Harkham's Case (Harkam's #1)

by Chanse Lowell

  The corners of his mouth dragged upward, and he smooshed his lips hard into her fingers. He wagged his head back and forth playfully, kissing as he went.

  “Now, go to sleep before we get thrown into jail for something lame like indecent exposure.” She pulled the top of the sleeping bag off their heads so they could get some air.

  He looked to see if the guy next to her that had been talking to her when Adam had arrived was watching them. He wasn’t.

  Good. None of his damned business. All he needed to know was she was unavailable.

  Adam knew he’d have good dreams as she tickled and stroked his back, and all the while he would remain soldered up against her side with his arms wrapped around her.

  She yawned but seemed nowhere near sleep.

  He drifted off, yet was acutely aware her hands never stopped exploring his body in a heady way.

  What seemed like hours later, he awoke to find her eating a small orange she was drizzling with some kind of oil.

  She was sitting up, but still had her body up against his. He was almost draped over her lap.

  “There he is,” his brother’s voice lilted. “Sleep good?”

  “Go away,” Adam told him, refusing to look his direction.

  “Hungry?” she asked Adam and offered him a slice.

  “Very. What’s the oil stuff you’re putting on it?”

  “I won’t put it on yours if you don’t want.” She smiled and gave him a small kiss on the top of his head.

  His whole chest burned. Zach saw her do that.

  “No, it’s okay. I want to try it. But what is it?” he asked again.

  “Coconut oil. Do you like coconut?”

  “I love it,” he said, his voice brightening.

  Zach remained quiet as she drizzled some oil and fed it to Adam. A fusion of tropical flavors exploded in his mouth. This was marvelously delicious.

  “More,” he growled.

  She placed two into his mouth and he dragged his tongue along the underside of her fingers as she pulled her hand back. Her smile was infectious, because when Adam finally glanced over at his brother, he wore the broadest grin ever.

  “I see why you chased her here. So this is the girl you were talking about. I get it now,” Zach said, nodding. He squatted next to them. “Dad wanted me to bring you directly home, but I think I’ll go get something to eat, come back here and hang out with you two for a little bit.”

  “Do whatever you want. I’m staying with Mari,” Adam replied.

  “I can see that,” his brother said, then smacked Adam on the back in a playful, sportsmanship kind of way.

  The force of the blow almost made him choke on the oranges he was eating, but he managed to swallow them down safely and follow it up with a glare at Zach.

  “Be back in a little bit. You two get into as much trouble as you can while I’m gone.” Zach winked at him.

  “Stop talking.” Adam groaned.

  Zach left a moment later, and Mari continued to feed Adam, interspersing it with some open-mouthed kisses.

  He digested her, more than food, and it was yummy.

  “I want to do this every weekend with you for the rest of forever,” he said.

  She pecked at his lips and smiled as she patted his cheek. Her hand slid down his jaw. “Let’s take it one weekend at a time, okay?”

  They continued to eat, but most of what she brought was fruits, and it was going straight past his stomach, because he never felt full.

  It was hard to stop eating. He knew he should refrain from gobbling it all down—this was her food. She only brought enough for one person, but he needed more. He was famished.

  Zach returned all too soon with a McDonald’s bag in tow.

  “I love those,” Adam said when Zach unwrapped an Egg McMuffin and started chowing down. “Did you bring me one?”

  “Uwf coufe,” Zach said, mouth full, shoving the bag toward them. “Maaaweee can haf some, too.” His mouth was so crammed with food it was hard for him to talk.

  Adam took two, handed her one and began tearing into his.

  “These are the best!” Adam moaned.

  Mari unwrapped the food and ate everything except the breading. Without asking, Adam snatched at what she left behind and gulped it down practically whole.

  “Good thing I know the Heimlich,” she commented.

  Zach laughed. “I’ve got him covered if he chokes himself.”

  “So, you’re a rock-n-roll groupie, huh?” Zach asked her.

  She took a sip from her nearby hot drink and said, “Groupie’s a little strong. I’m not that bad.”

