Worth The Battle (Heaven Hill Series) (34 page)

“C’mere,” he called to her.

She shook her head, smiling as she turned her back to him and hooked her leg around the pole again.

“Please?” He tried having a nicer tone to his voice this time. “Please, Felicity,” he teased.

She giggled, throwing her head back. Instead of going back to the pole, she carefully descended the stairs, sauntering over to him with the confidence of a seasoned stripper. “You like?” she asked as she stood before him.

He grasped his hands around her waist and pulled her down onto his lap, allowing her to straddle his mid-section. “Fucking love,” he complimented. “This place is closed up tight, right?”

“Jagger and Bianca left, and Wanda just asked that we set the alarm when we leave,” she confirmed on a breathless sigh when he ran his hands down her back.

“So is this just for me or is it research?” he asked, putting his mouth against her neck, leaving soft kisses there as she squirmed against him.

“Little bit of both?”

His hands cupped the cheeks of her ass as he brought her more fully against him. “Thank God, I have you in my life, wanting to do research with me all the time,” he breathed against her.

She ground against his body, adding a little twist to her hips. Taking his hands off her back, she put them in her hair. “I like it a little rough sometimes,” she smirked, before standing up, and turning so that she placed her hands on the edge of the stage.

The heels she wore gave her just enough height in order for them not have to adjust much. Sticking the bottom half of her body out towards him, she threw a look over her shoulder. “I’ve always wanted to do this.”

He growled, yanking slightly at the hair that he had threaded his fingers through. “You sure about this?” he asked, as his other hand trailed over her stomach and up to her neck, bringing her face so that he could see it.

“Very sure.”

Without another word, he let the upper half of her body go, pushing her down. His free hand went to his belt, unclasping it, along with the button on his jeans. Pushing his clothes down, he breathed a sigh of relief once he was free of those bonds and then unceremoniously ripped the side of her lacy thong, moaning when he pushed into her body. It was soft, sweet, everything that he knew her to be, but she had told him she liked it a little rough tonight and that set him on edge. This time, though, it was the good kind.

With a hard thrust, he shoved deeply, causing her to gasp, a breathless sound against the music that still vibrated against the room. He pounded into her from behind, for the first time not worried that he would scare her or hurt her. Completely letting himself go, he untangled his fist from her hair and ran his hand down her back, tilting her hips so that he could get a better angle, moaning when he went even deeper.

He was hot, so hot, sweat pouring down his face, but he couldn’t make himself even stop to take his cut off. The fabric of his t-shirt stuck to his chest and abs, almost caressing him, adding to the forbiddenness of the encounter.

“Layne,” she called out, her voice hoarse, breathless against the way he used her body.

“Jess, you feel fucking amazing,” he ground out between teeth that he had clamped tight against the sensations roaring through his body. This was a train wreck, and he knew they were coming to a crashing end shortly. Her giving him carte blanche over her body was too much. Snaking a finger around her middle, he strummed it against her center, begging her in his head to fall apart, so he could too.

“Oh,” she gasped, almost as if she were surprised. The tightening of her body around his told him all he needed to know. Within minutes he’d allowed himself to let go, gasping for air as he laid his body against hers.

She ran her hands up and down his tattooed forearms, gasping right along with him. “Thanks for being my research assistant.”

He puffed out a breath against her neck. “You ever try to get another one and we’ll have some problems. Anything you want to research, I’m up for the challenge.”

Epilogue

“Y
ou okay?” Layne asked as he had a seat next to Jessica.

She was sitting in the seat that Steele normally occupied, but he had given her free rein in his cave for the afternoon. He’d been leaving every afternoon for the last two weeks, and no one knew where he was going. It seemed to be important to him, so no one questioned it. Next to the laptop sat precise instructions on what she needed to do to upload her book to the various online vendors that sold self-published ebooks.

“Yeah,” she breathed heavily. “Just nervous. I mean, one day people are going to know that Felicity Heart is Jessica Shea, and that’s fine, but it still makes me nervous.”

