Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

HARRIET

What in God’s name have I done?

I blink my eyes open to find myself in Riftan’s big, strong arms. If I remember correctly, I had my mouth on his… way-too-big dick, and I liked it.

Like a lot. And he… yeah.

Never in my sexual history has anyone gone down on me before, and he went at me like a man starved.

I don’t remember all what was said, but my pussy still feels as if he still has his head there.

Now what am I going to do?

Shit. Fuck. What is Riftan going to do? I don’t think he drank a drop last night, so he was stone-cold sober when I went down on him and then him on me.

I look up to see him still sleeping. The broody intensity that usually lined his face has softened, and he looks younger— as if he doesn’t have a care in the world. It makes him look endearing and cute.

I slowly pull myself from his body, and my words about us staying on our sides of the bed smack me in the face. Yet, here I am, sprawled on top of him like ivy.

Good job, dumb-butt.

The moment I pull away, his midnight eyes fly open and all those lines that were soft, changed again as he rakes his eyes over my face and body.

I look down and see that I’m only in his undershirt, and my legs move to find I’m not even wearing any panties.

“Ha-ha. Uhm. Good morning.” An awkward laugh escapes, and I sit up, almost mortified.

“Morning, goddess of temptation. Feel alright this morning?”

His voice is deep with sleep, gruff and low, sending a delicious thrill to race down my spine. My nipples grew taut, and my thighs squeeze together as if that voice alone is arousing my body with need.

“I’m… uh… great.”

Which is true. I’ve never slept so hard in my life.

“It’s alright, Harriet. Don’t overthink things.”

That smarts!

I shoot him a glare, asking, “Who said I’m overthinking?”

“I know you, Harriet. You’re going to try to overthink this. It’s two adults enjoying themselves and not fighting the attraction between them. ‘Cause I promise you; I’m very attracted to you. While you were drunk, you did initiate what happened, and I didn’t push you away. You didn’t push me away while I ate at the delicious sweetness between your thighs, so I’m going to say you’re attracted to me, correct?”

My face heats uncontrollably, and while I’m nervous about admitting it to him, I nod. “Yes.”

The fact he’s felt this way for years means the words my brother threatened him with years ago didn’t dampen his attraction. Now, I’m thinking I want to try him on. Since he’s attracted to a woman like me, why not give it a shot?

It’s just this weekend anyway, right?

“Good. Let’s show your friends how good it could be.”

I didn’t quite understand his words, but sweet Lord Almighty, this entire day has gone like a dream. Riftan is affectionate, considerate, generous, and charming. I don’t know if he’s faking or not, either. I’ve never dated a man so catering before. Not even that disaster of a relationship back in college.

Now, we’re at the club that Andrea, the bride, made reservations for, and I’m wearing a teal blue sequined mini dress and five-inch heels that have Riftan panting. Ever since he saw me come out of the bathroom, he hasn’t been able to look away, the heat and lust in his eyes driving me to be bolder. I also don’t want to be drunk tonight— buzzed, maybe— but I think I’m going to go all the way with him. I want it so bad I can taste it.

I make sure not to drink as heavily as last night since I only remember the most crucial parts of our night yesterday. I’m determined that tonight, I want to make sure I remember every little thing.

While I have a good buzz going on, I’m letting boldness be my guide as I plaster myself over him, and I can see my sorority sisters looking on, with a little bit of jealousy, which I don’t know why that makes me happy, but it does. I’ve never been with a man like Riftan before. He’s the opposite of any man I’ve ever been with.

When we get back to the plantation, everyone goes into the large dining area to play Cards Against Humanity, which was such a common thing for us to play when we were at the Greek house back in college.

Judy is the last to follow, and when I hadn’t gone to follow, she turned and looked between Riftan and me. She must see the lust in my eyes because she winks and points to the stairs.

“Why don’t the two of you go upstairs and release all that hot, smothering sexual tension?”

Oh, my God. I shove my face into Riftan’s bicep. I was not expecting her to say that. But then, she’s always been a firm believer in fate and destiny, and since we’ve gotten here, she’s been whispering to me how good Riftan and I look together, how the chemistry between us is off the charts, and how it looks as if we should be the ones getting married because all the PDA Riftan bestows upon me. She firmly believes he’s not pretending at all.

