Silent Heart (The Vlasov Bratva #5)

Chapter 22 – Harley

T here were only a few cars parked in front of the farmhouse. Without attracting their attention, I tiptoed inside, packed a quick bag, and hurried out the window. The moment my feet hit the sod, a voice broke through the dark.

“Still doing that?” my grandpa chuckled.

I yelped. “Jeezes! You scared me.”

And I had no idea he knew about me sneaking out the window at night. What else did he know?

Does it matter? The past was in the past.

Grandpa was coming from the barn, holding a pail. “Do I want to know where you’re off to?”

I winced. I might have existed for nearly three and a half decades on this earth, but telling my grandfather that I was sneaking out to see a boy wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have.

“He’s a good one, I’ll give you that.” My grandfather continued ambling toward the house. “Knows a thing or two about guns, hunting, and trucks, plus he has good manners. Your gran likes him.”

“I like him too,” I said, surprising myself with the answer. The simple truth was, I did. Enough that it scared me, because I had no idea what could come of liking someone like Kole.

My grandfather paused at the side door to the attached garage. “If you two are serious, maybe he can keep you safe in the big city this fall.”

Shifting in place, I chewed on that. “I don’t know. He’s not going back to school.”

“Since you’re dead set on this adventure, might be nice for you to know someone down there. Ya know?”

“I know.”

Grandpa looked up at the stars. “It’s gonna be a beautiful night. Go on, enjoy it while you’re young.”

With that strange blessing, I muttered a goodbye and hurried away. There was so much to think about, and right now, I didn’t want to deal with it. I just wanted to escape the tangled web right now.

***

There was a noise at the end of the hall. I pushed past the lull of sleep and tiptoed down the corridor. The lights were on in one of the many bedrooms, and the water ran in the en suite bathroom. Sure enough, Kole was back, just like the note he’d left on the counter said he would be. Plumes of steam belched from the shower, clouding the bathroom with a beckoning warmth. Tendrils escaped to where I stood at the cracked door. Behind the foggy glass wall, Kole scrubbed himself. It seemed as though oil was smudged around the edges and stained the finer lines on his otherwise unaged face. Laughter trickled through me, and I had to stifle it. Did the city slicker try to change the oil on his truck only to have it blast all over him? I hadn’t heard him in the garage when I came here around eleven, and his note said he’d be gone for an indeterminate time but would join me for breakfast if not earlier.

And who changed their oil in the middle of the night?

Someone who’s scared to go to sleep.

I continued to peer through the crack in the door. Kole was incredibly strong. There were many tough farm boys around here, but this one was built differently. He was like some Hollywood actor, but instead of being a celebrity, he was like the character from a dark and gritty film. The archetypal loner. And I was the woman fascinated with him.

That body could very well have been carved for war. I desperately wanted to know if he was a veteran, as my aunt implied earlier. Watching him now, I could see it. The way he twisted and moved behind the glass. Muscles flexed and shifted. The sight sent heat licking through my veins.

Might as well enjoy this while it’s available. Slipping my tee over my head, I cleared my throat. “Can I join?”

“Did I wake you?” If he was surprised at my sudden appearance in the next bathroom over, he didn’t say.

“No, I wasn’t sleeping well.” I stopped before the glass door, watching him watch me.

His voice was rough. “Take them off.”

I slipped my fingers along the waistband of my panties, tugging them down. The shower door creaked open. Steam coiled around me, rushing to escape what I longed to embrace. I stepped into the warmth.

“What monsters dare to trouble your sleep, Harley?” His firm touch settled on my waist. Kole lifted me easily, pushing me against the side of the shower.

My head tipped back as his mouth brushed against my throat. I could get used to this man’s devotion. It had to be why I kept coming back.

“It wasn’t monsters,” I rasped. “Just worries. Troubles. Cares.”

Kole’s teeth scored over my pulse. It was primal. Wickedly hot. I dug my fingers into his shoulder; my pussy pulsed with need that was right there, unable to be relieved.

And he showed me mercy, sinking deep into my core. I moaned at the raw connection. There was nothing between us. That knowledge drove me wild.

“I’ll pull out,” he promised. “I’m clean.”

I managed to nod and murmur in agreement.

“This is okay?” he demanded, sliding out and pushing farther.

“Yes, oh, lanta, yes!” I moaned.

“Thank you, baby, you won’t regret it,” he rasped.

A delicious shiver rattled through me. I clung to him, loving how he fucked me hard against the shower. The teasing from earlier never really went away, and now it was back with vengeance. Kole reached between us, placing his fingers against my clit to give it extra friction as he ground into me.

His mouth continued to worship me, sucking and biting my jaw, my ear—but especially my throat. “I’m convinced my cock belongs inside you.”

My pussy wept in response.

“Fuck, baby, do that again,” he pleaded, voice thick with need.

“I’m not sure what I did,” I stammered.

“You squeezed. ”

Oh, that. I could do that again.

Kole groaned. The sound was guttural and filled with an intoxicating masculine energy.

On the third flex of my muscles, my legs began to twitch and tremble. The release was right there.

“Look at me, Harley.”

Breathing hard, I pressed myself back and stared down at him. Our gazes collided, locking into a moment of profound revelation.

We stared at one another as he continued to rock himself deep into my shuddering channel. But it was the look we shared that sent me over the edge. More powerful than his touch, it bound a primal connection between us.

The release spasmed through me in an explosion of pleasure.

“Saints, Harley!” he cried, breaking the moment and trying to pull back.

Caught by the fever of the orgasm, I scrambled to hold him in place. “No! No, don’t move.”

“But— gahh ,” Kole cried out. “You’re squeezing my cum straight from my balls.”

A triumphant smile curled my lips, and I breathlessly promised it was okay.

“I was going to pull out,” he growled, tightening his grip on my body. There would likely be bruises. Kole let out another strangled groan. His body was stiff and rigid, clenched in a kind of torment. “ Ggarrrhh! You’re milking my cock with your sweet little pussy, water sprite. It’s a fucking dream.”

I might not have been consciously tightening those inner muscles before, but I sure as hell was now. A series of intentional squeezes, I pulled his seed deeper inside me. Later, I could worry about the consequences of my actions. But right now, it sent a frenzy through my blood knowing that Kole branded every inch of me.

“Stay with me,” he breathed.

“I’m right here,” I panted, pressing my lips against his forehead and raking my fingers through his hair.

Desperation filled his voice. “No, not that.”

He pushed his fingers into my hair, mirroring my touch.

“What?” I whispered. “What are you saying?”

“Spend the rest of the summer with me,” he rushed to say, as if he didn’t say it now, there wouldn’t be another chance. “I don’t know how long I can stay, but for however long I’m here, be here, with me.”

“But you didn’t want me here,” I whispered.

Kole shook his head. “I can’t stand the thought of being away from you. It’s too much. I can’t fight it anymore.”

How long did I even have with this man cloaked in secrets? What if he never really opened to me? But…. If I say no, it ends now.

And that wasn’t a position I was willing to take.

Letting go of the myriad of unknowns, every logical argument that said this was a terrible idea, I nodded.

His lips met mine. I tasted…fruit. Strawberries. I smiled against his kiss before falling deeper into the pool of lust he pulled me into. And then, without moving away, he began to rock inside me, ready to go again, ready to give me more .