by Sable Hunter
As the kiss intensified, Harper made herself at home with his body, moving her hand up and down, rubbing him, circling her thumb around the sensitive tip. “You feel so good—so hard. How can something so hard be so velvety smooth?”
Revel threw his head back and groaned. “What are you doing to me?”
She didn’t know exactly what he meant, all she knew was that it was fuckin’ hot! He was being so sweet, so tender. “I’m not afraid anymore.”
“I’ll never give you reason to be,” he promised, as he moved off the bed.
“Where are you going?” Harper asked, reaching for him.
“Not far,” he muttered as he went to his knees. “Can’t you see? I want to worship you.”
Harper held her breath as he eased her panties down her legs, spreading her open. “I’m about to kiss your pretty pussy and you’re gonna come for me, then I’m going to make love to you. Okay?”
Harper nodded, unable to speak, watching him open her up with his hands and then go down. Suddenly, she was shaking, he hadn’t even touched her and she was trembling. Lying back, she shut her eyes tightly, turning her head away. Tensed, Harper waited…and then she felt his lips on the inside of her knee. Almost unconsciously, she lifted her hips, reaching up for what she wanted so much.
Ah! “God!” And then he was there. “Oh, God! Revel!”
Un-fuckin-believable. Revel felt exhilarated. Harper clawed the sheets, she bowed her back and her hips began to move with his mouth. Revel moved his palms underneath her, cupping her ass, bringing her higher so he could lick deeper, suck harder.
“I can’t, I can’t…” Harper cried, her whole body shaking. She was on fire, from the tips of her swollen breasts to the throbbing hot button of nerves between his lips. “Revel!” He held on to her, giving, taking, as pure ecstasy ripped through her and she shattered. The pleasure was almost inconceivable. This was what she’d been striving for. Harper knew what it was, she hadn’t been living under a rock, but this was her first orgasm—and good God—it felt amazing.
Waves of pleasure radiated from her sex as he kissed her on each thigh, keeping her flat and open when she would have curled up to one side. “My turn,” he said and she had no argument to make. As his hands led, her body followed, moving back on the bed, making room for him between her legs. Dropping down to a forearm, he pressed into her and Harper had to keep their gazes locked so she’d know this was Revel. This was Revel. Everything was okay. He’d just given her heaven and now…he needed her.
“Ready for me?” he asked, his expression almost desperate.
Harper smiled. “Yes.”
“I’ll be gentle, baby. You tell me if anything hurts. Okay?” There was no way she couldn’t brace herself.
When she felt the head of his cock touch her down there, she jerked and he hesitated. “No, don’t stop. I don’t want you to stop.” Harper held on to his shoulders and she felt his muscles go taut. “Do it, Revel. Make me yours,” she whispered.
And that’s all it took. Harper felt him move, the tip of his cock begin to nudge her open. Pull out. Push in.
“Revel…” she keened. “Please!” Harper didn’t know what she was begging for, she just needed…him.
“Oh, baby,” he moaned. “You’re so tight. I have to go slow.”
Harper clenched her eyes shut, she wanted to cry. She didn’t know how she’d feel to him, if it would be good for him. She tightened her arms around him. “It doesn’t hurt,” she gasped. “It feels good.” Which wasn’t exactly true…Harper didn’t know how it felt. She was just so blown away by the fact that she was here with him and they were having…no, making love.
Revel slid an arm under her to lift her body a bit, so he could work himself in deeper. All the while, he was kissing her body wherever he could reach, praising her, telling her how perfect and beautiful she was—how good it felt—how meaningful this was.
Gradually her body stretched, opened, made room for his and it felt…so good. “Revel, I want more.” Her request seemed to free him. He layered his lips over hers and pushed on in, burying his shaft deep, all the way to the root. Harper sighed. At last. Something inside of her let go, gave way, melted. A man she could trust was giving her a precious gift.
