Chapter 14
We returned to his home, and we were tucked away from the world behind his bulletproof glass watching as life happened ten stories below and in the apartments across the street.
A woman was sitting down to dinner alone in her apartment. In the apartment beneath hers, a man was watching TV while kids ran around and the mother cooked dinner. In those two views, I saw my past and my future, and yet I was somewhere stuck in between.
Harlon appeared behind me, wrapping me in his arms as if it were a natural thing. Like something the couple across the street might do.
“Thank you for today,” he whispered into my hair.
It was a day I’d never forget and one I’d never repeat. “Did you find anything in the townhouse?”
“Some of Mittens’ hair on the windowsill. Suzie had been there.”
“That’s great. It means she’s still alive.”
He turned me in his arms. His gaze caressed my face. “Yes, she is still alive, and I wouldn’t have known that if it hadn’t been for you.”
He leaned in slowly as if giving me time to stop him. His heated breath lingered with mine before he pressed a gentle kiss to my lips.
There was nothing urgent about the way his tongue slow danced with mine. The way one of his fingers twisted in my hair while his other palm tugged me closer. There was no way that I was getting turned on. No way I’d let things go any further and absolutely no way I was going to let him lift me off my feet and carry me into his room instead of retreating alone to mine.
I was wrong.
There was a way, and each minute, each second, brought me closer to Essie’s predictions.
He lowered me onto the bed, following me down. His lips attached to mine. He sparked an ache I hadn’t felt in years. My body craved his touch like I needed if for my next breath. It was foreign and yet felt like home.
His lips trailed a path down my neck as he fingers touched my skin right below the hem of my shirt. He took his time as if expecting me to stop him.
I yanked at the back of his shirt, lifting it over his head as I lifted my pelvis up to his. Two days was all we had. Two days to figure out this pull.
“You sure?” he asked as I tugged my shirt off and unhooked my bra. His lips trailed a path across my body before he gently pressed several kisses to the bite mark on my neck.
“Yes.”
He lifted his gaze. “Now’s the time to stop me if you have reservations.”
Reservations were one thing. I had plenty. I wasn’t going to be his wife, live in this city, or even own a dog, but I didn’t question the heat building between us. It was explosive, and I was ready. I needed to feel his touch, know his taste. I needed to have him.
I wasn’t going to be eating dinner alone like the woman in the window, not tonight, not for the next two days.
His touch was electrifying. The desire pooled in his eyes probably mirrored my own. The only question left was whether I was sleeping with Wall Street or Lumberjack. It didn’t matter. A bit of both were shining through. Making me need, making me want.
“I need you.”
“Thank God,” he whispered against my skin as he continued his kisses down my chest. He squeezed one of my breasts while his mouth headed to the other. “I’ve been wanting to do this since the day I saved you in the woods.”
I ran my fingers through his hair, holding him in place as he found his target and sucked. “Oh God, yes.”
Within minutes we were both naked. My need was palpable. My chest heaved with desire, and my heart rate quickened as I watched him slide the condom down his shaft.
He leaned over me, stilling himself at my entrance. His gaze held mine, and lust and need stared back at me as he slid inside, stretching me deliciously until he was seated to the hilt.
I closed my eyes as I held on tight.
Tension and lust coiled around us, grabbing hold. In a matter of seconds, we’d become one. This wasn’t just sex, but so much more.
Determination hardened Harlon’s jaw as he stared down at me.
