After the man left, she checked the bills in the wallet, took them out, and flung the wallet behind her into the hedge. That’s how she spent the afternoon.
Alas, when nighttime came, the family she spied on still hadn’t come home, and Ivy had waited too long. Sean had warned Ivy many times not to stay out after dark because their shady neighborhood was dangerous for a woman alone. And now, the sky had turned black, and in the dark, she saw practically nothing, so she shuffled through the streets alongside street lanterns for light.
Ivy became aware of footsteps behind her and looked back over her shoulder, observing a shadow. She was unsure if the person was following her or simply heading in the same direction. Worriedly, she hastened forward.
Although she was used to living in unsafe areas, this part of town creeped her out. Ivy walked by a flickering street lantern as a dog howled into the night. Otherwise, the area was deserted as she paced on the pavement between two buildings.
Footsteps gained on her, and Ivy started to sprint, but she was too late.
Someone jumped on Ivy from behind, and she fell forward on her hands and knees on the concrete. Pain shot through her knees, but she refused to lie down.
Ivy’s attacker grabbed her arm and shoved her onto her back.
“Help—”
Her cry was oppressed by a sweaty hand, and she tried to bite him, in vain. The man leaned forward while he sat on her thighs. Then she froze in shock when she registered it was Ben.
“Shut the fuck up,” he ordered, digging one elbow into her arm and slamming her other arm on the ground beside her ear.
Ivy attempted to move with her feet.
“Ivy, if I remove my hand, will you scream?”
She shook her head, and he lifted his hand off her mouth.
“Ben?! What are you doing? You scared the shit out of me.”
He showed her a malicious smile, and she got that that had been his intention. Still, she tried to reason with him since she was all alone with a man who was much stronger than she was.
“Did I?” His palm rested on her throat and slid down to the swell of her breast.
Ivy could smell alcohol on his breath. “Ben? What’s with you?”
He narrowed his eyes while gawking at her. Slowly he slid the edge of her collar down and exposed her breast. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted you? And you’ve always treated me like I was your brother,” he slurred, adding, “And the second you have your William back, you and Sean toss me out.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Ivy bought time as she searched for an item on the ground while his elbow dug painfully into the front of her shoulder.
Sean had overheard Silk scream that Ben told them Ivy would be at the country dance. Of course, it hadn’t been a coincidence. Ivy and Sean instantly cut all ties with Ben because he was too untrustworthy nowadays.
“I fucking loved you for years, and you never gave me a chance. But a short time with the pretentious William Kade, and you fall for his charms,” he spat in her face. “Do you know he’s a murderer?” Ben regarded her with contempt.
Ivy didn’t locate anything on the ground, so her only chance was to fight him with all her bodily strength.
“If I can’t have you, no one can. Especially not a rich asshole like Kade. He has everything. Why does he need you?!” Ben whisper-shouted and pressed his lips to hers.
Ivy turned her head to the side to avoid his filthy kiss, and she attempted to roll over, but he was too heavy.
“Fuck off, Ben! You’re drunk and an idiot. You betrayed me and Sean.”
“Betrayed! I’ll fucking show you betrayal.” Ben flattened his weight on Ivy and jerked up the skirt of her dress. “I’ll fuck you, and no man will want you anymore once I’m done marking and bruising your entire body.”
“NO!” Ivy could finally move her arms and tried to scratch his neck and face, without luck.
Ben squeezed her bare breast painfully hard while she struggled against him. Then all of a sudden, she saw a knife in his hand that he brought close to her face.
Ivy stopped moving her head to avoid being cut. “Don’t! You’re drunk!”
He widened her thighs with his while she tried to wrap her fingers around his arm to force the knife away from her jawline.
Abruptly, Ben was dragged off Ivy. She blinked to distinguish what was happening, but she could scarcely see a thing in the obscurity of the night.
