“Are you done already? I can’t believe a supposed future Lord would tire so easily.”
“Easily? Woman I was working out for an hour before you even came in.”
“So?”
He stands back, looking me up and down and then charges at me. I try to run away, but he is faster than I expected. Ryan has a tight hold on me and a wide, cocky smile. “Someone is a little slow.”
“I’m not slow. I’m just ...”
“Tired maybe?” Ryan suggests.
“No!” I flip him over and straddle him, holding him down and staring directly into his devilish eyes for the first time. I search them for a time, trying to understand, when his eyes begin to swirl and I sink into a hypnotic state.
“Get off me, Sky.”
My body is heavy as his power wraps around my skin, pulls into my muscles, and grabs my focus, holding me tight while repeating in my head what he wants me to do. What he wants. That’s how the power works, making you believe what he wants is what you want. It takes control of your head, transforming your senses. Your hearing shuts off, your mouth feels dry, and your blood flow begins to slow until your heart only beats in the rhythm in which he desires. He has me, and this is the point in which he either kills you, by stopping your blood flow, telling your brain to turn off and die, or you do what he wants. It’s that simple. At least, it’s that simple for most. For me, this is the point where my toes begin to twitch. It’s like a poison, you see, and most are forced to accept it, but my body has the ability to take it in and change it to something else, a much more simplified control of my own. Starting from my toes, the poison pushes back out of my body until I am able to shake it out of my head and refocus.
“No.” He looks surprised. “That’s right, no you stay down instead.” I take hold of his wrists and hold them over his head, and for a brief minute, I am able to hold him down with his own power. “Who has the power now, Ryan?” I ask enjoying my ability briefly.
He pushes me off of him and jumps up, staring in amazement. “How did you do that?”
“It’s a little something my ancestors passed down to me. The ability to the take the power being inflicted on me and turn it back on my attacker. I assume it’s why my family was in power at one time. Unfortunately, the power is only temporary, not nearly long enough to create much trouble. Although, I have tried to figure out how to make it cause a lot more.”
“I bet you have,” he snaps. “Why haven’t you said something about it before now?”
“Why would I do that? I would have never been able to experience the expression on your face right now. You Savages really hate to be surprised, especially by a woman.”
“We Savages? Who else have you done this to? It wasn’t Nick. He would have said something, and he wouldn’t waste time trying to control you.”
“Maybe he did. Maybe he wanted to see if he could get something without the wife finding out?” He laughs harshly, pissing me off. “Why is that funny? You don’t think he would find me desirable?”
“Oh, I am sure he might think you’re attractive, but he would never act on it or want to. You really don’t know my brother at all, do you? Nick cares about no one other than Kayla. He lives only for her. My grandfather, however, lived only for himself, and he wouldn’t have hesitated to take you.” I stand silent. “So, what did he do to you? No matter how much power you have, I doubt you were able to escape him unscathed, and considering your screaming the other night, I am assuming you must have denied him and he made you regret it. I can only imagine what kind of anger he would have inflicted on you. I have seen his wrath, and I still have nightmares about it.”
“I hate him, and no amount suffering he may be living in right now is enough!” I yell at Ryan’s stunned expression. Grabbing my clothes, I walk away to enjoy a private, warm shower. When I finish, I crave something home cooked, something special that reminds of a better time.
I haven’t cooked for someone in some time, not since I was an innocent, young bride excited to make a meal for her new, handsome husband. David was so wonderful to me. I thought, for sure, he would love me forever. Then, Savage saw me, and suddenly, David thought it was no big deal to hand me over to him with his compliments. Please, take my wife to be your sex slave for however long you wish.
“Don’t worry, Sky. You’ll be back, and we will have everything we could have ever wanted if you please him properly. Just imagine, all of our dreams will come true plus some,” he said to me as I fought to keep from being taken away by Savage’s men.
“David, I don’t want to be with him. How could you trade me as if I am a piece of property?”
