Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
CYRUS
C illian’s SUV rolls up the driveway while I wait with my shoulder resting against the side door frame. He gives me a nod of greeting while I walk down the stairs as he parks. I go straight to open Harper’s door, anxious to get my arms around her.
Emerson and Declan are pissed and hurt, but I think I understand why she ran to Banks. I’m glad I’ll have a few hours while they’re at practice to talk to her. Each of them on their own is intense, and when both of them direct that energy at you at once, it’s overwhelming. I know from many personal experiences.
“What’s up you little thief?” I ask as I meet her eyes.
Her eyes immediately turn glassy. “I’m so sorry for that.”
“No worries.” I drag her into my arms for a hug as soon as her feet hit the pavement. “You stole my hoodie, too.”
She lets go of me and looks down. “I just grabbed the closest one on the floor when I got up.”
I’d give her the shirt off my back if she asked for it, especially when she looks so fucking adorable in my clothes. She looks down and steps around me, heading for her mom. Cillian sets his hand on my shoulder to halt me from following them into the house.
“Where are Declan and Emerson?” he asks.
“At practice.”
“We can’t stay that long, so I trust you’ll be able to relay our conversation?”
“Of course.”
I ready myself for a lecture about what we did last night. I’ve already been summoned by my uncle; I have to leave to go see him as soon as the guys get back. It’s not going to be pretty. He’s seen the video, and he’s not the most open-minded of people.
“I need you guys to figure out who took the video because neither I nor the PI think it was the stalker. In fact, we’re worried it’s going to escalate his behavior.” He pulls out a bag and hands it to me. “These are trackers, put them on everything with wheels, in all your wallets, and for fuck’s sake, make sure there’s at least two on or near Harper at all times when she’s not home.”
“I can do that.”
“And perhaps don’t have sex out where just anyone can walk past and see you.”
“Anything else?” I ask as I look around the property.
“No. Should there be?” He follows my gaze. “Do you want me to lecture you on safe sex?”
“Not particularly,” I scoff.
“Good. Me neither.” He shifts his weight from foot to foot. “Just take care of each other.”
“Always.” I meet his eyes, so he knows I’m serious. I would take a bullet for Declan and Emerson. I’d step in front of a train for Harper. There’s no length I wouldn’t go to in order to protect them.
“That’s all I can ask for.”
We walk into the house and find Harper and Annabelle sitting on the couch, their legs folded under them in mirror positions as they each sip on a mug of hot tea. They both have glossy eyes when they look up at Cillian and I as we enter the room. Annabelle reaches over and sets her hand over Harper’s while she says something quietly.
“We need to get back,” he says.
“I’m sorry you had to come get me so far out of your way.”
“It’s okay, Harper.” Cillian looks at her kindly. “It’s what parents are for.”
“Before you go, I have a question.”
“Okay,” he looks at her curiously.
“Would it be possible to go see my father?”
The room goes silent as Cillian and Annabelle share a surprised glance.
“Why?” Annabelle sets her hand on Harper’s knee and pats.
“I think he’s behind the stalker.”
“What makes you think that?” Cillian asks.
“The way that he talks in the letters, about me being promised to him. I know Mom would never do that.”
“I don’t think your father will be any help with this.” Annabelle is white as a sheet at the thought of Harper going to see him.
“I mean, I’m nineteen, I doubt I need your permission.” Harper straightens her back, looking them both head on. “I just don’t want to sneak around.”
“Can we think about it?” Cillian asks. “Just to come to grips with it before anything happens?”
“Yes.”
Declan is going to absolutely lose his mind. As if he wasn’t already planning on attaching himself to her like a piece of velcro, now he’ll be a hundred times worse. Not that the thought of her walking into a federal penitentiary to see her piece of shit father makes me that happy, but I do trust her.
We exchange goodbyes and watch as they back out of the driveway. The bodyguards that brought my bike back are following them in a blacked-out truck that’s been parked on the street. Harper walks into the house first, rubbing her neck as she goes. I watch as she walks over to the kitchen sink and bends down to pull out the kitchen cleaner.
