Read SMITH (The Beckett Boys, Book One) for Free Online Page B

asks Aubrey.
    She murmurs something to him, and he nods, strolls over to the bar, and pours her a beer. I bet it’s the beer I recommended for her that first night. I studiously keep my attention on the tasks at hand, cleaning the bar and serving other customers. I can’t let myself fall into this…whatever I’m feeling.
    Because this girl isn’t like Maria. She doesn’t seem like the person who would flit from one sexual encounter to another, not caring too much, not getting attached. She seems like the forever type, and I don’t fucking want that at this point in my life.
    Right?
    I finish pouring a beer for Sam when Aubrey’s eyes connect with mine. I feel it square in my gut, a pull toward her. There’s a crackle of attraction between us so strong, I’m surprised no one else in the bar is winded by it. It almost knocks me off my fucking feet. The heat in her eyes, the smoky promise… No, no, no, I keep chanting, but I feel myself weakening.
    I want her.
    Plain and simple truth. I want her. I want to push inside her. I want to grip her hair and tug her scalp and lick her bared throat. I want to tie her wrists and ankles to my bed, make her helpless, weak, wet for me.
    I want to leave my marks on her, bruise that delicate flesh, have her sore and aching after I ravage her.
    But my cravings are most definitely too dark for her. And even if they weren’t, I’m not going to be any good for her. My life is way too fucked up and complicated to have anything to offer a girl like her. I’m not the white-picket-fence kind of guy. I can’t let myself start thinking otherwise.
    Just having her here in Outlaws worries me. She shouldn’t even be within ten miles of me or this fucking place. It’s not safe—I’m not safe.
    Jax lingers by her, talking with her, and she gives him a beatific smile. I find my own heart clenching in response. Fuck, how can she be so beautiful? Even still, with the glow on her face, I can see something deeper lingering underneath. An emotion that seems to haunt her, that has haunted her since I first met her.
    I shouldn’t let myself care about what’s going on with this chick. But I want to know. Why did she move to our town, our state, of all places? Why does she have that sadness around her?
    Is she as pure and innocent as she seems?
    Could she ever be interested in entertaining my dirtiest desires? The way I’d love to bend her over and smack my hand on her ass, just to start? Leave my handprint on her skin as a mark of ownership, of possession?
    How I’d like to sink my teeth into the back of her neck? Cuff her to my bed? Brand the insides of her thighs with the suction of my mouth, the clench of my teeth? My hunger is deep and wicked, always unsatisfied.
    There’s no way Aubrey could fulfill that. She looks too fragile and innocent to be into any sort of pain.
    Then she shoots me a look. Her eyes connect with mine over my brother’s shoulders, and there’s a heat in there that surprises me, floods my body. Like she knows she’s driving me crazy and she wants to. Like she wants me hungry for her. I see the way one side of her mouth crooks in the corner. How her eyes lower ever so slightly, hooded, aroused. She wants me too. I can see it plain as day.
    God, I need to fuck her. Right fucking now.
    It takes a herculean effort to make myself turn away from her and move toward the office. My refuge. I can’t think straight around her, can’t focus. My whole body is on fire for Aubrey, my fingers itching to grip her hard and leave small bruises on her flesh. I’m dirty, filthy, unworthy, but God help me, I want to pollute her a little with my sin. Make this angel learn how to love the darkness.
    I spend a good half hour in the office, shuffling papers around blindly. Trying to convince my raging cock to calm down and lose its erection. But every time I do, I think about Aubrey’s sexy mouth, her on her knees, peering up at me with those innocent eyes. And my dick screams to be