Chapter 4
HARLON
Years of iron control, and the moment Piper Cross begs me, I snap.
"Please," she whispers again, her body arching beneath mine, and I'm done.
Finished.
Every reason I've been telling myself to stay away burns to ash.
I reach between us, gripping my length, and line up at her entrance. My hand trembles—actually trembles—and I force myself to pause.
"I don't have a condom." My voice is like sandpaper.
Her eyes meet mine, so decadently dark. "I'm on birth control. And I haven’t…” she clears her throat. “…not since Jayce.”
"I haven’t been with anyone either." I should feel guilty hearing my brother’s name right now, but all I feel is savage satisfaction that she's here with me instead. "But if you want to stop—"
"Harlon." She wraps her legs around my hips. "If you don't fuck me right now, I'm going to lose my mind."
Jesus.
I push in slowly, just the tip, and have to stop. She's so tight, so wet, so goddamn perfect that my vision actually blurs. Every fantasy I've had—and there have been many—none of them come close to this.
"Ohhh," she breathes, her nails digging into my shoulders.
I push in another inch, watching her face. Her lips part, eyes fluttering closed, and I want to memorize this moment…brand it into my brain so I never forget the way she looks taking my cock for the first time.
"Piper," I rasp.
Her eyes fly open, locking with mine, and I push in deeper. Slow. Controlled. Even though I desperately want to slam home and claim her completely.
"You feel—" I don't have words for how goddamn amazing she feels wrapped around me.
"Take me," she demands, rolling her hips. "Harlon, I need your cock."
My control fractures. I sink in to the hilt in one smooth thrust, and we both groan.
"Fuck." She's gripping me like a vice and it's taking everything I have not to move. "You okay?"
"So okay." Her breathing is ragged, pupils blown wide. "You're so big, and thick. I feel so full—"
I capture her mouth in a kiss, swallowing whatever she was going to say next, because if she keeps talking like that I'm going to lose it right here, right now.
I start to move…slowly with deep strokes that make her whimper against my lips. Her body yields to mine, accepting every inch, and the sensation is almost too much. I've been hard for her for so long, that now that I finally have her, my body doesn't know what to do with the reality.
"More," she pants.
"Tell me what you need, sweetheart."
"You." Her nails rake down my back. "All of you. Fuck me like you mean it."
Something primal roars to life in my chest.
I pull almost all the way out and pound back in, and the sound she makes—high and surprised—nearly kills me.
"Like that?" I do it again, harder this time. “Is that what you want, baby girl?”
"Yes!" She's clinging to me, meeting every thrust, and Christ, she's so responsive, so eager, so completely mine in this moment.
I set a rhythm that's probably too rough and intense, but she's matching me stroke for stroke, demanding everything I can give her.
The bed frame creaks beneath us, the rusty springs squeaking, but I don't care if we break the bed. I’ll buy another to replace it. All I care about is the way she feels beneath me, around my cock, the sounds she makes every time I hit deep.
"You know how often I’ve thought about bending you over every fucking surface in my parents’ house?" I growl against her neck.
"Harlon—" My name is a gasp.
“You. Drove. Me. Insane.” I punctuate each word with a thrust.
"I wore that sea green sundress—oh god—on purpose,” she confesses between moans. "Saw you looking once. Wanted to make you look again."
The admission nearly ends me. "You little tease."
Her hands slide into my hair, pulling hard enough to sting. "I did it to piss you off. Cause I thought you hated me."
I capture her mouth in a bruising kiss. "I hated that I couldn't have you. Hated watching Jayce touch you when I couldn’t."
She's tightening even more around me, her whole body tensing in that way that means she's close. I adjust the angle, trying to go deeper.
"That's it, baby. Come around my lucky cock, my sweet girl."
Her response is immediate—back bowing, a cry tearing from her throat as she clenches around me like an iron fist.
"Harlon!"
The sight of her coming undone beneath me, the feel of her pulsing around my cock, breaks me completely open. I thrust twice more, hard, and follow her over the edge with a groan that comes from somewhere deep in my soul.
My orgasm sparks like wildfire, pleasure burning through every nerve in my body so intense my arms nearly give out. I bury my face in her neck, breathing her in, feeling her heart thunder against mine as we both tremble through the aftershocks.
We lie there tangled together, breathing hard, skin slick with sweat despite the cold air. I'm probably crushing her, but I can't seem to make my muscles cooperate.
"Holy shit," she finally whispers.
I lift my head to look at her. Her hair is wild, lips swollen from my kisses, her brown eyes soft and satisfied.
She's never looked more beautiful.
"You said it,” I manage.
Then I see it—the flicker of doubt crossing her face. And something twists in my gut.
"Don't," I say before she can speak.
"Don't what?"
"Whatever you're about to say. Don't."
She studies my face for a moment, then reaches up and kisses me. Not desperate or demanding this time, but soft and sweet. The kind of kiss that feels like a promise I shouldn't be reading into.
When she pulls back, she's smiling. "I was just going to say we should probably clean up."
"Oh." Now, I feel like an idiot.
I ease out of her carefully, both of us wincing at the sensitivity. The cabin has warmed considerably—whether from the fire or our…activities, I'm not sure—and I take a moment to grab a washcloth from the small bathroom and return to tend to her, wiping between her thighs with gentle strokes.
She watches me the whole time, something unreadable in her expression.
