by Kira Graham
“Kat—run!”
But she doesn’t run. She keeps yelling and beating at the window, and then, just as the figure comes up behind her, the lights go out again. Gia faints. One minute she’s standing beside me shaking, and the next her knees give out and she’s on the ground, her pale face slack, her mouth open.
“Oh, no,” I cry, my throat seizing up.
I need to go back in there, but I don’t wanna. Kat’s not that good of a friend anyway—
Louisiana! Stop that, my mind hisses, my conscience, that rusty old unused part of me, rearing up with horror. You are not leaving Kat in there. This is all your idea.
Yeah, but she lied to me too.
You go back in there to get her.
“No way. I am not going in there again. Did you hear that voice? It’s freaking creepy!” I wail, my knees knocking even as I say it because, dammit, I have to go back in there.
Chapter 20
Cameron
I’m nearly hyperventilating as I hold in laughter and hide in the corner, the dark shadows so complete I can’t see Peter in the opposite corner. I hear him, though, and from the laughter he’s giving off, he’s having a mighty fine time of it.
“Pete?” I ask, slightly freaked out but enjoying this immensely when he chuckles.
“She passed out,” he laughs. “I swear to God, she just passed out on me.”
I laugh at that, my mind still so full with the terrified fear on Lu’s face, I’m having a hard time not hyperventilating.
“Incoming,” Connor drawls right before the now unlocked front doorknob jiggles.
I stifle my own amusement when the door creaks open and then a silhouette appears.
“Kat?” Lu whispers, sounding so scared I almost feel guilty.
As if! I can’t believe she came here without me. I cannot believe she wouldn’t let me come on one of these things with her when she knows I love this kind of thing. Now, granted, I’m creeped all the way out because I’m not into this spooky shit, but it would have been fun. If she’d invited me. She really should have invited me, I think, my mouth quirking when Lu steps into the hall gingerly and continues to whisper.
Right now she’s talking to herself and telling herself that it’s okay, which is hilarious because it isn’t. Or maybe it is. Hell, I don’t know what to think anymore, and part of me is yelling that this is wrong, but I can’t help it. When Cole called me to tell me about Lu’s plans, all I thought of was scaring her to death.
“Kaaat? Oh, Lord. Oh, shit. Kat, please come out. I can’t do this!” she cries, the sound of sniffing causing my heart to ache.
Shit. I can’t do this. This is wrong.
I need to stop this and go comfort her or something—and that is exactly what I do as I walk out of the corner and go for Lu, my intention to hug her and comfort her. What I get as soon as I’m a foot away is her whipping around and pushing out. She catches me right in the nose—and then all hell breaks loose.
***
Louisiana
“Oh, stop sulking,” I huff, my lip curling when Cameron looks at me and glares. “I said I was sorry.”
“You bwoke my wose,” I whine, my tone nasally and whiny because this shit hurts.
I’m sitting with cotton wads stuffed all up my schnoz and waiting for Gia to wake up because even after a car ride back to her folks’ house, she’s still out like a light and pale enough that Simon’s hovering, his jaw ticking as we wait.
Patty laughs, as she has been for a good while, when she walks into the living room where we’re sitting with a tray of coffee, her eyes twinkling while Cole watches the camera footage on the TV. I’d laugh at the scene up in the “Burr bedroom” as I heard Lu call it, but I’m in pain and my eyes are puffy as hell.
“Well, you shouldn’t have come at me like that. I still don’t know what you were doing there,” Lu hisses, though she hasn’t stopped clinging to me.
Something that’s only happening because I haven’t told her that I was the one moaning and walking around. And I probably never will. Peter and Simon won’t either because after Kat woke and declared Peter her hero, I think the man’s brain short-circuited and something has happened that has never happened before with straight-talking Peter. He lied through his teeth and took the praise, even though he was the one to trip poor Kat before she reached the back door.
“I told you, your dad told me where you were going, and I was concerned,” I huff, wincing at the ache in my nose and the look that Cole gives me.
