The car ride through the streets of Manhattan was quiet as Dean drove. He stopped in front of a brownstone, only it wasn’t the same one that I had drawn with his sister sitting on the steps.
Harlon climbed out and offered me his hand. “Dean, give me minute while I get her situated.”
Dean nodded, and Harlon guided me up the stairs to the front door.
His hand squeezed mine. “You’ll be safe here.”
“Are you sure I can’t go with you?”
Harlon had opened his mouth as if to answer when the door squeaked open.
“Essie, this is Nina, the woman you told me about.”
Essie looked like she could be Harlon’s mother. Her white hair hung in ringlets just past a shawl that covered her shoulders. A basket with flowers was clutched in her hand.
“I remember, search and rescue,” Essie said and opened her door further. “Come in.”
“Nina Bennett, this is Esmeralda Cook, or Essie as we called her growing up,” Harlon said as he led me through a foyer and into a living room.
“I’m glad he found you, Nina,” Essie said and gestured to the oversized couch. “Why don’t you sit and keep me company while Harlon goes to look for Suzie?”
My brows dipped. “You know where he’s going?”
She clasped her hands together. “Of course, I do.”
I tilted my head. “Then you know what, if anything, he’s going to find?”
“I have a suspicion.”
“Can she stay here with you?” Harlon’s voice was impatient, as though he didn’t like being talked about like he wasn’t there.
“Of course, I’ve just started some water for tea,” Essie said and walked Harlon to the door. “It will give me a chance to get to know your future wife.”
“Wait, what?” I shot up from my seat too fast and immediately regretted it, as the room began to spin.
“Easy dear, you still aren’t a hundred percent,” Essie exclaimed.
I sank back onto the couch. She was right, and I had a gut feeling that she was hardly ever wrong.
“I’m not his future…anything,” I called out.
Chapter 13
“Thank you, Essie,” he said and kissed the woman’s cheek.
I pointed at the door he’d just walked out. “How come Harlon hearing you say I’m his future wife didn’t even faze him?”
“He already knows. I told him you two were destined when I told him where to find you. I told him that you two will be connected in even more ways than sexual tension,” she said, disappearing into the kitchen.
I followed. “That’s news to me. He didn’t mention that.”
“Would you like some tea, dear?”
“Sure,” I said, leaning against the doorframe for support.
“You’ll have to forgive Harlon for not telling you everything. He has a hard time trusting.”
I raised a brow and sat as she set two teacups on the table.
“Excuse me for a minute.”
I nodded and sipped the tea, closing my eyes and moaning as the tea heated my throat, warming me from the inside out.
Dogs barking had me spinning toward the door Essie had disappeared through. I rose from my spot and peeked inside.
There were three puppies behind a baby gate. Two were fighting with a toy, and the other one was staring at me while Essie filled the bowls with water and food.
“Come and meet Peanut,” Essie said without ever looking over her shoulder. “She’s fated to be yours. She’ll be a wonderful service dog.”
“Service dog?” I asked, walking into the room and dropping to my knees outside the gate. I pushed my fingers through the gate holes, and Peanut pressed up against my touch. I rubbed her head.
“For when you heal the ones you find,” Essie said.
“Excuse me?”
The woman picked up Peanut and handed her to me as she led the way out of the playroom.
“You’re destined for great things, dear.”
I shook my head. This crazy woman wasn’t making any sense. No way was I doing great things, especially in New York.
I liked my life quiet and slow, nothing like this place.
“You must be picking up on one of my other sisters. This is my first time to New York, and I don’t plan to come back.”
She sat the kitchen table and started sipping her tea while Peanut curled on my lap.
“You can’t hide forever, dear. It’s not in your genes.”
I scratched Peanut behind the ears as I stared at Essie.
“You're cryptic,” I remarked with a smirk.
“I’m many things and nothing,” she said. “But would you like me to tell you what you are?”
“Not really,” I said, rising from my spot and pacing the yellow linoleum floor. I turned to stare at her. “Is Harlon going to find his sister?”
“Yes, but not today.”
“Then why did you let him go?”
“This is his journey to make,” Essie said and led me into the living room again. “Just like you being here is yours. We were each destined to play a part in this situation. Just like you were meant to perform a miracle on Manny, to get you to believe.”
This woman was definitely off her rocker. If I were a betting girl, I’d say the longer I stayed, the closer we’d be to drinking midnight margaritas while dancing around a cauldron sweeping evil out the door.
“You lack training,” Essie said. “Have a seat.”
I sat on her couch, and the dog curled up at my side.
“Close your eyes and take a deep breath. In and out.”
I closed my eyes, but I was peeking beneath my lashes.
“Close them,” she barked in a no nonsense tone.
I did as I was told.
“Picture Harlon in your mind. You know him. You know his touch. You know his scent. You know his energy and his moods. You know his spirit. Feel him as though he’s as real in your mind, as if he were standing in front of you.”
