making breakfast together. Pancakes, Austin's favorite. "Smells good in here."

  "Pancakes are the best," Austin said with a beaming smile. If he had any questions about where I'd suddenly come from, he was too absorbed by the prospect of his breakfast. "Are you having breakfast with us?"

  "That okay with you?"

  He lifted his hand for a high five. "That's okay."

  "In that case," I told him. "I'm having breakfast with you. Who says no to pancakes?"

  "No one smart," Austin piped up.

  I agreed wholeheartedly. "No one smart."

  Marie and I chatted as she made the pancakes, trying to hide the underlying strain in making conversation when we knew what news we had to tell Austin when breakfast was done. By silent agreement, we decided to wait until after he'd eaten to tell him about Wesley.

  Breakfast went by fast, with Austin scarfing down pancakes almost as fast as Marie could finish making them. We ate together and after we were done, Marie led Austin to the living room.

  "I have to go get ready for daycare," he protested when she told him to sit with her for a minute. Shaking her head sadly, she said, "I've already called daycare. We're playing hooky for today, baby. Remember you asked me once if we could?"

  "You said no," he answered immediately.

  I was no expert on kids, but I could tell Austin sensed something.

  "I did, but that was then." Tears jumped to her eyes, and I sank to the ground by their feet, slinging one arm across her knees to let her know I was there. She inhaled a deep breath. "Today is different, I think we can stay home today."

  "Why?" Austin didn't look worried, just curious.

  Marie told him about Wesley as gently as she could, but Austin’s little chest still collapsed as tears overtook him. She cradled him to her chest and soothed him as best she could. "It's okay to cry, baby. It's okay to be sad."

  She blinked, tears falling down her cheeks. "It was just an accident, sweetheart. It's so sad when these things happen, but they do. Just an accident."

  She sought out my eyes as she murmured those words. We were both worried that it was more than an accident, considering what Sonny had said about the scene looking suspicious.

  Obviously though, we didn't say as much to Austin. How could we? It was hard enough to explain an accident to a five-year-old. I doubted he even knew the meaning of the word murder.

  No.

  An accident. That was what had claimed the life of his father as far as Austin would know. Nothing more than a terrible, unfortunate accident.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Marie

  “Happy moving day!” Sarah squealed when I stepped into her salon in Cypress Creek. It smelled of coffee and hair product, which was heavenly and homey to me. Early morning sunlight shone through the wide windows, bathing Sarah and the salon in a glow that made my heart clench with happiness to be back.

  “Thanks.” She held a thermos out to me and I took it, taking a long sip of the sweet coffee inside. “It’s good to be back.”

  And it really was.

  I was relieved to be home again, even more so since it was for good reasons this time. I wasn’t running from anything or anyone anymore. I was here because it was exactly where I wanted to be. In my hometown, at a job I adored and with the man I loved.

  Breathing in deeply, I smiled and sank into the black leather chair at my old station. She tied a big red bow around the chair and hung a welcome back banner
on my mirror.

  “You didn’t have to do all this.” I motioned to the bow and banner. “Just letting me come back to work was more than enough.”

  “Nonsense,” Sarah clucked. “Taking you back was a no-brainer. The clients and I miss you too much not to. All the extras are to show you how happy we are to have you back. You all set to move back into your place?”

  “Yup. We’re all set.” Austin and I were moving back into the apartment we’d had to leave when Wesley got the court order saying we had to go back to Savannah. Jeremy and I toyed with the idea of moving in together, but ultimately decided against it.

  Austin had gone through so much the last few months. Moving in with Jeremy so soon just didn’t seem like the right thing to do for him. It was too soon, only a couple of weeks since Wesley…

  As if Sarah sensed what I was thinking about, she leaned forward in her seat next to mine. Her bright red was piled into a bun on top of her head, but she twirled a strand that had come loose between her fingers. Concern filled her eyes as she studied me.