  “Who else camps out overnight for Pearl Jam tickets? I mean, come on. They’re old.” Zach moved around Adam and sat on the other side of Mari on the sidewalk. She angled herself so she could talk to him better.

  Adam grabbed some hash browns out of the McDonald’s bag and started devouring those. He listened intently between bites and swallows.

  “Somebody who owes her life to music.” She took another drink.

  “Tell me about it. What does music do for you?” Zach stared at her intently.

  She sighed, looked down at her lap and said in a quiet voice, “It’s what got me outta rehab. It’s what kept me going. The music got me through, because I felt like somebody understood. I met a girl there who introduced me to several rock groups.”

  “No kidding? What other groups do you like?” Zach’s face was like a man catching hold of a star on the move.

  Adam’s ribs were tight because his heart was racing and his lungs were struggling to take in enough air. Did Zach like her the way Adam did? Already?

  Well, then again, Adam liked her right away, too. She did that to people.

  Zach and Mari talked animatedly about several rock bands and even debated over a few they disagreed on about their greatness and legendary status.

  They laughed and had a good time. All without Adam.

  His insides felt ready to burst, with his heart being the first to explode.

  Everything about Zach suddenly made Adam feel bitter and very mad. His eyes roamed over his brother, studying him. Zach’s booming, good-natured laugh made Adam’s teeth grind together. His short, dark, spiky, stylish hair also made Adam’s fists ball up. And even his barrel chest and bold, largely muscled thighs made Adam want to scream. His brother was very athletic and always had been. He was a big dude, built like a Mac truck—or maybe like Optimus Prime. That was a huge transformer that turned into a diesel. Yeah—that was his brother. Mr. Likable, bulky, big dude with dark, twinkling, penetrating eyes—that the girls all flocked to. He had tons of friends, and he didn’t need Mari to be added to his collection.

  God, he needed to transform right now into that diesel and get out of here. Zach was no longer welcome to join them on this sidewalk.

  “Stop talking,” Adam blurted.

  But they didn’t hear him because they kept going, so Adam snuggled up behind Mari and pulled her back down to lying flat.

  He pulled the blanket up around them, and she propped herself onto her side as she faced his brother and kept blabbing.

  Adam’s hands pulled at her possessively. He kissed up and down the back of her neck, nipped at her ear and rocked himself into her with his hips and sore spot.

  She ignored it, so he ran his hands up and down her hips and thighs, and when that got no reaction, he started groping her backside.

  So many curves and such wonderful roundness. His hands dug deep into the denim and even wandered between her thighs she now held tightly together.

  Still, she kept going on and on with his brother. And she was letting Adam have the freedom to touch how he wanted. She had yet to stop him.

  He slipped his hand under her jeans to get a better feel for her rear end, but this time, she reached around behind herself and pulled his hand back out.

  “Just a minute,” she told Zach with a knowing smile, “this guy’s trying to tell me something.” She turned around, rolled over
Adam so he could snuggle into her from the front. She was still facing Zach so she could keep talking to him, but now Adam was holding her.

  She pulled the sleeping back up so it was around their shoulders, and she did it while still talking.

  A wave of fire rushed through his head. Zach’s more important!

  His hands fisted really tight. Her hands were soft. They caressed up and down his back. But her attention was still divided.

  Adam licked his lips and kissed her neck. While she was laughing with Zach, Adam managed to open a few buttons on her flannel shirt, reach inside and touch a bra-covered breast.

  Oh, wow—so warm and soft. He’d never felt anything more wonderful.

  Her body recoiled, probably because his hands were a little cooler than her skin in that spot, but she didn’t remove his hands like she did when he got inside her jeans.

  That meant this was okay!

  His fingertip swiped back and forth at her erect nipple. He swallowed hard and ignored how swollen and sore he was from this small little protruding piece of flesh on her that he liked more than anything. He explored by tweaking it a little with his thumb and forefinger—twisting slightly and tugging. She was oblivious, and feelings of inadequacy flooded him. She liked his brother. She was talking to Zach about things Adam was clueless about. She said at one point rock music was her salvation.