“I’ll do whatever Harriet wishes.” His low, husky voice penetrates my ears, and a wave of anticipation cascades down my spine. I lean away from his arm, looking up to see the lust written clearly across his features.

“Ha-ha-ha. Uh…,” I pause, feeling my face burn. I bite my lip and more giggles spring from my lips.

“I see.” Judy says, then she leans in and whispers, “Harry, don’t let a man like this slip from your fingers. Go get ‘em, girl.” Then she saunters away with that mischievous smirk curling on her lips. She’s always like that.

She’s lucky I love her. When I look up at Riftan, his eyes remain on me, and my face warms even more.

“I’m not drunk this time, Riftan.”

“I know, Harriet. What we do is solely up to you.”

“What about what you want?”

He turns to me, his hands caressing up my bare arms, causing goosebumps to spring across my skin until he’s cupping my neck. “I want you, Harriet. However, you’ll let me have you.”

Oh, I love how low his voice goes when he speaks only to me.

“I think— no, I know— I want you right back.”

Then, taking us both by surprise, I grab his shirt and yank his lips down to mine, kissing him with every ounce of need and desire in my veins.

Next thing I know, I’m up in his arms, he’s taking us upstairs, and then we’re both crashing on the bed in a tangle of arms and legs.

“I need this off, now, Riftan.”

It doesn’t take him long to devest me of my dress, bra, and panties, and he’s at the end of the bed, looking at me in all my naked glory, and his gaze grows black with stark desire. It’s a heady feeling, having this man look at me like this. He slowly strips off his shirt, and as if giving me a show, he undresses one piece at a time until I’m staring at the biggest part of his body, jutting out from his hips, staring right at me. This man is beyond glorious.

“I love how you drink me in like I’m an oasis, and you’ve been in a desert for too long, temptress.”

“I am.”

I smack my forehead, laughing. I’ve never felt such attraction and lust for a man in my life.

Hard, low laughter leaves his lips as he slowly crawls up the bed. A hand tucks under my knee to spread me wider as his lips kiss a path up from my knee to my inner thigh. Then I feel his teeth clamp down and God knows, leaving a mark before he finds his way to my pussy, licking me from entrance to clit. He doesn’t stop and I grip the bedsheets, my hips riding his shoulders as he eats at me like a man starved.

His hands grab my behind, forcing my pussy deeper against his face, ravishing me as if he can’t get enough. When I think I can’t take anymore, I feel his hand slide between and something thick pushing between my legs and inside me. With his tongue on my clit and his fingers fucking me, it doesn’t take long at all before I’m crying out his name, my toes curling into the bed, and I’m gasping for breath.

“Riftan! So good. That feels so good, please. Please, I want you so much.”

This low growl skirts over my skin as he pulls himself up and over me, his broad body blocking out everything else in the room. He looks so good. I feel giddy as a teenage girl.

“Enjoying the view, goddess of temptation?”

I can only nod as I whisper my hands over his thick biceps and broad shoulders, and a shudder visibly rolls over his body.

“Enjoying my touch, Riftan?”

“You’ve no idea. No idea how long I’ve waited for your eyes to finally feast upon me as if I’m a gift ready to be unwrapped.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

God, I want this man more than my next breath. I watch with fascination as he reaches between us to grab the long, thick erection that’s been rubbing against my clit, and he caresses the velvety hard tip up and down my wet center, teasing and tormenting me.

“Riftan, what are?—

His lips claim mine deeply, pressing his hard chest against mine as he strokes the tip of his cock against me in slow, rhythmic caresses, making my body twist and turn, needing something more to fill me than this torturous tease.

My legs spread wider from his knee pushing at them, and his lips travel to my ear. “When I take you, you’re mine, Harriet. Once I claim this part of you, I want to claim all of you. You good with that?”

I’m breathless with need, desperate for relief, so the only thing I can do is nod. “Yes. Yes, please.”

“Good girl. I’m going to wreck you for any other man.”

