HARLEY
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I knew the moment that I admitted to having access to her cameras, a rift would open between us. I understand why she was upset.
I invaded her privacy, and took something away from her, again. That could have been enough for her to be done, and for her to decide to find someone else entirely. I wouldn't blame her, but I also have no intentions of giving up on her—or on us.
After Ensley’s birthday party, I brought Ember home, and have spent every moment groveling. Trying to make her understand that I would do anything to make sure she’s safe.
Earlier today, we walked down Main Street, stopping at every thrift store we came across. Then I took her to pick up her favorite dinner from P. F. Chang’s, and we’ve been home since.
My groveling has hit an all time high. I have cleaned the house, and brought her coffee in bed every morning. I even went and got Maggie some wet food to try and win her over by making her cat happy.
Yesterday, I took her to the book store in the town over, and let her buy as many books as she wanted.
None of it felt like extra work, because despite my intentions being to win her back over, I would have done all those things anyway. I would have done it just to see her smile, but she is clearly living for the idea of me groveling for her approval and attention.
We lay on the couch, Ember’s head cradled in my lap as she reads one of her smutty books. My eye sight isn’t great, but I’ve seen my fill of indicative words that make it very obvious what she’s reading. I might need to take pointers and offer to reenact a scene to win her over.
I glance at my phone on the armrest of the couch. Seeing the time, I ask her if she wants me to run her a bath. While I’ve been groveling, she’s been teasing me every chance she’s gotten. It’s been three days since the party, and my dick is aching to be inside her again.
“Sure, if you want to.” She looks up at me, her eyes shining as if she has unshed tears.
”Are you crying?” I ask, angling my head to get a better look at her.
“Yeah, it was a sweet scene,” she says, using her hoodie sleeve to wipe her eyes.
“Babe, I just read a paragraph a page ago, and they were going at it like rabid animals in the back of a car and the woman was tied up with seatbelts?” I ask her, confused about how that was sweet, triggering tears from her suddenly.
“You wouldn’t understand,” she says, raising to sit upright.
I stand, shaking my head and letting out a chuckle.
I’m headed to the bathroom to run her bath water, but at the last second I detour to the kitchen and pop the cork out of a new bottle of wine. I fill a glass and walk it out to Ember. She takes it with a smile, and I continue to the bathroom with my original plan.
Ember follows after me, setting her glass of wine on the counter, and she strips her clothes off and throws them into a pile on the ground.
I turn the faucet on, letting the water run until it's hot the way she likes it.
“Bubbles?” I say over my shoulder, doing a double take when I see my girl fully nude, pouring wine into her glass. Another glass sits beside it on the counter.
Fuck. Me.
“Not unless you don’t want to get laid because my cooch is on fire for the next week,” she replies in a sassy tone.
“No bubbles it is.” I scoff, turning away from the masterpiece that is Ember Alden. “Hop in, princess,” I tell her as I stand to my full height, holding out my hand to steady Ember as she dips her toes into the hot bath before getting all the way in.
She sits down, leaning forward, and brings her knees up to her chest. I place her glass of wine on the edge of the bathtub. I turn and walk back into her bedroom to grab the little trunk at the end of Ember’s bed to sit on.
“Damn, babe, you leaving already?” she asks with a sharp tongue, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
This fucking woman.
I clench my teeth together and massage my fingertips over the bridge of my nose. Ever since we got home, she’s been dropping sarcastic little comments about me leaving because I’d left so abruptly when we arrived home from Atlas’s house before the party.
“Ember Rose, I know you’re pissed off at me, but I swear to god I am one snarky comment away from getting in that tub fully clothed and spanking that snarky attitude right out of you,” I tell her before turning back, just in time to see her flip me the bird with a wicked grin.
I stalk towards her, watching her grin grow.
She wants this, and my girl gets what she wants.
I step into the tub and pull Ember up from her sitting position, before sitting on the edge of the bathtub and pulling her across my lap, soaking my gray sweatpants.
“Now, Ember, you heard what I said, didn’t you?” I ask her, rubbing small circles on her wet ass. Ember looks back at me, her eyes roaming from my hand up to my eyes, and oh my fucking god what a sight. I feel myself hardening beneath her body.
“Yup,” is all she can muster in response, letting the ‘p’ pop.
