Dirty Sexy Saint (Dirty Sexy 1)

“Do you mean it?” she asked, her voice quivering with emotion.

He cleared the tightness from his own throat and smiled. Yes, he absolutely loved her. “Cupcake, you should know by now that I always mean what I say. I love you, more than I thought I could ever love another person. And I don’t want to live another day without you in it. Ever.”

Unable to stand the distance between them, he started for her at the same time she ran toward him. When she reached Clay, she jumped into his arms, securing her arms around his neck and wrapping her legs around his waist. He laughed at her enthusiasm and anchored his arms under her butt to hold her in place as she buried her face against his neck, holding him so impossibly tight.

“I love you so much, Clay.” Sh

e pressed her hands to his jaw and looked into his eyes. “There is no way I could have stayed away from you.”

“Me, either,” he said, meaning it.

Her father cleared his throat, and Samantha surprised Clay with a laugh. “Get used to it, Daddy.” Grinning, she stroked her thumbs across Clay’s cheeks, her gaze suddenly filled with regret. “The moment I got home, I realized what a huge mistake I made. I’m so sorry.”

“Just don’t ever leave me again.”

“Never,” she promised, then said the words he wanted to hear. “Take me home.”

* * *

As soon as they reached Kincaid’s, Clay lifted Samantha out of his truck and hauled her over his shoulder like a caveman claiming his woman. And that’s exactly how he felt, and claiming her was definitely first on the agenda.

Hanging upside down with his arms banded around her knees to keep her in place, she laughed happily as he carried her across the parking lot and up the back stairs, then into his apartment.

The moment he stepped through the threshold and the door was closed behind them, he smacked her on the ass through the cute little dress she was wearing, sharp enough for her to suck in a startled breath.

“Owww!” she protested as she squirmed on his shoulder. “What was that for?”

“That was for not telling me why you were leaving me.” He swatted her again, more lightly this time. “And that was for not letting me know you planned to ask your father for the money to bail me out of trouble,” he said as he continued on his way into the bedroom.

“But you needed it,” she insisted. “For Wyatt.”

He flipped her onto the bed, flat on her back. He straddled her thighs, and she looked up at him with that soft, hot look of desire in her gaze. But he refused to be distracted until they settled a few things.

“Let’s get one very important thing straight right now,” he said, bracing his hands beside her head so they were face-to-face. “I don’t need your money, your parents’ money, or anyone else’s money. I have a couple million sitting in an investment account that I inherited from Jerry with this bar.”

Her dark blue eyes grew round with shock. “But you told Wyatt you didn’t have the money!”

“Of course I told him that,” he said, and rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t just going to hand the cash over to him.”

Her expression suddenly turned serious with concern as she pressed her hands on his chest. “Did you pay him the money then?”

“No.” He gave her the abbreviated version for now, because the talking was killing the moment and he was dying to get inside of her. “Levi did some digging and discovered there was a warrant for Wyatt’s arrest. They took him into custody this afternoon and charged him with first-degree murder. He’ll be put away for the rest of his life.”

She exhaled a relieved breath. “Thank God. I couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to you.”

He grinned wickedly as he reached down to the hem of her dress and pulled it up and over her head. “Nothing is going to happen to me, Cupcake…except for some hot, dirty sex.”

He touched her between her thighs, sliding his hand over her damp flesh, and that’s all it took for her talking to turn into delightful moans of pleasure. The kind he intended to surround himself with for the rest of their lives.

Epilogue

Six months later…

Samantha finished up her afternoon shift at Adeline’s a bit early, excitement and nerves swarming inside her as she got into the cute MINI Cooper that Clay had bought for her. She headed over to Inked, planning to do something wild, crazy, and naughty. Something that would drive Clay mad, in a very good way.

She stepped into the tattoo shop and met Katrina at the front counter.

“Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?” her friend asked before showing Samantha the design she’d created for her. “Once it’s done, it’s permanent, unless you want to go through painful laser removal treatments.”