Harlon had been easy enough to picture in my mind from the first interaction. His red flannel shirt stretched over his broad chest. The scruff on his face scratched at my hip where my shirt had ridden up as he’d carried me over his shoulder. The deep timbre of his voice wrapped around me like a driving glove. His touch had set me on fire, making me want things. Need things.
“Now try and envision where he might be. Is he in a car?”
I shook my head. He wasn’t in the car. He was standing outside the door of the townhouse that I’d drawn. It was as though I was next to him. A vision I’d normally have in my sleep I was having while awake.
My eyes shot open, and Essie was standing in the doorway of the kitchen eating a cookie while looking down into the teacup I’d been drinking from.
“You and Harlon are each a piece of a two-piece puzzle. When you master the art of finding and healing him, it will be a piece of cake to do it with others.”
“Listen,” I said, rising from my seat, carrying the dog. I put the puppy in the doggie playroom. “I’m only here for two more days after tonight. That’s not long enough for any of your predictions to play out. As lovely as they were, you’ve got the wrong girl.”
She watched me as if amused with my words. She nodded as if agreeing. “If you say so, dear.”
She touched her neck in the same location where one of the dog bites remained on mine. “I have a concoction that will help speed up your future healing needs. I’ll get some from my store and be sure to send it over.”
“I don’t plan to heal anyone else, but thank you for the offer.”
Just then there was a knock on the door, and Harlon entered. “I missed her. She wasn’t there.”
“You’ll find her, dear,” Essie said.
I walked to the door as Harlon asked, “Did you help her find what she’s searching for, Essie?”
“I’m not searching for anything,” I answered.
“She’ll find it when she’s ready, Harlon, and not a minute soone
r. You can’t rush her.”
He gave a nod and kissed the woman’s cheek before leading me to the car. He slipped over the leather seat beside me and closed the door.
“I’m surprised Essie told you where to find me in the woods that day. She didn’t tell me anything nearly that specific other than that I’m going to be your wife.”
His lips twisted. “You caught that, did you?”
“She tried to give me a dog,” I said.
His grin slowly fell. “Which one?”
“Peanut,” I answered.
“She’s been grooming them since birth. All three were handpicked for special people. You’re telling me that she tried to give you her favorite?”
I shrugged. “She said I was destined to have the dog. She couldn’t be further from the truth. I don’t know the first thing about caring for animals.”
“She’s never been wrong,” he said.
“She is about me. About us. After tonight I leave in two days.”
Chapter 14
We returned to his home, and we were tucked away from the world behind his bulletproof glass watching as life happened ten stories below and in the apartments across the street.
A woman was sitting down to dinner alone in her apartment. In the apartment beneath hers, a man was watching TV while kids ran around and the mother cooked dinner. In those two views, I saw my past and my future, and yet I was somewhere stuck in between.
Harlon appeared behind me, wrapping me in his arms as if it were a natural thing. Like something the couple across the street might do.
“Thank you for today,” he whispered into my hair.
It was a day I’d never forget and one I’d never repeat. “Did you find anything in the townhouse?”
“Some of Mittens’ hair on the windowsill. Suzie had been there.”
“That’s great. It means she’s still alive.”
He turned me in his arms. His gaze caressed my face. “Yes, she is still alive, and I wouldn’t have known that if it hadn’t been for you.”
He leaned in slowly as if giving me time to stop him. His heated breath lingered with mine before he pressed a gentle kiss to my lips.
There was nothing urgent about the way his tongue slow danced with mine. The way one of his fingers twisted in my hair while his other palm tugged me closer. There was no way that I was getting turned on. No way I’d let things go any further and absolutely no way I was going to let him lift me off my feet and carry me into his room instead of retreating alone to mine.
I was wrong.
There was a way, and each minute, each second, brought me closer to Essie’s predictions.
He lowered me onto the bed, following me down. His lips attached to mine. He sparked an ache I hadn’t felt in years. My body craved his touch like I needed if for my next breath. It was foreign and yet felt like home.
His lips trailed a path down my neck as he fingers touched my skin right below the hem of my shirt. He took his time as if expecting me to stop him.
I yanked at the back of his shirt, lifting it over his head as I lifted my pelvis up to his. Two days was all we had. Two days to figure out this pull.
“You sure?” he asked as I tugged my shirt off and unhooked my bra. His lips trailed a path across my body before he gently pressed several kisses to the bite mark on my neck.
“Yes.”
He lifted his gaze. “Now’s the time to stop me if you have reservations.”
Reservations were one thing. I had plenty. I wasn’t going to be his wife, live in this city, or even own a dog, but I didn’t question the heat building between us. It was explosive, and I was ready. I needed to feel his touch, know his taste. I needed to have him.
I wasn’t going to be eating dinner alone like the woman in the window, not tonight, not for the next two days.
His touch was electrifying. The desire pooled in his eyes probably mirrored my own. The only question left was whether I was sleeping with Wall Street or Lumberjack. It didn’t matter. A bit of both were shining through. Making me need, making me want.
“I need you.”
