Bitter Hearts (A Southern Loving Book 3) Page 12

  His tongue explored her like he was on some type of inquisition that took her breath away. Hank’s hand took hold of her breast, squeezing them before he worked his way back up and ferociously attacked her nipples as he dipped two digits into her soaking pussy. Kari screamed out in pleasure as his fingers thrust far inside.

  “Tell me what you want,” he said in a husky voice that was laced with his southern accent.

  “Yess, Yesss,” she moaned louder, as his tongue traveled all over her body; flicking back and forth from one hard nipple to the other. “You.” With shaky hands she tried to unbuckle his belt buckle, just when Kari was about to free her massive prize Hank pushed her back until she felt the cold, wooden table against her back.

  He began to rub her clit between his fingers. He spread her legs wider, his mouth replaced his fingers. Kari thrashed on the table as Hank worked his mouth on her. He licked and slurped her up like she was a bowl of soup.

  “Hank!!” she cried out, and came hard.

  He continued to lick her, as his hands caressed her nipples as waves of orgasm roll through her.

  Catching her breath, Kari reached into Hank’s pants and took his engorged cock into her hands. She smiled deviously when she heard Hank’s breath hitch in his throat. She shrieked as he lifted her up, her stomach and breasts were pressed against the cold table. Kari could feel his member against her ass. Reaching behind her, she rubbed his thick, pulsating shaft.

  “Enough,” he said, pinning her arms above her head.

  He rubbed his member up and down her ass, teasing her to the point Kari was about to beg for it. She scooted her hips off the table and offered her butt up for the taking. She could feel Hank pointing his cock at her opening.

  The air seemed to crackle and pop as his hardness stretched her as it passed into her canal. He slowly filled her womb with his member. Kari bit down on her lip as Hank pumped without control, he kissed her back as he took her without consequences. Moans, groans, flesh hitting flesh, and the sound of the table creaking underneath her filled the electrified air.

  Hank grunts became louder as he began to thrust frenzy, his powerful hands palmed her ass as his fingers squeezed her flesh. Kari wasn’t able to breathe or think, it was like Hank was slowly putting her under a spell that only he could break. She screamed his name over and over as he pummeled her from behind.

  Tears pricked her eyes as she began to whimper as Hank pistoned in and out. Something was different and she could feel it as he took her. It was like he was branding her pussy. I’ll show him, she thought, squeezing his manhood in her tunnel, but she wasn’t a match for Hank. He thrust harder and harder until Kari caved in to the delicious and blissful onslaught of her lover.

  Kari shuddered and sobbed as she fell over the edge of no return. Her body felt like it was floating in the clouds as her body submitted to Hank and the orgasm. Never in her life had she came that hard. Hank grunted and shouted as came inside of her.

  Afterwards, he laid gently on top of her, making sure not put all his weight on her. He kissed her back.

  “Honey? Are you okay?”

  For the first time in a long time she felt safe and happy. “I’m…fine.”

  He pressed kisses all over her back. “Did I hurt you?”

  “No.” She moved slightly and he helped her sit up. She lifted her hand up and touched the side of his face. “I know you will never hurt me.”

  He leaned forwards and kissed her. “You’re damn skippy,”

  Kari laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes. “We should be getting dressed so we can get on the road,” she said, hoping down and picking up a different article of clothing.

  Hank looked at Kari. He finally knew what his Aunt Charlene meant by good relationships don’t just happen overnight. “It takes time, patience and two people who truly want to be together.” When his married friends would say that a relationship took effort, he always thought they were unhappy. Ha! It turned out him and Natalie were the truly unhappy people. Aunt Charlene even Aunt Melody would always say that “When it’s right, it shouldn’t feel like work; it is effortless.”

  Kari showed him tonight she was willing to work on her trust issues, but she was willing to look at him each day with new eyes.

