CHAPTER FIVE #2
“Is that going to set everything around us on fire?” Hazel asked out of the corner of her mouth.
I waved the hayride over, then whistled sharply when the horse didn’t obey the driver.
Hazel eyed the whole contraption with no small degree of trepidation.
“It’s safe,” I reassured her. “Not is going to drop you in the mud or run off and leave us, I promise. Plus, the corn maze has an easy solution.”
“Aways turn right?" she joked.
“Count your steps.” I grabbed the horse’s bridle, pulling him to a halt.
“Thanks, Zack. He’s been turning around so long, I thought I’d—uh, hi,” Caleb stammered, looking somewhat lost between staring at my date and not knowing what to do with himself now that his horse was under control.
“One hayride please, Caleb,” I said firmly.
“Yes. Of course. Hop right on.” He gestured at the back of the cart as his horse took a testing step forward.
Hazel watched the horse, who ignored her. My hands found her waist and I relished the super sweet sound she made when I lifted her clean off the ground and deposited her butt first in the hay at the back of the cart.
“Oof,” she whispered, though I was fairly sure I hadn't put her down hard at all.
“Too rough?” I rested my hands on her thighs.
“No,” she breathed as I leaned in.
“Good.” I squeezed her velvet bat covered knees just where her skirt stopped, and jumped up next to her. “We’re good,” I called back to Caleb, thumping a fist on the wooden cart floor.
“So what happened no–ow!” Hazel rocked forward.
I grinned, hauling her backward a few inches to a safer space from the edge. We settled in the hay that jabbed through my shirt as the cart rocked forward at a sedate pace.
“Now, you get to see what Broomcorn Hollow can really do.” I rubbed my cheek against her hair and she let me.
“This is one of my favorite rides.” My hand rested just under the edge of her knitted top thing, against the t-shirt she wore under that.
And beneath, when I made long strokes over her spine, she had on…
Nothing. Her skin felt smooth. I kept my face clear of expression as I rubbed there with light fingers, waiting for Hazel to push me away.
The cart bumped over the uneven ground. Her hand gripped my knee through my jeans.
“I think I need a seatbelt, Mister Sports Jock,” she mumbled.
“Mhhm.” Soft glows from tiny solar lights wound through the corn led the way. Some were directional. Others were shaped like bats to match her tights, and others were ghosties.
“Cute,” Hazel murmured, wiggling slightly in my hold, though she didn’t push me away. A tiny sigh left her as I brushed the swell of her breast.
“Yeah. They are.” I let her wiggle for a little longer as the cart led us deeper into the maze.
After a moment, Hazel looked up at me. “How long is this?”
I counted off in my head. “About three miles.”
“Three miles?”
I shrugged. “It’s easiest when the turns are evenly sp—”
“Fuck!” she shrieked as one of the not so glowing ghosties detached from the corn maze wall and launched toward, gurgling ominously.
Even I jumped, not quite ready for that surprise. “Damn,” I muttered, gathering her closer. “I had no idea you had such a filthy mouth, woman.”
The ghost retreated, cackling. The sound echoed weirdly then cut off as we made a sharp right hand turn behind a thick layer of stalks.
“Not funny.” Hazel twisted, looking around. “This going backward thing sucks.”
“Does it?” I caught her chin and tipped her head back. Before the thought fully formed in my mind, though I gave her time to shove me right off the edge of the cart if that was to be my destination for the night, I cupped her jaw and lowered my mouth over hers.
The sound she made for me was soft and sweet and sexy as fuck, especially when the tip of her tongue touched mine.
I nearly groaned and pushed her back into the hay, but the bumpy ground reminded me that we had an audience.
Instead, I wove my fingers through her hair, gliding my tongue along hers.
Light hands pressed to my chest. Too fast. Damnit.
I swore my heart stalled in my chest until her fingers curled in my shirt and she pulled me closer.
Her little moan obliterated the scream from the next ghoul who leapt out at us.
Hell, I doubted she even noticed. What I did find when she let me curl my fingers around her breast to tease the hard peak of her nipple over her t-shirt, was the metal piercing that lanced straight through it.
