16. Harper

16

HARPER

"James Earl Jones," Rae repeated for the third time.

I swallowed the rest of my margarita and shoved the glass in front of her. "Hit me."

"I just don't understand," she said as she put more ice in the glass and rattled the shaker before pouring it in the glass. "The Highlander, I can definitely understand, but what does James have to do with it?"

I flopped my head down on the table. It was still a conundrum to me, and the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. "Does it mean I want a daddy?"

Her eyes widened before she burst out laughing. "A daddy? You mean, sexually?"

I nodded. "I never thought I was into that, but maybe my subconscious is telling me to go for it."

"I really don't think that's what's going on here. I think it's more likely that you just had a weird dream."

"Really?" I asked hopefully.

"Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Unless you secretly have a thing for James Earl Jones. "

I glared at her, taking my margarita from her. "He's old enough to be my grandfather!"

"He actually just died."

I gasped, pressing my hand to my chest. "No!"

"Mhmm," she nodded. "He was a great man. Not that I would sleep with him," she quickly added.

"Well, neither would I!"

"You're the one who dreamed about him," she pointed out.

"Not because I'm attracted to him!"

"Maybe…" she pondered. "Edu is black. James Earl Jones is black. Maybe your subconscious was telling you that you have a thing for?—"

"Seriously?"

"Once you go black, you never go back," she grinned. "At least, that's what I've been told."

"You're fucking with me, right?"

She tossed her head back and laughed. "Of course I am! It was just a weird dream. It doesn't mean you have a thing for black guys, Star Wars, or old men. It was just a dream."

I was relieved to hear that, but my alcohol-riddled brain wasn't so sure yet. I took another long drink of the margarita. She was really good at making them, and I found it was much easier to drink than beer. That might be a bad thing.

I heard Rae gasp and turned around. Two men were walking toward us. Well…one was limping. The other had a torn shirt and blood soaked through a good chunk of what was left.

Edu limped over to me, tearing the cowboy hat from his head as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him, planting an amazing kiss on my lips. I melted in his arms like chocolate, sighing contentedly against the warmth of his chest. As he pulled back and stared into my eyes, I knew this would be the day?—

"What the hell happened to you?" Rae asked, snapping me out of yet another daydream.

I sighed heavily, wishing I would stop getting interrupted.

"We had a slight disagreement," he grunted. "He won," he said, jerking his thumb at the other man.

"Hey, I'm Duke," he said, holding out a bloody hand .

I looked at it and hesitated to shake it. I didn't have a problem with blood, but my hands were clean. "Um…Harper."

He chuckled, pulling his hand back. "So, Oliver is your brother."

"Yeah."

"I have a job offer for him."

My eyes widened in shock. "Really?"

"I had to fight him for it," he grinned at Edu.

"Why would you have to fight him?"

"Nothing," Edu snapped, rubbing his hand along the back of his neck. "We're leaving now."

"But—" I was tugged away from my margarita and pulled after Edu. "I was having fun!"

"I'm going home, and since I'm leaving, so are you."

Well, that sounded a tad ridiculous. "Why can't I stay?"

"Because you don't know where I live," he said, dragging me behind him.

"I'm sure someone could drop me off."

"I'm going to sleep."

"It's seven-thirty!" I retorted.

But nothing I said would stop this man from dragging me away from the party. If he was taking me home to have his way with me, I would gladly go and enjoy every aspect of the night. But for some reason, I had the feeling the only exciting thing happening to me was a night snuggled up on the couch as I watched reruns.

He practically hauled me up into his truck. His hands clenched around my waist and a low growl left his lips, but it wasn't that sexy growl that made me think of fun, sexy times. It was more like he was a wild bear and he was going to kill his prey.

"You really shouldn't growl at me like that."

"Why not?"

"Because I might get ideas."

He huffed out a laugh. "That doesn't surprise me. I barely know you and I can already guess what's running through your head right now."

I was all too aware of his hands still gripping my hips tightly, and how close we were despite the fact that he insisted that he didn't like me like that. I couldn't stop staring at his lips, wondering how kissably soft they were and if he would simply press his lips to mine or if they would devour me.

I sighed lightly. "What am I thinking now?" I asked softly.

