Page 26 of Knotty Pumpkin

I can’t fault her for that. This last week has been a lot. We’ve truly spent very little time together, and with Luke back in the picture, I’m sure her anxiety is high.

“It’s okay to be afraid, Pumpkin. No one will blame you for feeling that way.”

She sighs heavily, placing down her mascara and spinning to face me, leaning back on the vanity with her hands on either side of her thighs.

“He doesn’t deserve any more of my fear, Corey. It’s exhausting, and it’s a power he doesn’t deserve to have. What he deserves is to be locked away for a long time. Hopefully, that happens tonight.”

“Tonight?” I ask, the crease in my brow deepening.

“I mean, hopefully they catch him as soon as possible. Tonight would be best. Yesterday would have been even better.”

What she’s saying makes sense, but at the same time an uneasy feeling washes over me, settling heavy in my stomach. Whilst I know her intimately, we’re still so new to one another that I can’t quite read her yet.

Macey was often avoidant when talking about her attack. Maybe that’s all this is—Saylor’s attempt to brush off the situation and not allow it anymore space.

“Hudson is on it. He’s a great cop, and if anyone can catch that motherfucker, it will be him.” Pushing up from the edge of the bed, I stride towards her, brushing her long, deep brown hair out of her face and catching her around the waist. A purr rumbles from my chest as I say, “We won’t let him ruin your favourite holiday, Pumpkin, I promise.”

Saylor wraps her arms around my neck, pushing up on her tiptoes to press her lips to mine. Her pumpkin spice scent fills the room as she perfumes for me, her tongue slipping into my mouth. Tugging her body flush to mine, I groan into her mouth, nipping her bottom lip.

That’s it. Now I really don’t want to let her out of this house. In fact, I’d much prefer to take her back to her nest and spend my time kissing and nipping every inch of her skin.

My toasted marshmallow scent joins her as my cock hardens against her stomach, throbbing with need. A small gasp escapes her as my hands slide from her hips, cupping her shapely ass and lifting her back onto the vanity.

She opens for me, spreading her thighs and throwing her head back as I push between them, feeling the damp heat between her thighs through the thin material of my Peter Pan costume.

Trailing kisses down her throat and across her shoulder, I rub my neck against hers, marking her with my scent and eliciting a soft moan from her as she perfumes again.

Skimming her sides, I cup her breasts, softly teasing her nipples before bending down and sucking one into mymouth through the lace cutouts in her dress and twirling my tongue around the tip.

“Fuckkkk,” Noah groans, startling both of us. Saylor nearly jumps out of her skin before breaking out into a fit of giggles. “We’ll never get out of here if you two don’t disentangle now.”

Grinning, I raise my arms in surrender, stepping backwards from Saylor as her giggle turns into a laugh and she cups a hand over her mouth as she looks at Noah.

The big oaf is wearing a Fred Flinstone costume, the dress pulling tight over his broad shoulders and his dark hair carefully spiked just like the characters.

“I thought you were joking when you asked me to dress as Barney this year,” I ask as he tosses a wadded up brown ball my way. Unravelling it, I hold it out before me, examining the brown Barney Rubble dress, snorting. I can’t believe he was serious.

“Not joking, and you need to change, anyway.” He looks pointedly at my crotch, and I glance down to see the wet patch coating the front of my costume.

“Ooops,” Saylor says, barely suppressing her laughter. “Sorry, not sorry.”

There will never come a day that I want her to apologise for covering me in her scent. If I hadn’t promised Noah I’d wear the matching costume, I wouldn’t bechanging now. Nothing would make me prouder than wearing her scent and claiming her as mine.

There’ll be time for that. For now, our Pumpkin needs to relax and enjoy her favourite night of the year without looking over her shoulder.

“I got you something, Pumpkin, if you’d like to match us?” Noah hands Saylor a bundle of blue fabric, holding it in front of her with a giggle.

“Betty?” I ask, surprised he didn’t go straight for Wilma, given he’s dressed as Fred.

“It was all they had,” he grumbles, causing Saylor to laugh as I snort. Gods, the sound of her laughter is everything.

“Of course, I want to match with you,” she exclaims, turning to the vanity and pulling her pumpkin dress over her head and replacing it with the Betty costume. Noah pulls a bow out of his pocket and hands it to her. She positions it on her head, then turns to us with a grin. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

The Halloween celebrations are in full swing as we pull up at the Lion’s house. They are well known for hosting the best university parties and the crowd spilling out of the double story house onto the fully decorated lawn can attest to that.

My gaze darts around the house, spotting the extra presence Sargent Hudson provided for the night. There are undercover men stationed at every entrance and exit of the house. He isn’t taking this threat lightly, ready to protect the residents of our town—Saylor in—the best way he can.

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