Neanderthal Next Door: Enemies to Lovers, Mountain Man Next-Door, Halloween Romance

by K. C. Crowne

  I grinned as he carried me, thinking about how confused he was by the stupid puns on the menu. But thoughts like those blasted from my mind the moment we stepped into the bedroom.

  Hunter tossed me onto the bed, stepping to the foot of it and staring down at me with those blue eyes, narrowed and intense, like a predator’s. And if he was the predator, I was the prey.

  “Take those off,” I ordered, my eyes moving over his clothes.

  He snorted and smirked, as if amused by my tone. But he did it, undoing the big, brushed-gold buckle of his jeans as he pulled them down, revealing his thick, tree-trunk thighs. Then he kicked off his work boots and pants, standing in nothing but his boxer-briefs. His cock strained against the fabric, and I needed to lay eyes on it.

  I shimmied out of my jeans and pulled off my shirt, tossing off my clothes until I was in nothing but a mismatched pair of blue panties and a white bra. I felt silly, wishing I’d put on something a little sexier. But the look in his eyes suggested he wasn’t displeased in the slightest.

  He drank in the sight of my body, biting his lower lip hard as if it were the only thing he could do to keep himself in check, to restrain his desire.

  I didn’t want him to be restrained.

  Hunter pounced, rushing to the bed and positioning himself on top of me with speed I hadn’t expected from a man his size. He was powerful, and everything I learned about him made me realize there was still so much more lurking underneath the surface.

  As he leaned down to kiss me, I felt possessed by a spirit of my own. My hand, as if out of my control, went under the elastic waistband of his boxer-briefs so my fingers could wrap around his cock.

  I stroked him, a low growl leaving Hunter as I moved my fingers up and down his thick length. He took off my bra, revealing my hard nipples. As he covered my flesh with kisses he hooked his thumb into my panties and took them down in a quick pull.

  I was bare, naked with a man for the first time in so fucking long. The guilt threatened to return, but I pushed it aside again as I stared into his ice-blue eyes.

  Hunter kissed me on the lips, his mouth making the trip down. And he took his time. He kissed my collarbone, he wrapped his lips around my stiff nipples, he lingered over the dip of my belly.

  By the time he reached my waist, I was so wet and hot with desire that all I could do was push his head down the rest of the way. I was a bit embarrassed at my insistence, but he only laughed, flashing me a smile as he kissed my thighs. Then he spread my lips and placed his mouth on my pussy.

  My body melted the instant his tongue touched my clit. However amazing it had felt when he’d rubbed his hand against me through my jeans, this was on another level. He spread me open, devoured me, ate me like the animal he was. I gasped and moaned, bucking my hips and pressing my pussy against him.

  My toes curled, my eyes opened wide as a roiling, hot sensation built in the pit of my stomach as he pulled me closer and closer to orgasm with each slow, expert lick. His beard bristled against my inner thigh, the sensation causing the delicate skin to break out in goosebumps.

  Then, with one last, heavy press of his tongue against my clit, I erupted.

  “Hunter!” I shouted. “I’m…fuck…I’m co—”

  As the orgasm blasted through my body, Hunter reached up and clasped my hips, letting them squirm and writhe against his touch. His tongue shot into me, the sensation pushing me to a new level of pleasure.

  When the orgasm faded, he raised his body, positioning himself between my legs. His ice-blue eyes were trained on me as he moved up, his cock long and thick and dripping. As amazing as it had felt to have his tongue inside me, there was no doubt it would pale in comparison to my walls wrapped around his shaft.

  “Tell me now if you don’t want this,” he growled, the head of his cock grazing tantalizingly against my wet lips.

  “Yes. I want it.” The words came without hesitation. As if to prove my point, I reached town and took hold of him, guiding him to my opening.

  Each of his many, many inches drove deep into me, my walls spreading to make way, then clenching down as he went further and further into me. Hunter was huge, impossibly big, but taking him was no problem. He’d made me so wet and ready that I was more than capable of handling his size.

