"What are you doing?" Harper asked suspiciously. He noticed that she looked tired again, and as he noted that this was a recent trend, his throat tightened. Soon she's going to look happy all the time, he promised himself. And the only time she'll look tired is when we've been up mating all night.
"Just making dinner," he replied airily. "Thought I'd try out a new recipe." He put his bowl on the table, sat down and began to eat. "Help yourself if you want. There's plenty." She went over to the casserole dish and peered inside, then made a satisfied sound.
"Not bad, Silvester," she said.
"Old family recipe." He gave her a comical wink.
"If you're sure there's enough?"
"There's probably enough for a week." She shrugged, took a bowl out of the cupboard and ladled out a helping for herself.
"Wow. I'm impressed," she said a moment later. "Who would've thought you'd learn how to cook?" He tilted his head to the side.
"Thought it was about time, you know."
He carried on eating, didn't press the conversation. But the tension between them was so thick that he could almost taste it. At last, he put his silverware down and risked a glance at her. To his surprise, her eyes were wet with tears. Instinctively, he reached across the table and clasped her hand.
"Harper, what is it? Isn't everything good now? You know I'm a good guy. At least I hope you do." She wiped the back of her hand across her eyes savagely, then fixed him with a classic Harper don't-bullshit-me stare.
"Why did you tell me that you didn't love me? You could have given me some other excuse." He gave a long sigh that came out as a groan of pain, then he was silent while he collected his thoughts.
"Because it was the only thing that would've seemed convincing. My love for you was so strong that anything else would've been flimsy. What could I have said? That I needed to focus on my studies? That my parents didn't like me being with you? It just wouldn't have rung true, and you would've tried to talk me out of it."
She stared down at the table.
"I guess." Little wrinkles appeared at the bridge of her nose – a sign she was tussling with a difficult thought.
"But how could you have got together with a cheerleader so soon afterward? At first I didn't believe you when you said you didn't love me. But when I saw you with her, I knew it had to be true."
"Because I had to make you hate me. It was the only way I'd be able to keep myself away from you," he almost yelled, shocked at the rawness in his own voice. "I had to turn myself into an asshole. When I went bad and did lots of stupid stuff, it wasn't because I'd forgotten about us. It was because I couldn't stop thinking about you." Tears began to roll down her cheeks, and he fought the urge to catch them with his fingertips.
"You could have explained to me, somehow." He shook his head.
"I couldn't. I couldn't rationalize it to myself. All I could do was ruin everything. And I knew that hating me would help you to get over it." Harper's eyes were huge and glowing green, like a cat.
"I – I just need a moment," she said, abruptly getting up from the table.
He waited, his head spinning, having no idea what she was thinking.
Two long minutes later, two long, slender hands briefly touched his shoulders and then she sat down again.
"I'm sorry. I just needed to get a tissue," she said. When she met his gaze again, her eyes were full of softness. "Oh, Rocco. You were so selfless. All this time I've been thinking about my own pain and how you hurt me. And it never occurred to me that it might actually be worse to be the one who was causing the pain."
"I don't know if it was worse, but seeing you being so hurt by me was something I'll never forget."
"You were so strong, and you made such a difficult series of decisions to protect me. I can see now how mature you were, and how you never stopped caring about me."
"I didn't, Harper. Not once," he said, his voice husky with emotion.
"I forgive you for everything, Rocco. I want you to know that. And I hope you can forgive me too. For the way I hated you, and the hurt it must have caused you."
"There's nothing to forgive, Harper. I have only love in my heart for you."
Harper stood up, took a step toward him, and sat down on his lap, throwing her arms around his neck. He placed a gentle hand on the back of her neck and brought her mouth to his, drawing her into a tender, passionate kiss.
This time was different. It wasn't the wild, drunken mating of their Paris hotel room. It wasn't reminiscences from the past. It was the two of them as they were – adult bears, at the beginning of their relationship. Rocco undressed her carefully, stripping her clothing piece by piece, before laying her on the bed and gazing at her lush curves in adoration. And then he stood in front of her, stripping his own clothes off – the sexy t-shirt, the jeans, the black boxers, until he was gloriously naked – the sexiest man she could ever imagine. He wanted to touch and caress her, but she was ready for him and wanted him inside her, and so they tussled, until he pinned her with his powerful bulk, grasping her wrists in one of his huge hands, while he used the other to pleasure her. While she continued to protest, he brought her to a powerful climax with his hands and mouth. And then, when she was limp from the force of her orgasm, he spread her thighs and entered her, his thick cock filling her to the hilt. He thrust hard, taking her, claiming her as his mate, as he hadn't dared to before. She moaned and cried out, her nails turning to claws, digging into his back, and he loved it, loved feeling her animal strength. As he arched above her, her muscles clenched down on him in little spasms, urging him to fill her with his seed. He couldn't hold back. At the last moment, he pulled out, flipped her over and entered her from behind, a second before his orgasm ripped out of him, and he came with a wild, possessive roar.
This time, she turned around and snuggled into his chest, and he just had time to tuck the comforter around them before they fell blissfully asleep.
15
Harper felt safe. She hadn't felt like that for a long, long time. Yes, she'd spent her adulthood feeling self-sufficient, and well-aware that she was capable of looking after herself. But feeling, safe, protected by her mate was a different thing entirely. Rocco's chin rested on the top of her head, the prickling of his stubble just discernable. Her face was buried in his neck, and she inhaled his delicious, masculine scent, as if she couldn't get enough of it. He's mine, she thought to herself, and at the thought, her heart fluttered. She trusted him. She knew beyond doubt that he did what he did to protect her, and she loved him even more for it.
"Good morning, my beautiful mate," he rumbled sleepily.
She felt his throat vibrating a milli-second before she heard him speak, and she giggled at the way it made her lips tingle.
"Good morning," she echoed, glad that he was awake so that she could give in to her urge to run her hands all over his gorgeous body. He laid a hand on the small of her back, pulling her into him, and then he caressed her upper arms, her sides, her ass, while murmuring his appreciation of her. She cupped his jaw and kissed him on the mouth, her tongue flickering into his mouth and seeking out his own. He returned her kiss, and then pulled back.
"If you keep doing that, I'm not going to be able to control myself, Harper Waverly," he growled.
"Good," she whispered, and she slid her hand down and wrapped it around his cock, gasping at the discovery that he was already rock hard for her. It only took a little maneuver and he was inside her again, filling her up, setting her on fire.
"I'm going to be late for work," she said, some time later.
"Yup," he agreed, reaching for his watch. "But you know what day it is today?"
"Friday!" they both chorused.
"Can I pick you up from school tonight? I just can't wait to start the weekend with you," he asked and she nodded eagerly.
Harper was running so late for school that Rocco also had to give her a ride to work. This is like our first romance, Harper thought dreamily, as she clung to his muscular back while the bike made short work of the road. But way better, because we already live together, and we don't have our parents forcing us to come home at the end of the night.