Page 115 of Fool Me

His hips snap, setting a brutal pace. It’s the first time since the accident that he’s been anything less than gentle with me. But I go back to work today, not to mention, it’s my first day in charge.

It’s fitting he would choose today to do this.

“Look at you taking me so well. Fuck, Harlowe.”

“Don’t hold back,” I beg for the reminder that I’m strong, unbreakable. That I can endure.

“Not a chance. You’ll take everything I give you.”

“I will,” I agree.

It’s all I can say before all words leave me and it’s only him.

His palm kneads my ass as he moves inside me. “This is giving me ideas. You plugged while you sleep. Me pulling it out and fucking this tight ass in the morning and leaving you filled with my cum all day.”

That’s all it takes for my second orgasm to wash over me. When my muscles clench and I cry out, I hear the faint sound of Atlas chuckling. “Yeah, definitely trying that.”

Shaking my hand loose from his grip, I reach through my legs and lightly tug on his balls. His laughter is short-lived because a second later he’s tensing. “Not so funny now,” I tease.

“Tell me I can come inside you.”

“Please,” I say, my voice husky.

The hand on my hip dips around to my clit, rubbing rough circles. “One more, for luck, Clover,” he says, his strokes turning shallow as he tries to hold on.

My legs shake as the tension builds again. “Atlas. There. Yes.”

He swells inside me, his release triggering my own and I come apart again, softer this time, but no less good.

Still buried inside me, he covers my back, kissing my shoulder. “I love you so damn much.”

“I love you, too.”

He lets me go just long enough to shower alone, and when I reemerge, there are eggs and bacon waiting.

“You really didn’t have to?—”

“I did,” he says, cutting me off with his lips on mine. “First day back—first day officially in charge—is kind of a big deal.You’rekind of a big deal.”

He steals a piece of bacon and leans over the counter to kiss me. The past three weeks haven’t been easy—not with healing, and the questions, and the police.Somany questions from the police for both me and Atlas. The tox screen supported everything Atlas and I told the police in our interviews, both about Canyon’s past actions and those from Founder’s Day. We can only hope it will show a pattern of behavior that the authorities take seriously. But the stress of not knowing what will happen with his case has been constant.

But this moment feels like us again.

Later, when I pull into the SAR shed, I walk past my new office to the back where the light is on. I find Dad leaning over his desk with a newspaper folded in half.

At first he says nothing, just tips his chin toward the paper and lets me see it for myself.

There’s a photo of the two of us, under a headline that reads, “Teton County’s First Father-Daughter Legacy Team Makes History.”

And right beside it, in smaller print, “Local Man Takes Plea Deal in Felony Kidnapping and Reckless Endangerment Case.”

I skim the article, my stomach twisting—plea deal with no trial, delayed sentencing, and court-ordered rehab. The district attorney called to tell us last night, but there’s something about seeing it in print that feels real.

Dad clears his throat. “That plea deal is the only decent thing he’s done.”

I nod, still unsure how to feel about it. I’m grateful I don’t have to testify, but there’s too much uncertainty in his sentencing. Dad squeezes my shoulder and says, “I’m proud of you, kid,” and it’s enough to push the rest away.

CHAPTER

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