by Kate Stewart
“Fuck, please, Rhys...please.” I felt the warmth spread between my legs as my heart pounded. I didn’t care how desperate I sounded. I needed his touch, his cock, his lips, and fingers covering and consuming me.
He turned me around to face him again as I leaned in, bracing myself for his touch. He ripped the triangle covering my center away easily as he covered me in his steely gaze. One swipe of his finger or flick of his tongue would ignite me, set me off. He was so insanely beautiful. No man had ever looked this appealing to me. His shadowed, chiseled features, angry eyes, and full lips had me licking mine in anticipation. His anger aroused me, though I hadn’t done a thing to provoke him. He was being possessive and jealous, and I loved every minute of it. It meant he wanted me, that nothing had changed for us physically. Emotionally, we would deal with the rest later. It was raw need driving us together now and I couldn’t wait to be filled by him, fucked by him, to be made his. His jaw twitched as he watched me arch my back as he took me in.
“I need you inside me, Rhys.”
He gripped my necklace again, twisting the beads so I felt the pinch on my skin. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he gritted out. He was on the verge of snapping. I did the only thing I could to provoke him further.
“Would you rather I’d entertained him? Asked for his cock? Let him continue to touch me?” Thousands of pearls scattered down my body and onto the floor as he ripped them away. He turned me then pushed me onto the stairs, my head pressed painfully to the side of one of the hard wooden steps as my knees pressed against one another, my bare pussy exposed and ass out. He struck me hard with his hand right on my sensitive clit and I screamed out, tears coming to the surface. Another hard slap to my clit left me pulsating as I braced myself for another, my shoulders against the harsh surface of the stairs. He thrust his fingers inside me suddenly and I heard my arousal as he fucked me with them roughly. The unzipping of his pants had his cock at my entrance in seconds and I moaned in anticipation.
“You want me? This is what you want, Violet? Are you sure? You didn’t seem so certain last week. Tell me what you want!”
“I want—” The words barely passed my lips before he buried his thickness inside me. We both moaned as the sensation overwhelmed us.
“You want me?” he taunted as he circled his hips, pushing hard as I urged him on with my moans. His fucking was tortuously hard, almost painful, and I pushed my ass back, begging for more.
“Fucking take it, Violet,” he snapped, his hand coming down over and over again as he blistered my ass and thighs, my arms painfully bound as he gripped them with his and slammed his cock inside me. My knees screamed as the wood scraped away my skin and the weight of him bruised them as he punished me. I came almost instantly as he ripped away at my pussy, his strokes never slowing, never stopping. I heard his harsh exhale as he channeled all his anger into his fucking. He stopped abruptly, pulling me up by my bound arms, sitting down on a step and pulling me onto his length, facing me away from him.
I was rewarded with a deep moan that fueled me. “Remember this, Violet,” he snapped, his hands molding to my hips as he began to move, pulling me down roughly with each thrust. I arched my back, resting my head on his shoulder as he continued to punish me. He was referring to the first night he had taken me, the first time he’d had me, the night my body became his.
“I love you,” I confessed as he punished away, pretending to not hear my words as he continued his assault.
I came again seconds later and completely slumped against him as his strokes slowed and then stopped.
I looked back at him, our bodies still connected, both of us gasping, and his release still inside of him.
“Rhys?”
“I have to leave.” He breathed heavily as he released my arms from the belt and stood me up. He retrieved my dress from the floor and tugged it up slowly around my body then pulled my arms through the sleeves.
“Rhys, please don’t do this. Don’t pull away from me.” I stood there as he dressed me, like I was a helpless child, and without the right words to say.
“I have somewhere to be,” he snapped as I reached for my coat, carefully stepping around the debris on the floor. I went to the kitchen and grabbed a broom to clean up the pearls and glass, but it was snatched from my hands.
“I have to leave,” he said, grabbing my hand and leading me toward the door.
