by Bree Rivers
“How’d you kill him in the end?”
“It’s not quite as original as the other two.”
“Tell me.” Her eyes were still turned down to the two photos. One was of the guy on his back, the next was the same man turned onto his stomach. “I really want to know, Kane. Tell me what you did to him.”
“He’d been beaten pretty well, it took a whole twenty-four hours of us taking turns. Then I decided to geld him.” Her eyes flew to his as her brow crinkled. “I cut off his balls, and used a hot knife to cauterize the wound.”
“That killed him?”
“Nah. He needed some more help. I cut off his dick and stuffed it in his ass. It didn’t really go in though since it was so soft ...”
“But you made it go in.”
“Davis used a knife ... that took care of it, right quick.”
“How long did he last?”
“Not as long as I thought. He had to be bleeding internally, but the veins in his dick, well where it used to be at least, meant he bled out over a couple of hours. It was kind of disappointing in the end.”
“You did all this for me?”
“They were going to die no matter what. Men who do what they did to you don’t deserve to walk this planet, sweeting. They always repeat their crimes. There’s no such thing as redemption for them. Because it was you, though, because it was you they hurt—”
“Raped. They raped me, Kane. Call it what it was.”
“Because they raped you, they had to die as painfully and experience as much torture as we could inflict.”
”Gotrocks ... what’d you want me to do with this?”
“Next time they’re there ... in your nightmares, torturing you, raping you again ... I want you to remember the photos. I want you to know they can’t hurt you anymore. They’re in pieces. We didn’t even bury them whole. We burned their bodies and dumped the ashes in a garbage heap, where they belonged. It’s over Vanity, they will never harm anyone again.” She said something, so softly, he didn’t hear the words even though he was leaning forward and only a foot from her face. “I’m sorry, sweeting. I didn’t hear what you said.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I should never have let this happen in the first place. I did what was right, but I take no pride in it.”
She leaned forward, slowly, as if it were he who was the damaged one. He was the one who’d refused touch of any kind all this time. Her lips pressed against the corner of his mouth, so gently he would have thought he imagined it all if he weren’t painfully awake. Vanity gathered up the pictures and held them close to her chest. “Get out of my house.” She went into the bathroom and slammed the door leaving him behind. He didn’t know if he just did the smartest or the stupidest thing of his life. He just knew it was the right choice.
VIOLET KEPT WORKING on the dresses, letting inspiration guide her. One day it might be Daisy’s dress, the next the collection, and then to the bridesmaids. She scrapped more than she kept. Her mind filled with visions on design and kept the demons to her dreams. The monster? Well, the monster was part of her past, and if it meant spending the rest of her life in this bubble as Kane called it, so be it. There were worse places to hide out in. She should know. She’d been in most of them.
When she was tired, she would curl up on her bed, and fish the pictures out from underneath her pillows. The dreams still came, but she recovered faster now. They didn’t last as long, either.
She spent weeks in that rhythm. All thoughts of the monster were banished.
Walking into the bedroom, she hit the lights and cursed when she heard a pop, fizzle, and darkness. The bedroom was the one place in the house without overhead lighting. She liked keeping the bedside lamp on during the night. It helped when she catapulted herself out of bed and into the walls.
Sighing, she went to the living room. Getting a cup of coffee and her book from the kitchen bar, she curled up intending on just letting the reading and tiredness take her away on the couch.
The knock on the door made her drop the book.
Kane just walked in. “It’s just me.”
She stood up and shoved her hands into her pockets as her heart pounded. Though it wasn’t in fear. “I can see that.”
“I brought you light bulbs. I shouldn’t have let the one lamp burn out, but figured you’d need something for the second one.” Kane shifted on his feet, the cardboard box in his hands. “I’ll go fix it.”
Violet followed him. “It could have waited until the morning.”
“You barely get any rest as it is. No way I’m letting you sleep on the couch, sweeting.” Kane replaced the light bulbs in the dark with nothing but feel.
“Where did you get this place?”
“It was my grandfather’s.”
“You finally got your inheritance.”
“I got older, love.” He clicked on the light, and Violet could breathe easier. “That’s better, huh?”
“I forgot how good you are with your hands.”
Kane sauntered up to her. His heat was like a vacuum to her, and she felt easily getting sucked in. “No, you didn’t. I believe many things, Vanity. But you have never forgotten how good my hands are.”
“This is a bad idea.”
“Probably,” Kane brushed a kiss on the side of her mouth. “But a guy’s got to take his shot.
She was tired. So fucking tired. Tired of feeling sick. Tired of feeling like a broken doll. Tired of seeing the pity in their eyes and seeing it in the women she wanted to call a friend. So she thought, go ahead. Take the therapist’s advice.
No wonder it went wrong.
It was her fault.
She put her arms around his neck and leaned into his body. She stretched up on her toes and covered his lips. It was her tongue that took the lead, delving into his mouth to taste him. His hands traveled over her back slowly as if he was scared she would break in his hold. Violet speared her hands in his hair and scraped his skin trying to transmit her need.
When he lifted her body, Violet moaned. Her brain flickered with a warning when he laid her out on the bed. She sat up, grabbed him by the shirt and wrenched him down to the covers. Before Kane could move, she was on top of him.
