by Raven Dark
“Mm, you’re still as hot as fuck, girl.”
Ella rocked her hips, riding him eagerly, loving the stretch. His fingers dug into her hips.
“Stop that. Ride me how I like it, slow.”
Man, he never missed a thing, her Rock. She slowed her pace, sliding up and down along his length, breathing ragged with the effort to keep his painfully languid pace.
“Better.” He leaned forward sucking one nipple into his mouth, then the other, pinching them with his teeth until she whimpered and then laving away the sting.
“Jesus, Rock.”
His palm came down on her ass with a loud crack and she bit her cheek against a cry at the sting of pleasure. “Who?”
“Sir.”
“And don’t you forget it.”
Jesus, he slid into the role so easily it was as if they’d never been apart, she’d never stopped being his.
Rock pulled out of her. Next instant, he flipped her on her back, splaying her across the bed so suddenly she gasped as her back hit the mattress. Her pussy wept without him filling her. She reached up to pull him down onto her and he shoved her hands into the mattress, gripping her wrists hard, with just the right roughness.
“Behave yourself.”
Ella rolled her eyes. The warning that flashed in his gaze made her tremble with anticipation.
“Roll your damn eyes at me again and there will be consequences.”
Ella clenched her jaw to keep from whimpering at the need ripping through her. He moved her arms above her head until she gripped the edge of the mattress.
“See? You can be a good girl.”
“Shit…”
He thrust into her so hard her whole body went into a spasm. Pure pleasure flooded her and she groaned, grabbing the mattress.
“Fuck, Annabella, you’re perfect. So hot.” He slammed forward, moving in and out of her with hard, measured strokes.
She angled her hips to let him take her deeper. His weight crushed her into the mattress, so perfect, so powerful.
“Open wider, girl.” Mouth hot against her ear, his hands gripped her hips and she lifted her knees, spreading them. A masculine groan shook from him and he hooked her knees with his arms. His pace quickened. “Ah, yeah. Just like that. All mine.”
Her climax rolled closer and she panted. “Rock, let me come.”
“No.” His teeth grazed her shoulder, hard enough that the jolt of pain pushed back her mounting need.
“Damn it.”
“And you say my name when I’m fucking you again and I’ll spank you so hard you’ll feel it next week.”
Frustration coiled, on the verge of shattering her and she raked her nails across the mattress. “Fuck!”
He hammered faster and she could feel his release approach like a raging storm. “Come…”
The climax tore through her and she screamed, bucking hard against him. She gripped him around the shoulders, face buried in his neck.
Rock let out a string of curses, seized her chin, his mouth ravaging hers. He gripped the quilt and shuddered on a final thrust.
“Annabella,” he rasped, slumping against her.
She panted and ran her hands through his hair, over his powerful back, never wanting to let him go.
Being with him had been wonderful, but the familiar stiffness that came with too much activity began to set into her back and Ella winced when she tried to shift under him.
Rock lifted up, crinkling his brow. “Your back?”
She nodded. He slid off her and gently nudged her onto her stomach then moved to sit between her legs before his strong hands began to work the muscles loose in her lower back. Ella moaned and relaxed into his touch loving every shiver, every stroke.
“Did I hurt you?” His fingers rode up the middle of her back.
“Nope. This is just par for the course.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to make this part of your aftercare.”
“Oh, the horror.”
He slapped her ass and she chuckled.
From her shoulders to the generous slope of her ass, his large palms massaged and rubbed until the muscles were as loose as he could make them. Then he rolled onto his back and turned her to face him, cradling her in his arms. Ella squirmed into him, letting the afterglow wash over her and seep into her limbs. Only the barest hint of pain pinched in her back if she moved the wrong way.
“Wow.”
“Oh yeah.” He ran his warm hands over her back, her hips, her ass as if he reveled in every curve.
“You’re mine, you know that, don’t you?”
“Yes…” She hesitated, hovering over the last word, feeling like she was letting something go, acknowledging what he said. Nothing had ever felt so right to her. “Yes, Sir.”
