Crane pumped into me like he was punishing me for bringing up a threesome, but I knew he was anything but against it. Bodies didn’t lie. He might like to act aloof, but when the pants came off, he was just as animalistic as the rest of us. My body slid along the desk, my nipples rubbing against the wood. I might regret this particular position later, but right now it just felt good.
The man fucking me must’ve been super turned on, for it didn’t take long for him to find his release. He came with a hard jerk of his cock, his length buried deep inside of me, and his chest leaned down, his hands sliding off my ass and gripping my sides. My core took every ounce of cum he’d give me, and I let out a sigh, content.
If my life was just fucking from now on, you know…I’d actually be okay with it. That’s not a bad way to live your life, surrounded by three men who love you, who’d do anything to make you happy. Three men who would do anything to protect you from both the tangible and the intangible.
Crane leaned down to my shoulder, his lips dragging across the tender skin. He placed a kiss there, and then he murmured, “Such a naughty one you are. What am I going to do with you?” He withdrew himself from me, and I slowly got up off the desk, feeling his cum mingling with Wash’s as it oozed out.
I watched him put himself away and zip up his pants. “I could think of a few things,” I spoke with a smile. My cheeks were flushed, and if I had any hope of walking the rest of the day, I needed to cut it out. My daily quota of dick had been more than filled.
Glancing at his watch—because, yes, the man still wore a watch—Crane said, “You best wash up now if you plan on making it to your practice tonight.”
Ugh. Shit. I’d already forgotten, actually.
The damned play. Me, playing Katrina’s part. It was still a go, for some reason, and with a little finagling from Bones—AKA Bones using his charm—they’d agreed to have the play at the end of the festival instead of the beginning, which gave us more time to practice. And by us, I meant me. It gave me more time to practice.
I got up, tossed Crane a look that only made him smile because he knew how much I loathed this play in its entirety, and headed to the bathroom to shower. There would be no cum dried to my thighs while I read a script with a bunch of strangers. They might’ve known my dad, but they didn’t know me well, save for the fact that I looked remarkably like the Katrina in all the paintings in town.
Ugh.
But after I showered, after I ate a little something, I grabbed my script and headed to the square, where we were practicing. Why didn’t I just have someone else take the part? Because…
Because this was my town. Sleepy Hollow was my home, and I owed it to the place to be a part of it. I owed it to my dad to try, to Crane, to Bones, and to Wash. I owed it to them to be happy here, because I knew, even after these last few weeks, they’d never leave this town.
Sleepy Hollow was our home, and we would be its protectors.
Chapter Seventeen – Epilogue
Tonight was the night, and thankfully I didn’t mean the night of the play. I meant the night of the dance in the barn. Felt weird, being twenty-four and getting ready to go to a dance, but here I was anyway, with my auburn hair straightened and makeup lining my eyes. I stood in my underwear, staring at the mauve pink dress hanging on the closet door.
Katrina had picked it, so I wanted to hate it on principle…but the bitch had some style. It was a simple but beautiful dress, and I loved the color.
This was not a dance kids were invited to. It was held after dark and would have plenty of alcohol. Some people, Bones told me, would dress up in olden clothes—as in, old dresses and old suits from a time long gone—and be the stars of the night. Tonight was a time for everyone in Sleepy Hollow to have fun. Personally, I didn’t want to be the star of the night. I just wanted to get through it, and then, in a few days, get through the play.
And do it all again next year, since this was an annual thing.
I was about to reach for the dress to slip it on, because I was certain the guys were ready and waiting for my slow ass to finish up, but I was interrupted by a dimpled, grinning Bones. Bones wore a nice suit, all black, save for the light grey shirt underneath the suit jacket. His blonde hair was gelled and combed to the side.
Honestly, who didn’t have a weakness for a man in a suit?
I met his sapphire eyes, a smile growing on my face. “Well, don’t you look handsome,” I said, setting a hand on my hip. If he distracted me for long, we’d be late. I…was more okay with that than I wanted to admit.
