32. Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Two
LYNX
Propping her hands on the tub, Harlow leans back and spreads her knees for me.
“Good girl,” I praise, earning me a small smile.
Christ. I want to see more of those smiles from her.
Later, I tell myself, hooking one of her legs over my shoulder, pulling her soaked panties to the side and delving in, flicking her clit with my tongue and sucking the engorged little bud until she’s writhing in front of me.
When I insert a finger and crook it, she moans, “Oh god,” and tips her head back, exposing the slender column of her throat and pushing out those gorgeous fucking tits.
Feeling how wet and ready she is, I add a second finger. She bucks her hips, egging me on.
I give her what she wants, sliding my fingers in and out of her and hooking them up into that fleshy spot that has her mouth gaping open and brows pinched tight.
It isn’t long before she comes, her pussy convulsing and my name echoing through my backyard. I have to physically refrain from climbing on top of her and fucking her straight through to next week.
Pulling back, I lick my lips and gaze up at her, watching as she slowly drifts down from her climax.
It takes her a minute to regroup, but when she does, she seems more relaxed. And a little sleepy.
“You should get some rest, pretty girl,” I tell her, my hands gliding down her thighs and resting just above her knees.
“What about you?” she asks, her voice slightly raspy.
I grin up at her. “Don’t worry about me right now. Come on.”
I stand and offer her a hand. She stares at it for a few seconds before accepting my offer.
Helping her out of the tub, I grab her towel from the bench and wrap it around her, planting a chaste kiss on her forehead before leading her inside and locking the patio door behind us.
Our wet feet pad down the hall and into the bedroom, leaving a faint trail of water on the hardwood floor. She tells me she’s going to take a quick shower, then disappears into the ensuite.
When I hear the glass door open and the distinct sputter of the shower, I head to the main bathroom, grab a towel for myself, and change out of my wet trunks and into a pair of sweatpants, returning swiftly to the bedroom to wait for her to reappear.
Taking a seat on the side of the bed, I drop my head into my hands, my brain working overtime as I conjure up all the horrific ways I’m going to make the remaining two suffer for what they did to Harlow.
The strength it must take to carry on for as long as she has, the scars on her thighs a sick reminder that she can’t escape … I can’t begin to fathom.
If I could take them on as my own, I would. Every last inch of marred flesh, I’d wear with pride if it meant she could breathe freely.
Frustrated now, I take to pacing the foot of the bed until I hear the shower turn off and the door open and close.
When she steps out of the bathroom with nothing but a fluffy, white towel wrapped around her body, I damn near fall to my knees and beg her to forgive me for everything I’ve done wrong since we met.
Everything I will do wrong.
No doubt I’m going to fuck up again. I’m only human.
Dragging a hand through my hair, I exhale harshly and gesture for her to climb into bed.
What she does instead leaves me breathless.
She releases the towel, the plush fabric slipping down her body and pooling at her feet as small drops of water cascade from the tips of her wet hair and down her chest and stomach.
My eyes dart to her ankles, then slowly sear a path north, up over her shapely legs—her fucking scars—her flat stomach, and those goddamn tits, stalling on the caramel orbs that haunt my every dream.
“Harlow.”
She takes a step forward and matches my tone. “Lynx.”
“You need sleep.”
She shakes her head. “No. I need you.”
Another step. I can smell her now. And it’s doing nothing to slow the rush of blood traveling south in my body.
“You said you wished you could make me forget. But you already do that, Lynx.” Her voice cracks with emotion. “You don’t need to force me to stay in the moment and not go back to that place anymore. Because when I’m with you, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
I clench my teeth against the stabbing sensation in my chest and say in the gentlest tone I can muster, “If there’s nowhere you’d rather be, then why’d you try to take your life the other night?”
She nods and takes another step.
“That’s fair. But you know what? When you brought me here after that happened and carried me to bed and covered me up, I wasn’t numb and unresponsive because I wished that gun was loaded.
