by J. S. Scott
“So what’s your type? I saw her picture. She was beautiful.” I pressed him curiously, finally lifting my head to look at him.
He quirked an arrogant brow. “Right now, it seems to be hot redheads with sexy freckles.”
I smacked his hard bicep playfully, even though his comment made my heart skitter just a little. “Be serious. You’re rich. You’re pretty hot. Was she your date?”
He shrugged and looked away. “I don’t really have a type. If I’m attracted to a woman and all she wants is sex, I fuck her. She wasn’t a date. Hell, I don’t even remember having a real conversation with her. All I recall is vague flashbacks of being with her. But I feel like shit because she got caught up in something she’d never asked for. At least, I think she did. Either that or she was working with them and ended up as a sacrifice.”
“Why do your enemies hate you that much?”
He was silent for a moment before he finally confessed, “Not only did I refuse to affiliate myself with any of the prison gangs, but I was a snitch. If I heard something that would prevent one of those bastards from getting out of jail, or if I could put a rapist away or take a murderer off the street, I’d sing the first chance I got. I kept to myself most of the time, but they all talk shit. Like they’re fucking proud of themselves for hurting people who didn’t deserve it. I was in maximum security. Some of those guys were bat shit crazy. It tends to piss them off when an inmate gets them extra time, or gets one of their friends put away for life. They get revenge, no matter how difficult it might be. They have to set an example.”
“But if they’re in jail—”
“Some of their gang is on the outside, but my enemies don’t end there. As successful as my company’s been, I’ve managed to make more than my fair share of enemies on the outside.” Kane interrupted as he explained. “Big business means making or losing millions—if not a hell of a lot more. And when that sort of money is on the line, people become ruthless.”
I wondered how many lives he’d saved by offering up information he’d overheard to the police. The guy had guts. They had obviously beaten and tortured him in jail. “I’m so sorry.”
He squeezed my body a little tighter. “What do you have to be sorry about, Cupcake?”
“Nobody should suffer for being bold and honorable.”
He started to laugh, a low booming sound that reverberated through the bedroom. “I’m hardly a knight in shining armor, sweetheart. And I don’t think anybody has ever thought I was honorable. I killed a man. And I’m generally an asshole. Making sure those bastards stayed locked up for their crimes was just the right thing to do.”
“Very few people do the right thing when they know it’s going to make their life miserable.”
“Yeah, well, it’s also hard to live with yourself when you hear information that could prevent somebody innocent from being killed. Luckily, my friend, Gavin, had my back. Together, we managed to stay alive, though just barely at times,” he answered gruffly.
I understood now why Kane was adamant about never going back to prison. He’d probably never live through it—and after all he’d already endured, I could see why he was desperate to stay out of jail. “So how much longer do you think it will take to clear your name?”
“As soon as Gavin can track down the real murderer.”
Kane made it sound so easy, but I knew that clearing his name wasn’t going to be a simple task. “What if he can’t?”
“He will,” Kane rasped. “He’ll clear me or die trying. He has the contacts. I have no doubt he’ll get us out of here.”
“How long? Have you had any word?”
“He’s close,” Kane replied simply. “He texted me last night.”
I sighed as he speared his fingers into my hair, an unconscious sign of possessiveness, then began to let the strands sift through his fingers. Every touch, every gesture, all of his body language and actions…they showed me that he cared. But we couldn’t stay holed up in this makeshift bunker forever.
It was strange how he now referred to his situation as “us” instead of just himself. Our relationship was changing from one of prisoner and captor to both of us being in this situation together.
In my current relaxed state of mind, it didn’t seem unusual at all. Now that I was convinced that Kane was innocent, my perspective was changing.
The fact that we were intimate with each other just heightened our relationship, making it all the more intense.
Not that I was under any illusions that this was anything more than an adrenaline induced affair. To fool myself into thinking that Kane thought of me as anything more than a convenient screw was ridiculous.
“I have to get back to the real world eventually. Do you know if you can trust Gavin?” I asked.
“No doubt in my mind,” he answered confidently.
“How did you meet? In prison?” I knew Gavin was his partner, but that was about the extent of my information on the man who was going to save our ass.
“Do you really want to know?”
His voice was flat and resigned. I hated it. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Gavin and I go way back. And yeah, we served time together,’ he admitted hoarsely.
I didn’t think Kane could reveal much that would still surprise me.
I was wrong.
CHAPTER 17
Kane
Fuck…this wasn’t a story I’d mind telling her, if it weren’t for the details. And like they said, the devil was in the details, and the devil was one hell of a nasty fucker.
“When I got to prison, Gavin had already been there several months, doing some time for hacking. Anyway, he was nice enough take me under his wing and show me the ins and outs. And in those early days, if it hadn’t been for him, I know that there’s no way I would have survived it. He gave me a quick education on how to make it through the day without getting a shiv in my back, and how not to piss off the guards and land in solitary.”
