I glanced up to throw my snowball at her, and through the bonfire, I watched her laugh and smile as Zeke hid behind her from Evan, who had the biggest snowball I had ever seen in his hand. With every flick of the flames in front of me, I saw a new side to Luna.
And every side I fell more in love with.
That was until she tossed another snowball in my face.
All bets were off now.
Chapter Twenty-One
Luna
I was surprisingly warm, considering how cold it had gotten when the night fell. The bonfire raged, and everyone was a few drinks in. Zeke and Ezra had hotdogs on a stick, trying to roast them evenly. Evan, the poor man, ever since we were younger, he never could make the perfect smore. His hands were covered in melted marshmallows and broken graham crackers stuck against his palms. It was funny to see Evan frustrated. He grumbled and growled, grunted with annoyance, and blamed the marshmallows instead of himself.
I leaned against Easton, warm and content as I switched my beer for hot chocolate. Easton was right. We needed this.
“Come on, Easton. Tell us a ghost story.”
My heart thumped in my chest when memories of us as kids flashed through my mind. We would build forts, and in the dark, he’d shine a flashlight on his face and tell the creepiest stories. I still hated driving on the highway at night because I expect to see the ghost of an axe murderer.
“Nah, I don’t think so guys. It’s getting late,” Easton said, his voice nearly drowned out by the waves crashing against the cliffs.
“Oh, come on. For old time’s sake,” Ezra said, pulling his hotdog off the fire.
Easton sighed and gave me a look that said he was asking if it was okay. He didn’t need my permission, but I thought it was sweet that he wanted to run it by me first. He knew I was a scaredy-cat.
“Go on. Let’s see if you’ve still got it.” I play punched him in the gut and all I felt was hard muscle bunching beneath my knuckles. Warmth spread through my veins, the need for him almost crippling. I almost said fuck the story and begged him to climb into the tent with me. We could write our own story, naked and moaning.
Yeah, that sounded good.
“You better quiet those thoughts, baby. Or I’m not going to be liable for what happens to that ass,” he whispered into my ear, and I had to bite back a moan as my clit throbbed for his touch.
We couldn’t go in the tent now. It would be too obvious.
I was tempted to rub his cock underneath the fleece blanket that covered our legs. That would be obvious too because stroking him wasn’t like stroking a hotdog, it was more like grabbing onto a bratwurst or a coke can. I would take a lot of elbow grease rubbing all those inches Easton had, and I wasn’t about to get caught by his brothers.
But I wanted him right now.
My inner voice was so needy and whiny.
“Baby,” Easton growled in warning when my fingertips brushed against the tip of his cock.
I jerked my hand away, acting as if I had no idea what I just did. I was innocent.
“I’m going to spank that ass later,” he nibbled my ear, and my breath caught in my throat when the skin on each cheek stung with anticipation. I couldn’t wait. “Naughty, Moon.”
“Okay, whatever you guys are whispering about, you aren’t as quiet as you think you are,” Ezra said, biting into his burnt hotdog. “I had no idea you liked that sort of thing, Luna.”
“Hush your mouth before I choke you with that hotdog,” Easton warned.
“Then tell a ghost story and stop feeling each other up. This is a bonding camp, not sex camp. Gosh guys,” Ezra scoffed, feigning being offended. I saw over the fire that he was kidding when he winked at me.
“Okay,” Easton groaned and uncrossed his ankles to press both feet into the ground.
Everyone fell silent.
The fire crackled and popped; the orange and yellow of the hot wood glowed in the night. The snow fell, like a gentle whisper as the flakes landed on the ground in a silent veil.
“How about the story of Glenn Hampton?” Easton asked.
“Tell it with the flashlight. Tell it with the flashlight,” Ezra repeated and bounced on the stump he sat on like a child.
Easton rolled his blue eyes and reached down in his bag and pulled out a long, black flashlight. The flames of the fire danced in his irises when he stared into the fire. He flicked the flashlight on and placed it right under his chin. The light illuminated off the sharp edges of his face, and the natural contours of his cheeks darkened. He looked like a ghost right now, and I immediately got chills.
