Chapter 35 Harper-Rayn #2
I nod and take a shaky breath. “After Dr. McKullan and Anders were killed, I was spiraling. I didn’t know how to fix things—or even where to start. I had this fleeting thought that the best way to take out a psychopath is by hitting him with another.”
“You’re losing me, doll. What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I stopped taking my pills in the hopes that my original stalker might make a return and tell me what I needed to do.”
“Okay,” he says slowly. “And what happened?”
“Just what I thought would happen,” I tell him, feeling hesitant. “It took a minute for the meds to clear out of my system, but once they did, he came back, and he told me that the only way to truly stop Elias was to kill him. Otherwise, he’s just going to keep coming back.”
His gaze softens. “Harper—”
“Don’t give me that pitying tone,” I tell him. “He told me what I needed to know, and the second he disappeared again, I started taking my meds. I haven’t missed one since.”
“Doll . . .”
“I’m okay, really,” I tell him, stepping back into him and pushing up onto my tippy-toes to get closer, sensing his This is dangerous speech coming on.
“I have no plans to go back on that. I’ve been doing much better, and I’m annoyed at myself for taking such a huge step backward.
I’m sorry for not being open with you about that, but it’s over now, and I promise, it’s not going to happen again. I don’t want you worrying about me.”
Knight offers me an encouraging smile, but it doesn’t meet his eyes, and despite telling him not to worry, I know that’s not going to happen.
“Okay,” he finally says, wrapping his arms around me.
“If you say you’re doing okay, then I’ll take your word for it.
But don’t be annoyed if you find me checking up on you if I feel you’re starting to slip. ”
“I won’t,” I tell him, pressing a kiss to his lips. “You wouldn’t be the man I love if you weren’t checking in on me.”
“Good,” he says. “Now, how do you feel about going for a swim?”
“Huh? I offered a beach day, and you wanted to be one with the twigs,” I remind him, just in case he’d forgotten.
“We’ll never make it back to your truck, out to the beach, and then back home before Jonah gets there with the girls.
Maybe we could take the girls tomorrow. Assuming they’re not too grumpy, seeing as how I intend to keep them up until the wee hours of the morning. ”
Knight laughs before scooping his arm beneath my knees and lifting me against his chest. “That’s not exactly what I had in mind,” he says, backing up from the waterfall as a wicked gleam lights his dark eyes.
“No,” I say, figuring it out way too late, trying to scramble out of his arms, but the fucker is way too strong. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Or what?”
“You’re insane. That’s got to be at least fifty feet.”
He shrugs. “More like seventy-five.”
“What the fuck?”
His grip tightens, and my panic reaches new heights. “Do you trust me?”
“KNIGHT!”
He laughs, and as he holds me to his chest, he takes off at a bounding sprint, not giving me a chance to argue or even try to break free of his strong grip. He launches us toward the edge of the waterfall as a terror-filled scream rips from deep in my chest.
“Don’t let go,” he warns me.
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU, KNIGHT SLATER!” I roar just as he throws himself over the edge, sending us soaring off the cliff.
Gravity sends us plunging into a free fall. He holds my body so damn tight against his chest, and my hair whips in the wind, sending it coursing around my face. My scream catches in my throat, and before I even get the chance to bitch him out again, our bodies plunge deep into the cold water.
I hold my breath as our momentum pulls us down, and as my natural instincts take over, Knight releases everything but my hand, allowing me to kick to the surface.
We reach the top at the same time, and the moment I can, I suck in a deep breath as I start to tread water. A laugh rumbles through the deserted lake, and I turn my glare on Knight.
“Oh, you’re so done,” I warn him just moments before launching myself at his big frame, grabbing his strong shoulders and trying to shove him under, but he’s so damn big, I don’t stand a chance, and the only useful weapon I’m left with is to splash him.
He never stops laughing, and it’s so infectious that I find myself laughing right along with him, and despite being so cranky at him, I can’t lie, flying from that cliff was such a rush.
It certainly wasn’t something I ever would have had the guts to do.
Though it’s not as though I volunteered for this, it’s something I can mark off my bucket list, and something I’m so damn glad happened with him.
We stay in the water until the sun reaches the highest point of the sky, and as we slowly make our way to the shore, I roll over onto my back and stare up at the incredible waterfall.
“How did you know the water was deep enough?” I ask him as my arms slowly wade through the water.
“Used to come here a lot as a teenager. We’d have parties down by the lake, and drunken morons would scale their way to the top and dive off. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best decision, but we were kids, and it was fun.”
“I bet you were such a fuckboy in high school.” He grins at me, and I roll my eyes. “That’s what I thought.”
Reaching the edge, we walk up onto the sandy shore with water washing off us, and I immediately begin wringing out my hair. Knight watches me, his gaze hooded, and I can’t help but notice the way his wet shorts stick to his body.
“You know,” he murmurs, slowly striding toward me like a hunter stalks its prey. “We’re all alone out here.”
“Oh yeah?”
He nods, stepping right into me and grabbing me by the back of my neck, pulling me in so close that all I’d have to do is push up onto my tippy-toes to kiss him.
“I’m going to fuck you, Harper,” he says, his tone like a seductive command that makes my walls clench.
“It’s going to be wild and rough, and I’m probably going to leave little bruises on your skin from where I hold you too tightly.
You’re going to meet me thrust for thrust, but before that, doll, you’re going to run. ”
My back stiffens, and I hold his stare, unsure what he means. “What?”
“Look around you, doll. We have these whole fucking woods to ourselves. It’s just you and me out here.
You can scream as loud as you want. Fuck me as raw as you want, and nothing and nobody is going to disturb us,” he tells me.
“By the time I get you back to my truck, I want your pretty skin covered in scratches from the tree I fucked you against. I want your hair filled with dirt and soot from rolling around on the fucking ground. I want scratches up and down my back from your nails because I fucked you so hard you physically couldn’t help it. Do you understand me?”
My heart races, a thrill pulsing through my veins as I nod.
“You’re going to run, doll, and when I catch you, I fuck you.”
I nod again as his hand trails down my back, grabbing hold of my ass. Then, without warning, his hand comes down in a firm spank. “Go.”