Keep Healing (Fighting For Tomorrow #2)

CHAPTER 21

EVIE

It was three AM when I gave up on any hope of sleeping and sat up at the edge of the bed, moving slowly so as not to wake Aleks who was fast asleep and snoring slightly beside me.

I had tried to sleep, exhausted after another very long, very draining day, but I just couldn’t. There was too much going on in my head.

When Kyle, Kade, and Xander had returned, just as we were all sitting down to eat, they didn’t have good news. Soloman hadn’t been at his apartment and it looked as though he hadn’t been there for some time. His rent was being paid automatically, but the building manager told the FBI that he hadn’t seen anyone come or go for months.

Aleks had spent the afternoon looking through property holdings in search of a building like the one I had described, in Jason King’s name, or any of his family, but that had been a bust. He didn’t own any property at all and his family consisted of his parents, who were both dead.

Everyone assured me the FBI would be working on it, and that they had a good chance of catching Soloman now they knew who he was, but I wasn’t confident. I had a feeling Soloman wouldn’t be found until he wanted to be.

We’d eaten dinner with my family – or at least Zack and the guys had. I’d just pushed mine around the plate, my stomach in knots. Aleks explained he had found two bugs in the house, one in the kitchen and one upstairs in my room. That meant Soloman had been in the house without anyone even knowing and that terrified me. Aleks had assured me he had upgraded the security system since then and that we were secure, but I didn’t feel it.

I was relieved when we got back to the Lyle’s building and safely locked into the apartment. It felt more secure there, especially with guards outside.

Still I couldn’t sleep. I had no doubt Soloman had some how found out we now knew who he was and I worried what that would force him to do. Getting rid of me wouldn’t help him, since the FBI had his identity now too, but I was sure that wouldn’t stop him from blaming me and the fact I broke his fucked up rules. I was just so sure he was coming for me. It was just a matter of time.

I stood from the edge of the bed and pulled on the cardigan I’d been wearing that day. The apartment had automatic temperature control and it always felt freezing if you asked me.

I tiptoed from the room and down the hall. I didn’t want to be alone, but I was sure the guys were all sleeping after the day we’d had. They’d been exhausted as we drove back to the city. They hadn’t had a full nights sleep in over fifty-six hours.

I started towards the room Zack was sleeping in, just wanting to check on him, but paused when I heard music coming very quietly from the room I was pretty sure was Harris’s. The light was shining just slightly from under the door, so I crept over and opened it just a crack. He and Nick had both made me promise I’d never sneak into their rooms if they were asleep, both of them worried about what they’d do if I woke them from a nightmare, but I was pretty sure I could just peek in and see if Harris were sleeping.

“Hey,” I whispered when I glanced in and found him sat on the middle of the bed, his laptop open and the quiet music coming from it. “Can I come in?”

“Of course you can. Come here,” he said as he pushed his laptop aside and held a hand out to me. I took it and was grateful when he pulled me up onto the bed and straight into his lap. I sat sideways so I could see him. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“No. There’s just too much going around my head,” I explained. “What were you doing?”

“Just looking over the information Aleks gathered on Jason King. He has a ton of mental issues. I’m guessing he had some kind of break and started these murders.”

“But why? Surely there has to be a reason to start killing innocent people?”

“I’m no psych professional, but I think it has something to do with his mom’s suicide. He found her body after she slit her wrists in the bath tub. I think that’s why he needs his victims to ask for the end, just like his mom did, only she ended it herself,” he theorized, and it did make sense.

“I wish they’d found him. I hate knowing he’s out there.” A shudder followed my words and Harris quickly wrapped me in his arms.

“They’ll get him, sweetheart, and until they do we’re safe and so is your family. Kyle and Kade have a team outside your parents house and a tech guy in the office watching for breaches of the security system. He can’t get to anyone you care about, and I don’t think he’ll dare take another victim when the FBI is so close to getting him. If he’s smart, he’ll be running far away from here.”

“If they do catch him, we can go home, right?” I asked.

“Home?”

“To your place. It feels like home now. I want to go back there with you guys, if that’s okay?”

“Of course that’s okay, Ev. It’s perfect. It’s all any of us wanted to hear you say. You want to settle there with us?”

“I do,” I nodded.