“Why are you complaining? His prowess is legendary. You will have orgasms for days if you will only relax and enjoy it,” he says with a smile. It was in that instance that everything I thought to be true and wonderful, turned into a nightmare. I thought I could keep that nightmare in the back of my mind now that Savage was gone, but it keeps haunting me when I least expect it. It’s as if Savage is calling to me from the grave, and I can’t run from him—even now.
I remember being take away and watching David wave to me as if I was going on an exciting vacation. My marriage was soon found to be wrong and dismissed, cleared from the books, freeing him to marry another. Within hours after I was taken away, he was spotted holding hands with her. I tried to see him again, but his memory of me was wiped clear. He has no recollection of me at all.
I hate David, maybe more than Savage, because he was a weak-minded fool. Never again will I let a man dictate my life, not without a fight.
“You’re cooking?” Ryan asks, walking in behind me.
“Yes. I was bored and there seems to be plenty of food to make a few meals. I thought maybe we should use it before it all goes bad.”
“It smells good. Need any help?” he asks, shocking me that he would volunteer for such a trivial chore or volunteer to work next to me. “I am pretty good in the kitchen too, you know.”
“And you’re bored, right?” I ask, knowing there would be no other reason he would be searching for something to do.
“Yeah, I need to get out of this house soon too before I go crazy. Maybe we can go somewhere tomorrow? I can’t imagine Marius has anything planned for me right now with Amery harassing him the way he is.”
“Sounds good. Until then, can you cut the potatoes?” I ask, handing him a bowl. He smiles with a nod. I feel him looking at me for some time before I can take it no more. “What? You obviously want to ask me something, so what is it?”
He laughs. “Alright, so who was he?”
“Who was who?”
“The man you used to cook for, the one who broke your heart to the point you are cold and heartless, constantly looking to control every man that looks your way.” I glare at him. “You said I could ask.”
I shake my head with a sigh. “Fine. His name was David, and he was my husband.”
“You were married?”
“Yes, don’t act so shocked! There are men who would love to marry me, or there were anyway.”
“I’m sure there are still. I just didn’t know anyone could actually succeed in their pursuit of you.” He clarifies.
“Well, he did. I loved him, and it was a perfect marriage until …” I stop before I say too much.
“Until?” I look his way and huff. “Oh, so he killed your husband?”
“No, he convinced him that he should hand me over to him and marry someone else. Now can we talk about something else?” I ask with a quick pointed glance in his direction.
He takes a breath before he goes back to his potatoes. “Sure. So tell me, what does Skylar like to do outside of being my great bodyguard?”
“Well, I like to cook.” I smile, looking down at Shadow as he paws at my leg for another scrap of food. “I also love animals. I never really knew I did until I came to this side of the world. By the way, did you know there is a cat that lives in the backyard?”
“I did. I put him there. He was a
stray from the other house. He was there when I moved in, and he was severely malnourished. I wasn’t about to leave him there to starve after we left. In the chaos, I forgot about him, so I had Marcus and some of our other guys go back and find him for me. I told them he had a special tag that I needed so they wouldn’t make fun of me. Or give me that look you are giving me now.” I snicker to myself, trying to hide my expression from him. “It was really for my nephew. I told him about the cat, and he would be so upset if I left him. Besides, I only gave him a small area of the backyard, nothing much, but at least here he …”
“He can have a little house of his own, constant food and water, and toys. I saw the poor little guy cuddling up to his new blanket yesterday, so you can stop pretending to be Mr. Tough Guy about the whole thing.” Ryan turns his back to me with an attitude, but I can still see the corners of his smile. “He is cute though.”
“Do you like music?” he asks before ordering some tunes on the house speakers. “Do you dance?”
“Not really, do you?”
“Some. My mother would force me and Nick to dance with her whenever our father wasn’t around. Nick was more apt to please her than I was, but I still picked up a few things.”
