Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
DECLAN
T he thought of Harper marrying Banks shouldn’t send me reeling the way that it has. In fact, his argument and reasoning for it is sound. He’s her boyfriend and has been for years. It makes more sense than Cyrus, Emerson, or me would. Especially me as her stepbrother.
Still I can’t shake the feeling of claws at my chest thinking about her promising forever to someone else. The thought of her walking down the aisle to him makes bile rise in the back of my throat. I’m not sure I can handle it.
I step under the hot spray of my shower, hoping the scalding water will rinse away the self-loathing I feel for being such a fucking mess. What if he changes his mind and decides he does want a physical relationship with her? Where would that leave the rest of us? It hasn’t even happened, and I can feel my heart splintering already.
Cyrus and Emerson have each other. Harper and Banks have each other. I’m just left here as an island on my own. They could splinter off into couples and live happily ever after, while I’d be left alone.
I finish in the shower and turn the water off before stepping out and checking the time on my phone. I have time to make it to evening mass. Time to think and talk to Mom is exactly what I need right now.
Harper is leaning against the foot of my bed when I open the bathroom door. We hold each other’s gazes for a moment, neither of us saying a word. As soon as I get my wits about me again, I walk over to my dresser and pull out a pair of boxers and an undershirt.
“I was hoping we could talk about what Banks suggested.” Her voice is soft and small, like she’s afraid to upset me.
“You start.” I drop my towel and pull on my boxers.
Her cheeks are bright pink when I turn around. She opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out as I walk toward her, pulling my shirt over my head. “Are you okay?” she finally asks.
“No.” I come to a stop in front of her.
“What’s wrong? What is bothering you specifically?”
I lift my palm to her cheek. “I don’t know.”
“Bull.” She covers my hand with hers, the engagement ring glinting in the low light of my bedroom like a beacon.
I drop my hand and turn to walk into my closet. The sight of that ring sitting so perfectly on her finger is like a knife to the chest. Instead of thinking about it, I pull out a pair of trousers and a button shirt, black on black. Just like my mood.
“Are you jealous?” she asks from right behind me.
I turn slowly and step toward her, crowding her until her back hits the built-in chest of drawers. “Insanely. Imagine how you’d feel if the shoe was on the other foot. Would you be okay with me becoming engaged to another woman?”
The flash of anger in her eyes tells me all I need to know. She’d hate it too. Good. At least I’m not the only one with issues here.
“Did you say yes?” I lean my forearms on either side of her head, bending until we’re eye level.
“No.”
“Did you say no?”
“No.” She swallows and then licks her lips. “I want to think about it. To talk to you guys about how you feel.”
“Why?”
Her brow furrows. “Because you matter to me. All three of you.”
My heart skips a beat. “The logic behind his idea is sound.”
“So you want me to?”
“No,” I growl the answer. “I wish you didn’t have to make a choice like this at all. I wish your dad wasn’t a massive piece of shit who probably auctioned you off to the highest bidder, thus ensuring you’d have to deal with some creep for god knows how long. I wish we could just be normal college kids, fucking around, and living a carefree life. “
“You could be. You’d just have to let me go.”
I wrap my hand around the side of her neck, just under her jaw and hold her firmly in place, so she has nowhere to look but my eyes. “I will never let you go.”
If I could I’d tattoo my name across her skin. I’d brand myself onto her. Fuck, I’m just unhinged enough to cut my name across her chest just so every single person lucky enough to look at her would know she’s mine.
“Promise?” Her pulse beats wildly beneath my palm.
“With all that I am.”
Our mouths crash together in a kiss as tumultuous as our feelings. My hand moves from the side of her neck back into her hair while she pushes my boxers down my hips, freeing my cock. She pumps her hand up and down my length with an urgency I didn’t realize she could muster. My free hand moves down her body and under her leggings and panties. She’s already wet as my fingers slide along her slit and into her pussy.
She gasps against my mouth as I pump in and out of her with a punishing pace. Her fist tightens around my cock, squeezing me as her release builds. I pulse my fingers against the spot on her front wall while I lick into her mouth consuming every breath of pleasure.
“How fast can I make you come, angel?” I just barely pull my mouth from hers, our breaths still mingling.
“Really fast, I think.” Her pussy clamps around me. “Oh God,” she moans.