  “How are you guys doing after all that ugly business back in Savannah?”

  “Still processing,” I answered honestly. “In a way, I still have mixed feelings. I’m sad about the way Wesley died, but I finally feel safe again. Austin has a shot at stability in his life without fear and constantly feeling like he has to protect me.”

  Sarah reached over and patted my hand. “But the man was still his daddy, I understand why you’re feeling mixed up about it. It’s natural, I think.”

  “The man was a manipulative monster, but he didn’t deserve...” I still couldn’t say the words.

  To be murdered, to die…

  The men responsible for his death had been caught. They were arrested the week after it happened. Jeremy had stayed with me that weekend, but he’d stopped by to see Sonny after work that Monday. Sonny had convinced him to go ahead with their plan to be fitted with a wire since he was still in danger from the men who’d been threatening him.

  He’d been wearing the wire when he went back to his rental in Savannah that night. The men were there, parked outside his house waiting for them. They approached him and he managed to record them threatening him again, saying that if he didn’t turn over the money, something like what happened to his friend would happen to him.

  It didn’t take much after that for him to realize that his attempt to play nice with Wesley for the sake of the custody case had ended up putting Wesley at risk. The police followed up after Sonny turned the recording over to the local authorities the next day, and things moved pretty fast after that.

  I didn’t know exactly what they’d found, but they’d tied the men to Wesley’s accident. Combined with the recording, Sonny was confident that they’d be going away for a long, long time.

  I’d cried when Jeremy told me about the arrest. Whether it was out of relief that the men who’d threatened him because he was trying to help me couldn’t get to him anymore, or grief that a man I’d once thought I loved was gone in such a brutal way, I didn’t know. Probably both, and a million other emotions I couldn’t quite pinpoint.

  Sarah’s voice pulled me out of my memories of the last few weeks. “He didn’t deserve it, no. But it’s not a crime for you to be relieved that he’s gone. He made your life a living nightmare, sweetheart. He threatened you and your boy and who knows where all that would’ve ended. It’s only human to be relieved that you can finally move on with your life.”

  “I know, but it just feels so...” I shivered, at a loss for the right word. “Unreal.”

  “That’s the shock talking.” Sarah smiled sympathetically. “You’ve all been through so much these last few months. You’ll feel better once you get back to your routine, your life.”

  “We will.”

  Austin was already a different child, he’d been beaming when I dropped him off at his old preschool this morning. The children and his teacher were waiting outside for him to welcome him on his first day back and I’d brought cupcakes with us so he could celebrate his return with his classmates.

  Savannah managed to get us an emergency hearing with the judge on the custody case last week and cleared the way for us to be able to move back to Cypress Creek. She said there would be some formalities left to handle to have the case fully dismissed, but that it should all be wrapped up soon.

  Since Austin hadn’t missed too much work at his preschool, it looked like he’d still be able to graduate with his original class, provided we put in the extra work and got him caught up.

  That was my first priority, and I was determined to make it happen.

  Jeremy, meanwhile, had returned the rest of the money to the safety deposit box before he’d even told me about it. Savannah had paid back whatever deposit he’d already paid her for the litigation that wouldn’t happen anymore, and he’d returned that too. He swore he’d never touch that money again and only hoped no one else would get hurt because of it.

  “Speaking of getting back to your life,” Sarah said. “Are you still planning on moving in today and coming back to work tomorrow? I’ve got the phone ringing off the hook with your clients wanting to line up appointments once they heard you’ll be back.”

  “I’ll be here,” I promised her, looking around at the dusky pink walls and the familiar quirky decorations in the salon. “I can’t wait.”

  “Neither can I, my dear,” she told me, then her eyes drifted to the window behind me and a brilliant smile lit her face. “It seems someone else couldn’t wait either.”

  I spun around in my chair, my smile matching hers when I saw Jeremy jogging across the street toward the salon. It would only open for business in about an hour, but the door was unlocked from Sarah letting me in for our quick catch-up coffee.