“You know we’ll move if that’s what you need? We’ll go anywhere you want to go. I can move my business and Nick has already said he’s wiling to transfer, if he chooses to stay with the police.”

“I know, and I love you all so much for that, but I love your place. I have good memories there, even though I wasn’t there for long, and I want that back. I want that to be our home, where we raise Zack and maybe give him a sibling, or two,” I admitted.

“I want that too. We all do, but what about your job? Your career?”

“I’ll find something,” I shrugged. “It just doesn’t feel as important as it was before. I still want to be a lawyer and help the victims of crimes, but I can do that anywhere. Plus, it’s gonna be a while before I’m ready to stand up in a court room. I need some time and a ton of therapy.”

“I think we could all use some therapy. Nick and I already talked about it, and we’re going to find someone to help us with our nightmares. Kailan too. We don’t want to be terrified every time we fall asleep beside you.”

“We all have a lot to work through, huh?”

“We do, but we’ll get there. It might be a tough journey, but at least we’ll have each other to rely on. I feel like I can overcome anything as long as I have you at my side.”

“I feel the same. You guys make me feel stronger,” I told him.

“We’re all gonna be okay, sweetheart. We’re going to find our way through all of this and come out of the darkness stronger and so fucking happy.”

“I love you, Harris. I’ve always loved you,” I admitted.

“I love you too. I was such an idiot when I let you go. I will never make that mistake again.”

“Make sure you don’t,” I teased with a smirk. He lifted me, rearranging me until I was straddling his thighs, then his lips were on mine, the kiss passionate and desperate – so different to the gentle, languid kisses we used to share when we were just kids.

I looped my arms around his neck and pulled myself up to deepen the kiss. At the same time his hands smoothed down my back and over my ass. His touch was slow and searching, in contrast to the kiss, which was wild and desperate.

“Ev…” he gasped as he pulled back.

“Don’t stop, Harris. I’ve waited years for this,” I panted. I clung to him and slammed my lips down over his again. His hands moved up to my shoulders, then he pushed off my cardigan, leaving me in the tiny shorts and cami set I had gone to bed in.

“I’ve dreamt about this so many times. I can’t believe you’re really here,” he told me as he picked me up and lowered me to the middle of the bed, then he was over me, just staring at me with so much heat and need. I saw it because I was feeling exactly the same things.

“Show me what you dreamt of,” I whispered as I reached a hand up and stroked it down his bare chest. He hardly ever took off his shirt and never when anyone was around, so it was a true treat for me to see his perfect body. His muscles looked like they had been carved from stone, and I loved the trail of hair that led down his chest, over his stomach and lower still. I could see the scars of his burns all down one side of his body and up the side of his neck, but they were just a part of him. They were a badge of all he had survived and to me, they were beautiful for that very reason.

“Well, we were naked in my dreams,” he told me with a smirk.

“Easy,” I shrugged as I made short work of whipping my cami over my head and shimmying my shorts off. “Your turn,” I added when I was done.

He didn’t take his eyes from my body as he got to his feet and shucked off the soft shorts he was wearing. Stood before me, completely naked, he was even more perfect. His legs were wide and just as muscled as the rest of him. He had the ‘v’ that led down from his abdomen to the goods below. And ‘goods’ was an accurate description for the huge erection he was sporting at that moment. I couldn’t take my eyes from him as he slammed his laptop closed and shoved it onto the floor.

“How did you get even fucking sexier?” he asked huskily as he returned his gaze to me.

“Says you!” I laughed. “Look at you, Harris. You’re like a Greek God or something. I can’t stop staring.”

“You shouldn’t look too closely. My scars…” He reached for his side, but I stopped him, grabbing his hand and bringing it to the scars on my abdomen instead.

“We both have scars,” I told him as he ran his hand over the jagged lines on my stomach. “We’ve both lived a life since we were last together like this, but we’re here. We survived and we found each other again. That’s what matters. These scars, yours and mine, they’re just proof of how hard we fought to get back to each other.”

“God, I love you so much, Ev,” he growled and before I could utter a reply he was kissing me with so much fervor and need. I grabbed his shoulders and clung to him as the kiss went on and on. His hand snaked down, finding my breasts and toying with my hard and aching nipples until I was crying out around his kisses, desperate for more.

