4. Duty Status – Whereabouts Unknown
Duty Status – Whereabouts Unknown
Caden
I glance over at Harper beside me on the couch.
She stopped spiraling and settled back into college applications, but she’s been quiet for the past ten minutes.
She’s asleep, and her laptop is on the verge of careening to the floor.
I grab it and look at the guys on the screen.
We’re still not good to have this on all night.
Jack might be able to secure it, but there’s a possibility someone could get in. I’m not risking our girl like that.
“See you in the morning.” I close the laptop and shut down mine.
Harper slumps against me. If it were up to me, every night would be like the past weekend, where we could all spread out in the bed and be there for Harper when she woke.
Tonight she’s all mine. While I’d love to sleep buried deep inside her, she has to be sore from the amount of times we fucked her.
For now, she’s staying with me. Meaning I’ve got time.
I draw her into my arms and stand. She curls in against me, so fucking trusting in her sleep.
I turn off the lights, reluctant to have her out of my arms for even a moment.
But I need to get undressed to sleep. When I climb into bed with her, she huffs out a breath and smashes herself to my side.
I chuckle and brush her hair away from her face. The way my heart feels when I’m near her is stupid and big and too much to take in. But she makes everything worth it.
I hold her close as my breathing evens out. At some point, I must fall asleep listening to her breathing.
She jerks against me. I wake, suddenly alert to the dark room around me. There are no additional shadows in the room. We’re alone.
Her throat makes noises like she’s trying to speak aloud but can’t. I turn on the low light, and she jerks again like something has her. She doesn’t normally have nightmares. Not when she’s sleeping with us, but with everything we’ve learned and everything she’s been through, I’m not surprised.
“Harper,” I say softly, stroking my hand down her back gently. “I’ve got you.”
She wakes on a gasp, her eyes wide and panicked before they focus on me. She relaxes into me.
“Caden.” Her voice is small as she nuzzles into my chest.
I draw her closer. “Bad dream?”
She nods. My chest is wet where her tears land.
“We won’t let anything happen to you,” I say roughly. She’s mine. I’m not about to lose her now.
“Mom left me behind. Why didn’t she take me with her?” Her words are soft, but the hurt is obvious.
I blow out a breath. Jennifer is the best mother any of us have ever met. “Your mom has her reasons, Harper. She loves you and must know this is what’s best for you. She knows we’ll do anything to keep you safe, even defy our own parents.”
She lifts her chin and I look down into her watery brown eyes. “I don’t know how to do this without her.” She swipes at her cheeks. “Obviously I’m not afraid to be alone, but this isn’t like the times she had to work. If I needed her, she would drop everything to be here for me.”
“And she still would.” I brush my thumb across her tears. “If she thought for one second that you needed her, she’d be back here. But you have us.”
“But I do need her.” She tucks her face against my chest and tightens her hold on me. “I can’t do this on my own. She’s my rock.”
I drag in a breath, because we’ve always had to be each other’s rocks. Jack, Eli, Luke, and I. Even Nico.
“You have Kenz, Luke, Eli, Jack, Nico, and me, little nympho.” I kiss the top of her head. “You aren’t alone in this. We’re all here for you. Your mom knows this, and that might be why she felt safe leaving you in our care. Because we’re not going to let anything happen to you on our watch.”
She releases a breath across my bare chest. “I just don’t know who I am without her.”
“You’re the woman she raised you to be. She put every piece of herself into you to make you the strong woman you are now.”
She lets out a derisive chuckle. “I don’t feel strong.”
“You are strong, Harper, and no matter what happens you have us at your back.” I rub her back as she calms down.
This is a mess, but Jennifer knows what she’s doing.
We’ll keep Harper safe until she gets back and continue protecting our girl from the assholes who think they can use her to destroy us.
They’re not wrong, losing her would destroy us, but they underestimate her and us. She’s not some naive girl. She’s intelligent and kind. Love hasn’t made us weaker. If anything, she’s given us something to fight for.
“Caden?” she says sleepily.
“Yeah?” I breathe in her vanilla scent and let it settle me.
“Tell me something good.” It’s a quiet request.
“Something good?”
