Harboring Hannah by Pepper North

Chapter 8

“Wake up!” Hannah screamed the word in her mind. As her eyes flashed open, her heart beat a million miles an hour inside her chest. She struggled to breathe quietly, knowing that she needed to prevent anyone from hearing. He’d hurt Hannah if he found her.

The darkened, unfamiliar room echoed the dream she’d just pulled herself from. The nondescript hotel room was light near the door by a strip of light coming from the bathroom. She stared at the shadows gathered in the corners of the room as she tried to reassure herself that everything was okay—that her nightmares weren’t coming true.

A rustle of covers from the other bed forced her into a seated position as Hannah focused on the movement. Deke! She wasn’t alone. Flinging the covers back, she bolted across the small area separating them and threw herself onto his mattress.

“Hannah? What’s wrong?” His voice was rough with sleep as he pulled her tight against his body.

Immediately, she struggled as he restrained her. “That awful guy from the movie is here. We have to get out of here before he hurts us.”

“Shhh! You’re okay. There’s no one here but you and I.”

“That’s what everyone always thinks before he tears their arms and legs off,” she sobbed. She couldn’t let anyone hurt Deke. He had to believe her.

“Little girl, take some deep breaths with me.” Deke inhaled and exhaled several times as he rubbed the length of her spine.

Hannah resisted the calming touch as she tried to wiggle away from him. They had to move!

Whack! Whack! Whack!Deke’s hand landed hard in quick succession on her rounded bottom. Instantly, Hannah froze.

“That’s better. Hannah, you’re okay. I promise you. This isn’t a horror movie. No one is here but you and me. I’m going to roll you over and reach for the lamp switch.”

He waited until she nodded. “Good girl.” Moving slowly, he rolled over her, supporting his weight on one forearm before reaching to turn on the light. With a click, the main area illuminated. “Hi, Little girl. You’re okay. I promise.”

When she shook her head rapidly, Deke cradled her jaw in his free arm and forced her to meet his gaze. “You’re okay. I’m never going to allow anyone to hurt you.”

Staring into his dark eyes, Hannah forced herself to take a deep breath and release it. Slowly, she nodded before asking, “Could you just make sure the door is still locked?”

“Of course.”

“Be careful! There could be something under the bed,” she warned.

“I’ll make sure there aren’t any monsters under us either,” he promised. Deke scooted over to the edge of the bed and extricated himself from the covers. He leaned over to look carefully under each bed as Hannah peered over the side.

When he reached for something under the edge of her bed, she opened her mouth to warn him. A shimmer of sparkly fabric caught her eye as he pulled an object from under the covers puddled on the ground.

“Neela!” she breathed out, reaching for her stuffie.

“I think Neela already checked for us. Everything is okay. I’m going to check the door.” He stood and paused when Hannah scrambled to her feet to stand behind him with her stuffie clutched in her arms.

“Ready?” he asked when she pressed her palm to his lower back to stay in contact with him.

“Yes. Be careful!” she urged.

Deke walked slowly to the door and flipped on the overhead light to show her that the fancy latch securing the entrance was still fashioned. “It’s safe, baby,” he assured her, turning to wrap an arm around her waist and guide her back to his bed.

“Want to sleep with Daddy?” he asked.

“Please!”

Holding the edge of the covers up, Deke helped her settle into place before following her. Immediately, she curled up against him with her head on his chest and one arm wrapped around his ribs, holding Neela. He held her securely to him.

“Tell me what’s going on,” he requested softly.

“I’m stupid. Sorry.”

“I never want to hear you talk badly about yourself again. That is not acceptable,” he corrected her. “Everyone gets scared.”

“Not like I do.”

“Maybe you just have a more vivid imagination,” he suggested. “Did you watch a scary movie?”

“When I was thirteen, my friends made me watch a scary movie marathon when we had a slumber party. They were all used to watching slasher flicks. I knew I didn’t like them, so I avoided them. I couldn’t that night because they all laughed at me. I tried to go home, but the parents told me I’d just make them tease me more if I didn’t watch. The last movie was set in a hotel.”

* * *

Deke closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. Fucking idiots! Instead of helping her, they’d tortured an innocent child with what sounded like hours of violence.

“Some people like to be scared. Others don’t want to have those visuals playing on a loop in their brains. I don’t like horror movies,” he assured her.

“Those parents were wrong to do that to you.”

“The kids made fun of me anyhow. They hid and jumped out at me at school. Everyone thought it was funny to hear me scream.”

“Little girl, that’s so wrong. Didn’t the teachers stop them?”

“They tried. Finally, my science teacher—he was the football coach—made a bunch of the guys run laps each time he heard they’d picked on me. He was pretty cool. Mr. Jacobs even made them run extra laps when he didn’t know they’d scared me because he knew he didn’t know all the times.”