“Thank God,” he whispered against my skin as he continued his kisses down my chest. He squeezed one of my breasts while his mouth headed to the other. “I’ve been wanting to do this since the day I saved you in the woods.”
I ran my fingers through his hair, holding him in place as he found his target and sucked. “Oh God, yes.”
Within minutes we were both naked. My need was palpable. My chest heaved with desire, and my heart rate quickened as I watched him slide the condom down his shaft.
He leaned over me, stilling himself at my entrance. His gaze held mine, and lust and need stared back at me as he slid inside, stretching me deliciously until he was seated to the hilt.
I closed my eyes as I held on tight.
Tension and lust coiled around us, grabbing hold. In a matter of seconds, we’d become one. This wasn’t just sex, but so much more.
Determination hardened Harlon’s jaw as he stared down at me.
I didn’t question what this meant. I knew. There was no confusion and no denying that I’d found my true north and Harlon was my home.
It was going to kill me to leave.
He stilled. His body trembled as he rested his head over my shoulder. “Nina…”
“I know.” I swallowed hard around the lump in my throat. “We’ll deal with it later.” I tightened my hold. The connection between us was stronger than even when we worked together over Manny. The need, much larger than either of us could have dreamed.
Fire built between us as he took me to the edge and sent me flying over. Fireworks exploded behind my eyes, taking me to heights I’ve never reached before.
He found his release and continued to rock into me while staring down at me. He kissed me once more.
He rolled to his side and pulled me into his hold. Our sweat-slickened bodies pressed against each other as our labored breathing slowed.
My mind was blank. I was at a loss for words.
Harlon kissed my hair. “She was right.”
I glanced up at him, confused by his words. “Who was right?”
“You are going to be my wife.” His lips twisted into a smile as he rolled out of the bed and walked straight into the bathroom.
“One night of mind-blowing sex does not constitute that type of decision,” I called out after him. “Sex isn’t love.”
The sound of running water coming from the shower filled the room, but Harlon appeared in the doorway, naked and making my mouth water as I took him in. The first time seeing all of him.
“Deny it all you want. I’ll change your mind.” He walked into the room and scooped me out of the bed, carrying me fireman style into the bathroom with his hand on my ass. “I’ve imagined this too.”
Harlon
Chapter 15
They’d both awakened deliciously sated the next morning. She’d tried to sneak into her own room as if it was her way of dealing with the awkward morning after. Before she could make it to the door, Harlon kissed her silly until he was sure she was relaxed around him again.
Walking into Essie’s, Harlon hadn’t had to read her mind to confirm what he already knew. Nina was the one. She was his even if she wasn’t ready to agree. He couldn’t blame her for that. He had time to ease her into his world.
Harlon slid pancakes onto plates and divvied up the bacon before carrying them into the dining room, where Nina was sitting at the table, dressed in one of his flannel button-down shirts.
He’d known he’d been in trouble the minute Essie announced that Harlon would not only find Nina but he’d save her life, like she was bound to save his.
The way she blushed under his gaze had him wanting to strip her bare to see how much creamy skin the blush covered. He would. When he could spend hours exploring every inch.
“Well, are you going to feed me?” Nina asked, breaking the trance from where his mind had strayed.
“Yeah. You’
re going to need your energy,” Harlon said, setting one of the plates in front of her. He kissed her temple before taking the seat next to hers.
“Why do I need energy? Do you plan on us staying in bed all day?”
He raised a brow. “As much as I’d loved to, and one day we will, I’m afraid you’ve got an appointment with Ruby. She’s going to take you shopping to get you ready for tonight.”
The bite of bacon she was about to take was forgotten, and she lowered it to her plate.
“What’s tonight?” she asked.
“My sister left me a message,” he said, slipping the folded paper football out of his pocket and setting it on the table.
“What? She wants to play football?” Nina asked.
“Every year since we were kids, our parents used to drag us to the Service Animal Foundation ball. They’ve hosted it and donated millions over the years. Every year my sister and I would find a table away from the crowds, and we’d drink and play table football while reciting our wishes as if the football was a shooting star.”
“I would have never guessed you two were that close after seeing the Christmas where you stole her doll,” Nina teased.
“When our mom died, I was the only family she had left, besides Manny.”
Nina lifted her gaze. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. You never talk about your mom. What happened to her?” Nina held up her hand. “Never mind, you don’t have to tell me.”
“She died when I was fifteen. She’d been fatally injured in a mugging.”
Nina rested her hand on his. “Is that why you went into security so that you can protect others?”
He nodded, swallowing down the harsh reminder.
“I lost my parents too,” Nina said, passing him the syrup while she bit into her bacon. “Did you find anything else at the townhome?”
“Nothing but a few strands of Mittens’ hair by the football. We’re still digging into the owner. It’s listed under shell corporations. I had to break in to check the place so it’s not like I can call the police to do a sweep.”
“Right, because you were trespassing,” Nina said with a shrug. “I’ll try and sketch later to see if I get another scene.”
Hard to Hold (Bennett Dynasty Book 4) Page 6