Then one of his hands delves into my hair, gripping tight as he positions his cock at my entrance, slowly pushing in and out until I feel him stretching me wider than I’ve ever been, and I stiffen, digging my nails into his skin as he stops and gives me a concerned glance.

“You good, Harriet?”

I nod, then shake my head. “You’re too big, Riftan. I’ve… I’ve never… this is… feels so good, but oh, my God.”

“I know. You’re tight as fuck, Harriet. I don’t want to hurt you, so if you need me to st?—

“Stop, and I’m going to end you.”

Dark chuckling fills my ears before soft, butterfly kisses land over my face.

“Then I guess there’s only one thing I can do at this point.” His tone is hard and unyielding, yet before I can ask him anything, he withdraws almost all the way out, then slams home, his hips connecting to mine, and I swear everything goes black before slowly bringing him back into view.

“Fuck me. God, Harriet. You’re fucking perfection, temptress. Now let me make you feel even better.”

Soon enough, he’s powering into me, soft and slow, then hard and fast, until all I can do is hold on and ride the wave of ecstasy as he takes me higher. He feels bigger inside me with every hard drive into my hips. I can already feel something trying to break within, which I’ve never felt before. It’s so good. Never have I felt such a heightened sense of pleasure before. Not even with my little clit vibrator I had stashed in my bag, that I have yet to use because, well, last night, he knew what he was doing, and now?

He knows what to do with the gifts God gave him.

“That’s it, Harriet. Squeeze that pretty pussy around my cock until I’m losing control. I can feel your walls glittering around me. You’re close, aren’t you? I want to feel all that cream gushing around my dick and milking me until I’m giving it right back to you. So close. That’s my girl. Show me what you got.”

I arch my body into his, trying to rock against him, meeting him thrust for thrust until I feel this dam breaking within me.

“Goddamn. That’s it. That’s what I want, temptress. Milk my cock like a good girl.”

He thrusts harder and faster. The only sounds in the room are our bodies connecting and our harsh breaths mingling. Then, as if my body found exactly what it was looking for, it shattered into a million pieces, my eyes rolling back, my body writhing uncontrollably, but he doesn’t stop there.

Suddenly, I feel empty when he pulls out of me, and then I’m on my stomach. His hands grip my hips as he pulls them upward, and then he fills me again, fuller, and thicker this time. His chest presses against my back, and I feel his face in my hair as his hips smack into my behind, fucking me a little rougher, which extends all those sensitive nerve endings until I feel another part of me break, and his body jerks into mine.

Once, twice, and then sweet heat envelopes me as my name falls from his lips in sweet abandon.

“Fuck. Fuck, you feel so perfect, Harriet. All mine now. Never had anything so perfect as you in my arms.”

And that’s how the night went. We’d sleep a little, and then I’d find myself over him, under him, side to side.

How can someone have so much sex in one night?

Here I am, wishing the bride and groom a happy life when all I want to do is find myself back in Riftan’s arms, replaying the past few nights escapades.

Which we did. All night once more, he brought me to orgasm first with his fingers and mouth until I was drowning his face with my release before he went balls deep inside me, showing me exactly how a man should treat his woman when they’re in the dark and under the sheets.

How am I supposed to feel about this when we leave? How can I not want more of what he’s been giving me when all this was supposed to be this weekend?

It was only supposed to be a fun, easy weekend, but honestly, I feel as if there’s something more in store than what the last few nights have given us.

As we pack up his Tahoe and pull away, he hits the nail on the head and leaves me speechless when he says, “I want to continue this when we get back to Little Horn, Harriet. Think you can handle that?”

Speechless doesn’t even describe the havoc going on in my brain right now. My heart thunders in my chest like a herd of mustangs on a plain.

Continue this? “Continue this how?”

Yes, it’s true we slept together— ha. Slept? He barely let me have a wink of sleep. The sex was phenomenal. I mean, I knew I was either going to be very disappointed or very, very, very satisfied. Thank God it was the latter, but how in the world are we going to continue this back home? Here, well, what happens on Roanoke Island stays on Roanoke Island. It wasn’t supposed to follow us back home, was it?

“Continue this by becoming my girlfriend in an official capacity.”

