by Shayla Black
“I figured. I already started a short list, but text me what else you need. I’ll have stuff delivered before noon tomorrow. Can you last until then?”
I don’t know what Havana and I will eat, but if we fall into bed together, will either of us care? “We’ll manage.”
Ethan laughs. “I’m sure you’ll think of some way to pass the time.”
Then he hangs up, and I’m free to tell Havana what’s on my mind. What’s in my heart. What I hope for our future. A glance at the clock on the wall tells me I still have ninety minutes left of her birthday to make it the best I can. I’m not wasting another minute.
Havana
I take inventory in the kitchen, so aware that I’m with Ransom under one roof. Alone. My belly knots nervously.
Will he finally make me his…or send me away again?
“Meow.” Shadow rubs against me, looking like she expects me to solve her feline problems.
“I’d love to help you, but I don’t know how to solve my own problems.”
The fur ball circles my ankles again. I’m not sure why since she isn’t hungry. I found a can of tuna in the massive pantry, but Shadow sniffed it, took a few bites, then walked off. Same with the little dish of water I put beside it.
When she jumps up, head-butting my shin and rubbing against me, I get it. I give her a scratch behind the ears.
Don’t we all want someone to love us?
After checking out the house from top to bottom, Ransom holed up across the place, doors shut. The muffled rumble of his voice tells me he’s on the phone…and he doesn’t want me to hear. After everything that went down tonight, I shouldn’t be okay with that. I should be demanding to know who he’s talking to and why he wouldn’t let me call for medical help or police. But I don’t.
Because you trust Ransom or because you don’t really want to know?
Maybe both.
I distract myself from asking more hard questions by starting a list of things we’ll need if we’re going to stay here for a few days. I munch on a protein bar I found and suck down a bottle of water I pulled from the pantry. Not exactly a celebratory birthday dinner, but it’s food. At this point, I’ll take it.
Well, you can’t say your big day turned out dull…
As I finish, measured footfalls across the tile are my only warning that Ransom approaches. I turn to find him prowling closer. He fuses his stare on me.
I can’t look away.
Ransom is shirtless, so it’s impossible to miss his inked chest and bulging biceps. But that isn’t what makes me weak-kneed. He’s an alpha male in his prime. Rugged. Potent. I shiver. My skin tingles. My heart thuds.
Shadow scampers away, skidding across the tile until she flattens herself under the sofa in the next room. Poor baby. She’s afraid of the big, bad man.
Maybe you should be, too.
But I’m not.
“Havana?” He keeps heading for me, until the only thing separating us is a few feet of empty space and the questions I’m too afraid to ask. “There are a million things I need to say to you—later. But let’s cut to the chase. You know why I came to see you tonight.”
“I don’t.” I know what I’m hoping to hear but…
“It’s your birthday. You’re eighteen now.”
My breath catches. “And you came for me?” Like you promised?
“I warned you I would, babygirl. Are you ready? I know you weren’t counting on danger, so if it’s too much…”
“Is what you’re doing illegal?”
“You really want the answer to that question right now?”
Will it change my decision? “No. You’ll protect me.”
I believe that all the way down to my bones. Maybe that’s naive and I should be terrified, but it’s Ransom, so I’m not. Besides, if he was nothing but a hard-core criminal, would he have waited to touch me until it was legal?
“I will—with my life. But you’re an adult, so I’m letting you decide what happens next between us.”
“What if I say no?” Like I even could.
His face twists with pain. “Then I’ll walk away for good. I’ll still be in your shadows because I can’t stand not getting an eyeful of you every day. But you won’t see me.”
“Have you been watching me?”
“How do you think I knew where you work? I know where you live, too. I especially like that thin tank top and those fucking too-tight panties you wear to bed.”
That shouldn’t excite me, but heat jets through my veins. My nipples peak. Blood rushes between my legs. “I don’t understand.”
“I haven’t been the same since I first set eyes on you. I’m obsessed with you. I’m in love with you. I want to know everything about you.”
