Page 15 of Promises & Pumpkins (Haunted in Hazy Cove #1)

Miles

“Can I have more pumpkin seeds?” Maddie leaned forward on the barstool she was perched on, resting her chin on the back of her hands against the counter and staring at her pumpkin.

She twisted her mouth and narrowed her eyes, trying to mirror the face we had helped her carve.

Then she giggled, probably sure that she had nailed it, and she looked at me for an answer.

“You want more?” I asked, watching her droopy eyes fight to stay open. She hadn’t finished the last bowl of pumpkin seeds that I just put away. “It’s almost bedtime.”

Maddie sat up straight, shaking her head and opening her eyes as wide as she could. “I’m not tired at all, Daddy. Can I stay up with you and Harper?”

“Just until we finish cleaning up and then you have to go to bed.” She looked at me like she was debating whether or not she’d take my deal, and I stifled a laugh when she looked at her pumpkin next.

There was a silent discussion between her and the jack-o-lantern that nobody else could hear before she reluctantly nodded her head.

“Okay, fine. But take your time, okay?” She put her elbows back on the counter while I turned back to the sink. “I’m not tired yet. At all.” When she yawned, she covered her face with both hands.

“Let me help,” Harper said, stepping up behind me so her chest was pressed against my back.

My breath was heavy when she reached around me, grabbing a washcloth from the sink.

With both of her arms around my waist, she wrung the cloth out, giving it a small shake to make sure she didn’t drip soapy water onto the floor.

Before she could pull her arms back, I grabbed her wrists and held her there.

I was enjoying the comfort of her warmth against me and the feeling of having someone there during the mundane.

When I pulled her hand to my lips and kissed it, she giggled, relaxing against me for a moment before she finally pulled away.

Harper turned to the counter, wiping the cloth over the counter and gathering the last of the remnants of pumpkins guts and six-year-old fingerprints that were left behind.

Her hum was quiet while she worked, then she turned back to toss the cloth into the sink.

She put her hand on my back. “Look,” she said, encouraging me to turn around.

When I did, Maddie had her face pressed against the counter.

Her curls were spread across the surface, and her quiet snoring let me know that she had been exactly as tired as I suspected.

“I guess you wore her out,” I said, grabbing Harper’s arm and pulling her against me.

“I should get her up to bed. Will you stay?”

She nodded, and my stomach twisted into knots.

“Go take her to bed,” she said, looking at Maddie with a soft smile that tugged at my heartstrings.

“I’ll wait right here.” Her reassurance was comforting.

What had I expected her to do? Turn and run back to her house like I wouldn’t find her next door?

We had a good day. I didn’t think she would do that.

“I’ll be right back.” I carefully lifted Maddie so I didn’t wake her up.

When I cradled her in my arms and her head dropped against my shoulder, I knew she was out cold.

I brushed my hand over her hair, kissing the side of her temple.

She looked so much like her mother like this, and it made my throat feel tight.

What would Miranda say if she could see us?

In her room, I tucked Maddie into her bed, pulling the blanket up over her shoulders and handing her the stuffed bear she’d had since she was a baby.

She instinctively pulled the bear to her, snuggling into the pillow.

When she hummed, I knew she was comfortable, and her even, slow breaths told me she would be staying there for a while. I hoped.

“Good night, sweetheart,” I whispered before I kissed her forehead. Then I flipped the switch on the lamp next to her bed and pulled the door to her room closed behind me.

With each step back toward the kitchen, the tension grew.

“She’s sound asleep,” I said, turning the corner.

My stomach dropped. The light in the kitchen was off, there was only the gentle glow from the stove, and Harper was nowhere to be seen.

I’ll wait right here. I sighed, stepping into the kitchen as if she’d be crouched behind the counter.

Then I turned toward the empty living room. She wasn’t there either. “Are you looking for me?” she asked, quietly coming up behind me.

“I thought you left,” I admitted when she draped one of her arms over my shoulder, wrapping the other around my waist and pressing herself against my back. She shook her head and pressed her lips against my shoulder.

“I was just putting the dirty towels in your laundry room,” she said. Then she kissed my neck, and I sighed beneath the comfort of her lips. I grabbed her wrist, lifting it over my head and pulling her around to face me. She leaned against me, chewing the corner of her lip but smiling.

“I’m glad you stayed.” I cupped her chin, holding her in place and bending to bring my lips to hers. She hummed against my kiss, snaking her arms around me. “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

A breathy giggle left her lips between kisses. “You had to,” she said while her eyes drifted closed. “I was right in front of you.”

“What do you mean?” I stared into the bright eyes that lit up the kitchen.

“I just mean, if you had the choice of any girl, you wouldn’t choose the twenty-five-year-old mess next door who forgets to pay the water bill at least twice a year and thinks that cereal on the couch is perfectly acceptable for dinner.

” She shrugged but didn’t pull away. She wasn’t mad about her assumed realization.