Her eyesight adjusted slightly, and she witnessed William ducking underneath a swinging knife. Then he seized Ben and hurled him against a stack of crates. The wood cracked and splintered beneath Ben, but he lunged up. William grabbed his collar with one hand and smashed his fist into Ben’s nose. A wail burst from Ben, and he brandished the knife in his hand. Just in time, William jumped to the side, avoiding the tip of the blade.
Ivy shrieked and scrambled up.
“Stay there, Ivy!” William bellowed in a wild tone.
The two men wrestled. William wrapped his hand around Ben’s wrist and twisted it until the knife clanked to the ground. Then William kneed him in the stomach, finishing him off with a solid blow to the chin, causing Ben to fall on his back.
With a lethal grunt, William pressed his boot against Ben’s throat. “You will pay for ever touching her!” And he kicked his temple. Ben’s head flew to the side. He was knocked out.
Instantly, William appeared at Ivy’s side, touching her face, head, and down her arms. “Are you okay?” he asked, out of breath.
“Oh my god, yes. Are you?” she retorted.
“I am.” William arranged her dress and pulled her into his embrace, and Ivy wept from sheer relief while holding on to his middle.
The terror that gushed through her veins minutes ago gradually subsided, and William caressed the back of her head soothingly. “Shhh…”
They stood like that for endless minutes. Ivy required his reassurance, just like she had many months ago when Markson had taken them.
Eventually, William pulled back and reprimanded her severely, “Why the hell are you out here alone at night?!”
Ivy’s welling tears returned with a vengeance, and William sighed. He swung her up into his arms, going back to the safer part of the Loop.
At one point, he set her on her feet, and she was ushered into a car.
***
Twenty minutes later, they drove up a familiar street, parking in front of the gambling club high-rise.
William guided her out of the vehicle, and they entered the building with entwined hands. In the entrance hall of the club, William called for Silk.
Silk came from down the corridor. “Hey, man,” Then he inclined his head to Ivy and arched a brow at William, silently inquiring about Ivy’s presence.
“Ben attacked her,” William informed him.
Silk gave Ivy a once-over. “Is she okay?”
“Yes, I got there in time.” William released her hand and slid open a drawer from a small oak desk on his left, snatching out a piece of paper and a pen to write something down while speaking. “Ivy, Silk will notify your brother that you’re with me tonight.”
So William had decided that Ivy was going to spend the night with him. Ivy didn’t refute William since she sensed an underlying fury simmering beneath his skin.
“Can you get Ben for me quickly from this address?” William showed the paper to Silk. “And inform Sean that she’s here.”
“Sure. I’ll take the car.” Silk folded the paper and pocketed it as William and Ivy headed toward the elevator.
Ivy had expected apprehension when they ascended, yet a serene sensation warmed her. She felt safe with William. Ivy felt safe with the man who’d kidnapped her a year ago, who’d protected her from Markson so many months ago, and who’d rescued her again tonight.
Ivy was besieged with fond memories as she walked inside his apartment.
In reality, she’d been his captive; nonetheless, she hadn’t constantly felt imprisoned those months he’d held he
r there. Of course, it was abnormal, but Ivy’s entire life had been unusual. Her happiest time had been in his home, with William.
But no matter how safe or happy she felt to be back there, she also wanted answers. “Were you following me today, William?”
His gaze settled on her after he tossed his keys onto the coffee table. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I refuse to let you go. Because I hate that you distance yourself from me,” he replied in a tormented tone.
Ivy moved toward him, resting her palm on his cheek. “Thank you for helping me.”
He leaned into her touch for a second, then took her hand from his face. “I’m livid that you put yourself in danger, Ivy.” And he stepped to the sofa, putting more distance between them.
Ivy couldn’t disagree with him. She was aware of how ignorant it was for a woman to roam that area alone at night, especially a woman that’s almost blind. Ivy realized that she was much more vulnerable with deteriorating eyesight and couldn’t run around town anymore like she used to do.
“I’m sorry. I won’t do that anymore.”
