by K. M. Scott
So today was the day I got to return to work for the very man who’d done this to me.
“I wish you didn’t have to go back there already,” Serena said quietly from beside the tub.
Turning my head, I opened my eyes and smiled, hoping that if I pretended everything was all right that she wouldn’t worry. “Me too. It’s been a nice little vacation we had here. Well, except for feeling like a bus drove over me and not being able to be with you.”
She pressed a kiss onto my lips and slid her hand through my wet hair. “I remember the first time I saw you all beaten up soaking in a tub.”
The smile she wore looked so sexy. If it wasn’t for the fact that half my torso wasn’t in working condition, I would have pulled her right into that tub with me.
“I remember that. I hurt like a son of a bitch, but as soon as I saw you, all I could think of was how happy I was you came to find me.”
“Then it was your shoulder,” she said as she slid her hand up my arm as it rested on the side of the tub. “I guess things don’t change much, do they?”
“Nope. It seems like your father is always having me beaten one way or the other.”
“Was it this bad when he did that after finding us together that night he sent me off to Italy?” she asked, her eyes full of concern for me.
Chuckling, I shook my head. “He made sure to find the biggest guy the circuit had ever seen. There wasn’t a chance in hell I’d be able to beat him. The guy pounded me into the ground, just like Robert wanted, but I guess I’d have to say it was worse that time.”
“Why?”
“Because there was no chance I’d see you once I felt better.”
Serena’s eyes narrowed in anger. “I’m sorry, Ryder. You must think you should have never come to this place.”
Cupping the back of her head, I pulled her mouth to mine to kiss away that idea. Looking into her eyes, I told her the truth. “Never once. I’ve never regretted coming here two years ago. Seeing you every night made whatever I had to do for him worth it.”
“How bad your life must have been before you came here then. You’ve had to go through so much because of me.”
I sat up out of the water and slowly turned to face her. “You? No. Your father’s to blame, not you. None of this is because of you. Don’t ever think that.”
She lowered her head and quietly said, “I never meant for you to suffer because of me, Ryder. I hope you know that.”
“Of course I know that. Look at me, Serena.”
Keeping her head down, she said, “I know what you’re going to say, and it doesn’t change the fact that all of this happened because you’re with me. Don’t say it hasn’t because it has.”
With my finger, I gently tilted her chin up so she had to face me and saw her dark eyes filled with sadness. “I would go through this a hundred times more if it meant you and I got to be together. I’ve been fighting since I was fifteen. I can take a beating. As long as he doesn’t hurt you, I’ll take it as many times as I have to.”
A tear rolled down her cheek. “You shouldn’t have to take it at all just to be with me. I wouldn’t blame you if you told me this was too much. Now you have to go back to work for the monster who did this. I have to stay here, Ryder, but you don’t.”
I cradled her face in my hands and kissed where that tear stopped. “Yes, I do. You’re here, so I have to stay here.”
Serena leaned forward and kissed me. “Do you hate me for staying here because of my mother?”
Shaking my head, I tried to dry her cheek with my thumb but only made it wetter with the bath water. “I hate a lot of things, but not you. Your father, this world of his, seeing you unhappy. Those things I hate, but never you.”
“I need to find out where she is, Ryder. If I could find her and know she’s safe from him, I could leave here with you and then we’d be happy. I told you I wouldn’t care if we didn’t have a dime to our name, and I wouldn’t. I don’t stay here because of the money.”
“You’re not Janelle, so I know you don’t stay here just for that. No woman who prefers to watch a movie in bed over a night out cares that much about money. Don’t worry about us staying here for a little longer. Whatever he does to me, I can handle it. I promised you I’d protect you, and that’s what I intend on doing.”
With that sweet naiveté that still existed in her, she said, “He gave me his word that he wouldn’t have you beaten again.”
I didn’t believe that for a second, but I didn’t want her to worry, so I smiled. “See? You have nothing to worry about then. He’ll probably just stick me with some job none of the other guys would want. Maybe stable boy?”
Confused by my joke, she shook her head. “What do you mean? We haven’t had horses in years.”
“Just a joke. When I first came here, I worried that’s what he was going to make me do in addition to fighting to be able to live in such a beautiful house.”
Giggling at my lame attempt at humor, she stood and looked down into the water before looking up at me. “If those ribs of yours weren’t still hurting, I’d climb in there with you.”
I opened my arms to welcome her in, even though I knew moving even a little would hurt like a motherfucker. I didn’t care. I’d take the pain to feel her body pressed against mine as I slowly slid my cock inside her.
“I told you. I can handle the pain,” I said with a wink.
Serena crouched down next to the tub and slid her hand down between my legs to palm my cock. The feel of her hand around me after days of not being able to touch her made me as hard as a rock in seconds. I lifted my hips off the bottom of the tub to glide my cock over her skin, closing my eyes to hide how bad the pain shooting through my side felt.
“Mmmm, maybe I was wrong,” she whispered as she began pumping me. “Maybe you are doing better.”
