Chapter 4 ReadyNot
READY OR NOT
SEVEN
The dying embers reflect red in Aurora's eyes as what remains of her abuser turns to chunky white ashes in the shallow grave at the far edge of our property.
Elijah took Ellie and went to talk with Atticus. Something about needing to state a boundary for tomorrow. Apparently, he's finally gotten everything in place for us to start.
Took him long enough, but I know he'll have fine-tuned every moving part to within an inch of its life to make sure there is no opportunity for error.
Despite what I said to him after knocking one of his teeth out, I know he cares about her. If he didn't, he wouldn't have done any of it. If I know my brother, and I'm pretty fucking sure I do, he caught feelings and he was scared shitless about it.
It's the only logical reason he'd have let himself get so lost down that rabbit hole.
He'll never admit it, and it doesn't justify his actions, but at least I get it now.
And I know he'll pull his head out of his ass and make it right somehow. In time. When he's accepted that this woman is already important to him and there's no way to undo it because that's how he is.
"You look so fucking sexy with fire in your eyes, Ro."
She blinks, and a slow smile spreads on her lips as she comes out of whatever trance she'd been in watching Jesse's corpse burn.
There were only a few missing bones, and they weren't far from the grave, so cleanup had been easier and faster than anticipated, but now the sun is almost at its lowest point on the horizon, and soon it'll be too dark for us to see our way back beneath the tree canopy.
Good thing I know the property by heart.
She sidles up next to me, and I open my arm for her to put hers around my middle and lean into my side.
I drop my face to the top of her head, inhaling the scent of her rose shampoo. Right now it's edged in fire smoke and somehow that makes it even better.
"Do you want to head back?" I ask against her hair. "The fire's out enough to shovel some dirt over it and call it a night."
I'm praying she says yes because I'm dying to get under that little black bikini. Have been since the second she came outside in it.
I toy with the thin black strap beneath her T-shirt, winding it around and through my fingers.
She jerks back suddenly, and I'm not fast enough to let go before the tie is pulled loose, coming undone and slipping through my fingers.
Ro gasps, making a show of putting a hand to her mouth while the other catches the bikini top as it slips from the hem of her burgundy shirt. "Seven," she chastises. "You're so bad."
I grin.
"Careful, Ro," I warn, picking up the shovel to lay some dirt over the still simmering embers. "Or I might decide I can't wait to get you back in the house before I have my way with you."
Her eyes spark with mischief. "Is that so?"
After the next few scoops of dirt, I stab the spade of the shovel deep into the ground and lean against the handle, cocking my head at her. "You really should be careful what you wish for."
She bites the inside of her cheek, sending a pulse of liquid fire through my cock.
Ro skips back a couple steps, taunting me as she swivels her head to find a path to run, her dark hair swaying across her back.
"Ro," I warn. "Don't run."
Some of the thrill in her eyes dulls, and her brow furrows. "Why not? Afraid you can't catch me?"
Oh…
I chuckle darkly.
"Afraid you won't like it when I do."
Her mouth opens in a little O of surprise, and I realize I haven't told her about one of my favorite games.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Have you ever been chased, Ro? Chased and caught and fucked into the earth?"
Her eyes go glassy, and her throat bobs.
"It's not for everyone."
But by the look on her face, I'm thinking maybe…
Maybe it's for her.
And fuck.
Fuck!
Now I want it more than I think I've ever wanted anything.
I want her to run.
She sees the shift in my expression and lets out a little sound like a gasp.
Then I see the moment she makes the decision to do it anyway, and I'm on her in seconds. I jerk her to a stop, pull her back into my chest with my hands like manacles around her wrists, holding them crossed over her breasts.
"Uh-uh, Ro," I whisper in her ear, and her body shivers against me. "If we're doing this, you need a safe word."
She stills in my arms, but only for a second. Only long enough for it to register, then I feel the thrill going through her like shocks against my skin where it touches hers.
Ro tests my hold on her wrists, struggling uselessly against me.
I dip my head to run my nose up the side of her neck, breathing her in, making her go slack in my arms. "Safe word, Ro," I murmur against her skin. "And then I'll let you go."
Aurora pushes her ass against my cock, rolling her hips back against me in a way that makes me clench my teeth. If I didn't want this so fucking badly, I'd take her right here atop the warmth of Jesse's ashes still simmering beneath the dirt, but I want her to run.
I want to chase her.
God, I need to chase her.
"R-Ro." Her name comes out in a stutter as she rolls her hips again, trying to make me give in, but there's no way I'm doing this without a safe word.
"Won't you stop if I say stop, Seven?" her voice is a breathy whisper, a tease for my senses.
I grunt into her hair, flexing my hips to push my rock-hard cock against her ass.
"Yes," I groan into her neck. "But depending on the fantasy and what you're into, it can be fun to shout stop when what you really want is for me to fuck you deeper." I nip at the shell of her ear. "But a safe word is nonnegotiable. You say it, and I respect your limits immediately."
"I think that's called consensual non-consent," she mutters breathily, and I smile.
"I know what it's called, Ro."
She shivers, whimpering with need, and I know this is going to be such a beautiful fucking night.
"Van Gogh," she says, and I remember the sparkle in her eyes when we showed her who we were in Paris. When we stole the Van Gogh painting Florence always wanted to add to our collection. "My safe word is Van Gogh."
Something inside of me that was coiled tight in the corner of a cage stirs as the door is unlocked.
I release her, but she doesn't run right away, she spins to face me, backing up slowly. "What's yours?"
I stalk closer to her, matching her step for step as she tries and fails to put distance between us.
"My what?"
"Your safe word."
I stop, blood singing in my veins.
Ro gives me a coy look, eyeing me up and down like I'm the prey here.
"What?" She lifts a shoulder. "I didn't say I wouldn't put up a fight."
White-hot electricity zaps me in place as my jaw unhinges and her threat settles in my mind like a promise.
"Oh, Aurora…"
My skin bristles as I kick off my boots and give my arms a good stretch, finding the ache in my shoulder from the bullet wound is barely more than an annoyance now. If anything, the little bite of pain will only add to the experience.
"You have no idea what you've just done…"
She's still backing away, but I can see now how her chest is rising and falling more rapidly, how the flush of excitement is red as a rose in her cheeks.
"You still haven't given me a safe word, Seven."
I grin, showing her all my teeth. "For you, my love, I don't need one."
Her eyes glint. "Suit yourself."
Then she's gone. The moonlight catches the pale flash of her legs as she weaves between the trees, and fuck if my greedy cock doesn’t throb at the sight of her running from me.
I force myself to wait. Not long. Just long enough for her to get a short head start. Five more seconds. I can do five seconds.
Five.
I bounce on the balls of my feet.
Four.
I shake the excess energy from my arms.
Three.
Somewhere far ahead, a twig snaps.
Fuck it.
With a growl in my throat, I tear after her into the growing dark.