  That part he understood to an extent. He knew music well, and he knew how music helped him, but she talked about drugs and rehab and friends being a part of her past partying. Those were things he didn’t quite get and most likely never would.

  Adam wanted to be that for her—the person who understood all of her. His chest ached in so many unnameable spots he thought he might pass out. He needed her, not his brother. And why had she never told him music meant so much to her? It did to him too, only not rock so much.

  He wanted to scream at Zach to leave her alone—that she was his—Adam’s, and nobody else’s.

  Adam bit into the flesh surrounding her collarbone as he squeezed her breast with his entire hand. A groan escaped him. Oh God, God, God—the feel of it—more of it—it was all in his palm and it was incredible. He squeezed harder. He’d never let go.

  “What. Are. You. Doing?” She had stopped talking to Zach, and was now staring down at what had been the top of his head but was now his guilty grin.

  He was looking up through his lashes with his auburn hair flopping in his eyes. “Nothing,” he answered, displaying a boyish grin instead of one that said he was caught doing something that got him in trouble.

  “So naughty.” She reached inside the sleeping bag, pulled his hands around her into a hug. “If you want to go back home, Zach, I’ll take care of him. I’ll make sure he gets back safely. The box office opens in less than an hour. I’ll get my tickets and head home,” she told Zach like Adam was invisible again—like he didn’t exist.

  “Yeah . . . I don’t need a babysitter,” Adam added. He grabbed her rear end to keep her with him and to get her attention. “And you shouldn’t talk about me like I’m not here. It’s rude!”

  “I agree. And just so you know, big brother—this is by far the best thing you’ve ever done. She’s really cool, and I can see why you’re so into her.” Zach got up and dusted himself off. “Make sure you bring your Mercedes back without getting any speeding tickets. Dad won’t be happy if you do that.”

  “It’s not your concern how I get home,” Adam huffed. It was his used car—Dad’s old hand-me-down—so Adam could do what he liked with it.

  “Whatever,” Zach said with a chuckle. “It’s your life, man, and if you want to do it this way, who am I to argue?”

  Zach left, and Adam redoubled his efforts from earlier to feel more of her and to see how far he could get inside her clothes.

  But now that she wasn’t distracted by his brother’s big mouth, she wouldn’t let him touch her at all. Nope, nothing but strict hugging.

  Damn it! Zach, come back! I need her skin on mine!

  Chapter 10

  Adam stepped with Mari up to the window. He shoved his hands in his pockets and palmed his wallet in his right.

  “I need two tickets, please,” Mari told the woman behind the box office booth.

  “She needs four,” Adam corrected her, and before Mari could balk, he had his credit card out and the woman had swiped it.

  “What are you doing?” Mari hissed.

  “Getting you tickets. I’m coming too, and I’ll probably have to bring Zach.” He sighed and rolled his eyes.

  “I . . . Will I ever get used to this?” Her arms flailed out to the side for a moment and then landed at her sides.

  The woman gave him the receipt and the tickets. He tucked them and his credit card away while he smiled at Mari as she pulled him out of line.

  “I really like the way your hair has some red in it in the light. Kind of like mine. I hardly get to see it in bright, natural light like this. It’s pretty.” He reached out to touch it. It was like the smoothest, softest feathers ever. He touched a bird once when he was little. His mom let him pet it since it belonged to a friend of hers. He never forgot that wondrous feel. This was better. “I like your hair a lot. Our kids would have the most beautiful hair ever.”

  She got a little teary eyed, her face paled and she grabbed his hand, pulling it off her hair. “I’m sure they would, but I’m never having kids, so I’d rather not talk about this.”

  She started walking briskly away from the booth. As she was going about gathering her sleeping bag and backpack she’d set aside while they were paying, he swooped in and grabbed it for her.

  “I’ll carry all of it,” he said. “That’s my job.” A heavy weight felt like it had settled on his chest, rather than his shoulder where the backpack now rested. “How come you don’t wanna have kids?”