  Hank pulled up his pants and smiled as he thought about something. “Kari…does this friends with benefits thing still exist or not?” he asked, buckling his belt buckle.

  “Are we dating?” she asked wickedly at him, slipping on her ivory lace blouse. “What do you want?”

  “Kari, I want to be straight with you. I know we each have our own trust issues, but I’d be obliged if you would consider me to be your man and we could work through them together.”

  Leaning against the wall she put on her cowboy boots. “Only if we can talk long walks on the beach-”

  “Walks in the park and feed you ice cream and brownies whenever you want,” he said interrupting her.

  “Well Mr. Jackson, you do strike a mean bargain.” Kari took his cowboy hat and placed it on her head. “I reckon I can give us a swirl.”

  “Alright sugar, let’s get this show on the road. I have a lot to teach you about the great outdoors,” he said, opening the door.

  Kari followed him out the door, and paused. “You didn’t say anything about camping.”

  “You never asked,” he chuckled, practically navigating them through the thick crowd of fair and concert goers. “I promise you K, you will have one helluva good time”

  ***

  Natalie walked through the door carrying bags of groceries, she found her lover, Dwight Brooks, sitting on the couch in his robe with his guitar in his hands. A little help would’ve been exactly what she needed, nearly falling in the doorway with the bags. She looked up to see him still playing a tune, clearly disregarding her need for help.

  It’d been months since she walked out on the man who loved her. Her family thought she was heartless and naïve by carrying on an affair with Dwight. It was never ever about the sex, it was about the companionship, how he treated her, complimenting her or just calling her out the blue to say ‘hi’. Hank quit the music scene to become a rancher, where they lived a frugal life style. Now that the dust had settle, Natalie was seeing how big of mistake she made by leaving Hank.

  Not bothering to put the groceries up, Natalie went to the bathroom and locked the door. Tears rolled down her face, she quickly brushed them away. Leaving Hank for Dwight was the worst decision that she could ever make. Dwight convinced her to leave Hank and she did like a fool. Closing her eyes she saw the devastation in Hank’s eyes that night she told him she was leaving him for another man. Natalie threw away the only true chance of happiness, she’d ever had.

  Those nights she laid in bed festering about Hank shortcomings. Sighing, she reached into her purse and looked at the missed calls from Maxine Charles, the one friend she’d had in Nashville. Pressing the call button she waited for the prissy woman to answer.

  “Hey Max it’s me,” Natalie said as she cringed from the loud music in the background, “Where are you at?”

  “Hold on!” Maxine yelled. Within a few seconds the background music was gone. “I’m at the Nashville Fair, you wouldn’t guess who the performers were.”

  Natalie closed the toilet seat and sat down. “Who?”

  “Austin McBride and drum roll please,” Maxine made noises that mimicked the sound of drum rolls. “Hank! Your ex-husband performed at the concert.”

  “What!” she hissed. “Hank doesn’t play music anymore he quit.”

  “Are you calling me a liar?” Maxine huffed. “Well I’ll let you in on another little secret, and your Hankie is not at home sitting around waiting for you to come home. He’s done got him another woman, an African American one to be exact.”

  Natalie nearly dropped the phone as news about her husband dating again shocked her. She thought Hank would be drinking himself into a stupor. “It’s not that serious.”

  “Hump, you didn’t see
him buying her clothes out of Country Chick. It’s not like she needed him to buy it because the way I saw the woman had to be decked down in the nines…but the most interesting thing that happened in the evening was the fact Hank’s in the recording studio.”

  “What!”

  “Now lookie here, he sung this song I aint ever heard before,” Maxine replied. “Speculation is that it is about the woman.”

  You’ve got to be kidding me! “I have to go.” Natalie tried to sound cool as a cucumber but by the way Maxine started to laugh she knew she wasn’t buying it. Hanging up quickly, she dialed Hank’s phone number only for an automated message telling her she had the wrong number.