“Girlfriend? Officially?”

“Are you a parrot?” His voice was less than sarcastic, and a nervous bout of laughter escapes.

“Maybe? I mean, are you serious? My family?—

“Has nothing to do with what we’ve got going on. Do you honestly think three nights were going to satisfy me? I’m pretty sure I’m going to need a lot more than three spectacular nights in your bed. How about you come to mine instead? We can start slow if that’s what you need.”

“I can’t… Riftan, I can’t pretend we’re seeing each other like this past weekend. Everyone we know, we work with!”

With a droll look, he clucks his tongue. “And? Are you scared? I thought redheads were always up to a challenge. We can keep it secret. For now.” Did his tone harden even more? Lord, help me. “What do you say, little temptress? Want some more of all this?” He sweeps his hand over his long, hard, incredibly sexy body and then gives me a smile that tempts the saints.

Of course, I want more, but does he really want me in that way? I mean, how he was so sweet and attentive over the last few days that it had me really wishing we could continue, but wasn’t that all fake? I told him the parameters of what I wanted him to be over the last few days, and he took that to heart. However, wasn’t it all an act?

“Riftan, the last few days weren’t real. You pretended all that time, didn’t you?” I don’t know why I’m so nervous, but I have to know. I’ve never seen how he acts with women he dates or is involved with. I know they’re nothing like me. The way he was with me the last few days showed me a side to him I’ve never seen before.

He’s silent for a long time as he drives on the highway, and a part of me wants him to say it is real. That the way he treated me like I was important to him mattered. Then a part of me was scared shitless. I mean, this is Riftan McKiernan. My brother’s best friend and has been a part of my family since I was a little girl. No way was he serious. Right? All that claiming and all mine he was saying was in the heat of the moment, right?

My heart thunders even harder under my chest as I wait with extreme anxiety and heavy anticipation.

When he gives me a look, it’s dark and intense and sets my body aflame. “Harriet, I wasn’t pretending. If I had my way, you’d be mine entirely. Why would I ever act like it wasn’t real? I’d never hurt you, Harriet. You mean too much to me. I only care about a handful of people, and you’ve always been one of them. Let’s take it one day at a time. I know you’re not used to having a man by your side long-term.”

“I’ve had a boyfriend. It didn’t turn out very well at the end. I mean, look at me.”

His brow crunches low, but he gives me a hard, dark once-over. “I am looking at you, and my dick is harder than a fucking pike. What’s wrong with the way you look?”

“Are you serious?”

It’s not possible. A fun romp the last few nights, and yeah, there was chemistry and attraction, but I mean, come on. Guys like this never get with girls like me in the long run.

I see his jaw tighten and his knuckles whiten as they grip the steering wheel with a death grip. “Harriet, you’re a redheaded bombshell that drives me insane and the only cure to that insanity. I want you. I have for years. That wasn’t a lie. Now, I want my dreams to come true. My dream is you. What do you say? I told you we can keep it between us for now until you’re ready.”

“With lots of sex, right?”

Oh, my God. I did not say that out loud. Idiot. Closing my eyes, I shake my head.

“Is that the condition for you to be mine? I’ll take it. You sure loved the last few nights we spent together.”

The fact he said that as a statement and not a question tells me he already knows his sexual prowess in bed is off the charts.

It was.

It was beyond anything I’ve ever conjured up in my head. Could I do that? Could we see? I don't want to be another girl in his bed, but I don’t know how to be in a relationship like that, either. The one I was in back in college devastated me. Since then, I’ve never been able to commit to a solid relationship. Dating and the occasional bedding were one thing. To stay committed to one man? I haven’t given that much thought the last few years.

One thing’s for certain: the last few days were amazing, and I know I’d be a fool to give up what he’s offering. This is, after all, the man of my dreams.

“Okay then. Let’s.”

“Good, now I’m truly satisfied.”

Sweet heaven, have mercy. If that’s all it takes to satisfy him, how is this going to end? I’m sure it's going to blow up in our faces, but hopefully, with lots of orgasms in between before it all goes up in smoke.

Yeah, I can handle that.

Right?

The End. For now.