“Stop! Damn you, Rhys Volz, just stop!” I said, pulling away from him.
“Goddamnit, you stop it!” he said, his emotion coming through his voice. He took a step toward me. “I can’t keep wondering if the woman I’m with is with me! I can’t keep dreaming of a future with a woman who can’t let go of her past. And I can’t continue to let you be a part of my son’s life or mine if you aren’t certain about what you want or me! Regardless of what I’ve told you, this”—he gripped his chest with his fist—“is all new to me. I’ve never felt this way. I’ve never wanted a woman as much as I do you and I’ve never...been jealous, Violet, ever.” He covered me with his gaze as I stood stunned at his admission, unable to comment or even wrap my head around it as he continued.
“I have traded subs without flinching. I’ve let go of lovers I’ve had for a year without giving it a second thought. So when I look at you and my chest hurts, my body aches, and you say those fucking words to me, I need you to mean them. Bryce needs you to mean them. This isn’t just about me anymore. This is about us both. And we are both falling in love with you,” he admitted with a resigned look.
His phone rang as tears slid down my face and I took a step toward him. He looked at the screen and answered. His eyes turned to me, his gaze unwavering as he spoke.
“Hi, Mom. I know. I spoke to her fifteen minutes ago. I’m on my way,” he said, giving me a look of regret. He hung up and pulled me toward him so our foreheads touched. “I’m sorry. If I hurt you, I’ll never forgive myself. I should never have taken you when I was this angry. Not like that.”
“You didn’t hurt me, Rhys. I’m fine,” I assured him as he wiped my tears away with his thumbs.
“Heidi’s in labor. I need to go.”
“I’ll go with you,” I offered, hopeful.
“No.” He pulled away from me, making me instantly cold. My heart sank as he pulled his jacket on and regarded me carefully. “I need you to decide to trust me, decide to love me enough to stick around when things are good or bad. And decide that no matter what happens you won’t let it shake us. No more back and forth between us. I can’t take it, Violet. With you, I’ll always be selfish. I want all of you, not just what you’re willing to risk. All of you.”
I nodded as the tears kept coming.
He looked at me regretfully before he spoke. “I’m sorry. I have to go. I promised I’d be there.”
“Go,” I said, wiping my tears away and reaching for the door. “Goodnight.” He reached for me and pulled me close as his mouth sealed over mine in a beautiful and gentle kiss. He stroked my tongue with his and I melted into him, wrapping my arms around him as he deepened it. He pulled away as we both stood completely wrapped up in the feeling, in each other. I leaned in again for more when he brushed his lips gently against mine before whispering, “I can’t change anything about my past, Violet, and I don’t want to.” He pushed my hair away from my face and added, “You have to let go or we can’t move on. Text me and let me know you got home safe?”“ I nodded and he kissed me again before walking out the door.
I watched him drive away as I dialed a cab. I got home just in time to watch the ball drop on New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.
I can’t work.
Fuck this mouse. No, fuck this job.
I should just get the hell out of here for the day. I hadn’t done anything at all but stare at my screen for the last three hours as I thought of her. I felt terrible for leaving her at my house the other night. Other than her text letting me know she’d made it home, we hadn’t spoken. I felt like our time was running out.
One t
hought raced through my head constantly. The thought that kept me on edge, kept me from picking up the phone every hour.
I had kept my promise to her. I was all in. I had fallen hard, fast, and for a woman who had the ability to break me. So now the question remained...Was she all in? For years and years I’d had relationships with women, never giving them the kind of power Violet held over me. I grabbed my coat with every intention to head to my parents’ house. Bryce loved the beach. Even though it was winter, the weather was mild outside. I could bundle him up today. With a plan in mind, I headed for the elevator, but just stood there.
You’re fucking miserable. Just call her and see what she has to say. Anyone would have had that reaction. You can’t punish her for it.
