And her eyes…
She opens them and I’m blasted with baby blue that has the power to reach down and caress my soul. They search mine, an unspoken confession held in them the second before she clenches around me.
“I know, Angel,” I whisper.
Then she comes, pulling my lips back to hers again as I spill inside her at the same time.
“Reed,” she cries, and I swear I taste salt in her kiss, but as our bodies slow, she drops her head against my shoulder, pressing it into the crook of my neck. “Just hold me like this. Hold me like this and pretend you never have to let go.” Her breath is warm against my neck, and her arms are tight around my neck. But her voice is tired, weary, and flat.
“I never will let go, Harls. I told you. You’re mine.”
I stroke her hair and press kisses to her forehead, losing track of how long we stay like this. Of how long we just hold each other without saying anything, our bodies still connected. I hold her until her breathing slows and the shaky breaths leave her body, replaced by slow, rhythmic ones.
“Harls?”
She doesn’t answer and I know she’s asleep.
“I’ve got you, Angel,” I whisper as I ease us apart and carry her to bed. She doesn’t even stir as I lay her down and take her dress off, so she’s just in her underwear.
I tuck her beneath the covers and climb in behind her, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her against me to keep her warm. Just like that first night. God, how much has changed? I used to think she hated me. Well, maybe not hated, but strongly disliked. I chuckle at the memory of how pissed she would look each time I stopped by to see Griffin. Like I was a major inconvenience. For someone so gentle-natured, she sure knew how to make her feelings known back then.
Now… now I’m the luckiest man on the planet.
I lift my head and watch her sleep. She’s peaceful like this. I only hope that peace stays with her when she wakes and that she can find it easy to let her feelings known again.
Because fuck, I need to know what’s going on in her head.
I need to know where my girl went.
“Reed?” A soft voice breaks into my dream, and I couldn’t be more relieved. It was more of a nightmare. Harley was in it. But she was with someone else. Another man with his arm around her. And when I tried to talk to her, she just walked right through me. Passed through like I was a ghost.
I blink my eyes open.
I’m lying on my back and it’s dark. Only a soft glow from the city’s lights from where I forgot to close the drapes provides a little light to the room.
“What’s wrong?” I pull her to my side and dust my lips over her forehead. It’s still the middle of the night. She was exhausted. Something must have caused her to wake.
“I need you to make love to me… Please.”
I tip my chin down so I can see her face. Her eyes are shining in the dim light. And her cheeks are glistening too.
Fuck. She’s been crying.
How can I have been asleep and missed her crying next to me? Guilt envelops me like a dark fog, making my voice hoarse as a lump sticks in my throat.
“You don’t need to ask, Angel.”
I roll on top of her and press my lips over hers, kissing her gently. Then I kiss her cheeks. I kiss away the warm, fresh tears. I kiss her eyelids to keep more from falling. And only when I’ve kissed every inch of her beautiful face more times than I can count, do I seal my lips over hers, and kiss them again.
Her hands slide to the nape of my neck, stroking my hair, her tongue searching out mine as I push inside her. She wraps her legs around my back and pulls me close, holding me.
“Whatever it is, Harls. We can deal with it together,” I whisper against her lips, catching the sob that’s threatening to leave them in another kiss. “Nothing is stronger than the way I feel about you, Angel. Nothing. You just need to talk to me.”
She tightens her grip on my hair and keeps kissing me.
“Just talk to me,” I plead gently as I slide inside her over and over. She moans against my lips and her body shudders beneath me. “Are you pregnant?” I kiss away another small sob as she clutches me hard. “Because if you are, you don’t need to worry. I couldn’t think of anyone I’d want a family with. Other than you.”
“No,” she mumbles, sounding almost regretful.