"What?" I ask.
"You're being sweet."
"Don't sound so surprised."
"I’ve only known you as an irritable grump." But there's no heat in her words, just teasing affection.
I toss the cloth aside and pull her against my chest, tugging the quilts over us. She feels wonderful in my arms, her head tucked under my chin, one hand resting over my heart.
"I had to be," I admit quietly. "Being nice to you was too dangerous."
Her fingers play with the hair on my chest. "But now?"
"I'm fucked either way." I press a kiss to the top of her head. "Might as well enjoy it while I can."
She goes quiet.
I know I’m full of shit. This isn't just tonight, isn't just physical release born of proximity and forbidden attraction. This is long denied feelings finally finding an outlet, and one night isn't going to be enough.
Not even close.
But I don't say that…I just hold her tighter and feel her breathing slow, evening out into sleep.
I stay awake long after, memorizing how she feels in my arms and the sound of her breathing—reveling in the way she instinctively presses closer, seeking my heat.
Outside, the storm continues. Inside, firelight flickers across the walls.
And for the first time, I let myself feel the full weight of what I've been denying.
I'm in love with Piper Cross.
Always have been, probably. Even from that first moment Jayce introduced her to me, and from every family event where she proved herself capable, intelligent, and adventurous. From all those times I had to watch her with Jayce and pretend my heart wasn't being ripped out.
And now that I've made love to her, now that I know what it's like to make her come apart in my arms—
I'm completely fucked.
Because morning will inevitably come. The storm will end. And we'll have to face reality: that she's my brother's ex, that she’s so much younger than me, and that my family might never forgive me.
But right now…she's mine. And I'm going to hold onto that for as long as I can.
I wake to Piper shifting against me, making small sounds in her sleep. Her ass presses back against my growing erection, and I bite back a groan.
The fire has burned down to embers, the cabin in near darkness. Through the window, I can see snow still falling, though not as heavily as before. It must be the middle of the night—that dead hour where the world feels suspended in time.
I should let her sleep, close my eyes and ignore the way her body is moving, clearly caught in some kind of dream.
Instead, I slide my hand down her stomach, and then lower until my fingers find her slick heat.
I blow out a breath.
She's already wet. Aroused. Whatever she's dreaming about has her body primed and ready.
"Harlon," she mumbles, still mostly asleep.
I circle her clit slowly, feeling her hips start to move in response. Her breathing changes, coming faster, and I press my lips to her shoulder.
"Wake up, sweetheart."
Her eyes flutter open, confusion giving way to awareness as she realizes what I'm doing. "Oh—"
"Shhh." I lighten my touch, teasing her in the way that made her scream earlier.
She arches back against me, one hand reaching back to grip my thigh. "Don't stop."
"Not planning on it." I work her slowly, thoroughly, feeling her get wetter with every stroke.
“That feels so good,” she whispers, after a moan. “I was dreaming about you.”
“Oh yeah?” I reply, huskily.
"Yes." The admission is breathless. "You were—your mouth—"
"My mouth, huh?" I smile. "Roll onto your back."
She does, looking up at me with dark, hungry eyes as I move down her body. I kiss my way down her stomach, pausing to suck at her hip bone just to hear her gasp.
“What are you—"
"Finishing your dream." I settle between her thighs, and the scent of her arousal makes my mouth water.
I kiss the insides of her soft thighs, spreading them open.
“Oh…” She writhes, as I lick through her velvety folds. Her hips buck off the mattress.
I pin her down with an arm across her belly and feast on her tender pussy.
The sounds she makes are incredible—desperate little whimpers and gasps that go straight to my cock. I work her with my mouth, learning what makes her squirm and moan…and what makes her hands fist in my hair and pull.
"You taste so sweet," I murmur against her. "Could do this for hours."
Her toes curl, her feet sliding around on the bed. “God…”
“Somebody’s enjoying this…” I whisper, then tease her clit with my tongue before sucking it gently into my mouth.
Her whole body tenses, thighs shaking, and I know she’s tipping over that edge.
“Harlon!” she cries, as I continue to lick and suck and taste her with my tongue and lips, her body jerking and flexing with her orgasm.
I don't stop until she's pushing at my head, oversensitive and trembling.
When I crawl back up her body, she pulls me into a kiss that tastes like both of us. It's dirty and heady and everything I could ever want.
"That was even better than my dream," she says on a sigh.
I smile. “Glad I could deliver.”
We kiss lazily now, hands wandering, exploring each other.
There's no urgency, just slow appreciation.
I trace the curve of her hip, the soft swell of her breast. She mirrors my movements, her smaller hands sliding over the planes of my chest, the ridges of my abs, the scar on my shoulder from years ago.
"Where'd you get this?" she asks, fingers tracing the line of it.
"Bear encounter. I was nineteen and stupid."
"You fought a bear?"
"More like ran from a bear and tripped over a log." I kiss her forehead. "Only my family knows that, so consider yourself special."
She laughs softly, and the sound does something pleasant to my insides.
Eventually, her breathing evens out again as she fallis back asleep, safe and sated in my arms.
I pull the quilts higher, making sure she's warm, and watch the last embers of the fire glow orange in the darkness.
The storm sounds like it might be over.
Morning has almost arrived, and we should be able to get out of here soon.
How could I have ever thought "just tonight" would be enough?