“No, you won’t. I don’t want you living there,” he told her in an uncompromising voice. Then he studied her intently. “Why are you squinting your eyes? How bad is your sight?”
“It’s poor. I can’t see anything with my right eye.”
“Do you need more light?”
She shook her head and explained despondently, “It’ll barely make a difference.”
Immediately, he moved to stand in front of her again. “You’re staying with me tonight.”
“I—”
William placed his fingers against her lips. “Don’t argue with me, Ivy. Give me this. I’m furious but holding it in merely to show you that I’m not the man you claim me to be.”
Stunned, Ivy could only follow him to his bedroom. Secretly, she was overjoyed he’d demanded her to stay. She yearned to be with him in the room where they fell in love one last time before her world turned black.
William drew back the ivory curtains hanging from the bedframe and gave her a charming smile, deliberately dispelling any tension, then he led the way to the bathroom.
Deftly, he unbuttoned her dress and slid it down her body. Ivy wore just panties underneath. William’s hand stroked her left breast, and she noted his jaw ticking.
“What?” she asked.
“Does it hurt?”
She looked down and saw a bruise forming where Ben had squeezed the flesh. “No.”
“Ivy, he will pay. I promise you,” William vowed and bent to place a kiss on the blemish.
A kiss that melted her heart. Only William could beguile her with such a simple gesture.
Then he glided his hands down her sides, hooking his thumbs in her underwear and letting them fall to her ankles, noticing that her knees bled slightly from where Ben had jumped on her from behind. “I’ll apply cream to the broken skin on your knees.”
Ivy edged closer to William, intoxicated by his male scent and unyielding protectiveness. She’d missed this feeling and longed to have him naked too.
The brutal power of his physique was evident despite his sophisticated clothing. Unfastening his dress shirt, she let it slither to the floor, and his pants followed suit. William toed off one shoe, then the other as Ivy traced the scar on his side that Markson had given him.
When they’d fucked in the library, they had worn all their clothes, so this was the first time Ivy was given the chance to see his sculpted, naked body again. Just as she remembered, he was all muscle and sinewed tension.
He dropped his head to kiss the shallow valley between her breasts.
Her heart thumped as William straightened and toyed with her navel. “I was planning to bathe you, but now I’m going to fuck you first,” he growled.
William hoisted her up with his hands on her ass, and she circled her arms and legs around his neck and hips. Rushing into his room, William traced her mouth with bites and nudges, seeking the silkiness inside.
Together, they toppled onto the sheets. Ivy’s nipples brushed against William’s chest while she felt his growing cock rubbing against her pussy.
William sucked and bit her nipple, and Ivy grabbed his hair while arching into his mouth and mumbling, “I love you. I miss you every day.”
Suddenly, he hovered above her. “I love you too, Ivy. Even after you’re blind, I will still love you with all that I have.”
Her fingers weaved into his thick, dark locks as William gathered her close, as if he couldn’t tolerate even a hairbreadth separating them. And Ivy finally accepted that a life without William was incomprehensible for her.
Simultaneously, they went in for another frantically blissful kiss. But William had other plans for her. He rolled Ivy to her side and switched positions so that his mouth was at her pussy and her lips right at his cock. Both on their sides, facing each other.
William hefted her leg, and his fingers were wild and rough as he parted the soft lips of her pussy. She heard him groan when he licked her, swallowing the taste of her. Then his tongue delved in hot surges.
“Ah, William...”
“Suck me, baby.”
Eagerly, she rested her arm on his hip, fingers digging into his ass as she pulled him forward, wrapping her lips around his rock-hard cock.
With every swirl and glide of his tongue, Ivy sucked and licked his cock harder.
“Oh, baby, yeah. God, your mouth…” William rolled his hips forward, brutally pumping into her while delving into her wetness.
The intoxicating assault of his mouth on her core sent her into a euphoric state. William held her leg up by her thigh as she mashed her pussy against his lashing tongue.