His chocolate eyes brushed over my lips, and for just a second, I thought he was going to lean in and kiss me. But then he shoved back from me, narrowing his gaze. I got the hint just in time and pulled my legs in before he could slam them in the door.

I watched in the side mirror as he swore to himself as he walked around the back of the truck. Then he stopped and seemed to be arguing with himself—or the truck bed—it was hard to tell at this point. But he finally got in the driver's side and started the truck. Instead of heading off the property, we drove deeper back into a subdivision that I had never seen before.

"When were these houses built?"

"Over the past few years," he grunted.

"I've lived here my whole life and never knew there was a building out here. What happened anyway to the office behind the garage?"

He hesitated. "Small fire."

"It took out the whole office," I pointed out.

"Yeah, well…just mind your own business."

"Geez," I huffed. "Somebody's touchy."

He slammed on the brakes, jerking the wheel to the right. I fell into the door, but was immediately grabbed and hauled across the console. I hadn't even felt him remove my seatbelt. But suddenly, I was face to face with the man of my dreams, sitting on his lap as he cradled my face in his large hands.

His rough breathing matched my own. I couldn't tear my eyes from his, but he seemed to be thinking of other things because his gaze was firmly planted on my chest. Not that I was complaining. It was about time my boobs got me somewhere.

"Are you going to kiss me now?" I whispered.

"Would you just shut up?"

I snapped my lips shut, not surprised by his anger.

"Stop doing everything before me. Let me be the man."

I hadn't been aware that I was doing anything before him. But this seemed to be a point of contention with him, so I let it slide. "No problem."

"And stop being so damn agreeable. You know, it wouldn't hurt for you to once be…not so happy."

"So…you want me to be sad?"

"I want you to shut your damn mouth," he snapped. His lips crashed hard against mine and he kissed me like it was his dying breath. I gasped, letting his tongue into my mouth, and everything around me swirled. Colors were brighter, sounds were clearer, and I had never been wetter. It was so much better than in any of my daydreams.

When his lips left mine, I pressed my fingers to them, still feeling the buzz of excitement on them. A small smile touched my lips and I cocked my head at him. "If you were hoping I would stop daydreaming about you, that was the last thing you should have done."

Silence was my new friend. For the past hour, I sat on the couch, staring at the wall and remembering the way he kissed me. Some people talked to their friends when a man kissed them. I played it over and over again in my head, reliving every single detail.

A curse from the basement brought me down from the clouds I was floating on. Getting up from the couch, I crept over to the door and carefully opened it, hoping I didn't tip Edu off that I was spying on him. I got down on my belly and slid down a few stairs, stopping when there was enough space for me to see.

I had to press my hand over my mouth when I saw the beast of a man holding onto a bar attached to the wall, pulling himself up over and over again. Sweat dripped down his naked chest, slipping lower beneath his shorts. My brain was on overload as I took in the sexy V from his abs, the bulging biceps that were hefting him up over and over again, and the stern concentration etched onto his face as he pushed himself harder.

I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and carefully snapped a few photos. That would keep my fantasies going for many months to come.

Or at least a few days.

I was just about to make myself scarce when he dropped from the bar and bent over, sucking in a few breaths. From this angle, I got an amazing view of his back. So, I did what any rational woman in my position would do and I took a few more pictures. Call it research for my future husband.

"What do we have here?"

Screaming like the woman I was, I dropped my phone. Scrambling to grab it before it fell down the stairs, my body started a downward slide I couldn't prevent. I started rolling, hitting every bone I could on the way down. When I finally hit the bottom, I stared up at the ceiling, hoping Edu hadn't noticed I had been spying on him.

But then his face came into view above me and he quirked an eyebrow at me. "Spying on me, Pookie?"

I let out a nervous laugh, trying to get up, but my back was aching from the trip down the stairs. Luckily, there was a strong man there to help me up. As his sweat-soaked hand wrapped around mine, I whimpered at the feel of his skin tingling against mine.

"Are you okay?"

"Mentally or physically?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes as if praying to the heavens for help. I was here to tell him no relief was coming. "I know there are mental issues at play. How are you physically?"

"After watching you work out, my body is aching for a release. And when you just touched me, I felt like I was going to combust?—"

"Not sexually," he said in frustration. Swiping a hand over his face, I couldn't help it as I reached out and snatched his hand, licking the sweat that had just been dripping down his face.

