“Oh, Ella.” I hold her tight. “I won’t let that happen.” I try to figure out how I can fix this for her. I need to help her. To give her a life she deserves instead of this endless indentured servitude.
“What if we could find a way for you to be here legally, you know, like on a visa?” I sit up straighter as a lightning bolt of brilliance strikes me.
“That would be amazing.” Her warm brown eyes overflow with hope. “But how could I do that?”
“We can do that.” I brush her hair off her face. “I’m sure there must be something we can do.” I let her go and jump over to my computer. “Let me check.”
A quick Google search tells me there aren’t any easy solutions. In fact, most of the regulations say exactly what she’s already said. She’ll be deported. However, I can’t let her go back to that woman. I can’t let her live like that.
“It looks like it’s kinda complicated,” I admit. “But listen, I want you to stay here, with me. Don’t go back to that monster. I will protect you here. I will keep you safe.”
24 | Ella
“I’m not sure,” I answer. I don’t want to get too excited. Letting my dreams build up, only to have them dashed again would be too hard. There are only so many times hope can be extinguished, that your fire can be put out, before you just give up entirely.
“Listen.” He stands up from his computer desk and holds out his hands to me. “Let me help you. I can fix this for you, if you’ll just let me.”
I want to believe he has that power. I want, more than anything, to have found a man who cares about me so much he’ll do whatever he can to make my life better.
I reach out and clasp my fingers around his hands and he tugs me toward him. “Are you sure you want to do that for me? You’re okay with me living here, with you?” I swallow hard, wondering if he’s going to change his mind. If he’ll cast me aside or get tired of me. One look in his eyes and my worries fade away. The gray color shimmers like a knight’s armor as he draws me in with his stare.
“I’m more than okay with it. I’d love it if you were here every day, helping me take care of Chloe. And here every night to keep me company.” His voice grows thick as his hands travel down over the small of my back as he rubs into me.
My breathing quickens as I press into him, eager to feel his thick cock against me… inside me. He’s all I’ve been able to think about for days. Memories of our night together send me into a dreamlike trance during the day and give me the ultimate fantasy to remember as I use my fingers to recreate pleasure again at night.
“I’ll stay,” I agree. “Thank you.” I peek up at him from under my lashes, aware that the look in his eyes has transformed from the kind man who wanted to help me to a hungry beast. A long shiver runs down my spine, but I don’t shy away. I like that I can bring out this side in him. I want his body against mine again.
Jackson threads his fingers through my hair, but this time, he grabs a handful at the base of my neck and tugs down hard enough that my head rolls back under his control. A whimper softly escapes my lips as he kisses me hard, walking me backward until my back is flat against the wall.
The slow, tender kisses from the other night are gone. Instead, he tugs my bottom lip into his mouth as his hand slides up under my shirt and he cups my breast, squeezing it. I sigh and he lets go of my hair, quickly slipping his other hand under my sweater as he tugs it off over my head.
“I need you, Ella. I fucking need you again,” he murmurs in my ear as his fingers make quick work of freeing me from my pants.
I step out of them, no longer trembling like a little leaf in the wind like the other night. Tonight, I feel powerful. Tonight, for the first time, I’m getting a taste of that feral need I can bring out in him. Of how he can make me wet with only a tug of my hair. It’s intoxicating and I want more.
“I need you too.” I’m surprised at how vulnerable the confession makes me feel. Like, for the first time, I’m showing him a side of me that’s still so new, so unfamiliar, yet so exciting.
Jackson rubs his thumb down over the top of my panties in a small circle, teasing me, testing me, and I mewl for more as he strokes it over my clit. “Later, I’ll take my time with you,” he growls, “but right now, I can’t wait.” His hand bunches up my panties, twisting them so tight I’m sure he’s going to rip them right off me.
Yanking back hard, the fabric twists against my skin before the seams give out and snap over my flesh in a tiny explosion across my hips. Jackson quickly opens his pants, shoving them down in the front along with his underwear and his fat cock is exposed to me as my pussy clenches with desire.
