by Meg Ripley
“Well, for one thing, I’m not drunk anymore,” she observed.
Dylan chuckled lowly in the semi-darkness. “There’s more whiskey if you’d like it.”
“I think if I have any more whiskey I’m probably going to throw up. Not the desired outcome.” Rachel sipped at the water again, willing the throbbing in her temples and hot needles behind her eyes to recede.
“Did you want to talk?” Dylan asked.
“Not particularly. I just…” Rachel drank the last of the water and put the glass carefully down on the floor at her feet. “Why weren’t you surprised that they burned down my apartment building?” The couch creaked and shifted underneath her and Rachel saw Dylan’s shadowed body sitting up. His shadowed body emerged into the meager light provided by the lamps outside, and she saw that at some point after he put her to bed, he’d taken his shirt off. She swallowed; he was even more muscular than he had originally appeared, ridges and valleys forming under the skin of his chest and abdomen.
“Not much surprises me anymore,” Dylan said quietly. “Though I have to admit, the sight of you stepping out of the hall, soap dish in hand, ready to cold-cock someone…” he chuckled. “And don’t think I missed the fact that you were going to slug me with keys in your hand at the car. You’re a lot tougher than you think, Rachel.”
“A lot of good that does me,” she said bitterly. Rachel wished that she could tear her gaze from Dylan’s muscular body, that she could focus enough to take herself back to bed. The morning was going to be bad enough without spending the rest of the night plagued with inconvenient mental images.
“It’ll serve you well,” Dylan told her. “You need toughness. It’ll make my job easier, at any rate.” He leaned in closer to her.
“I don’t want to talk about any of it,” Rachel said.
“Well, what would you like to do instead?”
Rachel looked at him for a long moment, pondering the question. She came to a wordless decision and leaned in, closing the distance between them. She pressed her lips to Dylan’s, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pushing her body against his. Dylan’s arms coiled around her as he returned the kiss for a moment, and Rachel moaned, her nipples hardening at his touch, her body heating up. She could feel her muscles tightening; she felt the damp warmth forming along her folds.
Dylan broke away from the kiss abruptly, holding her back with surprisingly gentle hands. “You shouldn’t,” he said, his voice soft in the darkness. “You’re not in the right state of mind.”
Rachel shook her head, bringing her lips against his once more. “I’m not drunk, and you asked what I wanted to do. This is what I want to do.”
Dylan’s arms tightened around her, and Rachel shivered as his hands came to life, trailing along the curves of her body, sliding over her through the thin fabric of her clothes. He broke away again, and she realized she was already breathing more heavily. She felt the blood rushing through her veins, her heart beating faster, her skin tingling.
“I am not going to do this on an old, ratty couch,” Dylan told her. Rachel started to protest; before she could object, Dylan lifted her up, standing in a fast, graceful movement. He shifted her in his arms, carrying her along the short hallway towards the bedroom. Dylan kicked the door fully open and strode across the floor, letting Rachel fall carefully onto the bed before he covered her body with his own. His hands trailed along her body, finding the sash to her robe and tugging at it until it came untied, peeling the soft fabric aside. He cupped her breasts over the nightgown, and Rachel moaned, arching up into his touch.
She could feel the hard ridge of his erection pressing against her thigh as Dylan brought his lips down onto hers, kissing her hungrily. He teased her nipples through the fabric of her nightgown, rolling and twisting them, sending sharp jolts of sensation seemingly straight to her pussy, making her wetter and wetter by the moment. Dylan rocked his hips against her, tugging the neck of her nightgown down to expose her breasts. Rachel’s hands floundered over his back and along his chest, fumbling to find something to take off him. She suddenly had no greater need than to feel his skin against hers—to feel him inside of her.
Dylan lifted her up, tugging the robe off and casting it aside to some unknown part of the room in the darkness, and Rachel’s hands latched onto the waistband of his jeans, seeking and quickly finding the fly. She heard fabric ripping, but then Dylan’s hands shifted against her; in a matter of moments, Rachel was slithering free of the last constraints of her nightgown, pushing her body against Dylan’s in the darkness. She tugged and fumbled with the button and zipper on his fly, and hooked her fingers in the tough denim.
