by Nikki Chase
“No problem,” he says casually, as if he hasn’t just saved my life. It’s like he has just passed me the salt or something as trivial. He winces, the pain finally getting to him.
My heart skips a beat.
Is he going to be okay?
If he’s gone, how can I ever repay him for what he has just done?
And without him protecting me, how am I supposed to survive?
21
Alice
“So, did you learn how to shoot in prison?” I ask with a wide grin on my face. I'm giddy with relief, now that I know Seth will be fine.
The doctor has just left, after announcing to the room that Seth needs peace and quiet to rest. Anthony and Alejandra left the room, but Seth takes my hand before I could follow them, asking me to stay.
So now it's just the two of us, with Seth already lying in his bed and me sitting at the edge. Something hangs between us, thick and intense and swirling all around us. A nameless fog that clouds my judgment and draws me to him.
It excites me, but it also terrifies me. Luckily, my attempt at lightening the mood seems to have worked.
“Of course not.” Seth says, chuckling. “Inmates don't have firearms. We used shivs, pretty exclusively.”
“Shivs? Are you serious?” I narrow my eyes at him, trying to determine if that's a joke.
“Yeah, everybody had one,” he says with a deadpan expression. He looks at my bewildered face. The corners of his lips curl up to form a smile that makes my heart skip a beat. He laughs, then says, “The guards gave them out on our first day.”
“I can totally imagine you with one, though.” I laugh. After what I just saw this morning, I can definitely believe Seth Wayne is capable of violence.
“Nah, I never even saw a shiv. I did punch a guy, though,” he says as he studies my reaction.
“Food fight at the cafeteria?” I ask, half joking.
“Not a food fight.” Seth pauses, then continues, “But it was a fight. And it was indirectly related to the food.”
“In what way?”
“Well, it had something to do with the lady who taught the cooking class.” He gives me a meaningful look.
“You mean…”
“You. Yeah.”
“You were the guy who hit Fred?” I raise my hands up to cover my mouth. I can't believe it.
“Yeah. Sorry,” he says.
“Don't worry about it. I’m sure he deserved it,” I say. “What did he do?”
“He said something that I thought wasn't respectful of you.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Fred, alright.”
“I take it you're not together anymore, then?”
“No. Should've ended it a lot sooner.”
He smiles.
“Seth, I…” I take a deep breath, summoning the strength to say what's on my mind. I glance at him. I have his full attention. I finally say, “The gunman, is he one of the men who are after me?”
“Yes,” he says simply, sending a chill down my spine.
“Why me?”
“I can't say.”
“Who are they?”
“It's better for you if you don't know that. Safer,” he says with sincerity in his eyes. I can't doubt those eyes.
“Once it's safe, are you going to let me go?”
“Of course,” he says without missing a beat. Something about the way he speaks seems off, but I can't put a finger on what's wrong. He props himself up with his elbows and straightens his arms until he's sitting upright with his palms on the bed.
“You shouldn't sit up.” I eye his bandaged wound, half-expecting to see the wound gaping open with blood pouring out of it.
But the bandage is still there, the gauze soft against the backdrop of his hard body, covering a part of the lines and ridges on his abdomen. I want to reach out and trace his skin with my fingers, but instead I tear my gaze off his shirtless body and look right into his eyes.
What are you doing to me? I think quietly as I continue to maintain eye contact with Seth.
“Does it scare you?”
“What?” I ask, alarmed. He couldn't have read my mind, could he?
“My gunshot wound,” he says, raising his eyebrows and leveling his gaze at me like a villain in a B movie, making me laugh.
“You mean your bullet-graze wound?” I tease him. The doctor took one look at him and told him, confidently, that he was going to be fine.
“Do we really need to get into the specifics? Those are just details,” he says with a playful smirk on his face.
“They say the devil is in the detail,” I say as my heart continues to pound in my chest.
“Well, then, all the more reason to avoid it,” he says.
Before I can protest, Seth leans in and kisses me. He ravages my lips, demanding to finish what we have started at breakfast, before we got interrupted by the shooter.
He puts his hand on the back of my head and starts to pull me closer, then he suddenly jerks to a stop and groans in pain.
“Oh no, are you okay?” I ask.
He says nothing, his face frozen in a wince. His places a hand over the bandage.
“You should lie down,” I say.
He smirks, having recovered from the pain. “Only if we can continue doing what we were doing. I’m not fucking letting anything interrupt us anymore.”
My face grows red hot. I feel flutters in my center. Wetness gathers in my panties.
“So? What's it going to be, Alice?”
“Okay,” I say softly. I can almost hear the hurried pulsing of my heart in the silence of Seth’s bedroom.
Seth lies back down, seemingly in slow motion. I see every flex of his muscles, every little devilish detail of his movements. He stares at me, his eyes burning with lust. I’m fully clothed, but he has already stripped me naked with his ravenous gaze.
I gingerly get into Seth’s bed and lie down beside him. The sheets feel soft on my skin.
He turns his head to look at me and says, “I can't lie on my side. Doctor’s orders.” He smirks. “Get on top.”
