010. THE DEAL // UNTIL NEXT TIME, RO

Harry never spent the night.

It was typical practice for him to leave the bed of one of his conquests before they woke the next morning. However, the night between him and Rory was nothing typical.

Her demeanour changed when he finally got her settled into his lap. There was a feeling that lingered and left Harry surprised.

Rory was flustered.

It was only proven more as she attempted to keep herself busy and fussed over him taking a shower.

"You should shower and wash the extra dried blood off you. I'd rather not have you dirty up my sheets. I just washed them," she said, quickly aware of her mistake. "Not that I'm expecting you to stay. I don't care if you do. But you probably shouldn't walk around with dried blood on you either."

"Are you going to join me?"

Her head cocked to the side. "Why would I do that? You're a big boy. I'm sure that you are more than capable of handling it on your own."

"Scared you won't be able to keep your hands off me, Bambi?"

"Oh, please. I am more than capable of keeping my hands to myself."

Waiting for the shower to heat up, Harry teased her over her insistent need to make him aware that she was in fact not flustered. He was amused by her reaction every time he commented on her flushed skin or the rapid beat of her heart; it was pissing her off. What truly got to him the most was her way of proving it through kissing him and telling him she felt nothing for him.

A risky move by the little Bambi. Especially since it didn't take long for her to beg for his touch.

Turning her around to face the mirror, he instructed her to watch. He wanted her to see the pleasure he usually witnessed as she finished around his fingers.

"See?" A smirk crossed her lips as she attempted to regain control over her breathing. "As I said, I feel nothing for you. Not even that could make me enjoy your company."

"That may be true," he said as he pressed a kiss against her neck and wiped his fingers against the inside of her thigh. "But you have made quite the mess. So it looks like you will be joining me for that shower after all."

Harry struggled to recall the last time he had a shower that relaxing.

The moment he stepped foot into her crowded shower, a state of pure bliss washed over him, even in the cramped space. The distraction she provided helped; not her naked body, but the way she handled him with care. 

With a delicate touch, she helped wash off the dried blood, avoiding the area of his stitches that she covered with a bandage. The washcloth she had clutched in her hand cleaned every inch of his skin. If it weren't for the stitches on his side or the bruising that scattered his body from head to toe, one would have never assumed he had been a blood-covered mess moments ago.

Despite his teasing, he never intended for anything to happen. The last thing he wanted was for Rory to feel obligated or forced. And since he was unable to currently read where her thoughts were leading the Bambi, he kept his hands to himself as she worked.

That all changed the moment her sinful lips whispered, "Touch me."

Was it touch me? Or fuck me?

Harry wasn't sure. But it didn't take long to figure out that either would have been correct.

Quite the relaxing shower indeed; he could get used to those.

Her confidence dipped slightly when they got out of the shower. Leaving the bathroom to allow her to finish up, Rory thought he was going to leave and he didn't ease her mind by telling her otherwise.

Finishing up her nightly routine and turning off the lights, she exited her bathroom to find something shocking in her bed.

"What? Is this your side?"

She shook her head. "No, it's okay. I sleep on the other side."

"Then why do you look like a Bambi caught in the headlights?"

"I thought you left," she told him honestly.

"Sorry to disappoint," Harry spoke with a coy smile. "I think I get it now," he said, looking at the toy cow, "This thing is kind of cute. What did you say its name was again? Rock? Stick?"

"Pebbles."

Rory turned around, attempting to hide her blush but Harry was able to spot it with ease. He thought it was because he stayed. Although partially true, her flushed cheeks had more to do with how he rested on the bed - with his arms folded behind his head, Pebbles sat on his bare chest and the two appeared engaged in an intense staredown.

"Here," she said, pulling a shirt out of her bottom drawer. "You can wear this when you leave."

"Is it yours or someone else's?"

"Does it matter?"

"It does now." Intending his tone to be lighthearted, even he could hear the hint of jealousy behind his words.

If Rory noticed, she never let it show. Instead, she rolled her eyes and responded with, "God, you're fucking annoying. It's just a shirt I wore home from a guy's house. It's clean and a much better option than your bloodied one."

Harry hummed a response and motioned her over with his finger. "Come here."

"Why? You want to interrogate me about where I got my other shirts from?" she asked, slowly walking towards the bed. "Wonder what questions I'll get when you find out about my sweater from the Aquarium. Or the shirt-"

Grabbing hold of her arm once she was within reach, Harry pulled her onto the bed, flipping her body over to lie flat against the mattress as he covered his frame over hers.

"Will you ever learn to shut your mouth, Bambi?"

"Probably not considering-" Cutting herself off, Rory felt his hand slide up her thigh and held his wrist. "Not yet. I'm still too sensitive from the shower."

