by E. C. Land
“I’ve got you, Harlow. Promise no one will hurt you again,” he murmurs soothingly, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
“Our ETA is a little over two hours before we hit ground again, brother.” My body tenses again at hearing another man’s voice.
“Please don’t,” muttering, I burrow deeper into Ranger as if he could somehow absorb me into him.
“Easy, baby. No one is going to touch you. Just relax for me,” Ranger states in a soft yet firm tone letting me know he’s not lying to me. “I’m going to give you something to help you until we get you home.” I begin to tense at Ranger’s words, but he continues, “I know it’s not something you want right now, but your body needs it. I don’t know what the fuck they put in you; however, I know it’s fuckin’ hurting you. I’m only giving you enough to get you through the next few hours.”
I take in what Ranger says. He doesn’t know but he does. My body makes its needs known again and I nod my head giving him the go ahead he needs. I don’t know how long this drug was going to last in my system. All I knew was it was killing me right now. “Just don’t leave me alone, Ranger.”
“Not letting you go, Harlow. Never fuckin’ letting you go again,” Ranger rasps, I could feel his voice vibrate within his chest.
“Thank you,” I whisper, letting myself relax in his arms.
Ranger doesn’t say another word but a moment later I feel a cool sensation rush through my veins. It’s then I realize I have an IV in my arm.
Slowly I drift off into the abyss without fighting whatever Ranger gave me.
“Angel, wake up, sweetheart,” I knew that voice. It was the voice I heard every night when he tucked me into bed at night. My daddy.
Opening my eyes, I find him staring down at me looking the way he always did with his shaggy hair. “Daddy,” I say his name in question more than anything.
“Yeah, my sweet angel. I need you to wake up sweetheart and start living. You have a man now who wants you for who you are. Let him in. Let him be the man you need in your life. Stop shutting everyone out.”
“I’m not shutting everyone out, Daddy. I just don’t want to be hurt anymore. Not by anyone ever again.”
“I know, Harlow, but you gotta understand in life things happen for a reason. Those reasons always come out good in the long run. It just may take some time to get there. However, angel, I can promise you this, it will be worth it in the end.”
“How do you know, Daddy? What if you’re wrong?” I ask lifting up to a sitting position.
Daddy grins at me as he reaches his hand to touch my cheek. “I know this ‘cause I’m always looking out for you and Lynch, sweetheart. A father’s job is never done and I’m fuckin’ proud of the both of you. I couldn’t ask for better men to raise you than your uncles. Fury did a good job with you and you going to Lark to learn to become who you were meant to be. Now that course has come to an end, it’s time to be someone new. Let the past go, sweetheart, allow your man to take the fury and wield it for you. He’s a good man and will do everything he can to make sure you live happy.”
Tears well in my eyes spilling over my cheeks as my daddy stands from his seat next to me. “Time for me to go, Harlow, but remember this. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and, sweetheart, you are the strongest woman there is but lean on Ranger. He’ll get you through the bad days.”
My eyes widen as he starts walking backwards to a light that hadn’t been there a moment ago.
“Wait, Daddy! Don’t leave. Please, don’t leave me. I need you,” I cry like I did the day I watched him be buried.
“Not going anywhere, Harlow. I’m always with you, sweetheart. Always. Remember you’re my sweet angel and I’ll look after you until the end of time. Now wake up and start living your life the way you need to. Live in the light with the man who loves you and leave the dark behind. Love you, sweetheart.”
“Love you too, Daddy,” I whisper softly, wiping the tears away as I close my eyes. My daddy’s words swirl around in my head as I lay back down.
Leave the dark behind and live happy in the light of day. But will I really be able to. Can Ranger handle taking on all that is me?
Live in the light with the man who loves you and leave the dark behind. My daddy’s words hit me again and again until they finally sink in.
Ranger is the man for me and I can finally be happy if I let the darkness go.
