10. Harper

10

HARPER

I swayed in his arms as the music slowly drifted around us. Though the bar was filled with people, I only saw him. With his hands on my hips, gripping me tightly as he pulled me closer, I never felt such need before in my life. His lips drifted over mine in a whisper I felt all the way to my bones.

The strains of " Wicked Game" skittered over my skin as I let his lips engulf mine. My chest heaved as his hand slid up my side, cupping my breast. The feel of his body against mine sent tingles down my spine as I felt his cock engorge, pushing against me.

"Edu," I murmured, kissing him harder.

His tongue slipped in my mouth just as he lifted me in his arms and carried me over to the pool table. In the back of my mind, I knew others were watching, that they could see the way he possessed me, body and soul. But I couldn't bring myself to care as his lips descended on mine once more and his hands carefully removed my pants.

Fingers ghosted over my panties, brushing against my tight bud. I gasped, jerking upright from the sheer torture of his touch. Never in my life had I experienced such passion as I did in his arms. With all the gentleness of a man wooing a woman for the first time, he slid his fingers under the edge of my panties, carefully dragging them down my bare legs.

Cool air hit my most delicate parts, followed by searing heat as he hovered between my legs, his breath coursing over my skin. I felt a gentle tug on my curls before his fingers dipped inside me. I cried out, reaching for him, but he was too far away. The soft chuckle that left his lips mocked me in the cruelest way. He knew he was tormenting me, and he didn't care.

"I'm going to make you come, Harper." The seductive tone in his voice sent chills down my spine, and seconds later, he made good on his promise, taking my clit in his mouth and sucking hard.

I swallowed my cries, keening as he continued his ministrations. There wasn't a single inch of my body that wasn't on fire. My legs shook uncontrollably and my mind felt like a fog had washed over me, making it impossible to think of anything but the sheer pleasure he brought to me.

It was only after he'd wrung every last drop from me that my body finally came down from the cloud I had been floating on. Everything around me sharpened as I felt another pair of hands on me. Confusion swept over me until I opened my eyes and saw another muscled man standing over me. I thought at first he was one of Edu's friends, but then I noticed the tartan draped across his shoulder and the metal piece holding it to his shirt underneath. I couldn't make out the name, but none of that mattered when he climbed up on the pool table with me and crawled over my head, giving me a good look at what was under his kilt. I gasped as his thick length descended on me. I had no choice but to open and take what he offered.

The pleasure was overwhelming. The more I took from these men, the more intensely I felt everything they were giving. More and more hands joined in until I could hardly tell one man from another.

As the kilt shifted, I could have sworn I saw Darth Vader staring down at me, holding his lightsaber and stroking it.

"James Earl Jones?" I murmured in confusion.

"Harper, I am your father."

He stepped forward, removing his helmet and tucking it under his arm. Then he bent forward and ? —

I gasped, sitting upright in bed as I shoved the hair out of my face. Sweat coated the back of my neck and between my breasts. The sheet underneath my legs and butt was sticky and wet. I grimaced at how the dream ended. "James Earl Jones? Really?" I muttered to myself, shuddering as I remembered him saying he was my father .

I didn't want to think about what that might mean to my subconscious.

I threw off the sheets, then tore them from my bed. Maybe if I washed everything, it would wipe the memory from my brain permanently. I'd have to talk to Luna about this dream. Maybe she'd understand what having sex on a pool table in front of everyone else with Edu, a Highlander, and James Earl Jones could possibly mean. Maybe I'd leave out the part about him saying he was my father. I was pretty sure she'd have a thing or two to say about that.

So would my therapist. If I had one.

I ran into Oliver in the hallway, walking past him warily as I recalled our fight the night before. To his credit, he looked slightly upset with himself, hopefully over the nasty comment he'd made. But I didn't bring it up. Today was a new day, and I didn't want to be angry with him. He was the only family I had.

"You were out late last night," he said gruffly.

I shoved the sheets in the wash, pushing my unruly hair away from my face. "Uh…yeah."

He was quiet as I finished loading the washer, but when I turned to him, his eyes were focused on me. "I take it you didn't bring anyone home."

"Did you see anyone?"

"No."

"Well…there's your answer."

"It's not that I don't want you to find someone," he said, stepping in front of me as I tried to walk around him. "It's just…that's not something I want to hear."

"Same goes for me."

His face pulled in an awkward frown as he stepped aside. "Noted." But he grabbed my arm as I passed. "Harper, are we okay?"

I gave him a tentative smile. "Of course we are."

"Good. You know, I didn't mean it."

"I know you didn't."

"You just…you always want to move on."