I was gripping on to his arm for dear life, and he hadn’t even started the story yet.
“The story goes that Glenn Hampton died the night of Halloween, where magic was at its strongest and evil knocked on every door,” Easton started. He deepened his voice and spoke slower than usual to create the mood. “It’s said that in the middle of the night, Glenn walked around his mansion. Alone.”
I gulped.
“The wind howled like a lone wolf outside, shaking the branches of the trees. The fingers of each branch reached out and scratched down the windows. The shadows of the leaves dancing as the wind blew. He paid no mind to the noise considering the old house made noises all the time. Glenn was alone, had been alone for years. He didn’t know that on that night, he’d die alone.”
I jumped when something crunched the leaves behind me. I gasped and turned around, but nothing was there.
“No trick or treaters came to the house. No one dared to bother Glenn Hampton. But as Glenn walked through the house alone, he heard whispers of his name, a child’s laughter down the hall, and thumping noises coming from a room he had kept closed for years.” Easton turned his gaze on me, and I held my breath as his blue eyes narrowed as he spoke. “The room where his wife and child died.”
Thunder rolled above us, and I clutched onto Easton’s arm. I wanted this damn story to be over already.
“Glenn denied it, but on every Halloween, his dead wife and son haunted the hallways of the mansion. Living life as if death hadn’t happened at all. He thought he was going mad, hearing things, but when he opened the door to the room that he promised to never go in, he saw something… that chilled his core.” Easton paused for dramatic effect, and everyone leaned in closer, wanting to know what happened. This was a new telling of the story. The original was completely different. Easton took a deep breath and continued, “He stepped inside the room when he saw his wife in the corner, his newborn baby suckling on her milk-filled breast. The chair rocked back and forth, slightly hitting the wall. Thump. Thump. Thump.” Easton pounded his hand on the tree stump next to him, and I could almost hear the rocker hitting the wall. “But then, the door slammed behind him in a big whoosh! The force shook the entire house under Glenn’s feet. He tried to open the door. He pulled, yanked, and tried to kick it down, but nothing worked.” Easton turned off the flashlight, and I could breathe again. It was over. Thank god. A few seconds had gone by, and then he turned on the flashlight again and lunged at me. Making me scream at the top of my lungs. “And that was the last sound heard in the Hampton house. A murderous, blood-curdling scream.” Easton leaned back, and I slapped him on the arm, pressing my hand against my chest as I tried to calm down.
Evan and Zeke were waiting for the story to end, wondering what the ending was, but Ezra was smirking at me. Bunch of assholes, the lot of them!
Easton was so not getting laid tonight or ever again.
That was a lie. It would be cruel and unusual punishment if I did that to myself.
“The next day, they found Glenn’s dead body, sitting in the rocking chair. Thump. Thump. Thump.” He pounded his fist on the stump again, and I wanted to scream. I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. There was no way. I’d have nightmares. “It’s said that the thumps could be heard every Halloween, but no one wants to risk being the next one caught in the rocking chair.” Easton turned off the flashlight again, but I didn’t trust
him. He was going to do something.
“Boo,” Ezra said from behind me, and I screamed, tossing my hot chocolate in his face. It was lukewarm; it wouldn’t burn him.
“Oh my god! You know how I get when you tell those stories! It isn’t funny.”
“I’m sorry,” Ezra cackled and licked his lips to get the chocolate off. “I couldn’t resist.”
“No more, promise,” Easton said, placing the flashlight back in the bag.
“That isn’t the original story,” I pointed out.
He shook his head. “Nope. I made it up completely. I wanted to give everyone a new story.”
“You’re really good at it,” I said. “I’m pretty sure my heart is racing from you lunging at me.” I placed his hand over my chest, letting him feel the hurried thud against my breastbone.
He pressed his lips against my cheek, and the heat of his breath thawed the cold shell of my ear. “I’ll get your heart racing another way if you want.”