  I gasped, my head tilting back and a silent scream pouring from my lungs as my shaking walls held tightly onto him. I dug my nails into the thick, warm flesh of his back, my teeth sinking into my lower lip as he vanished inside me.

  Hunter held fast for a moment, as if he understood how big he was and wanted to give me just a heartbeat or two to get used to his size. Then he moved his hips, his cock unsheathing then driving into me again.

  My hands fell flat onto his back, the pleasure of his cock moving in and out of me so intense I couldn’t even grip onto him. My body writhed under him as he drove into me, my pussy swallowing him as I panted, my vision blurring until I couldn’t make out anything but those blue eyes in the low light of the bedroom.

  “Hunter,” I moaned. “Go faster. Please.”

  He grinned, up to the challenge, and picked up the pace, my breasts bouncing in time to his thrusts. His muscles tensed and released with each plunge, the pleasure building.

  There was something about this man that made me want to surrender, to release, to give myself to him. I rose up just enough to place my lips against his broad shoulder, craving his taste as he plunged into my wetness, as he brought me closer to what I craved.

  “Oh my God,” I moaned, his thrusting powerful and steady, the pace letting me slip into a trance.

  Wordlessly, knowing exactly what I wanted, Hunter kept thrusting. My hands rested on his narrow hips, and I felt an unsteadiness as he thrust, one I recognized as a desire to release. We were both on the verge. Though the pleasure was incredible, mind-obliterating, I turned my gaze to him, signaling without words that I was ready for him.

  Hunter pushed into me one more time, this thrust the tipping point, the one that unleashed the orgasm that had been building. My toes curled, my legs shook, one more gasp sucked into my lungs as I came around his cock. And the moment I did, he was right there with me. He grunted hard, his handsome face in a tight expression, his dick pulsing inside me followed by a warm wetness that was different from my own arousal.

  Right at the peak of my orgasm, he reached down and pressed his thumb against my clit, my back arching and my hips bucking as he coaxed out a fresh wave of pleasure. Hunter erupted inside me, my trembling walls wrapped tightly around him, his cock draining deep.

  My orgasm faded, his muscles relaxed. I placed my palms on the warm, tight muscles of his lower back and guided him down, wrapping my arms around him as he draped over me. His broad chest expanded and contracted, his seed leaking out of me as his cock stayed buried inside.

  I caught my breath, letting the last bit of pleasure flow from my body. Then he rose, staring down at me with eyes that were impossibly intense.

  “If you think I’m done with you, gorgeous, you’ve got another think coming.”

  Hunter

  The moment my cock was done throbbing inside her, I was ready for another go.

  Her pussy was something else. Tight and warm and wet and perfect. As I lay next to her, it kept right on gripping me. Mandy’s head stayed on my chest, her stunning features sheened with sweat. She was on her side, the sight of her round hip making me feel again like an animal in desperate need of a rut.

  And the way she tasted…fucking hell. I could eat her pussy all day, licking those juicy pink lips, glancing up to watch her curvy, sensual body roll like a wave as I made her come again and again.

  Even though I knew I should’ve taken a moment to let my body recover, I couldn’t resist. I needed her again.

  We made eye contact, hers narrowing in a way that wordlessly said she was ready for more. I rolled over, my cock staying inside her as I got on top again. She was still soaking wet, and I moved with ease amid those velvet walls.

  “O
h. Oh my God.” Her eyes rolled back as I brought my hips up, then down on top of her, my cock splitting her in two, that heavenly tightness wrapping itself around me again.

  She rolled and bucked underneath me, biting her lip. It was strange as hell, how every single one of her movements and sounds and scents seemed tailor-made to drive me wild. The more I gave it to her, the more she wanted it. And the more I could see she wanted it, the more I had to have her.

  Her cheeks reddened as I fell into a steady, pounding rhythm. Every inch of her body was a feast for the eyes, from her heavy, round breasts as they shook beneath my thunderous driving, to her entrancing, angelic face.

  I leaned in during the middle of a powerful volley of thrusts, locking my lips with hers, our kiss almost desperate as she opened her mouth to invite me in. I sucked hard on her bottom lip as I rose back up, her mouth forming into a perfect O of pleasure.