Hearing her take the lord’s name in vain for the first time ever makes my cock weep. It’s me she’s losing herself to. I’m the one dirtying up the perfect preacher’s daughter. Her stepbrother, her savior. At least one of them.
“Come for me. I want to feel you soak my hand.”
She follows my command beautifully. Her walls tremble around my fingers as I continue to stroke her over and over. Her head falls back as she floats down from the high of her orgasm. I lean down and press delicate kisses over her rapidly beating pulse and up to her jaw before finally landing upon her lips.
She gives me a brief kiss before pulling her head back and smirking at me. Before my mind can catch up, she’s dropping to her knees and running her hands up my bare thighs. Her tongue runs along her bottom lip as she stares at my dick.
Her eyes lift to mine as she grabs me by the base and agonizingly slowly moves to wrap her lips around me. My eyes flutter shut as soon as I feel the wet heat of her mouth close around me. Nothing has felt more like pure sin than the hot, wet heaven that is her mouth. For someone with very little real-life experience, she’s fucking skilled with her tongue.
My balls tighten as she hollows her cheeks around me, taking my length all the way back in her throat. Her lips drag back down toward my crown, her tongue swirling over my tip. I grab her hair at the roots to hold her still. She looks up at me with a slight nod, giving me permission to use her mouth like I need.
Her fingernails dig into my ass cheeks as I thrust my length down her throat, over and over. She gags around me, making me throb from deep inside her. She shifts on her knees, pressing her thighs together. Fuck me, is this turning on her on again? I come as she opens her jaw even further, my cum shooting straight down the back of her throat as she swallows around me. She swallows every drop like the good fucking girl that she is.
I pull my boxers up when I hear my bedroom door open. She takes my hand and lets me pull her to her feet. When we walk out of the closet, Cy and Emerson are standing just inside the room. Their eyebrows raise at the state of her hair and the way her cheeks flush a deep pink.
“What have you two been doing?” Cy asks with a smirk as he slowly approaches Harper.
She turns an even darker shade of pink.
“I know what that pretty color means,” he runs his fingertip along her cheekbone. “I thought you came up here to talk to him?”
“We did,” she answers quietly.
“At least at the beginning.”
“Did he make you come, asteraki mu?”
“ Yes.” Her voice is barely a whisper as I stand behind her. “He always does.”
“Damn right, I do.” I slide my hands under her shirt, finding the soft skin of her stomach. “I think she needs more, though.”
“Is that right?” Cy moves forward, trapping her between our bodies. “Do you need more?”
“Yes,” she whispers. “Please.”
My dick swells as she leans back against me. Giving herself fully to the three of us. I pull her shirt over her head, thrilled as fuck to find she wasn’t wearing a bra. If I had my way, she’d never wear one at home. While I take care of the top, Cy is pulling her pants and panties off.
Her head falls back on my chest as he drapes one of her thighs over his shoulder and presses his mouth to her core. I support her entire weight as she allows herself to fall deep into the pleasure of his mouth on her. She arches back as I cup her tits, rolling her peaked nipples between my fingers.
I don’t know what Cy is doing with his tongue, but her breaths come in short, heavy pants while she whimpers in my arms. I hear how wet and sloppy her pussy is as he finger fucks her while he plays her body like an instrument.
Emerson steps up behind Cy and pulls her face to his for a kiss. She moans into his mouth while Cyrus continues to worship her on his knees. Her back bows as she screams into the kiss with Emerson. I feel a wave of goosebumps race along her flesh as she breathes deeply through the pleasure of her orgasm.
She reaches down and works her hand inside Emerson’s pants. I hear his hissed breath as she wraps her hand around his length while she continues to ride Cy’s face. Watching them give each other pleasure doesn’t make me jealous; it makes me content.
So why does the thought of her marrying Banks fill me with such dark thoughts and feelings? It doesn’t make sense. How can seeing her with two other men feel less threatening than letting her marry another?
She comes with a groan against Emerson’s lips. I can feel her heart pounding beneath my hand as her body goes limp against mine. Cy stands up, his lips wet from her release and takes her into his arms.
Part of me wants to stay with them. It’d be so easy to lose myself in the rush of pleasure from sharing her body. My mind is too muddled right now, though. I need to stick to my plan and go find sanctuary to think. As Cy carries her to the bed, I grab Emerson and let him know I’m going, but they’re welcome to use my room.