73. Harper #2
He lifts his hips and helps me strip him, and then he's gloriously naked beneath me. I take a moment just to look at him—all lean muscle and golden skin in the fading sunlight.
"Like what you see?" he asks, that cocky grin back on his face.
"Very much." I lean down and kiss his chest, his stomach, working my way lower. "But I think I'll like it even better when you're begging."
"Harper"—his voice breaks when my hand wraps around him, stroking slowly—"you're killing me."
"Good." I look up at him through my lashes. "That's what you get for being so smug all the time."
He laughs—breathless and strained—and then his hand is in my hair, gentle but insistent. "Come here."
"Bossy." But I let him pull me up for a kiss that's all heat and desperation.
"You love it," he murmurs against my lips, his hands sliding down to untie my bikini bottoms.
"I love you," I correct him.
He shifts me off his lap just long enough to grab a condom from somewhere—because of course he planned ahead—and I shimmy out of my bikini bottoms while he rolls it on.
"Ready?" he asks, his hands wrapping around my ass as I straddle him again.
"God, yes." I position myself over him, teasing us both by sliding against him without taking him in. "But maybe I should make you wait a little longer."
His grip tightens, and his voice drops to a growl. "Harper. Don't tease."
"Why not?" I grin down at him. "You tease me all the time."
"Because if you don't let me inside you in the next five seconds, I'm going to flip you over and fuck you so hard you forget your own name."
Heat floods through me at the promise in his voice. "That's supposed to be a threat?"
"It's a guarantee." He slides a hand up my back to tangle in my hair. "Now stop teasing and take what you want, sunshine."
I sink down slowly, inch by inch, watching his face as I take him in. His jaw clenches, pulling my hair just enough to make me gasp, and the sound he makes is pure desperation.
"Fuck, Harper," he grits out. "You feel incredible."
"So do you." I roll my hips experimentally, and we both groan.
"Move," he commands, his voice rough. "Show me what you need."
I set a rhythm that's slow and deliberate at first, savoring every sensation—the stretch, the fullness, the way he hits something devastating inside me with every movement.
"That's it," he encourages, his hand sliding up to cup my breast. "Take what you want."
"You’re bossy even when I'm on top," I manage to say as pleasure builds in my core.
"Always." He grins up at me, then his thumb finds my nipple and circles it. "But you love it."
"I—oh God—" My rhythm falters as he pinches, sending sparks of pleasure through me.
"What was that?" His grin turns wicked. "Couldn't quite hear you."
"Shut up and touch me," I demand, riding him harder.
"Where?" His hand slides down my stomach to my belly button. "Here?"
"Lower."
"Here?" He traces the crease of my thigh, deliberately avoiding where I need him most. "Tell me what you want, sunshine."
"Touch my clit." I drop my head back. "Make me come."
"That’s it." His thumb finds the exact right spot, and I cry out. "That's what I wanted to hear."
The combination of his touch and the angle and the way he's looking at me like I'm everything pushes me closer to the edge. I ride him harder, chasing the release that's just out of reach.
"You're so fucking beautiful like this," Luke says, his voice strained. "Taking what you need. Using me. I could watch you all day."
"Less talking," I order, gasping. "More—oh fuck—"
"More what?" He increases the pressure on my clit, and I see stars. "This?"
"Yes. Luke, yes. Don't stop."
"Wouldn't dream of it." His free hand grips my hip, guiding my movements. "Come for me, Harper. Let me feel you."
The orgasm hits like a freight train—devastating and all-consuming. I cry out his name, my body convulsing around him, and he groans as I clench tight.
"Fuck, that's it. So perfect." Before I can catch my breath, he flips us—suddenly I'm on my back and he's above me, still buried deep inside me.
"My turn," he says with that dangerous grin. "And I'm not going to be gentle."
"Good," I manage to say, still trembling from my orgasm. "I don't want gentle."
He pulls out almost completely, then slams back in. "Like that?"
"Yes.” I cry out when he does it again. “Yes. Harder."
He sets a punishing rhythm—deep, hard thrusts that make me see stars. His mouth finds my neck, biting and sucking marks into my skin. "Mine," he growls against my throat. "You're mine, Harper."
"Yours," I agree breathlessly, my nails digging into his back. "All yours."
"Damn right." He shifts the angle slightly, and suddenly he's hitting that perfect spot with every thrust. "And I'm going to make you come again."
Then his hand is between us, finding my clit again. "One more for me, sunshine. Show me how good I make you feel."
It builds faster this time—a tidal wave of sensation that I can't fight even if I wanted to. I'm shaking, gasping, clinging to him as he drives into me relentlessly. I’m so gone I don’t have words for him.
But he knows. Luke always knows me.
"You’re coming. I can feel it." His rhythm falters slightly, and I know he's close too. "Come with me, Harper. Right now."
The command in his voice pushes me over the edge. I shatter around him, crying out onto the empty beach, and he follows seconds later with a groan that sounds like my name.
We collapse together on the blanket, breathing hard, tangled in each other and slick with sweat.
"Jesus," Luke mutters after a long moment. "That was—"
"Incredible," I finish, still trying to catch my breath. "That was incredible."
He laughs—breathless and satisfied—and pulls me against his side. "You're incredible."
I grin at him. "So you’re saying you liked it."
"I fucking loved it." He kisses my forehead. "Do it again sometime."
"Oh, I plan to." I trace patterns on his chest, feeling his heartbeat slow. "You're not the only one who can be bossy, Bennett."
"Clearly." He grins. "And I'm not complaining."
We lie there watching the last of the sunset fade into twilight, the first stars appearing overhead.
"Harper," Luke says quietly.
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
I prop myself up on my elbow to look at him. "For what?"
"For choosing me. For choosing us." His hand comes up to stroke my hair. "For not giving up when things got hard."
"I could say the same to you."
"We're a team," he says simply. "Always have been, even when we were fighting it."
Smiling, I lean down to kiss him. "Yeah, we are."
We stay on the beach until the stars are fully out, talking about nothing and everything. About Blackthorn and the future and the family we're building. About Emma's baby and Mason's plans to expand the stables and Jake's idea for a security consulting business.
About us.
Eventually, Luke carries me back to our bungalow—because of course he insists on carrying me—and we shower together, slow and intimate.
We make love again in the big bed with the windows open and the ocean breeze cooling our skin.
And afterward, lying in Luke's arms with his heartbeat steady beneath my ear, I realize something important.
I'm not lost anymore.
For so long, I defined myself by my badge, by my father, by the law I served. When I lost all of that, I thought I'd lost myself.
But I didn't.
I found something better. I found belonging. I found family. I found home. Not a place—though Blackthorn is that too—but home in Luke's arms. Home in the family we've chosen. Home in the life we're building together.
And what matters is this: love, family, and the courage to choose what's right over what's easy.
"I love you," I whisper into the darkness.
Luke's arms tighten around me. "I love you too, sunshine. Always."
I close my eyes and let sleep take me, safe in the knowledge that whatever comes next, we'll face it together.
The future is ours, and it's going to be beautiful.