Meet Liam & Megan in the newest stand alone
in the Hope Town Series by Harper Sloan!
I've loved once. I gave
everything that I had to that love. Blindly believing that nothing could ever
take that feeling away from me. Away from us. And when my little world of
happiness was ripped from my fingers, I felt a loss that still haunts me to
this day.
Now I use that lingering
grief as a shield to keep my heart from loving again. It's that fear that keeps
me from letting anyone, except my daughter, get close enough to make it hurt.
To make my heart bleed when I inevitably lose again.
Until the day I met Liam
Beckett and everything I thought I had protected myself from was shoved back in
my face.
He's on a mission to prove
to me that a love worth having is a love worth fighting for.
Prologue
Prologue - Megan
Holy shit.
What am I doing?
“Oh, God! Right
there… I’m coming… Don’t stop!”
Is that me screaming like
that?
Holy shit.
I didn’t even know that
noises like that could come out of my mouth!
“You like that?” he asks with his lips pressed against my
neck – the vibrations shooting straight to my core.
I focus, my now alcohol free vision, on the man thrusting
above me. His dark hair is blending in
with the shadows that are dancing around the room. His face is a mask of ecstasy as he thrusts
into my waiting body. It’s a look of
pure desire that I will never forget.
What the hell am I doing?
“You feel so good.
Your body so greedy for my cock.
You want it harder, darlin’?”
I moan shamelessly and feel my body get even wetter with
his huskily whispered words.
Screw it – this feels way
too good to stop now.
I reach down, dig my fingers in the firm globes of his
ass, tip my head back and beg. Beg with
incoherent cries for him to take me harder.
To take everything he can.
**Two Hours Earlier**
“You look beauuuutiful,” I sing as Dani Reid – No, Dani
Cage – walks over to sit next to me at one of the tables scattered around the
backyard wedding.
She looks at me, her stunning green eyes bright with love
and happiness.
“And you sound a little drunk, my friend,” she laughs.
I just smile at her, running my fingers through the lace
on her wedding gown. “This is soft.”
She just laughs and leans back and looks across the yard
to where her new husband, Cohen, is standing by the dock talking to some of his
friends. This is another one of those
moments when I’m reminded that this group doesn’t have a single unattractive
person in it. I take a second to look at
all the well-built, good-looking men standing around him. When my eyes meet Liam Beckett’s, I look away
quickly. For months now Liam has made no
secret that he would love nothing more than my undivided attention.
“They’re all so unfairly hot. No men should be that attractive,” I whisper in awe, gaining me another chuckle from
Dani. I blush when I realize that my
thoughts aren’t staying in my head, where they belong. When I look back over to where the group of
men are standing, my eyes hit the familiar pair of deep brown ones again, eyes
that always seem to know each and every time I’m looking their way. I quickly look away, feeling that blush get
even brighter. I’m not ready to deal
with him right now. At least not when I’m this tipsy.
Picking up my wine glass, I take another healthy swallow
as I do a quick scan, taking in all that is the Reid Family property. They’ve done a beautiful job transforming the
backyard of Dani’s family home for Cohen and Dani’s wedding. I still can’t believe that Dani managed to
pull off a surprise wedding without Cohen even catching the smallest hint of
her plans.
“Are you sure you’re okay with Molly spending the night
with my parents, Megs? I know it’s hard
for you to leave her overnight, but they just love your daughter to
pieces. And I know Owen loves having her
around.” Dani reaches out and takes the
hand I had resting against the table while she speaks.
“Yup,” I smack and nod my head.
“You’re drunk,” she says, repeating her earlier
observation.
“I’m not drunk, I’m tipsy.
There’s a huge difference there.
If I was drunk I wouldn’t be able to walk. Watch!”
I jump up from my chair with a little more power than I
mean and quickly stumble when the narrow heel of my five-inch shoes sinks into
the soft grass beneath me.
“Whoa, there darlin’.”
I feel it, those words, every single syllable deep down in
my gut. Each rumbled word vibrating through
my body creating a slow burn until they end with a sharp pulse between my legs.
His arms locked at my elbows and my back solidly against his front – where my
graceless stumble caused me to end up. I jerk my body tight and feel his
laughter reverberate through my body once again.
I attempt to pull my arms from his loose but strong hold,
only to give up when it becomes clear that he isn’t going to let go. Shifting until my face is turned, he lets one
arm go and helps me spin until I’m facing him, and moves his hands from my
elbows to my hips.
“Hey,” he says with a smile, the dimple in his cheek
popping out.
“Liam,” I sigh and then curse myself for not being able to
hide my reaction to him.
His smile turns knowing and his eyes darken before
dropping to my lips.
I gulp.
“You should be more careful, Megs.”
“It’s Megan,” I snap.
“I know, babe, you don’t have to keep reminding me.”
“Then why can’t you seem to actually remember it?” I
squeak and try to pull my body away from his grip – and fail, again.
“Someone doesn’t sound drunk
anymore.” I hear Dani speak but I don’t take my gaze off Liam. “She does look it though.” She muses on a
laugh, which finally gets my eyes to snap to hers.
“I’m fine! I just
had a few glasses of wine and I haven’t eaten much. But, I most definitely am not drunk. I think I would know if I was drunk.”
Okay, so that’s a lie.
I might not be drunk, but I am definitely slightly past tipsy. Dealing with Liam – or rather my attraction
to Liam – is hard enough for me on a good day, when I’m completely sober. But with this amount of wine flowing through
my body, I just can’t trust myself.