  Spying us sitting inside, a handsome smirk kicked up the corners of Jeremy’s lips as he pushed through the door. “Surprise!”

  “Always a welcome one,” Sarah told him, laughing and standing up from her chair to give him a quick hug and offer him some coffee.

  “Love some, but then we have to get to work.” His hazel eyes sparkled in the soft light as he bent down to plant a kiss on my lips.

  “We?” I asked, breathing in the intoxicating scent of his cologne as he leaned over me. The spicy, earthy smell still got me every time. I looped my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a proper kiss as Sarah went to the back to get his coffee.

  Jeremy’s lips were firm and warm on mine, familiar and somehow still just as exciting as it’d been the first time I kissed him. His dark hair was soft as I wound my fingers into it, the scruff on his jaw scraping against my chin.

  He tasted like coffee and mint and Jeremy. A combination that made my heart race and body ache for his. Deepening our kiss, I pressed up against his chest and was on the verge of forgetting where we were when he lifted his head from mine, his arms still wrapped around my waist.

  “Yes. We. I took the day off to help you move,” he explained holding me close and dropping a kiss on my forehead before taking a step back. “But we also really shouldn’t keep doing that if you want to get around to moving today.”

  “Point taken.” Though my body would have been happy to do otherwise, I forced myself to focus. Pressing my legs together to dampen the ache between them somewhat, I flushed when Jeremy’s eyes darkened. He’d noticed what I was doing. Fighting a flush of embarrassment, I cleared my throat. “I didn’t know you were coming to help me move.”

  “I’m helping you move, then we’re both coming.” Closing the distance he’d put between our bodies, he pulled me back into his arms and took my hand to cup it over the hard, hot length of his cock. “But just so you know, you’re not the only one wishing we were coming before we moved.”

  I laughed at how he always managed to make me feel at ease, his eyes crinkling at the corners despite his arousal. Pressing a soft kiss to the underside of his jaw, I whispered. “Let’s get the moving done with then.”

  “Agreed.”<
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  Sarah walked back into the salon, carrying Jeremy’s coffee. He drank it fast, taking his mug to the back when he was done. Sarah and I said our goodbyes, with her wishing us luck for moving day. “You’re so good to have come to surprise her to help.”

  “I’ll always be here for her.” Jeremy shrugged, but his eyes were serious when they met mine. “For as long as she’ll have me.”

  My heart skipped a beat. Or three. Maybe five. I reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze, winking as I joked so I didn’t get choked up in front of Sarah. “As long as you’re helping me move, I’ll have you for at least today.”

  Jeremy chuckled and bumped my shoulder with his, then draped his arm around my shoulders. Sarah waved goodbye and Jeremy walked me to my car, murmuring into my ear. “Just for today, huh? We’ll see about that.”

  True to his word, he helped me move everything back into our apartment. By the time we picked Austin up from daycare that afternoon, the place looked like we’d never left it at all. Sighing happily, I looked around our home.

  It was small, but it was ours. And with any luck, Jeremy would be there to share it with us for many more days than just today.

  We went for a walk later with Arcadian, who Jeremy had brought over because he was staying the night, had dinner and tucked Austin into bed. We were lying together naked in my bed that night, both covered with a light sheen of sweat as I caught my breath. Yet again, he’d sent my flying more than once.

  With my head on his chest and his heart still beating rapidly beneath my ear, I looked up into those gorgeous eyes, whispering, “I’ll have you for as long as you’ll have me.”

  Jeremy’s arms tightened around me. He was quiet for so long that I was drifting off to sleep when I heard him murmur, “Hope you’re ready for the long haul, then.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Jeremy

  “Oh, I love this place,” Marie exclaimed as we made our way down the narrow path that led to the restaurant where I'd brought her for our first date. The sun was setting in the distance and the rows of garden lights hanging from the trees overhead lit up the path already darkened by the greenery.