When the door was securely shut and the lock was in place, Zach scooped Harper into his arms and took her into the bedroom. She could feel the ragged breathing, could feel his muscles twitch in response to Bryan, in response to everything that had happened. Harper wished she had some way of making him feel better but her own senses were discombobulated thanks to the conflicting emotions priming her body. She couldn’t even allow herself to think that it was finally done, that she was finally free from Bryan. She had thought that before and he had come back.

Why did he always come back? Why couldn’t he just move on and give somebody else a hard time? What was it about her that he needed to infect with his poison?

She couldn’t bring herself to explore the question, couldn’t get her rational, analytical mind working. Not yet. She was still scared, and she hated being scared more than anything. Fear made you weak and if one was weak, one was vulnerable. Harper never wanted to be vulnerable again.

“Don’t say that,” Zach murmured softly as he eased them onto the bed.

Harper’s eyes snapped open and she craned her neck so she could look at him. She hadn’t realized she had said that out loud.

“Being vulnerable means you trust someone,” he explained. He leaned against the headboard but refused to release Harper. Instead, he cradled her like a bride so their legs were entangled and her head was on his chest. “It means you trust yourself. Don’t let some prick take that ability away from you.”

Harper swallowed and allowed his words to sink in. “You’re right,” she said, her voice raw due to how dry it was.

“I didn’t know,” Zach continued, and to Harper, it sounded more like he was talking to himself rather than to her. She gently squeezed his side just to remind him that she was there with him, if he needed her at all. “I didn’t realize the type of person he was.”

“I didn’t either,” Harper murmured. She placed her head back on his chest, sinking into his arms. She could feel his heart against his chest, reverberating throughout her ear, reassuring her that he was still here, that she was still safe.

What Harper wanted was to feel safe regardless of whether or not Zach was around. She didn’t want to be a fool and assume that just because they cared about each other – just because they loved each other - meant that they were destined to be together for the rest of their lives. She wanted to be okay by herself before and after (hopefully after wouldn’t exist with Zach) him. And, she knew, she would get there. It would take work on her part, but she knew without a doubt, she was strong enough to attain it if she put her mind to it.

“You never really do, though, do you?” she asked, more to herself than to him. She clenched her jaw, keeping her head on his chest and letting the beating of his heart do its best to soothe her.

“You’re mine, Harper,” Zach said after another long moment. He picked his head off of hers and she felt compelled to look up at him, her eyes crisp, taking in the seriousness reflected in the blue irises and the grim line of his lips. “I’ll never let anything happen to you. Do you understand?”

Harper nodded. “It’s not your job to take care of me, Zach,” she told him, as gently as possible while still being firm. “You can protect me and you can be there for me when I need you, but it’s not your job to make me feel anything. That has to come from me. And it will.” She gave him a soft smile. “It should have happened long ago, but I was afraid and I didn’t understand what that fear meant. Now, I do. Now I can learn from this and let it go. I can finally be happy.”

He continued to stare at her. Suffice to say, she felt uncomfortable under the intensity of his stare and she felt herself shifting her weight. Without warning, Zach pressed his lips against hers in a hungry kiss. There was nothing gentle or sweet about it; rather, it was hard and possessive. Almost as though to remind himself that she really was his, that Bryan couldn’t get to her again. Not with him in the picture.

Harper didn’t miss a beat. She met his kiss with an open mouth, allowing him to explore every inch of it. She felt him scrape the top of her mouth, felt him clash with her tongue. Her arms wrapped around his broad shoulders on their own accord, and she clutched his shirt as though she was holding onto it for dear life.

And she was.

It wasn’t long before Harper decided the shirt was in the way, however, and she removed it without hesitation. They only broke their kiss for a moment, but once the shirt was off, Harper leaped into Zach’s arms and claimed his mouth as hers once more.

He caught her with ease, and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. The dress gave him easy access to her and she could feel how hard he was against her already.

They needed to break apart for air and Harper immediately began to kiss his jaw, trailing fire-hot kisses down his neck. She was cognizant enough to not suck on the skin and leave a mark, but she found she considered the idea – which was strange, since she had never been a fan of hickeys before. He groaned at the onslaught her lips gave him as she tasted his skin and pushed her closer to him so she could feel his hardness even more. She sucked in a breath and threw back her head.

She wanted him.

“Take me,” she instructed, her voice breathy. She only saw him through a haze but he never looked more beautiful.