He fumbles with his wallet, reaching inside for the crinkly foil packet, but I grab his hand. “Please, let me feel all of you tonight,” I beg him, my body aching for the heat of his cock inside me.
“Are you on birth control?” He studies my face and I shake my head. “I’ll have to pull out then.”
I’ll do whatever it takes to have him, every inch of him.
Jackson slides his hands under my thighs, lifting me up as I giggle. He holds my legs open and slides his cock up into me, pushing me flat back into the wall and fucking me hard and fast. His gentle, sweet, slow thrusts are replaced with a rabid fury of need as my pussy clenches against him and I hold on to his shoulders tight. I watch as his thick member slides in and out of my pussy, each time disappearing deeper inside until I gasp at the slight pinch I thought I’d never feel again as he completely fills me.
He holds me tight in his grasp, keeping my quaking thighs still in his strong hands as his dick pushes into me hard, deeper, filling me in a way I’ve never thought possible. My body tightens and my breathing grows rapid and shallow as an intensity floods through me. It’s not like the orgasm I had the other night, where it billowed out and filled every part of me. This time, it’s more intense and focused as he fucks me so relentlessly I can barely catch my breath.
Jackson’s face contorts and his hips rock out of rhythm as his breathing grows raspy. “On your knees,” he commands and drops his hands from my legs, letting me slide down the wall in front of him.
His hand jerks his cock furiously and I’m not sure if he wants me to put him in my mouth or if he’s going to cum on my face. I open my mouth, letting my tongue hang over my lips as he holds himself with one hand against the wall and quickly slides his hand over his shaft. He groans loudly and his warm, white cum spurts out, streaking over my chin and tongue and spilling down onto my tits. Jackson keeps pulling on his cock until every drop spills out of him and he slumps against the wall, breathing hard.
I stand up, wiping my face with my hand and smearing his seed into my breasts as he pulls me into him close. I can smell his musk as tiny beads of sweat trickle down his brow.
“Let’s get you cleaned up.” He kisses my earlobe tenderly. “I’ll run a bath for us,” he murmurs as exhaustion creeps into his voice.
“I’d love that,” I tell him honestly and let him lead me out of the room toward the bathroom, toward my new life, with him protecting me, looking out for me, and keeping me by his side.
25 | Jackson
I wake up with my arms snugly wrapped around Ella’s waist and my hard cock pressing against the crack of her unbelievably plump and sexy ass. I slowly grind my hips, enjoying the throb of pleasure that courses through me as her full cheeks tease my shaft.
“Damn, if this is how I get to wake up from now on, I don’t think I’ll ever get out of bed,” I growl in her ear and let my hands roam up to her heavy tits.
Ella edges back against me, pushing her ass into my cock shamelessly. It gives me dirty ideas about how we can start the day. “Oh, no!” She jumps up suddenly, leaving me hard and confused as she stares over at the alarm clock in a panic. “I have to go.” She looks just as flustered as the last time she spent the night. Like she’s about to go into full meltdown mode.
“Hey, get back here.” I grab her hand and tug her back onto the mattress next to me. “You
’re done with all that, remember? No more curfews, no more slavery, you’re staying with me now. I’m taking care of you,” I reassure her as her muscles unknot and she slowly sinks back into the bed.
“I forgot,” she breathes, like she doesn’t fully believe she’s not in trouble somehow. “It’s been six years that I’ve been living under Sylvia’s rules. It just feels so strange to know it’s finally over.”
I trace my fingertips down her back, exploring the curve of her waist before trailing them over her round hip and down her thick thigh. I can’t stop touching her, pressing against her, holding her.
I’ve never felt the world slip away like it does when I look into her eyes. I’ve been with other women who made my passion light up. However, it was different. This is different. When I’m with Ella, she makes me crazy, like the aching need for her is screaming from every cell inside me.