“Emerson already cleaned it out.”
“Oh.” She sets the cleaner back under the sink and sighs. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be.” I slowly approach her, unsure if she wants physical comfort or just someone to listen. “Come with me.”
She looks hesitantly at my outstretched hand before placing hers in it. “Where?”
“You’ll see.”
I lead her upstairs to her room. The sheets are still a mess from the four of us last night. As I pull her into the bathroom, I drop her hand and walk over to the bathtub. I can tell her muscles hurt, and I know how bad the stiffness can get when you are triggered by PTSD.
Obviously, I don’t know that was what happened to her this morning, but I feel a connection to her, an understanding, on a level I can’t quantify or explain. I know her body has to be hurting, though.
I start filling the tub and dump a generous amount of bath salts into the water, so they can dissolve. When I turn around she’s looking at me with gratitude and a sort of amazement.
“How did you know?”
“I just did. I always hurt when something triggers me. They say the body stores our trauma.”
“Do baths help you, too?”
My lips quirk into a slight grin. “No, but to be honest I’ve never tried.”
“What do you do then?”
“Emerson.”
“Oh.” Her face flushes.
“So cute when you blush, asteraki mu.” I caress her cheek as I begin to walk past her toward the door, but she grabs my hand.
“Stay?” She looks at the tub and then back at me. “In the tub with me?”
I look between her eyes and the tub, knowing she doesn’t need sex right now. She just needs comfort. I have to make sure to keep myself in line with her needs.
“Okay.”
She closes the bathroom door and pulls the hoodie over her head, revealing her bare chest. Instead of focusing on her tits like my dick wants me to, I map all the scars on her body, thinking about her request for a tattoo design to cover them. She pushes her shorts down and steps out of them, leaving a small pile of clothes behind as she steps into the steaming water.
As she slips beneath the surface to wet her hair, I pull my shirt off and drop it with her clothes. My pants, underwear, and socks are next. I feel her eyes on me as I approach.
“Scoot forward,” I instruct.
She does, and I slip behind her, my legs bracketing hers against the side of the tub. I reach around and pull her back against my chest. Her hands wrap around my forearms as we relax into the warmth of each other and the water surrounding us.
“This is nice.” She tilts her head back and gives me a light kiss on the jaw. “Thank you for being so understanding.”
“I get it, get you, on a level that Emerson and Dec can’t. They don’t have the experiences we do, and I’m glad they don’t. It does make it difficult at times, though.”
“How so?”
“They can be broody?—”
“You don’t say?” she drawls sarcastically. “I never noticed.”
“Hey.” I pinch her side. “They can be broody when they’re hurt or worried. They’re both hurt and worried right now.”
“I know,” she says quietly. “I honestly wasn’t thinking at all this morning. I just saw the headlines, and the only place I’ve ever had to go for safety is Banks. It’s like I went onto autopilot, and that’s where my body took me. I don’t even remember the drive to him. It was like one minute I was in the kitchen, the next he was scooping me up outside his dorm.”
“I know that feeling so well. I’m sorry.” I kiss the top of her head.
“I’m sorry that it’s something we share.”
“Me too.” I pull her against me, hoping she just ignores that my dick is rock hard between us. “Can I wash your hair?”
“Yeah,” she sits forward, so I can reach behind me and grab her shampoo.
I pump a dollop onto my palm and begin working it through her long, dark tresses. My fingers massage her scalp as I work the suds through from her roots to the ends. My cock jerks when I hit a certain spot that makes her arch her back and moan in pleasure. When she lays back to rinse her hair, her nipples crest the surface of the water.
She’s so beautiful. I grab the body wash after we condition her hair and put some in my palm, rubbing them together to get suds. She scoots back, allowing me to clean along her spine and up over her shoulders and arms. When it comes time to move down her body, she lays back against me.
I try thinking about anything but how soft her breasts are under my hands and the way her nipples harden as my palm passes over them. Nothing proves to be a big enough distraction though, as my hands run over her stomach and hips. She bends her knees and allows me to run my hands up and down her legs. The soap is gone now, but I continue to caress her body.
