Page 10

Chapter 10

Adventures with…Harlow and Bailey

BAILEY

W e’d needed this getaway for months. Years, if I were being honest. The only time Harlow and I really stepped away from the gym was when the supe community demanded it. Tagging along on death defying adventures wasn’t exactly my idea of a relaxing break.

Don’t get me wrong, Harlow wasn’t the issue. It was me. Fitness on Fire was my baby, and up until recently, the thought of leaving it unnecessarily was too much to handle.

Now though, things were different. Ferry had come on full-time, working whenever Leo was at the fire station. Riley was looking after our accounts and finances. Even the management side was covered, thanks to our new hire. Bear was a human who knew nothing about our world, but thankfully, he knew everything when it came to managing a gym. The giant of a man lived up to his name, but he had a gentle soul. Cash, the owner of the new kink club The Window, had sent his CV our way. His recommendation had been enough to give Bear the job on the spot.

Low was dying to ask Bear what kink had him going to Cash’s club several times a week. I’d had to literally put my hand over his mouth on more than one occasion before sternly reminding him that there were several HR laws that prohibited that kind of question.

Secretly, I suspected it had to be something caring. He didn’t strike me as a sadist or a masochist, and he wasn’t submissive; that I was sure of. Some kind of Dom for sure. A Daddy maybe?

Whatever he was into wasn’t our business. In the few short months he’d been with us, Bear had proven to be worth his weight in gold. Enough that I felt confident leaving the gym while Harlow and I got some much-needed alone time.

Well, for the most part.

“Nope,” Harlow chirped, taking my phone out of my hands and stowing it in the pocket of his door. “Everything’s fine, baby. You don’t need to keep checking.”

I settled down in my seat, grumbling a little under my breath. Not too loudly though. Low and I both knew how much I secretly loved it when he took care of me. “What if there’s an emergency?”

“Then they’ll handle it.” My mate’s cherry red lips twisted in a smirk as he pulled into the car park. “Ferry will be there all weekend. If he could survive Hell for four thousand years while separated from his mate, I’m sure he can deal with any emergencies that arise. And that’s before we even take Bear into consideration. I think he could give you a run for your money when it comes to caring about that place.”

That was true. I was being silly really, but Fitness on Fire was my dream. I didn’t want anything to go wrong.

“We’ve left it before,” Harlow reminded me as we got out of the car. “Nothing bad happened then.”

“We had to leave it.” Stupid supe bollocks. “This is different.”

“No, we have to leave it this time too,” Harlow said firmly, lifting his massive suitcase out of the boot. I bit back a smile. It was a good thing he had super strength given the case was almost as big as him. We were only away for two nights, but I knew better than to question it. “It’s very important.”

I lifted my much smaller bag out and slung it over my shoulder. “Oh yeah? Why’s that then?”

“Because—” Harlow pressed himself against me, my leg automatically slipping between his thighs. “—I want to show you somewhere special to me.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Why does that sound dirty?”

Mischief flashed in Harlow’s eyes. “Probably because you know me so well.”

“True. Even without the bond, I’d be able to tell you’re thinking something wicked.”

The lust in the bond was generally always there. It didn’t take much more than one of us thinking of the other to set it off. Throughout the drive though, it had been steadily rising on Harlow’s end, letting me know he was up to something.

“Baby, I’m always thinking about wicked things where you’re concerned.” He rocked against my leg, his hard cock pressing into my thigh. I groaned, leaning down to catch his mouth in a fiery kiss.

Even after all this time, the passion between us hadn’t dwindled. Kissing Harlow was just as potent as it had been the first time.

Unlike then though, I knew this wasn’t the last time. That we had all of forever stretched out before us.

“Come on,” he growled, pulling away from me and rearranging himself in his trousers. “Let’s go before I fuck you in this car park.”

I groaned, pressing a hand against my own erection. “Compulsion nets exist for a reason.”

The mischief was back in Harlow’s eyes as he grabbed my hand. “They do, but trust me, you’re going to like the surprise I’ve got in mind.”

* * *

“T his is your surprise?”