I’d been so fucking clueless going into it all, thinking that I’d somehow manage to hold my own and come through the experience unscathed, but for a few fights. The truth was, I couldn’t have been more mistaken.
Anna looked up at me, worry filling her big blue eyes. “I can’t even imagine what that must have been like.”
“The problem was there was danger on all sides. There was no one you could trust—not even the guards, since they had their own agendas. And I guess that’s why Gavin and I grew so close. He had my back, and I had his.” Except that what I’d just told her wasn’t the whole story, and I wasn’t sure I wanted her to know the rest. “You’d think that the people who’ve landed themselves in prison are idiots. But they’re not. Some of them are damn smart—and they know how to break a man…know how to turn people against each other.”
“But you and Gavin… You’re still friends, so it didn’t work. Right?” Her brow furrowed as her fingers trailed lazy circles over my bare chest. It was the true concern in her voice that had my heart hitching inside my chest and had me realizing that I was falling for Anna hard and fast.
“Well, it was clear that together, Gavin and I were becoming a force to reckon with, even if there were just two of us. Because before long, we were rounding up into our group the rest of the miserable people who had no gang affiliations and were only looking to survive their time inside. And though we tried to stay out of trouble, that wasn’t always possible, even if we were managing to hold our own.”
“Let me guess… The other gangs didn’t like that?” Her eyes flared with the fire I loved seeing in her, especially when she was getting angry on my behalf.
“Exactly. And they knew that the only way to defeat us would be to get us to turn on each other—not that it would be an easy task, since Gavin and I were loyal to each other and our friendship.” My body stiffened as I relived what they did to us, and I couldn’t
believe I was about to tell Anna what had happened, though I’d be damned if I could look at her as I recalled the worst night of my life.
No one outside those prison walls knew what had happened to me, and I just hoped Gavin would forgive me for telling her our story. “Anyway, they did the one thing that would make it difficult for us to maintain our friendship. Someone working in the mess hall must have slipped something into our food—Ecstasy if I had to guess, and then just as the drugs were setting in, they ambushed us. We tried to fight them off, but with knives to our throats, they…they forced Gavin to rape me. And if it hadn’t been for the guards busting down the door, I think they would’ve slit our throats once they’d completed that sadistic humiliation.”
It took all the strength I had to finally look at her, trying to bury the anger and shame of that day so I could comfort her instead, wiping the tears from her cheeks as I cupped her face and pulled her to me for a sweet and lingering kiss, her lips warm and sweet like sun-kissed honey. “I can’t believe they did that to you. What sick bastards.”
“I knew it wasn’t Gavin’s fault, especially not when we’d been slipped Ecstasy, but it was still hard to face him after what had happened. Yet he never truly left my side, even if he did his best to give me some distance until I could come to terms with what he’d been forced to do.” I tightened my hold on her, needing her close, as if she were the only one who could truly chase my demons away. “It took a little while for us to get comfortable with each other again, but it had to happen if we had any hope of surviving. And in the end, it only strengthened our friendship and dedication to each other. But…it’s one more reason that I don’t touch drugs of any sort—and it’s why I know that what happened to that woman was a setup.”
“You’re never going back to prison, Kane. I won’t allow it.” She sounded so determined, so willing to fight for me, and it only made me love her all the more.
“I won’t go willingly, Anna. And though you may have known that before, you now know why I can’t go back there.” I tried to keep the tension from my voice, not wanting to worry her, but it was nearly impossible. “It goes well beyond the fact that I’d never survive it, with so many people gunning for me. I just can’t go back to where my demons live. I’ve learned to manage them here on the outside, but it’s taken a long time, and going back…it’s just not an option.”
“Never, Kane…you’re never going to prison again.” She kissed me, holding nothing back, as if she might somehow be able to erase all that had been done to me if she could simply give me new memories to replace the bad.
And I was starting to believe that if anyone could truly heal my soul from the wrongs I’d been forced to endure, it was Anna.
I sank my fingers into her thick red hair, deepening our kiss as she straddled me, letting her tight little body slip down onto my hard cock without a moment’s hesitation—not even worrying about a condom. And fuck, but it only made my heart pound all the more, leaving me desperate to fill her with my seed and put a baby in her belly. Because I’d never thought about having a family until Anna, and now, it was haunting me like a need I couldn’t shake.
She felt so fucking good, I couldn’t help but groan into her mouth as her tongue danced over mine and her hips began to move, rocking up and down my length. I’d been with my fair share of women, but nothing compared to what I had with Anna. She was just so fucking beautiful…and whatever pain, whatever heartache she carried on her soul, only made her all the more perfect, and it only spoke to my heart all the more.
Breaking our kiss, she sat up as she rode me, giving me the most amazing view. She braced herself with her hands on my chest, causing her full, pert breasts to push together as her pace quickened, making it nearly impossible for me not to come in a heartbeat. Yet I needed this to last…needed to savor every moment we had together, knowing that my future was precarious at best.
