Falcon's Prey: A Dark Romance

by C. Lymari

  He made me feel things I’d never felt. I wasn’t talking about warm and fuzzy feelings, the stuff all the movies talked about. I was talking about feeling like you were drowning and gasping for air—the dread of falling into an endless abyss of the unknown.

  Ren’s arm snaked around my waist possessively. I felt the heat of his skin warm me. He pushed me back a bit so my body was flush with his. I didn’t try to pull away or give a nasty remark. For the first time in a long time, I felt content.

  “Remember what I told you,” Ren whispered in my ear.

  Before I could answer, he was pushing me forward. I was sandwiched between him and Pam.

  The bitch turned back and game me a glare, which I returned. Her eyes then trailed to Ren and then to my hip, where Ren now had his hand rested. She gave us a scowl and looked away.

  My breath hitched the moment he started to move his hand lower. I felt the calloused pads of his fingertips on my thigh. His arm went lower, then curved back to the hem of my dress. Since the dress was so short, as soon as he went higher, he made it to my ass.

  “You look like a whore,” he repeated harshly.

  I didn’t say anything since I’d had no choice in my outfit. Pam had given me a flimsy thong. One wrong move and people would see my ass. Not that I gave a shit.

  “Should I act like one too?” I bit back.

  Ren’s other hand came to my throat, controlling the air I breathed. His mouth was on my ear, nibbling. To outsiders looking in, it probably looked like two lovers embracing.

  “Careful, princess.” He squeezed my neck.

  His other hand moved slowly until it traced the curve of my ass to my pussy. He glided two fingers past the cloth. I raised on my tiptoes from the sensation he was causing and felt myself growing wetter.

  “This tight little pussy,” he groaned as he reached my clit.

  I moved my arms until I was holding on to the arm he had at my neck. My fingers dug into his shirt. My lip was between my teeth, trying to hold back a moan.

  “Only gets wet for me.”

  He moved his fingers out after that. And I was left panting, loathing the way my body responded instantly for him.

  It was one of my flaws to get off on things I shouldn’t.

  The line started moving, and Ren gave my butt a gentle tap so I would walk. He stopped altogether, and I missed the way his body felt against mine. The way I felt the heat he emitted, warming the coldest parts of me. Maybe I was stupid, and I was a pathetic little girl looking for the love she never got from her parents. Look at where that got me—in Silas’s bed. Taking his so-called love at the cost of my dignity and tainting my body for something that wasn’t even real.

  “Your name?” a voice said.

  I craned my neck to look past Pam at the man holding a clipboard. I pushed Pam aside, not caring if she fell off the yacht.

  “Ember Remington.” I said my name loud and proud even though I felt like a total fraud.

  He gave a nod, motioning to the side. “Please wait here, Miss Remington.”

  I squared my shoulders and did as he asked. I knew Zeke would not have taken the humiliation lightly. He was a proud man. That’s why I also knew while money was not something he wanted or needed, to have me at his mercy even for a night would be enough to soothe his bruised ego.

  Men were predictable. You had to act weak so that they wouldn’t feel threatened. As for women, they hid their intentions behind fake smiles and meaningless compliments.

  I looked at my fingers, appearing bored. I was aware I now had eyes on me, so I did what I’d always done and tuned everyone else out.

  “People are staring,” Pam said.

  “Don’t worry. They’re not looking at you,” I said without bothering to face her. “You’re no one in my world.”

  “In my world, I could have you dead in—”

  “That’s enough, Pam,” Ren cut her off.

  I turned to face her then. She was hurt but quickly masked it.

  I saw Zeke come our way with his security right behind him. He glared at Ren, obviously still remembering the humiliation.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” he spat.

  I gave him a smile dipped in poison. “My board cut me off again, and I need some cash.”

  “I don’t take charity.” He dismissed it right away. “I want them escorted out, and teach him a lesson.”

  Zeke was about to turn around, but my words halted him.

  “So, you’re saying you don’t want to fuck me?” My tone was bored.

  When he didn’t say anything else, I walked up to him, putting my hand to his chest. He watched me with avid interest. Slowly, I let my fingers trail up his chest. Since he wasn’t much taller than me with heels on, I pressed up against him and then leaned into him so I could whisper in his ear.

  “I want at the table today. I win, I get the cash. I lose…” I let the words hang in the air. “You get me.”

  I pulled back, looking up at him, hoping it had worked.

  “Take them away. She can stay.”

  “Sorry. Then no deal.” I shrugged it off like it was no big deal. “My dog goes where I go.”

  Zeke gritted his jaw for a second but ultimately nodded. “And who are you?”

  Before I could speak, Pam was shaking his hand.

  “Pamela Escalante.” She spat my mother’s name like it was nothing. “I’m Ember’s cousin.”

  Someone tell me this bitch didn’t take a name I hold sacred and turn it into a pawn in her game. She smiled at Zeke, and I watched as she charmed him and led him away from us.

  “What did I say?” Ren barked out angrily behind me.

  I turned around, hitting him in the chest. “Did you know she was going to use my mother’s name?”

  Something like surprise shone on his face. “No, and I don’t care.”