Chapter Nine
Ranger
“Ranger, love you but I swear to God if you don’t back out of my way and let me in to see her, I’m going to hurt you,” Victoria warns, hands on her hips standing in the hallway of the clubhouse outside my room.
By the time the jet landed, I was ready to go back to Brazil, find Ezra and whoever that fuckin’ Dr. Bailor is and kill them both for doing this to my woman.
Besides the marks covering her body, the burn on her hip, she’d lost so much fuckin’ weight you could see her ribs showing. I knew she wouldn’t want anyone seeing her this way. Shit she’d nearly freaked the hell out having heard my brothers while we’d been in the air.
Sedating her was the only way I was able to get her through the rest of the trip. I knew almost immediately to have a sedative ready for when she woke up. The way she acted back at Ezra’s, panting, whimpering, and even in her passed out state trying to get her hands on my dick. I’d had to secure her tightly against me to keep her from being able to move.
It nearly killed each of my brothers along with the other men around to see her this way. When I’d gotten her to the SUVs I laid her on the back seat long enough to remove my cut and take my T-shirt off. Putting it over her head, I removed the sheet from her body and threw it on the ground not wanting anything from in that house touching Harlow any longer than needed.
Soon as we’d gotten to the clubhouse, Blaze and Tracker had to keep their women at bay while I’d carried Harlow to my room. The only ones allowed in being Ela and Tinsley.
I did this because one, Ela was like Harlow’s mother and two, Tinsley was a nurse. I needed both their help while I did more than what I’d done on the jet to tend to my woman’s wounds. Some of the lacerations looked to be infected. While in the air, I’d been able to start an IV to get some fluids in her.
Once the three of us got her cleaned up, wounds tended to and bandaged, the two women left the room, leaving me alone with Harlow.
When she started to stir in the middle of the night thrashing around, I’d given her more of the sedative wanting her to sleep until whatever they gave her was out of her system. Hopefully once she woke up, she’d be able to talk to me without freaking out. I made her a promise to keep her safe and that’s what I’m doing.
“Victoria, I get you wanna see her. Right now, isn’t a good time. Harlow’s sleeping and needs to rest. She doesn’t need to be disturbed right now in any way.”
“What she needs is her family around her,” Victoria snaps, interrupting me.
“Victoria, baby, let the man take care of his woman. I know you’re upset but you can’t be doing this shit,” Tracker mutters gravely. I’m pretty sure he’d yet to have any sleep since we’d been back and his ol’ lady being demanding right now isn’t helping him.
“No, Tracker, it’s not right. I should have been there for her. Don’t you get it. I can’t just sit on the sidelines. She was hurt because Raven and I didn’t have her back. That’s fucked up and I have to do something for her. I have to see her to help her get through this now,” Victoria says, her body shaking with anger on behalf of Harlow. Unlike Raven, Victoria I know feels shit far deeper when it comes to family, so much so when Tracker was shot, Raven made her shut down her emotions to be able to focus.
“Vi, I get it; however, you getting this upset right now isn’t helping anyone especially the baby.” My brother pulls his ol’ lady to him while running his hand through her hair. “We got her that’s all that matters right now. What you need to do to help Harlow is let Ranger take care of her. You need to take care of y
ou, our son, and the kid growing inside you.”
Instead of answering him, Victoria merely nods into Tracker’s chest.
Hold up Victoria’s pregnant?
Shit.
Last time she was pregnant she nearly lost her son thanks to some piece of shit who decided to make her jeep explode. If it wasn’t for her skills, she’d have died in the jeep rather than throwing herself from it and hitting the road right before the damn thing blew. Victoria ended up going into labor and Jamie ended up in NICU. After that, more shit happened where Jamie was taken by a woman who was working for her adoptive mother.
No wonder she’s freaking right now. The thought of something happening to someone else close to her while pregnant can’t be easy.
“Look if anything happens, I’ll let you know,” I mutter in an effort to help calm her down.