Dylan chuckled, nuzzling against her neck, nipping with sharp teeth along the column of her throat. “Want some help with that?” he asked her, his low voice nearly a purr in her ear. Rachel started to shake her head, but felt Dylan’s hand brush against hers, moving his jeans down over his hips, leaving nothing between them but the thin cotton of his boxer-briefs. She muttered a frustrated curse, grabbing at the elastic waistband. Dylan chuckled again and in a moment, the last barrier was gone. She felt his hot, glistening skin pressed against hers; his hips shifting down between her thighs.
“How long has it been for you?” he asked her, bringing his lips up to her ear. Rachel gasped as she felt his teeth dig into the tender flesh of her earlobe, the swipe of his tongue following it. His hot, hard cock brushed against her slick folds, teasing—tantalizingly close. “When was the last time anyone made you scream their name?”
Rachel swallowed against the dryness of her throat, pushing her hips down, struggling to get better contact. “No one’s ever made me scream their name,” she managed to say, panting as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
“Pity, that,” Dylan said. He rocked his hips, his cock rubbing against her heat, the tip barely touching her clit, sending shockwaves of pleasure through her body. “A beautiful woman like you ought to be screaming some lucky sod’s name every night of the week.” He shifted his hips, and Rachel gasped as she felt the hot thickness of his cock pushing up into her slowly.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, pushing her hips down to meet his thrust. Rachel moaned long and low as Dylan moved deeper and deeper inside of her, rocking his hips against hers, letting her feel him inch by inch. Rachel turned her head, seeking his mouth, grabbing at his hair to pull his face to hers. Dylan groaned against her lips as his hips pressed flush to hers, and Rachel arched up against his body, biting down on his full lower lip as the minute movements between them increased the friction against her clit.
Dylan pulled his hips back slightly, and Rachel sighed with disappointment as she felt his cock sliding out of her almost completely; the sound turning into a deep moan as he thrust into her once more. Her inner muscles rippled and flexed around him, as if her body itself couldn’t stand to let him leave. She found herself falling into his rhythm as Dylan began to gradually speed up. He cradled her in his arms, holding her by the shoulders as he thrust into her harder and faster, his lips moving over her face, kissing along the column of her throat. Rachel gripped his sweat-slick shoulders, digging her fingernails in, struggling to hold onto him as she writhed and twisted, her hips moving in a tidal rhythm she couldn’t have resisted if she wanted to. He felt so good—thick, hot and full inside of her, pushing deeper along her inner walls, the tip of his cock barely brushing her g-spot and then retreating. Any thoughts of anything other than the feeling of his body against hers, his cock inside of her, dissolved.
“God, woman,” Dylan murmured, panting as he lifted himself up slightly, changing the angle of his thrust and driving up against her pleasure center. Rachel cried out, her legs tightening around him convulsively, her head falling back amongst the pillows as every muscle in her body tensed with reaction. “Any man who couldn’t be bothered to make you scream is a fool.”
Rachel felt his arm moving from underneath her, shivering as Dylan’s hand trailed down along her waist to sl
ip between their bodies. He found her clit by touch and began to stroke her in time with his thrusts, kissing her hungrily on the lips and along her throat. Rachel found herself moving with him mindlessly, her pleasure mounting more and more every moment, until she couldn’t hold back any longer. She moaned his name, louder and louder, crying out as wave after wave of sensation racked her body. Rachel didn’t quite scream, but her whole body rippled, muscles flexing and relaxing in spasms as she moaned out again and again.
She felt Dylan’s cock twitching inside of her, and buried her face against his neck as she felt his hot release flooding into her, his body vibrating as he moaned long and low, murmuring her name between gasps for breath. After a few more moments, his body went slack against hers; Rachel sagged against the bed, panting as her heart raced, tingling all over in hot and cold bursts of sensation.
