Chapter 15
Harper
After standing against Cade’s body underneath the light of the moon, he led me back inside. His hand was on the small of my back, guiding me across the lawn as he watched the perimeter of the house. It was disconcerting to me that he was watching. That meant the threat my father talked about was real. I was hoping it was a sham. Something made up by Cade to try and get closer to me. But I felt comfortable near him as the heat of his body radiated against my back.
He helped me up the stairs, our feet avoiding the noisy ones. His hand stayed steadfast against my back, his fingertips massaging my muscles when they could. I felt my body coming to life with every step we took. My mind was buzzing from the climax he just brought me to. It was different from that weekend. There wasn’t any demand for control or any necessity to bring down punishment on my body. He wasn’t an angry and he sure as hell wasn’t as dirty.
It was a mutual profession. One that prompted both of us to command the moment.
When we got to my door, I turned around and looked up at him. His peridot eyes gazed down at me from beneath his shadowed forehead. I raised up onto my tiptoes and planted a kiss on his lips. A small one that shivered me down to my toes. I could feel him smiling against me as his hands slipped around my waist. Holding me like a precious present, he’d just unwrapped.
“I promise, we’ll figure this out,” he said in a whisper.
Nodding against his forehead, I placed one last kiss upon his skin. A gift to leave him with before I ventured into my room. I couldn’t stop smiling, and my cheeks were beginning to hurt. For the past five months, I’d been living in a nightmare. A nightmare that was concocted by my father and his need to keep me at his every beck and call. I shut the door and listened as Cade backtracked down the hallway, much to my dismay.
I wanted him to come lie down next to me.
I knew we would have issues, that much was for certain. And explaining to my parents that he was the father of my child would be exponentially hard. There would be yelling and cursing. Blame and fury. They would probably throw me out. Or worse, try to forbid me from seeing him altogether. I had to clue Cade in on my plans. On what it was really like here and how I was going to be leaving the night my father won the election.
Because we all knew he would fucking win.
Thinking about all these tasks, however, was easier with Cade in the picture. At least when I told my parents, he would be there to defend me. At least when I left this house, he would be there to pick me up. I trusted him when he said he wanted to make this work. To be there for our child and me, no matter what it took. I felt my wild side clawing to the forefront. I felt my true self-bubbling to the surface. The ruffles and the lace and the makeup I hid behind was slowly melting, and in its place, the woman I wanted to be was surfacing.
The leather and chains and punishment type of girl that craved attention stood her ground and made sure you knew not to fuck with her.
Cade brought out that confidence in me. He was the last straw I needed to be who I wanted to become. Not because I needed a man, but because I needed someone who believed in me. Who didn’t try to suppress me or control me. I didn’t need a man like my father, who wanted me to fit a mold that was convenient and beneficial for him. I needed a man like Cade. A man who would guide me instead of lead me. Love me instead of loving the version of me he thought he could mold. I needed someone who would cradle me close when I felt weak and stand by with pride when I felt strong.
Cade gave me all that and so much more, and I knew… deep down… that he would be a wonderful father to our son.
I climbed into bed with visions of our life together pouring through. Visions of riding on his motorcycle and images of him tying me to the bed. Pictures of him devouring my dripping wet pussy and cradling my pregnant stomach at night. Visions of his rock hard abs and his chiseled arms cradling our small son as he told him stories of black angels riding in the night. Protecting those that couldn’t protect themselves while keeping under a veil of darkness. He would tell our son of men and women who protected people not for the recognition, but because it was simply the right thing to do.
I closed my eyes with a smile on my face as I hunkered down into the covers.
But a loud crash shook me from my dreams. Something sprayed across my body as I shrieked and threw the covers off my body. There was a cold wind that came wafting into the room, and suddenly my door burst open as feet scurried along the floor.
There was brick on the floor of my bedroom, and tied to it… was a note.