It’s supposed to be a pep talk, but there’s a look in her eyes that’s all challenge and heat. Of course, my body reacts immediately, instinctively.
A beat of silence stretches between us, heavy with the weight of what she’s just said. Then Harper smirks a little, cocking her head like she knows exactly what she’s doing.
“I’m not the same woman I was a few weeks ago,” she says. “I’m more confident now, more sure of myself. I’ve been with three powerful Alphas through a full blown heat, so I know exactly what I can handle.”
Her confidence is intoxicating, and paired with the mention of her heat, it hits me like a punch to the gut. I groan low in my throat, and let myself off the leash just a little.
Just enough to grab her tighter and crush my mouth to hers. And Harper doesn’t flinch away. She makes her own low sound of pleasure and presses in closer, like she wants everything I can give her.
The kiss is hard and demanding, and I drag my hands down to her thighs, gripping the soft, supple flesh there as I drag her in even closer to me. There’s no space between our bodies, and her scent just urges me on, flaring with arousal around us.
I give her just a taste of what it might be like if I fully let go, and Harper meets me right there, kissing me back with the same raw need, her arms around my neck, and her fingers fisted into my shirt.
Her body shifts against mine, hips bucking in tiny little jerks. I bite down on her lower lip hard, and she gasps out a moan, throaty and deep. I can smell how much she likes that, how much she wants it, and that makes my own hips shift and rise against hers.
It’s only the thought that we’re in my office right now that makes me pull away, even when everything in me is clamoring to keep going. But I take a breath and push it all back down,panting hard as I look up at how wrecked Harper looks just from that.
Her lips are kiss bruised and her cheeks are flushed. She looks fucking edible.
“Why did you come down here anyway?” I ask her, trying to get back on track. My voice is a little hoarse and a lot rough around the edges, and Harper laughs breathlessly.
She brushes her fingers over my jaw, and I lean into her touch, savoring it. “I came to collect you for a picnic,” she says, and then explains Lainey’s idea and everyone else’s agreement.
The sound of that, along with the fact that Harper came down here to get me herself, lightens the feeling in my chest. I can still hear her passionate words from minutes ago, and it makes everything easier to carry.
So I nod, the corner of my mouth tugging up in a half smile. “All right then. Let’s go have a picnic.”
Chapter 35
Harper
They’ve picked a beautiful spot to have an afternoon picnic. It’s a quiet stretch of green near the edge of town, where the river cuts wide and slow through the trees. The trees give off shade, keeping the worst of the sun off, but the dappled light plays on the water and across the grass, making it look almost magical. By the time we get there, everyone else is already there setting up.
Blankets are spread out in the sun, there’s a cooler open with drinks, and folding chairs positioned like thrones in a half circle.
I see Cora before anyone else, a tiny ball of energy darting from one place to the next, tugging at Lainey’s hand with silent urgency. When she sees me and Everett approaching, she starts flapping around in excitement, and I have to smile.
She lets Lainey go so she can throw herself at me, her little arms wrapping as far as they can around my waist.
“I wasn’t gone that long, baby,” I tell her, smoothing a hand over her curls. “But it’s always good to see you too.”
She grins up at me and then pulls away and reaches a hand out for Everett.
It does something to me to see her want him like that. She’s already decided that he’s safe and now she wants him close.
It just proves the point I was trying to make in his office. If he was even half as bad as he worries he is, Cora would be keeping her distance.
Instead, she radiates joy as he scoops to pick her up with that effortless strength of his, tossing her lightly into the air and catching her with a soft grunt.
Cora squeals with delight, all limbs and eager happiness.
I watch Everett’s face, taking in the way it softens and how he smiles like he doesn’t care that the whole town might be watching their sheriff play with a four year old. It hits me somewhere deep down, and I keep my face impassive, so it won’t show.
When I look past Everett, I see that it’s not just Cash, Lincoln, and Lainey waiting for us. There’s an older couple sitting together on a bench just off the blankets, and from the resemblance, I figure they must be Lincoln and Lainey’s parents. When they see me looking, they wave, like they’ve been waiting for me.
Another man moves around, handing out cold drinks before pausing to talk to Cash. Something about his easy smile matches Cash’s almost perfectly, the quiet, easy one that’s always made me feel welcome. This must be someone in his family. Maybe the uncle I’ve heard a little about before.
“I hope you put sunscreen on that little girl!” a familiar voice calls out, and I turn to see Dolly coming across the grass. Her ever-present apron is swapped out for a bright sundress, and her signature bouffant is still perfectly intact. She’s carrying a pie tin and looking to where Cora is holding on to Everett.