I was staring up at the grand entrance to the Roman Baths, wondering if Harlow had lost his mind. The fancy spa hotel we’d just checked in to, that I expected.

This, on the other hand…

Harlow chuckled, tugging me towards the entrance to the museum. “Trust me, you’re going to love this.”

I grunted but let him tow me through the queue. “Taking a tour around the Roman Baths is definitely more of an Oscar activity. Are you sure this isn’t something you should do with him instead?”

Harlow’s heated look back over his shoulder was accompanied by a pulse of lust in the bond. “No, baby. What I’ve got in mind definitely isn’t appropriate to do with Oscar. Pretty sure you’d have an issue with it. And Cal? Let’s just say he’d send me to Hell in a way that’d have me never returning.”

I chuckled. “Okay, I’ll bite. I’m intrigued.”

Harlow showed his phone to the attendant, chattering away as he always did. I swore Harlow had never met a soul he couldn’t make fall in love with him instantly.

Well, I guess that wasn’t technically true. I ran for a little while.

But Harlow caught me, and he wasn’t letting me go now.

Which was good, because I wasn’t letting him go either. I still had to pinch myself on a daily basis to remind myself that this was real. That this charming, enigmatic, sweet, and funny man was mine.

Mine.

Once he finally finished with the attendant, thanking her for her restaurant recommendation, he marched with purpose towards an arch. He bypassed the short queue, making my brow furrow. He might not have been truly British, but even he knew skipping past wasn’t good queue etiquette. “Low? Where are we going?”

“That’s the wait for the audio guides,” he said, slipping his hand into mine and squeezing. “We don’t need one of those.”

“We don’t?”

“Nope.” Harlow waggled his manicured brows at me. “Not when you can hear all the history firsthand from someone who was there.”

I snorted. “Should’ve guessed that was the case.”

“A place known for public nudity and occasional debauchery? Yeah, Bailey, you really should have. This was one of my favourite places.”

We walked out into the top level, overlooking the green water below. Harlow’s lips thinned slightly. “It didn’t used to be green.”

It hit me then, how old Harlow was. I mean, I’d always known, but he could remember what this place had been like in its heyday. It wasn’t history for him, but nostalgia. “I’m guessing there used to be a roof?”

Harlow nodded. “Not everything survives, I suppose.”

Melancholy trickled from him, making me wrap my arm around his shoulders and tug him into my side. “You do, though.”

He grinned up at me brightly. “That’s true. No one’s been able to take me down yet.”

I scowled at that. “Yet?”

Harlow rolled his eyes. “Don’t you worry about that, Bailey. I’m not going anywhere. Neither of us are. Anyway, come on. There’s a statue around the corner that Mori accidentally knocked the nose off. Let’s go see what historical bullshit they’ve found to explain that away.”

The next hour passed with Harlow slowly leading me through the ruins of the Baths, painting pictures of what it had looked like far vividly than any audio guide could have.

“This was not the gymnasium,” he announced loudly, not caring about the strange looks we were getting. “It was another massage room. Honestly, do these archaeologists not know anything?”

I shot apologetic looks at the people we passed, fighting back a grin. Fuck, how I loved him.

He’d paused in the doorway to a small room. Like in other areas, there were images projected on the wall, meant to give you an idea of what types of activities had occurred.

“This is more like it.” Harlow nodded approvingly. “There were definitely a lot of naked men here.”

I laughed. “Hence why you spent so much time here.”

He leaned back into me. “Well I had to do something, given you very rudely made me wait several millennia.”

“My apologies.” I nipped at his ear, drawing a shiver from him. “Now I’m the only naked man you’ll be looking at.”

“Well, sort of.” Harlow gestured at the very poor acting still playing out over the walls. “But trust me, you’re far more attractive than any of these blokes. Even if you weren’t my fated mate, I would’ve chosen you over them. Hands down.”

The Bailey of a few years ago would’ve argued back. He would’ve insisted Harlow was wrong or downplayed the compliment. It had been a long time since that version of me had existed, and it was all thanks to the man in my arms. My demon mate. “Thank you, Low. I would’ve chosen you too.”