  “’Cause I’d probably kill ‘em.” She shrugged and turned away from him.

  It looked like she was wiping her eyes. Was she tired?

  “C’mon. You deserve a treat after paying for those overpriced tickets.” She waved for him to follow but barely looked at him.

  They wound up at her Jeep. She helped stow all the gear away.

  “Let’s have a real breakfast. I’m starving! And there’s this great little ma and pa shop I love coming to whenever I’m here.” She pulled out her own wallet. “This time I’m paying, and no arguments from you.” She opened the rusted, creaky passenger’s side door, and he hopped in. Before closing it, she said, “Thanks for joining me, Adam. You have no idea how you brighten everything around you, including the bleak, dark thoughts of a crazy girl, waiting on a cold sidewalk.” She swallowed back some emotions Adam couldn’t name, so he reached for her.

  She yelped when he pulled her into his lap. “You can cuddle with me whenever you’re sad,” he told her. “It feels nice for both of us.”

  “I don’t know that it will help,” she said, muffled, because she had her face smooshed into his chest and her palm rested right on his abs.

  It made him squirm for a minute because the sore spot was really close to that hand. But she was sad, so he ignored it.

  “It will make it better. It does. I know, because that’s why I hold your hand and need hugs from you. It always makes it better. I want to do that for you, too.”

  “O-kay,” she said, sounding childlike and out of breath.

  His heart swelled. She was accepting his help, letting herself need him. Yay! What a smart thing of her to do.

  He sunk his nose into her hair. It smelled wonderful. There was a faint trace of smoke, but it was so light, he was able to get past it.

  She shivered.

  “Are you cold?” he asked.

  “Always. I live in the dark.”

  His brow furrowed. “You live in the land of the sun. That’s not possible.”

  She patted his tummy. “Not when you’re around, it’s not.” She sighed and sat up. “Thank you.” She kissed his lips so fast he didn’t have time to rea
ct.

  She slid off his lap with a weak smile and was about to shut the door when he grabbed her arm and halted her. “When you do that—you kiss me because you want to or need to—it makes the whole world better. I want you to know that.” He let go of her arm, touched his lips softly with his fingertips and almost went into a trance-state. She was every particle of air he’d ever need to be okay.

  Mari tucked her head down, shut the door as quietly as she could and walked around the back of the Jeep.

  He barely noticed when she started the car and drove off.

  She played some serene music, adding to the ebb and flow of his mood. Had he ever been this calm and relaxed?

  “Mari . . . ?” He turned his head to gaze on her.

  “Hmmm?” She looked lost in her own thoughts.

  “My favorite part of last night—well, there were lots—but the part I’ll always remember is being so close to you I could hear your every heartbeat and breath. It made me . . .” she stiffened in her seat “. . . well, it helped me feel like I was at a new home I’ve never known. And I like this new one much better than the one I’ve already got.” He was so happy he could barely feel his feet wiggling.

  She smiled but kept silent. The drive was peaceful, and he almost fell asleep.

  Several minutes later, she parked in front of a little cafe and a tear swelled at the corner of her right eye. Her eyes closed and stayed that way for a moment as she took a deep breath. She rubbed that eye, opened both her eyes and it looked like a new solid thought was behind her. “It’s time to feed you.”

  They got out and walked with linked hands inside the restaurant.

  Mari took care of everything. She found them a great place to sit, and it was close to all the pastries, muffins, and donuts. They were freshly baked—that was obvious, because the fresh-baked smell lingered in the air. Could this morning be any brighter and more beautiful?

  “I like this place,” he said, rocking side to side with a shift of his hips as he gripped the edge of his seat. “It’s like a day of music!”

  She smiled, placed an elbow on the table and rested her right cheek in her right hand as she sat still and observed him. “What’s it like in that head of yours? What do the numbers feel like?” Her tone was so soft, so melodic, he leaned forward and stopped wiggling with excitement. Instead, he stroked her arm she had propped up.