by Alla Kar
Boone lifted a brow. “That’s not conspicuous at all.”
Sam snorted. “She gave us the weirdest looks the entire time. I was the distraction.”
Jace smiled. “I was the distraction for Boone.”
“Yeah, dude pretended his back went out,” Boone said.
We all laughed, but then Boone grabbed the letter and read it. His mouth parted and his gaze went to Jace. “Look at the bottom.”
Jace leaned forward and grabbed the paper. “Holy shit. It’s the same word.”
“What word?” I asked. “Always? What about it?”
Boone jumped up and grabbed the yearbook from his kitchen table and flipped opened the cover. Handing me the book, he leaned back on his heels. “At the bottom.”
At the bottom of the yearbook was the word Always, written in a small feminine hand that I knew too well. My mother’s.
“That’s my mom’s handwriting,” I whispered to no one. “Our parents?” I gawked at him. “Uh, gross?”
Jace snorted and grabbed the yearbook. “Well, looks like that could be a reason your fathers don’t like each other.”
Boone shook his head and interlaced his fingers on the back of his neck. “But that was so long ago. Why would they still hate each other that much? Something else must have happened.”
“But wait … ” I grabbed the letter and read down a few lines. “I’m so sorry about last night. I just got so fucking mad. I wanted to wash his scent from your skin. I only have a few minutes before I have to go to work, but I wanted to let you know that I love you. And I hope this letter finds you well today. I’ll see you tonight in our spot. Be safe. Always.”
Boone bent down to sit beside me. “It sounds like you and me. Meeting at a spot? You only do that if you’re hidin’ or tryin’ to get it on. But by the ‘I wanted to wash his scent from your skin’ part, I’m guessin’ they were hiding from somebody.”
“My dad?”
“Or their parents, like you two,” Sam said.
I swallowed the sadness in my throat. How long had my mother been cheating on my father? I wanted to be mad but I wasn’t sure I could find the strength to feel anything. A numbness grew inside of me. What in the hell had my mother done?
Boone wrapped his arm around my shoulder and drew me closer to him. “You want to come with me? You need a minute to breathe?”
I nodded. Boone interlaced our fingers and stood up, pulling me with him. “We’re going upstairs. I think this is enough for tonight. Y’all make yourselves at home and we’ll be down in a bit.”
Boone led me up the stairs. As soon as the door shut, I relaxed and made my way to lay on his bed. “Our parents?” I whispered, while he wrapped himself around me. “I can’t believe it. I mean—it’s weird, right?”
Boone nodded. “Yeah, it’s definitely weird.”
“I hope there is another reason why they hate each other because that’s a little extreme. Especially to get a butt whooping over.”
Boone stroke my cheek. “We’ll figure it out, Raven. There is only so much they can keep hidden from us. The truth always comes out.”
“That’s what I’m scared of,” I whispered.
“Me too, but hey, we’re gonna get through it together.”
I closed my eyes. “I just hope it isn’t anything gross, like you’re my half-brother or something.”
He barked out a laugh. “Please, don’t say that. That’s the last thing I need to happen. Sorry, but I don’t think I could handle any Flowers in the Attic bullshit.”
I propped myself up on my elbow. “You watched Petals on the Wind didn’t you? The second one? The one I wanted to watch with you?”
Boone narrowed his eyes and then rolled them. “Whatever.”
I laughed and fell on top of him. “You’re adorable,” I whispered.
Boone lifted a brow and pinned me below him. “You can’t use my line on me.”
“Doesn’t sound too cute, does it?”
Boone grinned, showing both rows of teeth. The third one from the middle was slightly crooked, and it made me smile. I loved that tooth, like I loved every other perfect flaw on him. “I’ve missed you, Raven.”
My heart skipped a beat at the way his voice settled over my skin. “I’ve missed you.”
His eyes lowered to my lips and his fingers caressed my jaw. “I don’t want you to leave.”
