Sweet Haven: An Enemies to Lovers Small Town Romance (The Sweet Series Book 2)

by K. C. Lynn

  Temporary, Crawford. That’s the deal.

  “Come on, baby. There’s no one around for miles and we’re surrounded by peaches. It’s fate. We have to fuck here.”

  She laughs, the breathy sound doing shit to my chest. “As appealing as that sounds, Sensible Sam doesn’t think it’s a good idea.”

  “Forget Sensible Sam. Lock her up and bring out my favorite Sam.”

  “And which one is that?” I can hear the smile in her voice while I continue to nip and suck at her sensitive flesh.

  “The one who screams my name while she’s coming on my cock. She’s my favorite.”

  Her laughter trails off into a heated moan, her hips lifting, driving me to the brink of insanity.

  I pull back to look down at her. “Is that a yes?”

  She scans our surroundings, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip. “What if they have cameras out here?”

  “There’s no cameras out here, baby. We would see them if there were.”

  She thinks about it for only a second then tugs me down closer and grants me the permission I’ve been dying to hear. “Make it quick, Crawford. And we better not end up on the Internet for this.”

  Growling, I flip her to her stomach and lift her to her knees. “Don’t worry, baby, I’ll make this fast but so fucking good.”

  “I have no doubt it will be good,” she says, her breaths quick and fast. “It always is.”

  Damn straight it is. Because it’s us. I’ve always loved to fuck but nothing has ever felt as good as it does to be inside of this girl. It’s in a league all on its own.

  Lifting her skirt, my hand smooths over one bare, round globe. “You have no idea the shit I want to do to this body of yours.”

  “I think I have an idea or two.”

  “No, I don’t think you do, but you will soon because I plan to invade every inch of this body so you’ll never be able to forget me.”

  She starts to say something but trails off on a gasp when I lay a soft hand against her flesh, the slight smack echoing in the air around us.

  A harsh moan falls from her as she pushes back for more.

  I give her another tap, this one a little harder, watching her pale flesh stain pink.

  “Oh god,” she whimpers, the heated sound traveling across my skin with thick desire.

  I shove aside the thin silk covering her pussy, my fingers delving into her hot flesh, finding her soaked and ready for me. “You’re so pretty, Sam, especially when you’re greedy for my cock.”

  “Jase, please,” she pleads, feeding the fire that’s in my soul.

  Unfastening my jeans, I lower them just enough to free myself then thrust home, losing myself in the most mind-numbing pleasure I’ve ever felt.

  There is no greater feeling in the world than being inside this girl.

  “You good, baby?” I ask through clenched teeth, giving her time to adjust.

  “So good. Don’t stop.”

  My fucking pleasure.

  Gripping her hips, I begin fucking her hard and fast, my hips slapping against the soft flesh of her ass. Her screams of pleasure fuel me, making me feel like a fucking animal with every savage thrust.

  I watch my cock disappear in and out of her gripping heat, the image sending fire racing through my blood. “Jesus, Sam, we look good right now, baby. My cock feeding this hungry little pussy of yours. It’s fucking perfect.”

  “Jase!” she whimpers, the dirty words have her pussy gripping me tighter.

  Reaching between her legs, I massage the swollen bud, giving her the push she needs. My name purges from her lips on a wail of pleasure.

  “That a girl, scream for me.”

  I continue fucking her through her orgasm, not letting myself go until I feel the last of her tremors subside. Then I detonate—crashing over the edge hard and fast—the fiery pleasure searing my veins.

  I pull out of her with a groan, wishing I could stay there forever. A smirk curls my lips when she drops to the ground with a blissful sigh. Leaning over, I press a kiss to her slender shoulder. “You okay, baby?”

  “Mmm. More than okay,” she mumbles before turning around to face me. With a satisfied smile, she tugs me down to what I expect will be a kiss but instead is a hug.

  That’s it. Just a hug—her arms holding me tight.

  “About what you said earlier,” she whispers. “I want you to know, I’ll never forget you. Not a second of our time together. I will remember it forever.”