He took her chin and his lips brushed hers, slow, tender. One of his hands massaged the back of her head and he settled under her.
Warmth for him spread through her. She rested her head in the crook of his neck and relaxed against him, closing her eyes. He wrapped his arms tightly around her.
“Feels good to be with you again. Sir. Rock.”
“You too, girl.”
“I’m glad you’re back.”
“Sleep, Annabella. I may not be easy on you, but I will take care of you. For as long as you’ll have me.”
His words caused her heart to squeeze. She knew he meant what he said, but his words also implied there would come a time when she didn’t want him. After all this time, what in the world would make her not want the only man she’d ever loved?
In her gut, she could feel something was coming. Something that made her stomach tighten. Would she be able to handle what tomorrow would bring?
CHAPTER 6: TO THINE OWN SELF
“What. Did. You. Say?” Dad leaned over his desk in his home office, his face red with anger.
Ella reached for him, but he twisted away. “Dad, calm the hell down. We can’t deal with Scalder without legal help, and Rock’s already helping the Mosses handle him. You know what the doctors told you. No high blood pressure, and you have to watch your stress levels.”
He slammed the desk with his fist. “If you know I can’t get worked up, maybe you shouldn’t have hired that…that…degenerate onto my damn staff. Criminal.”
“Dad, don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m not. This is my business and I don’t want him near it.”
Pushing out a sigh, Ella paced to the wall and back. Dad’s reaction wasn’t a surprise. He almost never got upset, but when matters involved Rock, he lost all sense of reason.
“I don’t suppose it’ll help if I remind you he’s changed? He’s good at what he does, and he’s well respected now. More importantly, you do need his help.”
Dad grunted. “No, that won’t help. And I do not now, nor will I ever, need that brute’s help.”
Ella put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “He is not a brute, and yes, you do. No one else will touch Scalder. Neither you nor I know much about the law. We aren’t equipped to deal with the kind of legal wrangling Scalder will pull on us. Clayton-Moss doesn’t have the kind of criminal lawyer who can handle him.”
“So hire someone else. Just not him. And Ella, I call beating you with whips and chains brutish. A man doesn’t do that to a woman.”
She looked at the ceiling. “Ah, yes, my lifestyle again.”
“Look, when it comes to this DBSM stuff, I usually try to give a wide berth.”
Ella resisted the urge to correct the acronym. That was hardly important now.
“I don’t understand it, and I don’t like it, but, it is your choice. But Rock bloody McCarthy is where I draw the line. Just because he’s somehow convinced you when he smacks you around it’s a lifestyle choice doesn’t make it any less what it is.”
“Damn it, Dad! He does not smack me around. It’s not like that. I…no. Never mind.”
“Never mind is right. I will not have you throw your life away on that piece of garbage. I will not p
ay the way for him, and I will not accept his brand of help. A man with his upbringing can only be a thug.”
Anger nearly as volatile as his raced through her and she clenched her fists. She understood the danger of riling him, sick as he was, but she couldn’t let his insults toward Rock slide.
“All right.” She leaned over the desk so their faces were inches apart. “I will not tolerate you talking about him that way. You want to wallow in your hatred and ignorance, go ahead, but we need him, so he stays.”
“The hell he does. As of tomorrow, he’s fired. You disappoint me, Ella. I thought when he left you’d see sense.”
“Sorry about your luck. Dad, you may not believe this now, but I am trying to help you. When Scalder is gone and we still have our name on the letterhead, maybe you’ll be able to accept Rock. And me.”
“I never said I didn’t accept you the way you are.”
“Yes you did. Every time you talk about me like I’m a freak, you make your views perfectly clear.” He opened his mouth to argue, but she held up her hand. “I’m sending Helen in. Do you want Shayla too? I know you’ll want to tell her how I’m destroying my life.”
“Ella.”
But she was through listening. She turned and left the room to find Helen.