He’s laughing inside—that much is obvious—but since I helped him invest his money and make an actual profit off it, he keeps his mouth shut. Plus he likes me, and I doubt he wants me dead, which would happen if Lu ever found out I was the one scaring her. Do I feel bad? Not even a little, and I don’t regret the nose either. What I got out of this is Lu’s undying gratitude and devotion—and that, my friends, is everything.
“Well…” she sighs, wincing when we hear her scream and then watch the camera dip, the angle on the floor and shaking as she obviously runs.
The woman can sprint, I think, a snort leaving me when I think of the way she practically levitated down the stairs. She can’t ride me without kneeing me in the balls, but she can float, I think sardonically, my smile growing when I remember her wail and the sound of Gia’s own cries.
“Well nothing,” Cole says, giving her a stern look. “I forbid you girls from going to places like that without taking the guys with you. It’s dangerous, Lu!” he huffs, winking when she drops her head and groans.
“I know. I just wanted to scare Gia,” she mumbles, her shoulders slumping. “Fuck. How was I supposed to know that place was really haunted?”
“You weren’t. I told you not to go there,” Patty huffs, coming over to sit in her husband’s lap.
I wince and look away when I notice her nipples through her nightie, and even Simon looks away. I don’t think nipples are supposed to be that dark, or hang that low. Jesus.
“Oh, Mom, chill,” Lu groans, resting her head on my shoulder.
“Chill? Your sister is scared to death. Look at her,” Patty hisses, her jaw tight.
“So? She deserved it. Hell, I should have taken you all there for what you did,” Lu growls, turning to narrow her eyes on me.
“What dish I do?” I whine, pulling the cotton wads out of my nose and gingerly touching it.
Well, it isn’t broken, and now that I can breathe and it isn’t bleeding, I sound a little better. But it was close. The woman sure can pack a punch, I think, sighing when she pouts and then falls against me.
“You people all suck,” Lu mutters, yawning big and snuggling down.
Right now probably isn’t the time to tell her she sucks more or that I’m offended that she’s been avoiding me. Not when she’s all soft and cuddly. I’m probably the world’s biggest sissy when I hug her closer and close my eyes, so tired I think I could sleep forever.
“Well, that’s definitely scoring you points,” Cole murmurs, looking over at us and smiling gently.
I look where his gaze is pointed and then smile too when I notice that Lu is out cold with her head on my chest.
“You guys should stay over,” Patty murmurs, her own eyes going soft on Gia. “Don’t fret, Connor. She’s going to be out cold like that until morning. She’s hardly been sleeping for fear of retaliation from Lu.”
“You’re sure?” Connor asks, sounding worried until Gia snorts from her place beside Peter.
“She’ll be fine,” Kat says. “When we were in high school, there was a haunted-house-themed party and Gia fainted dead away when someone popped out from behind the bleachers. She slept for three hours. Leave her be,” she whispers, pushing up from the sofa with a tired yawn. “Well, I’m off. Dad’s outside waiting for me.”
“You could stay over,” Patty says.
“No way. And deal with Gia in the morning? No thanks. I’m going home to sleep, and then I’m avoiding these two for a good long while. I swear to God, o
nly Gia and Lu could drag me into something this weird,” Kat mutters, smiling at us all before she walks out, her nose turned up when Peter gets up to walk her out.
“Well, that’s it then. Cam, you know where Lu’s old room is. I don’t want to wake up to sounds of you two going at it,” she warns, laughing when I flush and shake my head.
“No, ma’am,” I groan, gingerly pulling Lu into my arms before I go for the stairs.
The bed in Lu’s room is a twin, and I groan as I pull off her shoes, toe mine off and slide her under the covers, mashing my body in beside her before I lay my head down on the pink pillow and close my eyes. I must be more tired than I think because the next thing I know I’m waking to my own groans and the feel of heat around my cock, the fact that I’m already on the brink of exploding causing my brain to stutter slowly before I come fully awake.
Any man, I don’t care who he is, would come the moment they looked down to see Lu’s mouth wrapped—no, not any man. Fuck you all. Lu’s mouth is on my cock, and when I lift my head to look down, I find her looking up at me, still sucking as she uses one hand to pump me into her wet, open mouth.