Even after we’ve fucked, I still want her as close as possible. Like an addict, I feel shaky and weak when she’s not next to me. Just breathing her in makes my senses come alive. Just getting lost in her eyes makes the world more beautiful somehow. Just kissing her lips can make every problem I’ve ever had temporarily float away into the atmosphere.
“Well, now you never have to go back there.” I kiss the tip of her nose.
“No, Jackson, I do have to go back.” Her eyes widen and I squint at her with confusion.
“What are you talking about? You’re not going back to that house. Why would you?” Irritation claws at my throat as I remember the way it felt when she screamed at me to go. How I couldn’t make sense of her decision. Obviously, I understand now why she did what she did. But to go back now? It makes no sense.
“I have to,” she pleads with me. “In my room, I have a picture of my family. It’s the only one I have. They’re all gone now. All of them were murdered. It’s the only thing I have to remember them by. I can’t just leave it there. I can’t let Sylvia and Raymond throw it out when they decide to empty my room into the trash.” Her lips tug down in the corners as her eyebrows knit together.
“Daddy?” Chloe calls out to me from the other room.
“Yes, honey, I’m awake. I’ll get us some breakfast in a second, okay?” I call out as I realize what I need to do.
“Okie dokie smokie,” my daughter jokes with me and I smile.
“I’ll help you get your picture back, Ella, I promise. First, let’s have some breakfast and then I’ll call my mother and get her to stay with Chloe. I don’t want to take her there again.” I clench my jaw, knowing that this time I won’t be backing down from the monsters who have kept Ella under lock and key for so long. “We’ll go today and get your things, okay?” I brush my thumb over the side of her soft face and watch as Ella’s eyes glimmer with happiness.
“Thank you, Jackson.” Her soft accent is like music in my ears. “You’re my hero.” She kisses me.
“Well, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this”—I drop my voice theatrically—“but I was a Navy SEAL.” I throw my shoulders back and stick out my chest like I’m doing some kind of contorted Superman pose.
“I know.” She laughs. God, I love her laugh. “I think there’s a little stuffed owl around here somewhere that proves it, right?” She giggles and I laugh at her burning me.
“Oh, that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?” I sit up and grab my pillow, gently lobbing it at her. “I see how it is.” Over Ella’s laughter I can hear Chloe getting up in her room and I realize we need to get some clothes on before this gets really awkward. “All right, let’s get dressed and grab some breaky”—I nod at the door—“before that little munchkin sneaks in here.”
Ella slides out of bed, taking my breath away as she fumbles around for clothes. My God, she’s simply stunning. Literally, I’m stunned just by the way her soft curves move as she dresses. I have to remind myself to quit staring and get up, but even then, it takes a real effort to make my legs reach over the edge of the bed and for my feet to hit the floor.
This feels like the beginning of something new for me. Something amazing. And I can’t wait to see how much better it gets.
26 | Ella
As Jackson turns onto Sylvia’s street, I see the dark whiskers on his strong jaw jump as he tenses up. His thick fingers curl tight around the steering wheel as his grip tightens and his muscles in his forearms pop into rigid peaks and valleys.
I know he’s angry about how she has treated me. He’s angry about this entire situation. Is it terrible that I notice how hot he is when he’s angry? I know it’s not appropriate, but my body doesn’t care about social graces.
When I glance down over his steel eyes, made more intense and smoldering by being pissed off, when every firm muscle in his athletic body looks like it might just tear the flimsy fabric of his clothes, it’s impossible not to notice just how sexy and in control he looks. My pussy clenches and my nipples grow into sensitive, hard peaks. Being with him has awakened a lust inside I’ve only ever read about before. I want him.
Jackson brings the car to a stop and my attention slides over to the front door of the house I’ve worked in since I came to this country. This is the only home I’ve known for years. It’s sad to think that after all the time I spent here, I can pack up my entire life and disappear from Sylvia’s and Raymond’s radar forever simply by taking one simple photograph and leaving.
With the exception of a few clothes, nothing else in that house is mine. Guilt splashes around in my stomach as I remember how, when I first met Jackson, I was wearing Sylvia’s things. Strutting around Denver like I had any business wearing her expensive designer clothes.
