“I’ll stay with you.Thank you.Your partner doesn’t have to stay with us.I trust you.”
Damien smiled brightly.He rolled his lower lip in and pinched it between his teeth.
She had to look away.She wanted that lip between her teeth.Those hands on her.All of him.It had been a long time since desire washed through her the way it did when she was around Damien.He made her feel desired.Like she was more than a researcher.She was a woman.A woman he wanted to strip naked and tease every last drop of pleasure from.
Harmony squeezed her thighs together, feeling the rush of moisture between them.“Can I get some things from my apartment to take with me?”Like a vibrator or two.
Marcus nodded and called the detective over.“This is Detective Foster.He’s going to be handling your case.He’ll escort you inside and make sure you’re safe.”
“I’m going, too,” Damien said.
Detective Foster glanced at Marcus before nodding.
Harmony followed the detective into her building with Damien right behind her, hoping she could get her vibrator without either of them seeing.
While also hoping she wouldn’t need it.
Damien showedHarmony to his guest room and excused himself to give her a little bit of privacy to settle in.He absolutely was not going to think about the vibrator he saw her slip into her bag when she was packing up her stuff and thought he wasn’t looking.He’d just been hard as a rock since, but it was fine.No big deal.A woman had a right to an orgasm whenever the hell she wanted one, and he was not going to judge her for it.
He couldn’t promise he wouldn’t think about it the first moment he had alone to do the same, though.
Before that, he needed to figure out dinner for the two of them.He was sure Harmony was starving.He definitely was.The cops took their sweet ass time going through her apartment, only sped up when Marcus got on them about the whole thing.
Damien noticed the way the cops first on the scene rolled their eyes and made comments he couldn’t hear.Damien had no doubt they believed she was either pretending or judging her for the reward she got from Grant Pickens.Either way, they weren’t doing their fucking jobs, and it pissed Damien off.
A noise behind Damien had him turning from the pantry to look at a red-faced Harmony.He closed the pantry and was by her side in five steps, pulling her into his arms.“Hey, you’re safe now.I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
How hard she clutched his shirt told him she was more scared than she’d let on.She didn’t reply, burying her face in his chest and shaking through every breath she took.Damien ran his hand up and down her spine, wishing he could promise her more than her safety.Wishing he could figure out what the hell was going on and take down whoever was scaring her like this.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, pulling back from him and wiping her eyes.“I messed up your shirt.I shouldn’t be?—”
“Yes, you should be.My shirt is fine.And you should be whatever you need to be.Crying, screaming, pissed off, terrified, wanting revenge, all of it.You should be whatever you are because there’s no rulebook for this kind of thing.”
She drew a shuddering breath.“Thanks.I feel like… I don’t even know.”
“I know.”
“You don’t seem like anything bothers you.”
“It’s my training.I’ve been dealing with things like this for years, so it’s different for me.Plus, they’re not in my personal space.”
She shivered and looked around.“They might be after this.With me here, they might come here.”
“And they’ll regret it if they do.”Damien didn’t offer any room for misinterpretation.If someone came after her when he was around, they wouldn’t be around long enough to tell their side of the story.
“Thank you for letting me stay here.”
“You can stay here as long as you want, Harmony.”
“Thanks.”
Damien smiled at her, then remembered he was going to fix dinner.“Are you hungry?”
“Always.”
He chuckled.“Same.I was looking at what I can make.What sounds good to you?”
She snorted.“I don’t know.I’m not very good at planning out dinner.I usually grab something quick and easy.”