  I rolled her over so her ripe, round ass was in the air. Once I was on my knees, Mandy on all fours in front of me, I grabbed her hips and entered her with a frenzy I’d never known before. Her ass shook with each crash, her juices spreading all over my cock.

  Each push into her brought me closer to orgasm. But there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d get my release before her. I watched her body move, watched her catch my thrusts.

  With one more quick position change, my cock still buried in her, I had Mandy on top of me. I watched, mesmerized, as her tits bounced in front of me as she leaned forward and placed her hands on my chest. I took her ass into my hands, pressing her against me.

  She whispered into my ear how good it felt, how much she wanted me. Her naughty words carried on sweet breath were almost as pleasurable as what was happening down below – a reminder of what I’d missed, going for so long without the warmth of a woman.

  Right in the throes of her riding me, Mandy’s eyes closed and back arched, her tits moving up and down before my eyes, and I came. Her pussy clenched hard as she hit her orgasm with me. It felt like like an explosion of pure, hot energy between us.

  “Oh my….oh my…oh—” She couldn’t even say the words.

  I sat up, one hand on her shoulder, the other on her hip. I grunted, she moaned, and together we reached the heights of pleasure. My cock pulsed inside, the last bit of what I had draining into her.

  When our orgasms crested and receded, we were done. She fell forward, collapsing onto my chest, curled up against me. Minutes of silence passed as we slowly replenished our strength after the intensity we’d put our bodies through.

  Finally, she spoke breathlessly. “That was…perfect.”

  “Agreed.”

  “I wish we could just lay here forever, but I’ve got a kid who needs picking up in a little bit.”

  I took my watch from the pile of my clothes on the floor and read the time. “Got my own shit to do, too.”

  We dressed and went on our separate ways with a touch of awkwardness marring what had been an otherwise amazing afternoon. I took my food back to my place and ate it with a cold beer, sitting on my porch and watching the afternoon sun dip into the trees.

  She was right – the poutine was pretty damn tasty. But it wasn’t even close to the most delicious thing I’d had for lunch.

  I spent the afternoon in town, picking up a few supplies for the cabin. It was strange. I’d intended the place as nothing more than a roof over my head, a spot to hide out from the world. But the longer I stayed there, the more I wanted to make it something more. Something like a place to actually live in, not just exist in.

  A home.

  I pushed those thoughts out of my head as I drove back to my cabin, the truck bed full of groceries and supplies. And, of course, I kept thinking about her. The sex would complicate things for damn sure, but I didn’t regret it one bit. I’d wanted her since the moment I’d seen her, and giving each other what we both wanted had been an inevitability.

  At the cabin, I began unloading my gear. One of my purchases had been a heavy-duty freezer locker where I could store actual food and not just the chips and jerky and beer I’d been subsisting on since I moved in.

  My Winchester rifle seemed to call out to me as I put my groceries away, and I made a mental note to get out into the woods and do some hunting when I could. I would need some fresh meat to fill that freezer.

  Just as I finished, I got a call from Hugh telling me he’d be in the area that night.

  “What?” I asked. “You’re just going to happen to be in Silver Pines?”

  “It’s a long story. I’ll fill you in when I’m there.”

  We made plans to get drinks at around five, and when I showed up at the dive just outside of town, I could tell that something big was on his mind. He dropped into the seat across from me, the neon lights from the beer signs on the wall giving his face a dark green glow. I poured him a beer from my pitcher and passed it over.

  “Damn,” he said after taking a long sip. “I needed this.”

  “What’s the deal?” I asked. “You’re just popping into town now?”

  “There’s a girl,” he finally said. “The one I was telling you about. She owns this shop in town, and I was in the area on business. I’m telling you – she’s wild. And I’m not really the type to be thinking about settling down, but…” He trailed off, cocking his head to the side as he regarded me. “Alright,” he said. “Spill it.”

  “Got nothing to spill.”

