“Fuck, you’re so wet.” He switched breasts so that my right nipple was now in his mouth and he was massaging my left.
“P-please,” I whispered, trying to find the right pressure to make the ache between my legs go away.
His head lifted and he stared down at me with desire-glazed eyes for a long moment before capturing my lips in a long, hard kiss. His hands moved from my breasts lower until he reached the top of my panties. “I’ve dreamed of doing this,” he breathed when he broke the kiss.
“Me too,” I confessed, too lost in the moment to care what I was saying. “Please, Harris. I need you.”
“You have me, sweetness. I’m right here.” He started to move so he could pull my panties off, but before he could get far he made a growling noise in the back of his throat and tore the sides away. In the next moment cool air hit my overheated pussy. It was such a shock to my burning body that I couldn’t contain the small gasp of pleasure.
Harris left me then. He kissed his way down my stomach and over my thighs. I felt his thumbs rubbing little circles on the inside of each one as he urged me to part my legs farther for him. There was no time to be nervous or scared. That just wasn’t possible with Harris. His mouth kissed the inside of my left thigh, then the right and with my next inhale he was tonguing my pussy.
My hands reached out, needing something to hold on to. There was nothing but covers and I grabbed hold, twisting them in my fists as I came all over his tongue.
“That’s it, sweetness. Give me all that honey.”
I could only pant his name, my entire body shaking with the reaction from the intensity of my first orgasm since January. There was no time to come down from the high of my release. Harris was already working me back toward another one with his fingers as he teased my opening. I whimpered when he thrust a little deeper with his middle finger, enjoying the invasion.
“I can’t hold back, Lucy.” His face was tense, his body radiating with his need for me.
Seeing the desire in his eyes, the way his entire body seemed to bow toward my own, was empowering. I didn’t think about what I was doing, didn’t stop to question anything that was happening right in that moment. I reached for him through his boxers with one hand while I started pushing the material off his hips with the other.
He was bigger than I remembered, my hand barely able to wrap around his thick shaft. I could already feel the dampness from his pre-cum even before I got his boxers off. Harris helped me get them over his engorged flesh and then kicked them the rest of the way off. Groaning, he lowered himself until he could kiss me again, his hand covering my own over his flesh as I stroked him.
“P-please,” I whimpered against his lips. “I want you.”
“Fuck,” he muttered and moved my hand away. I felt him position himself at my opening, and I spread my legs wider in welcome as he started to push into me.
Nothing could ever compare to how good it felt to have Harris inside of me. To feel him stretching the delicate tissue hidden deep inside, to know that he was the only man to ever touch me, to ever make me feel like this, was mind blowing. His hips shifted, slowly rocking back and forth, giving me a little bit more of himself at a time. I wanted it all, wanted him to be a part of me. Now.
My legs wrapped around his waist and he swallowed a vicious curse as I forced him inside of me completely.
The slice of pain as his thickness tore through my hymen had me gasping for breath. He went completely still over me, his breathing coming in choppy pants as he tried to give me the time I needed to adjust to being invaded by him.
Pushing up on his elbows, he lifted his head so he could look down at me. “You okay, sweetness?”
“Y-yes,” I said with a nod. “I’m good now. Just…just go slow.”
He gave a single nod, his jaw clenched as he started to pull back. I gasped as the friction of his body slid over distressed tissue, but when he thrust back into me there was no pain, only a new tenderness that left me all that more attuned to how good he felt inside of me. Harris took his time for a few more minutes, making sure that I was okay and enjoying it before he increased his pace.
I arched my hips, meeting him thrust for thrust as the pleasure started to build to blinding proportions once again. There wasn’t a single thought in my head but coming again. I reached out for him, my nails slicing unknowingly into his back as his hips pumped into me over and over again.
“Oh, God. This is better than I could have dreamed, sweetness. You feel so fucking good. You’re so tight and so wet for me.” He couldn’t seem to stop himself as he increased his pace, but I was happy to oblige him. “Fucking hell, Lu. I’m close.”