Oh no. He’d brought it up again. Since this morning, I’d kept pushing it to the back of my head. I loved Boone like I had before, and even then I knew he was seriously dedicated to me, but what about my life in California? What about my degree in anthropology? I’d wanted that since I was sixteen. I still had three years of school left.
“Raven?” Boone asked, fear etching his masculine face. I’d only seen that look on his face once before, and it was when I’d seen him for the first time after he left. It took me until now to realize it was fear. Boone was scared to leave me then, and he was scared for me to leave now.
And I felt the same exact way.
But how was I supposed to just stop my life and move back to the one place that was slowly sucking the life from me with all its secrets and bullshit?
A tear slipped from the corner of my eye and he caught it with his thumb. “Don’t cry, baby.”
“I can’t just abandon my life in Cali. What about my scholarship? My degree?”
Boone frowned, and tightened his finger against my face. “Then I’ll move out there with you. I can’t do this again, Raven. It killed me when you left. I still think I’m in this dream. That I’m goin’ to wake up and you’re going to be gone again.”
I opened my mouth and shut it. Why even do this to myself? Why question what I really truly want. The determination on his face didn’t waver. Boone Cross was committed to me. “We’ll figure this out, Boone. I don’t want to lose us any more than you do. It’s been one long, lonely, miserable year.”
Boone smiled and pressed the tip of his thumb to the corner of my mouth. “What did you miss most?”
“Everything,” I whispered. “Your eyes, your mouth, your touch. My body begged for you for months after I left,” my voice broke off.
Boone closed his eyes. “I missed the way you looked every morning when I woke up: your lips swollen and your hair a mess. Those cutoffs and boots.” His hand squeezed the covers beside us, and it set my blood on fire. “I can’t live without you again. I won’t.”
My breath came in uneven gasps. The look in his eyes was powerful, and by the way he was having trouble keeping control, I knew he would be inside of me soon. There was no way to deny the lightning chemistry connecting my body to his. It was magnetic.
“Please don’t leave me,” he whispered, dropping his forehead to my own. “I want to show you how much I’m in love with you,” he rasped. “Let me fix all of this frustration. Let me love you.”
Through a heavy-lidded gaze, I took him in. I memorized the way his T-shirt hugged his shoulder, and the hard feeling of his calloused fingertips against my skin. “Sam and Jace are—”
“They aren’t comin’ up here. Jace knows the consequence is death if he interrupts us. And I don’t think Jace cares about anything other than getting to know Samantha.”
I giggled and cupped his strong jaw in my hand. “Love me.”
Boone lowered his mouth to my own and dipped his hand into the front of my shorts, his fingers finding my most sensitive spot. I let my head fall backward and relaxed into the touch of his calluses against me. It was the perfect contrast and sent shivers up the back of my neck.
“Do you know how many times I pleasured myself to the thought of you when I was growing up?” he asked, voice low and fingers slow.
Oh, shit. Knowing I kept him awake at night, craving me like I did him, was magic. There wasn’t any other word to describe how he made me feel.
My fingers clutched the sheets, and I arched my back. “No,” I whimpered.
Boone’s laugh was low. “Too many fuckin’ times to count. I�
��d always wanted you. It was inevitable. There was certain parts of me that knew you were for me before I even did. And my dick was one of them.”
Holy shit. Boone pressed the pad of his thumb against my clit, and bit down where my shoulder met neck. A long moan left my mouth. “I’d imagine you on all fours, that slim waist in my palms, and you spread and ready. The way you’d stretch for me—” His breath stopped.
His voice was bringing me to an orgasm, and that’d never happened to me before. His fingers stilled, and my body protested with a groan. “Roll over.” He didn’t give me time to obey; he grabbed my hips and positioned me. His erection settled between my legs, and I felt so small in front of him.
“Spread your legs,” he said, using his hands to spread my thighs. The palm of his hand trailed down my back, and then slapped against my ass.
And then he shoved into me from behind. “Oh, God!” I squeezed the covers between my fingers and arched my back into him, giving him a better angle.
“Oh, Raven. So sweet. So tight.”
