Chapter 33
HARRISON
I’m literally pacing around my house like a groom on his wedding day. Given I’m convinced this girl is the love of my life, it’s not all that far-fetched to feel this way. I have candles lit all over the house, dinner waiting in the oven, and a bottle of Prosecco chilling. Char’s advice, of course.
Knock, knock.
I wipe my sweaty palms down my suit pants and try to walk casually toward the sliding glass door, even though I want to run to her. But what had she said? We need to meet in the middle.
Slow your roll, Harrison.
Pulling the door wide, I step back, allowing her to enter. My hands are shaking with the need to touch her. Harlow’s wearing the same light green dress she had on the night we danced at The Conch House. It brings out the vibrant color in her gorgeous eyes as well as providing a contrast to the hypnotic ink on her arm. Her soft brown hair spills down her back in beachy waves. As her eyes hold mine, my breath stills. This perfect little mermaid was made for me.
“I know we’re supposed to take this slow. Talk about all the things we did wrong before, and communicate better, so it doesn’t happen again. But the only words that keep popping in my head, are I love you. I’m so damn in love with you, Harlow.”
She reaches for me, and I can finally wrap my arms around her again. “I love you too. I think that’s as good a place to start as any.” She gazes up at me with a reverence I thought I’d lost forever. There’s not a doubt in my mind we’re going to be okay. That smile of hers could light my darkest night.
“I hope you like pizza.”
She tosses her head back. “You’re pulling out all the stops for me, aren’t you?”
“You told me you were a cheap date.”
Cupping her sweet face, I drop my lips to hers, brushing them back and forth before dipping my tongue into her mouth. This is all I want. But just a little taste. I need to respect her wishes. She wants to take this slow. “I’ll wine and dine you some other time.” I whisper as I stroke the pad of my thumb across her lower lip. “I didn’t want to share you with anyone tonight. And I was too nervous to cook. It was either order out or burn the house down.”
“Good call.”
Linking her fingers in mine, I escort her to the table. Reaching for the stemware, I offer her a glass. “A toast.”
She beams up at me expectantly.
“To Char’s new job.” I pause, lifting my bubbly in the air. “Whatever it is.”
She snorts. “Why are we toasting to that?”
I shrug my shoulders. “All I know is, she invited me out, made a toast to herself on her new job, and then all of my wishes came true.”
“Yes, it was a successful first day.”
My brows lift. “Wait, she told you what her new job is?”
She giggles. “Yes.” Harlow takes a sip of her champagne, as I stand there waiting, completely befuddled.
“Well?”
“She’s my fairy godmother.”
Harlow
The rest of the evening goes perfectly. Harrison brought our pizza to the table, half veggie, half meat lovers. We talked and laughed all night, both at dinner, snuggling by the fire pit on his deck as we looked out over the water, and wrapped up in each other on the couch when the temperature dipped.
We shared stories of our childhood, talked about our dreams for the future, and discussed how things might look going forward. All of the things we likely should’ve done the first time. But it’s as much my fault as his. And I couldn’t blame it on the alcohol that time.
I was drunk on him.
As tempting as it may be to dive headfirst into this relationship, we’ve been there done that, and it didn’t end well. I’m as intoxicated by this delicious man now as I was before. And while I’m more optimistic about a future together than I should be at this stage of the game, I’m committed to not hurting my children. Because there’s no doubt. My boys fell just as hard and fast for Harrison.
All four of them.
He swipes a loose tendril behind my ear, leaning in for another chaste kiss. This part of going slow might be the equivalent of psychological warfare. Is he intentionally trying to wear me down? Gah! He’s being so sweet, but I want to rip this man’s clothes off and do all the things.
“Where do you see yourself in two years?”
“Harrison, do you really want the answer to that? I just got you back. This might be too much real for one night.”
He straightens beside me. “No, I really want to know.”
“I never in a million years thought I’d ever say this.” Harry stares at me with bated breath, and I pray he won’t tell me the date’s over. But why hold back? We need to communicate if we’re on different pages, right? “Married and blissfully happy.”
His eyes fly wide, but it’s not alarm that’s reflected back at me.
It’s hope.
“I want that too.” He mumbles against my mouth. “I want to give you and the boys everything.” Nothing about this conversation feels slow. But at least we’re looking to the future and not plugging directions to the justice of the peace into our navigator app.
“I feel like getting this fresh start I already have everything I could ever want.”
He nuzzles my neck, teasing me further with his closed mouth kisses along my throat and collarbone. “C’mon. There’s got to be something you’d want.”
I giggle. “Well, to quote Goldie Hawn in Overboard, I’d love if you could give me a little girl. Not sure if you noticed, but I’m surrounded by testosterone.”
Pushing my hair back over my shoulders, he trails kisses down my chest to where my cleavage spills out of the bodice of my dress. “I know we said we’d take it slow. And I want to prove to you, I’m a man worthy of your love.”
My pulse thrums in my ears as his mouth skirts dangerously close to my nipples. I wriggle at the warmth building between my thighs.
“So, I don’t want to plant my seed in your belly just yet.”
“Oh my god.” I snort.
“But can we practice for the big day?”
I practically knock him over in my attempt to climb on top of him. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Harrison slides my one shoulder of my dress down, revealing my bare breasts. “Holy fuck, Harlow. How did I not know these tits were just waiting for me like this?” His hands tremble as he skates his open palms over my nipples. Watching this strong man almost overcome by desire, is doing crazy things to me. Then it dawns on me that it’s the first time he’s been able to touch me with both hands.
He takes his time, cupping, squeezing, sucking, and pulling my nipples taut with his fingertips. I try not to rock as his erection grows hard beneath me.