  Fire burns in my chest, working its way up my throat as I think about the day to come that I will lose her and all she will be is the sweetest memory I’ll ever have.

  CHAPTER 13

  Sam

  An hour later we’re back at my apartment. Music plays on the radio as we make the pie together. Or rather, I’m making it and Jase is sampling.

  “How about cinnamon? Do you think that would taste good?” I ask him, trying to think of some other ingredients to make it my own. I’ve already added a dash of nutmeg, ginger, and brown sugar. I’m going with a fall spice type theme. If it turns out good I could make it for Thanksgiving this year.

  “Toss it in and I’ll tell you,” he says, nuzzling the back of my neck as he stands behind me, his strong arms wrapped around my waist.

  With a smile, I sprinkle some into the mix. His hand encircles my wrist then lifts it to dip my finger into the yummy gooeyness before sucking it off. It has goose bumps crawling up my arm. I just had the most mind-blowing sex only a short time ago and already my body is on fire for him again.

  “Yep, it’s fucking delicious,” he groans.

  “It’s a good thing no one else is eating this pie but us.” I giggle. “It’s definitely not up to standards in the sanitary department.”

  “Damn straight! Nobody gets your pie but me.”

  I shake my head but can’t deny the way my insides melt at his possessiveness. After pouring the filling into the piecrust that I already made, I take the strips of dough I have sitting off to the side and crisscross them over top. Then I put the finishing touch by adding the heart in the center that I had cut out earlier with a small cookie cutter.

  “There. Now even if it ends up tasting bad it will at least look pretty,” I say with a proud smile. Opening the oven, I slide it inside then set the timer. “Now we just need to come up with a name.” I turn around to find Jase watching me with that sexy smirk of his, hunger prominent in his dark eyes.

  Stepping closer, he hooks an arm around my waist and yanks me against his hard body before laying one heck of a kiss on me.

  “Hmmm, maybe Peach Kiss Pie?” I suggest with a breathy sigh.

  “Or Jase is Sexy Pie. I like that one.”

  A laugh tumbles past my lips, my arms encircling his neck. “You are so arrogant, Jase Crawford. Yet…also truthful.”

  Lifting me off my feet, he sits me on the counter and comes to stand between my open legs. “And you are beautiful, Samantha Evans.”

  I tense, the starting of his words that warmed my soul ending with what feels like a bucket of ice-cold water. “Sam,” I whisper. “Always just Sam. Okay?”

  “Why not Samantha? It’s a pretty name, especially when it comes with a face like yours.”

  His sweet words ease the heaviness of my heart. “I’ve always preferred Sam, or Sammy…but only if you’re my dad,” I tell him with a smile but it fades quickly with what I say next. “Grant always used it to scold me like a child. Now it gives me the chills when I hear it.”

  His eyes darken with rage, the same one I saw explode from him the night he unleashed it on Grant. “Tell me to mind my own business if you want, but I’ve been wondering how the hell you ended up with a piece of shit like him.”

  Humiliation burns inside of me. “Pathetic, huh?”

  “No. Not pathetic. I just know the fire you have in you. You don’t put up with any shit. So why did you put up with his?”

  “You wouldn’t understand.”

  How could he when I don’t even
understand it myself?

  “Try me.”

  Letting out a heavy sigh, I try my best to explain. “When I look back on it now I feel so stupid. Naïve even, but he was good. He found my weaknesses and nipped at them constantly, stripping away my confidence one insult at a time, but he was smart about it. Subtle at first. Eventually, it got worse, and to the point where I suddenly felt trapped. He made me feel like I had no one, when in reality I had everyone. He used my family against me often.”

  “How so?” he asks, his voice tight.

  “My entire life, I’ve always lived in Sawyer’s and Jesse’s shadows. Which isn’t a bad thing,” I rush to say. “Honestly, I preferred it. But at times, I felt like I lacked compared to them and Grant knew that. He used it against me every chance he got.” Pain strikes my heart as I remember all the cruel and hurtful things he would say to me.

