Page 46 of Country Contract

I’ll have to turn the heating pad on for her.

I hold my water in one hand and with the other, I unzip my boots. Cleo is readily awaiting my legs to be free so she can arch herselfagainst me.

She does her own thing, rubbing herself against me and occasionally making a small figure eight around my ankles. I get about half of my glass down before she sits next to me and begins to meow.

As I bend over to scoop her up, I hear a knock at the door.

Chapter 20

Harlow

There are only two people it could be. I doubt Cassidy would be coming over at this hour, but there is a chance if Harrison had told her and Hunter about my offer. A flush rushes to my cheeks at the thought.

I send a silent prayer that it’s the other person on my list of two visitors. I don’t want to openlyadmit to anyone but Meg that I offered money to Harrison.

I would rather have another verbalsparring match with him than a disappointed or disgusted conversation with Cassidy regarding her brother-in-law. She’s become a friend here, and I don’t want to hurt her in any way.

At the door, I take a deep breath and prepare myself for either of the two. Once it’s open, relief floods me.

I know Harrison is about to chew me out, thinking I was likely to offer Silas the same deal I offered him. He’s not wrong. I considered it, the draw just wasn’t there for me.

He’s likely to call me out and ask me to not cause any drama in his small town. Trust me, the last thing I’m looking for is drama. Which is why an offer like the one Imade is only made once. The embarrassment of that alone is enough, especially when the response was a hard no.

Harrison looks pissed. There’s no other way to describe it.

“Look, I know you’re mad but?—”

I’m cut off with a hard kiss. His mouth slams against mine with practically no finesse. It feels as though it will bruise, and he doesn’t care. He doesn’t pull back and apologize.

No, he pushes into the bunkhouse, not taking his lips off mine.

This is exactly what I wanted, but I’m too shocked to respond. My eyes don’t even close. I just take that step back and let him in, lips on mine. When he realizes I haven’t kissed him back, he pulls back a fraction to look into my eyes.

“Kiss me back, witch,” he demands, and I feel myself shiver. He sees me do it, too.

I throw my arms over his shoulders and kiss him. I will not pass this opportunity up. It could end like the last one when he pulled back at the last second. I am willing to take whatever he is willing to give and a deep down I realize how bad I want this.

Harrison pushes me back farther, his hands at my waist, and I hear his boot-clad foot kick the door.

Fuck yes.

I part my lips, and he takes the invitation greedily. He forces his tongue into my mouth, and I’m shocked by howaggressive he is. It’s like he feels this is his only chance, and he doesn’t want to stop himself. Like he knows that if he slows down, he might stop altogether.

Please don’t.

He doesn’t. One hand stays at my waist, and the otherslides down the back of my dress to my ass. He doesn’t stop there; he goes past the hemline and pulls it up, groping my tight ass in his strong grip. It’s a bruising grip, and I don’t have much back there. I’m a thin girl, and a shyness I usually don’t feel creeps into the forefront of my mind, wondering if he’s disappointed. There are no signs of disappointment as he continues to squeeze and dig his fingers into my flesh.

Yep, I’ll bruise, I know it; it’s the curse of fair skin.

I bite at his lower lip, and he meets my fervor with a deeply satisfied sound.

“Yes, witch.” He licks where my teeth just sank in and looks at me with a heated glare. We clumsily make it to the couch where Harrison bends me over the side.

I brace myself on the cushion in front of me. My braid has fallen over my shoulder leaving the back of my neck exposed. Harrison takes the offered skin in his teeth and gives my flesh a hard tug.

All fangs between us, and I like it like that. This isn’t a simple courtship. There was no dinner before where we asked each other our favorite colors and how we felt about the rain. This is just carnal needs being met.

Turning my head to look over my shoulder, I catch a glimpse of him. He looks intoxicated, drunk on lust. I had a feeling it would be like this, and a small curve catches the corner of my lips.

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