  He grinned before flagging down the bartender and ordering a couple shots of whiskey. Once those were on the table, he raised his.

  “What’re we drinking to?” I asked.

  “To getting whatever the hell’s on your mind out of your mouth.”

  I chuckled, shaking my head and raising the shot in the air. We tapped rims and I drank it quick. It burned just right – the sign of a good whiskey.

  “It’s that neighbor,” he said, his eyes flashing with realization. “You finally made it happen with her, didn’t you?”

  “Now, how the hell did you know that?”

  “Bud, you forget that you’re not the only cop in the room. Your whole being is a set of clues.”

  “Oh yeah? What kind of clues?”

  “You look like you’re hiding something. You might be the hardest man to read on God’s green earth, but I know what to look for – I’ve known you long enough. So you might as well come out with it.”

  I glanced down at the empty shot glass as I twirled it in a circle on its bottom rim. Hugh was right in that there was no sense bullshitting him.

  “Yeah, it happened.”

  He leaned back, his eyebrows so high they looked about ready to vanish into his hair. Hugh clapped his hands and let out a “Hell yeah!”

  “Easy, buddy,” I said, grimacing. “Don’t need to make this shit front-page news.”

  “I know, I know. Just can’t help but feel happy for my friend, you know?”

  “What, happy that I made a huge fucking mistake?”

  Confusion took hold of his features. “How the hell was it a mistake? You two were into each other, and now you’re together.”

  “We’re not together, that’s for damn sure. And it was a mistake because I got involved with someone in the exact wrong way I ought to if I want to keep a low profile.”

  Hugh said nothing for a long moment, as if weighing the pros and cons of what he had on his mind.

  “Spit it out,” I said. “I can read you as well as you can read me.”

  He smirked. “This thing you’re doing out here.” He waved his hand around, as if to encompass the entirety of Silver Pines and my life there so far. “It’s a bad idea. I know you’re sick of the world, bud, and I don’t blame you for feeling that way. But when you told me you were going to move out here to some cabin in the woods and cut yourself off…well, I knew it’d end up with you putting bottle after bottle of whiskey through your liver until it gave out on you.”

  “Good to know you had faith in me.”

  “It’s not that I don’t have fai
th in you, it’s that no one can live a life like that. Remember that old cliché about how no man is an island? It’s true. I’ve seen guys on the force and the service deal with the shit they’ve been through by cutting themselves off, and it ends one of two ways – coming back to the world, or a slow death at the bottom of a bottle.”

  “And what does she have to do with all that?”

  “Because if you at least open yourself to the chance of finding happiness again, maybe you will. And maybe she’s it.”

  I shifted my weight in my seat. “I don’t want to get close. That’s how people get hurt.”

  “That’s part of being alive. Because let me tell you this – the life you envisioned for yourself out here, that’s no life at all. That’s existing until you die a lonely, miserable son of a bitch.”

  I said nothing, instead flagging the waitress down for another shot. Without a word, I tossed it back and kept my eyes fixed forward, past Hugh. “I don’t know how to do it anymore,” I said, the whiskey roiling in my belly.

  “How to do what?”

  “How to be happy.”

  “You did at one point. It’s all a matter of letting go of what happened, of being the man you were before. There’s nothing to learn – just things to remember.”

  “So, what do I do? Start texting her emojis and shit?”

  He laughed. “You don’t have to be someone you’re not. But yeah, see her again. Have some dinner – casual stuff. Just let her see the real you. The good guy, the honorable guy.” Hugh reached over and grabbed my shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze. “You got this, bud. Just keep it light and casual and things will be fine. Nothing to worry about.”

  I sighed. Part of me wanted another shot of whiskey, but I’d had enough. We changed the subject, Hugh talking my ear off about things in Seattle, the current job he was running in some town an hour away. I considered telling him about the man I’d seen outside of the auto shop, but I kept it to myself – I’d let out enough already that night.

  We eventually parted ways and I headed home. But once I was parked, I thought about Hugh’s words. Off in the distance I could see the light of Mandy’s living room and I knew what I wanted to do.