“Fuck, Harper, I can’t stop,” Revel moaned.
“Do it, move,” Harper coaxed, her body moving with him as he pumped in, his hips flexing, pulling out—in, out—again and again. She tossed her head, the sensation so overwhelming she knew she’d never forget how Revel made her feel. Her hands moving over his arms and chest, she luxuriated in the taking. His body possessing her, the rhythmic pumps making her body surge in the bed with every powerful thrust.
“Can you come? Are you close?” Revel panted, knowing he was near.
“It feels good,” she said, and it was no lie. Revel moved slightly, his hand coming between them and she felt his fingers delve in, right at her center, right on… “Oh, my,” she sighed. She clung to him as he fucked her, his thumb rubbing her clit as his cock stroked—faster, faster—deeper, deeper. Nothing had ever felt so good. She loved everything about being with him. Her body flashed hot. Quivers of pleasure lashed through her. She dug her fingers into his arms and screamed his name as he hammered into her body.
Her whole world exploded.
Revel’s body went rock hard, he bowed his head, pressing it into the pillow next to her face and repeated the same word over and over again. “Mine, mine, mine, mine.”
Harper wrapped herself around him, holding Revel tight. She stroked his hair, letting their breaths synchronize. Still connected, their hearts beat as one. “Thank you, Revel. This—you were perfect.”
Her compliment made him smile. Rising up, he took her hands and kissed them. “You’re my girl now, Harper Summers. We may be going our separate ways, but we’ll never be apart. I’ll write you, I’ll call you and when I return, I’ll be coming home to you.”
CHAPTER TWO
Nine months later
“Just give me the letters, please,” Harper begged her aunt Eugenia. Somehow, she’d never been able to call her ‘mother’ and the woman had never asked her to.
Eugenia Summers folded her arms over her chest and turned her nose up in the air. “We opened one of those letters. That man was using inappropriate language. We will not be a party to giving an underage girl pornographic material from some pervert!”
“He isn’t a pervert, he’s a soldier and a good man. I love him.” Harper wiped the tears from her face. “I am about to turn eighteen and graduate, all in the next two weeks. When Grandmother comes to my graduation, I’m going home with her!”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Eugenia looked worried for a moment, which surprised Harper.
“What’s wrong?” Harper asked, not understanding her attitude.
Eugenia softened and to Harper’s surprise, she hugged her. “Look, I don’t want to hurt you any more than you’ve already been hurt. This man may be your destiny, but you’ve been through a terrible trauma and I don’t want anyone to take advantage of you.”
“I appreciate you.” Harper touched her aunt’s back lightly. “But I want to go home to Louisiana.”
Eugenia let out a long breath. “It’s your father’s family, they’ve moved back to Loreauville.”
When her aunt wouldn’t look her in the eye, Harper was even more curious. “So? I don’t plan on visiting them. I’m sure they blame me for everything.” She could still remember the day they took her father’s body away, the day her mother had put a gun in her mouth. Harper had very few memories of her father’s family—her other grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Bernadette, her mother, had considered the Duhon family to be beneath her station and it was her belief she could make Remy rise above his less than desirable beginnings. Before the shame started, when things had been normal, anytime her father had visited his family, Harper had never been permitted to go along.
“I can’t say for certain,” Eugenia mused. “All I know is that
Mother is concerned and as lackadaisical as she can be, that’s saying something.”
Since Clotille had always been in her corner, Harper didn’t appreciate Eugenia’s opinion of their matriarch. “I’m sure I’ll be fine. I don’t plan on calling on them, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“No, I didn’t think that.” She waved her hand dismissively. “I’m not sure what I’m saying, just be aware they are angry and keep your distance. You were just a child, but you’re all there is to strike out at, except Mother, and everyone’s afraid of her. They know Nana Fontenot has her back.”
