Harley turned and saw that Norah was standing even closer to him. He would have jumped if his blood hadn’t already been pounding in his ears. The look in her eyes was unmistakable, her lids heavy. But they had been through a lot tonight, and he refused to take advantage of that.
He honestly meant that. But when he started to put a hand up to stop himself, the traitor reached for her instead, and when she stepped towards him, he stopped trying to think about what was right. He wanted to feel her, needed to feel that she was safe. That they were both safe.
They clashed together, heat mixing with emotions that were raw from the events of the night. His mouth was hard on hers and she gripped his shoulders, pressing as close as she could to him.
He pulled back slightly and looked at her. Her lips were swollen and slightly parted, as if they were begging for more.
“Norah—”
“Stop, Harley. Stop thinking and just feel. I’ve already told you I cared for you, and I know you care for me too. So show me, please. Show me that I’m alive, and that even if tomorrow doesn’t come for me, I’ve at least gotten to live a little.”
“Dammit, Norah.” Harley pulled her back to him and crushed his mouth to hers.
Hands raced up her sides and buried themselves in her hair while her senses went on overload. She ran her hands up his muscled back and pressed her fingers into them, pressing him close to her again. She felt her body ready instantly for him, a delicious meeting of need and want, and she had damn well wanted him.
Harley couldn’t taste anything but her. The scent of her filled his lungs as he ripped the towel from her body. He needed to feel her against him now, with no barriers.
“Shit,” he groaned as he looked at her standing naked before him. She was perfect. He was never happier that he had been respectful with her that first night when he put his sweatshirt on before removing her tattered gown. Had he seen her then, he might have begged her to come to bed with him well before now.
He kissed her neck and ran his tongue down her collarbone until it reached her breast. He sucked in the hard peak until she moaned in pleasure and then continued his delicious exploration of her body.
He knelt in front of her and looked up into her half-closed, lust-filled eyes. The look on her face nearly drove him to the brink of insanity. He leaned forward and tasted her at her center. The part of her he knew ached for him. She cried out, sending him into a frenzy, and he felt her hands fist into his hair.
“Harley,” she said on a moan, and he tasted her pleasure on his tongue.
Unable to wait any longer to have her underneath him, he lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist.
Norah felt the bed against her back and watched as Harley took his boots off and then stepped out of his pants. Her mind went blank when she got her first look at him completely naked.
She sat up and reached for him, and he covered her body with his.
Their mouths met again as he settled in between her legs and she arched up, urging him to take all of her. He positioned himself and she cried out when he started to push into her. He was huge, and for a moment, it hurt. Once he was all the way in, he stopped and gave her body time to open to him.
“Damn, Norah.” His voice was strained, as if it were taking everything in him to hold back.
Once the pain was gone, it was replaced with a delicious ache, and she arched up into him again. He began to move, and she felt pleasure surge through her. Harley’s mouth found hers again, and she moved her hips to meet each thrust.
She felt her body climbing again, just as it had done when his mouth had been on her, and she cried out against his lips as they shattered together.
* * *
“HOW ARE YOU?” Harley asked as they lay together, their chests falling heavily.
“I feel amazing.” Norah smiled up at the ceiling.
“Oh shit.” Harley sat up and looked at her. “I didn’t use a— I wasn’t careful. Are you on the…shit, of course you’re not, when the hell would you have had time to take it. Dammit, Norah, I’m sorry.” He rubbed his hand over his short beard. “I wasn’t thinking.”
She smiled at him. “It’s okay, Harley. It takes two to tango, and the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. I’m sure everything will be fine.” She laid a hand on his arm, surprised that she wasn’t at all worried about an unplanned pregnancy. “We will be careful next time.”
“Next time?” he asked, eyeing her.
“Have you already had enough of me?” she asked playfully, and he rolled her over on her back.
“Not even close.” He took her mouth with his and then scooted her up on the pillows.
She watched him, amused, as he pulled the comforter out from under them and covered their bodies with it.
“You need time to recover, and we both need sleep. But rest assured, I have no plans of letting you out of this room tomorrow. Unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“Then let’s hope nothing becomes necessary.” She smiled and nestled into his arms.
Her last thought before she drifted into a dreamless sleep was how interesting it was the way life worked. Some things fell apart and others came together.
* * *
HARLEY LAY AWAKE while Norah slept soundly in his arms. He knew that what they had just shared complicated things well beyond what he had originally thought sex would. He knew himself enough to recognize when his feelings were beginning to push well past baseline attraction. The kind of feelings that led to love, future, and family. Three things he had no business promising her when he wasn’t even sure he would survive when this was all over.
She would, he promised himself. But he wasn’t so sure he would share the same fate. Even if he did, what kind of future could he provide for her? He had no job, not even a prospect of one, and he knew the police department wouldn’t take him back. Aggression was not something they took lightly.
She was used to a certain lifestyle, and even if he could provide something, it would never be to the extent Matthews had given her. Granted, he could give her love and make her happy in ways Matthews’s murdering ass couldn’t.
How could he not be falling for her? He turned his face down and looked at hers. She was beautiful, that went without saying, but she was also strong, intelligent, and trusting, even after everything she had been through. Trust that she had placed in his hands, and he would do whatever was necessary to keep.
He knew letting her go once all this was over was out of the question. If he survived, he had every intention of keeping her in his life. He wondered if she knew that she held his future in the palm of her hands.
12
Norah rolled over to see Harley still sound asleep. The clock on the nightstand said it was well past noon, and she still felt like she could sleep another eight hours.
She stretched slightly so she wouldn’t wake him, and felt the wonderful soreness sex after years of abstinence had left behind.