“I like Coach Jacobs.”

“Me, too. He’s still at the high school. I love running into him.”

“You’ll have to write him a letter from SANCTUM and let him know you appreciated his help,” Deke suggested.

He paused before asking, “Was this a boys’ and girls’ sleepover?” He didn’t want Hannah to think he was criticizing her.

“The parents made the boys leave at midnight. One of them was sixteen so he drove all the boys home. The girls gossiped for a while then went to sleep.”

“They went to sleep, but you didn’t?” Deke probed.

“I was so scared. I sat in a corner with my back against the wall to watch for all the things I knew were out there.”

“Damn them,” Deke swore, pulling her tight against him. “None of that should have ever happened. You were so brave trying to go home. Those parents didn’t sit and watch that crap, did they?”

“No, they didn’t like those types of movies either.”

“No more scary movies for you,” he declared, wishing he could turn back time and erase the memories that had haunted her all these years.

“Never again,” she said, shaking her head against his chest. “I know it was all made up—that those monsters don’t really exist except in some movie maker’s mind. But… they still frighten me.”

“That’s not why you ran away now, is it?” Deke asked, trying to connect the pieces.

“No. I don’t want to talk about it. You’ll never look at me the same.”

“I can guarantee you that nothing you tell me is going to make me think any different of you.”

“Yes, it will.”

“No, it won’t. I promise you.” Deke dipped his head to kiss Hannah’s sweet lips. After a second’s hesitation, she responded to him. He deepened the kiss, savoring her sweetness as he enjoyed the feel of her cotton-wrapped curves against his skin.

When she pulled away, he responded immediately by lifting his lips. “Okay, Little girl?”

“I’m not a floozy,” she whispered.

“I know that.”

“You do?”

“Everyone gets to choose the lifestyle that suits them. I don’t shame anyone. I have a past. You have had others in your life as well. For me, being intimate with women I’m attracted to is not a conquest. Deciding to make love with someone involves feelings and emotions. I know this is how you feel, too.”

“How do you know that?” she asked, searching his face.

“Because you could have slept with me after I bought you lunch or any of the days after that. Neither one of us jumped into bed together because there was a bigger prize. We were looking for someone we could trust with a very special relationship.”

“Like this one?” she whispered.

“Exactly like this one.”

Hannah lifted Neela to sit on the headboard before meeting his gaze to ask, “Kiss me again.”

“Little girl,” he growled, guiding her lips to his once again. A few sweet kisses deepened into a flare of passion. He loved how she wiggled closer to him, as if she needed to feel the heat of his body. Deke stroked down her spine to cup her bottom and pull her pelvis against his. She froze against him, feeling his body’s quick response to her closeness.

Deke lifted his mouth and warned, “Will you promise not to run from me again? To stick around and see how wonderful we can make this?”

Hannah studied his face before nodding. “I don’t want to be anywhere else.”

“Good.” Deke captured her lips and kissed her deeply. He swept his tongue into her mouth to tangle with hers.

Rotating her to lie on her back, Deke saved her from Neela’s wild plummet toward her face as their movement jarred the stuffie. “Neela, it’s time out for you.” He carefully placed her facing away from them on the nightstand.

He paused to study Hannah’s beautiful face and brush her hair back. “Time for me to unwrap the best present I’ve ever had.”

Deke coaxed the soft cotton material of his T-shirt up her thighs. Caressing every inch of her body as he revealed her form, Deke didn’t rush. They had forever and a day. He pressed his lips to that spot between her full breasts. Enjoying the light of the bedside lamp on her tanned skin, Deke couldn’t resist tasting her pink nipples. Hannah’s soft moan of arousal made his cock jerk in reaction.

She aroused him more than he ever remembered wanting someone. Deke drew firmly on the budded tip, hearing her gasp in reaction to the tinge of pain. The small sound confirmed instantly that Hannah would respond well to discipline. He would enjoy teaching her how to be Little. For now, he focused on pleasuring her.

Pulling the nightshirt over her head, he blindly tossed it toward the abandoned bed. He loved it when Hannah threaded her fingers through his hair to tug his mouth back to hers when she reappeared from the white material. Her tongue teased his, delighting in her eagerness.

When he drew his mouth away, she chased his lips for more kisses.

“Let me taste you, Hannah,” he whispered, loving the pink that colored her cheeks. The lingering innocence that clung to her was captivating.

Deke took his time, tasting and kissing down the column of her throat as her hands alternatively clung and explored his body. When he cupped her breasts, Deke circled her mauve nipples with his tongue. Obediently, they tightened into taut buds that invited his further attention. Pulling one and then the other into his mouth, Deke loved her squirms and soft noises of enjoyment.

Releasing one taut peak with a soft pop, he kissed a line down the center of her torso to the lightly furry mound between her thighs.