“I don’t believe you. You don’t look like a guy who could …” Before I can finish, he takes my hand, spins me around the kitchen, and makes me dizzy before I am pulled back against his chest. A suave move of his hips, and I laugh nervously until he dips me and looks into my eyes with a devilish smile. “Watch it, devil boy, you don’t want those demon eyes to force me to have control right now. I am not exactly balanced to hold us both.” Ryan quickly puts me back on my feet, and we go back to cooking dinner. Only, for some reason, I feel a mood coming on I haven’t felt in some time, one that makes me not only smile, but sing. I start out soft and low until I glimpse his way and notice him watching and waiting for more. A few more innocent notes and I feel good enough to break free in front of him. It has been a long time since I enjoyed a song. Ryan hands me a large wooden spoon, and I continue on, leaning into him and pointing the spoon towards him to try and get him to sing along. He only shakes his head at first, but after a few nudges, he finally chimes in with a hard rock sound that shocks me. We sing and dance until dinner, and with all the amazing food on the table, we force ourselves to stop and sit to enjoy the feast.
“Can I ask you how you met your husband? You don’t have to answer me if you don’t want to. I am curious is all.”
I consider the thoughts, and at first, I don’t want to answer him, but then… “I auditioned to be a singer in his band. Needless to say, I got the job and the guy too—for a while anyway. It was wonderful to be with him all the time. He became my best friend, and I loved everything about him. We would fight, of course, but always made up, and that part was great.” I look up at Ryan, biting my bottom lip.
“You miss him, don’t you?”
“No, I miss the idea of him. I miss feeling like I can depend on someone to be there when I need them the most. It’s exhausting to always be looking out for yourself by yourself.”
“So, instead, you volunteer to look out for me?”
“I guess that doesn’t make much sense on the surface, but for some reason, it’s more comforting to think you might die helping someone else than simply being attacked from behind and killed because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Wow, I wasn’t expecting that, but I can understand it. I am so glad I had Sam while I did and that I was able to make her happy, but I hate that it was because of me that she died the way she did. She was scared to death of fire, and I left her to die in a raging inferno. I thought I would feel better about her death after killing Savage, but it didn’t take the pain away. It just relieved some of the anger I had towards him. I don’t know your ex, but I know my grandfather, and I am sure whatever he did was his fault completely and not that of your ex.”
“We sang for him.” He looks up from his food, sitting up in his chair a little straighter. “My husband and I were invited to perform at one of his parties. We were excited and thought nothing about meeting him, but he stopped and introduced himself to us. It was an honor, and then during a break, he asked me to dance. You don’t tell him no, especially when he is on the prowl for a new wife. He was charming and thoughtful, and I believe he even tried to use his devilish skills to get me to stay but they don’t work on me, making me all the more desirable to him.” I shrug. “I was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“I’m sorry,” he says, leaning across the table towards me, and for a second, I think he is going to touch my hand, but he pulls back, showing even more pain than I feel.
“I’m sorry for you more. Losing someone is terrible, but losing them before you can complete the dreams you created together is even worse,” I reply, reaching for his hand and receiving a slight smile in return.
“You know that feeling as well as I do Sky. Maybe that’s why we understand each other more than we care to admit.” I guess’s he’s right. If only we could stop remembering those dreams that are never to be, maybe the torture would stop. He takes in a deep breath, dropping my hand in the process. “Have you ever played Gotcha?”
“No, what’s that?”
“It’s this new video game I got for my nephew. You build your person, and then you pick and create your opponents, and with each one you defeat, you get more weapons. Sometimes, you can choose powers, like to fly or …”
“See through to their brain and make their heart explode?” I ask with a cock of my head.
“You know, that’s the one thing you can’t do. Maybe I should write them about that. Anyway, it can be kind of fun killing bad guys. You could name one of them Dennis Savage.” He offers giving me a reason to smile uncontrollably. “Actually there is already one in there. Nicky and I kill him a lot or really chase and torture him because we don’t like to kill him too fast.”
