by Sable Hunter
When they sat down to eat, Harper sat in Revel’s lap, right where he wanted her to be. “How you doing?” he asked, feathering a kiss at her hairline.
“Wonderful, I can’t wait till tomorrow,” she whispered so only he could hear. “I want to be your wife.”
“I want that too, more than anything.” He ran a protective hand down her arm. “After we rehearse the wedding, why don’t we rehearse the honeymoon?”
“Okay, you two, remember you have guests,” Lucas admonished with a teasing chuckle, but his approval was apparent. This was just what he’d been working toward and hoping for in his sessions with Harper. They had more to do, but he could safely say she was in good hands.
After they’d finished eating, Dandi and Harley made quick work of clean-up while Savannah headed down to the church to meet Tammany. Harper went upstairs to shower and dress, excited to wear the pretty pink outfit.
In no time at all, the hour arrived. They caravanned to the church and the jovial priest greeted them all with a hug. When Harper stepped through the doors, she was hypnotized by the magical sight. The solemn sanctuary had been transformed into a romantic wonderland. Baskets of white lilies graced the front and a white satin runner covered the floor of the central aisle. Satin ribbon was strung on the ends of the pews and all of it was highlighted by the beautiful colors dancing on every surface created by the sun shining through the stained glass windows. Lucy was dancing around with the basket she would carry when she spread white rose petals in Harper’s path.
“Harper, come meet Tammany,” Savannah, said taking her hand, leading her up to a gorgeous woman with golden curls hanging down to her waist.
“Hello, you play and sing beautifully,” Harper told her.
“Thank you, and congratulations, I’m so happy for you.” She’d no more than been polite, until someone else called her name requesting that she smile for a photo. In the midst of the confusion, she saw a few gifts arranged on a table and realized she’d left Revel’s. “Oh, no,” she cried. “This will spoil my surprise.” Murmuring to herself, she started for the door. Harper almost stopped to tell someone where she was going, but she didn’t want to take the time. “I’ll be right back,” she assured herself.
Being careful of her dress, Revel had insisted they come in her car instead of his truck, so she grabbed her purse and slipped away quickly. The drive to the house didn’t take but a couple of minutes and soon she was through Wildwood’s door and up the stairs. Throwing open the door to her room, she was determined to get what she needed and return to the church before anyone even realized she was gone.
So intent was she on her task, it took her a moment or two to process what she was seeing. Harper wasn’t alone. Standing by their bed, his cock in his hand was Harlow Duhon. He was jerking off. “What are you doing?” she cried.
To her disgust, he didn’t stop what he was doing but fisted his cock until he spurted cum all over her bed, which was now covered in her underthings. Harper’s stomach turned over. With a harsh cry, she whirled to escape. But she didn’t get very far. As she turned to run, a harsh hand gripped her arm and pulled her back. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Harper struggled, but she couldn’t get away. Hauled up to his wiry body, her skin crawled when her flesh made contact with his. “Let me go!”
“I don’t think so,” he drawled in an oily voice. “I’m going to be the monster that has haunted your dreams. I’m the boogeyman, meaner than any rougaroux could ever be.”
Futilely Harper kicked out, trying in vain to twist from his grasp. “You’re nothing! Just a weak-minded sick man. What do you want from me? Steal what you want and get out of my house!”
“Ah, no. You owe me, but I don’t want money.”
“I don’t owe you anything!” She was finding it hard to breathe, a macabre sense of déjà vu was slipping over her. Harlow Duhon looked enough like Remy to make her horrid history come to life.
“Oh, yes you do.” His fetid breath fanned her cheek as he twisted her arm behind her. “You killed my brother, just the same as if you’d pulled the trigger. It was you traipsing around in those short little gowns, rubbing yourself on your daddy, hugging and kissing on him. I used to watch you through the window. Not even Remy knew I was there. Your mother was bat-shit crazy, my brother said she heard voices all the time. And since she couldn’t be a proper wife, you made yourself available, you’ve been a little slut all your life.”
