by Riley Ashby
Her fingers shook against my face. “I don’t believe you.”
That stung. Hadn’t I been there for her at every turn so far? But I needed to meet her where she was, or she’d run the other direction. “That’s okay. I’ll earn your trust.” I tilted my chin up so that our lips brushed.
She didn’t move. “You’re in love with someone else.”
I shook my head. The assumption didn’t bite; she’d been right to be distrustful. But Sophie was the furthest thing from my mind right now. Had been ever since that night in the back of my car. The first time I got to see Tori more vulnerable than I ever had before. Since then, she’d only been showing me more and more. And like the greedy motherfucker I was, I wanted the rest of her. I wanted it all.
“Not for a while now. You dominate my thoughts. I want you, Victoria Ryder. You and no one else.”
Her forehead fell against mine as her eyes closed. “Can you just hold me?”
It was the moment I had been waiting for. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into my chest, holding as tight as I dared while she sank into me. Her cheek was hot through my shirt, and I felt her tears leaking through the fabric.
“I love having you like this,” I murmured. To see her so soft. Without the armor.
“I hate it. It makes me feel weak.”
“It doesn’t matter. We’re the only ones here.” I kissed her shoulder. “I won’t tell anyone.”
She laughed a little. “I’m giving you a lot, you know. If this goes wrong … I’ll tear you apart.”
I ran my hand across her back. “That’s why I know it’ll work. I respect you so much already.” I turned my head so that my lips grazed her ear. She tightened her legs around me, just for a second. “We’re going to have a lot of fun together, Tori. You’ll see.”
He dragged me to his bedroom when I began to fall asleep on his shoulder, undressing me with steady hands that didn’t wander more than they should. He folded my clothes and placed them in his closet, then held back the blankets while I climbed onto his mattress. He joined me on the other side, leaving plenty of room between us, and I didn’t hesitate to slide across the empty space and put my head against his chest, one leg was thrown over his, only my panties separating his skin from my sex. He pulled me in tighter as he closed his eyes.
Yet he couldn’t keep his cock still, not when my breasts were pressed against his chest, and my breath was hot on his neck. I couldn’t blame him when my own pussy was growing wetter by the second. I felt more connected to him than I had to any one person in years.
For me, the hardest part of being in an abusive relationship was the shame. I’d always had an attitude. I wasn’t tough as the result of my abuse or survivor’s guilt for my brother going to jail for defending me. I was the way I was. And I wasn’t ashamed of that.
What I was ashamed of was that I allowed myself to be taken in.
No one could believe it when they found out. Tori Ryder, the one who kicked the ass of every insubordinate, won’t-take-no-for-an-answer asshole in high school, had an abusive boyfriend. And not for a few months but for three years. We lived together. He was planning to marry me, and I probably would have gone through with it if that fight hadn’t happened.
Suddenly, everyone looked at me differently. Spoke to me gently and constantly asked me if I needed anything. I wasn’t me anymore. I was a victim. So I picked up and moved. I left behind my parents, my brother languishing in prison, and started a new life in the anonymous crowds of LA. Not even Vail knew the truth of my past; Ellery only found out because of his background checks. My name was kept out of the papers, and I searched my name regularly to make sure it didn’t show up anywhere.
Jamie never would have known if I hadn’t told him.
So why did I?
I didn’t want to think about why I’d chosen to open up to him. I wanted to touch him.
“Take off your boxers,” I whispered in his ear as I untangled from him and pushed up to my knees. He kicked them away along with the sheets covering his lower body, and I finally let myself look at his cock straight on. He was definitely bigger than any man I’d ever been with before, not that I hadn’t noticed while he’d been inside me. Still, I wondered if my gag reflex was still trained enough to handle him.
“Tori,” he groaned as I straddled his legs and slowly backed down him. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I want to.” I kissed the head of his cock, and it jerked against my lips, smearing precum on my skin. I met his eyes as I licked it away. “Let me do this for you.”
“If you insist.” He propped himself up a little more to watch me while I swallowed him. His gaze was so intense, I had to break eye contact, but his hand on my cheek beckoned my eyes back to his. “Tori, you look perfect.”
When I looked away again, he let me, and fell on his back with a rush of air.
I took my time with his cock, going a few inches deeper each time I lowered my head until I gagged on his length at the back of my neck. I gasped as I let him go, and he groaned.
“Your throat is almost as nice as your cunt, you know that?”
I hummed in response as I swallowed him again, trying for the same depth, then deeper. His hand grabbed my hair and pushed me farther until I couldn’t breathe. I tapped his leg, and he let me go for another deep gasp before I was on him again, swirling my tongue while I tried to catch my breath.
“That’s it, baby. Suck my cock like a slut.”
I whimpered a little, feeling more warmth gather between my legs. I wasn’t going to last like this much longer.
“I want to touch myself,” I whispered before sucking the head in my mouth. I didn’t know what his rules were for orgasms and self-pleasuring.
“Not yet,” he said. “You’re going to come on my cock or not at all.”