  My heart skipped a beat. Not from elation or happiness but from a small stabbing pain. Of course he didn’t care. I’d always been a pawn in someone’s game. It’d been that way since I was fifteen, and it would probably continue to be that way for the rest of my life.

  “And I don’t care what you said either.”

  I tried to walk away, but Ren pulled me back. He dragged my arm and pushed me against the rails.

  “What did you whisper in his ear?” Ren demanded. His tone was harsh, and his jaw was rigid.

  “Are you…are you jealous?” The words left my lips before I could process them.

  They were laced with hope. I’d been jealous before of the people who had mothers and fathers who doted on them, but never for someone of the opposite sex. And my feelings toward Pam were just that. I was jealous of her. Of the connection she had with Ren. At the fact that while I was imprisoned, he was with her. She had his respect, his trust, and I had scraps of him.

  “No,” Ren said, low but steady, and my stomach dropped. Of course he didn’t care. “Remember who owns you.”

  “Maybe you should remember that while there’s a price on my head, the only person who owns me is Death.”

  I stepped away from him to find…I don’t know. Fuck. Some drugs? It wouldn’t be hard. Now that the thought crossed my mind, it didn’t want to leave. Ren put an arm out to stop me, his fingers digging into my waist.

  “Then, I guess I have to take care of that little problem, don’t I?”

  I shook my head. “I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere last year. Whoever wants my head was the only one who noticed.”

  Once again, I tried to get away, but he stopped me. His finger came to my chin.

  “That first picture in Abu Dhabi—I knew that wasn’t you. You don’t think I recognized your body after spending months with you?”

  His voice was docile, a complete paradox to what was brewing behind his eyes. So intense and deadly, and I knew he was telling the truth.

  He started to walk us with a hand at my waist, leading us through the mass of people.

  Pam was nowhere to be seen, and it was probably a go
od thing since I was still pissed she’d used my family’s last name. Some things were sacred and better left untouched. My last name was one of them.

  “Ember, I knew it was never you, and I also knew that if I tied their hands, they would have to let you out sooner or later. So I sent a threat to headquarters with hopes they would let you out. The fact that you reached out, princess…that was just a bonus.”

  My chest rose and fell rapidly at his confession, and the rest of the people ceased to exist. It was just me and his words. Out of everyone in the world, he was the only one who knew I was missing. I squashed whatever hope started to grow inside of me.

  “To make me pay, right?” I gritted out.

  I never forgot the words he said to me or the look of pure rage he gave me as he got pulled out of the maze. There was no hope hidden in his words. If anything, they were a warning that now more than ever, I should be cautious.

  “Amongst other things,” he mocked.

  While we waited for the games to begin, we mingled amongst the partygoers. Pam? Who the fuck knew where that bitch was? Ren stuck to my side like Velcro. Or maybe it was the other way around, since he had me tucked to his side. People looked, some waved, and I wondered what was going through their minds right now. They drank, got laid, went home, and did it all over again. No real purpose. That had been me too, and maybe that was why I wasn’t a pawn. I had no real worth besides the one I was born with.

  “I want to get a feel of the players,” Ren said. “Let’s walk around.”

  He started to lead me away, which made me roll my eyes. I didn’t know why he bothered to ask me in the first place.

  “How do you know who’s playing?” I gave him a skeptical look.

  Ren looked down at me, and something soft passed over his features. He was always serious or angry; sometimes, he was yelling at me, so I was used to his harshness. With this look, he looked more attainable, not so out of reach. He looked normal, and not like he might one day end up killing me.

  Ren didn’t say anything, but he moved my body so I was right in front of him, my back to his front. His hand came to my belly, holding me in place while his chin dropped to my shoulder. I didn’t dare look at him. My heart was pounding in my chest, and it had nothing to do with the state of my sobriety. Rough and calloused touches, I was used to—I’d lived with them—but softness was something foreign. I could count on my fingers the number of times I’d been touched with affection. Half of those touches were calculation dipped in softness.

  I was only human, and I was starved for affection. I lapped at any I got. It didn’t matter where it came from because I couldn’t help it—that sick need to feel loved. As thoughts started to make their way inside my head, Ren interrupted them by speaking.

  “You can tell who comes to a party like this to play, who comes to score, and who comes to get laid.”

  He gently moved my head to the side, where there was a group of guys sitting down, white powder all over the table, with girls hanging off their arms.

  “They provide the drugs, and the chicks provide their bodies.”

  He then turned me to look at the end of the bar where some people were drinking, their eyes lazily scanning their surroundings.

  “They came for the game. Drinking because it’s a party, but nothing too strong to keep a level head.”

  Then he moved my face to the makeshift dance floor.

  “Most of them are here for something to do. Another party to make them forget about their pathetic lives.”

  I didn’t know if the last part was a dig at me or not. “Why do you want to watch them?”

  “You learn a lot about a person by observing them. I’m good at calling people’s bluffs, but a little reckoning won’t hurt.”

  I turned my head to look at him. He was right there, so close that all I had to do was lean into him and I could kiss him. Except I couldn’t, not really. Every kiss we’d shared was taken or given in anger or a haze of lust. Lips bruising and smashing, seeking dominance, not affection.

