27. Harlan
Chapter 27
Harlan
I track every expression as it crosses her face.
Joy.
Elation.
Wonder.
Awe.
And finally pleasured relaxation.
Maisie’s in my bed, loose limbed and dazed after her orgasm, and the illumination of the sun has nothing on the sunshine glowing from every ounce of her in my bed, after I’ve devoured her pussy. I can still taste her on my lips, and the crushing desperation for more roars through me.
There’s a small smile playing on her lips as I climb into the bed next to her and pull her into my arms. She trails her hand down my chest and teases the patch of hair that trails from my belly to my dick in an aching caress.
My turn.
As much as I want to lose myself in her, in us, finally coming together, I want to give her what she wants more.
And if that’s playing with me while we’re in this damned bed, I’ll find the control to let her have her fun.
I roll to my back, pulling Maisie with me, until she’s straddling my thighs. Her hips drop, and her center settles against my aching cock. It pulses against her, searching for more friction, and I bite back the need to take her hips in my hands and lower her onto my waiting dick. Instead, my hands map the skin of her thighs — she’s so damned soft under my touch.
“You okay?” I grunt, unable to stop myself from checking in with her.
I’ll die of unrelenting lust before I give her a single ounce of discomfort.
She nods, her small smile interrupted by the nibble she places along the outer corner of her lower lip.
Falling forward, her hands come to brace on either side of my head, and she drops her mouth to mine in a kiss. I bring my hand from her thigh to the back of her neck and hold her to me, impossibly astounded at the feeling of her kissing me, surrounding me, smothering me with her — in my bed.
She’s finally here with me.
When we break apart and her eyes bounce between mine, I keep my expression open — letting her see the need I have for her. And not just the need of her sitting on my dick, riding us both to orgasm.
I’ve never needed anyone. I’ve always had my family, but that’s something that just is. Maisie — I need Maisie in a way that a desert needs water to thrive. She’s in my blood now and I’ll never get her out.
“If I do anything you don’t like...”
“Sunshine, you could cover me in peanut butter and bird seed and leave me staked in the middle of a field for days and I wouldn’t give a shit. Don’t worry about me. This — you being here with me — is better than anything I could have dreamed up on my own, no matter if we move forward or just stop here.”
“Har,” she whispers against my mouth as her lips find mine again.
The shortened version of my name is familiar, but the way she says it is anything but.
Bracing her hands on my chest, Maisie shifts her hips until my dick is nestled against her folds, the tip of it brushing against her clit.
My hands fall to her hips, and I shift her forward an inch, just enough friction to have her gasping.
“You feel…”
Like a goddess, she rises up, nipples peaked, hair tousled, and a rosy flush covering her face, she’s a fucking fever dream I didn’t know I had.
Her hips move forward in a tentative stroke, the sensitive tip of my cock nudging her. My grip on her hips pulls her into me more fully so she can feel what she’s doing to me.
“Sunshine,” I bite out. The frayed ends of my control unraveling the longer her hot wet core rests on my cock.
“I know.” She nods, the color in her cheeks going deeper before she lifts higher. Her hand closes around my dick, and I thrust into her soft grip.
“Fuck,” I bark.
Pressing the head of my dick to her entrance, she slowly slides down my cock, half an inch at a time, and I fight the urge to tug, to pull her down my aching length until I’m buried in her.
Her ass meets my thighs, and I let out the breath I was holding.
Jesus fuck. She feels like heaven in human form .
“Oh god.” She trembles as she stills, slowly getting used to the feel of me inside her.
When I can’t take it anymore, I sit up, my stomach tightening with the urgency to get to her mouth, to taste the desire straight from her lips.
The shift in position sends a lightning strike of tingles down my spine until my breath is as harsh as the need I have for her.
Closing my arms around her as I kiss her, as I devour the little breathy moan directly from her vocal cords I rise up under her. Just a tease of the friction that we both need to fully lose our minds — together.
“Maisie.” Her eyes have drifted shut, and I need that electric silvery blue on me if I’m going to hold on.
“Look at me, Sunshine. Stay with me.” I utter the words against her lips and thrust into her from below again. Her pussy grips me in a stranglehold as I take her hips in my hand and slide her back, revealing my own erection coated in her arousal.