"And you always want to stay in the past," I retorted. "But we can't. "

"I know. But it's harder for me. I knew them better."

I didn't need the reminder. Oliver had always had a closer relationship with them than I had. I felt like an outsider whenever we were together. My parents laughed and joked with Oliver, but with me, it was like they never knew what to say. And I didn't know how to fix that. Maybe that was why it was so much easier for me to move forward. How could you miss something you never really had?

"I should get ready for work," I said, stepping out of his grip.

"Yeah, I'm running late. I should have been in a half hour ago."

"I doubt you'll be in too much trouble," I smiled at him.

"Try not to cause any runs on the grocery store today," he teased.

I stuck out my tongue at him and headed back to my room.

"Hey, Harper?"

I turned back to him with a smile. "Yeah?"

"Why were you dreaming about James Earl Jones?"

Blushing furiously, I couldn't hide my reaction. He burst out laughing, making me dash for my room and slam the door. I could hear him cackling until he left, and even then as he walked to his car.

I was never going to live that down.

I rushed into work, tugging on my hideous red vest as I hurried through the store to the back where the employees clocked in. My manager was already eyeing me, but I ignored him, choosing instead to act like this was the time I was supposed to arrive.

"Ooh, somebody's late," Luna laughed, falling into step beside me. "So, did you go home with the hottie last night?"

I side-eyed her. "Luna, you were with me."

"I know, but you might have met up later," she shrugged. "That would have been so hot."

"I highly doubt he wanted to take me home, even if his body said otherwise," I said irritatedly.

The dream I'd had this morning put me in a foul mood. It started off so good and ended so…badly.

"Period?" she asked .

My gaze jerked in her direction as I grabbed my card and punched in. "What?"

"The rag. Your moon?"

"No! Why would you ask that?"

"Well, you were ready to go at it with Mr. Hottie last night and now you're acting like you'd kill him if you saw him."

Rolling my eyes, I yanked my pony-o off my wrist and wrapped it around the hair gathered in my other hand. "My bad mood is because of the insane dream I had this morning."

She hissed in a breath. "Didn't get off? I hate it when that happens."

As we pushed back through the doors to the main part of the store, I lowered my voice and told her about the insanity of it all. "It started great," I said quickly. "I was in the bar with Edu and we just started doing it on the pool table."

She chuckled as she hurried along beside me. "Sounds promising."

"It was amazing. And then this Highlander showed up and he literally squatted over my face."

"Ew! Like he was taking a shit?"

"No," I said in disgust, smacking her on the arm. "To lower his—" I stopped talking as we walked past an old lady. I was pretty sure she caught part of our conversation by the way she was glaring at me. As soon as we were past her, I finished. "Like he was lowering his cock to my mouth."

Her face brightened in curiosity. "What did it look like up there?"

"I don't know! I wasn't actually looking. It was dark."

"But he was big?"

"Huge."

"Hairy?"

I thought about it, shaking my head. "I guess. I didn't really notice, but I doubt Highlanders did much manscaping."

"I think that would be the first thing I noticed," she grinned, taking her place behind her register.

I hurried over to mine and turned on my light. I was so not ready for this day to start. "It was a dream."

I smiled at the woman who walked up with only a few items. I quickly rang her up, then practically shooed her out of there so I could finish the story. I turned around just as she was getting someone in her lane.

"Was it good?" she asked.

I shot her a look, but she just shrugged.

"Of course it was," I hissed. "Do you know many dreams where it's bad?"

The man slowly turned and faced me, raising his eyebrows at me.

"A wax job," I clarified. "I had an amazing dream about one last night."

He nodded. "I uh…didn't know women dreamed about that sort of thing."

I shot him a hesitant smile before continuing. "But then the strangest thing happened. Darth Vader showed up and told me he was my father."

"At your waxing?" the man asked.

"Uh…yes."

"You must really like Star Wars," he grumbled.

"And then…" I widened my eyes at her, letting her know what was about to happen.

"And then what?" the man asked curiously, though Luna caught on and started scanning items faster.

"And then…he took off his helmet and he was James Earl Jones!"

The man was just about to hand over cash when he stopped and stared at me. "James Earl Jones was at your waxing?"

"Yes!"

"And he was Darth Vader?"

I could kill this guy for interrupting my discussion. Luna was just staring at me like I'd gone batshit crazy. Then she burst out laughing.

"Shut up!" I hissed.

"I'm sorry," she said between gasps. "It's just…you dreamt about an old man!"

The man at the counter looked between her and me. "We're not talking about waxing, are we?"

