Page 8 of After the Fall
My hands gripped her arms as I planted a kiss firmly on her lips and then rested my face on hers, the heat from her cheek warming mine. “I promise. You don’t ever have to ask me twice if I mean something. When it comes to you, my word is my bond. We’re just looking for your father, and if we find him, we’ll bring him home to you.”
“And you won’t hurt him?”
“Don’t make me say ‘I promise’ again.” I smiled as I growled into her ear. “We’ll bring him home and get to the bottom of whatever the hell is going on.”
She relaxed in my hands and let me hold her. “Now, go get more beauty sleep. You’re going to need to be well rested for when I get home.” My hand slipped to her ass cheek, which easily fit in my hand, and I gave it a squeeze.
“What’s happening when you get home?” There was a glint in her eye. She knew exactly what I was talking about. Distractingher mind with the promise of an afternoon romp in those damn sheets was working.
I wrapped my hand around her wrist and guided her hand to the front of my hiking pants, where my cock was standing rock hard, straining the teeth of the zipper. “You’re getting all of this, the way you begged me for it last night.”
Her cheeks flushed, but she didn’t break our eye contact. “Just come home safely. Both of you.” At first, I thought she meant me and her father. But she cupped my package, and I groaned as she gave it a squeeze.
I was beginning to wonder if maybe Harper was the one taking it easy withme. There were so many layers to her, like an onion. I was only just starting to peel back the layers, and my cock pulsed with excitement.
“I’ll have a shower and get nice and clean for you.” She adjusted the sheet, but not before giving me a show. Her body was fucking perfect, soft and curvy in all the right places.
“Don’t you dare. I want you to smell just like you do right now. Like you’ve been fucked raw all night long.”
Her eyes widened and I thought that I’d taken it too far. But her lips turned up and a smile spread across her face. “You better get going. The sooner you get out to the bush, the faster you’ll be back in our bed.”
She sauntered down the hallway, my very own Grecian goddess, ethereal and perfect, walking down my hallway in her bare feet.
I adjusted myself the best I could, tucking my rock-hard cock into the waistband of my pants, hoping that the length of my T-shirt would hide it until my body stopped reacting to Harper. Whenever I was close to her, I was that much more sensitive. It was as though parts of me knew that parts of her were nearby. Or maybe that was just pheromones in action. Whatever it was, itwas both exhilarating and near debilitating. Would I ever be able to touch, or smell her, and not get an instant hard-on?
“You ready to go, Boss?” Atticus had poured coffee into travel mugs. “Tank is pulling the car around to the front.”
“Yeah.” I grabbed the mug and took a sip. Adrenaline surged through my body. “Did you put some moss in this?”
“Just a little.” Atticus tossed me a puffy jacket. “But we’ve got more in the car if we need it.”
Fueled with the desire to protect Harper and solve the mystery of whatever the hell was going on in Stirling County, Atticus and I strode out of the mansion and hopped into the waiting car.
We had called in extra security and two of the guards stood at the main door. Harper would be safe in my house. Now all I had to do was figure out what or who I needed to protect her from.
FOUR
HARPER
With my earagainst the bedroom door, I listened for Wyatt. The front door slammed shut, and I raced to the window, peering through the glass windowpane as the black Range Rover slipped through the front gate and disappeared down the street.
I knew Wyatt wanted me to stay inside where I would be safe from the unknown threats lurking around Seattle. But if the people I loved were in danger, I couldn’t just sit around, twiddling my thumbs, doing nothing.
Picking up my phone, I dialled the number I knew by heart. It had been a week since I’d last seen Mom, and I was getting anxious. But the same automated message played.
“We are currently experiencing a norovirus outbreak and remain closed to visitors. Please try again—”
I pressed ‘end’ harder than necessary, bile rising in my stomach. Onto plan B.
Next to the row of business suits, my meager wardrobe looked out of place in Wyatt’s walk-in closet. I grabbed the first sweater I could find, a black hoodie, and paired it with black yoga pants, then pulled my hair into a black baseball cap. Spy chic.
I tip-toed from the bedroom and paused at the top of the staircase. Two large, beefy men were guarding the front door. With their thick arms crossed against their chests, and their broad shoulders stretching the fabric of their shirts, they looked more like prison guards than staff.
The taller of the two men reached into his flannel jacket and pressed a phone to his ear, mumbling something into it. He nudged the other guy, and the two of them disappeared from their post.
Seizing the opportunity, I raced down the stairs and wrapped my hand around the doorknob.
“Where do you think you’re going?”