No problem there. Harper had no intention of renewing old acquaintances. All she wanted to do was get in touch with Revel. “Will you please give me the letters? I just want to be able to write Revel back and tell him I’m all right.” Harper was so frustrated, she was digging her fingernails into her own palms.
“I can’t, Charles burned them.” Her aunt’s off-hand explanation hurt Harper’s heart. She turned, raced to her room and threw herself on her bed to cry. Knowing Revel was trying to contact her, worrying about his safety, and her longing for him all combined into a recipe of disaster for Harper. She couldn’t process the emotions. Running from the room, she hid in the closet, biting her cheek until she could taste blood.
That night, the dreams came back. They’d been at bay, only occurring rarely since she’d met Revel. But now, she woke in the middle of the night shaking, thinking her father was on top of her. Every cell in her body was on fire, she wanted to tear her hair out by the roots. Rising from the bed, she went to her dresser and found a candle. Lighting it, Harper held her wrist over the flame until a blister formed. With a faint cry, she snatched her arm away, holding it tightly with her other hand. The burn brought tears to her eyes but it also lightened the burden around her heart. It seemed to give herself something else to focus on—and for that she was grateful. Anything to create enough pain in her body to drown out the pain in her mind.
There was an uproar in the house over the next three days. Harper was just glad it wasn’t over her. One of the business deals Charles had been brokering in his import/export business had gone sour. So Harper stayed away as much as possible, and was grateful for the reprieve. She lingered after school, roaming the mall, fibbing to her aunt and uncle, telling them she was attending commencement practice and other activities.
Racking her brain, she tried to think of a way to contact Revel. The only plan she could come up with was to try and intercept the mail, get to the postal box before Charles or Eugenia could—and hope to high heaven Revel was still trying to write to her. Who knows? He might have already given up, thinking she didn’t want to hear from him. The idea of him waiting to hear and wondering why she was silent made her want to scream.
From out of nowhere, the need to hurt herself rose like a tsunami. She pinched the back of her hand hard. Nothing. Then, she bit the inside of her cheek. The hard nip made her feel a bit better. Wiping a calming hand over her face, she sat back and tried to even out her breathing. Looking around, she met the glances of a few people. Could they tell she was different? Did her brokenness show on her face? As she sat, trying to get a handle on her emotions, Harper was hit anew by the realization it wasn’t fair to include Revel in her problems. The hopelessness of it all made her sick. The kindest thing she could do was leave the situation alone and let Revel think… Almost immediately a sense of panic struck her, not ever seeing Revel again was unbearable.
Putting aside a celebrity gossip magazine she’d been thumbing through, Harper hugged herself tight. She’d check the mail over the next few days and if there was no letter, she’d take it as a sign to put Revel out of her mind. Rising, she walked to the display rack to return the periodical to its place.
And then she saw it…hidden back—almost like it beckoned.
Harper slowly moved her hand to pick it up. A BDSM magazine. The woman on the front was spread out on a bench while a man lifted a whip to her skin. The look on her face wasn’t one of pain, it was one of ecstasy. Almost breathlessly, she thumbed through it, reading the titles of articles and glancing at photos. Clutching the publication to her breast, she almost ran to the counter to pay for it. Something inside Harper told her she held the answer to some of her life questions in her hand.
Over the next couple of days, Harper felt like she was riding an emotional rollercoaster. The only bright spot was what she found in the magazine, which was called MORE. The information she found there opened up a whole new world for Harper. She devoured every word, then found a hundred sites on the internet that catered to those who wanted to know…more. She found out she wasn’t the only person who needed to feel a bite of pain, there were others who craved it for one reason or another. Maybe she wasn’t like the ones who immersed themselves in the lifestyle, but she could still learn from this. Anything she could do to give herself relief without cutting or burning had to be good. Didn’t it?
Several times she had to hide the magazine from Eugenia. She’d almost got caught the night before staring at the photos in bed, wondering if she had enough courage to ask Revel to do some of these things with her.