His words shot me over the edge I’d been on and over the cliff into paradise. I felt Harris stiffen above me, heard him shout my name, then there was nothing but sweet oblivion.
Harris
My heart rate was slowly returning to normal, my breathing finally regulating until I could take a lungful. My body was still shaking from the intensity of a release from an ache that had been building from the day I’d first realized I was in love with Lucy Thornton.
Fucking hell.
My head shot up as everything slowly came back to me and I realized how badly I’d just fucked up. This shouldn’t have happened. Not like this. Lucy deserved so much more, so much better. A quick fuck when she probably had the mother of all hangovers was not how I’d ever planned on our first time happening. Before my life had gone to hell in Tessa’s hand basket, I’d had plans for us. A night out followed by flowers and the kind of slow lovemaking that romance books were made of. I’d wanted to show her with my body how much she meant to me.
What had I done instead? Jumped on her like a stag in rut. Taken her virginity when I wasn’t even sure if it was still mine to take. I hadn’t prepared her enough, hadn’t given her small body time to adjust to my large size. I’d probably hurt her.
“Are you okay?” I was able to get out in a choked voice.
Her eyes slowly blinked open and she smiled up at me.
For about a second.
Then those dark eyes that had been so full of a happiness I hadn’t seen in them in too fucking long turned stormy before her lashes lowered, hiding her emotions from me. It felt like a slap in the face but nothing I didn’t deserve. I’d seriously fucked up. “I’m fine,” she muttered, pushing her soft hands against my sweat dampened chest.
I moved willingly, wanting to give her the space she needed. I might have fucked up, but I was going to fix this. I had to fix it. Lucy was too much a part of me not to at least fight for us this time around.
She sat up in bed and started to get up. The quick inhale she took told me she was in pain before she even dropped back down on the edge of the bed. “Is this Kin’s room?” she muttered.
I wasn’t sure if she was actually asking me or talking to herself, but I answered her anyway. “Yeah. I wanted you to be closer to the bathroom in case you got sick again.”
She covered her face with her hands. “Oh, good gods. I’m never drinking again.”
I reached out, rubbed my hand over her back. Her head shot around and I quickly dropped my hand. She was naked and that small touch was already affecting my body in a very obvious way. The look on her face, however, told me that she wasn’t in the mood. Not that I would have taken her a second time. She was hurting and it wasn’t just from the hangover either.
The red spot on the sheets where Lucy had been lying just moments before was screaming at me loud and clear that I’d caused her physical pain. Fucking hell. I would have given anything not to have hurt her, but at the same time I was glad to be the one to have taken her virginity. Maybe it wasn’t mine to take, but I had and I would hold on to that for the rest of my life.
Slower this time, Lucy stood, taking one of the sheets with her to wrap around her enticing little body as she did. Good. Now temptation was covered up. Her head turned left and right as if she was looking for somethi
ng. When her gaze landed on the bedside clock, her face paled. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. I’m dead. Aunt Emmie is going to blow a gasket.”
I took a look at the clock, saw that it was after one in the afternoon and groaned. I needed to get to work, but Lucy was more important. I couldn’t leave her unless I knew she was going to be okay. And that she would see me again.
“Can I take you home?” I was already reaching for my boxers, making sure my dick was out of sight before I ended up making another mistake with it.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” she grumbled as she headed for the bathroom.
Fuck.
“Can I call you later?”
She stopped at the door to the bathroom and paused for a long moment, thinking of her answer. Then she shook her head. “Please…just don’t, Harris. I—I can’t.” Her voice broke and I took a step toward her but she spun around to glare at me. “I can’t do this with you. I’m not strong enough to handle being broken all over again. What just happened was a mistake, but I don’t regret it. Not really. Maybe it’s the closure we both need. I don’t know, but what I do know is that I won’t survive you again.”
