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  PRESTON

  Brothers In Ink Romance Series 2

  Linda Cooper

  Copyright © 2015 by Linda Cooper

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Facebook: Linda Cooper

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Bonus

  Chapter One

  “We’ll stay in contact,” I said.

  Jacob reached out and touched his shoulder. “Of course, we will.”

  Dom gave them a weak smile. “We’ll get together one year from now. Once we’ve all got our shit sorted out. We need to … we need to live first before we do this.”

  I watched everyone around the table as we fell silent. Living wasn’t an option for me, but I’d wait for them. I’d finish what we started no matter what. Becky deserved it.

  I looked away from them as I dug into my meal. Everyone turned to me, and I saw sympathy cross Jacob’s face as he opened his mouth. “It will be fine.”

  “You’re right. It will. As soon as I kill him.” I said the last six words quietly, after all we were still in a jail, and if they got wind of the fact that we were planning on killing someone, they’d just keep us here.

  I took the last bite of my meal and stood up. “I’m going to go to my room thing. I’ll see you all later.”

  Alone in my cell for the last time, I couldn’t believe that tomorrow I would be out of here. Tomorrow I would be able to get back on with my life. I didn’t want to, but they made me promise. It’s only a year. A little more, tops. I knew they were right to do it this way. To wait so we could get a job, get our lives back together, and most of all not look so suspicious when he died. It made sense, I was sure of it, but I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to kill him now for what he did to Becky.

  I dropped down onto the bed and let out a deep breath. I wasn’t sure where my next year was going, but I was about to find out.

  One Year Later

  I let out a deep breath as I slammed the phone down on the table.

  “What’s wrong now?”

  I let out a sign and shook my head. “Nothing,” I muttered as I pushed myself up. “I’m going to get a drink.” I slipped into my coat and grabbed my purse. I needed to find a job soon.

  The bar was five minutes down the street from my apartment. Running my fingers through my long brown hair and breathing deeply, I pushed open the door to the bar. It was pretty much empty apart from three other people.

  I made my way over to the back of the bar where the woman looked me up and down. “Hey roomie, what’s up?”

  Chances are I wasn’t going to be her roommate much longer. “I need a beer.” I slid into the seat beside some random guy and glanced at him for a fraction of a second. He was cute. Short blond hair with the sides shaved down, muscles, he wore a well-fitting leather jacket and jeans with a hole in them. He glanced at me, his eyes roaming over my body. Suddenly, I wished I’d worn something a little hotter than dirty jeans and a black T-shirt with a hole in the stomach area. I flashed my best grin his way as Erin passed me a beer.

  “Thanks.” I reached into my purse.

  “I got it.”

  His voice was deep and sexy. I turned to him. “Thank you,” and took a long sip of my beer as I looked him over again. Blue eyes, a scar on his cheek. I couldn’t help but wonder how he managed to get that. His thin lips were curved into a smile as I reached my hand out to him. “Sam.”

  His hands were rough against mine, but I didn’t mind.

  “Priest.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “A holy man?”

  He snorted. “Yea, right.” His eyes roamed over me again. Grinning, I turned back to the bar. I have to admit, I was interested, but I wasn’t going to make it too obvious.

  ***

  Even though I had no trouble walking, I let him put a hand around my waist to keep me upright. I grinned leaning closer to him.

  After three beers, I was ready to call it a night, but I wasn’t ready to head back to my place.

  “So,” I stopped at the edge of the sidewalk. “Are you going to take me home with you tonight, holy man?”

  His eyes widened a little as his hand tightened around my hips. He pulled me close to him. “Is that what you want?” he whispered in my ear.

  His hot breath against my neck was almost enough to cause a moan to escape me. I nodded, not trusting my voice to work. He nipped my earlobe gently before pulling away and taking my hand.

  “Come on then, my car is this way.”

  His car was an old Ford Escort, but I wasn’t paying much attention to that. I slipped into it, buckled myself up and watched as he gunned the engine. I knew for a fact that he’d only had one beer since I’d been at the bar, but other than that I wasn’t sure. “Are you sober?”

  “I’ve had three beers in the course of seven hours. I should be fine to drive.”

  Raising my eyebrows, I asked, “You’ve been sitting in a bar for seven hours?”

  “Yes,” he answered, pulling out onto the street and starting to head south.

  “And you didn’t get sloshed, why?”

  “Because I don’t get sloshed.”

  “Right, so why did you go to a bar in the first place?”

  “To pick up a girl.”

  His bluntness shocked me. My jaw almost dropped. “I see.” I managed to sound normal as I said it, but I couldn’t get over his honesty. It was nice.

  The drive wasn’t long, or maybe it was and I just didn’t realize it. But it seemed like it took us under ten minutes to get to a small house on the south side of town, just across the river, but not in a ‘bad’ area.

  As he put the car into park and turned the engine off, I unbuckled my seatbelt and stepped out of the car.

  “So, this is your home?”

  “Yup.”

  “Do you live alone?”

  “Yes.”