Her brain stopped with its warning signals.
Violet melted when she felt Kane’s hardness beneath her. His cock was already swollen, and her mouth stayed glued to his. Her hips moved back and forth, gyrating against him, getting his throbbing cock to hit her clit correctly. But it wasn’t enough. His hands were still steadying her, not moving with command the way they used to be. “Kane,” she turned her face away to rest her forehead against his. “Touch me. Please, I need you.”
“I am, sweeting.”
“Touch me the way you used to. Be you, Kane.”
It was her fault. All her fault. She poked the bear. He flipped her onto her back, and he was there. Everywhere. His mouth on her, his tongue inside dueling with hers, his hands on her breasts, while his hips gyrated against her liquid center. Violet felt tears spring to her eyes. The warning signals turned to a klaxon. The clanging bells echoing through her soul.
The hatch was opening.
“Kane.” She tried to tap him on the side to let him know this wasn’t a good idea. She’d made a mistake, crap she made a fucking boatload of mistakes. “Kane,” more tapping. His mouth slammed down on top of hers his hands pulled at her nipples, causing her pain. “Kane,” she jerked her head away from him. His mouth moved to her neck, he suctioned hard at her skin, enjoying the increase of her pulse against his lips.
He just didn’t realize that her pulse was ratcheting up because of fear and not desire.
“I’ve missed you, sweeting. I want you, so much.”
Violet shook her head back and forth as the tears streamed freely down her cheeks. Her stomach roiled as his hands started to rip apart her shirt. “Kane ... Kane ... Kane, please.”
When his mouth covered her nipple, she knew she had to get away. He
’d bite her. He’d bite her there, and that would destroy her.
Leaning her head all the way back, cracking her neck, she opened her mouth and screamed the one word she knew would make him stop. “Father!” Kane leaped from her body and staggered into the wall.
Violet turned off the bed just before her stomach rocketed all of its contents over the antique oak floor. She let gravity take over as the crippling spasms pulled her from the mattress to the cold planks. She huddled into herself while her stomach continued to empty. She didn’t realize she was sobbing until her body registered she was having problems breathing past her clogged nose.
The hands that pulled her hair back were gentle, and a cloth was held in front of her face. She buried her face in it, blowing her nose free. The heaving slowed and stopped. A jacket was draped over her shoulders.
Sage. Citrus. Davis was here.
When she stilled, hands were under her elbows. “Come on, Precious. Let’s get you into the living room while Kane cleans up.”
Davis didn’t pick her up. He kept his arms around her, lending his strength while trying to not trespass into her space. He got her to the couch, and put her legs up, covering her body with the throw. Violet sat there, helpless and bewildered, while Davis used a damp cloth to clean her face. When he handed her a cup of water and a bowl she didn’t understand, “Rinse out your mouth, Precious. It’s okay.” He followed that up with a cup of ginger tea, made with the clover honey she loved.
“How closely have you been watching?”
“I have to pay attention to you, Precious. If I didn’t, I always knew I’d be in trouble.”
“She okay?”
Violet felt the tears still streaming down her cheeks. “Kane?”
“It’s okay, sweeting. It was just too soon.”
She didn’t understand when he walked out of the room. This wasn’t her Kane. He was supposed to fight. He was always willing to take anything on. Violet’s head fell forward as the shame hit her. He finally understood. All of Kane’s horses and all of his men will never put her back together again.
Davis’ two fingers lifted her chin so he could gaze deeply into her eyes. “What’s going on in my Precious’s head?”
“He hates me now, doesn’t he?”
“Hates you? I’m guessing Kane just went to get a cold shower.”
“Why are you guys still here, Davis? What could you possibly want from me?”
“Oh my Precious, there is far more to you than this. I left you some crackers and more tea. Try to stay off the coffee for a little bit. You need something, anything, just yell out help. I’ll come.”
She slid down, turned over, and closed her eyes. Violet felt so tired. So defeated. She just wanted to float for a while. She never even heard Davis leave.
WHEN KANE WALKED INTO the house, he was dripping wet from his swim in the lake. Davis tossed a towel at him. “Is Violet okay?” Kane asked. He snorted before Davis could answer and started to roughly towel his hair. “What the fuck am I asking? Of course, she’s not okay. Who the hell would be?”
“Kane, I was watching. I saw everything. What the hell do you think happened in there?”
“I fucking crawled on top of Violet like one of those damn demons from her nightmares and forgot everything I know to be right. I made it about my fucking needs and desires and ignored her. Look, I thought about it in the lake, I’m going to take off. I’ll leave you two together, everything here is covered. You’re so much better for her. She trusts you. Violet needs you.”
“You were the one who told me she needs both of us.”
“That was before.”
“Before what?” Davis pressed him.
“Before I almost fucking raped her—”
“Kane.”
“—I can’t do that, Davis. I can’t live with myself and know I ... I just can’t—”
“Kane?”
“—I won’t be like that bastard who fathered me.”
“Kane!”
“What? What the hell is your problem?”
“Go and watch the tape, asshole.”
“Why? So I can feel worse than I already do? No, thank you.”