I hesitate. I knew he wanted me to get up there. I want it, too, probably just as much as he does—or more. I just don’t know if this is a good idea.
I mean, I hated him yesterday, and then this morning he did something that completely redeemed him in my eyes. Things are changing a little too quickly for my comfort.
Still, I do as he says. I straddle him and lean down on top of his bare torso. I feel his hard bulge pressing up against me with urgency, igniting my desire.
The moment our lips touch, it's like my entire body has been set on fire. He reaches up and pulls me closer, putting both his hands on my head, until he’s the only thing that fills my vision.
He traps my gaze, ordering me to stay still with no words. He reaches up and slowly undoes my buttons, starting from the top one and moving down. He keeps his hands close to my body, grazing against my bare skin every once in a while. I shudder from his touch, knowing things are only going to get even more intense.
“Take it off,” Seth commands when my shirt hangs completely open.
I lean back and shrug it off.
“And the bra, too,” he says. “It’s only fair, since I’m already topless.”
I reach behind me and unhook my nude everyday bra. I wish I was wearing a nicer, sexier one, but I had no idea I was going to end up in bed with Seth today. In fact, when I woke up this morning, I would’ve laughed in the face of anyone who’d dare to suggest that Seth was going to see my bra.
I take it off and instinctively move my hands to cover myself, but Seth grabs my wrists before I can do that.
“Let me see you,” he says. It’s not a request, but a demand. He’s not going to take no for an answer.
I let him take a good look at me, despite how uncomfortable it makes me. It’s been years since I last let anyone new see me naked.
After I broke up with Fred, I haven’t had anyone else in my bed. And now, to have someone like Seth
see all of me… I think I’m a pretty confident woman, but it’s just that, being as wealthy and good-looking as he is, Seth must have seen his share of beautiful women.
Yet, as I look at his face, there’s nothing but appreciation there. His gaze roams all over my bare chest.
Impatiently, he puts one hand on my back to pull me down against him, while his other hand plays with my tits. He grabs them, kneads them, and pulls on my nipples, which are already hard as diamonds. I part my lips to moan, and he captures me with his mouth.
His kiss steals my breath. I gasp for air every time we pull away from each other, yet I keep coming back for more, as if I need him more than I need to breathe.
His hands travel down my back and rest on my ass. He squeezes and lifts up his hips to grind his rock-hard bulge against me. He feels big. I would never admit this in polite company, but I’m dying to see what he’s packing.
“Take off your pants,” he says. “I want to see all of you.”
This time, there’s no hesitation. I want to feel more, and there’s no way to get there without shedding my clothes. So I quickly slip my dress pants and panties down my legs, grateful for the fact that he wouldn’t see my plain cotton underwear at all.
I dressed up for work, but now I find myself in the middle of the hottest date of my life.
They say going through dangerous, deadly situations create a special kind of bond. I have no idea if that’s true, but I’ve never wanted anybody else the way I want Seth in this moment.
I get back to my previous position, and Seth’s mouth and hands are immediately all over me again. He pulls my head down and bites my neck, devouring me with his lips, tongue, and teeth, marking me as his own. He runs his big, manly hands up and down my thighs and ass until my pussy is tingling, yearning to be touched.
I push my ass back, desperate to feel Seth’s fingers on my pussy. He takes his lips off my neck to chuckle, amused by how hot and bothered he’s making me.
“Do you want something, my angel?” Seth asks, his breath hot on my neck. His hands on my ass hover so close to where I want them to be, and I whimper with need.
“Yeah. Touch me.”
“I am touching you.” He’s going to make me say it.
“Touch my pussy,” I say breathlessly.
“Beg for it,” he says, his voice low and authoritative, making my muscles clench in anticipation.
“Please…” My voice trails off into a heavy sigh.
“Please what?”
“Please touch my pussy.”
“There’s a good girl.”
Seth plops his head back on his fluffy pillow and fixes his intense gaze on my face. This would normally make me self-conscious. I prefer to have the lights off or bury my face on the crook of the guy’s neck, but I know Seth would take his fingers away if I do that. Besides, with the big floor-to-ceiling window on an entire side of the wall letting the sunshine pour in, there’s nowhere to hide in this minimally decorated room.
Seth slowly runs a finger down my lower back and over the curve of my ass, light as a petal. My hairs raise on end. It’s like every single nerve ending on my body is completely alert, just waiting for Seth. His touch feels amazing; at the same time, I ache for more, to the point where this becomes torture.
Finally, his lone finger reaches my folds, already wet and dripping with desire. A random thought pops into my mind: I wonder if I’m staining his designer pants. But it quickly disappears when he rubs his finger against my lower lips.
He finds my clit, and it’s all I can do to hold onto him tight as I begin to lose control of my own body. I shudder and quake over Seth’s hard body as he continues to tease and play with my clit.
Without any warning, he pushes two fingers inside me, making me gasp in surprise and pleasure. He slides all the way inside smoothly, my muscles gripping his fingers tightly.
“You’re already wet, my angel,” he says. “Do you like this? Do you like me playing with your pussy?”