His face tells me that’s not all he wants.
“And if I say yes?”
Ransom may not be touching me, but he’s still all over me. His dark eyes, framed by brutally short hair and the stubble that rides his sharp jaw, see through me. His heat envelops me until I shudder. His scent—reeking of leather, blood, and testosterone—fills my head, crowding out my thoughts. His exhalations caress my lips until I can hardly think of anything but pressing them against his again. And when he lifts his hand to me, knuckles drifting down my cheek, sparks ping through my body.
“I’ll get you naked, take you to the first fucking bed I find in this place, and shove every inch of this”—he grabs my hand and guides it to the steely erection behind his zipper—“inside you. Then I’ll ride that finally legal pussy raw until you know who you belong to.”
I press my thighs together, but it’s useless. I want too much. It’s hard to breathe. It’s beyond difficult to think. It’s impossible to say no. “Ransom…”
“That’s not going to relieve your ache, babygirl.” He wraps his arms around me and lifts me onto the nearby island, spreading my legs and stepping between them.
“I know.” And I do. When I tried masturbating him out of my system, the need only grew.
“I can make it better. But you need to answer me before I touch you. Yes or no?”
“What about you? You’re injured and—”
“These scratches?” He thumbs at the bandage on his neck and lifts his arm to stare at the wound I patched up there. “It’s going to take a lot more than these to keep me from you.”
“Does this mean anything besides sex?”
He frowns. “You think I just want to fuck you?”
Even when he says the words, I get hot, but I have to focus. This is my future. “Don’t you?”
“That’s not all I want from you, Havana. I want your heart. I want you to want mine, too. I want us to make a future. The sex will simply be the icing on the cake.”
All the things I crave—that I’ve fantasized about—with him. “Yes.”
A slow smile spreads across his face as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a little blue velvet box. He sets it on the island beside me. “Happy birthday, babygirl.”
He got me a present!
When I reach for it gleefully, Ransom grabs my wrist. “Not yet. First, take off your clothes.”
I freeze. Did I hear that right?
“Here?” In the kitchen? Under the bright, bright lights?
He raises a dark brow at me.
That’s a yes. “Before I open my present?”
Ransom nods, his thumb caressing my lower lip slowly, repeatedly, until it’s sensitive. Until I’m aching. “Besides me, I want this to be the only thing against your skin tonight.”
Okay, that’s hot. And I’d like that, too. Almost as if he’s marking me even before he takes me.
As I ease off the counter, I brush against his body. Every nerve ending rattles and vibrates like I’m hooked up to a power grid. The contact jolts me again when Ransom steps closer, crowding me against the island.
I’m tangled in his dark stare as I kick off my shoes and peel off my socks. Then I lick my lips and reach for the hem of Ethan’s T-shirt.
&nb
sp; Once you do this, there’s no going back…
But I don’t hesitate, just pull the cotton over my head and toss it onto the island, my stare glued to Ransom’s.
His gaze falls to my lacy cups playing peekaboo with my nipples. His eyes go from a warm, dark chocolate to black with desire. It sends my pulse thudding and my need climbing.
“I knew you’d be beautiful…” He runs a finger along the scalloped edge across the swell of my breast, then dips the digit inside, gliding back and forth over the engorged tip. “But damn…”
They pucker up even more. I feel his touch all the way to my pussy, which tightens and dampens every time he teases the stiff peak. I close my eyes. Let out a breath. My head lolls back.
He hovers above me, his hot breath cascading down my neck. I shudder. He’s barely touched me, and I’m burning up.
“Ransom…”
“Keep going. Don’t make us wait anymore.”
“Why aren’t you kissing me?”
“If I do, we won’t make it to the bedroom. And I want you flat on your back, where I can look at every part of you, lick it, taste it, bite it. Own it. I plan to pin you down, penetrate you, and fuck you mercilessly until you can’t think of anything but me.”
When he puts it like that, I’m motivated to hurry. “I already can’t. It’s been two months since you kissed me, but I still want you so bad.”
