The House on Sunshine Corner

by Phoebe Mills

  It seemed not much had changed in that aspect as he raised a brow in her direction and tipped his head toward the machine. “You mind?”

  “If you wanted to dance with me, all you had to do was say so,” she teased.

  He held her gaze for a beat before breaking it only long enough to put the needle on the record, the crackling giving way to the slow, crooning voices of the Righteous Brothers. “Well, then, consider this me saying so.”

  Holding out a hand to her, he beckoned her closer. Without stopping to think too much about it, she stepped toward him and placed her hand in his, allowing him to pull her in. Her breath hitched when he didn’t stop until their bodies were flush against each other from chest to thigh and every hard, solid inch in between.

  Carter made a masculine hum of satisfaction deep in his throat as he held her hand in one of his and settled his other low on her back, the tips of his fingers just grazing the swell of her bottom. Then they just swayed, barely moving side to side, and she couldn’t deny how good…how right…it felt to be in his arms again.

  She’d missed this more than she’d allowed herself to remember. But that wasn’t exactly right either…While being with Carter in high school had been amazing, there was something different about it now. They’d both experienced life—the good and the bad—in the time they’d been apart, and it made her realize just how special the connection they shared truly was.

  Before long, Carter dropped his head and murmured her name against the shell of her ear, sending a shudder racing through her. He exhaled and tightened his hold on her back as he pressed his lips to that space behind her ear that made her go half out of her mind. He’d always exploited it, making her stupid in the process, and it was no different now. She melted against him as he kissed a path down her neck, tipping her head to the side to give him more access as his tongue flicked out to lick where her pulse thrummed against her skin.

  At her soft moan, Carter pulled back only far enough so she could read the intent in his eyes as he slowly lowered his head toward her.

  He paused a hair’s breadth away from her lips, giving her time to say no. “Tell me to stop, Abby.”

  She wasn’t sure if he was begging for his sake or hers, but if he was looking for someone to put an end to this, he’d have to look somewhere other than her. She’d decided earlier in the evening that she was tired of fighting this. She was all in for however long he was home, in whatever way worked.

  So instead, she tipped her face up toward his and closed the last bit of distance between them. Abby gripped the back of his neck as their mouths touched, electricity sparking between them. He groaned as she parted her lips, allowing his tongue to sweep inside.

  And then everything but Carter ceased to exist for her. She lost herself in the feel of him, so solid and sure under her questing hands, and in his taste and his scent and the low groans he released into the barely there space between them.

  When they finally broke apart, Abby had to work to catch her breath, though she wasn’t sure she wanted to. She wanted to be breathless with him. To feel every inch of his excitement for her as he rocked into her. Wanted to moan his name as they found their releases together.

  “This doesn’t have to be anything serious,” she said.

  “What doesn’t?” he asked, lifting a brow.

  “This. Us. We can do casual.” Tucking her hands into the waistband of his jeans, her fingertips narrowly missing the impressive bulge trapped in its denim prison, she silenced the whisper inside her that wondered if this was a good idea and voiced the most important word she’d said all night. “Stay…”

  * * *

  With that single word, Abby obliterated Carter’s self-control, and he was a goner. He was tired of fighting this, tired of reminding himself every day of all the reasons they shouldn’t be together. All the reasons he shouldn’t sleep with her while he was home. He was so damn tired.

  If Abby was willing to venture into this, then so was he.

  Even though they were both adults, they snuck upstairs like they were teenagers. And the grin Abby shot him over her shoulder had him feeling seventeen all over again. Like second nature, he sidestepped the creaky stairs along the way, holding his breath as they tiptoed past Hilde’s room on the second floor to get to the staircase that led to Abby’s room.

  “I’m allowed to have boys in my room, you know,” Abby teased in a whisper.

  “I think your grandma might rethink that stance if she knew all the wicked things I plan to do to you tonight.”

  “Promises, promises,” she murmured as her eyes turned molten.

  At that look from his sweet Abby, he actually managed to get harder, though only thirty seconds prior, he’d have sworn it was impossible. He was as stiff as granite, desperate to find out if sinking inside her was as good as he remembered.

  If only he’d known what was to come, because as soon as they stepped foot into her room, Abby shut the door behind them and yanked off her shirt without an ounce of self-consciousness, and he wondered if his sweet Abby wasn’t actually applicable anymore. She was still pliant but greedy, still the tiniest bit submissive when it came to intimacy, but she no longer held herself with an air of self-consciousness, and he’d had no idea just how hot it would be to see her like this.

  As soon as Abby’s shirt hit the floor, he reached back and tugged on the neck of his own, tossing it to the side to join hers in a heap. And then he pulled her to him, desperate to feel her skin against his for the first time in far too long.

  “Jesus, look at you,” he whispered against her skin as he kissed a path across her collarbones, dropping to his knees right there in front of her.

  She wore a pale pink bra, and he reached up to trace where the material met her soft skin. The shadowy outlines of her pebbled nipples taunted him enough that he couldn’t stop from leaning in and sucking them straight into his mouth, lace and all.