“You don’t look bad yourself,” Bones spoke, moving to stand before me. His hands were in his pockets, and his eyes dropped to the lacy bra I wore. “Is this what you’re wearing? You’ll attract a lot of suitors, I think—”
I lightly hit his chest, the rock hard muscle doing more to hurt me than him. “Oh, shut up. You know I have all the suitors I need.”
The corners of his eyes crinkled. “Yes, you do. I mean, who else around here has three guys devoted to them? No one I know. You—” Bones took another step towards me, pushing me against the closet door, the dress crinkling behind me. “—are one lucky woman, aren’t you?”
“I am,” I wholeheartedly agreed. “I hit the jackpot.” Seriously, it still made me giddy when I thought about it.
“Mm-hmm,” Bones murmured against my neck, trailing kisses along my tender throat. My eyes closed, and I lost myself in him. His tongue slipped out and ran along my collarbone. Down and down he went, kissing the sides of both breasts before licking a straight line down my stomach.
Though my eyes were closed, I knew where Bones was going, and the anticipation sent a searing heat through me, my core warming up as I imagined his tongue flicking my clit and his fingers working me like no other fingers could.
Bones’s fingers tugged down my panties, and he forced me to spread my legs a bit before his tongue touched the most sensitive part of me. I let out a low moan, my head leaning back on the dress. Who the fuck cared if we wrinkled it a bit? This was worth a few wrinkles.
He sucked on me, his tongue swirling in just the right way. It didn’t take long for my legs to start shaking. Holy hell, Bones’s head skills were legendary, and when he inserted a finger inside me, I all but lost it. Having his tongue circle my clit and his finger fuck me was a sensory overload in the best of ways.
Since my eyes were closed, I didn’t notice anyone else enter the bedroom, but someone did, for a new voice said, “I must admit, I told Brom what you suggested to me the other day.” My eyes peeked open, seeing Crane standing behind Bones, his hands also in his pockets. Just like Bones, he wore a suit—although his suit came with a silly bowtie and not a regular tie. Of course.
Still, my Crane looked good.
And Bones, even though Crane was in the room, didn’t stop showering his attention to my lower parts.
“He then suggested something that, frankly, sounded like fun.” Crane moved closer. He stopped only when there was but an inch between him and Bones.
“What…” I could hardly get the word out, for before I could say more, Crane closed the distance between our mouths, locking lips with me hungrily. His hands moved to hold the sides of my face as his tongue slipped between my lips, dancing and dominating mine. His hands were slow to creep downward, pushing aside the padding on my bra to get at my nipples, twisting and tweaking them, making me whine into his mouth.
Bones didn’t stop while Crane teased my upper half. He inserted a second finger, filling me up even more, his arm quickening its pace as his tongue lapped my clit. My inner thighs trembled as I realized I had both Crane and Bones doing things to my body at the same fucking time.
Oh, hell yeah.
Just when I was about to reach the precipice of my pleasure, right when I was about to lose all consciousness to the most mind-shattering orgasm a woman could ever have, Bones stopped and withdrew his fingers from me. Crane’s assault on my mouth and my breasts ended. As Bones stood up, both men stepp
ed away from me, each giving me a teasing, mocking smile.
“Perhaps,” Crane spoke, adjusting his watch, as if he didn’t have a hard-on growing between his legs, “we can finish up tonight, after the dance.” With that, he left the bedroom.
Bones grinned at me, wiping the corner of his mouth. “Yeah, what he said. Perhaps.” He said nothing more as he trailed after Crane, leaving me in a confused, annoyed stupor.
I quickly adjusted the bra to cover my aching nipples and pulled up the underwear. I ran into the hall, shouting after them, “You guys are jerks!” It couldn’t be further from the truth, but I had the feeling that they were just teasing me.
The jerks.
Unless…what if they weren’t?
Wash emerged from the next bedroom over, looking mighty uncomfortable in the suit that fit his tall, wide frame. The Headless Horseman, not so headless anymore, and wearing a suit that could kill. It made his shoulders look squarer, and his torso wider, not to mention his legs…
I met his dark stare as he walked by me. “Do you think they were joking?” I had no idea if Wash had even heard what Crane and Bones had said, but I didn’t care. If they weren’t joking, I had a hell of a night to look forward to.
