“Can’t sleep there,” I whisper, voice cracking. “Not allowed.”
His brows fly up and he turns to look at the cage. Ignoring me, he settles me down into the softness and tugs the blankets over me. I burrow into them, pulling them over my head and breathing heavily.
I still feel too open, too exposed.
The panic starts to filter back in as Devlin starts to shift next to me as if he’s going to leave. My hand slips out from the haphazard blanket nest I’ve created, and I grab his wrist as he tenses. His jaw works as he stares down at me, his dark eyes filled with pain.
We stare at each other for a moment. Something in his expression speaks to me. Two broken souls recognising each other.
“Please don’t leave me,” I whisper.
Devlin pulls his arm away. He won’t stay. He hates me. Squeezing my eyes shut, I curl up into a ball, sobs wracking my body as I try to pull myself together.
The blankets shift as he slides in next to me, pulling me against him. It’s not enough.
Whining in distress, I tug at him, until he lets me manoeuvre him so he’s completely on top of me. His weight presses me down into the mattress, my nose buried in his throat as I breathe in his smoky leather scent. He’s all around me, warmth and alpha and comfort. My whole body relaxes, softening into him.
This.
Devlin shifts awkwardly, and I wriggle underneath him. Hesitantly, he runs a warm hand down my arm. “Harper, this is—,”
“Safe,” I murmur. “Feels safe.”
If he speaks again, I don’t remember it.
ChapterTwenty-Four
Devlin
Awareness slowly filters in, and I stretch out, the movement eliciting a sleepy mewl. My eyes widen and I look down.
Harper lies nestled in my arms, her back pressed against my front and my leg slung over her hip. My dick is nestled in between the globes of her cheeks, and it stiffens as she pushes back against me with a low moan. I run my gaze over her, hunger pulling me to rock my hips gently. Her back arches lightly and her honey scent trickles into my nose. I want to roll her over and wake her up properly. I stifle a groan at the thought of licking into her dewy sweetness, her slick flowing into my mouth as I sip from her.
Guilt runs through me as I remember bursting in through the door last night. I hadn’t been able to sleep, for once not worried about closing my eyes but running through the disastrous dinner with Harper. She’d looked so downtrodden when Rogue left, her eyes filled with tears as she stared down. There was no sign of the mischievous omega I’d seen glimpses of earlier in the day.
When she fled, Gabe and Ace had turned on me, a furious argument taking place that ended with me storming out after I promised to apologize to Harper. I meant it, too. I was a prick to her.
And now… I’m here.
Finding her in the cage felt like I’d taken a knife to my chest. She’d clearly taken our words last night to mean that we were backtracking on what we said about bending the rules of the OC. Seeing her crying and shaking, her fear perfuming the air in a violent scent… it reminded me too much of myself. And as much as I’d wanted to be wary, knowing that I might have been responsible for her own night terrors didn’t sit right with me. It felt like claws raking at my chest.I did that to her.
I blink rapidly as I realize that I slept through the whole night with her in my arms. That never happens, especially without the help of a bottle of scotch.
Harper shifts restlessly, her scent growing stronger as she moves her hips. Her legs rub against each other as she tries to get friction, a soft mewl of disappointment dropping into the air when she can’t hit the spot.
Her eyes open sleepily, and she looks up at me where I hover over her.
I expect her to panic, to move away, but she surprises me. Shifting, she rolls to face me, her hips pressing into mine. I growl as my knot grows, blood rushing through my body at the silky soft feel of her.
We can’t do this.
I move to shift off the bed, to end this before we do something I’ll regret. Harper’s whimper stops me. Her whiskey eyes are filling with tears.
“Harper, I….” I hesitate. I don’t know what to say.
Apologize, idiot.
I was wrong to pull the pack back yesterday. I let old fears cloud my judgment.