My lips tightened around his cock head, sucking hard while my teeth grazed his skin. If I could push him to the edge faster, he’d let me come too.
“Hey,” he snapped. I froze. “No fucking teeth, you got that?”
I nodded furiously and took him deep again in apology. He thrust up into my mouth and laughed as I gagged.
“You want to try to take control of me? You’re the one servicing me, not the other way around. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I whispered quickly before resuming the blow job. He writhed and grabbed my hair again. I used every trick I knew, ministrations with my tongue that had brought other men to climax in seconds, but he thrust harder as the minutes passed, until my jaw was numb.
“Come here,” he said finally, pulling me toward him. He rubbed my jaw briefly before grabbing my hips and lifting me—his strength was always deceptive—and setting me on his cock. I reached between my legs to pull aside my panties, and he slid into me easily.
“Fuck you’re wet,” he said. “Are you sure you weren’t touching yourself?”
“I promise.”
“You can now.” I rubbed my clit in slow circles while he moved me up and down on his cock. “You look so fucking good with me coming out of you,” he growled.
I bit my lip as the first stirrings of an orgasm grew within me, rising from my clit up my stomach and straight to my head.
“Jamie,” I whispered, my free hand digging into his chest as I steadied myself. “I’m going to …”
“Sit down,” he ordered. I pressed myself as hard as I could against his hips, and his hand knocked away my own to finish off my orgasm. Our groans rose in unison; I could feel his dick twitch while he spurted inside. “Fuck, you squirt.” He held up his hand to show me the moisture there. I grabbed his wrist and licked his hand, causing his dick to twitch again. “Come here, now.”
I folded over his chest, and he pulled me off him, rolling me to my back and kissing me deeply. “Your mouth is as magical as your pussy,” he whispered between embraces. “I’m hanging on to you for as long as I can.”
I couldn’t make the same promise. I could only lean in to his lips and force mysel
f to relax in his arms. As the sweat cooled on our skin, he covered us with the blanket once more. He rubbed my jaw to relax the still-tense muscles, then moved to my temples and eventually my neck.
“Feeling all right?”
Better than I have in a long time. “Yes.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
He pecked my forehead and stroked my cheek. “Really time for sleep now.”
I was already drifting off, but I forced myself to nod. And with his lips pressed against the top of my head and his hands flat against my spine, the night pressed in around us and took me away.
***
I tried to sneak out with a ride share the next morning, but he was already in the kitchen, making me a breakfast sandwich and coffee to go by the time I got out of the shower. He handed me the food as we walked to his car in the garage.
“You can leave some clothes here next time,” he said. “Or bring a bag. I don’t mind washing your clothes with mine when I do laundry, and it’d be better than you having to wear the same clothes two days in a row like you’ve been doing.”
I took a bite of the sandwich to stall for time. Rich eggs and cheese filled my mouth, and I chewed slowly to savor the taste. How was he such a good cook when his own diet consisted of bland protein and steamed vegetables?
“I guess that would be okay.”
“Do you want me to take some clothes with me today?”
I shook my head. He was pushing this way too fast. “I can bring it whenever I come over next time.”
He glanced at me briefly before returning his eyes to the road. “That’s fine. Sorry if I’m moving too fast.”
How does he do that? “It’s fine,” I grumbled into my sandwich.
He insisted on walking me inside when we got back to the house, ostensibly to say hi to Sophie. She was sitting with Ellery in his office and smiled brightly when we came in.
“Hey, you two.” Her belly was large enough now that she was starting to have a little bit of trouble getting up and down. Jamie went to her instead and kissed her chastely on the cheek. Ellery’s eyes flicked to me, then back to her, without moving his head.
“Sorry I’ve been keeping her away,” Jamie apologized to them. “She’s been a real help at the gym while we prepare for this fight.”
“Not a problem.” Sophie’s grin told me she was not buying that excuse, but she was too kind to say anything outright. She waved toward the other open chairs. “Would you like to sit?”
“He has to get going,” I interjected. No ‘meeting the parents’ scene today, please. “You have to work today, right?”
“I do, actually.” He sighed heavily. “Then lifting this evening. Pretty full day. I wanted to stop and say hello.”
“Will you be driving Tori from now on?” Ellery wasn’t even bothering to hide his smirk.
I frowned at him. “Can’t I have another car?”
“So you can lose that one too?”
He was unbelievable. “That wasn’t my fault. And it’s not like you can’t afford it.”
He shook his head at me as if I was a petulant child. “It’s the principle of the thing.”
I scowled and folded my arms, but Jamie laughed. “Either way works. I’m sure Tori will let me know.”
“I’ll walk you to your car.” My voice was a little too loud, but Jamie smiled and bid farewell to both of them. When we were alone in the hall, he grabbed my arm and pressed his lips to my ear. “Show me your bedroom.”
My face went hot as I skidded to a stop. “We don’t have time.”
“I don’t have to be at work for two hours. I want to see where you sleep.”
Fuck, my panties were wet.
