Something dark and dangerous flashes in my eyes and through my gut, and instinct tells me that whoever this man is, he’s part of the reason Harper and Cora don’t have a place to call home right now.
But it’s too late to dig into that now, and the last thing I want to do is push Harper back into that place where she thinks she can’t trust us—trust me. So I let it go for now.
“I can see so much of her in Cora sometimes,” Harper murmurs. “When she smiles, her eyes light up the same way. If she laughed… maybe it would sound the same. Jade was so smart, so clever, and Cora’s the same way.”
“There’s a lot of you in Cora too,” I tell her. “You’re a good influence.”
“I’m doing my best.”
It gets later as we sit there, and Harper dozes off after a bit, her head tipped back against the back of the couch, her face slack and relaxed in sleep. She looks peaceful, and I can’t help but smile at that. At least the heaviness of our conversation hasn’t tainted her sleep.
I should go back upstairs, or at least nudge Harper up and send her to bed before she gets a crick in her neck that will bother her all day tomorrow, but instead I settle in and let the sleepiness take over me too.
When I wake up, I have no idea what time it is or how long we’ve been sleeping. Both of us have somehow shifted though, and Harper is a warm, solid weight on top of me now. Her soft curves press against the hard lines of my body, and suddenly I am very aware of the fact.
I must make a movement or something because Harper groans softly and then her eyes flutter open. In the space between her waking up completely and still being asleep, she rolls her hips unconsciously, grinding that plush sweetness right over my cock.
It happens once, twice, and then Harper freezes, her eyes flying open wide when she realizes what she’s doing.
“Oh my god,” she gasps, trying to scramble off me. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize—I was half asleep, and I?—”
I stop her, both from talking and from leaving, by putting my hands on her hips and holding her in place. “Breathe,” I say. “It’s fine.”
Our eyes meet in the dim light, and Harper swallows hard. “I must be too heavy though. This can’t be comfortable.”
“You’re not.” I can hear the rough edge of my voice, a little from sleepiness and a lot from want.
Harper searches my face, like she’s looking for some trace of a lie or some reason to push me away and get up. Whatever she sees there is enough to make her ease her way back down, until she’s flush against me again, and that has the heat in my body roaring to life all over again.
“There you go,” I murmur, stroking the soft skin of her hips where her shirt has ridden up. “It’s fine.”
She nods and slowly, so slowly, lets her body give back into the impulse she had when she woke up. It starts as just little bucks of her hips and grows into deep, undulating rolls.
I can feel the heat of her body as she moves against me, and every time that incredible pressure passes over my cock, the want just ratchets up another notch.
“Shit,” I groan. The friction feels so fucking good through our clothes, and I have to fight not to rock my hips up to seek out more of it.
“Don’t stop,” I groan, tightening my fingers on her hips. “Just like that. Take what you need, starlight.”
If the pet name catches her off guard, she’s too deep in the pleasure of this to show it, and I feel glad for that. There are better things to focus on right now, like the way she feels, rocking against me with increasing speed.
Her shorts and my sweats are layers between us, but they don’t dampen how good this feels enough to make it not worth carrying on. From the blissful look on Harper’s face, she’s in agreement.
Her movements aren’t graceful, just the frantic chase of pleasure, so I use the grip on her hips to pull her down even more, leaving no space between us at all. Her body presses hard into mine, and I grit my teeth and buck up into her, caught in the sensation of the warmth pouring from her through her clothes. I guide her movements, slowing down her speed into something gentler but deeper, dragging her through each undulating wave until she’s sliding her soft heat against me, the point of contact lasting for so long it makes my head spin.
My eyes flutter closed, but I wrench them back open, not wanting to miss a second of the look on her face. It’s practically dark in the room, but there’s enough light from the moonlight for me to make out the flush on her cheeks and the glazed look in her eyes.
“Fuck, you look good like this. You’re so fucking perfect, Harper. You feel so fucking good. I’ve been thinking about this since the moment I met you.”
There’s a soft gasp from her softer mouth, and her eyes go wide at that. Her breathing is ragged, warm pants for air that fan against my face and just add to the heat between us.
“Everett,” she chokes out. “You?—”
And fuck, the sound of my name on her lips right now. The wrecked, wanting way she says it drives me crazy, and I slide my hands down from her hips to her ass, gripping the plushness there through her shorts. They’re just short enough that I can feel her heated flesh, and I use the handhold to drag her in even deeper.
“What do you want?” I ask her.
“Please,” she pants. “I—I’m close, I’m gonna?—”