“Okay,” she murmurs in agreement. “Let me know if she needs anything.”
“What if you made her some of that chicken soup you make?” I suggest giving her a task.
Nodding, Victoria peeks up to me. “Yeah, I can do that. She loves Cajun chicken and rice soup. I’ll have to go to the store to get what I need for it.”
“Then let’s get you there,” Tracker states, pulling her away. “We’ll ask Momma B if she’ll watch Jamie a little longer.”
Stepping back, I close my door not hearing anymore of their conversation.
Glancing to my bed, I run a hand over my face in exhaustion. Moving to my dresser, across from my bed, I grab a pair of sweats that I had sitting on top of it and go in the bathroom to change into them. Once changed, I climb into the bed and gently pull Harlow into my arms needing to feel her pressed against me where I knew she was safe.
Closing my eyes, I wonder why I waited so fuckin’ long to get her right here where I’ve wanted her from the moment I first met her. Shouldn’t have waited.
This was my last thought as I pass out holding Harlow in my arms for the first time. It was also the first time in months I slept in my bed after getting shitfaced thinking of the fact I’d lost my woman.
Warm lips wrapped around my dick, head bobbing up and down. Fuck yeah. This feel’s good it’s been months of going without and I felt the need to come boiling in my balls.
Moaning, my hips surge forward and I come.
Oh fuckin’ hell.
My eyes pop open at the realization it wasn’t a dream, glancing down I find Harlow naked between my legs, mouth wrapped around my dick as I shoot my come into her mouth.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I should have stopped her.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
Harlow slides her mouth over my dick one last time before releasing me with a kiss to the tip and fuck if my dick doesn’t twitch wanting more.
“What the fuck, baby?” I demand, fixing my sweats over my still pulsing dick.
“I need you, Ranger,” she murmurs, her eyes wild with lust. “Please help me. I can’t stop my body from needing you.” Climbing up my body, Harlow straddles my stomach, her weeping pussy soaking my stomach with her juices.
Fuck me, she’s soaked.
“Baby, I can’t. You’re drugged up right now. It’s the drugs they gave you. I’m not about to take advantage of you.”
“It’s not the drugs. This is the aftereffects of it. I heard them talking about it before. Heavenly Rose is supposed to leave the person needing to be fucked for days after it’s out of their system,” she pants, rubbing herself against me.
Shit. Fuckin’ hell.
Closing my eyes, I shake my head. My hands move to her hips to make her stop moving.
“Baby, what you’re asking me to do is fucked up,” I tell her.
“Do you love me, Ranger?” she asks quietly.
Opening my eyes, I meet hers to find a look I don’t think I’ve ever seen from her before.
She was completely unsure of herself.
“Harlow, there’s no one else for me out there,” I tell her truthfully.
“Then please, fuck me, Ranger. I don’t want anyone else but you.” Fuck me. I can’t take it anymore. My woman needs me, and I’ll do whatever she needs.
Lifting up, I roll us until she’s flat on her back with me hovering over her.
Leaning forward I capture her mouth, thrusting my tongue into hers capturing it. Devouring her moans as she wraps her arms around my neck and her legs at my waist, pulling me into her.
Grinding myself into her pussy soaking my dick through my sweats.
Fuck me.
This isn’t how I wanted our first time to be but shit if I can stop myself from at least having a taste of her.
Lifting my mouth from Harlow’s, I kiss her jaw, down her neck, between her tits deciding to come back to them after. I move further down, pressing wet kisses against her skin until I settle between her legs.
“Here you go, baby, I’m gonna give you what you need,” I murmur, looking up her body to find her eyes on me, wild with desire.
Going back to task, I give my woman everything I have without sinking my dick into her. As I fuck her with my tongue and fingers, she cries out in desire calling my name not my road name but my real one, Ryan. I didn’t even realize she knew it.
Fuck me if I don’t love hearing it.
Latching onto her clit, I thrust my fingers into her pussy immediately being drenched in her juices as she comes when I hit her in just the right spot.
