by Vi Carter
“Rian.” His name falls from my lips on a breathless whisper and he’s lifting me up and removing my trousers. The steel under my backside is cold. Goosebumps break out across my skin as Rian’s gaze touches all of my flesh while he removes his trousers. His thighs are roped with muscles and I swallow at the bulge in his boxers. He pushes them down and his cock springs free. I have a moment of wanting to back away at the sheer size of it. Rian’s arms wrap around my waist as he drags me towards him. I meet his gaze and I keep my focus there. I allow my fingers to roam across his chest and shoulders.
“You’re so pretty.” Looking at him now is hard. I wonder if he knows how breathtaking he is.
“Pretty?” His lip quirks up as he pulls me closer. His fingers pull at my panties and my stomach tightens with fear and anticipation, as he drags them down my legs. He stands back, and his gaze slowly and painfully roams across every inch of my flesh. When he steps back, I’m already seeking his warmth. His large cock presses against my opening and I’m bracing myself for the pain I have been told will come.
His kisses are gentle. “You need to relax.” I’m waiting for him to enter, but he continues to deepen the kiss, his cock grinding against my clit. I relax as I grow wetter. My body pushes against him, wanting it. He releases my face and repositions himself. I look at him as he places his cock at my entrance. I bite down on the hiss as he enters me. Pain slices through me, but with it comes a pressure that starts to push its way inside me. Rian slams his mouth down on mine as he pushes deeper in. Pain flares, and my eyes water when he’s fully in. I feel too stretched and he starts to move out slowly. The muscles on his arms clench and bunch together under my fingers as he tries to pace himself. Opening my eyes, I continue to kiss him as he pushes back in, this time it isn’t as gentle, but with the pain comes the pressure that threatens to fill me up. Rian must sense me looking at him and he opens his eyes. His lips press against mine as he withdraws and enters me again. My fingers dig into his arms and I feel myself grow wetter with each time he enters me. My body burns and starts to shake as the pressure keeps climbing inside me. Rian’s movements grow faster and his breaths labor against my lips. I grip him tighter as my heart threatens to rip from my chest. I’m staring into his eyes and I have an overwhelming need to cry. Slamming my eyes shut dampens the emotion.
“I want to see you cum.”
I open my eyes at Rian’s breathless words. He’s moving faster and deeper, but his gentleness I never expected. I can feel the high build inside me, just like when he had touched me in his car, only this is ten times more and I’m waiting for it to end. I don’t believe it can drag me any higher, and yet it does.
“Rian.” His name has him pumping harder, and I hit a high that I never knew existed before. I shatter in his arms. His movements grow frantic before he spills his seed inside me. I feel it all, and it drags my own climax out. It’s like my nerve endings are on fire as I slowly come down. I can barely breathe, and now, in the silence, all I can hear is our mingled breathing and the sound of the market somewhere in the distance.
Rians flesh is sweaty, and I cling to it as I rest my head in the crook of his neck. His cock is still inside me, and I sense it twitching. I’m tightening my hold on him because I can’t let him see me cry. This is my way of saying goodbye. I’m not angry. I’m glad I gave him this part of me. I don’t think anyone else would have been so gentle. I could sense his need, and he held back and placed me first. I press my lips to his neck. His hands move up and down my back, sending shivers skittering across my flesh.
I press another kiss to his neck before my tongue flicks out, and I capture a falling tear.
“Pretty?” Rian’s word makes me laugh, and I finally let him see me. I’m smiling up into his moss-green eyes.
“Very pretty,” I say.
He doesn’t smile. Instead, his hands grip either side of my face. “You should see yourself right this moment, Willow. You’re fucking everything.”
My heart skyrockets, and my smile slips. “You could have just called me pretty. No need to go so far.”