“Obviously.” He went up on tiptoes to brush a kiss over my jaw. “I’m fabulous. Everyone chooses me.”

That was true. I’d let go of my jealousy where Harlow was concerned around the same time I got over my insecurities. Harlow was a beautiful butterfly, people flocking to him wherever we went. But I was the one he came home to. The only one he was interested in touching. The only one who’d ever have his heart.

Knowing that made it easy to let everything go.

With all of the people milling around, I was curious as to what Harlow had in mind. Given we’d had sex in mid-air multiple times, I knew anything could happen. Maybe Harlow was imagining some role-play. Perhaps he wanted me to dress up as a soldier and…

A wicked smirk tipped his lips as he twisted in my arms. “Whatcha thinking about there, Bailey?”

I pulled him tighter back into me, letting him feel the predicament my imagination had got me into. “Just wondering what you’re planning for us. And how much longer you’re going to make me wait.”

Harlow groaned, his slim fingers sneaking behind him to squeeze me through my jeans. A whimper slipped free as I pushed harder into his grip.

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait,” he whispered, caressing me firmly before letting go. “Too many people around at the moment.”

I nudged him deeper into the room. “Again, isn’t that what compulsion nets are for?”

Harlow turned in my arms, looping his wrists around my neck and kissing me soundly. Once he was done, I could taste his familiar cherry gloss on my own lips. It was as familiar as Harlow himself. It had completely ruined Bakewell tarts for me. It was a bit awkward having to explain why you’d got a hard-on while eating a pudding.

“True, but I have another location in mind. It’s more in the open.” He kissed me once more before nudging his way out of my embrace. “You’re going to want it to be empty for what I’m planning, trust me. Don’t worry, it closes soon. I’ll cover us in a net after that, and then we can play.”

“Fine.” I sighed loudly. “Let’s hope my cock doesn’t fall off through disuse before then.”

Harlow’s cackle rang off the walls. “And people think I’m the dramatic one.”

* * *

‘S oon’ turned out to be another two hours. They passed fast though. Harlow could breathe life into the dullest of places. With him as my guide, I felt like I was walking through the third century AD, witnessing life as it actually occurred.

Eventually though, we were the last two there. Harlow cast a compulsion net, hiding us from all cameras and security guards.

Then he led me back to the room that held the remains of the ancient temple to Minerva.

“Why this place?” I asked curiously. It was cool, but not what I’d pictured when Harlow had suggested getting up to…mischief. “I thought you’d go for one of the saunas or something.”

“Nah.” Harlow laughed, leading me along the metal gangway. “I’ve got a very particular place in mind.”

He stopped in front of a large piece of rectangular stone. On every side of it were beautiful carvings. “The sacrificial altar?”

“Yep,” Harlow said, easily hopping over the fence and holding out a hand to me. “Come on.”

I let him help me over, trusting him to catch me if I fell. Once I was over, I eyed the altar warily. “Doesn’t this feel a bit…blasphemous?”

Harlow’s laugh echoed off the walls again. I scowled at him as he continued laughing, even as his mascara started to streak.

“Baby,” he wheezed, wiping away the stray make-up, “I hate to remind you, but you’re mated to a son of Lucifer. Literal Satan. It doesn’t get more blasphemous than that.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I know, but this feels different.”

“Does it help to know Minerva isn’t real?” There’s no mocking in his tone as he gently cups my face. “None of the gods the Romans or Greeks worshipped are. Some of them were inspired by real supes though.”

Oh god. “Real supes…meaning you?”

Harlow grinned, jumping up on the ledge of the altar and swinging his legs. “Maybe. Wanna guess?”

I run through my very dusty recollection of mythology in my mind. “Dionysus? No. Hermes?”

“Close.” Harlow chuckled. “Prometheus was based on me. Allegedly.”

“And he was the god of…?

“Why, mischief, of course.” Harlow’s grin spread wide. “A trickster believed to have gifted fire to humankind.”

