"Come back to bed, princess!"

Harper's voice floated into our bedroom from the kitchen of our condo. "No. You need to rest."

I dropped my arm with a huff onto the pillow beside me. Ever since the incident at Down the Rabbit Hole—the one where I got roofied by my stalker—my wife-to-be has been treating me like a child. It was infuriating.

I barely remembered that damn night. Actually, I kind of didn't. Not the parts where I was drugged and nearly killed. I remembered being at the bar and the stripper arriving. I remembered the lap dance. Then...nothing. Next thing I knew, I was laying on the floor of my office, surrounded by two paramedics, Nate, and everyone else. Literally everyone. Nate called Karma immediately and then it was a game of telephone after that.

I was told that Harper had gotten there in record time. That wasn't surprising. What was surprising was when Ayden told me that, if it hadn't been for the police arresting Jenn, Harper would most likely have sucker punched her. Harper had never been a violent person, but I understood what she must have been feeling. If the situation was reversed, I would've probably done much much more than sucker punching the guy who drugged her drink.

She was angry.

She was angry...until I woke up.

Then came the waterworks.

When I first came too, I didn't know what the hell had happened. Harper was on top of me with her arms wrapped around me as she talked through tears. It took a few minutes before I was able to get her calm enough to tell me what the fuck happened. That's when I got the full story.

According to what I did remembered, after the guys left I decided to sleep in my office. That's when I started to cleanup the bar and noticed the stripper was still there. She wanted to stay for a drink, but I insisted otherwise. I showed her out and locked the door behind her. I went to grab something from my office before returning to the bar to finish off the glass of scotch I had been drinking earlier. When the glass was empty, I cleaned a little more before going back to my office to sleep. My memory got a little hazy then. I wanted to send Harper a good night text. I didn't. I got woozy and sat on the couch.

Then I woke up with medics trying to make sure I was okay and a very scared and upset fiancée.

We pulled the security footage of the night in question later that day. Apparently, after I showed the stripper out, she snuck back in and drugged my scotch. She hid in the women's restroom until the drugs took effect and I passed out. I was so grateful that Nate came back when he did. Thank God my boy had a habit of forgetting his wallet at the bar.

The few days that followed consisted of talking to the police to make sure that Jenn was going to get the help she needed. She was also going to serve a little time for drugging me, being in possession of a firearm without a permit, and the altercation with Nate. I knew Jenn was a little unstable mentally, so I was able to convince them to grant her probation and a little house arrest after she underwent psych treatment. There was the little added bonus of the restraining order I took out against her. One that applied to the bar and all of my nearest and dearest.

I shook my head at the blatant truth of it all. Nate had a restraining order against Jules, now I had one against Jenn. What the fuck?

I swear, the upcoming rehearsal dinner and wedding better go smoothly or I was going to lose my mind. It was bad enough that Harper's parents still haven't made any effort to call her or show and interest in showing up at the wedding; what if something else went wrong?

I didn't want to think about the possibility.

"Hey, babe. I got you some fruit. I thought you might be hungry."

I looked up when Harper walked into the room carrying a plate of watermelon, cantaloupe, and grapes. I loved the woman more than anything, but enough was enough with this babying thing. I wanted Harper back. I wanted my Harper back.

I threw back the comforter and got up from the bed. Harper's eyes landed on my naked body and a corner of her mouth lifted in a quirky smile.

"I'm not hungry for food, princess."

She tracked my every move as I approached her. Her eyes ran down my chest until they landed on to my very hard, and vey excited, erection. Her brown eyes shot up to mine again.

"Jackson, we can't."

"Oh?" I dropped my head into the hollow of her neck. I felt her heartbeat quicken under my tongue as I placed lazy kisses to her soft skin. "And why not?"

"Because," she said a little too breathlessly, "we need—you need to rest."

"I've rested enough."

I reached down and slipped my hand beneath the red robe she was wearing. She gasped next to my ear as I ran my fingers up her leg and over her thigh. When I stroked the wet, hot center of her body, I heard the plate of fruit fall to the floor. I bit back my smile at my small victory.

"Jackson..." Even though the slick wetness that was coating my fingers was answer enough, her moaning my name was more confirmation that she wanted me just as much as I wanted her.

"What do you want, princess?"

She widened her legs, giving me more access to the part of her I wanted to do more than touch. I wanted to bury my tongue inside her. No...I wanted to bury myself inside her. All of me. Forever.

A dark satisfaction came over me at the thought that she would be with no other man besides me. I knew she felt the same way.

"Tell me," I urged her when she didn't answer.

"I want you, Jackson."

I chucked against her neck before pulling back. Her eyes were glassy and lust-filled. Her bottom lip had the marks from where she bit down on it with her teeth. I wanted those teeth marks in my skin. It wouldn't be the first time, either.

"How bad do you want me?" I untied the sash around her waist and pushed the robe from her shoulders. It fell to the floor and hungry gaze devoured the site of her naked body. My mouth watered, begging to be sucking on her hard nipples.

"Please, Jackson. I need you." Harper's nails dug into my shoulders, causing an erotic growl to climb up my throat.

"I thought I needed rest," I teased.

When her eyes met mine, the heated desire I saw sent a possessive wave through me. She slid her hand down my chest and abs. I hold back a groan when she wrapped her fingers around my hard dick.

"Forget the rest," she whispered in my ear before tugging the lobe with her teeth. "Take me to bed, Jackson."

She didn't have to tell me twice. I scooped Harper into my arms and carried her to our bed. Not even five minutes had passed before I was driving myself into her warm body.

We spent the rest of the day—and night—like that. Simply being with each other. I don't think either one of us really knew how much we needed that until it happened.

The past six months have taken a toll on both of us. Emotionally and physically. The beginning of those six months were the worst.

We all felt the loss of Karma's mum when she passed away. Then there was the almost loss of Karma herself as she carried that unnecessary guilt around. Then Harper...the distance that had been separating us nearly killed me. Losing her would have been something I wouldn't have been able to recover from. Ever.

But here we were. We made it through those six months and came out on the other side. Together. In a way, we were even stronger now than we were before. But most importantly, we had a future together ahead of us. One that I couldn't wait to get started.

Everything was finally going the way it was supposed to. And I was happy. I was so fucking happy. How could I not be with this blond, beautiful princess in my arms?

***

Thank you all for your patience. I know its been awhile since I've updated Tryst. I appreciate every one of you! Im hoping to have another update a lot quicker than this one.

Xoxo