“She hasn’t changed. Neither of them has. My father was quick to point out again that he’d sensed myweaknessfrom an early age, while my mother lives in a fantasy world about my sexuality.” If only he could rid himself of his bad memories of them. “She continues to try and force me to admit that I could date women and be ‘normal.’ Anyone who thinks bigotry is the stuff of books and movies is fooling themselves. I’m living that life.” Now it was Harper who held him against his broad chest. “You want to know something funny? Not funny ha-ha, but something so outlandish that if I put it in one of my books, no one would believe it?”
“Of course. I want to learn everything about you.”
Simple words that did something complicated to his heart.
“It was the year I turned eighteen, and all the kids were having high school graduation parties, but not me because my parents couldn’t be bothered.” Harper’s arms tightened around him. “It’s okay. My grandparents took me out to the theater and an incredible dinner. Anyway, I was at my friend Kit’s house, using the bathroom. When I opened the door, Kit’s father waswaiting for me. His much older, extremely conservative father who’d never said more than five words to me.”
“Did he—”
The walls closed in on Colson, but Harper’s presence remained a force field of kryptonite to keep those walls from crushing him. “He was drunk, I could smell the liquor on him, but he still had the strength to pull me into a spare bedroom. Told me he’d seen me cruising the gay bars in Bridgeport. I was terrified at that point of being outed and didn’t say anything.”
“That bastard,” Harper swore, and Colson loved the outrage on his behalf.
“He said he’d noticed me for years during pool parties. That I had a sweet ass, and how he’d like to be the first to break it in.” Almost twenty years had passed, but his skin crawled at the memory of those pudgy, soft hands on his body. That afternoon had been the source of nightmares for weeks after, but now he could repeat the events as if they’d happened to someone else.
“We were in a bedroom, alone. I could hear the splashing and laughter from everyone in the pool right outside the window. Even if I screamed, or fought him, it was his house, and he was a hedge fund billionaire. His staff would make it go away. And he was right. I had been at the bars down there. Maybe he’d been there as well, but who were they going to believe? He had enough money to pay people to say what he wanted.”
His breath hitched, and he grew cold even as sweat dripped from every pore.
“He assaulted you?” Harper’s deadly tone shocked him to awareness.
“He tried, and I froze. It was almost like I was asleep and caught up in a nightmare. I could feel everything happening, but I was watching it from a distance. He had me pinned beneathhim on the door, my face pressed against the wood, and I could feel him rubbing between my legs. When he reached to unzip his pants, I woke up and smashed my heel into his foot, my elbow into his stomach, and ran like a fucking bat out of hell.”
“Did you tell anyone?” Harper smoothed those big hands over his shoulders, back, and neck, as if to wipe away any remnants of that day. Their strength sent Colson into sweet bliss.
“No. Only you know. I haven’t even told Hogan. At the time, there was no one I could trust. Certainly not my parents, who wouldn’t have believed me anyway. I loved my grandparents, and I didn’t want to upset them. I was alone.”
“Good thing you don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
He met Harper’s intent gaze. “No?”
“No,” Harper repeated. “I’m here. You’re not alone.”
Their lips met, and hunger blazed through him, hotter and brighter than any time before. Harper’s tongue flirted with his lips, then demanded entrance, and Colson granted it, sucking its velvet softness ravenously. They played cat and mouse with their kisses, alternating licks and nibbles, until Harper placed shaky fingers on his cheek and pulled away. Regret played out over his handsome face.
“I hate to do this, but I have to go home. I swore to myself that coming here tonight would be only to let you know how I feel and to see if it was mutual. That it was more than sex.”
Aching with pleasure, Colson gathered his wits. “I think we’ve come to that conclusion.” He stole another kiss, ending it by holding Harper’s full lower lip between his teeth and tugging. “Although I want you.”
“God, you’re killing me,” Harper groaned and put several feet between them. “I don’t want to leave, but I have to.”
This was such a different Harper than the frozen-faced, snarky man who’d once thought him a murderer. Harper’s face was flushed, his mouth swollen and well-kissed, and his moon-bright eyes glowed with undisguised passion.
“I have to get in early. We have a new robbery ring that’s going around on scooters. But I’d like to see you this weekend.” Looking vulnerable, he ran a hand through his hair and seemed to be running something through his mind, then came to a conclusion. “Maybe you can come by and meet David then? He can get used to seeing us together.”
“Is that what you’re planning to tell him? That we’re together?” He held his breath. Hoping. He’d fallen hard for Harper, and it was more than sexual. His passion and commitment to his job were a massive turn-on, the kindness he’d shown Millie was a reflection of a deeply sensitive man who’d spent his whole life in service to others, and his single-minded devotion to his brother indicated a heart overflowing with love.
Oh, yeah.He was head over heels, shut the front door, in it to win it.
“I’d like us to be.” The intensity of Harper’s stare devoured Colson, and his lips tingled as if he could feel Harper’s mouth on his.
“Me too.”
***
The following evening, he spoke to Hogan and filled him in on the trip to his parents and some of what happened with Harper.
“Wait, so that man in the wheelchair the kids were talking to, that’s Harper’s brother?”