“Yeah…” My head is overwhelmed by the delicious sensations in my center, but I manage to moan out a response.
“Dirty girl.” He slides his fingers in and out of me, while maintaining steady pressure on my clit.
A part of me wants to protest, but I can’t care about anything other than what Seth is doing to my body. Besides, I can’t deny how dirty I’m being, when my body has betrayed me so completely.
Seth bites my neck, hard. The rhythm of his finger-fucking gets faster, more intense, pushing me up the peak of my arousal, until I finally hit the edge and tumble down.
A deep orgasm tears through my body, making me buck and shake as Seth continues to manipulate my body skillfully, drawing out my climax. When the waves of pleasure subside, I’m left breathless, collapsing onto Seth’s body, my tits squished against his hard chest.
Seth reaches down and unzips his pants, pulling his cock out. I look down between us and see his hand wrapped around the biggest, thickest cock I’ve ever seen. His fist shuttles up and down his impressive length. When I look back at his face, he’s wearing a big, cocky smirk. He knows he has a monster between his legs.
He lines up his cock with my opening, the spongy head poking against me. I moan in anticipation. He pushes me down and thrusts up at the same time, burying himself balls deep inside me in one smooth motion.
“Oh my god, Seth,” I say as he fills me up to the brim. I swear if he’s even just a fraction of an inch bigger, I’d burst.
“Ride me,” he orders.
Again, I sense that it’s not a request. Just like everyone else in the house, I have to follow his orders. That’s the only way he works. Besides, judging by the way my body is reacting to his demands, I’m liking it.
I slide myself up and down Seth’s shaft, making him grunt. We’re mating like animals, raw and primal, just slaves to our own lust. He grabs me by the neck and pushes me until I’m sitting upright on top of him. I grind myself against him, impaling myself on his cock while also rubbing my clit on his pubic bone at the same time.
His fingers around my neck restrict my air flow, but it makes everything feel more intense. It reminds me how much I’m at his mercy. Trusting he’s going to protect me and keep me safe, I let go.
Our movements become faster and harder, more and more frantic, until I feel him swell bigger and bigger, triggering another orgasm within me. My muscles clench around Seth’s cock, grabbing and massaging it, milking it for all it’s worth. His hand around my neck grips harder as his cock pumps up into me.
Finally, his whole body tenses and stills. He grinds himself against me one last time, making sure to shoot every last drop of his cum deep inside.
As Seth releases his hold on my neck, I fall down on top of him, our hot, sweaty bodies melding into one. He squeezes my ass cheek and strokes my hair with his other hand.
It feels so good. I feel safe, like I’m in a little quiet cocoon of comfort.
Slowly, I drift off into slumber in Seth’s king-sized bed, even as his cock remains buried inside me.
22
Seth
“Is this for her?” Alejandra strolls inside my office with a box in her raised hand. She places is on my desk with a smirk. “Interesting. I’ve never seen you like this.”
“Like what?” I ask, feigning ignorance.
“Lovesick.” She grins mischievously.
Alejandra is like a sister to me, and she used to be the only person in the house who’d dare to talk to me like this. But now that Alice lives here too, there are two women under my roof who’d call me on my bullshit.
“It’s just a small gift. Nothing weird about it,” I say casually.
“I know you, Seth Wayne.” Alejandra turns around and walks toward the door. Before she leaves the office, she looks at me over her shoulder and says, “Just be careful. Falling in love is dangerous shit.”
Before I can protest, she pulls the door close.
I turn my attention to the box that Alejandra has placed on my desk.
I reach out and slide it closer over the glass. It looks good, I guess. I don’t know much about gift-wrapping. It’s a classic white box with a black ribbon on it.
Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to this extent. Judging by Alejandra’s reaction, this gift is probably not a good idea.
We fell asleep yesterday, and Alice was gone when I woke up. So I thought about her, lying there alone on my bed, which suddenly seemed too big for just one person. I wanted to make everything up to her, and I thought about getting her something.
Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to go online shopping right after sex. All those feel-good chemicals gave me a ridiculous idea and, like shitty friends on a drunken night out, pushed me to just do it.
When I was making the payment on the online store, there was a check box to get it gift-wrapped. In that moment, it seemed like a good idea, for some reason.
I don’t know why I can’t just tell her.
The guilt is obviously killing me, making me do things that are completely out of character.
When Alice asked me if I was ever going to let her go, I thought about telling her the truth. But the way she worded the question gave me a loophole. My answer was technically honest, but I managed to hide the real answer.
I will definitely let her go once it’s safe. The problem is, it’s never going to be safe enough for her to go back out there.
Maybe I can eventually trust her to always have bodyguards with her whenever she goes out—like Alejandra does—but she won’t get her freedom back.
She won’t get her old life back. Ever.
I tried to convince myself I did it for her own good. If she was going to be stuck here anyway, she might as well believe in the best-case scenario for as long as she can. There’s no use worrying.
But all I did was give her false hope.
Most distasteful of all? A part of me is actually happy about having an excuse for keeping Alice close to me.
It’s sick that I’d even think about her plight like that. I should know better, having seen first-hand how captivity destroys people’s souls.