  Pulling my phone out, I took a picture of it. I texted the picture along with the address to my roommate, tucked the phone into my pocket and followed him to the house. He unlocked the door, and we stepped inside. I closed the door behind me, being sure to lock it. I didn’t bother slipping out of my shoes, Priest was already done slipping out of his. I grabbed him and pulled him up to face me. With us both standing, he was only a couple inches taller than I was with my heels on. Stepping closer to him, I wrapped my arms around his neck as my eyes locked on his.

  A wide grin spread over his face. “You don’t waste any time, do you?”

  “No,” I said flatly.

  My lips crashed against his. Passionate, rough, aggressive. His arms wrapped around my body pulling me close. This was what I wanted right now, and he was more than willing to give it to me. I let out a soft moan as he pulled me into the room and then drew away, motioning for me to follow him. I did, and I ended up in a bedroom.

  The room itself was small; though the bed was big and covered with silk bedding. I padded over the dingy carpets to the bed and dropped down. Priest looked me up and down as he flicked on the light, his blue eyes resting on mine as he stepped towards me. His fingers traced over the curves of my body and his hands made their way down to the hem of my shirt, which he pulled off me in a matter of seconds. His eyes lit up as his hands roamed over my body, stopping at my breasts. I let out a soft moan as he massaged them gently. Grabbing his leather jacket I pulled it off quickly, staring down at his muscular arms, covered in tattoos. I grabbed his shirt and pu
lled it off him. My eyes locked on him, taking in his muscular chest, his abs, his huge arms. The tattoo was what stood out to me the most.

  Drawing him down onto the bed, I crawled on top, my fingers tracing over his body as my lips made their way to his.

  His finger tangled into my hair as he pulled gently, and I moaned as he nipped my lower lip.

  So, that’s what it was going to be like tonight? I was okay with that.

  I nipped him back just as hard and let out a soft breath of pleasure as his hands traced down my thigh. I moaned as he made his way back up the other side of my thigh and over my crotch outside of my jeans. Groaning, I pushed my hips against him and he chuckled, rolling me onto my back. I felt the button of my jeans come undone and he slid my pants along with my panties down my legs. I reached out and touched the tattoo on his shoulder. 09/22 2005.

  He paused as he realized what I was doing. I stole a glance at him and saw every ounce of lust had faded from him face.

  He pushed himself up from the bed without a word and walked out of the room.

  I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. What was I supposed to say? I jumped to my feet, snatched up the first thing I could cover myself with, which happened to be his shirt, and chased after him. “Are you okay?”

  I wasn’t really sure what else I was supposed to say. He refused to look at me, instead staring out the window.

  “Priest?”

  He turned his attention to me. “Just leave me alone,” he snapped.

  My eyes narrowed. “Fine.” I turned on my heel and headed back to the bedroom, slipped out of his shirt and tossed it onto the ground. If he was going to be a dick, I wasn’t going to stay around him. The only reason I liked him so much was because he was cute and didn’t sit there trying to tell me lies. I knew he only wanted down my pants.

  I pulled my own shirt on and grabbed my pants.

  “I’m sorry.” I had one leg in my jeans when I heard his voice.

  I turned to face him as I pulled my leg fully through. “It’s fine. Don’t worry I’m leaving.”

  “Please don’t.” He sounded so pathetic, I almost wanted to stay.

  “You just told me to leave!” I shouted as I pulled the other leg through the jeans and made my way towards the door. He stepped in front of it refusing to let me past him.

  “I’m sorry I yelled at you,” he repeated. “And I’d really like to make it up to you.”

  No. You still want to try and get down my pants. I forced myself to look down at the ground. On the way there, my eyes trailed over his body. I refused to say anything.

  He reached out and touched my arm, stepped closer to me and stroked my chin softly. “I’m normally not such an asshole, I promise.”

  That managed to make me smirk. “Let’s pretend I stay … you realize how much sucking up you’re going to have to do to make it up to me, right?”

  “Of course.”

  “And I might not put out now?”

  “I wouldn’t if I were you.” He smiled softly.

  I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. “Alright. But I expect to see some major sucking up.”

  Priest laughed pulling me into his arms. After a second of saying nothing, he spoke again. “Thank you Sam … thank you so much.”

  I couldn’t help but wrap my arms around him. There was no doubt in my mind that he was damaged, and I couldn’t help but wonder why.

  I couldn’t help but wonder what that tattoo meant to him. To have it placed over his shoulder must mean it was very important.

  I pulled away from him. “Since you’re sucking up, why don’t you tell me about why you just up and left me laying in your bed?”

  Priest looked away, his blue eyes darting around the room, trying to find anything other than me to look at.

  “I … I’m going through a lot right now and … this time of year isn’t good for me.”

  I frowned. “Why?”

  “Because it’s getting close to the time of year that my first girlfriend died.”

  Oh shit. I tried to keep my jaws from falling open. “I’m … I’m so sorry.” He shrugged. “No, really I am.” I glanced down at the tattoo. “Is that … about her?”

  “Yes,” he said quietly.

  I nodded. “Did you ever go to therapy about it?”

