Chapter Twenty-Seven
Caroline
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“YOU DID IT.” HARPER’S arms tightened around me, and I didn’t resist his embrace. “I’m so proud of you, little girl.”
Breathing in the scent of his spicy cologne, I snuggled closer against his chest. My head had started to pound after we’d left the court, and he’d brought me straight back to the hotel in a taxi.
“I’m glad it’s done.” I sighed, releasing some of the tension hiding in my muscles. “I hope I did Fern and the others justice. They deserve Jackson to do some serious time for what he’s done.”
“You all do.” He sounded serious. “I just hope that taking the whipping and managing to hand him over to the authorities excuses me of some of my responsibility in all of this.”
“You did everything you could, Sir.” I kissed his shirt, wanting to console him.
“I really didn’t,” he scoffed. “I could have given myself over to imprisonment, but I preferred to stay here with you.”
My lips tugged at the way he put that. “I’ve wrestled with that myself. I know many people will think the ‘right thing’ for you to do would be to hand yourself over to the ICC, but bringing Jackson in means a lot more. He was the one in charge, Sir. The buck should stop with him.”
“I’m not sure you can offer impartial advice on this one, sweetheart.” He smirked down at me, wincing as he shifted to sit upright.
“I’m happy to be partial.” I rolled from his arms onto my back. “I’m rather partial to you, Mr. Harper.”
“I’m pleased to hear it.” He reached for my shoulder and squeezed it softly. “Because we’ve got a future to plan together, Miss Craness, and it needs to be a good one.”
“Mmmm, that sounds lovely, Sir.”
“One thing, though.” He smiled. “I didn’t know your middle name was Rebecca.”
I grinned at his amusement on the subject. “There’s lots you still don’t know about me, Sir, and much more I’d like to discover about you. That’s the joy of where we are now. We’ve both got lots to learn.”
“True. I look forward to learning more.”
Rolling back in his direction, I kissed the side of his wrist. “Once our asylum claim has been processed, will we be able to leave the Netherlands?”
“I believe we can apply for refugee travel documents, yes.” His hand traveled over my chest, intentionally brushing over the mounds of my breasts.
I’d loved showing him devotion earlier, but I was desperate for him to return the favor, and his coaxing fingers were doing little to subdue the need.
“But I’d be happy to stay right here for a while and find a place we can put down some roots. How does that sound?”
“Sure.” I loved the eagerness in his voice, but also the fact that he wanted to consult.
Harper had come a long way from the commander general I’d first encountered. I’d fallen for the enticing authority of that man, but the one stretched out with me then was so much more than he had been.
The Adam Harper I’d discovered in the Netherlands was the man I truly needed.
“So long as we’re together, and we’re safe, I’m happy, Sir.”
“I want you to be happy.” Leaning on his elbow, he cuddled in closer. “Laurent is helping me with my French citizenship, but we have money in the meantime, so there’s no panic to leave. We can explore The Hague, or move on around the country, and for the first time, no one is going to be after us.”
“What a relief.” After everything I’d been through in the last few years, any kind of life that didn’t involve being on the run from either the British state or European authorities seemed almost incomprehensible.
“How’s your back now, Sir?” I inquired, noticing that his movement seemed a fraction easier than before.
“Healing.” He smiled. “Like us.” Leaning down, he grazed his mouth over my lips. “I’m so fucking lucky to have you, little girl. Thanks for taking a chance on a lunatic like me.”
“I don’t remember having that much choice, Sir.” Burying my fingers in his hair, I chuckled at the feigned outrage on his face, yelping as he spun me backward suddenly and climbed on top of me.
“Just as well you fucking loved everything I made you do, then,” he growled, lowering to nip at the side of my neck.
“Just as well,” I panted between his heated kisses, my hips lifting to convey the strength of my feeling. “We were made for each other, Sir.”
“I was made to command and protect you.” His pupils were large, his hair falling past his eyes as he brooded down at me, and in that moment, he reminded me every inch of the Adam Harper who’d saved me at Fortorus. “And you were made to love and serve.”
I laughed at his logic, groaning as his caresses shifted to my chest. With the hearing behind us and a hopeful future ahead, I was more than ready to be his again.
“I missed you, Commander General.”
He stilled at my words, his head rising until our gazes met. “Is that who you need me to be?”
“It’s who you are, Sir.” My digits tightened in his hair. “My dark protector.”