“Babygirl, I never stopped.”
Oh, god.
I reach for the button of my jeans and flick it open. His stare dips to watch. The hiss of my zipper lowering is a tease in the quiet room, broken only by my audible breaths.
“Are you having me undress myself for the same reason?”
“No. It helps, but I want you to strip yourself bare for me, under these lights, so I can be sure you mean that yes your mouth and eyes are saying. If you can do that before I’ve really touched you, then I’ll know. And I’ll believe there’s a chance you can handle all the filthy things I’m dying to do to you.”
My womb clenches. It’s as if he knows exactly what to say to make me slick and desperate. I haven’t even dropped my pants, and I already feel how wet I am. My cotton panties try to soak up the moisture I’m spilling, but the effort is in vain. They’re already saturated, and I’m only getting wetter.
“Filthy?” My voice shakes.
“Lewd. Obscene.” He leans in, his low whisper right in my ear. “Absolutely depraved. Your head might tell you to object, but your body won’t let you. So you won’t stop me. You won’t want to.”
“Why?” But I know. I’m too in love and too aroused to give him anything except my most enthusiastic yes.
“Because, in my mind, I’ve already fucked you to screaming orgasm a thousand times in ways you’ve never even thought of. I’m going to plow that so-tight pussy and corrupt you completely. I’ll keep at you until you live to take every inch of me wherever, whenever, and however I want.”
Heat washes over me. I feel weak-kneed as Ransom glances down at my fingers frozen on my zipper. “Get your pants off.”
“Yes, Sir.” The words come out of nowhere as I shimmy the jeans down my hips.
His long, slow smile only gets more wicked as he watches me kick the denim away, then settles his knuckles over the seam of my pussy, clinging wetly to my panties, and starts a slow, slow rub over the engorged halves of my sex. “Oh, how soft and sweet. And already so needy. You’re going to be an absolute pleasure to defile.”
I whimper and arch into his hand, desperate for more.
He pulls away, wagging a playful finger at me. Then he licks it, damp with my juices, and moans.
I feel faint. “Ransom…”
“You’re not naked yet. The longer you stall, the longer we wait. But if you like the tease, I’ll oblige. I’ll make you so hot you’ll beg. And you’ll get on your knees to do it.”
Part of me thinks that sounds horrifying and humiliating. The rest of me thrills at the notion that he could arouse me enough to make me.
My breasts draw up tighter. My pussy weeps more. I’m half-ready to throw myself at him.
I reach behind my back and unhook my bra. When my breasts fall free, I feel more exposed than being mostly naked should make me. His black stare plucks my nipples as if his visual touch is tactile. The tips draw up tighter. I wish like hell Ransom would say something. Do something. But he merely stares and waits for me to completely bare myself to him.
Swiping my tongue across my lip, I fidget. The little bit of friction I get from shifting my weight does nothing to alleviate the ache between my legs. Even when his fingertips whisper across the side swell of my breast, that’s not the touch I’m feeling. That’s not the touch I’m dying for. I want it right where my panties, clinging to my puffy sex, are the only thing left shielding me from his piercing gaze.
“You’re stalling.” He raises a brow.
“No.”
“You are.” The fingers caressing my breast suddenly cradle it. His thumb scrapes across my nipple. “Admit it.”
I suck in a shaky breath. “I don’t know.”
Am I taunting him on purpose? Seeing how far I can push him? Or am I just drowning in my own desire, too stunned and aching to move?
“Yeah, you’re teasing me.” Suddenly, his fingers close around my nipple and squeeze until I gasp. Sensations deluge me…but he pulls away. “And if you want to dish it out, babygirl, you better be prepared to take it.”
I don’t doubt him. And I know I should lose my panties right here and now. He’ll give me what I want—and crave—once I do. But the devil on my shoulder, the one that doesn’t want to give him the upper hand because he snapped his fingers, resists.
I press my wandering hand against the hard ridge behind his zipper and squeeze.