“Spread your legs, sweetheart,” he requested.

When she slowly followed his directions, Deke rewarded her by tracing the division between her lower lips. Hannah’s slick juices coated his fingers as he parted her. “Beautiful,” he praised as he caressed her pink folds.

Tracing a ring around her clit, Deke sent an appreciating glance up her displayed body to meet her gaze. “My Little girl takes my breath away.”

When her hips bucked up toward his touch, Deke pressed two fingers into her drenched opening. “Do you want me here, Hannah? Filling you so tightly that you can’t tell where you end and I begin?”

* * *

The feel of him stretching her ratcheted up her desire. Hannah wanted to feel him inside her more than she desired her next breath. She needed him.

“Please. Please, now!” she urged, curling upward to press kisses against his hard chest.

Then, holding on to him as he shifted away, “No!”

“Let me protect you, sweetheart. I’ll be right back. Trust me. Wild horses couldn’t lure me away from you,” he promised.

Not understanding his words at first, but trusting him, Hannah forced her fingers to release his thick biceps. She quickly deduced his purpose as he eased from the bed to rummage urgently in his duffle bag. Hannah liked how he hurried. Deke wanted her as much as she needed him.

With a sound of triumph, he pulled a strip of condoms from below his clothes. Returning to her, he tore off one packet and dropped the others on the bedside table next to Neela. As he ripped the packet open, Hannah peeked over her shoulder to make sure her stuffie still faced away from the bed. She did not need to watch.

Deke’s low chuckle drew her attention back to him. Hannah immediately forgot about her beautiful peeping dragon as she watched him roll the condom over his thick shaft. She caressed his outer thigh, urging him on.

In response, Deke climbed onto the bed and caged her in below him. His heated gaze captured hers. The desire radiating from his eyes seemed to touch her physically as his hand swept down her torso to tantalize her intimately. He stroked her entrance, telling her without words that he would enter her soon.

“Please!” burst from her lips as she tried to pull his pelvis toward her. Hannah couldn’t recall ever wanting anyone more than she needed Deke.

“Shhh! Daddy will help,” he reassured, fitting the broad head of his cock against her. With a firm push, he pressed his shaft into her tight channel in one long, controlled entrance.

The air seemed to gush from her lungs as he filled her. Thick and long, his cock stretched and claimed her in an arousing challenge. He filled the empty spaces inside her completely.

“We’re made for each other,” flashed through her brain.

“We are made for each other,” Deke agreed, making her aware that she had spoken aloud instead of in her brain.

Her mind registered that his stress on that second word underlined their connection. Hannah couldn’t follow that train of thought as his body loomed over her. Staring into Deke’s handsome face, she could only concentrate on him. She nodded, physically submitting to his dominance.

“Good girl,” he praised, before leaning down to capture her lips in a blistering, passionate kiss.

Ripping his mouth from hers, Deke growled, “I’m never letting you go.”

He withdrew from her body and thrust back inside. Trying to keep him close, Hannah wrapped her legs around his waist. A shimmer of tingles kindled between her thighs. Experimenting, she moved against him as he moved.

Yes! There!

Balancing on one forearm, Deke cupped her bottom and thrust against her. He responded to her shift and concentrated his thrusts to increase her pleasure. Almost intuitively, he coordinated his attention just where she needed.

“Ahhh!” Hannah cried out as an avalanche of pleasure flowed through her. Her fingernails bit into his shoulders as she clung to his body.

Deke dropped his mouth to the crook of her neck to press a kiss before biting her lightly. That small taste of pain skyrocketed her climax, making her shudder against him, her body squeezing him tight.

His groan of pleasure echoed in the quiet room. The rapturous sensations they shared tempered her old fear of hotels. She could only concentrate on their bodies gliding against each other. Everything else was unimportant.

As her climax dwindled, Deke increased his thrusts to ignite those breath-taking tingles again. Hannah stroked his glistening body. She treasured the feel of his heated skin against her. Her world narrowed to encompass only this amazing man and herself.

Increasing his thrusts, Deke threw his head back. His face contorted with passion and effort, looking savage and enticing. “Now, Little one. Come with me now!” he commanded, doubling his attention to those special arousal points he had discovered.

With a scream, her body obeyed. Deke allowed himself to join her this time. His quiet growl of pleasure into her ear was intimate, thrilling her. She was the only one he chose to hear his climax. Hannah pressed a kiss to his shoulder. Instantly, Deke rotated his head to press his lips to hers in a soul-deep kiss.

Holding her close, he rotated their bodies to hold her against his chest. Their breathing quieted as they recovered from their joining. Emotionally and physically spent, Hannah struggled to keep her eyelids open. She felt his lips brush softly against her temple.

“Go to sleep, Little girl. You’ll always be safe in my arms.”