Harkham's Choice (Harkham's Series Book 2) (5 page)

BOOK: Harkham's Choice (Harkham's Series Book 2)
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“Why are you doing this to me?” His dad’s voice cracked, and he frowned. “
Why
? I don’t get why you’re doing this.”

“How bad did it hurt you when Mom left?”

“That has nothing to do with this and your current manipulative tendencies,” his dad replied.

“It’s similar.” Adam squeezed his hand. “Remember how empty your bed felt? How it was harder at night to let your mind rest and your body do the same? That’s how I feel. I know I should’ve never gotten in her bed in the first place, because I can’t stand to be without her now, but I did. Even if I hadn’t, though, I think my heart would still hurt because it only wants for her to be near me. I give you my word—I’ll wait until Mari and I marry before having sex with her.”

His dad’s mouth was open, and he acted like he wanted to say something, but he pointed with his other hand instead and his eyes scrunched.

“I’ll follow whatever rules you set,” Adam said, his eyes pleading.

“I want that door left open, and expect me to check on you both randomly whenever I want in the middle of the night.” His dad’s finger wavered a little but then straightened out.

“We can do all of that.” Adam fought to keep the smile away.

“You keep your shirt on. Sammie said you were half naked. That’s asking for trouble. In fact, both of you will keep all your clothes on whenever you’re
sleeping
. I expect you to leave her room the minute it’s time to get up and get ready for school.”

“Uh, can I make another request?” Adam squeaked.

“What? Now you want to bathe with her?”

Adam’s cheeks heated. Good idea, but not what he was going to say. Though, he kept thinking lately it was time he broke in to her bathroom and showered with her again. It was so nice last time. Better than nice. Orgasm nice—and that was like a soda on a hot day, but in sexual ways. “No, um, I was thinking my bed’s bigger than hers. Can she sleep in my room? And I’m more comfortable in there, so it seems the better choice.”

“Fine,” his dad said with a huff. “She’s not moving in, though. Her stuff stays in Zach’s room. And I’m not even sure I want you telling Sammie or Zach about this. Then they’ll think they can have their love interests in their rooms all night, too.”

“Won’t they figure it out when my door’s open and Mari’s in there with me?” Adam sat up a little straighter. He had a warm, happy feeling in his chest. It was like a bubble of love, caressing his insides some. Thoughts flitted through his mind of how Mari would react when he told her the good news about his dad giving them permission.

“This is how it’s gonna be with her here from now on, isn’t it? Everything’s so complicated . . . Forget it.”

“No! It’s fine. We won’t say anything,” Adam said, squirming.

“I mean forget about hiding it. I’ll explain to them. Maybe they’ll surprise me and be mature about it.”

Adam pulled a distasteful face. Samara?
Mature
? That seemed a silly thing to say.

“What else did you want to ask me about?”

“How’s school going? Sammie’s worried,” his dad said. “Is she concerned unnecessarily, or do you have some things you need to tell me?”

“It’s good. Real good. I had to go to the office two weeks ago. It was a misunderstanding, but we worked it out.”

His father’s expression was unreadable.

“Why is this the first time I’m hearing of this?” His dad’s lips pressed tight together.

“Because it was small, and I didn’t need help with it from you.” Adam’s chest tightened. Was he in trouble?

“I want you to share anything significant, even the small things. How can I be there for you and help you if I don’t know what’s going on until there’s a big explosion? I care about the things that happen to you. All of them. Please communicate with me, and I’ll try to listen better.” His dad’s eyes softened, and his shoulders dropped with his exhale.

“Am I busted for being sent to the principal?”

“No. I’m actually relieved to hear you handled it yourself. I’m proud of you. You really have grown a lot. I don’t know if it’s something you’re purposefully doing on your own, or if Dr. Harkham’s right and it’s due to Mari’s influence on you.” His dad smiled.

“It’s Mari. It’s all her. She’s so beautiful all over—on the inside too. I want to make her happy. Always. I want to be a man in every way so I’m good for her.”

“She’s lucky to have a man like you interested in her.” He gripped Adam’s shoulder with his free hand and gently squeezed, then took his hand back, resting it at his side.

“Nope. I’m the lucky one—I’m the one that found the bravest, strongest woman in the world. She’s faced such awful stuff, and she’s gotten through all of it. I like hearing about her life. It makes me glad I have a loving family. I want to see her happy all the time to make up for all the sad times she’s had in her life.”

His dad sighed. “Okay—I think it’s late. Thank you for your honesty. It’s good to know you’ll trust me enough to ask for what you want, even if you think I’ll say no.” His dad paused and looked deep into Adam’s eyes. “You did think I’d say no, right? About this sleeping arrangement?”

Adam nodded. “She said there was no way you’d say yes, and she agreed with you. She wants to follow all your house rules and earn your respect.”

His dad let go of Adam’s hand and stood up. “She’s certainly getting there.”

“I think so too, and I’d like to tell her that if it’s okay with you? I don’t keep secrets from her if possible.” Adam stepped toward the door, and his dad walked next to him.

“You can tell her anything you like.” His dad patted his back, opened the door and let him out. He stayed in his office and shut himself inside.

Adam ran through the house and took the stairs two at a time.

Mari’s door was locked. He pounded on it.

She opened the door and looked half-dead.

“Come with me,” he said, taking her hand and tugging her behind him.

“Wha . . . I’m tired. I was in bed—ready to go ta sleep,” she said, her voice like sandpaper.

“You are. You’re sleeping in my bedroom with me. Dad said we could. The rules are we leave the door open, he can check on us whenever he wants, we keep clothes on and behave. Got it?” He smiled so big his teeth hurt.

“No way!” she whispered.

