Chapter Thirty-Four

Roman

The house smelled incredible when I walked into it and I followed the smell into the kitchen where I found Bitsy standing in an apron, stirring a huge pot on the stove as she balanced Lorelei on her hip. I leaned against the doorframe and watched her, consumed by the image. It was perfect. She turned, smiling when she saw me.

No. Now it was perfect.

“Hi there, you two,” I said as I walked into the kitchen.

“Hi,” Bitsy said, rising up on her toes to kiss me.

“Hi, Daddy.”

I looked at Lorelei, my mouth falling open slightly, then at Bitsy, who just smiled.

“Did she…?”

Bitsy nodded.

“Somebody has been talking about you all day,” she said.

I felt like my heart was going to burst. I reached for the baby.

“Oh, has she now?” I asked, swinging Lorelei out of Bitsy’s arms and into mine. “Well, nobody told me.”

Bitsy laughed and I nuzzled against Lorelei. Her little hands closed on either of my cheeks.

“Daddy, daddy, daddy,” she babbled happily.

“Baby, baby, baby,” I murmured back.

I looked up at Bitsy and saw tears shimmering in her eyes. She smiled at me happily and I leaned in to kiss her again before settling the baby close to my chest and stepping up to the stove to breathe in more of the intoxicating smell wafting from the pot.

“What are you cooking up in here?” I asked.

“Chicken corn chowder,” she replied. “There was a recipe for it in the Holler last week and I’ve been meaning to make it.”

“Well, it smells delicious.”

“Good. There’s a lot of it. Get washed up and I’ll get it on the table. How’s everything going out there?”

I reluctantly put down the baby and walked through the kitchen, down the hallway, and into the bathroom to wash my hands.

“It’s going well,” I called back to her. “The new troupe of actors got here a couple of hours ago so we’ve been blocking them along the trail. It’s much longer than we originally thought so we’re trying to figure out how to space them so that we can get maximum effect of each scare. I still don’t know if it will work, though. I was thinking about hiring more actors, but the ones we’re already working with said that they could run from their original scare spot up to another one further along the trail, but I don’t really think that’s feasible.”

“Roman,” I heard Bitsy say from in the kitchen.

“I know, I should at least give them a chance to try it, but what I’m thinking is that these people walking down the trail are going to be terrified. They’ll probably start running at some point. That means it’s a lot less likely that they’ll be able to actually get to another scare spot and be prepped in time to catch the group. Even if they could,” I left the bathroom and started back into the kitchen, “what about the people coming behind the first group?”

“Roman.”

“Are we only going to let one group go through at a time, then totally reset? That seems like a lot of hassle. I think I just need more actors.”

“Roman.”

Bitsy’s voice had taken on a somewhat desperate tone and I looked up from where I was buttoning my cuffs again to see what was wrong. Her face no longer looked carefree and happy, and I could immediately see why. Benson was standing in the middle of the kitchen, holding what looked like an issue of the Holler Holler rolled up in his hand.

“I left the issue with the recipe on the side table in the living room,” Bitsy said.

“So, it’s true,” Benson said, looking in between us. I realized that he had been standing there the whole time and heard me talking about every detail. “What I read about in here,” he shook the newspaper, “is true. You really are planning on taking over the farm.”

“I’m not taking it over,” Bitsy said. “That wasn’t the point at all.”

“And him?” Benson said, pointing at me.

“He doesn’t want to take over the farm either. We want to save it. We want to show you that it can still be worth something so that maybe you won’t sell it.”

“You want to show me that the farm can still be worth something by transforming it into some kind of grisly haunted attraction?”

Bitsy hung her head slightly and I felt the urge to defend her, to stand up for her and stop her from feeling so ashamed.

“Yes,” she said.

“With actors and haunted houses and big gruesome scenes?”

“Yes,” she said.

“And a haunted corn maze,” I added, lest we forget what brought us here.

“And that’s what’s happening to my farm right now? All those machines and trucks and people?”

We both nodded.

“Yes.”

“Well, thank god.”

My eyes snapped to Bitsy where I saw her staring questioningly at her grandfather.

“What?”

“I thought I was losing my mind. I knew I heard all of that stuff, but you weren’t talking about it. For a while there I thought that maybe I had just gone crazy and I was imagining all of those things. But that didn’t seem right. But a haunt- a haunt seems right.”