Wash only shrugged, heading down the stairs.
Ugh. These guys were going to kill me.
I returned to the bedroom. Whoever said lady blue balls wasn’t a thing never felt what I was feeling right now. Disappointed and…still turned on. Yep, I’d probably be wet all night as I wondered whether or not Crane and Bones were serious.
Reaching for the dress, I took it off the hanger and slipped it on. A zipper sat on the side, so luckily I didn’t have to go begging any of them to help me. The sleeves fit on my arm perfectly, and the way it revealed my shoulders and collarbone without being overly revealing made it feel like an older dress. I went for sandals next, because, unlike Katrina, I didn’t want to wear heels and break my ankles.
This was the dress Katrina wanted to wear while raising the spirits in the form of the dead and having them take over the town. The full moon had already passed, so I knew she was gone. Gone, but not forgotten. You couldn’t forget an evil, conniving bitch like that.
Once I was prepared, I headed down the stairs and met my three men near the front door. They each turned to face me, all of their jaws dropping as they saw me. Yeah, I looked good. Bet they wished they weren’t so mean to me just now.
“You look…” Crane trailed off.
“What he’s trying to say is,” Bones paused, “you…” Even he couldn’t find the words to say.
Jesus, I knew I was pretty right now, but I wasn’t that pretty. Come on, guys. Lame.
Out of the three of them, guess who was able to say the full sentence without stopping and pausing and looking like an idiot? Wash. Go figure. “You look beautiful,” Wash spoke, grabbing my hand to lay a soft kiss upon my knuckles.
“Absolutely stunning,” Crane agreed, and Bones nodded along, simply smiling his dimpled grin at me. “Shall we go? Your steed awaits, my lady. And by steed, I do mean my car. No more demonic horses for at least a few years.”
I laughed. Crane was getting funnier. Bones’s humor was rubbing off on him, which I was more than fine with.
We piled into the car, and Crane drove us to the barn. The same barn Bones and I had gotten intimate in was now dressed up and pretty, decked out in fall decorations, corn stalks and pumpkins and cornucopias. Everyone was parking on the grass beside it, and Crane pulled his car in an empty spot. As we got out, I turned to the barn. The wide sliding door was open, and I could see people inside already had drinks.
The world grew dark around us, and though the day still fought to stay, the waning moon had already begun to rise in the sky. In less than an hour, the world would be engulfed by night and stars would grace the sky.
“So,” I said, tossing a look around. “Who wants to walk in with me? Or should we shock the town by going in as a group?”
Crane went to adjust his glasses, but then remembered he wore contacts. “Either way, we are sure to become the gossip of town.”
Bones went to slap Crane on the back, causing Crane to glare at him. “Gossip can be fun. I say we carry you in like a goddess and let the chips fall where they may.”
I waved them all off. “How about I go in by myself, then, and you guys can hold hands while walking in?” Bones had a smart remark ready, but I didn’t listen to him, hoisting up my dress a few inches as I walked over the grass towards the barn.
Old-timey music played, and once I walked in, I saw that most of the people were forty-years old and up. This was a tradition that just wouldn’t die, and as I looked around at everyone having a good time—whether they were dancing, drinking, or just sitting at one of the tables shoved into the clean stalls for a sitting area—I was fine with it.
I glanced toward the refreshment table as the guys walked in behind me. I didn’t want to get plastered, so they had to have some non-alcoholic drinks. I made a beeline for the table, but an older woman jumped between me and my destination.
Her grey hair was curled and pinned to her head in the way women did way back when, and her dress looked like it was damn near a hundred years old. “You’re here,” she said. She was also the woman organizing the play, so I knew her more than I wanted to. “I was hoping you’d show up. Come on.” She threw a wink to my guys before taking my hand and dragging me right through the dancing crowd.
