The Promise (Neighbor from Hell 10)

“You have questions?” he asked, placing his hands on her bare hips as he leaned in and brushed his lips teasingly against hers.

“I always have questions,” she said, making his lips twitch as she reached between them and ran her fingers down his tie.

“Then I’ll make you a deal,” he said, tightening his hold on her as he toed off his shoes and once he was done, he shifted them back so that they were sitting in front of the fire.

“What kind of deal?” she asked as he ran his hands over her hips, chasing away the chill of the room better than the fire.

“For every question that you answer, you get to ask a question,” he murmured as he leaned in and made it really difficult to think again.

“That sounds fair,” she said, licking her lips on a soft sigh as he kissed her neck.

“I thought you’d like that,” he said, running his hands over her bottom and gave it a squeeze that had her grabbing onto his shoulders and releasing a moan. “Why the sudden interest in camping?”

“I’ve never been,” she said, licking her lips as he kissed his way to her chin.

“Why not?” he asked, kissing her chin softly as his hands continued to caress her bottom.

“Never had the chance,” she said, wrapping her arms around him.

“What about all those times my parents invited you to go with us?” he asked distractedly as he slid his arms around her and pulled her closer.

“Should your parents really be mentioned at a time like this?” she asked, even as she had to wonder if they were even capable of having a normal conversation without sex.

“Probably not,” he murmured as she felt his hand move down her back, over her bottom and-

“Oh, god,” she whispered on a small groan as her eyes slid closed and her hands fisted in his shirt.

“Why didn’t you go with us, sweetheart?” he asked as he continued slowly sliding his finger between her legs.

“Wasn’t fair to Jackson,” she managed to get out, licking her lips as she shifted on his lap to give him better access only to end up pushing down against the large bulge straining against his pants and making them both moan.

“What about you?” he asked, groaning against her neck as he slid his finger inside her.

“I was fine,” she promised him as she pushed back on his finger.

“Were you?” he asked as she buried her face against his neck with a moan.

“Yes,” Joey said, rolling her hips so that she was moving against him as she rode his finger.

“Then why did you leave?” Reed asked, kissing the curve of her neck.

“School,” she said only to frown when he said, “That’s not the reason you left.”

“Yes, it was,” she said, barely aware that she’d stopped moving or that he’d stopped touching her.

“Was it?” he asked, not really sounding like he believed her. “Or was I the reason that you left, Joey?”

Sighing, she sat back on his lap and opened her mouth to point out all the ways that he’d made her life a living hell only to find herself looking into his handsome face and saw just how much it bothered him to think that he was the reason that she’d left. For years, she imagined what it would be like to tell him off for all the crap that he’d put her through while she was sober so that she could actually savor the moment, but as she sat there looking into those incredibly kind eyes that she liked so much, she realized something.

It didn’t matter.

None of it did.

“No,” she said, smiling as she reached up and cupped his face in her hands and leaned in and kissed him. “You weren’t the reason I left.”

“I made your life a living hell, didn’t I?” he said on a resigned sigh as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer.

“Yes, yes you did,” she said, smiling as she kissed him again. “But my leaving had nothing to do with you.”

“Why do I have a feeling that you’re lying?” he asked, smiling as he leaned in and kissed her.

“Cause you’re paranoid?” she asked, blinking innocently.

“That tends to happen when you’re around,” he whispered seductively as he leaned in and kissed her neck.

“I have that effect on people,” she admitted on a soft groan as he pulled her closer.

The move caused her nipples to brush against the smooth material of his vest, making them harden even as she had to admit that she loved the way he looked in a suit. It actually surprised her how much she liked seeing him in suit given the fact that she normally preferred men in a pair of well-worn pair of jeans and a tee shirt, but there was just something about the way that Reed filled out a suit that left her licking her lips and imagining all the things that she wanted him to do to her.

Speaking of things that she wanted him to do with her, she thought as she suddenly found herself laying on the floor only to decide that it was probably time to stop thinking when he pushed her legs apart and-

It was definitely time to stop thinking.

Chapter 33

“I never got to ask my questions,” the small woman curled up in his arms mumbled as she snuggled closer to his side.

“Was your question about the pretties?” Reed asked as he pulled the blanket that he’d snuck upstairs to get a few minutes ago over her shoulders.

“Maybe,” she said after a short pause, making his lips twitch.

“Would it make it easier if I just told you about the room?” he asked, pressing a kiss against her forehead as he watched the fire slowly die down to a soft glow, letting him know just how late it was.

He should have left a while ago to go see Jackson, but he didn’t want to leave her. Even knowing that he probably wouldn’t see his best friend for another six months couldn’t make him leave her. Well, that and he had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to say to Jackson, especially since he didn’t know what this was anymore. The only thing that he knew was that he wasn’t ready for this to end.

Not just yet.

“It might,” she said, shifting to get closer only to shift again until she gave up trying to get comfortable on the unforgiving hardwood floor with a grumble and decided that he made a better mattress than the carpet.

“Comfy?” he asked, his lips twitching as he waited for her to settle on top of him.

“Getting there,” she said as she laid her head on his chest with a satisfied sigh and a-

“Brat,” he said with a mock glare at the little brat looking up at him through innocent baby blue eyes that didn’t quite match that devio

us smile as she wiggled one last time, causing his poor exhausted cock to twitch.

“You were saying?” she asked with a soft sigh as she finally settled on top of him.

“That your grandparents should have spanked your ass,” he growled as he wrapped his arms around her.

“They threatened to spank my ass many times, but they didn’t have the heart to go through with it,” she said with a heartfelt sigh.

“You locked yourself in the pantry until they promised not to spank you, didn’t you?” he guessed.

“Each and every time,” she said, nodding solemnly against his chest.

“And Jackson?” Reed asked, absently tracing a path down her spine.

“Was usually the reason that I locked myself in the pantry in the first place,” she said, making him chuckle.

“I’m pretty sure that you drove him to drink,” he said even as he couldn’t help but notice just how good she felt in his arms.

“I really did,” she said, sounding proud and for damn good reason.

She’d been a nightmare from day one and Jackson…

Jackson had barely been able to keep up with her. Poor bastard, he thought, chuckling as he remembered all the times that Jackson nearly lost his fucking mind over the years. There was the time when she’d decided that it was past time for her to teach herself how to swim by jumping into the fountain at the mall when she was three, leaving Jackson with no other choice but to jump off the escalator to save her. Then there was the time when she’d decided to set a trap for the monster living in her closet, which had resulted in Jackson getting trapped in there for six hours when he’d made the mistake of trying to figure out why there was a trail of cookies leading to her closet. Then there was the time when she was six and decided that the school bus was taking too long and decided to take her grandfather’s old riding lawnmower to school and poor Jackson ended up having to chase her through every neighbor’s backyard for a mile before she finally ran out of gas. She’d kept the poor bastard on his toes.