Harper couldn’t even find the words to defend herself, she fought her uncle with every breath. Hitting, scratching, beating at him with her fists. She cried and screamed until her voice was hoarse and raw and when he drew back his arm to strike her, Harper almost welcomed the blow. At least now she wouldn’t know what was happening.
* * *
“Are we ready?” Father Broussard asked from the front of the church.
Everyone had been milling around as Tammany practiced some appropriate piano solos for the next day. Revel looked for Harper, assuming she was with one of the girls. The priest had been showing him and his best men where to come in and where to stand. His eyes roved the room, taking in everyone but the one he was seeking. “Where’s Harper?”
They all looked around. “She was here a little while ago,” T-Rex said. First one, then the other checked the side rooms, the foyer and outside. Harper was nowhere to be found. The cold chill of panic iced Revel’s skin.
She’d left him.
Again.
“Where did she go?” Dandi asked. “Something must have happened, she was so excited just a few moments ago.”
“I helped her with her hair,” Harley offered.
“I introduced her to Tammany.” Savannah pointed to the pianist in the corner.
As his friends discussed his fiancée’s whereabouts, Revel’s mind spun with pain and worry. Had she changed her mind? Had she left him? He raked his hand through his hair, his heart thundering in his chest.
Walking to one of the stained glass windows, he gazed out through the opaque glass toward the road outside. The rose colored hue he was looking through cast the world into a completely different light. As he stood there every word Harper had uttered to him came to mind. Every kiss they’d shared. The touch of her hand. The feel of her body lying next to his in their bed.
No, Harper hadn’t left him. She’d told him she would never do that again. He remembered her words when she promised him that if something appeared wrong, for him not to doubt her. “Maybe she went back to the house for something,” he announced, his feet starting to move. But something in his gut caused the hair on the back of his neck to rise. “Let’s hurry. Something’s happened. Something’s happened to Harper.”
In a blur, they all ran to their cars and headed back to Wildwood. Just as Revel suspected, Harper’s car sat out front. Slamming on his brakes, he skidded to a stop and tore open the door, running as fast as he could to the house. As quickly as he moved, T-Rex was faster. He was in the house, racing around before Revel could get through the door. “Harper! Harper!” they called. After searching the bottom floor, several took off up the stairs. Again, T-Rex beat Revel to his destination and when Revel attempted to enter their bedroom, his friend stopped him. “Don’t go in there, man.”
An immediate wash of pain and horror washed over him. “Is she?”
Realizing what Revel thought, T-Rex felt bad. “No, no, she isn’t in here. But someone has been…”
Paying no attention to T’s protests, Revel pushed by him. What he found at first confused him. Harper’s pretty panties and bras were strewn over the bed, then his stomach rolled when he saw the milky white liquid sprayed across them. “Fuck!” he bellowed. Turning, he saw words written on their mirror in blood red. Murderer. Bitch. Slut. “Who the hell?”
His friends joined him, quickly reading the situation. Harley stepped forward and laid her hand on the mirror. Beau supported her as she fell backward into his arms. “He’s got her. He hit her. A dark man with a black beard
.” Turning toward Revel, she exclaimed, “He’s taken her to the swamp.”
“Do you know who she’s talking about?” Beau asked with obvious concern.
“Her uncle, Harlow Duhon,” Revel spat out.
“Let’s go,” T-Rex announced. “I bet I know where he is, I’ve seen evidence of him at one of the old deer camps.”
His friends rallied around him, running with him to the water and using T-Rex’s boat to head over to his island where he kept a couple of four-wheelers gassed up for hunting. The women stayed behind, calling Sheriff Blann Russell and waiting, just in case they were wrong.
* * *
When Harper came to, she fast wished she was still unconscious. Harlow Duhon had tied her to a cypress tree, her arms stretched around the trunk, the bark biting into her skin. He sat in front of her, sharpening a hunting knife on a piece of leather. “Wake up, did you?”
Harper’s breath was coming so rapid and hard, she felt like she would expire from sheer fright. “What are you going to do with me?”