He grinned and I felt myself getting distinctly confused.

“You’re happy about this?” I asked.

“About a haunted attraction on my farm? Absolutely! I used to love things like that.”

“It was Roman’s idea,” Bitsy said. “He came up with the whole thing.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about it?”

“We thought you’d be upset,” Bitsy said.

“Upset? Definitely. Now bring me out there and show me. I want to see everything. Maybe I can be in one of the haunted houses.”

“You better meet me at the corn maze at eleven tonight,” I muttered as I walked past her following Benson out of the house and into the grounds so that he could start exploring the haunt.

****

Bitsy

You better meet me at the corn maze at eleven tonight.

Roman’s warning reverberated through my head for the rest of the afternoon. Was it a threat? His warning? His invitation? Whatever it was, that night just before 11, I heeded what he had said and made my way to the cornfield. I didn’t see anyone and l looked around for Roman, getting an eerie chill down the back of my neck. October 1 was in just a couple of days, which meant that it was nearly time for the haunt to open. I was filled with anticipation and excitement, but also nervousness.

Where was Roman?

Maybe he went into the maze.

I stepped up to the entrance of the corn maze and peered in. Seconds later I felt a presence step up behind me.

“Trick or treat?”

A shiver went through me as I remembered the last time that I had heard Roman’s voice say that question.

“Treat,” I said, just the way that I had the first time.

I felt his hand settle on my lower back and guide me into the maze. Roman led me through a short corridor and into one of the small chambers within the maze. He reached into a bowl on a table in the center of the chamber and lifted a piece of chocolate to my lips. I savored it, tilting my head up to kiss Roman and transfer some of the rich flavor into his mouth. A moment later he stepped up behind me again.

“Trick or treat?” he said.

I drew in a breath.

“Trick,” I said.

I heard him make an approving noise and then felt his hands come around my face, settling a blindfold over my eyes. The fabric was cool and soft against my skin and the sudden loss of my sight made my body tingle.

“Trick or treat,” he said.

“Treat.”

He guided me into the next chamber of the maze and fed me a piece of candy corn. I smiled at the sweet, nostalgic taste, intrigued by how much stronger the flavor seemed now that I was blindfolded.

“Trick or treat.”

“Trick.”

I heard the soft click of a knife opening and then felt the very tip of the blade kiss my ankle as Roman brought it to my legs. He moved the blade swiftly and I heard it cutting through the fabric of my pants an instant before I felt the night air against my skin. He worked quickly, cutting away all of my clothes until I was totally nude and still blindfolded. I was beginning to feel nervous, but I handed myself over to Roman, giving him my complete trust as he continued to guide me through the corn maze as I responded to his repeated question.

Treat.

The taste of soft marshmallow flooded my tongue and I licked it from Roman’s fingers, letting the sugar melt and glide down my throat.

Trick.

I felt Roman’s hands come to my shoulders and guide me down onto my knees. One of his hands came to the back of my head and held it stable as the other ran lightly along my jawbone. I took the touch as an instruction and opened my mouth, immediately feeling the plush head of his cock touch my lips and then press past them. I opened my mouth further to accept him all the way in and then reached up to wrap my hand around the base of his shaft so I could glide my mouth along it in fast, smooth strokes. I sucked with each glide, wanting to draw him further, wanting to feel him in my throat and milk him into me. The blindfold allowed me to focus completely on what I was feeling, and I savored every ridge and vein that slipped along my lips and glided on my tongue. Roman’s hips began to thrust and I timed the movement of my hands to the thrusts, ensuring that at every moment either my mouth or hand were stroking along his delicious length.

He growled as I continued, but I didn’t let up. I lifted slightly on my knees to give myself better leverage, and continued to suck, letting his head hit the back of my throat and following the guidance of his touch, I cupped my hand around his balls and knead as I sucked. In minutes I heard his sounds growing louder and more intense, going from high moans to deep, animal growls, until I felt his fingers dig into my hair and heard a loud, lingering grunt an instant before feeling his cock throb and tasting hot salty-sweet fluid flood my tongue.