  She gasped, her hands flying to the back of his head as she held him to her and moaned his name. At the sound, it was all he could do to keep from exploding in his pants—not unlike the first time they’d done this way back when. Fortunately—for both of them—he had more self-control and stamina now.

  When he’d gotten her good and panting and had licked his fill, he divested them both of the rest of their clothes before hauling her up against him and marching them straight to her bed. Laying her out on the plush covers, pillows strewn about, he followed her down, settling himself between her legs. Looking at her, ready and waiting for him, her hair fanned out on the pillow, her lips parted and kiss-swollen, her breasts calling to him nearly as much as the glistening skin between her thighs, was almost more than he could take. Maybe he hadn’t licked his fill after all.

  He kissed a path down between her breasts, over the soft curve of her stomach, against each damp inner thigh. And then he put his mouth exactly where it was watering to be.

  “Carter!” She arched against him, delving her fingers into his hair as he feasted on her until she writhed beneath him as she hit her peak.

  “Christ, I love how you taste,” he murmured as he tore himself away. He could spend all night pleasuring her with nothing but his mouth, but she was tugging him up, her words trapped in her throat as she tried to catch her breath.

  Obliging her, he watched as she sucked in lungfuls of air, her breasts heaving with the effort. With a groan low in his throat, he pulled a condom from his wallet—old habits died hard—and rolled it down his hard length, desperate to sink inside her. He knelt on the bed, kissing a path up her body, once again getting distracted along the way.

  At least until she wrapped her hands around his biceps and tugged him up. “Now, Carter. I want you inside me.”

  He wanted to ask her again if she was sure, because they couldn’t take this back once they took this step. But she’d just invited him inside her, still held her arms open for him, and he respected her enough not to second-guess her decision. She knew her mind better than he could ever h
ope to, and she’d already made it up. Fortunately for him, that decision involved him sliding inside heaven on earth.

  Settling between her thighs, he rested his forehead against hers, lined himself up, and pushed inside, swallowing her moan with a kiss. He got lost in the feel of her, in the gripping heat that made him nearly lose his mind. Jesus, he couldn’t remember it being like this, which was probably for the better. Because if he had, he wasn’t so sure he’d have been able to stay away all these years. Not when Abby, with her joyous, giving spirit, and her soulful eyes, and her warm, welcoming body was waiting for him.

  Knowing just how creaky her old bed frame was, he rocked into her with slow, deep thrusts, bringing a thumb down to where they were joined and stroking her until he felt the fluttering pulse of her around him. Dropping his head into the crook of her shoulder, he silenced his moan in her neck as she clutched him to her, her panting breaths washing over his skin.

  This time, when she came, her walls gripping him tight enough to pull a groan straight from his soul, he went with her, her name on his lips as he settled as deep inside her as he could. Losing himself in her and, for once, not at all certain he wanted to be found.

  As they lay there, Abby’s fingers lightly trailing over his back while they both tried to catch their breath, he realized she was wrong about one thing tonight. What had just happened between them didn’t feel casual at all.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Carter couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept so well, especially when he’d spent the night doing very little sleeping.

  He and Abby had reached for each other twice more in the wee hours of the morning. Once as she’d been arching into him, his name a whispered sigh on her lips, and he’d been all too happy to oblige. And the next as the morning sun was just kissing the horizon, bathing Abby’s room with pale golden light. She’d sat astride him, a slow, sensual roll to her hips as she’d driven them both out of their minds.

  He’d slept with her more times than he could count, but it’d been different when they were younger. It’d been fumbling and awkward, messy and graceless. But now, it’d only taken three times of them being together before they were already in sync.

  And he knew that the sight of her riding him, her head tossed back, lips parted, and hair trailing down to whisper across his thighs, was something that would keep him company for weeks, or even months, to come.

  It was Saturday, so Carter didn’t have to get out of bed to be anywhere, but he was already going to have to meet the firing squad when he got back to his sister’s. She’d no doubt noticed that he hadn’t come home last night. In fact, he’d bet he had half a dozen calls and texts from her already. But really, this was all her fault. If she hadn’t sent him in her stead, none of this would have happened.

  That was a lie.

  Carter would have gone to support Abby, because if it was important to her, it was important to him. He didn’t know when that had changed—or maybe it had never changed and that was the problem. All he knew was that Abby had carved out a special place in his heart. One that was permanently tattooed with her name, which didn’t bode well for him. Because the ending to their story was already written. She was destined to be a Heart’s Hope Bay lifer, just like all those people down at the bonfire. And he would do anything just to escape this town and everything that came with it.

  After gathering his clothes and dressing, studiously avoiding the creaky floorboards, he pressed his hands on either side of Abby and bent to press a kiss to her temple.

  Her eyes fluttered open as she stretched. “Are you leaving?” she asked, her voice soft and sleep roughened.

  The sight of her lying there, her hair tousled from their night, her eyes sleepy, lips kiss-swollen, made him ache to be back in bed with her. But it was already late, and if he had any hope of sneaking out of here without alerting Hilde, he needed to get his ass in gear.