* * * * *
Once alone in her old room, Ella leaned against the closed door and squeezed her eyes shut as loneliness washed over her. The need to see Rock, to feel the warmth of his arms around her, made her chest tight. If she could just let go, could shut her brain down and just feel, all the strength that had seeped out of her in the last minutes dealing with Dad would return.
No. She needed something more than that. Years ago, when they’d been together, nothing restored her sense of self, brought her back to her center like a few hours under Rock’s dominance. Except she had a feeling that wouldn’t be enough anymore. She needed to take control, first.
Ella slid down the door and began to shake, a rush of need coursing through her, spreading like a wildfire. She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out her phone, about to call Rock.
A loud crash and a shattering of glass made Ella’s head snap up. Downstairs, Helen swore, and Shayla screamed.
“Ella, come quick, its Dad!”
Cold fear slid through her and Ella leaped to her feet, racing down the hall. Her back screamed at the sudden movement but she ignored it, barreling down the stairs. She froze at the bottom.
Dad lay sprawled out across the hardwood floor, a wine glass shattered near him, eyes closed, unmoving. Helen leaned over him, on the phone with 9-1-1 while Shayla cried and held his hand. Ella hurried to his side and took his clammy face in her hands.
“Dad.”
He didn’t move.
“Oh god, Dad.” Ella closed her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand. Damn you, don’t do this now. I can’t lose you the way I lost Mom.
* * * * *
By the time midnight approached, Ella was sure if time moved any slower it would have stopped all together. Five hours after they’d arrived at the hospital, the doctors still wouldn’t tell her or Shayla anything. Worse, her sister wouldn’t even look at her. She just kept disappearing down the hall and then coming back, sitting as far from her as the large hospital waiting room would allow.
Ella pushed up from the uncomfortable chair and walked over to her. She squeezed Shayla’s hand. “Are you going to tell me what’s with the arctic shoulder, or do I have to guess?”
“Why tell you what you already know?” She bolted up and crossed to the coffee machine in the corner of the room. A dollar for coffee that tasted like tar. Ella shuddered.
“Yeah. Let me guess. Dad told you about Rock and I.”
She spun. “That, and you hired him on as our lawyer. Really, Ella? Are you that selfish?”
“Hey—”
“No.” Shayla stabbed a finger at her. “That's not even what I'm angry about.”
“Then what?”
Her diamond eyes burned. “It’s what you’re doing to Dad.”
Ella widened her eyes, muscles in her back coiling to the point of pain. “What?”
“Oh come on. You and I both know what happened at the house. Dad’s here because of you.”
“What? How can you…”
“You know how he feels about Rock. Dating him again is one thing, but hiring him at Dad’s company?” Her voice lowered to a livid rasp. “How could you put Dad in that position? Knowing how sick he is, how it would upset him? Did you even think about him for a second?”
Heat burned Ella’s cheeks, but not from humiliation. Not even with all the people in the room trying not to notice them, many who probably recognized the city’s founding daughter and her well-known sister.
“I don’t believe this. I hired Rock on for Dad. He agreed to help us in spite of the fact this family has treated him like trash.”
“Oh, yeah, Rock the noble. Will you think that when he hits you?”
Ella stalked to her. “Shayla, for shit sake, say that a little louder, will you?”
Shayla crossed her arms and glanced away, but at least she looked uncomfortable.
“I’m trying to save the company the only way I can, by fighting for it. Dad’s temper put him here, not me, and not Rock.”
“Yeah, right. Just keep telling yourself that.” Shayla stomped back to her chair.
Desperation to make her sister understand pulled at her. How the hell could things have changed so drastically over the years? As kids they’d been the best of friends. It saddened her to think what they’d both lost. Ella drew a deep breath. What she and Shayla had was in the past. It was time she remembered that. She crossed the room to her, and when she spoke, she kept her voice low.
“You listen to me. If anyone here happens to know Scalder, my kink is just the thing they need to give him to take everything Dad and I have worked for. Do you want that?”