I drank deeply, swallowing luxuriously and cleaning him with my tongue until Roman pulled his cock out of my mouth and brought me to my feet. I could feel the wetness of my body starting to dampen my thighs and I ached for more. I listened, ready to answer.

Treat.

Apple cider rinsed my mouth. It was sweet and spicy, but I missed the delicious taste of Roman on my tongue. I wanted more.

Trick.

Roman led me to another of the chambers and I felt him take one of my hands and bring it up to my side, then direct my hand to wrap around a piece of what felt like wood. He wrapped a slick cord around my wrist, tying me to the wood. As he repeated the process on the other side, I realized that these were the posts deep within the corn maze, positioned there to hold signs to guide those who were going through the family friendly maze, and taunt those who were running from the creatures that would haunt it at night.

Now tied to the posts, I felt Roman lower to his knees in front of me. His hands stroked along my body, teasing me with his soft, feathery touches, until I was shaking. Finally, they came to my thighs and pushed them apart, sweeping one leg up so that it draped over Roman’s shoulder. He kissed the inside of each thigh and then I felt his mouth touch my core. I cried out, my body sagging in response to the intense, completely new sensation. Being tied to the posts prevented me from sagging too far or moving my arms to touch him, leaving me helpless to the masterful flick of his tongue as it moved through my folds. Roman used the tip of his tongue to carefully and deeply explore each fold, each tender dip, before bringing it to my clit. The sensitive pearl was tingling, aching for attention, and Roman eagerly obliged.

Each flutter of his tongue across my peak brought another tiny scream from my chest and I felt like I couldn’t bear anymore, like he was spiraling me toward utter ruin. Finally, I released myself, allowing the climax to claim my body, and screamed up into the sky. Just when I thought my body could accept no further pleasure, I heard the hurried sound of Roman rolling a condom into place and then felt him come to stand in front of me, lifting my leg up to his waist so he could plunge inside of me. The intensity of my orgasm had left my body soft and wet, allowing Roman to move easily within me. He thrust hard and fast, seeming to grow in power with each passing second. His frenzied pounding at this new angle allowed him to hit something deep inside of my body that sent me instantly into another shattering climax. Roman cried out with me and I could feel him pulsing, spilling out against my walls as they sought and cradled him.

We clung to each other for a few blissful moments before I felt Roman release my ties and sweep me up into his arms. He cradled me against his chest, carrying me tenderly through the corn until he stopped and lowered me to my feet. I felt something soft beneath them and then plush, warm fabric slipped over my arms and around me to be tightened at my waist. When Roman untied my blindfold and pulled it away from my eyes I saw that I as now wearing a soft pink robe and standing on a thick quilted blanket. A silver plate with two flutes of champagne and another plate filled with fruit and chocolate sat on either side of a small pumpkin in the middle of the blanket.

“What is all this?” I asked.

“Sit down,” Roman said.

I did, the warmth of the robe and the satisfaction of my body making me feel sleepy. But I didn’t want to sleep. I didn’t want to waste even a moment that I could be spending with him.

Roman sat across from me and reached for one of my hands. The sexy, intoxicating dominance that he had shown in our travels through the maze had given way to something just as strong, but quieter, more tender.

“I love you, Bitsy,” he said.

I sighed happily.

“I love you, too, Roman.”

He squeezed my hand lightly.

“I’ve been waiting to say that for so long. Longer than I think either one of us knows. When I first met you, it was something like I had never experienced before. I didn’t see your face, and I didn’t know your name, but I felt your heart. And as soon as yours touched mine, I couldn’t get you out of my heart. You never left my mind. Never have I wanted to share my life with anyone, but now I have two people who I can’t see myself as having a life without. I want to be by your side forever, and to always know that you are by mine. Will you marry me?”

He reached down and took the pumpkin, turning it around to reveal a carving of an engagement ring in the other side, the light of a candle flickering within it. I gasped as I looked at it and then lifted my eyes to his.

“Yes,” I said, unsure if it was even audible. “Yes.”

Roman grinned and leaned across the pumpkin to kiss me.

“Don’t worry,” he said, gesturing at the pumpkin. “There’s a real ring at the house for you. I figured if you could lose a cell phone in a pumpkin patch never to be seen again, it might not be the best idea to give you a diamond out here.”

I laughed and ran my hand along his cheek.

“This is perfect.”