“Not quite a scream,” Dylan said, dragging his lips along the line of her jaw and stopping at her mouth. He kissed her lazily before lifting his weight off of her, tumbling onto the bed less than an inch away. Rachel chuckled, feeling the reassuring weight of his arm coiled around her waist as she recovered slowly, her breath gradually returning to normal. “But then, it was a first attempt.”
Rachel curled up against him, feeling the lingering soreness between her legs, the jelly-like feeling just below her hips. “Depending on what time it is,” she said, turning her head to peer up at him in the darkness, “I’m more than happy to let you try again.”
“What does it matter what time it is?” Dylan asked her, one hand moving up to brush a lock of hair away from her neck where sweat had plastered it. “Neither of us have anywhere to be tomorrow. We could spend the next twelve hours figuring out what I have to do to make you scream my name.” Rachel saw the white flash of his teeth as he smiled. “And then, of course, we’ll have lots of time in whatever exotic locale we escape to.” Rachel frowned slightly, remembering that in spite of the pleasure she had just received, her life was in shambles. “If you’ve got to be an unwilling expat, might as well enjoy yourself.”
Rachel chuckled lowly. “I can’t just spend the next…who knows, maybe the rest of my life, screwing my brains out.”
Dylan pulled her close, reaching down and tugging the covers over them. “Sure would be fun to try, don’t you think?”
Rachel shook her head, laughing in spite of herself. “Isn’t there something in your code of conduct about not sleeping with clients? I thought I remembered that about mercenaries.”
“First, I’m not a mercenary--I’m on retainer. Second, you’re not my client. I can sleep with you as much as you’d like,” Dylan brought her face up to his, kissing her hungrily. Rachel felt his cock beginning to harden, pressed against her hip. “I don’t think either of us is going to be sleeping much in the near future, do you?”
Rachel giggled. Considering that she’d lost everything in the span of less than a week, she felt oddly optimistic. “Five minutes. Then you can try and make me scream again,” she told Dylan. “We can plan out the rest of my life tomorrow.”
****
Rachel glanced around nervously as she and Dylan strode through the international terminal of the airport, headed towards gate 43. She would have never imagined that anyone could realistically make travel plans in the span of just a few hours; apparently, she thought wryly, when one was wealthy enough to afford a private jet, nothing was unrealistic.
As they made their way to the gate, she couldn’t help but feel a mixture of apprehension and excitement. Based on the events of the last few days, she was more secure in Dylan’s ability to protect her, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that she’d been completely invisible to the world just a week ago; now, she seemed to be walking around with a target on her back at all times. She could only hope that they would be safer in another country.
Within minutes of getting settled into her seat, Rachel, completely spent, tumbled into a deep slumber. Soon, her head began to jerk frantically from side to side as the feeling of being chased by a mob of shadowy figures wielding guns played across her mind’s eye in a stubborn loop. Just as she thought she heard the sharp crack of a gunshot, she was ripped out of her nightmare by the sound of Dylan’s blaring phone. Barely awake, she listened to the quiet murmur of his slightly lilting voice as he confirmed details with whomever he was speaking to.
“Where are we going?” she asked, listlessly.
“You’ll find out soon enough, Love,” he said, looking around to see if anyone was listening. He began to shove a few things into his carry-on bag and then paused, turning his head to meet her glance, placing a hand tenderly on her thigh. “Cheer up, Rachel—the world is your oyster now. Things are about to get a hell of a lot more fun.” He smiled with a wink. “For the two of us.”
PART TWO
It had been a month since Rachel had arrived in Rouen. As she walked by Dylan’s side past the Jardin des Plantes, she looked around—not as furtively as she had when they first arrived, but with curious eyes taking in details that even repeat walks through this part of the city hadn’t yet revealed. She shuddered slightly as she remembered the tortuous trek they had taken to arrive here.