“Fuck. Harlan.”
I dip my head, tongue lapping at her pert nipple before I suck it into my mouth and pull her back down onto me. Nipping lightly with my teeth, I kiss a path across her chest to the next peak and it receives the same devoted attention.
Maisie’s hips shift under my touch, circling, grinding, driving me out of my fucking mind. I grunt into the skin of her breast, fighting for my life, hanging on with the tips of my fingers at the craggy cliff of pleasure. My own release builds in the base of my spine, curling my toes in a way that tells me I’m going to lose my goddamn mind.
Hands braced on my shoulders, Maisie finds a rhythm. Her core sucking me in, tightening before releasing as she rides my dick .
“Har…” she breathes between us. The clasp of her core impossibly erotic around me.
“Eyes on me, Sunshine. Stay with me. Let me see it.”
She nods, even as her hips work in a fury of movement before her forehead falls to mine and a bubble of intimacy closes around us — locking out the rest of the world.
“Oh god,” she cries, her steady rhythm faltering as I watch her orgasm unfurl across her features.
“You’re so fucking perfect. So beautiful. Keep going gorgeous. Take it. Take me.” The words fall from my mouth in a rush as I yank her to me even as my hips shoot forward, helping her ride out the wave of her climax.
Twisting us, I tuck her under me, her arms looping over my shoulders, fingers digging into my back, legs closing around my hips as I thrust into her. Wrapped up in her. In Maisie. In us.
My release hits me like a lightning bolt straight to the core of me. Tingles spread across my scalp, down my spine, all the way to my toes that curl against the mattress as I lose the fight and empty myself into her.
My breath thunders from my lungs, a bead of sweat trailing down from my temple as I press kisses to her lips, her cheeks, anywhere I can worship with my mouth.
Her hands leave my shoulders, until they cradle my face. Heavy, pleasured eyes open to meet my own and the sheen of tears in the silvery blue panics me.
“Sunshine… are you… did I hurt…” I can’t get the question out.
Please don’t let me have hurt her.
She shakes her head, and a beautiful smile covers her face before she leans up and nips at my bottom lip.
“You didn’t hurt me. I was so scared that I wouldn’t be able to… that I wouldn’t be normal again. That I co uldn’t have … this. ” The declaration is a whisper between us.
“Baby.” My heart aches. The organ in my chest taking the sucker punch and absorbing it until it’s a part of my being down to the marrow of my bones.
I pull back. “There’s nothing not normal about you — about this — about us. You’re extraordinary. Phenomenal. Amazing. You can have anything you want, and I’ll be here to help you get it.”
“And if I want you? Want this? Us? If I don’t want it to end?” A shimmer of doubt clouds her features as her eyes trail over my face.
“You, this, us… it’s already yours. I’m yours. You just have to believe it first.”
Rustling sounds wake me. Static coos sound from the side of the bed. A warm weight is draped over my hip. Maisie’s curled into me, using my chest as her pillow, a thigh thrown over my own as Audra gurgles from her side of the monitor.
I eye the clock on my dresser. It’s still early, and I’m tired — so I know Maisie is. After we cleaned up with a quick shower, she was all but asleep on her feet as I dried her hair and tucked her into bed with me.
Today’s technically my day off, and I abandon the plans to swing by the station and make sure everything is running smoothly. The station can run without me for a day. I want nothing more than to have a lazy morning with Maisie and Audra.
I gently untangle Maisie from me and roll to the side of the bed intent on getting Audra up without her mama waking up .
Snagging my phone from my side table, I check my messages and my plans to take the day all the way off from work go up in a fiery ball of bullshit.
Johannsen is sick and Stella had an emergency pop up.
I glance back to Maisie, who’s wrapped herself around the pillow that I left. The smooth skin of her breast peaks above the blanket and her hair is a tangled mess across her own pillow.
If I juggle placements just right, I should be able to still take the day off.
Last night was special to me. She’s special to me. The little girl sleeping in the other room is special. And I want more of her, more of us today.
Audra lets out a squeaky hum from the monitor, and Maisie shifts in bed. I click the monitor off, and quietly pull on a pair of sweatpants. I still have an hour or so until I need to leave, so I’ll let Maisie sleep until then.