Instead, it was the opposite. God, Lynx.
I was so riddled with regret that I couldn’t find the words.
It was a mistake. But it was a mistake I’m grateful I made.
Because as soon as I pulled that trigger and saw the look on your face, I prayed to a god that doesn’t exist that I’d survive the bullet.
Just so I could look into your eyes one last time. ”
My chest tightens, a weight so heavy it’s almost unbearable pressing down on it.
“Fuck, Harlow,” I grit out, closing the space between us and crashing my mouth down on hers, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her body to mine, feeling her heartbeat thump against my chest. “My beautiful little killer.”
I lift her into my arms and she wraps her legs around my hips. In a frenzy now, our tongues tangle and hands grapple at each other. I turn us around and lay her down on my bed, her wet hair splaying out around her head as she stares up at me with doe eyes.
Lowering myself over her, I skim the tip of my nose down the bridge of hers and nip at her bottom lip.
“Fuck me like you love me, Lynx. We can argue about it in the morning.”
Studying her expression, I bite back the words dangling on the tip of my tongue.
When I find no signs of hesitation there, I free my cock from my pants and push inside her with a groan.
She arches her back and cries out, her hands delving into my hair as I slowly work my way in and out of her, savoring every moment I get like this but never wanting it to end.
When my balls tighten and I think I’m about to come, I pull out, flip her onto her side, lay behind her so I’m spooning her, and push back inside.
“Jesus, you’re tight,” I whisper in her ear, reaching around to strum her clit. “Fucking perfect.”
She releases a strangled whimper, her fingers finding purchase in the sheets as she raises her top leg, allowing me to go deeper.
“Christ,” I hiss, thrusting in and out of her and making her twitch and writhe with my fingers.
“Not yet,” I snarl, feeling her pussy clenching as her orgasm builds.
“I can’t—“
She gasps when I pull out again, ripping her orgasm out from under her. Reaching for the bedside table, I slide open the drawer and retrieve the toy I found in her duffel bag.
When I press the power button and the silence is drowned out by the vibrations, she glances over her shoulder, her eyes wide and cheeks tinged pink.
I chuckle at her obvious embarrassment.
“Think you’d sneak this into my house without me noticing? Think again.”
I press the buzzing toy—about the size of my thumb—to her clit. She gasps and bucks, and I slide my cock back inside her.
Where I fucking belong.
“Hold it right here for me, pretty girl. And don’t you dare come,” I tell her.
She obliges, holding the vibrator to her clit while I let my hand wander freely over her body.
“This pussy is mine, Harlow.” Thrust. “These tits.” I brush my thumb over the hard ridge of her nipples.
“This fucking mouth.” I grip her jaw and angle her head to kiss her, fucking her harder and biting back the urge to fill her with my cum.
“This sharp tongue and those gorgeous eyes.” I release her face and let my hand wander south to her thighs, tracing her scars.
“And from now on, your pain too. I want it all, pretty girl. All your broken pieces belong to me now. Every jagged, fucked-up piece of you is mine.”
“Lynx,” she pants. “I’m going to—“
I pull out again. It takes everything in me to do it, but I want her desperate and begging for release.
Taking the toy from her, I slide it through her arousal and press it against the tight knot of her ass, pausing when every muscle in her body galvanizes.
“I won’t hurt you, Harlow. You know that. Two taps or one little word is all it takes to stop me.”
Her eyes squeeze shut as she nods and breathes out, “Okay.”
Pushing back inside her pussy, I work her clit with my fingers and apply pressure with the vibrator to the hole I have every intention of claiming.
When she’s panting and clawing at the sheets and her core tightens, I pull out, smear her juices between her round cheeks with my cock, and press against that tight little hole with my tip.
“Yes or no.”
She counts backward from two, exhales, and gives me the answer I was desperate to hear. “Yes.”