“I don’t think you actually like me. I think you like the idea of me because Maddie likes me… and because you like to fuck me.”

I grabbed her hand, bringing it to the bulge growing in the front of my jeans.

My cock couldn’t help but react to her quickened breaths and her lips on mine or the way she felt in my arms. I knew it felt too good to have her there, and my erection pressed harder against my zipper.

“Does that feel like I don’t like you? Like I haven’t thought about hearing you whimper again since I rolled out of your bed this morning? ”

“Oh.” Harper gulped, rubbing her palm against my cock. “So what are you going to do?” Her eyes shimmered when she looked up at me.

“I’m going to make you do it again,” I said, grabbing onto her hips and lifting her onto the side of the counter.

Her breasts bounced when I dropped her onto the surface, pushing her legs apart.

She gasped but leaned back slightly, lifting her hips when I unfastened her pants.

Harper was as eager for me as I was starving for her.

When she helped me push the fabric down her thighs, scooting back on the marble, my cock started throbbing.

When Harper was laying bare in front of me, lit by the dull oven light and the moon from outside the window, I just stared at her.

She was breathtaking and mouthwatering—a vision I wasn’t able to get enough of.

As I lowered my face between her legs, she leaned back on the counter and spread them further.

When I darted my tongue across her slit, she whined preemptively.

“Shh, shh, shh,” I reminded her with a smirk before I spread her open and closed my lips around her clit.

Her muscles tensed when I did, and I savored the sweet taste of her arousal.

While I memorized every line and nerve between her legs with my tongue, she writhed against my counter, seeking more.

Then I slipped a finger inside her, earning a whimper and a choked moan. “Oh, right there,” she whined.

“If you’re quiet, I’ll make you come all over this counter. Then I’m going to fold you over it and fuck you in the puddle until you make another one on the floor.” I flicked my thumb over her clit when she nodded, and her pussy clenched around my fingers. “Can you be quiet?”

Harper rolled her lips shut, biting down on them until the muscle in her jaw clenched. I smirked, knowing how hard it was for her to keep quiet. She nodded and hummed, “Mmhmm.”

“Good. That’s what I was hoping you would say.”

I put one hand on her stomach, holding her in place while I flicked my tongue over her clit.

She gasped when I sped up and then clamped her mouth shut again, but her eyes got wider.

When she came, her release flowed over my fingers and rolled down her cheeks in the form of a single, silent tear.

She quivered and with each tremble, I longed to hold her against me.

I pulled her to the edge of the counter, lifting her and setting her on her feet.

My lips were against hers before her toes were on the tile. I knew she could taste herself on my lips and tongue while I kissed her. “I have to have more of you,” I said, turning her around and kissing the side of her neck from behind.

She bent over the counter, sticking her ass out, and when I ran my hand down her back, she flattened herself against it. “I’m right here,” she said, waving her hips from side to side. “So take me.” Her words made my cock ache, and I couldn’t get my jeans off quickly enough.

When I slid into her, she moaned, quickly closing her mouth again when she remembered that she had to stay quiet.

She pushed her hips back against me, forcing me deeper.

If she wanted deeper, I would give her deeper.

Something about Harper made me think I would give her anything she wanted—especially when she whimpered like that.

The sweet, broken sound was enough to ruin me. I had to hear it again.

I pulled out, slamming into her harder and sending her forcefully into the counter.

She gasped, then cried out when I did it again.

“Oh, god!” she yelped, and her pussy clenched around me.

When she moaned again, I reached around, clamping my hand over her mouth and wrapping my other arm around her waist.

With full control over her body and her now-muffled whines fueling me, I fucked her harder.

I fucked her like she hadn’t told me less than a week ago that she wasn’t the dating type—like she wasn’t going to go home and remind herself that she didn’t want to get involved with the single dad next door.

I fucked her like she was mine, and I held her to me like I wasn’t going to let her go.

When she started to tremble, I was more convinced that I wouldn’t be able to.

Her moans got more desperate, but they were muted against my hand.

The warmth of her heavy, quick breaths would have told me she was close if her shaking legs hadn’t done that already.

Then her eyes widened and rolled back, and she forced her body back against each of my thrusts.

When she put both of her hands over mine and cried out louder, my restraint disappeared.

She was going to come, and I had to have it.

“Give in. You want this as badly as I do. Don’t hold back.

” I accented each word with another loud, forceful punch of my hips, and she did exactly that.

Her knees gave out, and her body dropped against the counter and my hold around her waist. I leaned over her, biting into the fabric that still covered her shoulder until she hissed and her eyes rolled back.

When her hands dropped to the counter and her moans turned to attempts to catch her breath, I moved my hand, grabbing both of her hips and holding her there with my face against the middle of her back.

She giggled quietly, turning her head to look at me from the corner of her eye.

“You’re going to ruin me,” she said when her legs continued to shake.

I smiled, taking a deep breath and pressing my lips against the side of her head. “I think you’ve already ruined me.”