Needing her close, I sat up, wrapping an arm around her waist as I thrust up into her, sucking her nipple into my mouth, her back arching as if to offer herself up to me. And with each tug and tease of her nipples, she let out a needy little moan, her pace frantic until she was coming, her body quivering in my arms as she cried out and I milked every last wave of her orgasm from her body.
Yet I was far from over with her, needing to mark her as mine, needing her to know that there’d be no going back from this…that no other man would ever touch her. The possessiveness I felt for her overwhelmed me, though it didn’t surprise me in the least—not when I’d been steadily falling for her.
With my arm tight around her waist, I rolled her under me and pinned her under my weight, my cock still buried deep inside her. I pounded the next thrust into her, and the next, wanting her to feel me down to the marrow of her bones, so that even a month from now, she’d be able to recall every little detail, would be able to feel my touch.
The energy of my orgasm had my balls pulling up tight, our pace quickening as I deepened each thrust, pulling desperate little moans from her lips as I covered them in hungry kisses. “You’re mine, Anna. No one else gets to touch you.”
“No one but you.” It was as if my words pushed her over the edge as she cried out and came once more, and fuck, but I couldn’t hold back. I pounded into her as I unleashed my orgasm, burying my cock in her sweet pussy and filling her with my hot seed, marking her as mine.
We stayed that way, both of us breathing heavy, our bodies still linked as I kissed her tenderly, overcome with how I felt about her.
Because no matter what happened when we got out of here, I wanted Anna with me, by my side.
CHAPTER 18
Anna
“Are you done yet, woman?” Kane asked with a playful growl a few days later.
“Not yet,” I told him in a fake tone of exasperation as I drew another lock of his wet hair through my fingers and kept snipping with the scissors I’d been using to crop off the excess growth. It was about the millionth time I’d given him that answer in the last ten minutes. “Are you always this restless?”
I was beginning to love his gruff impatience, especially when he was intent on making me come as often and as explosively as possible.
Each time it was more intense, more powerful.
Maybe it was because we’d shared so many personal, intimate things with each other during the days following his confession about Gavin and what had occurred during his incarceration.
Hell, Kane even heard about my first high school crush, and I knew he’d lost his virginity at the age of sixteen to a woman twice his age. That reveal had pissed me off just a little. I was younger than his first, and I certainly couldn’t imagine having sex with someone who was really still a boy.
“I’m not used to being idle,” he admitted. “Gavin and I are usually pretty damn busy trying to get a jump on our competition or working with our existing clients.”
I clipped some more hair as I thought about his response. Kane had said he and Gavin were partners in the massive cyber security company they owned. Kane had laughingly said that Gavin was the brains, and he was the business brawn. Apparently, Gavin was in charge of the technology. As a former hacker, Kane’s partner was highly skilled with programming, while Kane had the business head to deal with everything else.
Having a hard time believing that Kane didn’t know the technology himself because he could be such a control freak, I’d finally gotten him to admit that Gavin had taught him a lot during their years in business together. Which I think probably meant he knew all about the programs they were developing.
Finally, I reminded him, “You’re the one who said your hair was too long and getting in your eyes.”
My mom had always cut my dad’s hair, and I’d offered to cut Kane’s, with the understanding that I wasn’t exactly a professional. I could get the length down, and I’d watched Mom cut Dad’s hair many times, but that didn’t mean I was skilled at doing the task
myself.
“I didn’t know it would take this long,” he grumbled. “And I already let you shave my beard off.”
“That beast you had growing on your face had to go.” I laughed, even if there were some advantages to that rough scruffiness. “And it’s only been fifteen minutes.”
“Seems longer,” he answered.
“I’m not a hair stylist, Sugar.”
He grumbled like a moody bear coming out of hibernation. “I don’t care. Just hack it off.”
I kept smiling as I tried to tame the stubborn locks. “Maybe I just enjoy fingering your hair,” I teased.
“There are far more enjoyable places I can find for you to touch, Cupcake,” he told me hopefully.
“Pervert,” I accused.
“Damn right,” he shot back. “When a guy is holed up with a woman as beautiful as you are, my dick isn’t ever going to be slack.”
I could swear that my heart actually skipped a beat when he mentioned how attractive he thought I was. And I believed he actually meant it. For some unknown reason, he found my red hair and freckles irresistible. Yeah, I thought maybe he needed his eyes checked, but I can’t say I didn’t love to hear him tell me how I affected his body. It made me feel less awkward about how much I loved just touching him anywhere. Even his hair.
“I’m trying to do a good job,” I said stubbornly, determined not to let lustful thoughts take my attention away from my mission. Even though he said he just wanted his hair cut off, I wasn’t about to just whack it off without trying to give it some kind of style.
Although I appreciated his lack of vanity, he was too damn handsome to have an uneven haircut.
“Fuck it,” he rumbled. “I miss being able to see you.”
I moved in front of him and tilted his chin up to make sure the cut was good. “Better?” I questioned, leaning over to snip a few more errant strands before running my hand over his smooth face.