Zach leaned her against the wall and dropped his hands from her waist. She used the back as leverage and squeezed her thighs to keep herself upright as Zach pushed the skirt of her dress higher so he could reach her panties. Without warning, he ripped the underwear in pieces so it fell off of Harper’s body. She gasped and felt her pelvis pulse even harder. She knew she was slick, knew that all Zach had to do would be to tease her lips and his fingertips would be soaked.

“I need to get a condom,” he told her, his voice ragged, rough. Almost animalistic.

Fuck. She didn’t realize how much a voice could affect her body, could cause such sensations and reactions. She had never experienced anything like this before.

“No,” she said before she even realized what she was saying. “Just – take it. Take me. I want to feel you. All of you.”

Zach was so shocked, his grip on her loosened and she almost collapsed out of his arms. His eyes, however, darkened. “Are you sure?” he managed to get out.

Harper had no idea how he was still talking. She had no idea why he wasn’t already inside of her, pounding her against the wall so hard she wasn’t going to be able to walk right for the next couple of days.

“Yes,” she insisted. She knew she was whining, knew there was a very immature pout on her face, but she didn’t care. She wanted him. Now. “Please.”

That was all he needed. Zach growled in response, tightening his grip on her waist. He took a moment to get her positioned the right way and shifted his weight so he could unbutton his jeans with one hand and wiggle them down enough so his cock could spring free and he could take her without any obstacles.

There was no time to brace herself as Zach thrust into her hard. She hissed in pain, causing Zach to freeze.

“God, I’m so sorry, Harp,” he said. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Give me a minute,” she told him. She could feel him stretch her out, could feel the sharp pain start to dull as she got used to his size.

He felt warm and perfect inside of her, like they were made from the same mold of clay. Like they belonged to each other and inside each other.

“Harp, I need to move,” Zach told her. He was shaking, she realized, trying to keep himself contained, trying to hold onto control. “You have no idea how you feel. So fucking tight.”

“Yeah?” Her eyes rolled back and she sunk against the wall.

“So fucking wet,” he continued. She wasn’t sure he heard her. She didn’t think it mattered. “That’s for me, baby?”

She nodded her head. “You get me so wet,” she told him.

He grunted and, without asking her permission, began to slowly rock back and forth inside of her. She hissed, her eyes rolled in the back of her head. Her neck was starting to ache at the awkward position it was angled in against the wall but she didn’t dare ask him to stop. Not when it felt so damn good.

Zach leaned forward and sucked on her neck. She wasn’t sure if it was because he needed to muffle his groaning or if he was trying to leave a hickey on her neck. To be quite honest, it didn’t matter. She could feel the beads of sweat stuck to his forehead rubbing against the side of her neck, could feel his biceps flex and curl with each thrust.

God, his cock was a miracle. Harper was glad she hadn’t required protection. She loved the feel of him inside of her, loved how warm and firm he was inside of her.

Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

She arched her back and that was when he hit her in just the right way. She gasped, her lips grazing his ear. He did it again and got the same reaction.

Harper was going to release much faster than she anticipated. In fact, as pleasurable as it was with Zach inside of her, she didn’t actually think she would climax since she couldn’t get to her clitoris easily.

But Zach was going to get her there. And soon.

She hadn’t realized she had been saying anything until she stopped speaking, until she felt herself step off that plateau, until she started to twitch on Zach’s cock like she had no choice, like it was her job and she was going to earn every cent.

“Zach, Zach, Zach.” She said his name like a prayer, a chant, like she was reading from scripture over and over again.

It wasn’t long before Zach finished, spilling into her like a heated volcano erupting. He filled her up and didn’t stop rocking until he couldn’t rock against her anymore, until she took his absolutely last drop from him. His head hit her chest and she could feel his arms start to shake.

“I have to let you go,” he told her, “before I collapse.”

She nodded against him, her eyes too heavy to open all the way. Zach gently placed her on the floor, and her knees almost buckled underneath her. He kissed her temple before disappearing for a moment into her bathroom. She was almost positive he was cleaning himself off, and when he reappeared with a small hand cloth in order to wipe her down, she smiled.

He was considerate and she appreciated it.

“I love you, Harper Crawford,” Zach murmured, pulling her gently toward him so her head was on his shoulder and so he could kiss the top of her sweaty head.

She still couldn’t open her eyes but her smile widened and she said, “I love you too, Zachary Ryan,” she murmured. “I love you, too.”

It wasn’t long before they drifted off to sleep in that position. Harper hadn’t slept better in a long, long time.