-Harry
I keep my eyes trained on her face, barely able to keep them from gazing down her body.
My heart is hammering in my chest, knowing exactly what I'd find if I let my eyes wander...
I'd thought she was right fit before, but I had no bloody idea just how breathtaking she was until I saw her laying on my bed. Naked and trembling underneath me.
I wasn't able to keep my hands off her perfectly rounded breasts, my tongue off the smooth skin of her flat stomach, my fingers from digging into the curve of her hips...
F.uck I want her.
She smirks up at me, watching my small amount of self control wane as my mind replays that night.
Her fingers move up between us, taking hold of the chain hanging from my neck and tugging on it. Bringing me closer to her.
I close my eyes a few times, shaking my head as I grab her hands, stopping her. "Everly.."
"Look at me."
"No."
"Why?" She raises an eyebrow teasingly.
"You know why."
She grins, biting her bottom lip. "Do I?"
"Yes. Now put your bloody dress back on."
"And what if I don't?" She leans forward, her lips brushing my ear as she lowers her voice. "Would you take me over your knee?"
"Christ..." I choke out, feeling my jeans instantly tighten.
"You'd like that wouldn't you?" She nips at my ear, making my whole body shudder.
"You're drunk." I push her away slightly, it taking everything in me to do so. "You don't know what you're doing."
"Yes I dooo."
"You wanted nothing to do with me." I remind her.
"No, I said I can't have anything to do with you. Big difference. Of course I want you."
"But you can't.."
"I can tonight." She grins, a giggle escaping her mouth.
"You..." I make the mistake of glancing down, seeing she's only wearing bra and a very small pair of red and black knickers. Very very small.
"F.uck..." My voice comes out raspier, my throat suddenly going dry as eyes run over her exposed skin.
"Do you want to touch me?"
"Yes." I answer, biting my lip.
"Where?"
"Everywhere."
"Show me."
I reach forward slowly, running my fingertips across the soft skin on her collarbones, skimming down until they reach the curve of her breasts.
"You like that?" I ask, already knowing full well by the way her breathing shallows. "You want me to f.uck you?"
Her eyes dilate as I stare into them, slowly moving my hand down her stomach.
"Yes." She breathes out shakily.
"And then what?"
"Hmmm?"
"If I give you what you want..." I still my hand. "..what happens tomorrow? You sneak out and leave another note?"
"Does it really matter?"
I drop my my arm, removing my touch as my heart falls. "Quite a bit actually."
"What do you want me to do then?" She sighs.
"Stay."
She giggles uncharacteristically again. "I'd like that.... But I don't want it to happen again. He's to mean."
"Don't want what to happen again?" I duck my head, meeting her eyes. "Who's mean?"
"The Russian."
"You're not making any sense."
"Your accent..." She smiles. "I could listen to you allllll day."
I grasp her roaming hands and hold them against my chest. "Who's the Russian?"
"How do you know Viktor?"
"I don't. You just said..."
"Oh right!" She laughs, "I forgot."
I sigh, "You said he's mean. Did he do something to you?"
"He's so pale, he looks like a ghost."
"Everly.."
"He's crazy tall too."
"Everly, what did he do to you?" I raise my voice to get her attention.
She sighs dramatically, pulling her right hand from mine and pushing her hair away from her face. Tilting her head towards the ceiling as she holds her hair back.
Narrowing my eyes, I look over her skin, finding a faint red mark running down her cheek.
"He hit you?" I clench my jaw, feeling my whole body turn hot.
"Was more of a slap."
I grasp her chin gently, taking a closer look at the reddened skin. The site makes me sick.
"Calm down." She sighs, "It's not like it was the first time."
"What?!"
"I said to calm down. I have a horrible headache."
"How many times has it been? Why the f.uck did he hit you?"
"You're always asking so many questions. It's really annoying."
"How many times Everly?" I try to keep my voice calm.
"Ummmmmm like three now. No wait, this makes four."
"Four..." My lips form a tight line. "Who the f.uck is he?"
"He works for Carter."
"And why'd he hit you?"
"Slapped." She corrects me.
"Why Everly?"
"He works for Carter."
"You already said that. Why did..." I pause, "Wait, Carter has him hit you?"
"Slap."
"God d.amnit, it means the same bloody thing! Tell me right now, does Carter have him hit you?"
"He would never hit a woman but he thinks discipline is sometimes necessary." She recites off, obviously quoting the a.sshole as she picks her dress up off the floor and pulls it back on.
My mouth clamps shut, anger rolling down my body in waves. I turn quickly, leaving her stood in the living room as I snatch my keys off the counter and head for the front door.
"Harry no!" Everly yells at me, trying to grab my arm but I just shrug her off. "Stop!"
She puts herself between me and the door, but I lightly push her to the side and grasp the door handle.
"He finds out I told you and I'll end up just like her!"
I freeze, turning towards her. "Like who?"
"You can't go over there!"
"Who is her?"
"Doesn't matter.. Just don't."
"Tell me right now or I swear to god I'm going." I say firmly, "Now Everly."
"She's.."
"You've three seconds."
She exhales sharply, looking almost pained as she lowers her voice. "Meredith."
"Who?"
"Carter's wife."