Shayla shook her head, arms crossed, and stared petulantly at the wall across from her. Ella rolled her eyes.
“Look, I’m gonna tell you the same thing I told Dad. We do need Rock’s help. Dad won’t sign the papers, but I don’t care, we’ll work unofficially. And like it or not, Rock is my boyfriend.”
Shayla opened her mouth, but didn’t get the chance to argue.
“Miss Clayton?” A doctor made his way toward them.
Ella swallowed. “Doc, how is our father?”
“Miss Clayton, your father had a mild heart attack.”
Ella’s mouth dropped. She didn’t hear anything else the doctor said.
* * * * *
Hours later, while Dad was in recovery, Ella got herself a glass of water from the hospital fountain, thoughts spinning. She’d finally convinced Shayla to let her drive her home and get some sleep. She returned to the hospital, to her father’s side, and her chest tightened looking at him.
He lay in bed, the blankets tucked under his arms, face ashen. Out cold. Frighteningly thin grey hair that looked almost transparent stuck out at every angle from his head. Helen sat in a chair by the window, letting Ella sit at his bedside. The wires for a heart monitor snaked out from his chest, and the machine beeped.
Ella lowered herself to the bed and wrapped her hand around his. God, it felt so thin, so frail. “How is he?”
Helen looked up from her knitting. “He’s tired, and he wouldn’t sit still, but the doctor gave him a mild sedative while you were gone. They’re keeping him here for a few days for observation. He’ll need to be very careful not to overtax himself.”
Ella shut her eyes. She wouldn’t break off a perfectly good relationship or change who she was to suit him. Her being with Rock and having him on the roster enraged her father, but losing the company, and to a real thug like Scalder, would kill him.
Dad’s hand twitched on the bed beside her, and Ella snapped her head up. “Dad?” She closed her hand around his.
He turned his head and his eyes widened. “Ella…” His hand tightened around
hers, alarmingly weak. The heart monitor’s beeping sped up and the numbers on the screen climbed.
“Mr. Clayton.” Helen got up from her chair and went to his other side.
“Dad, I’m here.” Ella’s throat constricted.
Eyes rolling, he muttered something unintelligible. Then he passed out again.
“Oh God.” She looked at Helen and stood up from the bed. “I shouldn’t be here. We argued earlier. Seeing me must have been enough to stress him out again.”
The nurse rushed in. “Miss Clayton, I’m afraid you’ll have to leave. I can’t have the patient getting too worked up right now. Helen can remain as his caretaker.”
Way to go, upsetting him again. Heart squeezing hard, she moved toward the door, but turned when someone touched her shoulder. Helen held her gaze.
“This isn’t your fault, Miss Clayton. He could have been reacting to anything.”
Then why had she seen anger in his eyes before he’d passed out? In the hall, she dropped into a chair against the wall with a sigh. “How ironic.”
“Miss Clayton?”
“He despises Rock, but as of now, Rock might be the only reason he doesn’t lose everything.” Ella looked up at her. Helen’s warm smile made her grandmotherly features look younger.
Helen sat in the chair next to her. “Miss Clayton. I have seen what that Scalder has done to other cities. But I’ve also seen what you have done for the company that keeps the city afloat. If anyone can save Clayton-Moss, it’s you. And if this Rock is half as good a lawyer as you are a leader, Scalder won’t destroy this town like he has so many others.”
Ella squeezed her hand. “Thank you, Helen. I needed that.”
“You go, Miss Clayton. I’ll watch over your father. Go see your man.”
A deep affection for the woman swelled in her. Helen had only been working for her father a little over a month, and other than her three grandkids, Ella hardly knew anything about her. Yet right now, having her support meant more than she could express. There was no need to ask how she knew about Ella’s relationship. Helen couldn’t have missed the row in her dad’s office.
The nurse stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind her. “Miss Clayton, your father will be fine. He’s just really weak. We ask that no one see him until tomorrow, to keep his stress levels down.”