  “You’re really good at it, aren’t you?” I found myself asking.

  “Good at what, princess?”

  It seemed like he leaned even closer, and I felt like I had a lump in my throat, making it hard to swallow or breathe.

  “Making you shiver?” His tone was smoky and dark, full of wicked promises that were to come. A small smirk graced his face when my body did as he asked. “Getting your pussy wet for me? You get so fucking soaked for me, I slip right in.”

  I wasn’t the only one affected by his words. The fingers at my hips were now digging painfully as his grip on me turned possessive. That small bite of pain kept me center and leveled.

  “Making you come?” Ren’s voice turned low and harsh, like it cost him as much to speak as it was costing me to breathe. “Every time I sink myself inside you, Ember, you let out a needy fucking moan. It drives me fucking insane. It’s like you’ve been waiting all day to feel me inside you. When you come, baby…fuck, your cunt grips me like it never wants to let go.”

  I was a mess in his arms. I gave up the pretense that I didn’t want him, like I didn’t need him, and let go. I let my back fall on his for support because my legs were getting ready to give up on me. The first thing I felt was Ren’s hard dick digging into my backside.

  “I hate that all these fuckers are looking at you right now. Like they think they have a shot at you. The only way anyone is getting you out of my arms is if they kill me, and I have no intention of that happening.”

  At that moment, after those words, I knew Ren Falcon was lethal to me. Not because he had no problem staining his hands in blood, and lying or cheating to get what he wanted. He was deadly to me because he made me feel the way I currently felt about drugs. He made my heart race, my palms sweat; he took me high, and when he was done with me, the crash—that, I would never survive.

  Before I could panic and lash out at him or do anything to protect myself, we got interrupted.

  “Ember. Long time, no see.” I swung my head to where Pricilla stood.

  She was smiling at me. Not all that fake but not entirely there. Her eyes were glazed, and the pupils enlarged. She was one of the “friends” Ren referred to as coke sluts.

  “Hey,” I said in return, not really feeling like talking, but also not wanting to look at Ren.

  “You want to go have some fun with me?” She tried to grab my hand and lead me God knows where to shoot up, but I didn’t want to go.

  I felt Ren stiffen behind me, but I ignored him. “Thank you, but I’m good.”

  Pricilla shrugged it off and walked away. I waited for Ren’s taunt to come, but it never happened. Instead, I felt him get closer, his presence like a magnet begging me to give in and get lost in his darkness. Let myself hide there. His touch had never been so soft nor gentle. The feel of his mouth on my forehead was like a stroke of a feather. I closed my eyes, almost pretending like it wasn’t happening.

  “Don’t you two look cozy.” Pam’s bitter words broke the moment, and I was glad for it. She stood in front of us, glaring our way.

  Ren didn’t let go of me, but he did stand taller. His hold on me eased a bit but not by much. “Have to make all these fuckers want her if we want a chance to make enough for the fight.”

  Ren’s words were like a knife to my chest.

  Sharp.

  Acute.

  Penetrating.

  Reminding me of my place with him.

  I didn’t break. If I didn’t break for Silas, I wouldn’t break for him.

  “I’m sure I’ve fucked some of them already, and all of them drilled into me like they were mining for diamonds,” I spat at him, pulling out of his hold and closer to Pam.

  “Puta.” She grinned at me sweetly.

  I smiled right back and spoke loud enough for Ren to hear us. “You’re not missing much with Ren. It’s a hit or miss with him.”

  Before either could say anything, an announcement was made to go to the top where th
e game was going to be played. I walked in front of Pam, following the rest of the people who were going to the top, noticing that the men’s eyes kept coming my way.

  Ren’s words and Pam’s disappearance made all the sense in the world. My offer to sleep with Zeke was not exclusive to just him. I was fair game for everyone. More bets, more money for Ren.

  I was foolish for believing the words he was giving me. Since I was a child, that had been my weakness. Licking of every scrap of affection, I could find and clawing at it, trying to keep it by my side.

  You couldn’t keep things that weren’t meant for you. Sooner or later they would find a way to escape and be free. I did it with Silas, and now I had to learn that lesson myself.

  As I got to the first step to go to the next level of the yacht, I was yanked back by my hair. I whimpered at the tingling burn I felt in my head. Fire—it felt like I had a fire in my head.

  “If I were you, Ember, I’d tread real careful while we’re up there,” Ren growled in my ear.

  “Or what? You’ll kill me?”

  “I’ll show you how much I don’t miss and drill into your cunt in front of everyone in the room. Show them that I was the one who got the diamond.”

  My chest was rising and falling by the time he let go of my head. He kept his hold on me as we walked to the top. Before we walked onto the top level, I asked him a question I feared asking. One, because I didn’t know what the truth of it would mean, or two, he could be lying to me.

  “If you lose, what happens?”

  He stopped and looked at me. I always felt so small under the weight of his scrutiny. I was the rich one, the one who had power, but he always made me feel so insignificant, like I was wasting my life away.

  His fingers came to my chin. Not harsh, not too soft, but with enough pressure to take him seriously. “Not going to lose.”

  “You don’t know that,” I whispered.