Layne leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. “Felicity Heart is one smokin’ hot erotic author. I’d like to try out some new scenes for her tonight if that’s at all possible.”

She giggled and pushed him away. “Stop, you’re distracting me. I have to make sure this actually works. Ya know, I’m not a Hollywood starlet anymore, I need to learn how to make my own money now.”

He wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. “You know I can take care of you, right? You don’t ever have to lift a finger again if you don’t want to, but if writing is what you want to do, then I’m more than happy to support you in it.”

“I know,” she told him. “And I love you for that, but I want to make my own way. I want to prove to my dad I can do whatever I want to do and I don’t need his approval. I want to prove to myself I can budget and make a business happen. This is really important to me, Layne.”

He lifted her hand to his lips. “If it’s important to you, then it’s important to me.”

They were quiet for a few minutes, but then he spoke again. “You’re coming with me to Doc Jones’ today, right?”

“You asked me to, and if you want me there, then I’m there. Same thing that you said to me. If it’s important to you, then it’s important to me.”

Layne relaxed at her words, wondering why her words and no one else’s had the ability to make him calm, had the ability to make his heart beat normally. “Did you think we would be here when you called me to ask to come to stay with an outlaw biker gang?” he asked out of the blue.

She was busy filling out some information on a website and held up her finger, clapping her hands when she was done. “I did it! I uploaded my first book! Now I hope that people buy it.” She stuck her thumbnail in her mouth and bit on it.

“I’m sure that Meredith already purchased it,” he soothed her nerves. “And Bianca won’t be far behind.”

They sat there for several moments before she opened her mouth again. “To answer your question, no, I didn’t think we would be here a few weeks ago. You were so dead set on fighting everything out in your head that you weren’t interested in anything I had to say or anything I wanted. It was pretty frustrating.”

He pulled her to him so that she sat in his lap, and he rested his chin on her shoulder. “But was I worth it?” he asked.

Jessica couldn’t help but grin and turned to face him. She leaned her forehead against his. “Yeah, baby, even though I wanted to kill you with my bare hands at times—you were completely and utterly worth the battle.”

The End

To my family and friends, I appreciate your support more than you will ever know!

Allison, thank you for always being honest with me and holding my hand through all this. And for definitely always being enthusiastic, no matter what my hair-brained scheme is.

To my wonderful friend, Foul Mouth Freda, you’re gonna make it through this and we’ll be having margarita nights at El Maz before you know it!

To the ladies of the El Maz margarita night group, we need one very soon!!!

Special thank you to Dawn Bourgeois, you made this story better!

To my silly husband, I promise to try and keep you in the lifestyle you’ve become accustomed to. I love you!

Kari and Lindsay, I couldn’t do this without the two of you either, thank you!

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Heaven Hill #5

***
Excerpt
***

Three months. Not long in the grand scheme of things, but for Travis Steele the last three months had been the longest of his life. He sighed, the sun was setting quickly against the backdrop of the freshly cut hayfield he was parked in. Lately the only place he seemed comfortable was alone.

“It’s because you’re lying to everyone you know,” he said out loud.

It was a relief to say the words, a relief to let it be known…even if it was to an empty field. He thought in the distance he may have seen a deer. Just him and nature. Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, he checked the time. A few more minutes and he would have to leave.

There had been a set rhythm to his nights for the last three months. If it was a night that Jagger worked
Wet Wanda’s
he was in his cave, making up for lost time. If it was a night he was working
Wet Wanda’s
, he was there, his attitude scaring every man away from Christine. She was still stripping under the name of Talon and luckily no one else from Heaven Hill knew.

The lying was beginning to wear on him. He wanted to tell Jagger that his sister was alive, but she wasn’t well. He wanted to tell Jagger that she needed the brother she talked about so much, but refused to contact. Travis had thought many times about telling Jagger himself, but that would mean opening the door to why he’d kept it such a secret. It would mean telling Jagger just how much time he’d spent with her and just what he knew about her past.

That past very nearly killed Travis every time he found out more about it, he knew without a doubt it would kill Jagger too.

Meant to Be

(First in the Heaven Hill Series)