With a sneer, Harlow let his eyes rake over Harper’s body and that was when she realized her beautiful pink dress was torn, ripped down the front, her bra had been cut and there was a thin red line of blood decorating her body from her cleavage to the top of her mound. At least she still had on her panties, but his leering lascivious eye made her feel slimy and dirty.
“What do you think I’m going to do?” Harlow continued to sharpen his knife.
“Let me go, that’s what you’d better do,” she hissed at him, realizing it really didn’t matter what she said. He had no plans to let her go.
“Uh-no.” Harlow snorted. He licked his lips, casting a wicked glance over her breasts.
She wished she could cover up. Harper was humiliated.
“I’m going to have me some of what you used to give my brother.” He raised an eyebrow at her, stating calmly. “After I get my fill, I’m going to take this knife and strip the skin off your body.”
His cold words caused her to tremble. This man was mad. “Revel will come. He’s an ex-Seal. He’ll kill you, you know.”
Harlow laughed. “You’re right about one thing. Revel Jones is a fine upstanding man. He served our country. His family wasn’t much to speak of, but he dragged himself up out of the mud and muck to make something of himself. This will be good for your soldier. Once he realizes what a whore you are, that you spread your legs for your daddy and your uncle, he won’t want anything to do with you. I daresay touching you will make him want to puke.”
Harper was crying now. “That’s not true. I was a baby. I couldn’t stop him.”
“What about those perverts in those clubs? Hell, you let every freak in Texas fuck you, at least that’s what I heard.”
“That’s not the way it happened.” She knew there was no use trying to defend herself, but she had to try.
“Don’t you argue with me,” Harlow shouted, coming toward her, the blade of the knife glinting in the light of the sun. “I’ll gut you like a catfish. Revel Jones is smart enough to recognize what you are.”
“Yes, I am,” Revel spoke up behind Duhon. He and his friends had come only so far on the recreational vehicles, leaving them a good distance back so they could arrive silently. Keeping Harper alive was paramount. “I know exactly who Harper is.”
Unarmed, Revel started moving forward. T, Beau, Patrick and Lucas were just behind him in the shadows. He’d told them to wait for his signal. Revel hadn’t known if Harlow would be alone or accompanied by others.
At the sound of Revel’s voice, she was torn. Her whole soul reached out to him. But knowing he had heard what Harlow said, been reminded of her horrible past, her abject humiliation—she was mortified once again. Instead of watching him, she cast her eyes down, ashamed for him to see her displayed in such a disgraceful way.
“If you do know, you’ll agree with me that she is to be despised and pitied. She isn’t worthy to walk among decent people.”
Revel’s fury rose. He took no notice of the large knife. “The woman you are treating with such disdain is perfect. You aren’t worthy to latch her shoes, much less speak her name.” Revel grated out the words, his muscles clenching with the need to tear this bastard limb from limb. “What happened to Harper, happened to an innocent, to me she is as pure as the driven snow.”
All the while that Revel was speaking, he was moving closer and closer to the fiend wielding the knife. And he did so without fear or hesitation.
When he got within a few feet, Harlow Duhon lunged at him and Harper screamed. Revel welcomed the attack, grabbing the man’s arm that was raised against him and twisting it so hard and fast behind Duhon’s back that he screamed in pain, dropping the knife.
Having checked out the perimeter, the other men ran in, quickly taking custody of Duhon. Revel rushed to release Harper, taking off his own shirt to cover her up. “Are you okay, baby?”
Harper couldn’t speak at first. She was quaking from nerves. “Yes,” she finally managed to get out. “You came before he could hurt me, thank you.”
Still she didn’t look up. “I’ll always come for you, Harper. Always.” He voice dropped to a whisper as he pulled her flush against him. “I was scared. At first I thought you’d left me.”
The hurt in his voice did something to Harper. “Where would I go?” she whispered. “You’re my home.”
Revel swallowed hard. At last. At last she understood. “God, Harper, what would I do without you?” Ignoring everything else around him, Revel kissed her like his life depended on it.
