Ascending Darkness (Shattering the Darkness) (25 page)

“Seriously?” Rich asks, looking at Breccan.

“Yes,” Breccan answers, “It was important to make sure each of you were protected after what happened to Mya’s apartment. So Nikko and I met and set that up.” A few faces turn towards me. “Without Harper’s knowledge,” he tacks on. “It was a decision we made together.”

“It was the right one,” I add quietly, because I can see a couple of upset faces. Mostly Brynn and Rich for having their privacy violated. And Avery, probab
ly for not being ‘in the know’. “This needs to be taken seriously,” I add when those upset faces turn to me, “Stevie is…” I close my eyes and shudder, unable to finish. Breccan’s arms tighten around me.

“Okay, boss,” Mark says, “I understand. It’s just… well, shit… that’s a lot of information to take in.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Those small words cannot convey how terrible I truly feel.

“You don’t need to be. You’ve done nothing wrong,” Mark smiles at me, “I just… fuck. I can’t believe everything you’ve been through…” He shakes his head and looks down for a moment before meeting my eyes again. “I’m so sorry that you’ve had to deal with so much.”

“It’s okay,” I tell him, quietly.

“Alright. So how does this work? Who is this security team? I mean… I don’t even know where to begin or what to do with all this,” Rich says.

“Basically, just go about your lives,” Nikko answers him, sitting down on the edge of the sofa next to Kara, “like you always do. You are just going to have someone tailing you. They will be sure to be discreet, but if you would like to meet them, that can be arranged. So that you know who it is and you can spot them easily.” A few of the guys nod their heads in agreement.

“My main concern is Harper
,” he stands and shoves his hands in his pockets. “She is the only one that is in any real danger. Anything Stevie does to you all is going to be minor compared to what he has planned for her.”

I close my eyes and drop my head. I can’t believe this is really happening. My life is finally imploding. I finally get everything I never knew I wanted and this is what happens.

“Not to say, that it won’t be bad, obviously. But… the way I found Harper…” he shakes his head.

“Nikko,” I cut him off when he looks like he is about to continue. He looks to me and I shake my head at him.

“Okay, baby girl,” his voice is soft then he looks back to everyone else, “Just know that I won’t let that happen again. And neither will Breccan.”

“We really need to talk, dove,” Breccan says in my ear quietly.

I close my eyes and clench my jaw, knowing that he is right. He needs to know the true seriousness of the matter. I don’t reply to him, but just listen as everyone around me continues to talk about the destruction my past has brought to them.

“I’ll always win, H. You can’t hide and you can’t run. I will always find you. You. Belong. To. Me.”
Stevie’s voice plays in my head.

I can hear exactly what that bastard is thinking and how he would say it. He’ll never change… it’s not in his nature. And he will make sure that I pay… in some way… 

She shouldn’t have run. It was stupid, I think to myself as I sit in my room listening to Trixie’s cries from down the hall. She thought she had an amazing escape plan to get out of this life.

She had told me about it and I told her she shouldn’t try. That Stevie would find out.

Though,
I did want her to succeed. I really did. It gave me hope.

At seventeen I know there is nothing for me other than this life, but I still had that hope… that… maybe
… one day…

But… Stevie tracked her down and brought her back to this hell hole. And now we all get to listen to the repercussions of her decision.

I curl up in a ball on my bed and wait for it to end…

A couple hours later Stevie comes into my room, freshly showered, and closes the door behind him. I sit up on the side of my bed and look up at him.

“You hear it?” he asks me.

“Yeah, Stevie. I heard it,” I answer, my voice small and quiet.

“Good. Let that be a lesson,” he tells me as he starts to take off his clothes and walk toward me
, ready to take his aggressions out another way now.

I stand and take mine off as well, knowing exactly what he wants and that trying to stall or fight after what just happened would only get me hurt as well.

“I’ll always win, H,” he says as he grabs my hair, kisses me deep then tosses me onto the bed. “You can’t hide and you can’t run.” He climbs on top of me and places his cock at my opening. “I will always find you.” He slams into me and growls out between each thrust, “You. Belong. To. Me.”

“Dove,” Breccan says, bringing me back to the present.

“Sorry, what?” I ask turning my head to look at him.

“I said we should get back to the apartment, what do you think?” I look around and notice the place has cleared out. Even Nikko and Kara are nowhere to be seen. I look at the clock on the wall and it reads two o’clock in the afternoon. I can’t believe I zoned out for so long. “Where did everyone go?” I ask him.

“They
left a little bit ago,” he answers standing and taking me with him. “They all said goodbye to you, but you just stared at the floor.”

He turns me to face him and cups my face in his hands. I stare up at his stubbled jaw line taking in his perfect features that are magnified by his hair being pulled back.

“Are you okay?” he asks me quietly.

“Yeah…” I nod my head slowly. “Just
… thinking about everything.”

“Okay, dove
,” he drops his lips to mine for a quick kiss, “let’s take Bane for a walk at the park then go home.”

“Sounds good, Brecc,” I say.
We walk out of the apartment, grabbing Bane’s leash on the way as he follows close beside me.

We stop at my apartment-shit!
Our
apartment- and leave my jacket and his sweatshirt before going to the park for a couple of hours and playing fetch with Bane; our two security guards trailing behind us. We spend those hours not talking about the mess that is my life. A silent truce commences and we simply pretend to be any other couple just out on a nice day. It feels good to push everything away and just… relax.

On the walk back to my apartment, Breccan brings us back to reality.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I had movers pack up my things yesterday and bring them to your house today while we were at Nikko’s.”