If she ever saw him again…
Harper had checked the mail twice and there had been no letter, which hurt her heart despite her reasoning. The only chance she could think of was that he might look her up in Loreauville when he came home on leave. Or maybe she could find someone there who knew how to get a letter to him. The time she’d spent with him was magical and the thought of letting go of impossible dreams crushed her.
The next few days passed in a haze. Harper turned eighteen with little fanfare. Clotille could only come over for one occasion and she chose the graduation ceremony with a promise they’d celebrate her eighteenth at the same time. Her grandmother also promised her a surprise when she got to Wildwood.
The actual commencement ceremony went by without a hitch. Harper wasn’t first in her class, but she wasn’t last. She did receive a scholarship to The University of Texas, but she had her heart set on LSU in Baton Rouge. Pasting a smile on her face, she walked across the stage, accepted her diploma and posed for a few photos with Charles and Eugenia.
The best thing about the day was Clotille. She’d driven over, refusing to fly, and even helped Harper pack her things to move home to Wildwood. “You know if I’d had my way, you would’ve been living with me this whole time.” After she’d hugged Harper, she’d dipped her hand into her pocket and handed her an envelope. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you!” Harper hugged her, accepting the gift. She’d received several monetary gifts from family friends, even a couple from teachers who thought a lot of her. Harper smiled, she already had the money earmarked. She planned on buying some nipple clamps and a beginner’s quirt, the idea of finding a new way to relieve her stress was heady. “I know exactly what I’m going to use this for.”
“Oh, this is something that will make you happy, but it’s not money,” Clotille explained. “Look at it.”
Harper did, and when she realized what it was, she threw her arms around her grandmother’s neck and squealed. It was a letter from Revel. “He wrote you!”
“When he couldn’t get in touch with you here, he contacted me. I told you that boy is special.” She patted Harper’s back. “Now, I think we have someplace to be—Cajun Country! Let me go say goodbye to my daughter and we’ll get on the road.”
As soon as her grandmother was out of the room, Harper tore into the letter and sank down on the bed to read it.
To the Most Beautiful Girl in the World
Most men might have given up by now, but I can’t do that. I’m stubborn. When you never answered any of my letters, I almost lost hope. So I wrote your grandmother and she told me that your parents threw my letters away, that they were giving you a hard time because of me. I understand they read at least one of my letters. I’m so sorry, I poured my heart out. I was too explicit. I got you into trouble. I apologize.
Clot
ille assures me that you’ll read this letter and that she won’t—lol! So, here goes. I’m going to give you a synopsis of all of my other letters put together.
Dear Harper,
I ache for you. All I can think about are the moments we spent together. I dream over and over about holding you again, kissing you again, being inside of you again. This damn hell hole over here is no place to live, but I’m going to make the best of it and then I’m going to come home to you for a few weeks before I have to return. Will you have me?
Please write back. I need to know you’re waiting for me. I need to know you’re thinking about me. I have those photos we made at the mall. I keep one of them with me at all times.
I’m not going to get too sexy with you, just in case your grandmother forgets her promise. You can let me know when I can start up the sweet talk. Maybe we could Skype sometimes?
God, I miss you, Harper Summers.
Write me soon and put me out of my misery.
Yours completely,
Revel Lee Jones
Harper clutched the pieces of paper to her heart. Reading his words, seeing his handwriting was wonderful. She grabbed some stationary and stuffed it in her purse. She’d answer him on the ride to Louisiana.
Saying goodbye to Texas wasn’t hard. While Clotille’s Lexus ate up the miles, she penned a letter to the man she’d been dreaming about for nine months.
My Revel,
I am so sorry I didn’t get your other letters. When I found out they were keeping them from me I wanted to die. Grandmother saved the day.
I hope you are okay. I have worried and prayed for you every day and I miss you like crazy. When are you coming home? I can’t wait to kiss you again, to touch you. I dream about how we were together and I can’t wait to do it again.