A lump filled my throat, making it hard to draw in a breath for a moment. “Lu, I know I’ve fucked up. I fucked up bad, sweetness. But give me a chance to fix this. To fix us. Don’t give up on me.” I was begging, so close to tears there was no way of hiding them, but I didn’t give a damn. I wanted her to see. Needed her to know exactly how sorry I was for letting her go.
“I didn’t,” she whispered and wrapped her arms around herself. “You did that months ago. I’ve been trying to put myself back together ever since.” She lowered her head, talking to the floor now. “I’ve been trying, but it hasn’t been working.”
I was across the room in the next instant, pulling her into my arms. She was stiff as a statue in my arms, but I didn’t let her go. I would never let her go. I’d made that mistake once, and I wouldn’t repeat it. Ever. “I’ve been trying to put me back together, too, sweetness. Nothing I do works either. It’s time we put each other back together.”
She shook her head. “I-I can’t.” She stepped back, but I didn’t force her to stay. She needed time and I had plenty of that.
I wouldn’t give up this time.
I wouldn’t let her go.
Chapter 8
Lucy
In a daze, I left Kin’s bedroom. My head was killing me and my body ached in a way that left my blood singing through my veins. I couldn’t believe that I’d just had sex with Harris. What had I been thinking? This only complicated things that much more.
“There you are,” Kin called out from the kitchen as she poured herself a cup of coffee. “I was about to send a search party for you. Your phone has been going off like crazy. Aunt Emmie is peeved, to say the least.”
“Hell,” I muttered, pushing my hair back from my face. It was soaking wet because I hadn’t taken the time to even attempt to dry it in my rush to get clean and out the door as quickly as possible. “What did you tell her?”
Kin paused to give me a complete onceover, then offered me the cup of coffee she had just poured. “Here, you look like you need this more than I do.”
I shook my head and headed for the door. “I have to go.” I wanted to be gone before Harris got out of the shower. I hadn’t said a word to him as we’d passed in the bedroom. I couldn’t even look at him without remembering what we’d just done.
“Keep the sweats,” Kin told me as I headed for the door. “I’ll burn your clothes. Oh, and thanks for all the vomit I had to clean up last night.”
I stopped with my hand on the door. I’d had no choice but to borrow Kin’s clothes. I wasn’t going to take the time to go back to the guest room for my own clothes and the only other options were the vomit-covered clothes I’d ruined the night before or the shirt Harris had put on me. The one he’d destroyed while trying to get it off me just an hour before.
I glanced at Kin over my shoulder. Seeing that she had followed me, I turned to face her. “I’m sorry, Kin. I messed up last night. Do you hate me?”
She wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. “I could never hate you. Cuss your ass while I tried not to add to the mess I had to clean, sure, but never hate you.” She pulled back, her eyes narrowed in concern. “Will you be okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s just a hangover.” I tried to play it off, but she saw right through me.
“Yeah, hangover. That’s what they call it these days.” She shook her head and handed over my phone. “Here, you’re going to need this. Tell Aunt Emmie and your parents I said ‘hi’. Call me later and I’ll bring your things over.”
I put my phone in my pocket and headed out the door. It was only a two-minute cab ride to my parents’ house, and thankfully there were several cabs already waiting downstairs. I told the driver where I was going, tossed him a twenty, then sat back. Closing my eyes, I tried to ignore the pain in my head.
Most people didn’t have a cookout on Mondays, but my family wasn’t most people. They didn’t work the normal nine to five. So I wasn’t surprised when I stepped out of the cab and found not only my parents’ driveway full of cars, but Aunt Emmie’s as well. Knowing everyone would be at the latter’s house, I walked past the house that separated the Thorntons from the Armstrongs. Instead of going into the house, I walked around to the back yard where I could already hear kids laughing and splashing in the pool.
“She lives!”