Kissing the side of her neck, I slowly push inside her, only going as far as she’ll let me.
“Jesus, Harlow,” I grunt, pausing when I meet resistance. “Relax, pretty girl. Let me in.”
Angling her face to mine, I sweep my tongue across her bottom lip and toy with her clit until her shoulders lower and I feel her core loosen up.
“Good girl,” I murmur. “Now open those pretty lips and stick out your tongue.”
She obliges, opening wide and flattening her tongue out for me. Still circling her clit, I spit down onto her tongue and slowly ease my cock further inside her.
She stares up at me with watery eyes, my saliva pooling on her pink tongue as she waits for me to tell her, “Now swallow. And take my cock like the good fucking girl you are.”
Her mouth snaps shut, her throat bobbing as she swallows it down.
But when she smirks up at me and says, “If this is how you’d fuck me if you loved me, then show me what it would be like if it were our last time,” I can’t help but wonder if she’s deceiving me and has concocted some sort of plan to disappear.
But I can’t think about that right now. Not while she’s gazing up at me like that with my cock buried inside her tight ass, my fingers playing with her pussy and a defiant spark flickering behind her irises.
Pinching her clit, I say warningly, “Run away from me, Harlow. And I’ll chase you down and fill all your holes at once. Do you understand?”
Her confidence wanes. “Yes. I understand.”
And on that, I begin moving more steadily, shuddering at how well she’s taking me. At how wet she is. Every few seconds, I smear more of her arousal around where our bodies are connected to ensure I don’t hurt her, then continue on bringing her near climax.
When she finally comes, it’s violent, her nails biting into my arm and body convulsing. Her cries are muffled in the pillow she’s turned her face toward, but somehow they still penetrate my icy exterior and embed themselves beneath my skin.
I meet her there shortly after, fucking her hard and fast and filling her with my cum as I grunt out my release and collapse onto the mattress behind her.
Without pulling out, I wrap my arm around her waist and drag her body against mine, burying my nose in her damp hair and inhaling her candy scent.
A long moment passes where the only sound in the room is our breathing before I hear the faint whisper of her counting backward from two.
She laces her fingers with mine and holds our fists against her chest so I can feel her heartbeat.
“This heart, for as long as it may beat, is yours Lynx. And I think you might be the only person capable of breaking it.”
I wake in a startle, sitting bolt upright and feeling around the bed for Harlow. To my dismay, my fingers find nothing but cool satin.
Without bothering to get dressed, I climb out of bed and tear through the house in search of her, my heart slamming against my ribs with every second that she’s not within sight.
I search the ensuite first, then book it down the hall, checking the spare bedroom and my office along the way. Next is the kitchen, where there are no signs of her whatsoever.
“Harlow,” I shout, nearly slipping on the floor as I race through the living room.
When I get to the mud room attached to the garage, my feet come to a skidding stop and I exhale a harsh breath of relief.
There, standing in the foyer, is Harlow. She’s dressed in one of my button-down shirts, her legs and feet bare as she hugs herself and stares at the painting of the cliff on the wall.
“Jesus, Harlow. You had me worried.”
She peels her eyes off the art and meets my worried gaze, her brows furrowed low as something dark creeps through her mind.
“What is it?” I ask, closing the space between us and pulling her into me.
“You—“ She shakes her head. “You said that cliff is nearby, right?”
Unease moves through me. “Yes. Why?”
Her teeth begin to chatter, her face ghostly pale. But as always, she slips that veneer of confidence back on and gives me absolutely nothing.
“It’s pretty is all.”
“Harlow.”
She shrugs me off and takes a step back.
“It’s fine. Maybe I’m just PMSing or something. Let’s go back to bed.”
And then she turns and walks away, her head hung low and shoulders slumped as though she’s carrying the weight of the world on them.
And I just know there’s a violent storm brewing in that mind of hers.
It’s only a matter of time before she leaves me standing in a wake of devastation.