I really hated the reasonable guy I was becoming. I used to be able to just be angry without justification, take it out on a sub and call it a day. Now I had to think my feelings through without unleashing them. I hated myself for the way I’d taken Violet. I had lost control, and for the first time it was due to my emotions, not my sexual appetite. I had come a long way since I started. I had taken the steps I needed to rid myself of my destructive urges. I had no desire to even attempt the things I used to.
I wouldn’t trade these days for those, anyway. I wouldn’t trade my life for anyone else’s. That thought alone had me jonesing for the sight of her. I could no longer imagine being with anyone else but Violet.
I’d come a long, long way.
If she still had lingering feelings for her husband, I supposed that would be understandable given the circumstances. But at the same time, I couldn’t help but wonder why she would considering what we’d shared. She had moved me, weakened me, and was now breaking me.
You’re acting like a pussy. Work this shit out. You can’t turn your back on her because of your jealousy.
I didn’t get the chance to call her. I’d just gotten a text with an address, from her mother.
“All rise.” Everyone stood as directed by the bailiff. I hadn’t braved a glance to my left at the man who had attacked me. The minute I set foot in the courtroom, I felt nothing but terror knowing that the bastard who tried to kill me was mere feet away. I shook violently as I poured a glass of water, splashing a majority of it onto the table. My lawyer gave me a reassuring nod as I sat back in my chair and looked behind me. My mother sat close to me, giving me a similar nod, and I turned back to the action in the courtroom, completely oblivious to what was being said. I was, for the first time since my birthday, reliving the night I had almost died. I hadn’t realized just how much I had masked my fear until today.
“Violet,” my lawyer, Jake, whispered to me when my name was called. I stood quickly, my knees knocking as I approached the stand and was asked to hold up my hand.
“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”
“I do,” I whispered, unable to find my voice.
“Please speak up, Ms. Hale,” the judge urged.
“I do,” I said firmly, taking a seat on the stand and refusing to look to my right. I saw his profile as he sat next to his lawyer in his filthy fucking brown suit, but couldn’t bring myself to look at his face. I closed my eyes tightly as Jake went through the events of the night, detail by detail. I blocked them out, thinking of the man who saved me. I stumbled through my lawyer’s questions and drew a blank as I watched the table to my right out of my peripheral vision, completely disabled by fear. By the time his lawyer started his line of questioning, I was terrified. The stench of him filled my nose as the memory gripped me. I fingered my scar absently as I felt the pinch of the knife all over again. I closed my eyes as I recalled the splash my fingers made in my own blood.
“Ms. Hale?”
“Yes? I’m sorry, could you repeat the question?”
“Is it true that you couldn’t see the faces of your attackers?” the defense asked.
“Yes,” I said weakly, looking at my hands as I twisted them in my lap. I bit the inside of my cheek hard as I tried to keep from crying. I answered as I replayed my own account of that night, refusing to look in his direction. If I did, I would know his face for the rest of my life, regardless if he were incarcerated for the rest of his. I didn’t want that memory. Instead, I remembered Rhys.
“He knows you love him, honey. If he didn’t before, he knows now. Don’t you, Rhys?”
Remembering the medic’s words, my eyes swelled and all I could do was sit silently and nod with an occasional “yes” loud enough for the record when I was forced to. I couldn’t breathe. Thoughts of Rhys raced through me as I let my tears fall at his memory, his sincerity. I needed him now. It felt foolish being apart from him. My fucking pride might have ruined my relationship with him, but right now, all I needed was the mere sight of him. It would have been enough. I said a prayer as I wiped at my face furiously, though it was useless.
The details didn’t matter. Rhys had saved me in more ways than one. All he was asking of me was what I wanted from him. Our relationship was so simple, yet our lives had made it seem so damn impossible. The only thing standing in our way now was...us.
“Ms. Hale, do you need a minute?” the defense attorney asked as I hiccupped on a sob, trying desperately to regain some strength.