I groan, stifling the sound behind my teeth when she sucks harder and flicks her tongue against the engorged head, her teeth raking up when she pops off and grins at me. Somewhere in my head I know I should be stopping this, but I can hardly form a decent thought when she grins, gives me one last tongue swipe and then crawls up my body, her naked breasts slipping over my chest while her sex slides up the stalk, wet and warm.
“Well, hello there,” she purrs, sliding her slit up and down and causing a shiver to cascade through me.
“We can’t fuck in your parents’ house,” I whisper, though my hands don’t agree as I palm her hips and help her slide up and down, using her core to slick my shaft.
“Oh, please. Like they don’t know we’re doing it,” Lu huffs, giggling when I open my mouth to argue but moan instead because she’s sliding down again, only this time she’s enveloping me as her sex opens up and swallows me whole.
Bliss. Utter heaven. Hell, I think, my teeth cracking when I swallow a groan at the tight, warm feel of her sheath sucking me deep. Every time with her is different, and as always I want to howl when she’s got me buried deep inside her. She’s mine. All mine. And the utterly insane truth is I am all hers too. I love this woman, I think, my mind fuzzing out when she starts to rock over me, her smooth pubis slipping against me and rubbing the hard nub of her clit over my crotch.
“You know,” Lu whispers, leaning down to kiss me before she continues, “I can’t get enough of you, Cameron O’Dare.”
“Me neither,” I croak, my fingers digging into her hips when she swivels and clamps down, using her inner muscles to massage at my cock before she lets go to lift, her hard nipples grazing over my shirt.
I regret being clothed because I can’t feel her against my skin, but she more than makes up for that when she licks my lips, using her tongue to slick my mouth, and then delves deep, kissing me so passionately I feel that shit in my balls. She’s tight and she’s riding me slowly, the rhythm a soft rocking that makes me want to throw her onto her back and pound hard.
I don’t give in. I keep myself still and let Lu keep rocking, loving the fact that for the first time since we met, not only is she initiating this, but she’s doing it in a way that isn’t just about sex. It’s love, I think, my chest going tight with emotion and the need to say the words. I’ve wanted to tell her for so long now, I sense my throat close up with the strength of what I feel. Maybe it’s too fast, maybe she won’t want to hear, but as Lu makes love to me, I don’t think I can keep this in anymore.
“You know,” she says softly, a moan escaping her when I reach down, slide my fingers between us and pinch the wet, slippery bundle between her legs, “I know it was you.”
“You do?” I moan, not hearing her properly and not caring because she’s doing that clenching thing again and all I can think about as I dig my fingers into her hips and rock her over me, is that I need to come so badly it hurts.
I need her to come first, though, and with that in mind I speed my fingers up, the movement difficult when she presses down and smashes my hand between us harder.
“I said, I know it was you,” she says again, and it’s only when I try to move her again, and can’t, that I look up through sex-drugged eyes to see Lu glaring at me.
For a second I don’t register the look, and try to move her again, only to have her press down harder and squeeze, her core clamping so hard I wince out a groan. And then I notice the way she’s looking at me through narrowed eyes, and I gulp, my body screaming one thing while my brain yells another.
“Lu—” I start, ready and willing to lie through my teeth because I need to come and I need it now.
She’s too tight and warm and wet, and when I feel her core throb, the beat of her heart shivering through my shaft, I swear to the Lord it nearly kills me.
“Now, I’m willing to overlook this, O’Dare,” she whispers, rocking back and forth without releasing my shaft, the friction enough to have me moaning and spurting out a small shot of cum before it stops. “But we need to set some ground rules. We’re a team, O’Dare. You and me,” she says softly, smiling wickedly when I gulp and press in tighter, desperate to come.
“Lu. Fuck. Please,” I whisper, my chest heaving, sweat rolling, breath coming out in a stuttered gasp.
