Chapter 29
HARPER-RAYN
The early morning sun shines through Knight’s bedroom window as I wake in his warm arms, never having felt more at peace than I do at this moment. Fuck everything else that’s been going on; this right here is where I want to spend the rest of my life.
Yesterday was a shitshow. Actually, the last few weeks have been a complete shitshow.
Every step I take somehow sends me back ten more.
Laith is gone, and my stalker is escalating, intent on derailing my whole world, but right now, there’s nothing he can do that could possibly ruin this moment for me.
This right here, this is what falling in love feels like.
Knight’s arm is so tight around me that it’s almost impossible to breathe, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t even care that his arm has been pressing up against my ribs for the last twenty minutes. I never want to leave this place.
Except to pee. Shit, I really need to pee.
I spent the night suffocating him with my pussy just as he requested, and I think my knees are still shaking.
I wasn’t lying yesterday in the shower. With Knight, it’s just .
. . more. It’s as though he’s in tune with my body, what I feel, and what I need.
He reads me so well, and whatever gift he was given from the heavens above that allows him to please a woman so overwhelmingly great, he uses it well.
I’d be a fool to run from him, and despite the hell that’s bound to come from my mother if she ever finds out, I don’t even care.
I’d risk it all just to have a life with him.
If only I didn’t go and make such a big speech about not being exclusive.
I kinda shot myself in the foot there, and at some point, I’m going to have to find the strength to tell him point blank exactly what I want.
But until then, he’ll be here waiting, and nothing has ever comforted me more.
Slipping out from under his arm, I dash into the bathroom and quickly pee before using his toothbrush and washing my face. I can’t help but notice my messy hair and feel the tender skin between my thighs from a night full of riding the face of a man with stubble.
It’s not the greatest feeling to wake up to, but it’s one I’d happily wake up with every day for the rest of my life.
I mean, shit. That man eats pussy like it’s going out of fashion.
And his fingers! Fuck. I don’t know what training camp he went through, but whatever it was, it strived for perfection.
After freshening myself up, I slip back out into Knight’s bedroom, and while the empty space beneath his arm looks more than enticing, I can’t help but pad into his closet and grab one of his black hoodies from the rack.
I pull it over my body and muffle a laugh, seeing just how far down my legs it goes.
Knight really is a beast of a man, and I absolutely love it.
There’s something about a man who can throw me around that really gets me going, and Knight is exactly that.
I can almost picture him spending his free time out in the woods, living it up in a log cabin, and swinging an ax around like one of those ripped lumberjack dudes.
God. My mouth starts to water.
Creeping back out into his bedroom, I hold my breath, not wanting to make a single sound as I climb up onto his bedside table, awkwardly pausing when he threatens to wake up.
I cringe, my eyes going wide, but as he settles back into a light sleep, I get into position, crouching down and making sure the hoodie covers every inch of me before fixing the hood right up over my head and pulling the strings until my face disappears behind the material.
I look like a fucking demon spawn, the perfect devil hawk crouching on his bedside table for the most fantabulous wake-up call known to man.
There’s the smallest little peephole to look through and when Knight doesn’t immediately begin to wake, I start to regret my decision. This might take longer than I anticipated.
With my knees starting to ache from my crouching potion, I slip my toe out, knocking his phone off the bedside table and making just enough noise to stir him awake. His hand immediately slips out, feeling for me on the other side of the bed, and a goofy-as-fuck grin stretches across my face.
He grumbles something in his sleepy haze before rolling over, and the moment his gaze lifts to the crouching devil hawk on his bedside table, his eyes widen. “FUCK!” he roars, reaching out and grabbing hold of me, yanking me down onto the bed as I howl with laughter.
My back crashes against the mattress as Knight comes down over me, barely bothering to hold up his own weight as he keeps me pinned. “Holy fuck, Morticia. You scared the shit out of me.”
“I know,” I laugh, reaching up to birth my face through the hole in the hoodie. “Wasn’t it great?”
He shakes his head. “Not even a little bit.”
