I stay beside the bike a second longer, replaying the last few hours—Derek’s confidence breaking under my hand, Judge’s text confirming he’s heading south and that Stone is tailing him to the county line.
It’s done. Harper’s safe.
And standing outside this cabin again, my body remembers exactly what happened here last time. Years of control start losing ground.
I walk up the steps.
She’s leaning against the porch rail, arms crossed, watching me with those dark eyes that miss nothing.
"You okay?" she asks.
"Fine."
"Ronan."
I stop in front of her. Close enough to see the exact way the porch light catches in her hair, the slight rise and fall of her breathing.
"He's gone," I say. "Judge confirmed it. Stone's making sure he keeps going."
Something in her shoulders releases. Relief, maybe. Or just the adrenaline finally letting go.
"Good," she says quietly.
We stand there in the dark and the quiet, and I should go inside, should give her space to process whatever she's feeling, should be the controlled, measured version of myself that handles things without making them complicated.
Instead, I step closer.
Her breath catches.
I put one hand on the rail beside her hip. Cage her in without touching her. Watch her eyes dilate in the low light.
"Harper," I say.
"Yeah?"
"I need you to tell me right now if you're not okay with this."
"With what?"
I lean in. Put my mouth next to her ear. Let my voice drop to the register I've been keeping locked down since she climbed off my bike.
"With me fucking you against this porch rail," I say, "until you forget Derek Sutton ever existed."
She makes a sound. Small. Sharp. Her hands come up and fist in my shirt.
"I'm very okay with that," she says.
I kiss her.
Hard. No buildup, no gentleness—just my mouth on hers and my hand in her hair, hours of wanting compressed into seconds. She kisses me back just as hard, nails in my chest through my shirt, and when I pull back we’re both breathing like we’ve been running.
"Inside," she says.
"No."
I turn her around.
Her hands go to the porch rail automatically and I step up behind her, one hand on her hip, the other pushing her hair aside so I can put my mouth on the back of her neck.