“I’m not lying.” She
must
have been tired. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

She gasped, but before she could say anything, he’d jogged them into his room and tossed her on the bed.

The door remained open.

“Dad didn’t say anything about me getting undressed and into my pajamas in front of you, though, so it’s allowed.” He ripped his shirt off and started to strip the rest of the way.

Mari got in his bed, pulled the covers up so they were over half of her face, but her eyes were open real big and directly on him.

He was slow, because his skin tingled wherever he found her eyes. If she looked at his chest, it goose bumped. If she stared at his legs, they prickled and the hairs were on end.

There was no way to explain how sore he got when she looked at the lump tucked into his underwear.

Once he was dressed, he climbed into bed.

He lay on the pillow and stared at her with his top arm draped over her waist.

“He didn’t say I couldn’t touch you,” he whispered.

She giggled. “I think that falls under the ‘behave’ rule.”

His fingers crept under the waistband of her loose sleep shorts. He danced the tips along the edge of her underwear. “I really like those little white panties you wear, Mari. I think a lot about having them balled up in my hand whenever I want them there. I think they should be there all the time.”

She closed her eyes, and her mouth snapped shut. Her breathing out of her nose was loud.

“What do you think about with me—for when we’re married, I mean.”

Her eyes opened. “You mean you want me to share a sex fantasy of mine?”

He smiled. “Mmhmm.” Man, she smelled terrific. He was thrilled she would make his bed smell like this every night.

“If I share my dirty thoughts with you—which I’m sure your family wouldn’t find just deviant, but downright fucked up—you’d be scared. They’re not normal, the things I want to do. I’ll follow your lead once we’re married.” Her body jerked a bit as his fingers continued to sample the little panties she wore.

“Tell me. I want to hear it. No matter how bad you think it is, I’ll like it, because I like everything about you. Even the things you think I won’t.” He pulled a little on the stretchy cotton fabric.

She swallowed, and her eyes grew heavy.

“I don’t know . . . I guess I think a lot about having my mouth on you while I milk your prostate. Some girls don’t like that, and I didn’t before, but with
you
. . . I don’t know. I really wanna give you head while I fuck your ass with my fingers. I think about how your gorgeous face looked when I sucked you off before, and how much more intense it would be if I did that to you. How you’d explode in my mouth with an even more intense orgasm.” She waited for his reaction.

“Wow . . . I . . . That sounds better than dirty. That sounds like something I want right now.” He took his hand out of her pants and adjusted himself.

It was stiffer than he thought possible.

“And what else? I want to know more,” he said.

She placed her hand on his cheek, and left it there. “Go to sleep, love. It’s late. We need to prove to your dad we can handle this. Finger fucking your asshole and blow jobs can wait.”

Uh, no they couldn’t. Why would she even say such a silly thing?

He rubbed himself on her. “Okay. I’ll
try
to behave.”

“Night,” she said, and she closed her eyes.

Dammit. That fantasy of hers was going to plague him all night long. Behaving wasn’t really an option in these types of circumstances.

His family would understand. And if they didn’t, it was okay. He’d figure it out after he got what he needed.

 

* * *

 

Mari woke up in Adam’s bed, feeling completely rested for once, even though he was extra handsy last night and very whiny about how much he wanted to fuck her and have her act out her fantasies on him that she’d shared.

She had to tickle his back for at least forty minutes to calm him down and get him to fall asleep.

After that, she spooned him from behind and fell asleep herself.

Feeling rested, though, had nothing to do with the cushy mattress or the position she’d slept in, but everything to do with Adam.

His presence was so comforting, she never worried about having nightmares.

She’d be indebted to Dustin ‘til the day she died for him giving her that one gratifying night of rest.

If numbers were Adam’s nemesis—nightmares were hers. Something she rarely, if ever, could rid herself of.

At least he could sometimes fight his off and even find ways to avoid his panic attacks.

She sighed, rubbing her eyes.

The curtains were pushed open, and his room was really bright.

She glanced around and got a really good look at it.

He had rows of bookshelves on his walls stacked with tons of science and math textbooks and a few music books as well.

Had he read all these? Her mouth hung open when she saw the small stack of books on his bedside table—all about how to have sex, make a woman orgasm more than once, how to find her G-spot, and even one on the art of oral.

Was he studying these? He mentioned reading up on how to pleasure her, but she had no idea the extent . . .

“Knock, knock,” Samara’s voice came through the hallway, followed up by an actual rap at his door that was supposed to remain opened.

Had he closed it to give Mari some privacy or some quiet as she continued to sleep?

Where was he?

She grabbed his books next to her, leaned over and shoved them under his bed.

“Come in,” she said, sitting up and straightening herself.

Samara poked her head in with a look of relief that Adam was gone and Mari was dressed.

“Morning,” Samara said, chipper.

“Yeah, morning,” Mari said, rubbing her eyes again, then running her hands through her hair.

“Sleep okay?”

“You don’t really expect me to answer that, do you?” Mari gave her a look saying she needed to back off.

“Sorry . . . No, I guess not. That was rude, but I wanted to talk to you real quick before Adam finishes showering and gets back in here. He’s always with you, so I never get to talk to you alone, and since we don’t text or email each other anymore . . .” Samara drifted off. She stepped further into the room and stood at the foot of the bed. “Do you love him?”

“Yeah, Samara, I do. I can’t say I ever knew what love really was until I met him.”

“I . . .” Samara looked troubled, shifting her eyes away. “Did you know he couldn’t take chemistry because he can’t be near a Bunsen burner? Open flames and Adam . . . Well, yeah . . . He likes to burn stuff,” Samara rambled.

BOOK: Harkham's Choice (Harkham's Series Book 2)
6.66Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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