I longed for the gray eyes that had captured me and held me hostage. The tears fell heavy as I mourned for my love, no longer afraid of the bastard who had robbed me and left me for dead. Now, I was more afraid of the growing distance between myself and the love of my life. When I looked up into the faces of the courtroom, I saw the eyes I had longed for.
Rhys.
I almost cried out in relief as we kept each other’s gaze, his eyes telling me everything he could not say. Saltwater slid down my cheeks, and I hoped he could see the I love you, I love you, I love you in my eyes. I had to keep my chuckle in when I noticed he was wearing his noncommittal sweater. As if he could read my mind, he gave me a reassuring nod and small smile. I gathered all my strength as he watched me and finally let my gaze wander to my right to face my fear. I glared in the direction of my attacker as he cowered in his chair, refusing to meet my eyes. He was older—maybe in his early fifties—and a true to life scumbag with greasy hair and bad skin, no doubt a junkie or alcoholic. There was nothing terrifying about him. I sat up straight and answered the questions Jake had drilled me on the previous day, more certain than ever that when I left the courtroom today, I could close this chapter of my life.
“Ms. Hale, do you need more time?”
I looked right at my attacker. “No, I’m fine,” I replied, my voice growing in strength with each word spoken. The questions continued as I answered honestly through his cross-examination.
“I have no more questions, your honor.”
The judge looked at me, eyes filled with sympathy. “Thank you, Ms. Hale. You may step down.”
I was sure then the sentence would be fitting to the crime.
It was over.
My mother nodded at me, her tears mirroring mine, as I walked toward my seat. Rhys winked at me and I had to resist the urge to walk over to him and launch myself into his arms.
When court was adjourned, I stood immediately to go to Rhys, but was stopped short by my lawyer. Rhys left the courtroom and all the air left my body. I fought the small crowd and made it through the door, finding Rhys waiting next to the elevator, his gaze on me.
“Jake, Violet will call you,” my mother interrupted as she watched my reaction to Rhys. Jake nodded, slightly confused as I approached Rhys and we slipped inside the elevator.
“I’ve been trying to give you space, Violet, but I can’t do it anymore,” I whispered, trying my hardest to keep my distance. My chest was full as I sifted through my thoughts, carefully trying to convey to her in the best way I knew how that I needed her.
Fucking words.
“I’m not asking for it and I don’t want it.”
She looked so fucking beautiful wrapped in her black winter co
at, her lips painted a perfect shade of pink and long blonde hair cascading down her shoulders. Her swollen eyes locked on mine.
I charged her when we were alone in the elevator and pinned her to the back of it.
Possessive is all I felt in that moment as I looked down at her face, so beautiful, so beyond perfect.
I felt a part of me rip as I asked her my next question, afraid she would see the hardest part of me no longer existed with her this close. I had come undone, and all for her.
“I guess my question is,” I said, my chest heavy, “do you still want him to love you?”
Her tears fell as she looked up at me. “No, God, no,” she answered, her voice shaking. She shook her head back and forth, her tears coming down fast. I wiped them away, searching her eyes, desperate to believe her. “I never want you to think I do, Rhys. I love you. I gave you everything when I got back from my trip. I was just so fucking shocked that night. I let it shake me.”
I cupped her face in my hands as she looked up at me. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I only did it to protect you, Violet. I don’t want to lose you, but I can’t and won’t share you with anyone else, ever.”
“You won’t ever have to. Please believe me. I know I acted like a fool. What we have is all I want. I don’t care about them. I want them out of our lives for good. I need to be with you and Bryce. I don’t care anymore that I wasn’t enough for him. I only want to be enough for you.”
She grabbed my face and brought her lips to mine. I pressed hard then pulled away as I brought my hand up to grip her chin. “All of you. I want it all.” She nodded in response as I grasped her waist, pulled her close, and leaned in, taking her mouth roughly, thrusting my tongue in and tasting her as she whimpered, meeting my kiss. I wrapped my arms around her, gripping her tighter before pulling my lips away to catch her eyes.