"I like where you're thinking but I was just wanting to touch you," he said, dipping his head towards her neck. His senses instantly became overfilled with vanilla, which was quickly becoming his new favourite scent.

"Oh," her cheeks flushed rosy pink, "Right. Yeah."

"It's bedtime, Bambi. You need some rest after everything you have done tonight."

Harry couldn't blame her for being slightly overwhelmed by the events of the night; he strayed away from using flustered since it bothered her so much. The two of them were venturing into extremely unchartered territory. But that didn't take away from the reason they were in this position to begin with.

There were only three days left until her debt was due.

It didn't matter whether or not she was a good fuck - which, Harry was happy to admit, she definitely was.

Debt was due. And he needed what she stole back in his possession.

Waking up the next morning, Harry found himself cuddling what he least expected. Pebbles.

The toy was far from the dark-haired vixen he was expecting and he was surprised when she wasn't in the room at all. Tossing the comforter off his body, he slowly rose to his feet. He was unable to recall the last time he had slept that well. Finding his clothes neatly folded on top of her dresser, Harry noticed something. His gun had moved ever so slightly. It could have easily been an accident. But he couldn't help but wonder if little Bambi was interested in his weapon; it was likely, considering how he noticed her look at it.

Slipping on his pants, his eyes roamed the other items on the dresser. Everything else he had left there last night remained exactly in its original place. Even the wad of cash; not a single bill appeared to be missing. Now that was unexpected. Picking it up, he sat down on the edge of the bed, licked his index finger and began counting.

Rory's voice became evident from the other side of the bedroom door. "You need to leave, Tanner!"

Tanner? Who the fuck is Tanner? Harry wondered with a furrowed brow.

"Why?" a voice Harry didn't recognize asked. "You got someone here?"

"No," her voice raised slightly, "I want you to leave because you're in my apartment and I never fucking invited you in."

That's my girl, Harry thought to himself, hearing the sass that laced through her tone.

Heavy boots walked across her wooden floors. Unable to hear any more words exchanged, he assumed the conversation had finished. But the moment his Bambi cried out a faint, "Tanner, stop! You're hurting me!" Harry rose to his feet.

Tucking his gun under the back waistband of his pants, Harry swiftly exited the room and found the two by the front door, having what appeared to be an unpleasant conversation - at least, it was for one of them. Rory was pinned against the wall with her arm twisted in an uncomfortable position behind her back. Her guest towered over her, whispering something Harry was unable to hear.

The expression on her face and the winces of pain were enough to set off an angry fire burning deep in Harry's stomach. One wouldn't notice that was how he was feeling based on how he acted. Harry didn't pull his gun out or tackle the man to the ground. Instead, he leaned his frame against the wall, crossed his arms over his chest and asked, "Everything alright here?"

With a glance to the side, the man Harry assumed was none other than Tanner, let out a snicker. "So this is who you were trying to hide from me? You didn't want me to meet your little fuck buddy from last night?"

"It's not like that," Rory hissed.

Tanner's eyes widened dramatically at the revelation. "A boyfriend? Say it ain't so."

"No!" she shot back, letting out a frustrated groan. "Just leave already, Tanner! I already gave you-" Remembering who else was in the room, she was quick to cut herself off before letting something slip. "I already gave you what you came for."

"Why do we always have to do this song and dance, Ro?" he asked, running his hand over the skin of her cheek.

She swatted his touch away. "Don't fucking call me that."

"Aw, come on. Don't get all embarrassed in front of your boyfriend, Ro."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Alright, you have had your fun."

Grabbing by the collar of his shirt, he tore Tanner away from Rory with ease and shoved him against the door. Guns were fun, but there was nothing like beating the life out of someone that got Harry excited; normally, it was Dallas who got all that fun. Clenching his fist, Harry was gearing up to get rid of this idiot once and for all. That was until a certain ink mark was spotted on Tanner's neck.

Harry didn't recognize him. But he recognized that tattoo.

No wonder Bambi acted the way she did. If she was wrapped up in Tanner's life, she was in far more trouble than Harry could have ever imagined.

"Careful, Pretty Boy," Tanner mocked under his breath, "Lay a hand on me and you'll have bigger problems to worry about than worrying about what your slut girlfriend is up to behind your back."

Harry released the tension from his hand. Opening the door, instead of punching the life out of the arrogant son of a bitch as he wanted, Harry shoved the loser into the hallway.

Tanner didn't put up a fight. He walked to the elevator with a grin slapped across his face and called over his shoulder, "Until next time, Ro!"

With the door firmly slammed shut, Harry turned to face Rory, who was still standing with her back pressed against the wall.

"Are you alright?"