  “How the hell could you think you lacked in any way?”

  I shrug. “My brother and sister always stood out. Sawyer’s funny and charismatic. He can walk into a room and make everyone instantly fall in love with him—”

  His grunt cuts me off.

  “Well, almost anyone.” I chuckle, remembering whom I’m talking to. “Then there’s Jesse who was born as talented as they come. Her eye for fashion and skill of what she can do with a piece of material is nothing short of a masterpiece. Even from the time she was a little girl, her talent shined so bright.” There’s no hostility only affection as I talk about my sister. “Then, there was me. Wearing my grandma’s glasses, playing teacher,” I say, but it’s with a smile. “Don’t get me wrong. I like who I am but I have never shone like them. I’ve always just been…Sensible Sam.”

  “You shine so fucking bright it’s blinding,” he says, making my heart skip a beat. His large hand slips under my hair to cup my cheek. “I also happen to really like Sensible Sam. She’s beautiful,” he whispers, leaning in to kiss my temple. “Sweet,” he adds, moving to the corner of my eye. “And she’s my favorite in the Evans family.”

  “That’s because you don’t like anyone in my family.” I chuckle but it’s halfhearted.

  “That’s not true. I don’t know your parents, and I may have encountered Jesse over the years but make no mistake, Sam. Not once did she ever stop my fucking heart from beating when she walked by like you do. No one ever has.”

  I gaze back at him, his admission catching me by surprise. “Has it always been like that?” I ask bravely, terrified for his answer.

  “Yeah. Always. Even when I didn’t want it to be.”

  His words are like a soothing balm to my wounded heart. “For the record, Crawford. Even though I thought you were an asshole and wanted to punch you for pushing my buttons, I still thought you were hot.”

  An amused grin transforms his face. “I love pushing your buttons, baby. You’re sexy when you get mad. Then again, I always think you’re sexy. Even when you’re stuck in a tree.”

  I drop my head on his shoulder, my laughter trailing into a groan. “Don’t remind me.”

  “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.”

  “I have a feeling I’m always safe with you,” I whisper, my heart full of contentment.

  “Yeah, you are.” His strong arms hug me closer, bringing me a peace I’ve grown to depend on. “What made you finally leave him?” he asks quietly, coming back to the subject that started it all.

  “I showed up at his office one night when he was working late and found him fucking his secretary.”

  I feel him tense, his muscles coiling tight around me. “Jesus, what a fucking loser.”

  “I wasn’t that surprised. I had a feeling all along. The way women would look at me whenever I had to accompany him to a business function always made my stomach churn. He would lie and play it off like they had a thing for him but I always knew better. It was just another one of his ways of making me feel like I was lucky to have him.”

  I shake my head, my blood heating at the memory.

  “I was angry and humiliated. But most of all, I was relieved. It was finally my way out.”

  “You always had a way out, Sam.”

  “I know that now but at the time I was scared—really scared. He has a bad temper, as you know, and it terrified me.”

  “He’s a fucking coward. Anyone who picks on someone smaller than them is.”

  I nod. “You’re right, and eventually I learned that. He’s a mistake I will regret for the rest of my life. But I also learned a lot about myself in those dark months, and I became stronger for it. It helped me realize what I really want in life.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “Someone that will love me for who I am,” I tell him quietly, remembering how Grant tried to change everything about me.

  “Only a fool wouldn’t fall in love with you, Sam.”

  I still, a small flare of hope igniting inside of me. “It’s more than just loving me. I need someone who will respect my feelings when it comes to my family,” I tell him, treading into dangerous territory when it comes to us. “We’ve been through a lot together, more than anyone could possibly understand. Especially when it comes to Sawyer.”

  His brows draw in confusion. “How do you mean?”

  I swallow thickly as I think about that call so many years ago. The one I thought would destroy us all. “You know how Sawyer joined the Navy?”

  He nods.