Walking quietly down the hall, I crack open the door to Audra’s room, or what I’m hoping will be her room. She’s laying in her crib, fascinated with the mobile throwing shimmers of light across the ceiling from where it catches the early sunlight.
“Good morning, baby girl,” I whisper. Her face lights up when she sees me, and she gives me a gummy, drool-filled smile. My heart all but leaps out of my chest to plop at her feet.
She’s happy to see me.
“Let’s get you changed and see what we can rustle up for some breakfast, shall we?” I pick her up from the crib and settle the warm weight of her into my arms. The diaper bag is still downstairs, so I head down. After she’s changed, I grab one of her baby food containers and a baby spoon from the diaper bag and settle her into her highchair .
“Your mama is still asleep, so we’ll let her rest and hope that I don’t make too much of a mess of you.” I scoop up a healthy amount of the oatmeal with fruit and make a wide-mouth O face.
Audra’s hands fly up in excitement, and she slaps the spoon sending oatmeal everywhere.
“Shit,” I curse and look around for something to wipe the mess up with.
Her tiny face starts to crumple and her lip quivers.
“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay. We’ll just try again.” I soothe while smiling at her. If she starts crying now, Maisie is sure to wake up.
“Here we go.” I make airplane noises as I move the spoon of food closer to her mouth. Audra’s face pinches in concentration as she watches me.
I swipe the fat side of the spoon across her lips to catch the drips and then give her another bite.
“See, that’s not so bad is it,” I coo.
Movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. I glance over to find every single one of my teenage fantasies coalesced into a single woman standing at the entry to the kitchen.
Maisie’s wearing my t-shirt. The hem of it riding high on her thighs. Her hair’s a mess, fluttering around her face in wavy tangles as she smiles at me feeding her daughter.
I set the spoon and food down out of reach of Audra and stand, making my way to Maisie. When she’s within reach, I pull her into my arms and press a kiss to her mouth.
“Good morning,” I rumble when we break apart.
“Morning.”
“I was hoping you’d sleep a little longer.”
Energy crackles from her gaze to mine. “You weren’t there. ”
“And that woke you up?”
She hums but doesn’t answer my question. “You make a good pillow. I can’t remember the last time I slept that hard.”
“We had an eventful night.” I waggle my eyebrows at her, and she laughs.
“That we did.” And then quieter she adds. “I’d like to again.”
“Now we’re talking.” I grin at her as Audra slaps her hands to the tray of her highchair.
“The native is restless. We should probably finish feeding her.” Maisie nods to her daughter.
Reluctantly, I let her go. I know Audra needs to eat, but the bubble of intimacy that Maisie and I created last night is still going strong, and I don’t want it to pop yet.
“I’ll finish that, you get some coffee.” I nod toward the coffee pot, dripping the last drops of liquid into the pot.
“You want a cup?” she asks as she makes her way over to the cabinet that holds the coffee mugs.
I nod. “Please.”
Maisie doctors a cup for me, and her hand rubs down my back when she drops it at the table. The domesticity of the action making my heart leap in my chest.
I want this. Whatever it is, however long it lasts, I want it.
“I’m going to make some breakfast, is that okay?”
“Help yourself, Sunshine, my kitchen is your kitchen.”
Maisie busies herself rooting around the fridge, until she finds what she’s looking for while I focus on feeding Audra.
Audra makes a mess, but that’s expected for someone who’s just learning to eat solid food, so I do my best to clean her up with a wet dishcloth as Maisie wraps up whatever she’s making at the stove.
Maisie plates our breakfast and brings it to the table. After a bite of perfectly cooked scrambled eggs with cheese, I say, “I have to run to the station today. I have a couple of deputies out, so I’m going to go in and see if they need any help — luck holding, they won’t and then I was thinking that we could spend the day together.”
Maisie nods, swallowing her own food. “I’d like that. I have the preliminary website for Jem to look at, so I was going to find her at some point today. But other than that I could use a day off.”
“She should be at the coffee shop. Want to ride into town with me, I’ll drop you two off at the shop and then make sure my crew is good and then we can get out of town for the day?”
Maisie smiles at me. “Sure that works. Where are we going?”
I smile to myself. “It’s a surprise. But pack a change of clothes and a swimsuit.”