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Harlan nods. “Yeah, Sunshine. He’s good with this, but even if he wasn’t, he’d still support my decisions. But he likes you, said that we fit.”
Hal thinks we fit. And that makes me want to cry happy tears all over his son. Because he’s right. We do kinda fit, and the nursery isn’t the first sign of acceptance into this amazing family that I’ve seen, but it hits me the hardest.
Harlan smiles at me, the white of his teeth stark against his bearded face, and I can’t help but return the expression.
Unable to speak through the chokehold on my emotions and voice, I rise to my toes and kiss him.
This man. What am I going to do with him? It’s been so long since someone’s cared about me, about my wants and needs. The knowledge that Harlan cares about me — about us — is much more than I can take.
I pour every ounce of my gratitude and feeling for this man into the kiss. Dipping my tongue, I taste his bottom lip and hum at the flavor of him exploding across my tastebuds. Any lingering doubts and fears that I’d fumble evaporate into nothing when he tilts his head and his tongue strokes mine.
My shoulders meet the hallway wall, the firm press of him holding me steady as we get lost in each other. In passion. In sheer desperate tingling want.
Fingers tangling in the nearly too long hair at the nape of his neck I scratch through his scalp.
“Mais.” The whispered grunt between us curves my lips into a grin as my nipples tighten into hard peaks pressing against the lace of my bra.
“Har,” I whisper back. “Take me to bed.” I nip at his lips one second, and the next I’m swung up into his arms, my legs wrapped around his waist. My core pressed against the hard length of him, and I shift my hips for more friction. The heat from his body lighting me on fire.
The good kind of fire. The one that simmers on low in your veins before sparking a flash fire hot enough to consume.
Harlan kicks his door shut behind us and lowers me to my feet. His hands dip under my top, and I shiver at the feel of his hands on me.
He kisses a path down my neck, nipping at the skin before soothing it with his tongue and I’m about to go up in flames.
When he pulls back, I meet his gaze — my eyes heavy.
“Ground rules.” He grinds out as his hips shift against mine. The firm evidence of his own desire thick and hard against my tummy.
I laugh. “You and your rules.”
“Sunshine.” He growls into my neck and nips at my ear lobe. Goosebumps dance down my arms at the sensation. “Focus.”
“Hurry up,” I whine.
“You say stop, I stop. You say wait, and I wait.”
I nod. Remembering the words from the night we started our relationship.
“Are you on birth control?” he whispers the question against my lips before he sucks the bottom one into his mouth for a quick sucking nip.
I nod. “Yes. I’m covered. I had a physical right after Audra was born and haven’t been with anyone since...”
He kisses me again and tugs on the strands of my hair in his hands. “Can I have you bare? I want you — with nothing between us. I’m safe — I’ll keep you safe — I promise.”
I lean forward and steal the promise from him. Harlan’s safe. It’s been my mantra for weeks as I navigated this new thing between us. I know this, like I know the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. He’d never do anything that could hurt me. He’s shown me that time and time again.
“Yes. Please. Nothing between us,” I whisper against his lips. I reach down and grab the hem of my shirt, intent on getting naked, when Harlan’s hands stop me.
“Let me?”
I nod, and Harlan crouches. With every inch of skin he unearths, his lips follow a trail up my stomach and across my chest until he pulls the fabric free. Once he’s standing again, his lips find mine, his hands mapping my skin as if committing the feel of me to memory.
“So fucking beautiful. Every goddamn inch of you is perfect.”
He makes me feel it with each slide of his fingers against me. His hand dips under my bra strap, and he tugs it down to hang loosely over my upper arm.
“You’re a gift. Meant to be savored and unwrapped. Just for me.” His lips follow the trail of my other bra strap down my arm.
