Chapter 7
SEVEN
CASPER
With our coffee secured, I take us to the old lookout on the other side of town. There are trails and campgrounds nearby, but they’ve slowly been taken over by nature, reclaimed after months of disuse. For the most part, anyway.
From the corner of my eye, I watch Hattie sip her coffee, eyes focused on the road ahead of us. My promise replays in my head, her answer—and the uncertainty that’d laced her voice—making my stomach twist.
“In the last ten years, did you ever consider coming back?” I ask, grip tightening on the steering wheel.
She shrugs, the movement hesitant. “Sometimes,” she admits quietly. “But then Mom would call, and I’d be reminded of all the reasons why I left in the first place.”
“You didn’t think about visiting me?” I tease, feeling my heart clench. “Your favourite Sterling brother?”
Hattie laughs quietly under her breath and shakes her head. “I almost did a couple of times, honestly. But I didn’t think you wanted to see me after our…goodbye.”
My jaw clenches with annoyance, mostly at myself. “I hate that I made you feel that way, Hattie. I’m sorry.”
I pull into the lookout and park the truck. We’re the only ones up here, and we probably won’t be disturbed—at least I know her family won’t find us here.
“Don’t be sorry,” she replies, unbuckling her seatbelt and shifting to look at me. “Anyway, it’s in the past now, right?”
“I’d like to think so,” I say, “but I’ll be honest. For this to work—for me to prove to you that you’ve got a reason to stay in Willow Ridge—I need to clear the air.”
“Cas—” she starts, but I cut her off.
“You deserved a hell of a lot better from me in high school. I’m man enough to admit that. I failed you. Not just as your friend, but as someone who loves you.”
Hattie’s eyes widen, cheeks turning pink. “You don’t have to apologise,” she replies, shaking her head. “Seriously.”
“I wouldn’t be worthy of you if I didn’t.”
She stops what she’s doing and stares at me with wide eyes, shock clear across her features.
For a long moment, she doesn’t say anything, just sits there with her lips parted, hands still cupping her forgotten coffee.
My heart crashes painfully in my chest as I wait for her to say something, to tell me I’m not crazy.
That I’m not the only one feeling this way.
Hattie sets her cup down in the cup holder and releases a breath. Without a word, she opens the door and gets out of the truck.
I’m only stunned for a moment before I get out to follow her. She moves to the hood, hands in her hair.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, stopping in front of her. “What did I do?”
She looks at me before shaking her head. “It’s not you, Casper.”
“Bullshit.” I take a step towards her, leaving only a breath of space between us. Her hands fall from her hair to the hood of the truck. “You’ve been weird since the kiss.”
Her eyes flicker to mine, then down to my lips. But she shakes her head. “You don’t need to be dragged into my insecurities, Casper. It’s nothing. Really.”
Why the hell would she be insecure? I drag my eyes over the most stunning woman I have ever known; it’s clear how different she is to the girl I knew in high school. The Hattie I knew a decade ago would only wear jeans and a sweater, never dressing to compliment her figure.
This Hattie is more confident in herself, in the way she dresses. Sure, it might be because of her work. But I noticed the shift in her the moment I saw her. It’d only dimmed around her family.
“You know I see you as the sexiest person I’ve ever met, right?” I tell her, moving so our bodies are flush. “That since I saw you this morning, I’ve been harder than fucking stone, wondering what it would be like to see you in nothing but those damned boots?”
Hattie’s eyes widen, cheeks flushing. “What?”
“Yeah.” I nod once, grabbing her by the hips. “Trust me when I tell you I’ve never wanted anything more. The kiss only made my need for you worse. Since you walked back into my life, I’ve been wondering how I can make you mine. That’s why I want you to stay.”
Slowly, I lower myself to my knees, tilting my face so our eyes remained locked. “And you have no idea how badly I want to see you in just these fucking boots.”
Hattie sucks in a sharp breath, moving her hands to the hood of the truck. “You mean…”
“Naked,” I tell her. “But the boots stay on.”
The colour of her cheeks turns from pink to red immediately. “Casper…”
Slowly, I skim my hands up the leather boots until my fingers hook the top of them where they sit just below her knee. There’s maybe only a couple of inches of skin visible between the boot and her damn skirt. “Part your legs for me. I want to see what’s beneath the leather.”
Hattie visibly shudders. “We’re out in the open.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I reply. “Let them see what a Goddess I have. Let them see me make you come on my face.”
She gasps, but parts her thighs for me like the good girl I know she is. Gravel crunches beneath the heel of her boot as she moves, but the skirt is a restraint that makes it hard for her to go much further.
I growl and move my hands to the skirt. With simple efficiency, I tug it up around her waist, baring her thick thighs to me.