Rory kept her eyes focused on the ground. "Can you put a shirt on?"

"Considering I asked my question first, I think it's only polite to answer before asking your own."

Without sparing a glance in his direction, she stormed out of the hallway with a dramatic huff and cursing under her breath. When she returned, she whipped the material of the clothing item at his head and walked towards the kitchen, turning on her ancient coffee machine.

Noting her change in attitude, he slipped the shirt on without any complaint.

"Who is he?" Met with silence, he asked, "An ex?"

Her eyes finally peered up to meet his, signalling her answer.

"What did he want?"

"I'm not doing this, Harry."

He took a step towards her. "Doing what?"

"This." With glossed-over eyes, she was quick to avert her glance. "Just forget that happened. Alright?"

He heard her - loud and clear. But that didn't stop him from continuing. "You let me know if he does anything to you, got it?" Even he didn't know where the sudden urge to say those words came from.

Rory tried to keep it together, but her attempts at doing so quickly failed her. She didn't burst into tears as he expected. She broke out into a fit of laughter.

"Did I miss the joke?"

Waving off his comment, she attempted to steady her breathing. "Sorry," she said, wiping her eyes, "You can't be serious." Noting his extremely serious expression, she added, "You don't don't see the irony?"

He raised a brow. "No, I don't."

"You're constantly threatening me with the temptation of death and have your goons following me around to intimidate me twenty-four-seven. Yet, you pop a fucking blood vessel over him showing up."

Straightening his posture, his arms folded over his chest. "If I'm not mistaken, you stole from me. That is why I want you dead. He is some pathetic piece of shit with a tacky gold watch that thinks raising his voice at you makes him a man." Leaving her side, he sat down at the table. "Besides, I think you enjoy the idea of me killing you too much to take it seriously."

"Excuse me?"

"Bambi, those doe-eyes of yours give away your tell. Especially when you're horny."

Not wanting him to see the redness he caused, she turned around to face the coffee machine. Harry watched her open the cabinet and reach for the sugar on the top shelf. He didn't bother offering to help as she got up on her tippy toes and strained her body, trying to grab her desired item.

His eyes were focused on the way her shirt was riding up, specifically, the purple and blue splotches on the skin on her back. The types of marks he had seen on her skin before but never paid much thought to it. He assumed she was clumsy. That's how all Bambis were; acting as if they were learning to walk for the first time and tripping over their own feet every second.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he had never seen her trip or fall. Not even make the slightest stumble. He knew for certain they weren't from him. The only marks he left behind were asked and begged for.

With her feet firmly back on the ground, Rory filled her cup of coffee and mixed in a tiny spoonful of sugar. The small kitchenette was quiet as she stirred the liquid around.

"Are those from him?"

Rory turned her gaze to the window. "Is what from him?"

"Don't play dumb, Rory. I've seen you naked," he said. "The bruises down your back. Are those from him?"

No reply left her lips.

"Was he supposed to come by last night? Is that why you were nervous?"

Nothing.

"They look fresh."

She didn't acknowledge his comment.

"Did he do that to you since the last time I saw you?"

Her eyes fell back to her mug.

"Is he the first one to do that to you?"

Harry didn't need her to respond; her silence painted an extremely clear answer.

"Rory, I'm not fucking around here. If he or anyone else touches you like that again, you need to let me-"

"I doubt he'll come back within three days," she said, turning away from the window to finally meet his glance. "I'll be dead by then, anyway." Tapping the spoon against the rim of her cup, she raised it to her mouth and wrapped her lips around the scolding metal. "At least when I'm dead, I won't have to deal with people like him anymore, right?"

The angered tone of his voice disappeared without a trace and was replaced by his usual toying smirk. "Don't sell yourself short, Bambi. I'm sure you'll come up with everything you need before your seventy-two hours are up."

"Yeah, well, I haven't been getting enough shifts this week, so I already know I won't have all the cash."

"And the locket?"

Her interest peaked. "What about it?"

"Do you still have it?"

"Well, it's not worth the effort to clean it and get back five bucks if that answers your question."

Annoyance stirred over her comment, but Harry swallowed it before speaking. "How much cash do you have now?"

"Like, a thousand."

His eyes widened. "That's fucking it? I thought you were supposed to be good at swindling cash out of those finance losers."

"I am when I have my fucking shifts! But Amber finally decided to put out and suddenly she's on the schedule!" she grumbled out of frustration.

"Does your boss not realize how much money you bring into that place?"

"Well, apparently getting sucked off by a fake blonde is worth losing money for a week."

Amused by her angered nature, Harry leaned back in his chair. "How about we make a deal, Bambi?"

idk what to say bc all I wanna do is rant soooo ... HAPPY FRIDAY