  Priest scowled and then let out a snort of laughter. “Do I look like the type to go to therapy?”

  “Not really, but everyone needs to talk every now and then.”

  He shook his head furiously. “No, they don’t. I don’t.” I raised an eyebrow as I made my way to the kitchen. In terms of food, there wasn’t much there. “Look, I’m sorry to be all over the place, but maybe it is best you leave.”

  This time I snorted. “Okay,” and turned to face him. He was frowning at me, other than that his face betrayed no emotion on, but his eyes … they told another story totally. Giving him a soft smile, I closed the distance between us and pulled him into a hug. I held him tight, my lips touching his neck softly.

  “I’ll leave now if that’s what you really want. But I’m coming back tomorrow. I’m going to cook you a real meal, something that isn’t prepackaged and frozen, and then we’ll see about you finally talking to someone about that girlfriend of yours.”

  Before he could say another word, I pulled away and headed for the door. I called myself a taxi and sat down on the curb waiting for it to come. This is stupid. You wanted to fuck him, not be his therapist. I scolded myself. And I was right; it was stupid of me to do this. There was no point in it, but something about him … it made me want to help him. Maybe it was just my female instinct being drawn to a bad boy, maybe it was something more, but either way I couldn’t place it so I wasn’t going to try.

  Chapter Two

  8:00 p.m.

  Surely she would have given up by now. If she even came over. I’d done what any coward would do, I ran away from my problem.

  I turned onto my street, and a couple houses later pulled into my parking lot. There she was. On my front steps.

  She looked up and smiled. Crap.

  I’d be a really big asshole if I left now.

  I turned my car ignition off and stepped out. “Didn’t your friend from the bar tell you I was busy?” I didn’t have her number so I’d called the bar.

  “Yea.”

  She pushed herself to her feet and grabbed a small duffle bag. From the way she stood, I could tell it must be heavy.

  “Here,” I made my way over to her. “Let me take that.”

  “Just unlock the door, I’ve got this.”

  I took a deep breath as I made my way up the steps and it was a dumb idea. I caught a whiff of her strawberry perfume, she smelled like a baked good that just came out of the oven.

  “How long have you been out here?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said curtly.

  Shit. She must have been here a long time. I felt shame tug at my stomach, or guilt, I wasn’t sure I was so used to feeling them at the same time. “Sorry. If I’d known you were still going to come—”

  “You wouldn’t have tried to avoid me in the first place?” she offered as I pushed the door open. She stepped past me and made her way right to the kitchen without taking her shoes off.

  I stared at her ass as I flicked on the light, she wore a pair of flared jeans tonight and a black shirt that draped off one shoulder. I hadn’t realized how short she was last night with her heels on. “At least you know now.” She smiled widely, but I wasn’t so sure she was going to forgive me.

  So I either had to make her hate me, which based on how much of an ass I had already been wouldn’t be hard—or I actually had to give her a shot and that scared me more than anything else I could do.

  She quickly made herself at home in my kitchen as I strode over to the island. “Do you want any help?”

  “No,” again her answer was curt as she padded to the fridge, pulled it open and grabbed something from it. “Here. Sit there and drink.�
�� She handed me a can of beer.

  “So you’re just going to try to get me drunk?”

  “Sure honey.” Her voice was cold as she gave me a smirk before turning around and finding a small pot.

  “You know if you’re mad, you can just leave.”

  “Isn’t that what you want?” Her head tilted to the left as she poured water into the pot and put it on the stove. Yes. Yes, it was.

  ***

  So, he wanted me to leave already?

  Well that was just too damn bad for him, wasn’t it? I wasn’t going anywhere. I was going to make him a nice fucking dinner, and he was damn well going to enjoy it.

  I left the water to boil and went back over to the counter. “So how was your day?” I asked as I pulled out the cucumber for the cucumber salad.

  “It was fine, yours?”

  “Boring. I spent most of the day trying to find a new job while attempting to make a living off my …” I stopped as a blush colored my cheeks. He’d probably think I was stupid.

  “Your what?”

  “I make and sell perfume, okay? Laugh if you want.” I turned away from him before I could see the look on his face.

  “Why would I laugh? That must be why you smell so good.” I turned to look at him. His cheeks were bright read. “I mean …”

  I laughed softly. “It’s my favorite scent. Strawberry cake.”

  “As a guy, I would buy that for myself.”

  That got another soft laugh from me. A blush rose to my cheeks. “Thank you.”

  Silence fell over us for a couple minutes as I got dinner ready. I went with pasta, stuffed chicken that had been prepped at my place, and a cucumber salad.

  Priest didn’t say a word the entire meal, which I took to mean he enjoyed it. He got seconds and ate them up in a matter of seconds.

  Finally, when we were both done, I cleared the island and ran the dishes.

  “You don’t have to do those.”

  “I made the mess; I should clean up after it.”

  “No, really, I don’t mind if you just leave them. It’s the least I can do.”

  “Thanks.” I turned to the fridge and pulled out two other beers. I took it over to him and slid into the seat across from opposite. “So …”