I tried not to flinch at Nik’s loud voice as he brought my appearance to everyone’s attention. I would have happily murdered someone for a pair of sunglasses and a bottle of aspirin right then. Everyone was there: Mia and Jagger swimming in their pool, Drake and Lana with their four girls, Shane and Harper with Violet and Mason, Axton and Dallas with Cannon and Shaw, Liam and Gabriella with Asher and Piper, Zander and Annabelle with their son Jaco. I didn’t see my mom or Aunt Emmie, who must have still been in the house getting things ready.
“Lu!” my dad’s booming voice called out. “You hungry?”
The smell of whatever he was grilling suddenly hit me as the breeze shifted. I couldn’t control my gag reflexes but thankfully I didn’t puke right there. Trying to breathe through my mouth, I clutched my stomach and shook my head. My reaction only had my dad and the rest of the rockers already spread around the patio chuckling.
“It’s okay, baby-cakes. I’ll get you fixed right up.” I welcomed the warmth of Drake’s arm as he draped it over my shoulders and guided me toward the French doors that led into the kitchen.
“Is this your first hangover?”
There was no use in trying to lie. Drake was the king of hangovers from his days before my sister had tamed him. “Yeah,” I muttered, still trying to breathe through my mouth to avoid gagging again.
My brother-in-law laughed. “Okay, Lu. This is gonna suck for a few minutes. Bear with me. I won’t lead you wrong.”
I just nodded as we stepped into the kitchen. I trusted Drake with my life.
Mom and Aunt Emmie had been talking until we walked in. As soon as they saw me, they both shut up quick, but I was too distracted from the pain in my head and the new aches in my body to focus on that. Drake left me at the island and moved to the refrigerator to pull out random things. Tomato juice, eggs, celery and countless other things.
“You look miserable, baby,” Mom said with a smile as she picked up a knife and started slicing onions.
“Pretty sure I’m dying,” I mumbled truthfully, causing all three of them to laugh out loud at me.
“I’m sure it feels like that,” Mom said with a grin as she hugged me. “Drake will fix you up. Just a small warning. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
I folded my arms on the island and laid my head down. “I’m never drinking again.”
“Good idea,” Drake said with a nod.
“Can I have some aspirin?”
“You won’t need
it after Drake is done,” Aunt Emmie assured me as she continued to slice fresh tomatoes. “Just be ready to run.”
That only confused me, but I didn’t bother to move, especially when Mom started rubbing my back. I hadn’t been babied like that in forever, but I wanted to soak it all up. My mom gave the best back rubs in the world.
“Okay, Lu.” Drake set a glass of something that looked like tar in front of me. I lifted my head reluctantly and as soon as I caught a smell of the contents my gag reflex started working overtime.
“No,” I said, backing away from the island. “No way.”
Drake picked the glass up and walked toward me. “Do you trust me?”
“Usually. I’m not so sure about right now, though.”
His blue-gray eyes crinkled with his grin. “I’d never do anything to hurt you, Lu. Angel would kill me.”
“So that’s the only reason?” I crossed my arms over my chest, pouting up at him. “I see how it is.”
“I love you more than life, girl. Now drink this shit.” He pushed the glass into my hand and then took a cautious step back. “Just chug it. Get it all over with in one go.”
“Fudge buckets,” I muttered and lifted the glass to my lips. My stomach churned again at the smell, but I tipped it back and started gulping it down.
It tasted worse than it smelled, the contents both liquid and chunky as it slid down my throat. My stomach protested immediately but I kept drinking until it was all gone.
Thankfully someone was there to take the glass from me as the need to vomit became too much. Slapping my hand over my mouth, I made a run for the downstairs bathroom. How the hell was that shit supposed to help me? I couldn’t help but wonder as I threw up everything in my stomach. Fuck, I was really going to die this time. My stomach cramped so hard that I fell to my knees beside the toilet, moaning and mentally praying that at least one of Aunt Emmie’s gods would take pity on me and just end me then and there.