  Natalie stood up and looked at herself in the mirror. Her red hair was a mess, eyes bloodshot red and the bags underneath were the telltale signs that she was tired. Pinching her cheeks until they became pink, she left her husband and was now living in a nightmare. The huge houses, nice bank accounts and husband that loved her were now gone. She lived in a small ass apartment and little money in her pocket. Natalie created this life for herself, it was hard for her to comprehend that she was solely responsible for the mistake she’d made with Hank.

  Opening the bathroom door, she rushed around the cramped studio apartment looking for her luggage. She must have caused too much noise, because Dwight stormed into the room.

  “Where the hell you going?” he asked.

  Natalie sighed and looked up at him. Dwight Brooks stood tall over her; his tussled, dirty blonde hair covered his handsome chiseled face. “Home,” she said, and went back to throwing her clothes in the luggage.

  “This is your home now, darling,” he said jumping on the bed, knocking the clothes on the floor.

  Stopping what she was doing, she glared at him. “This is not my home Dwight! I’m going back to Nashville.”

  Dwight shook his head at her. “If you think he’s going to take your cheating ass back, you’re looney as a jaybird.”

  For the past few months she watched Dwight self-destruct, he was kicked off Liam’s tour due to his substance abuse problem. Natalie took a part time job in Omaha, Nebraska as a secretary to make ends meet until Dwight got himself together, but she was tired of struggling and having to worry about money. With Hank she didn’t have to worry about pinching pennies and robbing Peter to pay Paul.

  “It’s better than staying here with your drunken ass,” Natalie mumbled as she zipped her last luggage up. “I made mistake leaving my husband for you.”

  Dwight picked up a half empty beer bottle and took a swig. “You will be back,” he chuckled.

  Natalie didn’t bother responding to his remark; she picked up her luggage and left him with hopes of reconciling with Hank.

  Chapter Seven

  Kari smiled as Hank maneuvered the truck west on I-40. She listened to the country music playing over the radio, the lyrics from the song made her mind think about the relationship she had with Hank. She liked him a lot but hadn’t learned how to trust him yet. Maybe the side trip to Memphis and Arkansas was exactly what she needed before reaching Dallas. She didn’t know what the future held for Hank and her, but she was excited to travel down the unbeaten path of uncertainty.

  “What’s up with that smile?” Hank asked, looking at her before glancing back at the road.

  “Country music.” She leaned forward and turn up the music slightly. “This is the third song that talked about drinking and being lonely.”

  “Country music keeps it real darling, we let people know when shit happens that we can’t even control.”

  “Tell me about your life. I’m talking about before country singing and marriage.” Kari noticed how Hank gripped the steering wheel harder, his knuckles become ghostly white.

  “Well baby girl, my life ain’t been easy for a long shot. When my momma died it had a huge impact on my life. Somehow with the grace of god and a great uncle and aunt, I was able to push through it.”

  “Tell me about your mother, Kate.”

  “My mom was a gracious and humble woman, who didn’t depend on my father for a damn thing. When Gerald walked out on us when I was six years old,” he shook his head trying to get the memory of that day out his head, “it crushed her, but she worked her ass off. I used to blame him for leaving…I thought if he didn’t leave she wouldn’t have worked herself into an early grave.”

  Kari reached over and put her hand on his lap. “I’m sorry,” she said softly.

  “It’s been 22 years, and there will still be moments where it hits me, where I remember my uncle and aunt coming home and telling me my mother was gone. It’s the worst feeling in the world-”

  “A nightmare that you want to wake up from and pray that it didn’t happen instead, and to wake up and it did happen,” she finished for him.

  “Yeah, my mom was sick but she never missed a talent show or pop warner football game.” He rapidly blinked the unshed tears from his eyes. “Mom had a stern hand and was very compassionate. She always wanted me to reach for my dreams.”

  “She would be proud of you.”

  “I went to the University of Texas where I had a full scholarship to play football, but I wasn’t happy until Austin talked me into going to Nashville with him. Next thing you know we’re both getting signed to the same record label.”