She nods. “Like I have you and Kenz and Luke and Eli and Nico and Jack. I’m safe and warm in your arms.”
“You, little nympho. You’re the best thing I’ve ever had.”
Her breathing evens out, but I stay alert for a while, watching over her as she sleeps. Claiming Harper has been the best thing to happen to any of us.
I wake to Harper pressed against me and a hard-on that won’t quit. I nuzzle my face against her neck, and she makes a low moan at the roughness of my morning scruff. If I pushed her onto her back and fucked her awake, she wouldn’t mind.
As tempting as that is, she might be sore. So I roll her under me, careful not to wake her yet. Her pajama top is bunched up and I slide my hand across the bared skin there. Her breath catches slightly, but she doesn’t wake.
I should have stripped her naked when I brought her to bed last night. There’s nothing like sleeping skin to skin and waking with her pressed against me. These thoughts are doing nothing to cool my erection.
I ease my fingers beneath the elastic of her shorts, watching her face carefully. Her legs fall open, like she knows exactly what she wants. I chuckle lowly and slide down to kiss her stomach as I strip her shorts and panties down her legs.
When I look up at her face, she’s still asleep, but her lips are parted. The scent of her arousal always drives me almost feral, and my mouth waters at the thought of tasting her. I toss her pajamas and panties onto the floor, before lifting her knees and opening her up to me.
Her pussy is a fucking work of art I could spend hours studying. But I have better things I can do. I close my mouth over her and rediscover her folds with my tongue, finding those spots that make her twitch and moan as I hold her legs out to the side, leaving her open for me.
I could spend all day between her legs and not come up for air. My cock throbs with the need to fuck her, but it can wait while I sink my tongue into her cunt, thrusting over and over again until she tenses above me with a little whine.
She slips her hand into my hair and holds me there as she works her hips against my face. So fucking sexy. I don’t know how I ever thought I’d let her go. We created her, she’s ours now. No one else gets any part of her.
When I growl against her clit, she moans loud enough to wake the dead as she comes and gushes against my face. I lick and suck her through her release until she tugs at my hair.
“Caden.” Her voice is low and throaty. So fucking needy. I kiss my way slowly up her body, pushing her shirt up to worship her breasts as she thrusts her hips against me mindlessly, making these noises that makes my cock weep.
I pull off her shirt, and she falls back against my pillows with her brown hair spread around her. Her eyes darken with desire as she pulls me in. Our lips collide, and she takes hold of my cock to guide it to her entrance.
Fuck it, that’s an invitation I can’t resist. I ease into her, backing off to watch her for any signs of pain as I stretch her open. Her eyes are locked on mine, and the trust and love in them is so fucking strong. She wraps her legs around my waist as I fill her completely.
“Pain?” I ask, fighting the urge to fuck her hard and fast.
She shakes her head and tangles her fingers in my hair. “Fuck me, Caden.”
I smirk and pull out before sinking back into her.
Over and over. Losing myself in her tightness, in the press of her skin against mine.
It’s not as hard as I usually fuck her. Her hips rock with mine, taking me so fucking well.
I dip my head to kiss her, taking her mouth like I take her pussy.
She moans into my mouth as her cunt tightens almost painfully around my cock.
It’s enough to push me past my limits. I groan as I come deep inside her. We stay locked together, forehead to forehead as our breathing evens out. She clutches at my hair as I hold her hips.
“Good morning,” she says softly opening her eyes to look up into mine.
I smirk. “Very good, little nympho. Are you sore?”
She shakes her head. My phone alarm goes off, and I reach over to silence it.
“Shower?” I kiss her softly before trailing kisses down her neck.
“Yes.” She arches her neck to give me better access, and I growl into her, thrusting my already hardening cock into her again.
“You’re going to make me late to school,” I say against her collarbone before lifting her against me.
She wraps around me, holding on as I carry her to the bathroom. She brushes my hair away from my face. “We wouldn’t want to be late.”
I chuckle. All signs of the crying jag in the middle of the night are absent in the morning light. She’s back to being strong. I shift her in my arms, and she releases a little moan.
I press a kiss to the corner of her mouth. “Better make good use of our time then.”