In just a beat, I swing my hand back and pop her ass, causing her ass to ripple on impact and her head to jerk back just a little bit. She lets out the smallest gasp.
“Is that good, or should I keep going, pretty girl?” I ask her, letting my eyes travel down her back to her perfect ass right in my lap.
She scoffs before looking back with attitude etched in her raised eyebrow and a disapproving set to her mouth. I snatch her hair up in my fist and pull her head back.
“You’re such a fucking brat, Ember,” I tell her.
I swat her curved ass again, leaving my handprint on her cheek.
“And while I very much enjoy this side of you that I haven’t personally experienced before, I think next time you want to be a fucking brat and have your ass spanked, maybe we can use our words like adults?
” I say to her, a little bit of a question, but more of a statement.
“Well where is the fucking fun in that?” she fires back almost instantly. I don’t have to see her face to know she’s rolling those pretty blue eyes.
“Now,” I tell her as I massage her red ass cheek where I made contact, “I am soaking wet, and would like to change out of these clothes, is that okay with you or do we need to stay here all night?”
“I’m done,” she says dramatically before adding, “for now.”
I bend over her body and kiss her red cheek. “Good girl,” I say as she slides off my lap and down into her now cold bath water. I stand to my full height and step onto the bathroom rug. I bend back over into the bath and pull the plug.
“Hey, what the hell?” Ember complains.
“Did you want hot water or gross luke warm water?” I ask her before stripping my wet sweats down my thighs uncomfortably. Once they’re pooled at my ankles, I kick them off before yanking my shirt over my head.
As I stand in my wet boxers, I turn to witness Ember, who has made a show of my little strip tease. Her glass is now empty and she’s drinking from an empty glass to avoid eye contact, turning a slight shade of red.
I give her a shit eating grin, finally feeling like the fight is over and we’re on civil ground again. I reach over and flip on the water faucet, plugging the tub again to refill it with hot water. I grab the bottle of wine off the bathroom counter and fill her glass again.
She slips back into the position she was in before her bratty attitude got the best of both of us. I walk out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, slipping off my boxers and pulling on my other pair of grey sweatpants. Once I have my sweats tied off at the waist, I head back into the bathroom.
Inside, I find Ember with a happy grin plastered across her face and her eyes closed, obviously very pleased with herself.
The sight makes me chuckle, and one of her eyes pops open at the sound and she looks over at me.
Her gaze drops down to my sweats before trailing back up to my eyes, both of hers open now.
“You’re not joining me?” she asks me with confusion in her pinched eyebrows.
“No ma’am,” I tell her as I pop the bench from her bedroom beside the tub and sit down. Reaching in, I run my hands over the space between her neck and shoulders, rubbing out the tension that’s made itself at home there. She groans with pleasure, feeling the release of some of that tension.
“I have work in the morning,” she tells me.
“I have to input new inventory into the system and SKU everything.” I keep kneading my fingers into her knots.
I continue as she tells me about what she expects to do tomorrow at work until she’s at least slightly relaxed.
Finally, she seems like she’s ready to get out, even though she’s only sat in the water and pruned up.
I reach back and rinse out the glass I was drinking wine from.
“Scoot up, sweetheart, and tilt your head back,” I tell her.
She lets out a disapproving grunt before doing as she’s told.
I fill the cup with water and run it over her loose curls, causing her hair to go straight as it soaks through.
I grab her bottle of shampoo, squirting some into my hand, and rub my hands together to make it lather.
I gently press my hands into her scalp and massage the soap into her hair.
After ensuring I’d gotten every strand lathered, I fill the glass again, massaging as I rinse the shampoo out.
I repeat the process until the suds stop showing, then repeat the lather and massage process.
“My sisters tell me you have to wash your hair twice,” I tell her as I continue massaging her scalp.
“They said the first time is to strip out the grease build up, and the second time will clean your hair.” I begin rinsing her hair out again, and follow it up with conditioner at her ends, ensuring it's thoroughly applied.
“Damn, I can’t get anything right these days,” she says, her head swaying from side to side as I hear little cracks come from her neck. “I’ve been washing my hair wrong my entire life.” I let out a laugh and lean forward, kissing her temple. And despite her being wet, she leans into me.