I kept my eyes out for other people while I hustled him to my room, but we didn’t even run into any staff. The moment my door closed behind us, he pushed me up against it for a quick kiss.
“Are you embarrassed of me?” he asked, one eyebrow raised, but his voice was teasing, letting me know he understood my hesitance to be seen with him and my eagerness to get him out of the house. It was about me, not him. He walked around the room quickly, running his hand over my pillow and touching various pieces of clothes I’d left strewn around.
“Shouldn’t the housekeeping be taking care of these?”
“I don’t let them come in here.”
“Of course not.” He finished his circle of the room and attacked me suddenly, picking me up around the waist and nuzzling my neck with kisses. I had to laugh.
“That tickles!”
“That’s the point. You don’t laugh enough.” When he dropped me back to the ground, I didn’t make an effort to hide my smile. “I’ll get out of your hair now. I’ll call you tonight?”
“Sounds good.” My smile was still plastered on my face when I opened my door—and ran right into Vail.
“Sorry!” she cried, jumping back into Castel. “I heard you were back and wanted to chat.”
Shit, why did she have to come looking for me? “Well, here I am.”
“And Jamie.” Far from sounding surprised, Castel had a smug look on his face. “How are you?”
“Doing good, man. Just heading out. I know the way, Tori, you stay here.” He squeezed my hand once, out of sight of Castel and Vail, and took off down the hall with a wave.
Vail watched him disappear down the hall, then huffed and folded her arms. “When were you going to tell me about this?”
“Told you,” Castel said in a singsong voice.
I dropped my face into my hands. “What do you guys want?”
Vail grinned. “I wanted to see if Sophie was telling the truth about him being here.”
I shut the door in their faces.
“You’re joking. This is not happening right now.”
I tried for a lopsided grin as I held out the bouquet. She was as red as a tomato looking at them, glancing around to make sure no one was witnessing this egregious and overt show of affection. “It’s a date. Shouldn’t you bring flowers on dates?”
“Oh, my God.” She put her face in her hands. “I’m going to slam this door right now if you don’t put those away.”
I laughed and held them behind my back. “I wanted to get you flustered. We can put them in my apartment.”
“Thank God.” She ducked and grabbed the duffel bag she usually took to the gym. “Can we get the fuck out of here before anyone sees us?”
“You have to hold my hand on the way to the car.”
“Fucking kill me,” she muttered, but she extended her hand toward me anyway. I tossed the flowers and her bag in the back seat before opening her door, and she let me help her into the car. I couldn’t help puffing out my chest a little as I walked to my seat.
“Does it make you feel good to be the knight in shining armor?” She rested her elbow on the middle console, chin in her hand, grinning at me.
I shrugged as I pulled away from Ellery’s house. “I mean, ‘hero’ is a strong word, but …”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a dork. Tell me where we’re going.”
“It’s a surprise. You’ll have to settle with not knowing for now.”
She huffed and sank down in her seat, folding her arms but barely containing a smile.
I was pleased to see the excitement on her face as we pulled up to the ax-throwing center. “I’ve always wanted to do this,” she said as she raced to the door. “I mean, if you tell anyone I was this excited, I’ll deny it to my last breath, but it looks like so much fun.”
“Seems like a good skill for personal security to have,” I commented. She smiled wider.
“Exactly. I’ll be even deadlier after this.”
This was the Tori I wanted to see. I had a feeling that this was her truest self, happy-go-lucky and excited to try new things. She was hard on the outside, sure, but some of that was for her own protection. I thought she was more like this most of the time before her asshole of an ex got his fingers into her. I’d pried a little
more information out of her over the past few days. He’d forced her to move in with him right when she graduated high school, probably because her parents had realized something strange was going on and had started to try to intervene. A week before the fight that put him down for good, she found a ring in his dresser and was sick for three days thinking she was going to have to marry him.
Things would be different now. I was going to show her I could be trusted. And part of that was doing boring, normal relationship things. Everyone around her got together through the strangest of circumstances, but not us. We met the old-fashioned way. There was no reason we couldn’t date the old-fashioned way too.
After checking in and signing some waivers promising not to sue if we accidentally chopped off our fingers, we had to choose special “lumberjack” names for the session. I groaned internally, expecting resistance from Tori, but she spoke before I could even think.
“Axe Kicker.”
I folded my arms and raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”
She stuck out her tongue. “You’re mad you didn’t think of it first.”
Well, she wasn’t wrong. “Fine. I want to be …” I tapped my finger against my chin. “Kill Shot.”
Her face fell a little. “Damn, that’s so much cooler.”
We each paired with a pro to work on form. My balance was way off, and my first throws flew far to the left of the target. Tori hit the center on the first try.
“It’s the yoga,” she said, flexing her arms. “Internal balance and shit.”
“And shit,” I repeated with a laugh. “Sure.”
“We’re going to play a game now.” One instructor spoke while the other went to the end of the alley and put up a new board with numbers one through ten on it in different positions. “Throw your ax at the numbers, and the first one to thirty wins.”
Tori and I looked at each other simultaneously, our mouths in twin smiles.