I gave an experimental tug, and was rewarded with another moan.
Miss Hazel had some naughty secrets hidden away. I couldn’t wait to discover them all.
I flicked gently at her nipple, toying with the piercing, then returning to stroke over her soft flesh until she arched into my hand.
Her mouth never left mine, not even when I dropped my hand and pushed my fingers beneath her skirt in the darkness.
Away from the rest of the fair, the town’s chatter receded, replaced by the constant rattle from the cart’s wheels, the soft crunch from the corn stalks beneath us.
Music played throughout the maze, hiding her sounds, letting me have her to myself as more carts joined at a distance.
Out here, a sense of quiet fell over us.
The little bats on her tights were soft and fuzzy beneath my fingers.
I slid my hand higher, stroking between her thighs asking her silently to part for me.
Hazel broke the kiss, her eyes dozy and heavy and fucking gorgeous in the reflected glow from the corn maze.
I’d lost track of where we were, which turn we were up to, but it should be a while before anything else jumped out at us now, with still a distance to go to the middle at this pace before the return journey started.
A dangly spider draped over my shoulder and disappeared as I pushed my fingers higher between her legs.
Hazel sucked in a deep breath, parting her thighs a tiny amount. I smiled against her mouth, pleased, then stroked over her covered mound. Heat and moisture radiated against my touch. I bit my lip to prevent the groan that built from slipping free and pulled her in close.
“If you tell me you’re bare beneath that thin layer of mesh, I swear I'll make you come right here,” I murmured against her ear.
Her little gasp was all the confirmation I needed. “Just don’t tear them please,” she begged softly. “I kind of like these.”
I nodded and settled my mouth over hers again, keeping the kiss long and deep, but not hard.
Hell, if I lost myself in her out here, there was no coming back.
I wanted her so damn badly that I’d fuck her without a second’s thought, she was so wet and warm and ready.
Soaked. I’d thought she had a naughty side, and I’d been right. No part of her protested what I did.
Instead, I was the one who reined back every single damn urge, raking my nails gently over her damp center and teased her clit until she wiggled against my fingers, pressing closer.
“If you want to come, you’re going to have to show me how you like it,” I whispered against her mouth.
Her gasp—outrage, fear?—left me hard as her fingers dug into my thigh through my jeans.
Sheer will alone stilled my fingers against her heat, right where I wanted to rub her.
Hazel got the message pretty fast. Her hips lifted, and she pressed against my hand.
I didn’t pull away or tease her—I wanted to see what she needed, what she liked. That I could do this right for her.
Inch by inch she lifted her hips and pressed against my hand, then lowered.
Again, and again, until her breaths came hard on my mouth.
I traced my tongue across her bottom lip, then plunged my tongue inside.
Pulling back, I smirked when her next breath came out ragged and her hands pressed to my shoulders trembled.
“Deep breath and scream,” I advised, recognizing the wall of glowing green mushrooms and what came next.
Hazel sent me a puzzled look that transformed into a look of utter bliss as I rubbed my fingers over her clit in a frenzy. Her cry started as startled, but as I pressed down, she gave me the scream I asked for. Her back bowed, and the sound lifted.
I tossed my head back and howled at the same time as the devil grabbed the hay cart and shook it, bellowing obscenities designed to terrify.
Hazel didn’t hear him. I could almost guarantee it. She slumped into my arms, her legs tightly crossed around my hand still pressed between her legs. I tucked her into the side of my jacket, pulling it around her, glad of the darkness that made us little more than silhouettes.
Quick breaths warmed my chest as she sank into me, my fingers still stroking her gently. Teasing for as long as I could until her struggle eased, then I took her to the edge again, willing her to drench my fingers and ruin her tights.
She didn’t disappoint, folding against my chest to bite my shoulder, every shudder the prettiest gift I’d ever been given.
Christ, I couldn't wait to take her into the Haunted House. For now, I’d settle for a hay ride with the new and pretty, not-so-innocent teacher in Broomcorn Hollow, and enjoy showing her all the joys of the corn maze.
Because a hayride for two was the perfect length to get to know each other. And her mouth offered the sort of invitation I couldn't deny.