I stepped between his legs, smiling up at him as he wound them around my back. “Yep. That sounds like you.”

“Dagon is to blame for Dionysus,” he said. “He once had an argument with Dimitri, got wasted on Adamanthea, and then caused quite the stir in Thebes.”

I laughed loudly. “Fuck, I can’t wait to tell Lucky this. Wait, wasn’t Prometheus the one who was chained to a rock and had his liver eaten by an eagle?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t come up with anything more inventive at the time.”

I booped his nose with mine. “Sounds pretty inventive to me.”

“That’s because you don’t have torture listed on your CV. Anyway, there is a story as to why I want to fuck you here.”

Just the word ‘fuck’ has my dick harder than the rock my mate is talking about. “Tell me.”

“Millenia ago, I used to watch the humans worship Minerva here,” he said, his eyes misting, like he’s back in that place long ago. “As with all temples like this, they sacrificed animals to a god that didn’t exist. I used to watch, and it made me so angry. It was so stupid. When I realised this altar still existed, I figured maybe defiling it with you might make me feel better.”

I had to bite the inside of my cheek to contain my laughter. “Low, you literally ate an entire chicken last night at Nando’s.”

“That’s not the point.” He sniffed delicately and I had to suppress a laugh. “That chicken didn’t die needlessly. It died to feed me.”

“A being who doesn’t technically need food to survive.”

“I need some .” Harlow pouts at me. “Anyway, are you spoiling my argument? Do you not want me to rail you on this altar to prove some ridiculous point from aeons ago?”

“Oh, I definitely want that.” I dragged my nose along his neck, stopping to nip at his ear. “Baby, you don’t need to explain why you want to fuck me somewhere. I don’t know if you realise this, but I’m as whipped for you as you are for me.”

Flames danced in Harlow’s eyes as he nudged me backwards and dropped down between us. “Then get your arse up on that altar and lie back.”

Grateful that I’d gone for joggers over jeans, I shimmied them to the floor before doing as Harlow asked. It felt a bit weird doing so in such a public space, but we were the only ones here.

And it certainly wasn’t the first time we’d fucked somewhere we shouldn’t. Wouldn’t be the last, either.

“Wait,” Harlow said suddenly, pulling off the backpack he’d insisted on bringing with him. I’d questioned it because it didn’t match his outfit. Not something I cared about, but I knew Harlow did. “Here.”

From the backpack, he produced a fluffy, padded blanket. How he’d fit it in there was a mystery to me, but it provided a soft covering on the stone. “I didn’t want you to get cold or uncomfortable.”

Even after all this time, his thoughtfulness still took me off guard. “Thank you, Low.”

He kissed me hungrily before stepping back and undoing his trousers. “Up you get, baby.”

The blanket was as soft as I’d suspected. If it weren’t for the ancient artefacts surrounding us, I might’ve believed we were back in our bed at home.

“Fuck, Bailey,” Harlow hissed as he positioned my feet wider, leaving me splayed open for him. “I’ll never get tired of this sight.” From between my thighs, he shot me a wicked smirk. “Hold on tight, baby.”

My fingers found the edge of the altar as Harlow’s tongue found my hole. He licked me teasingly, like we had all the time in the world. Not like we were fooling around inside an ancient site.

Well, as Harlow kept pointing out, it wasn’t ancient to him. It was a place he’d once been familiar with.

I shivered as he sucked, his tongue slowly working me open. “Fuck, Low. That feels so good.”

His answering groan had me writhing, my fingers scrabbling against the stone. I couldn’t help it. I never could with Harlow. He made me lose all control of myself. Made me forget my own damn name.

Low growled and lifted his arm, bracing it over my lower stomach. Pinning me in place. At his mercy.

Then, there was nothing I could do except feel. Except beg.

“Low.”

“Please.”

“More.”

“Low.”

“ Low. ”

He lifted his face at that final plea, his pupils so big they obliterated the gold. “You need me, baby?”

“Please,” I half sobbed. Sweat had my shirt clinging to my chest, all my limbs shaking, and he hadn’t even got inside me yet. “Fuck me. Now.”