“I’m going to come…” she panted, hips bucking forward.
Desire roared inside, beating in her veins like a fever. And then she flooded his mouth with a great, heaving cry while tremor after tremor of intense, focused pleasure overwhelmed her.
“William!” She adored screaming his name when he made her come.
With her own breath short, she rolled to her back with her legs spread wide. Her fingers folded around William’s shaft, but before she could continue with him, he got off the bed and stopped at the nightstand, taking out a satin rope and pulling it tight between his hands.
Ivy’s half-lidded eyes watched his erection twitch. William grabbed his cock in his fist, and his muscled flexed. The sight of him made her moan, the way he handled himself, pumping so roughly, while he merely gawked at her naked body.
Ivy sat up as William kneeled on the edge of the mattress and fed her his cock. She whimpered as he pushed the head between her lips and cupped her neck to give him leverage. Then he watched his arousal disappearing into her mouth, grunting and shoving his cock inside, making her choke on it. His head dropped back as he let out a guttural groan, then he gripped her hair and yanked her away.
“Come.” William moved around the bed, stopping at the foot of it, and tied the rope to the bedframe. “Stand here, Ivy.”
Ivy obeyed, going to where he wanted her.
William made her face the headboard while she stood on the floor at the foot of the bed, her back to his chest. An erotic, fearful thrill shot through her as he kissed a path up her neck and guided her arms up, rolling the satin fabric around both wrists, tying her to the overhead bedrail.
His hands and mouth began to move down her spine, prompting a burning pleasure. William kneeled behind her, rubbing and spreading apart the globes of her ass. He teased Ivy’s hole first, lapping her, readying her for his thick length. She was certain that he wanted to fuck her ass. Then he pushed a finger inside.
“Oh, William…”
“Shhh…relax. My cock needs to be inside your luscious ass.” He bit her ass cheek hard. It would definitely leave a mark.
Ivy tried to relax and started to sag in the restraint in response to his progressively gratifying touch. William licked from her pussy up to her behind, leaving a w
et trail, then suddenly, she felt his heat at her back. He’d straightened. His hands were everywhere as his cock nudged against her ass. Palms slithered over the curve of her hips, to her stomach, down her pussy, circling her clit. Then up to cup her breasts. Ivy’s head fell back against his shoulder.
William eased inside while his hands rested at the top of her inner thighs, not touching her pussy, simply spreading her at the junction. She turned her head to look at him, finding his gaze on her.
Just then, he started to hammer into her. William couldn’t hold back anymore. Their bodies slapped together as they fucked.
Ivy’s back arched, and William’s finger started to rub her clit, then he plunged it into her core.
His lips pressed against Ivy’s, and he sucked her tongue roughly, compelling her to take him deeper.
Enraptured by his attentions, she gave herself to him without reserve. From the first time they’d fucked, Ivy had been addicted to him. William released an unrestrained passion in her, and she never felt self-conscious with him. No, he worshiped her and brought her to immeasurable ecstasy with every entrance and withdrawal of his hard erection in her behind and his finger in her pussy.
Suddenly, William picked her up by her thighs, and Ivy hung on to the satin rope when William lifted her as if she weighed nothing, sliding his cock in and out. Faster and faster. His growls were hot against the side of her neck, and she was completely at his mercy as he relentlessly plunged into her ass. Ivy felt his cock swell, then he released a low throaty sound and bottomed out into her, biting her shoulder and slowing his movement while riding out his climax.
Slowly, William set Ivy on her feet and slipped out of her. Then he untied the knots of the rope, and together, they dropped onto the bed.
He tangled himself around her body, Ivy on her back, his head resting on her chest, while she stroked his hair. No one spoke. The moment didn’t require words.
After the tranquility of silence, William said, “I can handle your blindness. It doesn’t make me love you less. It doesn’t make me want you less. I’ll be your eyes, if you let me.”
Sins of a Bad Boy (The Original Bad Boys Book 1) Page 32