“The feeling is most definitely mutual.” She falls silent after saying this into my neck before pulling back to look into my eyes.
“What?” I ask when she stares at me weirdly.
“N-Nothing,” she stutters after a few moments but then clearly changes her mind. “Did… how did you know?”
“Know what?”
“Nothing. It’s this one.” She nods towards the open door, and I step inside before kicking it shut.
Her scent surrounds me as I look around the pink, girly room.
“Wow, this is… unexpected.” Harlow tenses in my arms and tucks her head into my neck to hide. I cast my eyes around her sickly pink walls. It’s like I’ve walked into a little girl’s room.
“Hey.” I thread my fingers into her hair and tug lightly to encourage her out as I lower us and put her on the bed. “Don’t hide from me.”
She looks up and I slide my hand around the back of her neck.
“I’m sorry, I just don’t make a habit of bringing guys here. Like, ever.” She looks away, and I hate that she’s trying to hide whatever it is she’s so concerned about.
“Harlow, am I the first guy to come here?”
She bites down on her bottom lip and a surge of desire races through me. My need to suck it into my mouth and take her all over again consumes me.
“Y-Yeah. I know it’s childish, I just…”
“Sssh,” I soothe, resting my forehead against hers. “I don’t care how you decorate your bedroom. All I care about is the woman inside.” I tense at the admission, and she doesn’t miss it.
Her eyes find mine once again, and she stares into them so deeply. Something crackles between us and I fear that, no matter how much I try, I’m never going to be able to walk away from this woman.
“Why are you here, Corey?” she asks, looking so serious all of a sudden.
“Because there isn’t anywhere else in the world I want to be,” I answer honestly, before crawling over her so she has no choice but to lay back.
Chapter Eighteen
Harlow
“Because there isn’t anywhere else in the world I want to be.”
Even after a handful of more orgasms, I still can’t get those words out of my head.
That comment goes against everything he said about not wanting a future or anything serious. He wanted to be here again with me, and I’d like to think it wasn’t just for sex, seeing as he’s still beside me with his arms locked around my body.
“Stop thinking, Vix,” he whispers into the top of my head.
My fingers pause where they were trailing around the lines of his six pack, and I risk a glance up at him. His eyes are tired and hooded, his lips swollen from our kisses, and his jaw is covered in so much scruff it could almost be classed as a beard. My thighs clench as I remember just how it scratched them not so long ago “I can’t help it,” I admit. “Today has been…” I trail off, not really knowing how to describe it.
“A clusterfuck?”
I laugh, “Yeah, that’s a good way to put it. When you sent me that text, I thought…”
“That was it between us?”
I nod, not wanting to say the word out loud.
“Honestly,” he says, blowing out a breath, “it could have gone either way at that point.”
I move to push myself from his body but his arms lock, keeping me in place.
“I don’t know what I’m doing here, Harlow. I’ve never… I’ve never done this before.”
“And what is this exactly?” I ask, not wanting to assume we’re on the same page.
“I have no idea. All I know is that I can’t stop. When I’m with you…” He pauses, glancing over my shoulder. “When I’m with you, everything goes quiet. My memories drift away. The only other time I find that kind of peace is when I’m working. I didn’t think it existed elsewhere.”
A giant lump forms in my throat and tears pool in my eyes faster than I can control. When he looks back to me, two have dropped and are making their way down my cheeks.
“Fuck. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I whisper. “I just... I get it.” I wipe at my cheeks, embarrassed that I’m crying right now. “I spent a lot of years trying to drown stuff out. Years that I’m not proud of.”
Corey rolls me over so I’m on my back. He brushes his thumbs across my cheeks to clear the fresh tears.
“Let me help.” His lips find mine and, just like he described, everything falls from my head as I focus on him and the things he does to my body.
“I can go home if you’d prefer,” he whispers when I’m just on the verge of drifting off an hour or so later. “I don’t want to keep you awake again.”
“You’re not going anywhere. I can handle nightmares, Corey. I have enough of my own.”
He falls silent but thankfully, he doesn’t move. His chest rises and falls steadily beneath my cheek. His arm is wrapped tightly around me and his hand is locked on my hip.
I feel safe. Secure. And, I hate to say it, hopeful.
In just a short time, Corey has given me something I never thought I’d ever find. Peace. I know that our realities are still out there. Clearly we both still have a lot to deal with. But suddenly, everything feels that little bit more possible.
“Will you tell me about them one day?” he asks, shocking the hell out of me.
My knee jerk reaction is to say no. I don’t talk about my parents. I barely even mention them to Bailey and my aunt, but never to anyone who doesn’t already know the story. It’s always been too painful to drudge it all back up again.
“One day,” I whisper. “How about you. Fancy talking about it?”
“One day,” he repeats. I might hate that he’s keeping things hidden, but I can’t exactly argue because I’m doing the same.
I drift off in
