shit.
She couldn’t breathe.
Her hand covered her racing heart, and she told herself to calm down. Yeah, right. How did people do this? Feelings changed everything.
She looked past Jiggs, who was standing between her and the doorway, watching her expectantly. Give me a second!
She eyed her clothes on the floor, and then she glanced at the stairs, the thought of bolting clawing at her. But she didn’t want to bolt. She just didn’t want to be nervous with Harley of all people. She closed her eyes, giving herself a pep talk. Suck it up, buttercup. He likes who you are. Just go in there and take control. All these confusing feelings will disappear the minute he touches you.
She was the queen of taking control.
I’ve got this.
She opened her eyes, feeling better, and pushed from the wall. She straightened her spine and strode into the bedroom with all the confidence of a woman on a mission. But the second she saw Harley, her knees weakened and her heart stumbled. Candles danced in the darkness, casting a romantic glow on him as he sat on the edge of the mattress, shirtless and beautiful in his dark boxer briefs. His jeans were off one leg, bunched above his sore ankle on the other. She’d forgotten he’d been wearing shorts lately because his ankle was still swollen and sore, which made it hard to take off his jeans without causing pain.
He lifted his face, meeting her gaze, and all of the emotions she thought she could escape came rushing forward in an unstoppable wave. She didn’t try to dodge them, didn’t want to escape the impact. She wanted to get swept up in them—in him—and experience the power and the grace of this magical thing between them.
She didn’t know if she was even capable of letting go like that, which made her even more nervous. Harley’s gaze slid appreciatively down her body, igniting the inferno that had been simmering inside her all evening.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said in a husky voice that drew her to him.
She wanted to tell him that he was even more beautiful than she was, but her voice was lost to her racing heart as she knelt by his feet and carefully guided his jeans over his sore ankle. She was too overwhelmed to think clearly, but the desire to show him just how special he was took over. She lifted his sore ankle and pressed a kiss just above the bandage. He caressed her cheek, bringing her eyes to his, and cradled her face, looking at her like he couldn’t believe she was there. She came forward, running her hands up his calves and kissing his knee, his thigh. He gently lifted her face, guiding it closer, and pressed his lips to hers in a warm and wonderful kiss. She didn’t know what to do with warm or wonderful, but as it turned out, she didn’t need to, because Harley gripped her rib cage with two hands, lifting her up, and laid her on the bed. He moved over her.
“Your ankle,” she whispered.
“I’m on my knee. I’m good.”
His eyes drilled into her, a predator salivating over his prey, as he drew her wrists over her head, trapping them there with one strong hand. His other hand skimmed down her torso, lighting flames beneath her skin. He gripped her hip so hard she knew it might bruise. And she welcomed it.
She wanted everything he had to give, including the rush at seeing his marks on her body the next day.
“Fucking hell, Piper. You’re finally in my bed.” The dirty fantasies Harley had mentally prepared to live out with Piper got lost between the lust in her eyes, the wicked grin on her lips, and the feel of her near nakedness beneath him. Thank God they had their underwear on, because if his cock touched her hot skin, he’d drive into her so deep they’d both lose their minds, and he’d waited too long to rush through this.
Jiggs put his chin on the bed beside them, and Harley growled, “Go lie down, boy.”
Jiggs slinked away.
Harley set his eyes on Piper again. The air between them pulsed with lust and greed, but there was something much more powerful winding around them, binding them together. Piper arched beneath him, straining against his grip on her wrists and his weight pressing down on her. She craned her neck to reach his mouth, breathing his name in a desperate plea.
“Harley . . .”
Fuuck.
Even her voice