  “Wouldn’t it be better if you guys we’re in a country band?”

  Hank laughed and shook his head no. “Nope, Don Hendricks saw different marketing value, my mom and Aunt Charlene’s advice to us boys was to live without regrets.”

  There were plenty things stored in Kari’s past that she wished she could have done differently. “Do you?” she asked.

  “Regrets? No-our life is about learning and growing. If I didn’t go through dropping out of college, getting a record deal, and marrying Natalie, I wouldn’t have grown into the man I am today.”

  Kari understood what Hank was trying to say. He didn’t look at different obstacles in his life as situations that he regretted, but she did. She moved almost clear across the country to avoid her dysfunctional family, ex-fiancé and friends. “I wish…I could think like you.” She gazed at the green guide sign; they were only thirty miles away from Memphis.

  “Stop focusing on the wrong things, that’s just making you unhappy. It’s like the saying ‘The saddest summary of life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.’ Tell me about your life before you moved to Nashville.”

  Kari turned in her seat and faced Hank. “Well Mr. Jackson, my parents Nigel and Clare Hayes are not the parenting type. When you called me a spoiled brat without knowing me, you were exactly right. I was raised with the finer things in life, but that doesn’t define me as a person.”

  “I do apologize for calling you a spoiled snobby brat,” he said.

  “My siblings and I were raised by nannies…we were never first in their lives. I believe my trust issues stem from my parents, let’s just say there were a lot of broken promises.”

  “Your parents were there but not active.” Hank reached over and touched her hand. “I have learned in the past couple of years that you shouldn’t expect anything from anyone. Some people only live for themselves and others live for others.”

  “Rita was more like a mother than Clare and Nigel together. Their support was next to nothing. When you expect more from your family and get nothing it’s totally disheartening.”

  Hank applied his turn signal and got off the exit. “It’s a hard pill to swallow when you feel totally alone in the world. This is where you turn your misery into learning experience.”

  When Hank turned and looked at her at the stop light, her heart nearly stopped, but it wasn’t what she felt before that was different. It was like his heart was reaching for hers. Kari looked away quickly out the window. She peaked over at him when the truck starting moving again, it was amazing how two people could have everything that money could buy, except for love. Kari allowed herself to drift off to the sounds of the low
country music coming from the stereo.

  Hank could hear Kari’s soft snores. For two months after Natalie left him, he couldn’t even think about dating again. He was afraid of failure and rejection. Every day he spent with Kari he wanted to try it again. With her he had a better realization what he needed in a relationship.

  He erased all traces of Natalie from the home they shared; removing all her clothing and boxed up the photographs and anything that reminded him of the past. He didn’t think he would start to smile again until Kari came into his life. He didn’t even intend to enjoy writing music again or even something simple as driving three hours with his woman right beside of him.

  Maybe he was just lucky, because some people searched the whole world to find love. He had to convince Kari that some things were meant to be like him and her. He glanced over at her sleeping peacefully and smiled. When she became quiet earlier, she didn’t have to speak in order for him to see the fear in those big brown eyes.

  Pulling into the parking lot of the Heartbreak Hotel, he reached over and gently nudged her until Kari stirred slowly. “We’re here baby girl,” he said softly.

  Kari opened her eyes and stared into his. “That was quick,” she said.

  “I have rules for our weekend excursions,” he said, looking at her seriously.

  Kari rolled her eyes. “Oh god! Not you and those rules again.”

  Hank smiled and shook his head. “Don’t you think you’re being a little dramatic,” he said, kissing her before she could answer. “This weekend together there will be no talk about regrets or family problems. We will be silly, playful, spontaneous, generous, thoughtful and affectionate.”

  Kari’s expression went from tired to surprise in a matter of seconds. “I can do that,” she said as she kissed him really quickly before getting out the truck.

  ***