With each stroke of my cock, her hand delivered pleasure that mixed with the pain shooting across my ribs and made the top of my head feel like it was about to blow off. I groaned low and deep every time her palm grazed the base before sliding up slowly to the tip, my brain involved in a tug-of-war over how much I wanted her to continue and how much I wanted to come so the pain would subside.
She kissed me long and deep, slipping her tongue into my mouth to tease me. I buried my hand in her hair and held her to me, moaning against her lips, “Don’t stop, baby. Fuck, don’t stop.”
I felt like someone was stabbing me in the side over and over, but I didn’t care. Ecstasy overwhelmed the agony.
“You look like this hurts,” she whispered. “Are you sure you want me to continue?”
Looking up at her, I saw the concern written on her face. “I don’t care how much it hurts. Just don’t stop. This feels so fucking good. I need something to think about when I have to be away from you today.”
“Okay. Then lean back, relax, and enjoy yourself,” she said with a smile.
I did exactly that and let her jerk me off as I fantasized about the next time I’d be able to be inside her, my cock sliding in and out of her tight cunt as she moaned how much she never wanted me to stop.
“You look so masculine lying there so completely focused on your cock, you know that?” she said as she lingered her hand on the tip.
Opening my eyes, I looked down at the beautiful sight of her touching me and smiled up at her. “I’m actually thinking about how good it’s going to feel when I get to fuck you again.”
“Oh yeah? How good?” she asked as her hand slid down to cup my balls to give them a single gentle squeeze.
“Oh, God…I’m going to make you come so hard with my mouth on your pussy, and then I’m going to bury my cock in your cunt and fuck you until I fill you up. And when I’m done, you’re going to beg me to fuck you again.”
Serena kissed me hard as I began to come and whispered against my lips, “And you will because you know how happy I am when you’re inside me.”
Groaning as my balls emptied all over her hand, for a precious few
seconds I felt no pain, just the pure ecstasy of coming that pushed aside every ache in my body. I inhaled a deep breath for the first time in days and let the air out slowly, relishing how good it felt.
But then the pain rushed back, and I doubled over in agony. Pushing Serena’s hand away, I fell back against the tub.
“Are you okay? I didn’t mean to hurt you, Ryder. I’m sorry.”
I saw the horror in her eyes and shook my head. “No, it’s okay. At least for a few seconds, nothing hurt. The problem is when the pain came back, it came back with a vengeance. I’ll be good in a minute or two.”
“Coming isn’t supposed to hurt,” she said with a sexy smile.
“Broken ribs do their best to put a damper on sex.”
Leaning over the tub, she kissed me sweetly on the lips. “Do they put a damper on you going down on me?”
I smiled at the thought of tasting her on my lips again. “No, I think that could work.”
“Good. When you get back from work today, I’ll be waiting in your bed.”
As she walked out of the bathroom, my cock started to get hard again at the mere idea of her waiting for me. “Be naked. If it’s a bad day, I’m not going to want to bother with clothes.”
“Naked it is,” she yelled in from the bedroom. “Naked, wet, and dying to feel your mouth on me.”
As always, I’d be counting the seconds until I saw her again.
* * *
Robert sat alone in his office when I arrived, so I knocked on his door since I wasn’t sure I would be welcome there anymore. He may have promised Serena he wouldn’t have me beaten again, but that didn’t mean he still thought of me as someone he could trust.
He looked up from his laptop and stared at me, his dark eyebrows rising into his forehead like he was surprised to see me standing there. “Ready to get back to work again?”
I nodded but still didn’t enter his office. I didn’t know what I expected, but I didn’t want to push my luck and overstep my bounds on my first day back.
“You can come in, Ryder. Nothing’s changed.”
Everything in his demeanor said otherwise, and my broken ribs seemed like strong evidence that things had definitely changed between us. I walked in and took my position against the bookcase on the far wall as he continued whatever he was doing on his laptop.
He may have wanted me to think nothing had changed, but something in the air felt different. If I knew Robert, he liked the idea of me wondering when the other shoe would drop. It gave him power over me, something he’d always enjoyed in that sick way of his.
After fifteen minutes of waiting for him to say something, I began to wonder if having me waiting on pins and needles was exactly what my job would be. Sort of free amusement for a sadist.
Not that I expected an apology for what he’d done to me. He’d never apologized to Serena for any of the horrible things he’d done to her, and nothing made me believe he felt any remorse for having me beaten within an inch of my life.
I’d betrayed him, and he’d punished me for it. To Robert, it was as simple as that. You were either loyal or not. I’d made the mistake of being disloyal, and he’d made me pay for it.
The question was just how long he would make me continue to pay. I didn’t care as long as I was the one paying and not Serena.
Finally, he looked up from his laptop and nodded. “We’ve got a big day ahead of us. I want you to accompany me to a meeting I have with Tamsin Industries. Are you up to it?”
His gaze slid down my body to where his guys cracked my ribs, and I instinctively winced in pain. “I’ll be fine. Whatever you need, I’m good.”
That familiar crocodile smile spread across his face. With a chuckle, he said, “This meeting ought to be enjoyable. My company is planning a hostile takeover, and this is Tamsin’s last chance to give in before I begin turning the screws. I love these kinds of meetings. There’s nothing like squeezing the life out of someone when you know you can.”