He rolls off me, his hand braced against his racing heart, and I immediately climb on top of him, my knees straddling his hips as the hood falls back.
“Oh, looks like I’m going to have to make it up to you,” I say, my eyes blazing as I meet his.
“Luckily I’ve got a few tricks you haven’t discovered yet. ”
His brow arches, and I immediately begin scooching down the bed before showing him exactly how to turn me into the super soaker 3000.
An hour later, we’re snuggled in bed, both of us completely exhausted, when Knight glances at the time. “I have to get ready for my shift.”
“You really have to go?” I question, grinning at him, more than ready to use his own words against him. “You can’t just call in and tell your boss that you have the flu?”
He laughs. “If I thought for even a second that would work, then I’d do it in a heartbeat,” he tells me as he rolls out of bed and walks that perfect, naked ass across the room. “You heading out today?”
“Ummm . . . maybe,” I say, having thought of potentially getting a new tattoo.
It’s always worked as a good stress reliever for me, but I haven’t quite made up my mind yet.
“I need to call Iz after yesterday. She’s probably been freaking out all night, which is totally a dick move. I should have spoken to her yesterday.”
“Yeah, maybe,” he says, agreeing with me, pulling those black tactical pants that I love up those toned thighs and hiding the goods beneath. “You know you can stay here if you want. There’s no reason to leave, but I get it if you don’t want to be alone here anymore.”
“Okay. I might stay for a bit. Not really sure. It’s comforting knowing you’re here if something were to happen.”
“Of course,” he says, striding over to me and lifting my chin before dropping his lips to mine with a brief kiss. “Any fucking time, doll.”
My cheeks flush, he’s called me doll a million times over the past few weeks, and every single time without fail, it sends butterflies soaring through my stomach. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of it.
Knight leaves for work, and the moment he’s gone, I put myself through a proper shower, washing my hair and feeling like a brand-new person before rummaging through his bathroom for just a shred of moisturizing cream.
After feeling like a normal human being, I head out to the kitchen and make myself a coffee as I try to figure out my plan.
The very first thing on my to do list needs to be Izzy.
I can only imagine what state I’ve left her in.
I need to book her a massage, some therapy, maybe get some flowers delivered and organize a mariachi band to serenade her, not that she would particularly care for all that stuff, but any apology I can muster needs to be given in a big way.
After that, I’m heading home. This bitch needs some clothes.
There’s only so many days in a row I can wear nothing but one of Knight’s shirts.
Surely he’s running out by now. There’s only so many shirts a man like Knight would own, and honestly, we’ve already flown straight past the number I would have assumed. It’s starting to get weird.
The rest of my day . . . I actually have no idea. I’m making it up as I go. I don’t usually wake up this early in the day. I’m a firm midday riser, especially on work nights, and I really don’t know what to do with all this spare time. It’s freaking me out.
With my coffee in hand, I make my way over to Knight’s oversized lounge and drop down into it, cringing as I take in the thirty-eight missed calls and nineteen texts. There’s even missed calls from my brother, Emily, and my mom. Izzy must have called everyone looking for me.
My heart breaks for her, knowing how worried she must have been after what she heard last night, and I don’t make her wait another second.
I hit her number on my phone and lift it to my ear, and just like yesterday, it barely rings before her panicked tone answers. “Holy fucking shit, Harper? Is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me,” I say, guilt tearing me into shreds.
“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK? What happened?” she demands. “I’ve called the police six times, and the bastards won’t let me file a missing person’s report until you’ve been gone for at least twenty-four hours.”
And with that, I launch into my story, telling her every single detail, right from the very start, covering every last encounter with this asshole, even going as far as to tell her about the times he’s forced me right into Knight’s arms.
The words fall out of me with ease, that is until I tell her about Laith, then the perfectly structured wall around my heart crumbles to the ground. I break into heartbroken sobs as Izzy tries to process everything that’s happening.
“No,” she tells me, disbelief thick in her tone. “That’s not possible. I was talking to Laith just last night. I texted him looking for you. He responded.”