Impulsion (Station 32 #1)(22)
A smile burst across his face. He knew that was what she was looking for. “I will steal any moment you want. Nothing can keep us apart. We’re too real.”
Her lips were on his before the word ‘real’ managed to make it completely out. For an instant, they lost control, let their hands run wild, but when he felt her tense, when the shadow of the pain she went through expressed itself, he slowed them down.
“I’m fine,” she swore with a laugh.
He had his doubts, but he didn’t say a word. Wyatt didn’t ask Easton for a play-by-play or anything, but Easton told him enough, told him to be careful, slow, not to expect any kind of fireworks, not this time. Not to freak if she freaked. All that was fine and good for Wyatt; he just could not stand the idea of her in any pain, to be the cause of it.
“We have to go. For all I know, Dorcas went hunting for you, figured out you were gone, then went looking for me,” Harley said, moving from his lap.
“Fuck her,” Wyatt said as he helped her over the seat. “What are they going to do? Tell me I can’t see you next summer?”
Wyatt got out and moved to the driver’s seat, so he never saw Harley’s face fall, the smile she used to cover it by the time he put the truck in gear. Harley knew without a doubt her mother was a vindictive bitch, that she would do whatever she could to hurt the Dorans, hurt Harley—all over the fact that Harley could have or did shame her family. Wyatt may not be afraid to deal with his family, may even know that no matter what upset popped up, he could handle it, but it wasn’t the same for Harley. Not at all.
“We still have to be careful. I’m still trying to fix next summer, even the fall and spring breaks. I know I could tell my dad, even your mom, that you need to come up and work with Danny Boy a few days.”
“Does that mean I get to wear a cool butler outfit?” he quipped.
When she didn’t smile, he reached for her hand. “Still careful. I swear. I don’t care if they tell me I can or cannot come up there. I have my own truck, I’ll be over eighteen. I’ll find a way to see you, even if I have to fly overseas. I’m not afraid to fight for you, Harley.”
“It just has to be a silent fight right now,” she said.
All she meant by that was with her mother, her family, it was better to fight behind the scenes, to strike when no one saw it coming, when you had power, reason, and planning on your side. But Wyatt thought he heard that she always wanted him to be her secret. That hurt. Not bad enough to make him walk away, but bad enough to doubt. This was one of the times when she felt a million miles away, even though she was right next to him.
Chapter Six
Sleep didn’t come to Harley that night. She had taken a long bath, soaking her body, thinking the entire time that the pair of them had doubled the risk they were taking, thinking through all the ‘what if’s.’ She and Wyatt didn’t talk through most of them on the way back to the theater, but he did, in his own way, say that he had used every precaution he could have, that in his mind it would be a miracle for them to have created something that would have changed their lives forever.
He even asked in a roundabout way what protection she thought she could get. Harley knew going to a doctor would be out of the question. The risk of her mother figuring out that they had crossed that line was too great.
Her ride the next day was horrible because she was sore. Camille all but cursed her through the entire lesson, even told her that obviously going to the movies was bad for her skill level, that she apparently needed rest. That night, there was no chance of sneaking out. Camille seemed far too curious as to why Harley’s ride had shifted so badly, so quickly.
The next day, though, Wyatt met her early that morning, gave her a slow, tender kiss before they ever bothered to fix the feed for the horses. “You all right today?”
“It was not getting sleep, nothing else,” she swore.
“I just don’t want you to get hurt. I’m going to ride Danny Boy first today.”
She gave in to that request, even though it made her feel weak. She knew her horse was not a ride that anyone could master in a short time, but it made her mad that she still needed the strength of Wyatt to control him.
Wyatt was off Danny Boy before his mother made it to the ring.
“Let’s see if we can not waste anyone’s time today,” she said as she laid the lunge line on the fence.
As Wyatt helped Harley mount, his hand brushed across hers on the reins, the other across her calf.
“Remember, he feels the slightest tension. He’s going to give you what you ask for, soft hands, strong legs, breathe. You’re safe.”
She nodded and squeezed her legs. The first part of the lesson was awkward, as it always was after a bad lesson with Camille. She was always harder the next go round, gave no praise until you went beyond the level where you should be. Before long, she was nodding her head. “That’s it, I’ll have to make sure your father knows you need ten hours of sleep at night and that movies are bad for your health,” she quipped.
Harley was so stoked about her ride that day that she was the one that found a moment with Wyatt. She had gone up to his apartment to get her lunch out of his kitchen fridge a second after she heard Camille tell him to bring down a bucket of ice. Harley slammed him against the wall, moved her hands across his chest, and reached up for his lips. He grasped her legs and pulled them around him, then moved her against the wall. They only had a second, but he still rocked against her, let his hands wisp by all his favorite curves.