He stood up, wiping his hand over the back of his mouth. He didn’t take his eyes off me as he lubed up his fingers and cock. Not as he gently stretched me some more, pushing more lube into me as he did so.

No, Harlow kept his gaze on me the whole time. The man he loved. The man he’d taken as his mate. That was me. Me. Sometimes I still couldn’t believe it.

“I’m ready,” I panted, my hands under my thighs as I held myself open for him.

Harlow straightened, glancing down and then back at me. Then, he started laughing.

Letting go of my legs, I propped myself up on my elbows to glare at him. “Something funny, Low?”

He gestured at his cock and then at me. It took me a second to see the issue, and then I was laughing too. Harlow was too short to fuck me while I was up on the altar. “And people think the height difference is cute.”

“Meh, it’s easily solved.” Harlow chuckled. His familiar black wings appeared over his shoulders, sliding through the panels he had built into all his shirts. Unlike his brothers, Harlow didn’t like to constantly ruin his wardrobe. His wings moved slightly, raising him a foot off the floor and letting him hover in the air. With strong hands, he lifted my legs and put them over his shoulders. “There. Now I’m the right height.”

I whimpered, reaching down to stroke my aching cock. “You just had to bring out the wings.”

Low smirked down at me as he lined himself up. “Well, it certainly comes in handy at times like this.”

“Just don’t set the place on fire this time,” I said, groaning as the head of his cock pushed past my rim. “Stuff in here isn’t as easy to replace as curtains.”

“I can control fire, remember?”

His cock brushed against my prostate and I gasped, my back arching. “Still had to buy new curtains.”

Harlow’s wings held him over me as he sank fully to the hilt, stealing my ability to speak. Fortunately, Harlow didn’t require any conversation as he slowly started to fuck me. His mouth was busy on my skin. Nipping at my jaw. Licking long stripes up my throat. Sucking along my collarbone.

He didn’t stop fucking me, proving what I already knew about his ability to multitask. At this point, Harlow could play my body like an instrument, hitting all the right notes to have me gasping and moaning. A symphony of sound that I didn’t bother trying to hold back anymore.

Why would I, when I knew how much Harlow enjoyed it?

His joy at bringing me pleasure was intertwined with lust in the bond. But those weren’t the predominant emotions he was feeling right now.

That was love. It always was.

His teeth latched on to my nipple and tugged. Suddenly I couldn’t hold on to the stone any longer. My hands buried themselves in Low’s hair, holding tight as he sucked at the sensitive skin.

“Fuck, Low. Yes. More. Take me harder.”

He growled but didn’t remove his mouth as he did as I asked. His power lifted me slightly, cushioning me as he unleashed himself.

Pleasure was ripping through me as he hit my prostate again and again, first my own, then Harlow’s. It was a constant echo chamber that I should have been used to by now, but I wasn’t. How could I be? I had a permanent front-row seat to how Harlow was feeling. The ecstasy he felt while inside me. The wonder as he tasted me.

The endless want for me.

He finally dragged his mouth from my nipple. His lips were swollen from the attention he’d been lavishing on me, and the sight of his eyes had my orgasm rushing through me. The love in them. The need. The fierce joy.

I was his everything, just as he was mine.

With that thought, I came, my hole clamping tight around Harlow’s cock. He followed me a second later, his shout echoing off the ancient ruins.

He slipped out of me and I felt his release dripping from my hole. Oh dear. From the feel of it, the blanket had moved. If that fell on the stone, we’d have some cleaning to do. The discovery of new DNA on an ancient ruin might cause some confusion.

Especially if that DNA revealed itself to not be human.

Harlow’s wings vanished as he collapsed on me, and I opened my arms to catch him. We both took a second to catch our breath. Even Harlow needed a moment after that.

“Well,” I said eventually, dropping a kiss on his head. “That certainly lived up to what you promised.”

“Good.” He propped his chin on my chest and smiled at me mischievously. “I’m glad, because I have a list of ancient monuments and artefacts for us to defile.”

I cuddled him closer. “I can’t fucking wait.”