I push the thought down. None of that matters now. I didn’t steal anything, not like the countless hours of labor and time she’s stolen from my life. Not like the dignity Sylvia and her boy-toy have enjoyed stripping from me. Not like the dreams they ripped from my heart as I realized that if they had it their way, I would have lived a life of fear and servitude forever.
All of a sudden I don’t feel so bad about borrowing a dress she never even wore. Instead, a quiet rage builds up, growing angrier with each passing second. Today is the day I walk away from them forever. Today will be the first true day of my freedom.
I unbuckle my seatbelt, my eyes locked on the front door, and fling the car door open. “You don’t need to come with me. I can do this.” I can’t see anything but the door that sealed my fate for more time than I’d like to recount.
“The hell I don’t,” he answers, jumping out after me.
I should know better than think he’ll ever let me walk into a dangerous situation without his protection. I instantly feel secure, just from him walking next to me.
The front door swings open unexpectedly and I stop dead in my tracks as Sylvia walks out, disgust tattooed on her face, and she points to the inside. “Get your ass in the fucking house right now.” Her words are eerily calm, but I can hear the threats she’s not speaking hidden in her tone.
“I will go in there.” My voice shakes and I hate myself for the trembling warble. I want to sound brave. I want her to know she doesn’t control me anymore. But my words betray me. “I’m getting my things and I’m leaving.” I clear my throat and continue, “And I’m never coming back.”
“Raymond, come deal with this.” Sylvia snaps her fingers together and her shaggy-blond goon scurries over like the little lapdog he is.
“I think you should get the fuck outta here, buddy.” Raymond stands tall as he comes flying out the front door and down the steps at Jackson.
I watch as Jackson moves into him, twisting his arm up hard at an angle that could pop his elbow out of the socket. Raymond yelps.
“I think you better stay the fuck out of our way,” Jackson barely breathes the words, but everyone hears him loud and clear. He puts his arm around me and flashes his teeth at Sylvia like a feral dog. “And you better back off, lady,” he snarls at her and she steps back, cowering in fear.
As soon as we step through the door,
I can hear her start to scream at Raymond to “fucking man up,” as I lead Jackson through the lavish house to my modest room. I know exactly where my photograph is and I waste no time rushing over to the bed I’ve slept in all these years, stuffing my hand underneath the mattress edge until my fingertips touch the smooth, glossy paper.
“Got it.” I tug it out and quickly look down at the moment in time captured on the sheet. The genuine smiles on my parents’ faces. The goofy grin on my big brother’s lips, back when he was trying to practice his pick-up lines and sexy stare for the girls in our neighborhood. My younger brother, Miguel. His cheeks still carrying a bit of baby fat, giving him a look of innocence we lose as we age. There I am in the middle, my eyes sparkling with happiness, my future still not determined. My possibilities still endless.
I swallow the hard lump forming in my throat, but it just comes back again. I tuck the photo in my pocket and nod over at Jackson, who is watching me closely. He holds out his arm and I let myself get lost in his calming hug as he strokes my hair.
“I’m ready to go.”
He nods, holding my hand. He leads me back out into the hall.
We only make it a couple of steps when Raymond charges at us and Jackson quickly scoots me behind him, barricading me from danger with his body.
I watch as Raymond lifts his fists, like he knows the first thing about fighting, and tries to throw a feeble punch. Jackson easily sidesteps the weak haymaker and jabs Raymond hard in the gut, dropping him to the ground like a wheezing cry-baby.
“I told you to stay back. We’re fucking leaving now.” Jackson leads me past Raymond and then unexpectedly turns back, giving him a swift kick in the gut for good measure.
He grabs onto his stomach and grimaces on the floor as he fills the house with yowling. I don’t even glance at Sylvia as we march past her. I have nothing to say to her. I know I’ll never see her again, and I couldn’t care less.
Riding Lil' Red Hard: A Modern Day Fairy Tale (Fairy Tale Series Book 3) Page 49