Unable to wait any longer, I slowly unfasten the buttons of his shirt while he mumbles sweet nothings between open-mouthed kisses on my throat and chest. I need to see and feel all of him.
Becoming impatient, he arches his back, pulling the remainder of his shirt out of his suit pants. The familiar sound of buttons hitting the floor making me giggle.
“If we don’t slow down, you’re going to go broke buying new clothes.”
“It’d be worth it.” Harrison crushes my torso against his, the feel of his firm, toned skin against mine like flint to an already blazing fire. While he’s lost weight after his mother’s death, he’s still as gorgeous as ever. Suddenly, he stands, my legs curling around his waist as he lifts me with him. “I need to feel all of you, baby.”
“Wait.”
He stops, worry replacing lust.
“Where do we go from here? Are you heading back to Miami tomorrow?” Panic sets in that the vicious cycle we’d fallen into last time could swallow us whole again.
“No. I’ll head back soon, but not until we come up with a plan for you and the boys to visit, as well as a schedule when I’ll be here. We’ll get the calendar out and plan around your jobs. I want to spend as much time with you as possible, Harlow. We’ll figure this out. I promise.”
That’s all I needed to hear. Crushing my mouth over his, I kiss this man with a hungry abandon. His fingers dig into my ass as his pace toward his room hastens.
“I need you,” I moan.
“Fuck, baby. I need you too.”
Placing me down onto my feet, we hurriedly undress the other. We’re a tangled web of limbs, frantic and clumsy. I manage to slide his suit pants down his legs, only to get trapped by his shoes and socks. Yet nothing is slowing this train.
Grabbing hold of his boxers, I pull them down until his magnificent cock springs free. Dropping to my knees, I take hold of him and slide him to the back of my throat as unintelligible sounds rain down on me. Knowing I’m having this effect on him is powerful. I’m wet and aching for him, yet I couldn’t wait another second.
Boy, this going slow thing is a piece of cake.
“I need you out of that dress.”
Letting go of him with a pop, I stand to shimmy the dress down over my hips when a groan falls from his lips.
“Jesus, Harlow.” I watch as he gives his heavy shaft a stroke, his eyes trained on my barely there bright red lace panties. “On the bed, baby.” He kicks off his shoes and quickly removes the rest of his clothes before spreading my legs wide.
Dragging his nose through the wet lace, he takes an over-exaggerated inhale before placing open mouthed kisses to my overheated center. My head falls back at the sensation of his warm, thick tongue through the thin fabric. Gah. I love this man and his panty fetish. “These are wicked,” he moans. Pulling them to one side, he uses the skilled fingers of both hands to spread me wide and devours me with his talented tongue. Moving his fingers to my clit, Harrison rubs circles over my heated flesh as he continues to feast on me. Jeez, this man drove me wild one-handed, now that there are two, I’m not sure I’ll last another minute.
“Please. I need you. Don’t make me wait.”
He climbs above me, his mouth swollen and shining from my arousal. “I thought we needed to take this slow.” A menacing smirk appears, and I decide to call his bluff.
“You’re right.” I place my hands on his chest, pretending to push him off of me. “We should probably wait until you get back?—”
“Baby, please. I was only joking.” His face is priceless.
“Then get a condom already.”
“I love it when you get all sweet on me, Harlow.” He chuckles, dropping a kiss on my head before reaching for his nightstand drawer. Making quick work of sheathing himself—now that he has two hands—he climbs over me and lifts my legs over his shoulders. “I hope you’re okay sleeping in tomorrow.”
Impatiently waiting for him to impale me, I sway my body against his in invitation. “What are you going on about when we could be moving on to the hot, banging portion of this evening?” I groan.
“I’ve missed this sweet pussy, Harlow. I can’t control myself. This is going to be hard and fast. But I plan to spend the rest of the night making up for lost time.”
Lifting my palms to his chest, I decide to be serious for a moment. “Harrison, I’m not sure I want to completely get my fill of you tonight. I need this to keep burning hot between us. The last time we woke up sated, well…”
“Baby, I’ll never get enough of you. Physically or otherwise. I’m sorry if you ever doubted that. We’re going to communicate better. I promise. You mean everything to me. I never want you to question that again.”
I blink rapidly, trying not to cry. That was exactly what I needed to hear.
Looking into my eyes, he slowly pushes inside me. The moment more tender than I’d expected given our frantic start. Once he’s fully seated, he stills, letting me relax around him. Harrison reaches up, pushing my hair out of my face before kissing me. Slow and sweet at first, then as his tongue dips inside, he lifts up on his forearms and begins to drag his heavy cock in and out of me. His kisses in time with his delicious strokes.
This isn’t the hot fucking I’d expected. It’s so much more. His pace quickens as he continues to kiss my mouth and throat. Moving closer, his mouth by the shell of my ear, he drives in, harder and faster. “I love you. God, I… I’m so in love with you.”
Drowning in a sea of bliss, I dig my nails into his granite backside as he pushes me closer and closer to the abyss.
“Fuck,” he groans as the bed starts to pound against the wall. “I’m going to spend the rest of my days worshipping you. Your heart. And this perfect body, made just for me.” His pace is relentless now.
“Oh god.”
“That’s it. Come for me.”
“Harri–Oh… I love you,” I cry out as I fall over the edge. His release is in tandem with mine. Digging my nails in a little deeper, if only to prove this moment is real, I hold on for dear life as I’m swept away by our lovemaking. As stars dance against my lids, I sense my cheeks getting wet. Opening my eyes, I realize it’s not just me that’s overcome with emotion.
“I love you. I’ll never take you for granted, baby. Never.” As he buries his face in my hair, I can hear the chorus of that song playing so clearly. It’s as if Charlene has piped it into the walls of this house.
Dance! I hope you dance.