I knew how much he loved that kind of power and wondered if Serena and I would ever be safe again as long as we stayed at that house. The sooner we got out, the better, before we were the ones he was turning the screws on.
Pretending that I didn’t believe he was talking about lording his power over me or his daughter, I smiled and said, “You’re going to own the entire mining industry soon.”
He dismissed my flattery with a wave of his hand. “Oh no. Tamsin isn’t mining. It’s pharmaceuticals. It’s best to always make sure to have more than one iron in the fire.”
What I knew about Robert’s actual businesses added up to very little. He usually kept me involved in the illegal parts of his empire, so trying to discuss anything about his mining interests or his planned hostile takeover of a pharmaceutical company left me with little to say.
But I had the sense he had more on his mind, so I did my smile and nod routine and prepared to fake listen to him brag about his business expertise. When he didn’t continue talking and returned his attention to his laptop, I had to admit I was thankful. I still didn’t feel entirely comfortable there with him, but at least silence meant he wasn’t threatening me or Serena.
After a few minutes, he closed his laptop and leaned back in his chair. “You know, I gave my daughter permission to be with you. Do you know why?”
Not a single answer I came up with sounded like anything I should actually say out loud, so I merely shook my head and remained quiet.
“I like you, Ryder. I always have. I didn’t want to have you beaten like I did. It pained me to hurt you. I think of you like a son in many ways. The son I never had. But I didn’t have a choice. You betrayed me, so there had to be consequences.”
For a moment, I considered asking why he was allowing Serena and me to be together then, but I decided now wasn’t the time for being cocky. Better to let Robert just talk since he didn’t look like he was finished quite yet.
“I guess in hindsight I should have predicted this would happen. I mean, after catching you and Serena that night in your bedroom before I sent her to Italy, I guess it was just a matter of time. I thought she’d outgrown you when I saw the two of you together at Janelle’s wedding, but I should have known better. Once Serena cares for someone, that love never dies. I can say that for her.”
“We never meant to make you angry by being together,” I said quietly, feeling like I needed to explain myself in some way.
He looked past me toward the top of the bookcase and chuckled. “I wasn’t angry. I knew she never loved Oliver, and I guess in retrospect, that marriage never had a chance.”
I wanted to say he was as much to blame for that marriage being a failure as we were, but I didn’t. Maybe it was the pain in my side practically bringing tears to my eyes as I stood there, or maybe it was the feeling that there was no point in trying to explain to Robert that forcing someone to marry someone they didn’t love wasn’t right.
Suddenly, he returned his focus to me and knitted his eyebrows. When he began speaking, it felt like he was intentionally taking his time so I understood his point. “I’m going to warn you. Sleep with one eye open, son. If it was Janelle you were with, I’d say you’ve got it made. She’s entirely predictable and easily placated. But Serena is nothing like her sister. There’s something in her I can’t put my finger on. She’s like her mother, and to this day, I still can’t explain why she did the things she did. Serena’s not ruled by logic, and those kinds of people don’t live by the same rules we do. Watch yourself.”
Whatever rules he thought I lived by, nothing I based my life on resembled what he believed in the least. He didn’t know Serena because he’d never seen her as anything but something to use and manipulate for his own gains.
That her heart ruled her was one of the reasons I loved her. I said nothing in response to his warnings and merely continued to smile as the truth began to sink in. Robert not only didn’t understand her.
He didn’t believe that we could actually be in love.
Chapter Thirteen
Serena
All day I worried about what my father could be doing to Ryder now that he was back at work for him. Robert Erickson prided himself on his skill in breaking people, and even though he’d promised me Ryder would never be beaten again, I knew in my heart he’d do something to make him suffer.
Sooner or later, he’d drop the façade and show his true self once again.
As I thought about what he’d do, I heard the door to Ryder’s apartment open and hurried to see how he’d fared on his first day back. My heart raced at the idea that he might be hurt even worse than before, but as I watched him slowly walk toward the living room, he seemed to be okay.
“Hey, I thought the deal was you’d be waiting for me naked in bed. I’ve been looking forward to that all day,” he said with a smile, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close.
I tilted my head to look up at him and thought I saw a dark area under his left eye. “What happened? Did he go back on his promise already?” I asked as I gently ran my fingertips over his cheek.
Ryder took my hand in his and brought my fingers to his lips in a kiss. “I’m fine. He didn’t do anything. It was just a regular work day, strangely enough.”
“Nothing? What did he say about what he did to you?”
“Nothing. He acted like everything was the same between us. Like he didn’t have his two goons rough me up right there in that office.”
“I don’t trust him. That sounds like how a psychopath acts.”
Bending down, Ryder kissed me sweetly and smiled. “Oh, he’s a psychopath. I have no doubt about that. For now, though, he seems to want to pretend like we’re okay and he has no problem with us being together.”
I placed my head on his chest over his heart and sighed. “So now we get to wonder when he’ll strike again. Sounds like the work of a psychopath.”
“Don’t worry,” Ryder whispered against the top of my head. “Whatever he does to me, I can handle it. As long as we’re together, I can take anything he dishes out.”