"He's already married!?" I gape.
"No, not anymore."
"What happened to her?"
"She's... She died last year." Everly avoids my gaze, looking down at the floor.
"How did she die?"
"She went missing. They found her body months later."
"You think Carter murdered her?"
"Harry..." She shakes her head.
"Answer me." I step towards her, brushing the hair off her shoulder so I can see her face.
"There wasn't enough proof to accuse anyone."
"Didn't ask you about proof. Asked if you think he killed her."
"I... I started doing some digging, but I couldn't find anything that pointed to him. I actually thought I'd gone crazy, spending so much time looking into it.. Then today I found something."
"Found what?"
"A picture. Of them."
"A picture?.."
"Yes, of her wearing this." Everly holds up her left hand, the engagement ring Carter gave her resting on her finger.
"Am not following you. That's f.ucked up yeah, but..."
"Meredith was wearing it when she went missing. But it wasn't on her when they found her body."
"You sure?"
"Absolutely positive." She nods.
"It could be just a copy or.."
"No." She cuts me off. "It's not."
Pulling the ring off her finger, she holds it out to me. "Look at the engraving."
I take it from her, seeing a small imprint inside the band.
M.C.
"It's also worn on the inside, you can tell it isn't new."
I look up, meeting Everly's worried gaze. "We're taking this to the police."
"We can't." She shakes her head. "It's not enough."
"It's enough for them to start an investigation."
"An investigation isn't enough! You don't understand, he owns half the police force in New York. He'll make sure this and anything else they manage to dig up disappears. And he'll know exactly who they got it from! I can't go to them with anything until I have enough for him to get arrested immediately. With no chance of getting released. Any other way and I'll end up just like her. He'll..." Her voice fades off as a tear slides down her cheek.
"Hey.." I immediately wrap my arms around her shoulders, pulling her into my chest. "It will be alright. We'll figure it out. I'll make sure.."
"No." She pushes me away, raising her voice. "You can't get involved."
"Like h.ell I can't."
"I need to handle this on my own."
"No, you need help."
"Im serious, it's to dangerous."
"You're not doing this alone."
"D.amnit Harry, no!" Her face flushes red in anger. "He could kill you! Don't you understand that?!"
"Am not just gonna sit on my arse..."
"I won't let you get hurt for me! End of discussion!" She stomps across the room, tugging her heels back on.
"You're not f.ucking walking out right now." I put my hand against the door as she tries to open it.
"Get out of my way."
"Stop pushing me away thinking you're protecting me from getting hurt. Can't you see that if something happens to you... that's when I'll be hurt."
She stops fighting against me suddenly, shaking her head. "I can't lose someone else."
"You won't."
"I will." She says quietly. "I lose everyone I care about."
"You have feelings for me?" I nudge her chin up with my finger, wanting to hear her say it.
Needing to hear her say it.
"Please.." I go on. "No more lies. I need to hear I'm not in this alone."
"You don't even know me. You shouldn't..."
"I don't give a shite about what I should or shouldn't feel. Be with me."
"Be with you how? I'm already with Carter remember? That won't be changing anytime soon."
"Don't care." I brush a tear off her cheek. "Play the part of the loving fiancée for Carter out there, then come here.. and be with me."
"And if he catches us?"
"He won't."
"Be reasonable Harry. There's just to much risk."
"Think it's more risky to continue doing this." I motion between us. "Randomly f.ucking then acting like we're done with each other till we randomly f.uck again."
"We wouldn't do that."
"We had s.ex in the loo at his house, while he was there." I point out. "That's about as risky as things can get. Can you honestly say that if we walked away from each other right now there's no chance of something like that happening again?"
She groans, running her hands through her hair. "We could learn self control."
"Right." I chuckle. "And we'd do smashingly at it right up until we don't. Then we'd be stupid again, and most likely get caught."
"But we wouldn't if we snuck around all the time." She quips sarcastically.
"Being careful and having a plan is a lot better then ending up in a room together God knows where and ripping each-other's clothes off."
"We wouldn't..."
"We would." I cut her off. "You know we would."
"Fine." She sighs. "We probably would. But no matter how careful we are or how good our plan is, being together that often is just as risky."
"It's not. How many times have you been over here and he hasn't found out? How many other times have we seen each other and he doesn't know? At the bridge, the cafe, Harper's, yours.."
I take her hand, entwining our fingers and tugging her towards me. "We can make it work."
She looks up at me, bright blue eyes staring into mine before I duck down and press a soft kiss to her lips.
"This is so stupid." She whispers. "I don't know..."
"Just think about it. Nothing has to be decided right now." I peck her lips once more, stopping myself from taking things further. "For now let's get some sleep. Think about it more tomorrow when our minds are fresh yeah?"
"Alright." She nods.
I lock the front door before steering her towards my bedroom, my hand resting on the small of her back.
When I don't follow her inside she stops, turning towards me.
"I'll just be on the couch." I explain.
"You sure?"
"No, not in the least." I chuckle. "But that's where I'll be."
She gives me a small smile before closing the door, leaving me stood in the hallway, wondering what other secrets she has hidden away.
And if she'll ever trust me enough to share them.
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So what do you think? Is Harry right in that being together secretly is their safest option?