“Race you there. The last one in the tent has to let the other person come,” I whispered, knowing the challenge meant nothing because both of us would come. He growled, and I darted to the yellow tent. The fabric rustled in the breeze.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Only this time, it was my heart reverberating in the silence.
“Night!” the brother’s called out. “Wear protection!” Ezra shouted, and the rest of them laughed. Then I remembered we weren’t safe the first time we had sex, and I wasn’t on birth control. We hadn’t talked about kids or the future.
I took off my scarf and tossed it to the side of the tent. I laid back and felt a foam mattress under me with lots of pillows and blankets. The heat from the fire could be felt, but it wasn’t enough to stop the shiver from shaking my body.
Easton dipped his head under the entryway of the tent and stepped inside, then turned around and zipped it up to give us privacy. “Are you cold?” he asked me as he took off his shirt. “I know a way to warm you up.”
It was cheesy, but I really wanted what he was offering. I nodded, and he fell to his knees and started to take off my pants. “Easton—”
“Don’t mind my brothers,” he whispered. “They have no idea what they are talking about.” He pulled off each pant leg and kissed my left ankle.
“We didn’t use a condom,” I said, moaning when he kissed my inner thigh. The shiver was long gone, and my blood heated from his expert touch. “I’m not on birth control.” It was something we should have talked about before any of this happened, but we let our feelings run our rational thinking, and now there was a chance I could be pregnant.
And for some reason, it didn’t scare me like it should have.
“I know,” he said. “I never want anything between us, Luna.” He slid off my panties next and tossed them against the tent wall. He pressed a kiss against the crease where my leg touched my pussy, and I whimpered. His rough palms slid up my torso and yanked off my sweater, leaving me in nothing but my bra. “It’s us. I only ever want to feel every wet, hot part of you when I’m inside that pussy.” He pressed another kiss to my belly button, the scratch of his facial hair sending my nerves into a chaotic frenzy. “I love filling you with my come.” He migrated upward, grabbed the cups of my bra, and yanked them down, spilling my tits out so his mouth could latch onto one of my hard beads. “And if that means,” he kissed the middle of my chest, “that you are pregnant, and grow round with my child, then that would be more than I could ever hope for. You’re my family.” Easton laid his hand over the lean lines of my stomach.
Somehow, in the middle of his little speech, he had gotten naked, but I hadn’t paid attention since he was kissing on my breasts. Sucking my nipples until they twinged with pain. He laved his tongue on my neck and sucked. “I’m going to marry you, Luna. You know it, and I know it.” He rammed inside me in one hard thrust, and I tossed my head back to moan when he placed his hand over my mouth to silence my cries. Easton nipped my chin, and he slid his fat inches out until the wide tip was all he left in. “You have to be quiet. We don’t want my brothers hearing us,” he whispered, thrusting back inside me with power I didn’t know he had. The thrusts were slow, but hard and punctual like he had something to prove to me.
I wrapped my legs around his waist, dug my heels into his firm ass, and pulled him deeper. I wanted everything he wanted. I wanted to marry him, have his babies, build a home, everything that should have happened years ago, and it needed to happen now. I tightened my walls around his cock, and he grunted and stuttered his hips to a pause. “Do that again,” he slurred through desire and lust.
I clenched my inner walls and drew a salacious moan from deep within his chest. He let me play with him like that for a few minutes. We started to sweat, our skin on fire from the sexual spell cast over us. He reached between us and pinched my clit with two of his fingers before he started riding me again. He laid his forehead against his hand that covered my mouth and groaned. To silence him, I arched my back, and just like I knew he would, he sucked my nipple into his mouth.
I didn’t know where he started and I ended. We were wrapped up in the moment, as one being, just trying to climb to the peak we could only reach together. Right when I was about to come, he pulled out of me, and I bit his hand, wanting to show him how unhappy I was about that.