His laugh has my stomach squirming. “Pretty is for flowers and apparently me.” His hands tighten on my face, and his smile leaves those perfect lips. “You aren’t pretty. You’re disarming, and you’re mine.” Rian leans in and presses his lips against mine, and I know I should correct him, but I only have this one day with him, and then I will be ready to give him up. I return the kiss with my own want for him. I hold nothing back, and I feel him grow inside me.
“Really?” I’m searching his face.
“Really.” He grins before dragging my mouth back to his.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
WILLOW
“What?” His face lights up when he smiles, and I can’t stop smiling at him. I shrug. Rian’s hands still roam along my bare back, and I close my eyes against the delicious shiver that assaults my flesh.
“Nothing.” I open my eyes. My breath hitches with how close his mouth is to mine.
It’s a distant sound, but it takes a second for my brain to register the noise of the stockroom door opening.
“Oh, shit.”
Rian drags me closer, which isn’t possible—as he faces Blitz. My cheeks burn, and I bury my face in Rian’s neck.
“He’s gone.” Rian drags me out of the crook of his neck.
Being interrupted is a stark reminder that this is a once time thing. “We better get dressed.” I press a kiss to his shoulder because his mouth would undo me again.
“You’re cold.” Rian slowly detangles himself from me, and I’m ready to jump down when he places a large hand on my thigh. “Stay there.”
I nod, not sure why he wants me to stay here. Rian isn’t shy about his nakedness as he gathers my clothes off the ground and steps back to me. He holds out the shirt, and I slip one arm in at a time. He’s focused on buttoning it up, and I take the moment to remember every little detail of his face. His gaze snaps up to me.
“This shirt is ugly.”
A real laugh falls from my lips and rocks my belly. All my clothes are ugly. I know that. But they are muted and understated, just the way they should be.
Once he has the shirt buttoned up, he doesn’t move. Instead, he runs his hand across my wrist. The bandage is bulky under the shirt.
“This can’t happen again, Willow.”
My heart slams against my ribcage. “Of course.” I manage to force down my emotions and try to withdraw my hand, but Rian doesn’t let my arm go.
He shakes his head. “This can’t happen again, Willow.” He repeats. When I don’t answer him, he continues. “If you want a high or a release, come to me.” A sinful grin tugs at his lips. “I’m sure I can help you.” He releases my wrist, and I can’t look at him.
This is the last time I will allow him to touch me. I nod so he will allow me to finish getting dressed. My cardigan comes next, and then he helps me into my trousers. I can’t stop looking at his naked body. He’s even more intimidating naked. His body is carved to perfection. I can’t find a flaw.
When I’m dressed, Rian pulls on his slacks. I can feel his gaze on me every so often. He picks up his black shirt but doesn’t put it on. Instead, he walks back to me and holds out his palm. Right in the center is a white circular scar.
“I was in church.”
I can’t stop the surprise that spreads across my face. “The church is still standing?” I ask.
His lips tug up, and he leans in, placing a kiss on the side of my mouth.
“Yes, it is. It was Jesus on the crucifix that got my attention. That and one of the choir girls.”
Rian grins, and my stomach swirls.
He holds out his hand again. “I wanted to know what it would feel like to have a nail driven through my hand.”
My fingers skim across the scar. “You didn’t!”
“I did.” I can hear the humor in his voice. “It hurt like a motherfucker.”
I’m trying to focus on his words and not his chest o
r the idea that he liked a choir girl. He was drawn to what he perceived as good girls. Me cutting this off was the best idea. I was the furthest thing from a good girl.
There is a silence between us as I continue to touch the scar.
“Don’t hurt yourself again.”
“Don’t you ever hurt yourself again either.” I finally look up at him.
“It sounds like we have a deal. If I feel the need to drive a nail through my hand again, I will come to you for a high instead.”
He stands there staring down at me with a soft smile waiting for my reply. I give him a smile. “Get dressed before anyone else comes in.”
Rian doesn’t move immediately. He’s watching me. I can see the questions swimming in his intelligent eyes, and I don’t want to answer them.
He pulls on his shirt, covering up all that tanned skin.