The taste of salt exploded on my tongue and I moaned, wanting to do it again and again. It was only when I opened my eyes and saw him staring at me in terror that I realized I might have gone a tad overboard. I laughed awkwardly and gently put his hand on his hip, as if it belonged there.

"You're going to call the police on me, aren't you? "

Laughter from the top of the stairs stopped Edu from immediately responding, which I was grateful for. I had a stay of execution for at least a few seconds. Then heavy boots thudded on each step as if sealing the nails in my coffin.

I yelped as I was hauled off my feet and hugged from behind. "She'll do just fine around here." When he set me down, I spun to find Fox staring at me with a silly grin. "I like the taste of salt on skin, too."

"Fox," Edu bit out, "you're not helping."

"Tell me what's wrong with this," Fox laughed. "Seriously, she has a taste for you. That's a good thing. Imagine how much time she'll spend on her knees?—"

"Fox!"

"Geez, you try to help a guy out."

I flushed in embarrassment at his rather blunt image. It was maybe a tad strange that him visualizing me on my knees made me flush red, but the fact that he caught me spying on Edu, taking pictures, and then licking his hand wasn't all that bad.

"You know, it's a funny thing. I think I hear my phone going off," I said, trying to slip up the stairs.

Edu caught me by the arm and tugged me back to him. It should make me feel insanely hot right now, but instead, I wanted nothing more than to run.

"Fox, get out."

"You don't have to go!" I said, my voice screeching.

A low chuckle fell from his lips. "I think you want me to leave you alone for this."

I swallowed hard as he turned on his heel and headed up the stairs. "I'll lock the door on my way out," he called.

And then he was gone, leaving me with my obsession. I couldn't look at him. It was all too embarrassing. I didn't normally care when I made a fool out of myself, but things went a tad far this time.

His fingers tipped up my chin, forcing me to look into the depths of his dark eyes. Instead of anger or horror, I only saw lust. "Do you like the taste of me?"

I didn't say a word, knowing I couldn't lie.

"Pookie," he said with a hint of threat in his voice. "Answer me. "

"It was amazing." It spilled out of me before I could think of anything better to say. "I've never tasted anyone as good as you. Not that I'm like a vampire or something. I don't go around tasting people, but this…this was definitely?—"

I was cut off by his hand covering my mouth. In the next second, his hand landed on my shoulder and he pushed me to my knees. I knew exactly what he wanted, and I wasn't at all shy about giving it to him. His cock was already jutting out, pushing at his shorts. From just the sight of that, I could tell he was huge. My fingers itched to touch him, to hold his length in my hand and feel the weight of him in my mouth. I could already imagine his taste on my tongue.

And this wasn't even a daydream!

I slid his shorts down his legs and swallowed around the lump in my throat at seeing male perfection. His fingers slid into my hair, but I needed no encouragement to wrap my lips around his cock and swallow him whole. A loud hiss wrenched through the air as I took him all the way to the back of my throat. I wasn't even that experienced in this department, but I followed my instincts, licking and sucking every hard inch of him.

It was amazing and so damn good. I couldn't keep my hands off him. I slipped my other hand behind his cock, grabbing his balls. Everything about him was so large. I knew after this, my fantasies would only grow. If things didn't work out with him, I would be devastated. No other man could live up to him—that much was clear.

"Harper," he ground out. His fist tightened in my hair right before he exploded on my tongue. I swallowed every drop of him, sad when it was over and he was pulling his length from my mouth. That had ended way too fast.

He yanked me off my knees and kissed me hard, then pulled back. He turned and slammed his fist into the wall. "Fucking hell."

I wasn't sure what to make of it. He seemed to like it, but was angry at the same time. "Was it good?"

He turned and scowled at me. "What do you think?"

"Um…I'm not really sure. You seem angry."

He grabbed me by the arms and hauled me against his body. "If I'm angry, it's because you're working your way into my life, you little minx."

My eyes widened at his words. "Is that all it takes?"

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"Well, if I had known licking you would cause this reaction, I would have done it after the first time I saw you."

And that was the last thing I said because he threw me over his shoulder and marched up the stairs. My phone laid on the ground at the bottom. I really hoped I hadn't lost those pictures.