Finally his hand slid lower, and his kisses moved to my neck, driving me wild as goose bumps erupted down my arms. He found my center and he didn’t waste any time, going right to that little bundle that was so needy and frantic for his touch.

“Harris!” I cried as his thumb brushed over it just the way I liked it. After all of these years he remembered exactly how I liked to be touched.

“How’s that, beautiful?” he asked as he looked up to me from where he had his mouth over my nipple.

“So good. Don’t stop!” I cried, not caring who heard me in that wanton moment.

He pushed two fingers inside of me as his thumb continued to toy with me and in seconds I was gasping his name over and over as my orgasm crashed over me so hard I saw spots. It was several minutes before I came back down to earth enough to open my eyes and when I did, I couldn’t help but smile. Harris was laid out beside me, his head resting on his elbow as he just watched me with the hint of a smile.

“I forgot how perfect you look when you come,” he told me as he ran his index finger down between my breasts and to my stomach.

“Yeah, yeah,” I laughed. “I bet I look all goofy.”

“You look beautiful, Ev. You look peaceful. That means so much more to me now than it did before. It’s a rare sight nowadays,” he told me and I knew that was true. Peace was hard to find when Hell and torture were constantly playing out in your head.

“Well, I could definitely use some more peace,” I told him as I sat up and swung my leg over his hips. He laid flat on his back and I settled on top of him, my hands braced on his chest.

“You sure about this, sweetheart?” he asked as he looked up at me and ran his hands sensually down my arms.

“Yes. So sure. I love you Harris. I want this. I want us,” I told him confidently. I leant forward and gave him a peck on the lips. “Do you have a condom?” I asked. I certainly didn’t have any, but I would seriously need to think about buying some or getting on a contraceptive now I had four boyfriends.

“Check the nightstand. If I know Asher he has them in every room,” Harris chuckled.

“He’s a player?” I asked with surprise.

“Oh yeah. He always was. He’s terrified of commitment so he brings a different girl home each time.” I was shocked. He didn’t seem like that kind of guys at all when I met him. He just seemed too prim and proper for that.

I leaned over to open the nightstand drawer and, sure enough, it was filled with condoms and nothing else. I tried not to think about how many women had had sex in that very bed as I sat back up and ripped the packet open.

Harris grabbed the disk from the open packet and slid it down his long length as I put the wrapper on the nightstand, not wanting to make a mess in a place that wasn’t mine.

“You good up there?” Harris asked when I looked down at him. “We can switch if you feel more comfortable.”

In answer I moved position and slowly lowered myself down over his length. He was big – hell, they all were!- and he filled me so snugly as I very slowly slid back down to sitting, unable to contain my moans of delight as I did so. He just felt so good inside me. I’d forgotten what sex with him was like. I realized I’d probably blocked it out so the lame sex I had with Dean didn’t seem quite as pathetic as it was.

“Hey, eyes on me,” Harris said as my mind started to wander where it really shouldn’t. “Stay right here with me, okay?” he added.

“Sorry.”

“We don’t have to do this if you’re not ready, sweetheart.”

“I’m ready. So ready,” I assured him. I lowered down enough to kiss him hard and fast, wanting him to know for sure I had no doubt about what was happening.

I started to move up and down, but I wasn’t getting the angle I needed, so I sat up again and braced my hands on his solid chest. We both moaned as the sensation increased in the new position and I started to speed up, moving faster and faster as he ran his hands over my body. I was chasing my orgasm so desperate to crash over that edge again, and yet never wanting this perfect moment with the man I loved to end. It was like we were moving in seamless synchronicity, the both of us just fitting together so perfectly. As I got closer I forgot where I ended and he began. I didn’t care. I just wanted to cling to him as we crashed over that edge together. It was like coming home.

I cried out over and over again as my orgasm hit me, and at the exact same time Harris cried out too. I rode the waves of bliss as he led me down to lay across his chest, then I just clung to him as I gasped for breath and floated in that peace he had talked of before.

“I love you,” I whispered as I lifted my head and met his beautiful eyes. We were a sweaty tangled mess, but nothing had ever felt more perfect.

“I love you too, so damn much,” he told me. I couldn’t stop smiling as I lay my head back on his sweaty chest and closed my eyes. I didn’t want to move, ever. I was in heaven right where I was.