It’s odd standing out in the market again. I can’t meet anyone’s eye. Do they know what we were doing? I’m also very aware of how sore I am. I didn’t expect that.
“Can I borrow Willow?” Blitz draws my attention to him.
“We can both help.”
Rian’s response seems to surprise Blitz, but he recovers quickly, and we all start walking down the middle aisle of the market. I start putting distance between Rian and me and step up beside Blitz. He’s huge beside me, and I try to look past the sheer size of him.
“So, what exactly are we doing?”
Blitz stops walking and taps a heavy black boot on a large tile under our feet. He slowly kneels and calls me down with the hook of his finger. I’m tempted to look at Rian, but I don’t. I focus on Blitz and kneel too. Blitz knocks on the tile.
“We are looking for blank spaces. This sound..” He knocks again. “Tells me the floor is solid underneath us. We are trying to search for an echo.”
“Why?” I ask as we rise.
This time Blitz looks to Rian and he gets the approval as he starts to talk again. “We think a rival gang has found a way onto this property. We discovered that an old drain system runs beneath us. We’ve found some abandoned tunnels and sealed them up, but with the sheer size of this place, we need to keep checking. Some old tunnels that we had boarded up months ago, were reopened. So it’s a constant job.”
“Why not move the market, if it is that much trouble?”
“Because this is my land, and I built it up to what it is today. Moving won’t solve the problem. We need to find the problem.” Rian speaks up and, I nod like I understand.
Blitz walks onto the next tile and kneels down, tapping. “What do you think?” He asks me.
“It’s solid.”
He nods and gets up. “We can work side-by-side today.”
I’m glancing around, thinking how many football pitches would fit into this space. It’s endless. “Why not get more people on the job?”
“Rian has trust issues.” Blitz doesn’t look to Rian for approval this time, and I can hear the laughter in his voice.
“I would never have known.”
Blitz laughs. “She’s funny.”
I hide my smile at his words and peer up at Rian. He’s grinning at me, and my heart pounds wildly. Why does it feel so normal with him? I quickly get to work and start tapping on the tiles. Blitz watches me for the first few but must finally trust that I can hear the difference. Time moves fast and Rian stays with us the whole time. I keep expecting him to leave, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t help either. He just walks leisurely with us.
“Earlier, I didn’t see anything.”
I freeze at Blitz’s words, heat rushes to my cheeks. I glare at him.
“I just thought I would put your mind at ease.”
“My mind was at ease, but now it’s not.” I fire quickly.
“Why don’t you take a break, Blitz,” Rian speaks behind me. I realize I had forgotten he was there.
“I thought I was helping,” Blitz says while rising.
“It’s fine.” I don’t want to cause any trouble between these two. Blitz leaves, and Rian takes his place.
“You didn’t have to send him away.”
“I was saving him the embarrassment.” Rian knocks on the tile and moves to the next. I knock on mine and am ready to move on when I knock again.
“Rian.” I can’t stop the excitement that bubbles up inside me. “I found one.”
His smile is instant as he comes back to me. “That’s my girl.” He grins at me and knocks on the tile. He looks so proud as he rises and leaves me to stand over the tile. I fold my arms across my chest, trying to ward off the tightness that has settled there. He had called me “his girl.”
He returns with a hammer and chisel. He starts hitting the grout before dragging the tile up. I look down into a dark hole and feel a sense of disappointment. I’m not sure what I was expecting. Rian leaves again, and when he returns, he clicks on the flashlight. I’m looking down into a deep tunnel. Rian moves the flashlight to the side of the wall, where a ladder is attached. He hands me the flashlight. “Hold that so I can see.”
He grips the side of the tile and disappears under the floor.
“Do you think it’s safe?” I ask, shining the torch on the top of his head. He looks up and squints against the flashlight that I quickly move away.
“I highly doubt it.”
My heart jumps. “Don’t go down. Get back up here,” I hiss, but my voice bounces off the empty space below us.