“Say, ‘Yes, Lu. We’re a team and we don’t mess with one another,’ ” she mumbles, her sex shuddering around me when I manage to move my finger across her clit and pinch the nub between my trapped fingers.
“Of course we’re a team,” I rasp, my heart beating faster. “I’ve been on your team since I saw you doing the hammer in a messed-up wedding dress. You know what I thought when I looked at you, Sugar?” I ask, my voice an emotion-filled whisper that comes straight from the heart.
“That I was an amazing dancer?” she giggles, the sound ending on a whimper when I pinch her clit again and shake my head.
“I thought, this is it. It’s a sign. Fate,” I growl, using her moment of distraction when she relaxes to roll over and thrust deeper, pausing even though it kills me. “I thought, that’s what I want right there. And then, once I let that sink in, I knew I was going to marry you,” I confess, watching her eyes widen in the dark, the only light the soft glow of the outside light.
“You did?” Lu whispers, her tone filled with hope.
“I did. I thought, that’s my girl. She’s nuts, she’s quirky, and she dances like someone infected her limbs with anti-rhythm,” I laugh, the sound pained because my cock is on fire now.
“I dance great!”
“You dance like shit, Sugar, but you danced your way all the way into my heart, Louisiana Sugar. And once you got there, it was done for me. I’ve wanted to tell you that ever since I woke up with your puke breath in my face and your drool sticking to my chest,” I sigh, my hips pumping once, twice and then stilling with iron will because I’m saying this now, before I chicken out.
“Oh, shit. You need to move,” she moans, her body finally catching up with the pressure I’m putting on her clit, my fingers clamped there so that the blood pools in the bud and then rushes out when I release it, one finger circling fast and hard to make the blood rush harder and give her pleasure.
“Not until I get this out. I love you, Lu. Now, I know it’s too fast and that you probably don’t want to hear this, but that’s too damn bad,” I snarl, my hips snapping in hard when she tightens and shudders around me. “I have fallen in love with you,” I breathe, the need for me to fuck so strong I nearly give in when she cries out and starts to ripple around me with impending orgasm.
“Cameron, I—”
“I love how you have no shame and you cheat without batting an eyelash. You lie, you drive people crazy, and you’ve brought a horse masquerading as a dog and a murderous cat into my life. You shave your pits with my razor,” I huff, smiling when she giggles and
then groans, trying to move to steal her orgasm. “You’re snappy and outright mean, and you’re violently opposed to losing. But all of that? That makes you you, and I love you.”
“Cameron—”
“I know you went through some shit with your last boyfriend, and I get it, but I’m not letting you punish me for something another asshole did. He didn’t appreciate what he had in you, Sugar, but I will. I will love every weird and quirky part of you, and you’re going to let me,” I snarl. “Starting with finally accepting that we’re a team. We’re together, forever—and whether you need a month or a year to fully accept that and move in with me, it doesn’t matter. From now on it’s you and me. Always. You’ll let me come along with you when you’re up to no good, you’ll let me help you win the games, and you’ll invite me to freaking dinner even if your mom’s food is gross and your sister is a lunatic.”
“Cameron—”
“Hush. Listen. I know you’re not into commitment and that you’re still gun-shy—”
“Cameron, shut up!” she yells, slapping a hand over my mouth to keep me from continuing. “I love you too, okay? Now, would you please freaking move!” she hisses, her eyes rolling back when I obey without thought and send my cock deep, hitting her in a spot that has her arching beneath me when her climax hits.
I come on the heels of her confession, and even as I do, I know there’s one more thing left to do.
I’m just not doing it while I’m coming deep and hard and she’s kissing me sweetly.
Chapter 21
Louisiana
“That’s it?” Gia snarls, rolling her eyes at me while I giggle and sip at my cappuccino, the sweet taste rolling across my tongue so good I groan and chug it harder.
I’m tired as hell since I woke up at half past four and snuck out of bed, leaving Cameron to face my mom this morning like the wonderfully diabolical girlfriend I am. What can I say? I wasn’t going to tell Cameron he roars when he comes, and I definitely wasn’t going to stick around to face the music over an awkward breakfast.