Giving her one last kiss to her pussy, I withdraw my fingers from her and lift up to find her still looking at me just as wildly as when I woke up to her sucking my dick.
“I need more,” she pants, reaching for me and I know exactly what she means.
Nodding, I reach down and slide my sweats off. My dick, which is harder than I think it’s ever been, springs out ready for action. Lining myself up, I slide through her drenched pussy earning her whimpers of need only to stop at the barrier I’d felt while fuckin’ her with my fingers.
“Fuck me, Ryan, please make me yours. Take what they wanted to take from me. It’s yours always yours,” Harlow whispers softly, eyes locked with mine.
Her words hit me straight in the chest at the realization of what she’s saying. She’s mine and this is part of her healing process at the same time getting through the aftereffects of that fuckin’ drug.
Shit. This knowledge shouldn’t make my heart thump with pride and knowing I have all of her. I get to make her mine. She fought them all these months in order to be able to give me something special.
Her.
Fuckin’ all of her.
Pulling out and leaving only the tip inside, I slam forward pushing through the barrier as I lean down and take her mouth with my own as I still within her.
Feeling her pulsing around me tighter than I could ever imagine, I lavish her mouth showing Harlow what her words mean to me.
Breaking the kiss, I lift back up and begin to slowly take her, thrusting into her, building up inside her.
“Fuckin’ love you, Harlow. You’re mine and I’m going to make everything right for you. You can trust me to always keep you safe from the fury that swirls around you, around me, around all of us,” I rasp, reaching a hand between us and pinching her clit.
Harlow’s body jolts as she moans out her release, biting her lip to keep herself from being loud. Picking up speed, I come moments later, groaning my own release.
Chapter Ten
Harlow
Holy shit.
Perfection.
My body hums with need still, even after the multiple orgasms Ranger gave me. Only right now need consuming me is bearable at the moment, and I’m able to ignore it. In all honestly I don’t know what came over me, all I knew was when I’d woken up to find myself wrapped around Ranger I’d needed him more than ever and ended up taking advantage of him.
Safe.
Loved.
Cherished.
Those are the words that came to mind.
Then even after he tried to take care of me
without fuckin’ me; however, I needed all of him.
Him.
I wanted to feel him. Didn’t matter I was dealing with aftereffects of the Heavenly Rose they’d pumped into my system. Three times they’d pumped it into me.
Ezra wanted me to beg and I refused with the first two, but I don’t remember anything after the last one. That is until waking up in Ranger’s arms and him sedating me.
Maybe it was because of my dream but when I woke up in Ranger’s bed with him, for the first time in my life, I finally felt it. My daddy was right, I needed to let the past go and live in the light.
It’s why I’d made the decision I did about waking Ranger up with my mouth on him. I don’t know what I expected him to do upon waking up, but he’d merely stared at me then proceeded to make love to me. That’s the only thing I can think of to call what he and I just shared. Nothing and I mean nothing could have been more beautiful than that.
“You okay?” Ranger asks, running a hand tenderly along my back, trailing his fingers up and down around the bandages I hadn’t thought of earlier. He’d done that as well. Took care of me in every way possible.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I whisper without lifting my head from his chest. After he’d pulled out of me, Ranger got out of bed long enough to grab a cloth out of the bathroom and come back to the bed where he proceeded to clean me up. I would have protested but he’d given me a look and I’d clamped my mouth shut as he did what he wanted.
Embarrassment started to seep in with self-doubt until he climbed back into the bed, maneuvered me to where he wanted which is where I was now with my head on his chest with one arm wrapped around his middle and our knees intertwined.
“Fucked up with you, Harlow,” he mutters, causing me to tense. What does he mean by that? “I should never have let you get away from me. Nearly lost you without actually having you completely. Not about to allow that to happen again.”
“I’m done,” I blurt out, letting the tension leave me though now it was Ranger’s turn to go taut.