“Casper!” She moves one of her hands to the bunched material, but I grab her fingers before she can pull it down.
“Give me a chance, shortcake. You won’t regret it.”
Hattie tugs her bottom lip between her teeth, eyes darting to the road. For the most part, we’re hidden from the rest of the grounds.
“Just be quiet,” I tell her, moving closer to the apex of her thighs. I can smell her, the headiness of her desire filling my lungs. “Or scream. I want the world to know that you’re mine.”
She shudders again, but she moves her hand back to the truck. “Okay.”
My lips quirk. “Okay?”
Hattie nods once. “I trust you.”
Those three words mean more to me than I ever thought possible.
My girl parts her thighs for me just enough that I have the perfect view of her wet panties.
“You’re already soaked,” I say, grabbing her underwear by the waistband and pulling them down.
She steps out of them without a word, though I do notice her cheeks darkening even more. “Fuck, I can’t wait to taste you.”
“You want to…eat me out?” she asks hesitantly. “You don’t have—”
“Oh, I really fucking do,” I tell her, running my tongue over the seam of her hairless pussy. She makes a sound in the back of her throat, hips bucking. “Tell me…did you prepare for me?”
Hattie releases a shaky breath and allows herself to relax enough that when her legs fully open, I get a peak at her clit. My mouth waters at the glistening sight.
“I waxed to see what it might be like,” she admits quietly. “Hurt like a bitch.”
I chuckle, using my fingers to part her for my tongue. “Let it grow out. I want to see what you’re like normally.”
She shudders again, but I don’t give her a chance to respond as I dive into her wet heat. She tastes like sin, exploding on my mouth in a way that makes me hard. My cock strains, weeping for her. But my attention is only on making her come.
“Oh, fuck,” she whispers, hand moving to my head, fingers twisting in my hair. I wish I could see her expression, but my tongue eagerly flicks her clit, my own fingers, circling her soaked entrance. “It feels—it feels too good, Cas.”
I pull my mouth away for only a moment to say, “Ride my face, shortcake. I want you to strangle my fingers and shout my name when you come.”
My fingers slide inside her with little resistance, though she’s so tight I know it won’t take much for her to do what I want. All I can imagine is what it might be like to be sliding my dick inside her, feeling the pulsing flutter of her pussy around my shaft rather than my fingers.
Fuck, I might just finish in my pants if I keep thinking about that.
Hattie moans when my fingers curl inside her, the sound rushing right through me. My tongue circles her clit before flattening, tasting all of her at once. Her hips move in short little bucks against my face, the fingers in my hair twisting around the strands until she has a tight hold of me.
“I’m so close,” she pants, pushing her pussy into my mouth. “I need to come.”
I close my mouth around her clit and suck as my fingers stroke her. I keep the movements even, steady, even as her hips move sharply, seeking more friction.
It doesn’t take long for her to explode on my mouth just like I wanted. Hattie cries out what sounds like my name, but I can’t concentrate on anything other than the feel of her tightening around my fingers.
I coax her through her climax, slowing my strokes until she’s panting and her hand falls from my head.
“You did so good,” I tell her as I pull out of her. “And you did exactly what I wanted.”
Her cheeks are flushed in a different way, eyes dark with desire. “Your chin is…wet.”
“Is it?” I grin, showing her my soaked fingers. Her eyes dart to the digits and widen. “How about we make my cock wet, too? You think you can do that again with me really inside you?”
Once again, she chews her bottom lip. I feel myself go rock hard when her eyes drop to my jeans, which bulge with my erection.
If she says no, I’d probably need to fix myself before taking her back to the inn, because I’m not sure what I’d do with her eyes on me, or with her release still fresh on my tongue.
“I’m a virgin,” she says, eyes meeting mine again. “I haven’t…I never really got to do anything like that, and it sounds so lame because we’re nearly thirty—”
“Hey, stop.” I move in and cup her cheeks. “It’s okay. We do this at your pace. But fuck, I want to be the one to show you pleasure. I want to be the only one who does.”
She shudders, eyes flickering shut. “You have no idea how badly I want that, too,” she says, opening her eyes. “I want it to be you, Casper. Only you.”
My chest warms with a feeling I know shouldn’t be there, but it swells within me anyway.
“Those are words that mean something to me,” I warn her, sliding a hand between us to unzip my jeans. I pull my cock free, stroking the hardness with her release still on my fingers, wetting the length. “Those are words that mean everything to me.”
She sucks in a breath and releases it slowly. “They mean something to me, too.”
Fuck. The feeling grows. I’ve known for a long time that I’d one day make Hattie Simms mine, and now, I get to make that dream come true.