He stiffens, hissing in a breath, and grabs me by the wrist. “If you want cock, I’ll give you all you can handle—but not until those panties are gone. If you don’t hurry, I’ll shred them the second they come off.”
So I won’t have any underwear. Every second I spend here with him, my pussy will be bare. So he can look at me. So he can touch me. So he can torment me. So he can take me.
The thought makes me dizzy.
I want Ransom and everything he’s promising with both his words and those hot, glittering eyes. And I’ll give in, probably soon, but the anticipation now is so painfully delicious.
“What if I’m afraid?” I ask, biting my lip.
His smile only turns hotter. “If you were really afraid, I’d help you put your clothes back on and sit you down to talk until we worked things out. But you’re yanking my chain to make me impatient.” He tsks. “You must want to suffer.”
“I don’t.” Or do I?
What am I getting myself into? I’m not sure, but I’m loving every giddy, unexpected moment of it.
“If you want me, drop them.” He presses his thumb against my pussy again and slides it over my clit in a gentle back-and-forth caress until I moan. “I’ll make you so fucking glad you did.”
I already know he will. Yes, it’s my first time, but I’m making the right decision. I feel it. I know it. He’ll be good to me, but I have to stop teasing him. There will be time for that later, right?
Finally, I hook my thumbs under the little strings at the hips of my too-tight undies and start tugging them down. The second they clear my thighs, exposing my wetness to his gaze, the hunger in his eyes—need I didn’t think could get any hotter—flares. He clenches his fists at his sides like he’s resisting the urge to touch me as the panties fall to the floor. When I’m free of them, his stare fastens directly on the clean-shaven cleft between my legs.
I resist the urge to cup my mound self-consciously. Will Ransom hate me being as bare as a little girl?
“Oh…” He sucks in a breath like the sight of me makes it impossible for him to breathe, think, or resist. “You’re perfect.”
His reaction is every bit as arousing as teasing him, and I’m beginning to think that
no matter what he does, I’ll be under his spell.
His hand shakes as he cups my hip, bringing me closer. “I’m going to apologize right now.”
“For what?”
Our naked chests meet. He’s like velvet over steel. Need flares across my skin. Desire thickens my blood. Lust twists between my legs.
He takes hold of my other hip and yanks me flush against him, notching his hard cock where I need it most. “For making your little pussy sore. Tomorrow, all you’re going to want me to do is lie between your legs so I can kiss it and make it better.”
“Please,” I whisper breathlessly.
He drops his lips to my collarbone. “I’m going to love wringing whimpers out of you. How are your fingernails?”
When he lifts my hand to inspect them, I’m totally confused. “My nails?”
Ransom nods. “These are great. They’ll make nice, long, red scratches down my back.” With a kiss to my palm, he releases my hand—and picks up my gift. “Now open it.”
I’m so aroused, I almost forgot. With a trembling nod, I lift the lid of the blue velvet box. I gasp at the gorgeous heart-shaped pendant inside. “This is for me?”
He removes the delicate chain from the pad, then clasps it around my neck. The heart settles into the hollow of my throat as he takes my shoulders. “I bought it the day you left my house. I knew I’d be coming for you.”
“I love it. I have to see it right now.” I dash away to find the nearest mirror.
Ransom is a mere breath behind. He’s chasing me.
Thrill spikes my veins as I streak out of the kitchen and run blindly down a long hallway, throwing open the last door on the left. His footsteps are right behind me. I fumble for the light switch.
I don’t make it.
Ransom grabs me around the waist with a growl and hauls me through the dark room, into an adjoining bathroom full of white marble illuminated by silvery moonbeams. He flips on the light.
We’re surrounded in mirrors—above a pair of elegant sinks, around the sunken spa tub, glittering off the chandelier that drips from the ceiling.
I look at myself, wide-eyed and breathing hard. My chest rises and falls. My dark hair is mussed around my shoulders. I look like a wild thing with dilated pupils, hard nipples, and a slick pussy. Ransom has one arm hooked around my middle. The other clutches my throat from behind, fingers pressing in.