I pursed my lips, pissed that Luna couldn't keep her mouth shut. "It was a dream! It's not like I could help it! "

The man looked me up and down, then frowned. "Do you dream about old men often?"

"No! It was just the one time!"

"You know, if it makes you feel any better, I was once having this awesome dream about me and Cindy Crawford, and then my Grandma showed up and started scolding me about not separating my socks."

Okay, that was just weird—way worse than my James Earl Jones story. "Um…"

He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Yeah, it's pretty weird."

"It is," I agreed.

"But even worse was when she called me the next day and started asking me what kind of socks I wanted for Christmas. I've never been able to look at socks the same way again."

That was way more information than I needed about any customer. Now that my dream was out in the open, it didn't seem there was a need to keep it quiet. "But what do you think it means?"

"The socks?" the man asked, his eyebrows raised.

"No, my dream. Not yours. That's just gross."

Luna, thankfully, came to the rescue, preventing me from having to discuss the man's gross Christmas socks anymore. "Hot, sexy hunk paired with a Highlander and an old man…I'm not sure what that means."

"Don't forget that he said he was her father," the man chimed in.

"Yeah, that's a little disturbing. Either you really like Star Wars or…"

"Or what?"

She cringed. "I guess it could mean you want a daddy."

I really hoped she wasn't talking about sleeping with my own father. And based on her reaction, my face must have shown just how disgusted that made me.

"No!" she giggled. "Like, sexually. Haven't you ever heard of a daddy?"

The man shoved the money at Luna and grabbed his bags. "You know, I think this conversation just got a little too strange for me. "

He was gone in the blink of an eye. Luna watched him run off, then laughed hysterically at how uncomfortable she made him.

"It's not what you think," she said when she finally calmed down enough. "It just means that you want an older man in the sack."

"And I want to call him daddy," I presumed.

"I don't know the specifics, but I would assume."

"Luna…"

"Hey, you wanted an answer."

I did, but now I regretted bringing it up with her. The idea of having a Star Wars fantasy or calling a man daddy in bed was just gross. I was going to need another shower when I got home.

I turned back to my register and locked eyes with my boss from his office. He raised his hand and motioned me over. Groaning, I turned off my light and caught Luna's eye just before making the dreaded trek across the store. Whatever he had to say to me, I knew it wouldn't be good.

I knocked lightly before putting a smile on my face and entering. "You wanted to see me?"

"You were late."

"Was I?" I asked, playing stupid.

"Your timecard can't be forged," he said, waving it at me.

Damn, I sort of hoped he wouldn't go investigate further. Not that I was that lucky. "I'm sorry, I?—"

"I don't have time for excuses. You're supposed to be doing a job and I expect you to be on time."

"In my defense, it was the first time I was late."

He shoved back from his desk and stalked around to the other side. "If I had someone to take your position, you'd be out on your ass right now." Spit flew from his mouth, and it took everything in me not to wipe it from my face. "One more chance. That's all you get. Do you understand me?"

Fire flared in my eyes as I stared at my boss. I was so tired of taking his crap. I was a grown adult, and while I may only be a lowly grocery cashier, I was still a human being. This man was a stain on society. Nothing more than a bully who used his position to berate others and give himself a gold star on the wall for being the perceived best manager in the state of Kansas. Well, I'd had enough.

I tore my red vest from my body and crumpled it into a ball in front of him, throwing it on the ground. "Here's what you can do with your expectations."

I stomped on it for good measure, smirking when the shock on his face quickly morphed to outrage.

"That's IGA property! You'll pay for that!"

"You can't make me if I don't work here," I taunted. "You may have kept me under your tyrannical boot for the past year, but I won't allow it anymore. Much like our forefathers stood up to the British when they sought to keep them down, I will fight back. And I will win!"

I thrust my fist in the air, nearly hitting him in the face. In my mind, employees cheered around me as I stared at my grotesque, mustache-wearing boss and saw the jerk flee like the coward he was. He would not hold down the little man any longer. He would rue the day he ever messed with me, and when I was done with him?—

"Harper!" he shouted, snapping me out of my daydream. "Do you understand? Or do I need to have it written down for you to fully understand?"

My face flushed red and my fists clenched. I longed to thrust one of them into his face and wipe that thick mustache from his face that he was so fucking proud of. But I wouldn't. I needed this job, and as much as I wanted to leave and never see this prick again, there weren't many other choices in town for employment.

"Yes," I bit out, turning on my heel and walking out of the office.

Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I was stronger than my douchebag boss, and one of these days, I'd find the courage to stand up to him.

I didn't know when that day would be, and it would no doubt take me by surprise, but it would happen. I knew it would.