Davis stood up and moved to the door. “Fine. Then I’ll tell you what I saw. I saw her tell you to stop, and you did. You were this close to getting what we both want more than we want our next breath, but you got off her.”
“It took me long enough.”
“No male would condemn you for not hearing her the first couple of times, Kane. She doesn’t hate you. She thinks you hate her. She thinks you’re done with her. She’s too broken for you to fix. Stop fucking blaming yourself and realize something. She is healing.”
“I’m sorry, maybe you’re the one who should look at the damn tape.”
“Violet kissed you, Kane. She wanted you to make love to her. She got lost for a minute and had a PTSD attack. But she is starting to return. If you can’t see that for the fucking gift, it is then you aren’t paying attention.”
Kane sat on the leather armchair, his mind desperately rifling through the memory of what happened again. He pushed away his insecurity. His doubt. His anger and need as well. He tried to see things in the same manner that Davis did. Violet was everything to him. What did he do in there?
He lost control for a moment, but as soon as she used her safe word, he responded. She knew she could say it and he’d react. “It’s so hard to believe you’re right. Do you really ... I mean really think it’s true? Is Violet finally healing?”
“By the way, this was the first time you called her Violet.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Davis chuckled. “It means she’s not the only one getting better.”
Chapter 15 – Before
Davis scowled at the neighborhood as he stood on his Precious’s doorstep. This was no place for him to live much less a delicate female like Violet. When the door was opened, she had a towel wrapped around her hair and was dressed in a blue and purple robe of amazing colors it made him blink in surprise. The gown was such a contrast from the dullness of the neighborhood it made him smile. Then he remembered it from the club, and he wondered if his Precious may have tried to hold onto something from their encounter. How like her, she was a beautiful package stuffed full of delightful surprises. “Let me in, Precious. It’s positively dangerous out here.”
“I wouldn’t think anything scared you.” She swung the door out so he could slip in, and he caught the teasing scent of the flower for which she was named.
He watched her shut the door and then fastens four different locks before she turned to him. “Where your safety is concerned everything scares me.”
“You’re a pretty big guy, Davis.”
“Glad you noticed, Precious.” He pulled the towel from her hair and grunted when her long soaked purple hair unraveled. “I’m even more glad to see you’re handling the club being closed. You get your pay?”
“Yes, Roman and Bear are great about that.”
“They’ll reopen the club soon. Everything with Daisy is finally settled.”
“I’m glad. Is Daisy okay?”
“She’s in the hospital right now, but the doc says she’ll be fine.”
“That’s good to hear. She’s been nice to me, women at the club aren’t always so kind.”
“You have a problem you tell me. Am I clear, Precious?”
“Yes, Davis. That’s one order I have no problem obeying.”
Davis crowded her on purpose, wanting to see if that spark he felt in the club was mutual and continued to build within her. “Good. They treat everyone who works for them like family; I’d hate to think you weren’t being taken care of.” When he was a hairs breath from her body, her bath warmed skin calling out to him for touching so loud his palms itched, he grunted that she didn’t back away.
That ember was definitely still burning. Let’s see if he could make it into a forest fire.
He ran the back of his hand down the curve of h
er cheek, moving the damp hair to the side of her face. “This isn’t the best neighborhood, Precious. We should look into getting you somewhere better. Perhaps by the club?”
“This is all I can afford,” Violet confessed.
“I live by the club.”
Violet gave a small smile. “That’s nice?”
“You could live with me.” Davis avoided her eyes as his heart moved into his throat. What the hell was he doing? He’d been with her once, and even that was barely real to him now.
“I can’t do that, Davis.”
“How come?”
Violet shook her head as she moved to the small living room. The couch was oversized, but it came with the apartment so was perfect. She’d covered it with fabric pieces, and steam cleaned it and usually slept on it to avoid the loneliness of her single bed. “Guys tend to disappear on me, Davis. I like you. I don’t want you to end up being one of them.”
He caught her hand and tugged her into his arms. Groaning when her soft curves hit him just right, he smiled down into her widened eyes. “I will never be one of those guys, my Precious. What did I tell you last time we were together?”
"That we'd come back to it, but I thought ..."
"What else did I say?"
She melted under the hard stare he gave her. "That you don't leave I'm sorry I just figured—"
"Don't think for me, Precious. Few people get my mind that well."
“So is this what this is? You want me to submit?”
Davis shook his head. “I came to check you were okay.”
“I’m fine. You can go?”
“Oh Precious, when you get that grouchy, it just makes me want to fuck a smile back on your face.”
“Nice,” she tried to get out of his hold, but he was not in the mood to let her go. His lips came down to flutter over her mouth capturing her gasp within him. He lifted her body and then he sat on the couch with her half on him as he continued to feed on her lips. Violet panted as he released her to run his mouth down her neck, biting, sucking, licking wanting to taste all of her at once. His hands pulled the robe from her silky body, then instantly reached for her pussy needing to feel her heat against his palm. He started to lean down to take a lick when Violet lunged to get away from him. Scowling, his fingers latched onto her ankle, as he laid down on the couch flipping them so that she was on top of him in the sixty-nine position.