Trailing his hand up my neck, he gently pressed my head into the mattress and pushed harder into me. Tears brimmed into the corners of my eyes, and my body shook against him. His right palm gripped my hip and he pulled me back against him, forcing his way into me, and then slowly pulled back out. I jerked the covers up toward my chest and bit into them. The overwhelming burn of the pleasure was hard and rough, but it was everything I needed.
Boone showed me who I belonged to. He’d shown me that no one could make me feel like he could make me feel. And once again, all my female pride evaporated, and I let him take complete control and show me how strong he was.
Each thrust gained speed and inched deeper, sending every raging hormone to a new level of beautiful desperation that only Boone could cure. “So beautiful,” he whispered, plowing harder into my channel. “No one else.”
He slammed harder into me and my body erupted around him, every muscle clenched, and my head dropped forward. “Fuck,” I cried out, praying they couldn’t hear me downstairs, but not really caring if they did.
Boone’s hand left my neck and found my hips, where he brought me back against each thrust, so I didn’t miss any of him. His fingers clutched me tightly, and his dick pulsed inside of me. A deep groan left his chest. I’d memorized that moan; knowing that I’d pleased this perfect male was worth savoring.
His hands held his weight, but he kissed a path along my spine while still buried deep within me. When he reached my ear, he slowly pulled away from me, and grabbed me into his arms.
The silence around us soothed the heat growing inside. My body raged, but a tired warmth settled shortly after. “You’re perfect,” Boone whispered.
I closed my eyes and rested my cheek against the warmth of his chest, running circles against the lines in his stomach. “We won’t lose this, Boone.”
His fingers tightened against me. “I know because I’m not lettin’ go.”
Chapter Eighteen
Boone
I hadn’t been worth shit all day. I’d been focused on the night before when I’d fucked Josie. The times before were calmer because I needed her to know I cared. But last night was primal. I needed to mark her so that there was no way she could leave. I’d wanted her to remember me every step she took today. And if I had to bet, I’d say she did.
The beer in my hand had long turned warm, but I still sat on my porch sipping it like it was fresh. The silence started to relax me again.
My dad had spent the entire morning screaming at me to hurry up and finish that damn roof. We’d finished, but not until eight thirty, which was late as shit for us. Dad had mumbled about being late, or some kind of shit. His truck still sat in the driveway, so I guess he changed his mind.
Duke barreled toward me and jumped onto my lap. “Get your big ass down, Duke,” I pushed at him, but he took a seat on my lap. He thinks he’s a damn lap dog. A seventy-five pound lap dog.
“If you don’t—”
Lights brightened around us, and I looked up to see Dad’s truck pulling down the driveway. Where in the hell is he going? I glanced at my cell phone and it read eleven thirty. Nothing was open in our little town at this hour.
Before I lost my nerve, I jumped up and got into my truck. Dad had already made it to the main road by the time I got to the end of our driveway.
I sped off the gravel and swerved onto the paved road to see the taillight of my dad’s truck turn onto the dirt road to an abandoned field. There were only a few houses down that road, and I was sure Dad didn’t associate with any of them.
The moon hung low and it made the woods even creepier.
“Where in the hell are you going, Dad?” I whispered.
Dad pulled into a small alcove dipped into the woods just before the abandoned field. I pulled over to the side of the road and crawled out of the passenger side closest to the woods. Crickets chirped and the humid air clawed at my skin.
Carefully, I trailed the edge of the road until I was able to dart into the woods closest to his truck. The lights were off, but there was movement inside. But when I neared the truck, I could see another vehicle parked in front of his and it stopped me dead in my tracks.
I couldn’t say I was in complete shock because of what I’d just learned, but knowing that Mr. Sawyer was dying in the hospital made my heart feel like it was going to drop to my stomach.
Mrs. Sawyer’s SUV was parked in front of the truck. I’m not sure how long I sat listening to the deafening silence before I backtracked into the woods. Sweat had soaked my shirt, but it didn’t matter. Everything was starting to come together. There was much more to this fucked-up relationship than I had thought.
