Chapter Nine
Harlan
Sophie is glowing when she hits the stage with Hattie and Vanessa at the karaoke bar in the lodge, in a dress I already know will be on my floor tonight.
I wrap my fingers around my bottle, my eyes locked on her as she whispers back and forth with my baby sister and sister-in-law, plotting God only knows what for their performance.
Hattie is wasted. Vanessa isn't far behind.
And Sophie doesn't need liquid courage to be the bravest woman in the room. It's just who she is.
"She looks happy," Sidney observes, settling onto the vacant seat beside me.
I flick my gaze in his direction and then nod. "She is." I hesitate a beat. "I know you're partially to thank for that. Whatever you said to her today, I appreciate it, brother."
"I didn't say anything she didn't already know," he murmurs. "You're good for her."
I grin at him, amused. "You sound surprised."
"No," he grunts. "Not surprised. Just…relieved.
" He rolls his broad shoulders. "I worry about her, maybe more than I should.
But she's always tried to do everything on her own.
That shit used to drive me and Austin nuts.
No matter how ruthless people got, she never wanted us to intervene.
She always wanted to handle it herself." He meets my gaze, and I see the worry deep in his eyes.
"She's different with you, softer. I don't think she's cried like she cried today in, fuck, years, probably. "
My heart twinges, my gaze drifting back to her on the stage.
I fucking hate that she cried. I hate knowing I'm the reason for it.
I hate that she was so upset. And I really fucking hate that I can't carry everything for her.
But I know in my bones that she's going to be okay, not because she always is or because she doesn't know how to be anything else, but because there's this look in her eye, like she feels grounded now.
A motherfucker could die happy knowing he's the reason for that look.
"Austin already threatened you, so I'm not going to do that," Sidney says, recalling my attention. "I'm just going to say thank you." He clamps a hand on my shoulder. "Keep that look on her face, man. She deserves it."
"Fuck," I rasp, my throat tight. "Thank you."
He grins at me. "You feel like a dick for threatening me right now, don't you?"
"Little bit," I mutter.
He just laughs, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Don't. I fully expect you to follow through and rip me apart if I ever make your sister cry."
I just shake my head and chuckle, not sure what the fuck to say to that. I have a feeling that shit won't happen, though. Hattie is safe with him, the same way Sophie is safe with me.
"We're two lucky motherfuckers, aren't we?"
"Who are you telling?" He arches a brow, then nods at the girls on stage. "Doesn't matter what else happens in my life. I've got everything I need right there."
I meet Sophie's gaze as she grabs a mic. She grins at me, mischief in her gaze, and I know he's right. I don't need a damn thing except that woman right there.
The first notes of their song start, and Sidney tenses beside me.
"What the fuck?" he groans.
"What?"
"Just wait for it."
Judging by his tone…I'm not sure I want to wait for it. But I lock eyes with Sophie, and wait.
It takes all of four bars for me to decide this performance is absolutely not going forward.
Jesus H. Christ.
I'm not sure which of us is on our feet first, but before the girls even get to the part of the song where they announce that a woman let them put their penis inside her, Tye, Sidney, and I are all wading toward the stage, matching looks of grim determination on our faces.
The girls dart around, trying to evade us, laughing while trying to belt the risque lyrics into their microphones.
I manage to corner Sophie.
"Hey, Captain." She grins. "Whatcha doing?"
"Stopping this shitshow, ballerina."
She tries to run, but I grab her, hauling her up over my shoulder. She just squeals, trying to fight me for the microphone.
"This performance is over," I announce into the mic as soon as I pry it from her grip, earning jeers and shouts from the crowd. Briggs is pounding the table, laughing so hard, he's crying. I can't wait for that asshole to fall in love. I really can't.
Sophie just laughs, harder than I've ever seen her laugh.
She's still laughing when I jump down from the stage and carry her out, not stopping until we're on the elevator.
I flip her upright in my arms, pressing her up against the wall. Her wild eyes meet mine before my lips are on hers, silencing her laughter.
I don't stop kissing her until the elevator shudders to a stop, and then she's in my arms again, her legs around my waist as we stumble toward my room. Somehow, I get the door open, only for her to land against it a second later.
"Sing it now, ballerina," I growl, my hand between her legs, ripping her soaked panties from her body.
"I just had se…oh," she moans, arching against me. "That feels so good."
I growl against her throat, so in love with her, I can't see straight. I can't feel anything but her. I'm not even sure I'm breathing right now.
That doesn't stop me from fucking her with my fingers until she's begging me to let her come.
I don't.
I make her take my cock out instead.
One hand tangles in her hair, forcing her head back as I line up at her entrance.
"I love you," I rasp.
She goes still—that dancer's stillness again. And then I'm inside her where I belong.
Her whole body bows off the door, her arms clutching my neck, her thighs squeezing my ribs like she's trying to break me. I want her to, if only to prove to the entire world that I belong to this woman.
She's so wet that I bottom out on the first stroke.
The look on her face nearly undoes me. She's all fire and wild abandon, her mouth open, her eyes frantic and greedy. So fucking beautiful it hurts to look at her.
I fuck her hard, every deep thrust a promise that I'm never letting her go.
Her head thumps against the wood, but she just moans louder, biting my shoulder until she draws blood.
"Harder," she pants, the word more a plea than a command.
I give her everything. I let go of all the restraint I've held back since the first moment I saw her. The door rattles with every pounding thrust, her nails scoring my shoulders.
She cries out for me over and over, not caring who hears.
"Say it," I whisper, desperate for the words.
She knows what I want to hear…what I'll always want to hear. She shoves her hands into my hair, yanking my face to hers. "I love you, Harlan. I love you so much it's—oh, god, don't stop—"
I don't. I can't. I fuck her through her moans, through the greedy desperation surging through me, until her body goes rigid and she screams, coming so hard she nearly blacks out.
I'm not finished with her, though, not even close. I peel her away from the door, rip her dress off over her head, and then drop her on the bed.
"By the time you get on that plane in the morning," I breathe, crawling over her, "you're going to feel me everywhere, baby. I'll be in every cell, so you never forget that this is permanent."
"Harlan," she sobs, wrapping herself around me.
I slant my mouth down on hers, swallowing her cry as I slide back inside her.
I spend hours fucking her, loving her, ruining us both.
She drips sweat and cum, cries and babbles, begs and pleads. And when I finally fall on top of her, too exhausted to move again, every last piece of my heart is in her hands.
But hers is in mine too, right where it belongs.
She cries at the airport, big tears that threaten to shred my heart into pieces. I almost say fuck my career and get on that plane with her. But she needs to know that just because we're in different states, it doesn't mean this ends.
She needs to trust herself to be strong enough and trust me when I say she's good enough. So I let her get on that plane by herself, even though it fucking kills me.
And I stand in the parking lot, my feet rooted, watching it take off, carrying my whole goddamn heart with it.