It’s taken everything I have to keep him, and his obvious
interest, at bay for the last couple months.
When he’s around he goes out of his way to get me alone and lay it
out. He wants me.
“You look stunning when those shadows aren’t rolling
around your shoulders,” Liam whispers, his lips press close enough to my ear
that I can feel his words one by one against my skin.
I shiver, his words hitting me close to home, but the tone
causing me to forget I should be pushing him away. Especially when he’s talking about things
that he has no business speaking about.
“I’m fine,” I stammer.
“Yeah, darlin’, I know you are.”
His eyes keep their hypnotizing hold on my own. I hear Dani excuse herself. I don’t turn to watch her disappear in the
lingering crowd of party-goers that are still left milling around. The music is still floating in the air around
us. As I look into his eyes everything
around me feels like it’s…alive. It’s a
feeling that I’ve been missing for the last few years. A feeling that only comes to visit when I’m
with my daughter, or until recently, when Liam Beckett is in the same
room. It’s a feeling that, even though I
shouldn’t, I feel guilty for allowing myself to enjoy.
Whether it’s the wine, the fact that Molly left a few
hours ago with Dani’s parents, or the man standing in front of me, all I know
is if I don’t hold on to this feeling for as long as I can right now, I’ll
regret it for years to come.
“Megs,” he says on a sigh, his fingertips digging in and
his eyes swirling with a rich hopefulness that turns those golden flecks you
can normally see swimming in his brown eyes into a burning fire lighting his
gaze.
Hungry eyes.
I don’t think. If I
had given myself just a second to process my next move, I’m sure I would have
backed out of his hold and run as fast as I could to my car. But, I didn’t think, so my next move was
pure, one-hundred-percent Megan. But not
the Megan I’ve been for the last couple years since my husband died. No, this Megan feels like I’ve finally dug
myself out of those ashes I’ve been living in since my life burned up around
me. The cloak of depression that
normally lingers loosely around my shoulders, dropping to my feet with the feel
of Liam pressed tight. I know this
feeling won’t last, but I suddenly want to hold on to every second I can of
this experience, until it leaves me.
I reach out and curl my fingers around his forearms. My eyes growing wide when his brow
lifts. With a quick push I rock up and close
the distance that is left between our mouths.
When my lips touch his, that feeling of being alive burns so bright
every nerve in my body feels it, each inch of skin boiling and cooling so
quickly it’s as if I can’t make up my mind if I want to be hot or cold. My hairs stand on end, my skin pebbles –
going cold before rushing heat fills my veins, and the very thump of my heart
seems to skip a beat the second our lips touch.
One thing I know for sure.
I want this. I want this and
Liam’s going to give it to me.
He doesn’t pause.
His groan vibrating against my chest only lights the feeling that is
firing through my skin. My hands move
from his forearms and I run my hands up his chest until both hands curl around
his neck and I use the hold to pull my body even closer to his.
His hands move from my hips and he curls them around my
bottom, pulling me tightly against his body.
When I feel the very obvious sign of his attraction, I moan deeply, and
shiver when he answers with one of his own.
I can’t tell you how long this kiss lasts. When his tongue moves to swipe against my
lips, I open without reservation. We
continue, our tongues dancing together while each of our moans are swallowed by
the other, until I have to pull away to gulp a breath of air before I pass out
– however, the way I feel right now, passing out might very well be a
possibility.
“This is finally happening,” he snarls in a tone that
should scare me, but all it does is act as kerosene to our already
uncontrollable fire of lust.
“It is,” I agree without question.
“Now,” he says.
“Okay,” I agree on a sigh and sway toward his hard body.
With the encouragement he needs, his hands finally leave
my body. He turns me, wraps one thick
arm around my shoulder, and turns to walk toward the front of the house.
“We’re leaving?” I question lamely.
“Darlin’ I didn’t stutter.
This is happening,” he says, pausing when he reaches the side of the
house and the shadows that will give us the privacy we need. His body turns, moving me to stand before him
once again. “I need to know you’re with
me, Megan. I’ve wanted this since the
day I met you, but I knew you weren’t ready for me. I’ve been trying to keep my distance, just
waiting for those clouds to leave your eyes.
If you don’t want me to take you back to my house, strip you naked and
fuck you until you can’t walk for weeks, then say so now, because the second I
have you I won’t be letting go.”
“Oh, boy,” I whisper.
“I prefer oh God,
but I’ll make that the first item on my to-do list.”
“You’ll make what?”
“My to-do list, Megs.
The list of things I’ve wanted to
do to you for months now. Making you
scream oh God will be number one,
followed by my name, of course.”
“Oh, God,” I repeat, my mind swilling with the promise his
words inflict.
“Yeah, you’re getting it.”
His mouth crashes down on mine for a hard but quick kiss
before pulling back and giving me another one of those knee-melting
smirks. “Last chance, Megan,” he
whispers while his hands are framing my heated face.
Whatever he sees in my eyes is enough, he gives me a light
kiss, takes his hands from my face and curls one around my left hand and pulls
me toward his truck.
Releasing: July 14th
About the Author:
Harper lives in small town Georgia just a short drive from
her hometown of Peachtree City. She (and her 3 daughters) enjoy ruling the
house they dubbed 'Estrogen Ocean', much to her husband’s chagrin. Harper has a
borderline unhealthy obsession with books; you can almost ALWAYS find her with
her eReader attached. She enjoys bad reality TV and cheesy romantic flicks. Her
favorite kind of hero--the super alpha kind!
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