Because it did.
EPILOGUE
The wedding rehearsal didn’t come off as planned, but the honeymoon rehearsal went just fine…
Revel couldn’t wait to get her home. He could tell Harper was shaken up, but she held it together. He did his best to reassure her. “It’s all over. None of the ghosts from our past can hurt us anymore. They’re gone. Harlow confessed to breaking into Wildwood, turning the books upside down, moving other things. He even put the snake in your shower and piled the rougaroux bait on the floor.”
“Why did he do all of that?” Harper asked, confused.
“He just wanted to mess with our heads, bide his time until he could have a chance to get to you.”
“Harlow was crazy,” she admitted with a sigh. “He violated our home.”
“Yes, he did, but that’s over.” He had called ahead and made sure the girls cleaned up the mess and threw away the linens and everything on top of the bed. Next week, he’d take her shopping for all new sexy things.
When they arrived at Wildwood, Revel expected for her to need a session in their playroom and he was fully prepared to give it to her. From the moment he’d disappointed her so long ago, he’d set a personal, unswerving goal to become exactly what Harper needed him to be. “Do you need to feel the bite, Bright Eyes?”
Harper shook her head. “No, Revel.” She held out her hand. “That isn’t what I need right now.” She knew Revel had worked unselfishly to become what he thought she wanted, what she needed. And she loved him for it. His complete acceptance and forgiving spirit would be the bar that she would measure every act of selfless kindness against for the rest of her life. But her needs had changed.
Yes, Revel had changed his life to become what he thought she needed and now she had discovered the truth. All she needed was him. “I just want you to love me.”
Revel’s heart melted. He couldn’t wait another second to hold her. Moving to her, he clasped Harper to him. “Oh, baby, I do love you, more than anything.”
“You’d better.” She teased, wanting to see him laugh. “Because I’m pretty addicted to you.”
Falling easily into her mood, he asked, “Oh, really? What about me is so habit forming?”
Harper grinned. “Well, you’ve got this amazing huge cock and you know what to do with it.”
Revel laughed loudly. “Ah well, at least I’m appreciated.”
“Oh, I appreciate
a lot of things about you - like the way you use your tongue on me drives me mad, or that the way you touch my breasts is the closest thing to paradise I’ve ever felt.” All of this was said while they quickly undressed anxious to feel skin against skin.
“I suppose that’s a good thing, since I can’t seem to keep my hands off of you.” With a wicked glint in his eye, he walked her to a nearby wall and pressed up against her until she was flattened between the proverbial rock and a very hard place. Slipping his thigh between her legs, he pressed upward, smiling when her eyes glazed over with desire.
“Who asked you to?” She bit her lip, her teeth sinking in to leave an impression in the lush pinkness. Revel couldn’t resist, he leaned over and sucked on the same plump spot, licking and nibbling until they were both panting.
“God, Harper, I want you all the time.” Her breasts were bare, beautiful and impossible to resist. Bending down, he tongued her nipple and she responded by pushing the soft flesh into his mouth. Revel ran his hands over her body as if memorizing every curve and dip. All the while he licked and kissed her tits until her nipples were stiff and distended.
Pinning her hands over her head, he let his mouth drift up to the pulse point of her neck, rubbing his mouth over the tender skin, loving how he could feel the beat of her heart against his lips. Her back arched and she pushed her breasts against his chest. He flexed the hard muscle in his thigh on which her pussy rested and she moaned, grinding her damp sex on his leg.
“That’s it, baby, take your pleasure,” he urged, pushing upward so her clit could ride against the hard muscle. She tossed her head, rocking against him. Revel was so hard he was about to burst. Keeping up the erotic rhythm, he leaned down to kiss her breasts. He could happily suck her tits for hours.
“Revel!” she cried as he teased her nipple. She could feel his throbbing cock resting against her thigh. She was going to cum soon, there was no holding back. He was pushing her right over the edge.
Knowing how close she was, Revel went to his knees and buried his face between her legs.