“You sound concerned.” He’s jesting, and I stay quiet until he reaches the ground.
“Catch,” I call before letting the flashlight go. Rian catches it, and I turn and lower myself under the floor. “I don’t want you coming down here, Willow.” All the joking has left Rian’s voice.
“Tough. It’s my discovery. I want to see.”
“You don’t get out much.” He sings below me.
I don’t answer him but keep moving until his strong arm wraps around my waist. “Stay close to me.” His words are whispered against my ear, and a shiver assaults me. He helps me the rest of the way down before moving the flashlight from tunnel to tunnel. It parts three different ways. The main thing I notice, is how clean it is and it doesn’t smell like I would have expected.
“You pick.” Rian bounces his light over each tunnel. I point at the middle one and then realize he can’t see me.
“The middle one.” He reaches back and twines our fingers together as we start to walk down the middle tunnel. The feel of his hand on mine runs through my system in ripples. No matter how much I try not to focus on his touch and smell, I can’t.
A noise like someone dropped a heavy bar bounces up the tunnel, and Rian clicks off the flashlight. He drags me closer to him, and for now, I allow myself to lean into him and enjoy his warmth. My brain is trying to tell me I could be in a very dangerous situation, but I ignore the warning and focus on Rian.
The noise comes again, and it can’t be ignored. Rian’s fingers tighten on mine. He shifts, and I have no idea what he is doing.
“You stay right behind me,” his words are whispered into my ear, and he releases my hand. I reach out and touch his back, bunching the material in my fist as I move down the dark tunnel when he does. I know I should be afraid. Any normal person would be. But I’m with Rian Steele, and I know nothing can hurt me when I’m with him.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
RIAN
Willow’s grip loosens on the material of my shirt, as light starts to filter in along with a lot of noise. I had no idea what I expected, but it wasn’t this. I grip the knife before kneeling down. Willow follows my lead.
Below us is another market in full swing. Hundreds of people move around the makeshift market. A market beneath a black market. I’m watching searching for a familiar face from upstairs, but they all blend together, as I take in the magnitude of what I’m looking at. Willow’s fingers wrap around my ankle, and I reach back, touching her hand. We need to leave. This isn’t safe for her.
“Move, and I’ll cut her.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I was you.” I rise slowly, keeping my own knife tucked at my side.
“Shut the fuck up.” He pushes the knife closer to Willow. Only a small portion of her face is illuminated from the distant light, but I can see the fear there.
“Do you know who I am?” I’m standing now, and the kid doesn’t even flinch as I step closer.
“Don’t move.” He glances behind him. More people must be coming. I move quickly. He strikes out as I knew he would, I throw my hand into his dagger and it slices through my old wound easily coming out the other side. I rip my hand back with the knife intact. The boy’s face sinks as I swallow the scream while dragging Willow closer to me.
“That was fucking foolish.” I take a step towards him. Pain nearly robs me of air, but my hate has me clutching my own knife. He was going to hurt Willow.
“He’s only a kid.” Willow’s panicked voice has me pausing. “Please don’t,” her whisper has me pulling the knife out of my hand, I swallow the bile that rises. The boy leans against the tunnel wall, his skin pale. I want to inflict a high level of pain on him. I’m tempted to drive the knife into his neck, but I can sense Willow’s fear behind me. I tighten my hold on the knife and lodge it into the boy’s shoulder. A scream tears from his lips and it’s too fucking loud. Slamming my fist into his face, he shuts up and crumbles to the ground. I would have killed him; I should have killed him, but not in front of Willow. Blood rushes from my hand. I transfer my own knife into my injured hand and tighten my good hand around her fingers as I start to move back through the tunnel.
I pause at each small noise, but we don’t encounter anyone else. Willow’s breathing is heavy. Once we step into complete darkness, I turn on the torch, and we keep going until we step out of the tunnel. The ladder is right in front of us.
