Page 4 of Wicked Wishes
Coming home to her cooking in our kitchen, the place smelling sugary sweet. A welcome home kiss that turns dirty fast, my hands sneaking beneath her apron to feel she is bare, teasing me with the sweets she knows I crave the most. Just as I hoist her on top the counter to get my fill of the sugar cane between her legs, a baby cries down the hall. It feels so vivid, so real, and I have rubbed my cock raw dreaming of it every night.
Hanna tortures me with every sexy smile, every flirty look, and every tease of what could be—if I would just let it be.
But I can’t and we both know that. It would be sinful to wish for what she wants me to have. Wantsusto have. More than a decade older, with a life of misery between us, I have no right to someone like her. Or someone at all. I had my shot at the good life, and I lost it. It sucks and sometimes I get lonely or wish I had the guts to do something about it, but I don’t.
“Let me get to work,” I grumble at her, though I am pleased to see her, “you won’t even know I am here,” I promise though it would be impossible for me to forget she will be close tonight.
Besides dealing with typical locksmith duties—like when I redid a lock for Benji’s old lady after she mangled it—I also set up security systems. I spent a few years in the military and when I came home, this made the most sense for my limited skills. I am good at it though, finding what works best for each location, and I take pride in keeping our small town a little safer.
After the Dole’s had their son, Keegan decided to go full grizzly bear to protect his family. Boy howdy does he want the works—but his wallet can handle it, so I'm doing it all. Motion detectors, cameras at every vantage point, a lockbox for their valuables, and all the bells and whistles. As I start to lug some equipment inside, I glance over at Hanna’s house.
The woman barely locks her front door—and in fact, I watch her cat Whiskers push the door open to wander outside. He does it every day because she never locks the damn door. Even though I tell her to. Even though I put in better locks just a week after she moved in—without telling her it was notactuallypart of every new home purchase. I also didn’t tell her I kept a key.
“Never lock that damn door,” I growl like a bear as I pause at the steps just behind her, “you do it to piss me off, I think.”
“No, sir,” her voice is teasing as she leans back against my legs to grin up at me, “just do it to be sure you stay checking up on me. Can’t a girl want someone to look out for her?”
Her smile is dazzling, and I can’t fight the grin I give her back. Yes, she can ask me to look out for her. Hell, no one else better even think of looking after her but me. That is my fucking job. Even if I can’t have her how I want her, I will take that. With a shake of my head, I pretend to dismiss how good it feels when she talks to me that way as I head in.
“Yeah, I guess you can. Look, sorry about the other night,” I grumble the words out, the guilt speaking for me, “I was just.... looking out for you.”
“No, you weren’t,” she shoots back, turning to playfully bite at my thigh, “you hated seeing me out there talking to another man. Jealousy looks good on you, so good for both of us it was my cousin, huh?” she teases, winking up at me as I let out a string of curses.
This woman will be the reason I go mad. But I am smiling like a fool as I head inside to get to work. I talk with Keegan about what he wants and where he wants it, and we walk the perimeter of the house together. With plans decided, I tell him to go treat his wife good tonight. It is what I would do if I had a night to spend with my wife.
As I get to work, I start thinking about how I would spoil Hanna. Not as if she needs for much—she has more money than I will see in my lifetime. I doubt that money means dick to her though. Probably why she blew through it when she was younger. Or tried damn hard to. I heard the stories.
But she could enjoy the right kind of spoiling. Running a bubble bath for her and washing her hair while we talk about her day. Bringing her my famous crepes for breakfast in bed. Eating her pussy formybreakfast in bed. Holding her sweet body down as I sink inside her again and again, until she only knows pleasure that comes from me.
“Fuck,” I growl, adjusting my stiff cock as I mount a camera off the back porch.
I need to stop thinking about her at all. I do fine for a few days. Shoot, that is a lie—I barely go a few hours without thinking about her. I try, really, I do. I consider myself a married man. I took my vows and even still wear my ring. But lately my wedding band feels heavy on my hand. Not sure if it is guilt weighing it down or the pain of my past.
“You can’t fucking have her.” I talk to myself as I angrily wire a camera. “She is too young for you. A decade younger with a decade less of life behind her. Get her out of your damn head,” I scold, sighing when I glance inside and see her.
As always, my heart beats differently, my breath comes faster, and my blood pumps hotter. Sitting on the floor with the baby between her spread legs, she is laughing with him, telling him what a sweet boy he is. She teased me earlier about practicing for a baby. She meant that shit just like she said it. Practicing for a babywith me. Damn if that image has been impossible to shake ever since she grinned up with that glimmer in her eyes.
Watching her now, sitting there with that baby looking so happy, I let myself imagine it. This is us, our home, our family, and that is my woman and my child. My chest expands and I know it’s filling with hope. Hope that I can’t hold onto. No matter how good it looks or feels it is impossible. Even if I ever got a second chance at something like that, it could not be with her.
Darkness falls fast here during the fall, but I love this season. Besides the cool air and the clear skies, I love the night sounds and even the way our tiny town celebrates Halloween. Pumpkins on every single stoop, every block hasthat housedecorated to the nines, and kids swarm the streets looking for their treats before sunset. It’s a fun time for everyone. I wonder if Hanna likes the holiday before I tell myself it does not matter if she does.
As if she sensed me thinking about her, she pops up just as I finish with the camera in the nursery. Koda is curled up on her chest and the sight of her in the doorway cradling that baby takes my breath away. She grins up at me and playfully nudges me out of her way. I watch her, noting how she fills up the space in the room. And the empty spaces inside me.
“He is a good baby,” I whisper because I want to talk to her.
“He is. Ate some dinner, we watched a little Disney, and he cuddled right up. Happy little boy,” she coos the words, bending over him to brush his hair back. I close my eyes and listen to them breathe soft and sweet.
“Will you be here tomorrow?” I wonder tightly.
“Yeah, Kady wants a girl's night with Chantel. Invited me out too but I wanted to get acquainted here. Will you be here?”
Nodding, I watch her turn towards me, her dark hair bouncing over her shoulder and shimmering in the darkness. I ache to wrap it around my fingers and pull her in for a kiss. Instead, I force an answer out, “Yeah. Need to install their safe. I will be seeing you then,” I manage before I turn and go without another word. I was going to ask her if I could bring us dinner tomorrow. If maybe I could sit with her and the baby, too. But that would be a fool move, so I decide to get the hell out of here before I act foolishly.
“Night Harley, dream of me,” she calls after me, knowing damn well I will.
“Yeah, sweets, you too,” I shout back gruffly, hoping she does.
Back at home, I wait up until I watch her cross the street and go home. Knowing she will not lock her door; I take my dog Binx out for a walk and do it for her. Like I have before, I linger at the front door, wondering if she would mind if I let myself in. Wondering if she would care if I crawled into bed beside her. I want to ask her how her night was or how babysitting went. But I lock the door and go, circling her house a few times until I see her bedroom light go out.