I laugh. “I think I would really like that.” Ryan shows me to a huge game room. I give him an odd look and then remember he did this planning on his own. No woman would ever let him have this crap in the house. I sit down in the ridiculous game chair while Ryan shows me how to play. This is so stupid. When he’s done, he hands me the controller and helps me get going. An hour later, he sets it up so we can play at the same time because I wouldn’t let him have the controller back. “What are you doing? Taking out your own guy!? I got this asshole.”
“I am trying to help you!” he yells at me.
“I don’t need your help, my Lord, so mind your own damn business,” I snap, and he starts laughing so hard he messes up and gets us both killed. “You lost the game for us. Well, that’s okay. We can go again, right?”
“Yeah, but Sky it’s three in the morning. Maybe we should go to bed?” I look at the clock, and my jaw drops. “Yeah, time flies sometimes. Come on, even badasses need sleep.” He takes my hand and helps me up. We don’t say much as we head off to bed. We part ways at the top of the stairs with a simple, “Goodnight, Ryan.”
“Good night, Sky. Sleep well,” he says, kissing my cheek respectfully and going to his room.
I dance my way into my room, swooning until I have to grab a piece of furniture to keep from falling over. The dizziness lasts for a few minutes before I am able to walk again. I sit down on my bed exhausted, with my heart beating rapidly. “Oh no, please not now. Don’t let this be happening now.”
The next morning, I wake up a little weak but able to stand and walk with no trouble. Relief overtakes my fear, and I quickly jump up to take advantage of the beautiful day. Ryan wakes up in a chipper mood, teasing me from the moment he sees me. I love this attitude from him; it makes me feel at home. Watching him grab an orange and peel it over the sink so he can tear it apart and eat it, makes me want to walk up behind him, wrap my arms around his waist, and lay my head on his bare back. It seems like such a natural thing to do to someone you live with, especially someone so perfectly built and desirable. When he
turns and holds out a piece of his orange to me, I don’t even hear his words. I walk to him and eat the slice directly from his fingers. Holding onto his hand, I look up at him as he licks his lips and takes in a breath.
“Can I have another?” He tears off a piece and feeds me directly this time before eating another himself. When all the available slices are gone, I take his hands and lick his fingers completely clean. “There. Now you’re all clean.”
“Yeah, but you’re not.” He leans down, tasting my lips and tenderly teasing them until I open my mouth to his tongue. His lips are so soft, but they are strong enough to cause me to lean up on my toes to get closer to him. His hands take hold of my body, rubbing down my back and over my ass, squeezing me up and into him, forcing his rapidly growing erection into me. I repeat to myself that I can handle this, I can handle him, and then he pushes his thumbs underneath the edge of my shorts and pulls them up as he rubs harder and stronger against me. I nearly come when I feel his fingers graze my clit. I tear off my shirt and rapidly undo his pants to find his cock throbbing with excitement. He stops kissing me long enough to lift me into his arms and carry me.
“Where are we going?”
“We are not doing this for the first time in the kitchen. I want to make sure I am able to give you my full and proper attention,” he says taking me to his room, laying me down on my back and onto his bed and kissing my breasts tenderly. Cradling his head to my chest and rubbing my legs over his sends my head spinning, and then he leans up over me with his sheet fisting smile and whispers, “You’re so beautiful, Sky, and so amazing in so many ways. Don’t give up on love because of one man. I promise you, there are better men out there ready to fight for you and your heart.” He kisses me gently.
“Do you mean you? Will you fight for me, Ryan?”
He stops and looks down at me. “Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t know that I am ready to love anyone else right now, but after screwing a few of the wrong women, drinking to extremes, losing myself in revenge, and seeking a death wish in order to get that revenge, I think I am finally able to admit to myself that she’s gone and she’s never coming back. I will love her forever, but I think it’s time to start looking for someone else to give my heart to, and … I am willing to consider you, Badass. You drive me crazy, but at the same time, you make me laugh and feel good about the world again.” He laughs, playing with my hair and capturing my heart all at the same time.