The DJ was set up on some hay bales, and she stepped on top to whisper something in his ear. The DJ himself was an older gentleman, maybe fifty years old, and by DJ I meant that he had his laptop hooked up to speakers, and that was the extent of his equipment.
I was beyond horrified when the DJ turned off the music and handed the woman a microphone. Tossing a look over my shoulder, I met gazes with my men. They stood in the crowd, which had slowly stopped dancing. All eyes were on me, and I wanted to vomit.
I sure as shit didn’t sign up for this.
The woman tested the microphone, which made a loud thumping noise echo in the barn. She had everyone’s attention now, even the ones who stood off to the side, gossiping with each other. Moving beside me, she spoke, “Now, as I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, we have a new Katrina this year.”
I could feel everyone’s eyes shift to me, appraise me, judge me. Didn’t like it one bit.
“Kat was even named after Katrina,” the woman went on, chuckling softly. “I remember her first summer here. I still worked at the library at the time, and Phil was always hounding me on getting updated books. When he told me about Kat, I could see the twinkle in his eyes.”
The longer she spoke, the more I felt my heart start to ache. This…this wasn’t some kind of eulogy for my dad, was it? I hadn’t seen him since he warned me about Katrina’s plans. I didn’t know if, now with Katrina gone, he was free to pass on or not. Katrina could control spirits; she could probably make them, too. Truly, it was a good thing she was gone.
I bent my head down as I listened to the woman talk about my dad. How he watched Bones and I grow up together, how some of the members of city council took bets on whether we’d end up together, which got a few laughs, and a dimpled grin from Bones himself. I listened to her talk about my dad almost lovingly, and when I looked back up, I saw everyone’s eyes were on her. They listened intently, as if they all cared about him, too.
Suddenly the woman offered me the mic, and I took it before thinking it over. Public speeches weren’t my thing, but how the hell could I refuse?
“My dad loved me,” I started, meeting the eyes of everyone crowding around, lingering on my men the most. They watched me, they were my rocks, the ones who’d keep me steady. They were mine, and honestly, I never planned on giving any of them up. “But you know what? I think he loved this town more.”
My remark earned another few chuckles, and I shook my head, feeling a bit more confident as I spoke, “No, no, it’s true. He loved this town. Sleepy Hollow. Every
thing about it. The legends, traditions…but above it all, he loved you. Its people. You are what make this place memorable. When my mom left him, you were all there for him, and he loved you for it.”
As I spoke, I felt a weight start to lift from my chest. Talking to this crowd felt better than I thought it would.
“You’re the ones who were there for him when his life was falling apart. You were the ones who put out the fires that kept starting in his house, which he always claimed ignorance of.” I saw a few of the older men nodding and wondered if they were the ones who kept getting the calls. “You’re the ones who invited him to talk to the tourists in town. You’re the ones who made his life worthwhile, right until the end.”
My voice cracked, and I had to pause, fighting the emotions inside. I would not cry in front of all of these people. I wouldn’t.
“You were there for him when I wasn’t,” I whispered into the mic, “so thank you.” I shook my head. “You know, I always said I’d leave Sleepy Hollow behind, but now that I’m here, I don’t think I can. I can see why my dad loved it so much. I only wish I would’ve realized it sooner.”
The old woman standing beside me set a gentle hand on my back, there for comfort. Her eyes, I saw, were teary. I was making everyone cry. What a rousing speech.
“For my dad,” I said, and handed the mic to the woman.
She gave me a nod. “For Phil,” she added, lifting the mic in the air. Everyone who had drinks lifted theirs up, and I felt a tear fall down my cheek when everyone repeated For Phil. I’d taken away a funeral for these people. They never had the chance to say goodbye. Tonight must’ve been that night.
The music started back up, and everyone resumed what they were doing before. I moved to the side of the dance floor, away from the crowd, swiping at my cheeks. Wash, Crane, and Bones followed me, surrounding me like my knights in shining armor.
“And you were worried about the play,” Bones spoke, shaking his head. “You do good in front of crowds, Kat.”
Hollowed: Return to Sleepy Hollow, the Complete Duology Page 39