“Did you just bite me?” His voice was torn between being turned on and pissed off, and that made my pussy flutter with excitement for his massive cock. “Naughty girl,” he said and flipped me over until my stomach, pushed my head on the pillows, and pushed his cock back into my hole. He was deeper like this. The position made my insides tighter, and with every rock, my clit rubbed against the blanket as he hit that special spot inside me that made my insides quiver.
“So fucking tight,” he groaned, and I didn’t know if he realized it, but he was being louder than me, so I decided to open my mouth and release the sounds he had been making me hide. I didn’t care if his brothers heard at that point.
Every ridge, every vein that filled his cock sent me closer to falling over the peak that I couldn’t wait to get to. He gripped my ass with one hand, fisting the flesh tight for leverage as he pounded into me. The tent started to sway from his thrusts. I glanced back and saw his body in the low light. Everything was dark, but the bonfire outside emanated a dark orange glow on one half of his body.
He looked ethereal, like a god from another place in time, claiming what he wanted and what was his.
Me.
The thought had my lower belly clenching as my orgasm whirled through me like a tidal wave, smashing into my bones and rattling me from the inside out. “Easton! Oh, Easton, yes. So good, so good,” I groaned and pressed my cheek against the pillow as I released my cream on his shaft.
Easton was the only man that made me fall apart while still feeling whole.
He was about to come. I felt it. The way he moved, the way he breathed, it told me everything I needed to know. I flexed my insides again, and he fell over me, curling his upper body around me, almost protectively as he bit down on my shoulder while he came, flooding my channel until I felt him leaking out of me.
I love you.
The words were on the tip of my tongue. Why couldn’t I just say them?
Chapter Twenty-Two
Easton
The police had no luck searching for Willard Hopkins, the arsonist that swept through like a hurricane and rained havoc down on our town. The only person who reported to have seen him was Luna. No one else had laid an eye on the outsider.
It worried me.
It made me wonder if his intentions were to only make himself seen by Luna.
When we left the campsite yesterday, Luna had been in better spirits. Things didn’t seem so heavy. I felt that way too, but I remained vigilant. Right now, me, Oliver, and London were helping with the boutique. A construction crew was working on the fitting rooms. Luna had already received boxes full of clothes and dresses, but she couldn’t hang them yet becau
se the clothing racks hadn’t come in yet. Plus, she didn’t want any of the dust from the construction to ruin them.
I was proud of her. I leaned against the wall and just watched her talk to the construction worker about what she wanted done with the fitting rooms. She spoke with her hands, waving them around wildly, and the worker looked amused.
Too amused.
I narrowed my eyes at him and watched as he checked out my woman.
“Don’t do it,” Oliver said from beside me as he cleaned the windows. Every now and then I’d hear the spray bottle squirt, and then the scrubbing motion of the rag against the window.
“Don’t do what?”
“Go over there all caveman, banging on your chest. She can handle herself. She did it for years in Boston, and she was single then. She isn’t now. Trust her.”
“It isn’t her I don’t trust. It’s Mr. Hammer wanting to pound into her.”
“Oh, you did not just say that, honey. You didn’t.” Oliver laid his hand on his hip and cocked it as he stared at me. “Only hammer pounding her is yours. Get over it,” he huffed. “I can’t believe I went along with that.”
I could. Had he met himself? He was the worst out of the group.
I checked the time and noticed it was getting pretty close to three in the afternoon. We were supposed to meet everyone at the hospital soon. Mom had called that morning saying Ethan had woken up, but then quickly fell back asleep. It was good though. It was a promising sign that he woke up. It meant that he was healing.
The construction worker reached out and tugged one of her curls.
My curls.
Only I got to tug them.
That was my thing.
I pushed off the wall with my boot and stomped on the hardwood floors, the loud steel-toe boots sang through the space, bouncing off the walls until I had his attention. Luna took a step back from him when he did that, and his eyes widened when I stood in front of him. I was five inches taller, if not more, and fifty pounds heavier. I might have a broken arm, but I’d kill him if he ever touched her again.
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