***
My head was spinning, and my heartbeat drummed loud in my damn ears. What in the hell did I see? This wasn’t real, was it? I hadn’t just seen them … together. I clutched the steering wheel tighter and pressed on the gas. I wasn’t far from the house, and I needed to get to Josie quick. There was no way this could wait until morning. I had hard facts that Josie’s mom was not at the house but underneath my dad.
Gross.
I hightailed it toward Josie’s. There had to be some kind of batshit crazy curse on our relationship. Was this really happening?
Sweat drenched my clothes by the time I pushed Josie’s window opened.
“What the hell?” Sam asked from the bed. “Who in the fuck!”
“It’s me,” I said. “Boone.”
The light turned on and Josie looked up at me. “What’s goin’ on? You look like you’ve seen a freakin’ ghost.”
I swallowed. No, it’s worse than a ghost. Way worse. “Um, not exactly.” I wiped the sweat from my forehead. “It’s our parents.”
Josie lifted a brow, threw off the covers, and marched toward the bathroom. I was momentarily distracted by the way her midriff showed the flat planes of her stomach.
“Boone, I’m afraid to ask what you saw,” Josie said, bringing a damp washcloth from the bathroom to wipe the sweat from my face.
I let her finish and grabbed her wrist, bringing her down onto my lap on the bed. Sam shifted beside us. “I saw our parents—together, in the woods, across the road. They were parked in a small area secluded from the road. And they were both in my dad’s truck.”
Josie’s face paled, and her eyes stilled. I could almost taste the bitter feeling that took over her. I could see the lines on her forehead, and her frown deepened. “Raven,” I whispered, cupping her cheek. “Don’t freak out yet. We have to approach this lightly. Our relationships with our parents are on the line here.”
“My dad’s life is on the line,” she whispered. “And my mother is still fuckin’ your dad.” Her voice was hoarse, and the hurt dripped from each syllable.
Sam reached over and grabbed Josie’s hand. “Sookie, I know that face. Please don’t get upset. We’ll figure out a way to handle this.”
She wasn’t listening.
“Are they back home yet?” J
osie asked. Her voice was light, but that didn’t fool me. I knew this little girl had a temper and she was doing a good job of trying to hide it.
“No,” I said. “I left and came straight here.
“Take me there,” she said.
“Oh, hell no,” I said, clutching her arms tightly. “We’re not going anywhere. We can have a conversation with them to—”
“No,” she shouted. She jerked away and stood up. Her bottom lip trembled, but I didn’t dare try to comfort her. She needed to get this rant out; I just hoped her mother didn’t show up in the middle of it. “I’m sick of this shit! This isn’t even about us! It’s because our parents are adulators who don’t give a fuck about anybody but themselves. My father is dyin’!”
Tears fell from her eyes, and her body began to shake.
“Sookie, calm down—”
“No!” She pointed at Sam. “You don’t know how it feels to be completely in love with someone and forced to stay away from him! I just want my mother to stop doing this. I just want to be happy.” Her voice broke off.
Before the sob left her throat, the sound of the front door shutting hit our ears. Dread filled me because I knew where Josie was headed before she did herself.
“Josie,” I said, but she darted toward her door.
“Fuck,” Sam said, giving me a sideways glance. “Should we go after her?”
I swallowed. “I’ll go. Stay here. You’re not going to want to see this.”
Sam nodded, and I ran out of the door and down the stairs. There wasn’t any screaming yet, which was odd, but when I rounded the corner, I knew exactly why there wasn’t.
My dad stood in the hallway next to the stairs with Mrs. Sawyer, and Josie was standing in front of them.
“Josie,” I said, which caused everyone to look at me.
“Boone,” Dad said, his eyes wide. “What in the hell are you doin’ in this damn house?”
I stopped in my tracks, and gaped at him. “Did you seriously just ask me that? I think you know why I’m here. And I have way more right to be here than you do, in another man’s home with another man’s wife?”