“Really?” I look at him incredulously.

Breccan slides his arm around my waist and brings me closer; his other hand holding the leash that Bane is attached to.

“Yes…” he answers slowly, “I meant for us to be there… but…” he trails off, obviously not wanting to mention the fire.

“Yeah,” I nod my head and my thoughts trail off momentarily to the vision of my beautiful bar up in flames. I look up into his eyes to see him already staring at me, “I’m not having second thoughts,” I reassure him and slide my arm around him as well, “I really did want you to move in. I wish you would have mentioned something earlier, though.”

“There wasn’t much time to,” he answers softly.

“What about yesterday?” I ask.

“You’re right,” he nods, “I should have said something when I made the call.” He quirks his lip up into that sexy half smile that I have not seen yet today, “Forgive me?”

I can’t help it, I actually swoon as I reply, “Yes…”

We reach the front entrance to my-
our
- apartment building and Breccan holds the door open for me; him and Bane trailing behind.

“What are you going to do with your place?” I ask as I push the button for the elevator.

“It’s already on the market.” He answers as the doors slide open. We step inside and Breccan enters the code for my- dammit!
our
- apartment.

“How is that even possible?” I ask him.

Surely he must have to meet with a realtor or someone and to have it assessed or whatever it is they do.

“I know people,” he answers, simply.

“I guess so,” I mumble at the same time the elevator
pings
announcing our arrival to our floor. We step out into the foyer and walk down the short hallway until we reach my door.

Our door
! Damn. That is really going to take some getting used to. I hand Breccan the key to the apartment.

“Care to do the honors, roomie?” I ask him with a smile.

He bends his head and captures my mouth with his for a quick and delicious kiss.

“I’d love to,” his voice rumbles out quietly; his lips still touching mine.

My lids flutter as my eyes roll back a bit. Breccan moves to unlock the door and holds it open for Bane and I. Once inside, I unhook Bane’s leash and he trots off down the hallway to the living room to find a comfortable spot, while I hang up the leash.

“Shall we order in, dove?” he asks me as I make my way to the kitchen to pour us a couple glasses of wine.

“Sounds great, actually,” I answer and make my way for the drawer with the takeout menus after pouring the wine.

I am grasped from behind as a steel band forms around my waist and Breccan slams me back into his body. His erection presses into my back and I feel a surge of moisture dampen my panties.

“Brecc…” I breathe out in shock.

“We’ll eat in a bit,” he growls out, his voice filled with desire in my ear.

He turns me, tosses me over his shoulder and hauls me up the stairs to
our
room.

“Brecc…” I gasp out.

“Shhh, dove,” he orders and playfully smacks my ass.

“Breccan Alexander!” I cry out as my body jerks in reaction.

I am met only with a laugh and shake my head incredulously at his audacity. I place my hands on his hips to steady myself so that I am not bobbing up and down uncomfortably on his shoulder.

We make it to the bed and Breccan lifts his shoulder, popping me off and dropping me on the bed. He’s on top of me before I even have a chance to catch my breath, his mouth capturing mine. His tongue seeking entry.

“Brecc…” I pant out when his mouth leaves mine to trail down my neck.

My hands clutch onto his shoulders and I move my legs to wrap around his hips. I pull my
own hips up for more solid contact with his and let out a moan when he presses into me. My hands travel up and pull the elastic out of his hair so that I can run my fingers through it.

His mouth travels down to the hemline of my
pants and begins to trail soft sensual kisses up my stomach, pulling my shirt up as he goes. I arch my back so that he can finish lifting the shirt up and over my head. He tosses the shirt and his hands go to my hair and remove the band holding it in place, letting it fall around me on the bed.

“You are so fucking beautiful, Harper,” he tells me with that oh
-so-deep voice of his and a thrill goes through me.

His mouth descends to my chest and he begins to nip and lick at my nipples through the lace of my bra.
I lift his shirt up and he bows his back to assist me in removing it.

His hands travel down and pop
the button off my jeans. He moves his mouth down to my navel, taking my jeans off as he goes. He moves further down until he has my pants and shoes completely off, then travels back up my body, kissing my legs as he goes. He splays his hands across my inner thighs, spreading them open to better his view and I can feel myself throbbing for him. I desperately need him to touch me.

“Brecc…” I breathe out.

His eyes move up my body until they connect with mine. My lids drop and I can feel my stare darken with his.

“Tell me, dove…” he orders quietly, “Tell me what you want me to do…”

I move and sit up, Breccan’s face still between my legs, his eyes following my movements. I place my hand on his jaw and stroke my fingers across his five o’clock shadow, then bring his face closer to mine. I lower my voice, wanting to come across as sultry and desirable.

“I want you to devour me, Brecc…” I’m not sure it works until his fingers clamp down
onto my thighs. I smile a little and tell him on a whisper, “Then I want you to fuck me like you own me…”

“
Fuck
,” he bites out, his blue eyes burning through me, causing goosebumps to raise on my skin.

He raises up
and captures my mouth, tossing me onto my back again. My legs once again wrap around him and my hands dive into his hair. His hands travel all over my body, igniting a quick burn of fire through my veins. They stop at my mound and he slowly moves his fingers down to rub my clit through my panties. I toss my head back and moan, breaking the connection of our mouths.

He begins to kiss down my neck, stopping at my nipples, licking them through my bra. His teeth bite down onto the cup and pull it down below my breast, giving him direct contact with the sensitive nub. He bites down gently onto my nipple making my body shudder with pleasure.