The plane that she and Dylan boarded had taken them to Amsterdam. She had been irritated to discover that after the long flight, they were immediately moving on to a train. In spite of having first class seats, Rachel hadn’t been able to sleep, plagued by nightmare images of her apartment, the fire that had gutted it, shadowy figures and disguised voices. Dylan’s presence through the flight had kept her from descending into full-on panic, but still she hadn’t slept for the entire ten-hour trip—she had barely slept the night before they had left, her nightmares of being chased through the terminal interrupted only by sessions of lovemaking with Dylan.
They traveled from Amsterdam to Belgium, Belgium to Geneva, and then finally, from a small town in the French Alps into Rouen. They had been in transit for almost a full week, stopping only long enough to sleep in a hotel. Along the way, Dylan had chivvied her into eating the regional cuisine and enjoying the delicious wines, liquors and ciders these different places were known for. By the time she finally walked into the apartment in Rouen where they were going to stay—at least for the time being—Rachel could barely remember a life spent in one place.
“Leave the worrying to me, Love,” Dylan had suggested after Rachel had rebuffed his offer to take her clothes shopping a few days into their stay in Rouen. “God knows I’d realize it if we were being tailed well before you did.” Part of Rachel had resented the comment; she scowled up at him from her sprawl on the couch, frowning.
“Excuse me if suddenly being the target of some extremely wealthy people who are out to kill me and steal my fortune makes me a little paranoid,” she retorted.
“Ah, you’re starting to think of it as really yours, are you?” Dylan had smiled a little at that. “Good. Means you’ll fight to keep it.”
Glancing at her bodyguard and lover, Rachel had yet to figure out what his real intentions were. He was more than willing to take her to bed. In fact, after the brief hesitation he had shown the first time they were together—trying to push her away with the thought that she was too drunk to know what she was doing—he was eager to satisfy her any time she gave him even the slightest indication that she wanted it. But whether or not he actually cared about her as a person was something that Rachel couldn’t quite decide on.
In some moments while soothing her frayed nerves, holding her body against his and whispering that it would be alright and that her life was not—contrary to what she had believed—a complete and utter ruin, Rachel could almost believe that something other than the hefty paycheck he was earning motivated him. At other moments, she wasn’t certain she could discern even a shred of interest from him; sometimes while assuming his role as her bodyguard, she wasn’t sure if he even liked her, much less loved her.
She was constantly looking over her shoulder, her mind suggesting that each passerby was someone int
ent on attacking her, abducting her—or worse. After two weeks of relentless anxiety, being plagued by nightmares and panic attacks, Rachel had awakened one morning with the incredible, bizarre feeling that she just couldn’t take it anymore. She had sat up in bed and stared at the shapes of her legs under the blanket and thought, Good god, if I keep going this way I’m not even going to be able to enjoy being wealthy. I’m going to give myself a damned heart attack and save them the trouble of killing me. Her mind had hardened out of the sense of wonder. To hell with them. I’m not going to give them the satisfaction.
She still had bad moments, but that morning, Rachel woke Dylan and told him she was going to get a look at the city they had settled in for the time being—whether or not he was coming with her. While the few clothes she had brought with her across the Atlantic and through multiple checkpoints in border control had been a comfort, they suddenly seemed like the equivalent of a security blanket: a little childish to cling to, particularly for a woman in her twenties. When she and Dylan had first stepped into the Rouen city center, Rachel squealed with delight as the signs advertised that it was sale season.
Rachel had moved from shop to shop, plucking any item that caught her fancy off of the rack and handing it off to Dylan to hold onto until she had enough for a changing room. She had not yet come to the point of being confident enough to walk into the major boutiques—few of whom had locations in Rouen, with Paris so close—but in the span of an afternoon, she had managed to furnish herself with a complete wardrobe, from foundation garments to shoes and bags, moving through stores with the passion of a woman who had seen many things she loved but could never before afford.
Dylan had complained good-naturedly, rolling his eyes with a slight smile tugging at the corners of his lips as they both navigated the variety of stores. Rachel discovered that his French was far more fluent than hers; she let him ask the questions of the various shop clerks.