  “Yeah, I’m going to head out before your grandma wakes up. I need to get home anyway. Sofia will wonder where I am.”

  He lowered his mouth to hers, trapping a groan in his throat as she swiped her tongue against his lower lip. It would be so easy to slip under the sheets, settle between her thighs, and sink inside her. Lose himself for another handful of hours with only the cadence of her moans to guide how much time had passed.

  Which was exactly why he pressed one final kiss to her mouth and pulled back. “I’ll see you later.”

  Abby smiled and burrowed farther into her pillow, her eyes already drifting shut. “See you.”

  By the time Carter had gathered his things and stood at her bedroom door, Abby was already fast asleep again. With one final glance at her, he opened the door and crept out of her room, the move so reminiscent of their high school days, he had an overwhelming sense of déjà vu.

  He couldn’t count how many times he’d snuck into and out of her room, desperate to escape his home life and be with someone who truly loved him. How many nights he’d slept over, just as he had last night, sneaking out before the sun had even risen. God knew his dad hadn’t given a shit about what he’d done or where he’d been. Hell, he’d probably preferred it when Carter just hadn’t shown up at all. But Hilde cared where her granddaughter was and how she was spending her time, and given that Abby had spent most of her nights there instead of with her mom—wherever that may have been—he’d been taking his life in his own hands every night he’d stayed.

  As Carter descended the steps from the third floor, he weighed his options on taking the front staircase down and slipping out the main door, or taking his chances on the back staircase and hoping Hilde hadn’t made her way down to the kitchen yet. Obviously, he and Abby were both adults, and they had every right to do whatever they wished in their spare time—including each other. And Hilde had never been the kind of person who’d tried to destroy that, even when they’d been teenagers. But she was the kind of person who looked out for her granddaughter’s best interests, and there was little doubt in Carter’s mind that she knew he absolutely did not fit that mold.

  A quick glance down the hall showed that Hilde’s door was shut, a hopeful sign she was still snoozing away. With that reassurance, he crept down the hallway, once again careful to avoid the creaky floorboards, and paused at the top of the back stairwell, taking a moment to listen for signs of life. He didn’t hear any clanging in the kitchen, nor did he smell the telltale scent of coffee or bacon—Hilde’s go-to Saturday morning meal accompaniment.

  He decided to take his chances and descended the stairs. A quick glance around proved he was alone, and he breathed out a sigh of relief as he stepped off the last stair and headed straight for the back door. His hand was in midair, poised and ready to unlock the door and make his escape, when a throat cleared from behind him.

  “You’re a little old to be sneaking out, aren’t you, Carter?”

  At Hilde’s voice, Carter dropped his head and closed his eyes, breathing out a humorless laugh. It was ridiculous that he was nearly thirty years old and this woman could still reduce him to that scared teenage boy all over again.

  Knowing he and Abby hadn’t done anything wrong, he turned around and pasted a smile on his face. “Good morning, Mrs. Engels. No coffee?”

  She held up her mug, the front of which read If my mouth doesn’t say it, my face definitely will, and toasted him through the air. “Tea’s better for the soul.”

  “I think there are probably millions of people who would disagree with you on that,” he said.

  She waved a hand through the air, completely unconcerned at what hordes of people would balk at. “Luckily those people aren’t in my kitchen right now. Why don’t you have a seat,” she said, in a way that wasn’t so much a question as a demand.

  Knowing he’d already lost the battle, Carter blew out a breath and sat in the chair opposite her, where a mug—this one proclaiming May you have the confidence of a mediocre white man—already sat in front of him, the tea perfectly brewed and still steaming. Carter did
n’t even bother to hide his smirk, and he glanced up to find her laughing eyes already on him.

  “I have three things to tell you, Carter,” Hilde said. “One, you’re not nearly as sneaky as you think you are. Two, I wasn’t nearly as intoxicated as Abby assumed I was. And three, my ears may not be brand-new anymore, but I’m also not yet at the stage of needing hearing aids. You two might want to work on your inside bedroom voices.”

  Oh Jesus. Carter could think of twelve thousand other subjects he would rather discuss with Abby’s grandmother, including politics and religion, than his sex life with her granddaughter.

  Not knowing what else to say, he picked up his mug, took a slow sip, and met her eyes. “Duly noted for next time.”

  Hilde cocked her head, the playful gleam in her eyes vanishing in a blink. She studied him with intensity and focus, and he had to force himself not to squirm under her penetrating gaze. “Will there be a next time?”

  This was venturing into dangerous territory. He didn’t purport to presume what Abby was thinking, or what this between them would be eventually, nor did he want to speak for her. But he also didn’t want Hilde to discuss this with Abby and tell her that he had run away scared. Despite it not feeling casual last night, that was what they’d both agreed upon. And if she could keep up her end of the bargain, so could he.

  Without getting too much into the weeds, he figured honesty was his best policy. “I’d like there to be.”

  The answer seemed to shock Hilde, though she tried very hard to keep her reaction under wraps. She cleared her throat and set her mug on the table, wrapping her hands around it as she met his gaze. “How long is it now?”