“No, I don’t.” The words are blunt, so I try to soften them. “My father didn’t let me believe anything but the cold facts of life. If I stepped out of line, he’d hurt me or something I loved. So I stopped trying to forge my own path and stopped loving anything he could hurt me with.”
“Luke,” she whispers and tears well in her eyes again.
I smirk and shake my head. “Don’t cry for me, princess. You’ve cried enough today.”
She shakes her head and focuses on cleaning me. Her touch is firm and warm as it strokes over my body. My muscles twitch, eager for her touch.
“I don’t know if your dad would have changed, but I imagine your mom would have done anything to protect you.” Harper glances up at me.
“And I would have killed him for hurting her.” I sigh and lean my head against hers. “I don’t think anything we would have done would have turned out a fairy tale. My father may be a monster, but that’s the way of the world. Sometimes the monsters win.”
“And sometimes they can be saved.” She leans in and kisses over my heart.
I can’t help the small smile as I shake my head. “Was I your monster, Harper?”
I pull her under the water to wash away the soap from our bodies.
She lifts her head and meets my gaze steadily. “In the beginning. But probably not in the way you think.”
“What way is that?” I brush her hair from her face and warmth floods my chest. Fuck, I love her. It’s this crazy, wild feeling that has me in a chokehold and won’t release me. I don’t want it to.
“You came at me hard with determination and focus like nothing I’ve ever felt before.” She trails her fingers down mybody, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. “You woke me up and dragged me from my boring life. You refused to let me hide anymore.”
“You couldn’t have hidden forever, Harper.” I cradle the back of her head in my hand as my fingers glide over her slick skin. Her breasts. Her nipple. Her trembling stomach. “I always would have found you.”
She smiles and her hand curls around my cock, stroking it gently. “You didn’t notice me like Caden or Eli did.”
I back her against the shower wall and lower my mouth to her ear. “You’ve always been mine, Harper. We just didn’t know it.”
“What do you mean?” Her cheek grazes mine.
I raise my head so our eyes can lock. “You’re a part of me. I can’t picture a world without you in it.”
“I’m the something soft you needed?” She cocks her eyebrow.
“You’re all I ever needed, Harper. I’ll make this right. I don’t know how yet. But my father will pay for what he did.”
She cups my jaw and searches my eyes with her worried ones. “Not at the cost of losing you. I need you, Luke. I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t.” I lower my head to capture her mouth, tasting her, teasing her lips until she opens beneath me. Lifting her against me so our mouths are better aligned, I press her into the wall of the shower. Her legs wrap around me tight.
Everywhere we touch is like fire and sparks between us. I’ve never felt this consumed by anyone before. I need her touch. I crave her kiss. I want her.
She threads her fingers into my hair and pulls a little as her kiss becomes aggressive, needy.
“Luke,” she whimpers into my mouth.
That need claws at her too. I reach beneath her legs wrapped around my waist and position my cock against her entrance. Lifting my head, I tip her chin up so I can watch her eyes as I ease inside her.
Her lips part. Her breath catches, even as her body welcomes me.
“I love you,” she whispers when I’m completely inside her. “Don’t leave me.”
I barely hear those words, but they grab at my heart. “I never plan to.”
Our eyes lock as we slowly grind together. Our slick bodies press against each other. It’s not about chasing the release. I don’t know that it’s ever been like that with Harper.
I need to be part of her. To feel her take all of me, no matter what I’ve done in the past. No matter how hard I pushed her.