  “Five years into his service we got a call that’s every family’s worst nightmare. He and two of his friends, Cade being one of them,” I tell him since he knows who he is, “were held captive and tortured. So badly that they were unrecognizable.”

  “Jesus,” he breathes, surprise heavy in his voice.

  Tears blur my vision as I remember that day so vividly. “I’ll never forget that call for as long as I live. The sound of my mother’s grief-stricken scream when she answered. The way she fell to her knees in agony, I thought for sure he was dead. I was so relieved when I found out he wasn’t…until I went and saw him in the hospital in Germany,” I whisper, my throat on fire now. “I know how horrible this sounds but at the time, seeing how badly he was hurt, I almost thought it would have been better for him if he had. He suffered so badly. It took nine months of rehabilitation before he healed, but some things you never recover from. And the scars he bears to this day, I’m sure, are far less than the ones he will forever have inside of him.”

  “I’m sorry, Sam,” he says, brushing his knuckles across my wet cheek. “Even though we don’t get along, I hope you know I wouldn’t wish that on him.”

  I meet his gaze, my tears falling faster. “I do know that, but I wish you knew him for the man he really is. He’s not perfect but he really is a good person.”

  He drops his forehead on mine, his jaw flexing, but I’m not sure if it’s in anger or frustration. “Some people just don’t mesh, baby, and that’s us.” My heart breaks a little more even though he’s just being honest with me. “But there is one thing I’ve always liked about him.”

  “What’s that?” I ask on a whisper.

  “You.”

  I smile, that one word easing the heaviness in my chest. He turns to look at the timer on the oven, seeing there’s still forty minutes left.

  “Are you hungry?” I ask, thinking we should order in since my supper preparation was ruined by my adventure at the orchard.

  His dark eyes swing back to mine, the heat in his gaze warming me from the inside out. “Yeah, but not for food.” He lifts me off the counter, catching me by surprise.

  My arms wrap around his neck and legs around his waist as he carries me into my room. “I like where your head’s at, Crawford.”

  “Just wait until you see what I’m about to do with my dick, you’re going to love it.”

  I burst out laughing as he tosses me on my bed and comes over top of me, the weight of him a familiar comfort I’ve grown accustomed to.

  He stares down at me, his expression soft with amusement yet something else, s
omething I can’t quite put my finger on.

  “What?” I ask, my smile softening.

  “I could listen to you laugh everyday for the rest of my life.”

  My heart misses a beat, those beautiful words creating a storm of emotions inside of me. I would love nothing more than to share every laugh, tear, and smile with him for the rest of my life, but I fear he hates my brother too much to love me.

  Before I’m able to voice that he captures my mouth in a searing kiss that burns me all the way down to my soul, obliterating everything and everyone in this world but us.

  For now it’s enough. It has to be.

  CHAPTER 14

  Sam

  Tears stream down my face as I sit at my desk, reading all the homemade cards and sweet gifts my students gave me for the end of the year. I managed to maintain my composure until the last child left then erupted like a volcano.

  Every year it’s like this for me, but this one is even more emotional because I know I won’t ever see their cute little faces again. Not even by chance at the grocery store like I do now…because I won’t be here. That reality makes this so much harder.

  Sniffling, I open the next card, from Jacob Wilson. Miss Evans. Thank you for being my teacher. I love you. You’re the best teacher I’ve ever had.

  “Oh!” A fresh wave of tears starts all over again, his messy printing and beautiful words melting my heart. Even if I am the only teacher he’s ever had, it’s still so damn sweet.

  A knock on my open classroom door startles me out of my emotional turmoil. Looking up, I find Jase leaning against the doorframe. He holds a big bouquet of tiger lilies and wears a sympathetic smile on his handsome face.

  “Hey,” I greet him in surprise, wiping my wet cheeks with the back of my hand. “What are you doing here?”

  He strides in, that sexy swagger of his making my heavy heart tumble in my chest. “Zoey told me today would be hard for you so I waited outside until the bell rang and all the kids left. I didn’t want you to be alone.”