She sets her hand over mine and guides it up to the apex of her thighs. I brush my fingers lightly over the soft skin of her center. Her pelvis rocks against me, inviting me to take more.
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“Yes.” She nods. “Please, touch me.”
My fingers glide through her slick wetness, she’s so turned on that she’s flooded with desire. I gather her juices and circle her clit slowly. If I’m going to do this, I might as well do it nice and slow, drive her to the point of crazed begging. With my free hand I reach up and grasp her chin, tilting her head back and up, so I can cover her mouth with my own.
I want to swallow every single breath, inhale each moan, own every gasp. Two of my fingers slip inside her channel, making her chest rise and fall rapidly. Water laps at the edge of the tub as I pump my fingers in and out of her while her hips rock against my hand.
She reaches behind her back and wraps her hand around my length, pulling and tugging the best she can, which is still enough to make me nearly come right then and there. I gasp when she flicks my piercing with her thumb. She smiles against my lips and does it again.
I grab her hips and spin her around, so she’s facing me. Before I know it, her pussy is lined up with the head of my cock. I can feel my tip buried between her folds. She looks up at me and holds my gaze as she lowers herself over me. Her lips part as I fill her inch by inch.
“Fuck.” Her eyes have a faraway sheen to them. “I feel so full.” Her walls flutter around me, damn near making me finish because I wasn’t expecting it.
“Move however you want, any speed. You feel so fucking good.”
She begins to move up and down my length, not giving a single fuck about the water sloshing around us. Her fingers grip my shoulders, her nails leaving little half-moon indents. I press my lips to her neck as she begins to shudder, her pussy milking the cum from my cock. I can’t even find the energy to be embarrassed that I came so fast while we hold each other and come back down from the high of our orgasms.
Heavy footsteps on the stairs alert me to Emerson’s presence. I don’t turn to greet him as I slide my belt through the loops of my pants. He knows without words where I’m going because of how I’m dressed. I don’t want to argue before I go see my uncle, especially not when I’m still high from being with Harper.
“You can’t be serious,” he says.
I look over my shoulder as I put on my shoulder holster. “Duty calls.”
“He’s just going to fuck with you.”
I shrug and slide my gun into the holster.
“When’s it going to stop? Every time you think you’re almost done with him, he reels you back in. Enough is enough.” He steps around me and gets in my face.
“I’m under his control until he takes care of Flynn and I finish this current job.”
“Flynn’s in prison, where he’ll rot for the rest of his natural life.” He grabs me by the hair and gets in my face. “Do you really think Harper would be okay with this? What if I tell her?”
“Don’t you fucking dare.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you’re safe.”
“I’ll be fine.” I cup his jaw and run my thumb over his bottom lip as I look into his blue eyes. “I always am.”
His stormy eyes dip to my lips as he wets his own. “I?—”
He stops with a slight shake of his head, like he doesn’t want to finish the sentence. I take the opportunity to slam my mouth against his. He parts his firm, soft lips granting me access which I take with no hesitation.
Our kiss is feral, full of teeth and tongue. Even though he has several inches on me in height, I pin him to the wall with my body. He fists my hair and tilts my head back, giving him greater access to the recesses of my mouth. I rock my pelvis against his, grinding our aching cocks against each other until my phone chirps with a notification.
I break the kiss and look up at him with my heart pounding. “I’ll see you when I get back.”
He nods and looks away, never wanting to watch me leave like this.
I come across Declan on the stairs, who does a double take when he sees me in the black suit, knowing it can only mean one thing. He stops me with a hand on my shoulder; his hard green eyes search mine silently. He finds whatever he’s looking for because he releases me with a squeeze.
“Be safe. Call me if you need anything.”
“I will. Harper’s in her room.”
“How is she?”
I shrug. “Better now, I think. Just take it easy on her.”
He nods and continues on his way. I hear him drop his duffel bag on the floor of the laundry room before his footsteps cross the hall toward Harper’s room. I hope she’s ready for the monster standing outside her door.