7. Riven
RIVEN
I t was hard not to ravage Lakynn right there in that field, but I refused to touch her beautiful body for the first time while my hands are covered in another man’s blood. She fights me on it, but ultimately lets me carry her up to the barn on the Kozlov property so we can wash up. I know our father is aware of my presence in our little town. He’s probably looking for me, or at the very least waiting for me to show up, so I left the truck down in the field. He didn’t build the Kozlov empire by being clueless. He knows he’s on my list of people to eliminate before we leave town.
Once I’m satisfied that there isn’t a trace of that fucker’s blood on either of us, I scoop Lakynn back up in my arms and set her down on the workbench like she’s breakable.
She’s not. God, she’s never been. She’s a wildfire wrapped in fucking lace, and I’d let her burn me to the bone if it meant I could keep her close. But after the way I found her staring down a man who only wanted to hurt her, I handle her like she’s made of glass. I take a deep breath because she’s something I’ve been missing my whole fucking life.
I’m buzzing.
My blood is pumping so loud in my ears. I can still hear the wet crack of Matthew’s ribs shattering beneath my boot. I can still taste the violence on my tongue. I should be reeling from that, but I’m not. I’m high on my girl and what I did for her. High on whatever this is between us.
Her legs dangle over the edge, shoes muddy, hair wild from running. Her cheeks are flushed, her mouth red from the cold, and I swear to God she’s never looked more like mine.
I step between her knees, just close enough to touch, but I don’t. Not yet. I let my fingers tangle in the ends of her hair, twisting it slowly around my knuckles, watching how it coils and catches.
She doesn’t stop me.
I stare at her like I’ll never get enough. I won’t. There’s not a reality where this girl isn’t the entire center of my existence. I could breathe her in for the rest of my life and still feel like I’m starving.
“You can be mad at me,” I murmur. “But I’m not going anywhere without you.”
Her lips twitch. And not in the way I want. She pushes against my chest, not hard, but enough to get my attention. Enough to try and put space between us.
“You left me,” she says, and her voice cuts through me.
I don’t defend myself. Not yet. She needs to get this out, everything she’s been bottling up for the last six months.
She glares at me like she’s daring me to lie, but I don’t say anything. I cup her face in my hands and hold her still, because she doesn’t get to look at me like I’m a stranger. Not when every beat of my heart has been synced to hers since the day we met.
I don’t have time to explain everything to her right now, but I will. “I’m never going to be apart from you again,” I say. “Not for anything.”
“I was going to kill him myself,” she says, voice low, like maybe she hasn’t ever said that out loud.
My jaw flexes and I shake my head slowly. “You shouldn’t have had to worry about him or anyone.”
I brush my fingers across her cheek, then cup the back of her neck. She stiffens beneath my hand, but I’m quick to move my hand to grip her chin. I tilt her face to mine, forcing her to meet my eyes. “Look at me.”
She does.
“I’m sorry you had to see all that back there. I could not handle knowing he was alive and walking around thinking it was okay to put his hands on you.”
Her expression falters. Her eyes glisten, not quite tears, but close. “He never got the chance.”
My chest tightens at the admission, even though I already know the asshole had an agreement to wait until the wedding night when the ink was dry on the contract. “I would’ve tortured him for centuries if he had.”
Lakynn reaches up, almost without thinking, and adjusts my baseball hat the same way she used to before things got all fucked up. Before I left town.
Then she realizes what she’s doing and tries to pull back.
I catch her wrist.
“Please,” I whisper, breathing hard. “Don’t pull away from me.”
I press her palm to my cheek, holding it there like it’s my only salvation. Because it really, truly is. I close my eyes and lean into her hand.
She doesn’t pull away this time.
Her fingers stroke my skin, gentle, reverent.
“I’ve missed you so much it makes my bones ache,” I murmur.
I kiss her palm. Then the inside of her wrist.
She starts to scoot forward, but I grab her hips and hold her in place. I don’t know if she’s trying to move closer to me or trying to get away. I need her right where I have her. I can’t lose control and rush this. It wouldn’t be fair to her. Nothing has been fair to her, and I’m determined to make that right.
“We need to go,” I say, keeping my voice gentle. “There are things I need to take care of before we disappear.”
Her eyes flick to mine. Cautious. But she’s wary. “Disappear?”
I nod. “Once I’m done, we’re gone. You and me.”
She blinks. “Where?”
I lean in, brushing her hair off her cheek. My thumb stays at her jaw.
“Somewhere safe,” I promise. “Where you’ll never have to worry. No one will ever touch you again.” Caiden Grey has helped me arrange everything, and I’ll owe him big, but it’s worth it. My girl is worth everything in the damn world.
She swallows hard. The tension between us shifts into something even heavier now. I can feel it humming beneath her skin, just like it does mine. She looks at my mouth. I see it. I feel it. She wants me the way I want her.
But I don’t kiss her.
I can’t with how reckless I feel right now.
My hand finds her knee and then creeps higher up her thigh. My breath catches when she shudders, just slightly, but enough that I feel her instinctively part her legs, allowing me better access.
“Good girl,” I murmur, fingers trailing over the damp heat pressed against her worn, thin jeans. “That’s it. That’s my good girl.”
She gasps as I rub her gently through the fabric, and her forehead presses harder against mine.
“You’re so wet for me,” I breathe, dragging my mouth down to her neck. “All this just for me?” I smile because she’s speechless.
I can’t take it. I knew I wouldn’t be able to. I’m in a frenzy lifting her up and pulling her jeans down enough that I can push the thin fabric of her panties aside and slide one finger inside of her wet heat.
She moans into my shoulder, clinging to my jacket.
“You’re so fucking tight for me, baby,” I groan, moving my hand slowly, savoring the way her body grips me. “Are you going to be able to take my cock? Are you going to take it like a good girl for me?”
Lakynn doesn’t answer because I don’t give up on pleasuring her. I don’t let up or give her a second to try and stave off her release. I want her to come for me and I want it now. Her hips grind down against my palm as I circle her clit with my thumb.
“Give me what I want, Lake,” I demand, and that’s all it takes. She comes undone quietly, breath hitching, eyes squeezed shut, body shaking as she cums all over my finger.
I pull it out of her and lick it clean, my eyes locked on hers the entire time.
“I’d die to taste you again,” I mutter, dropping to my knees between her thighs.
I spread her open, dragging my tongue up the length of her bare pussy. She cries out because she’s too sensitive. It’s too much, but I don’t care. I need more. I need everything she’s got.
My girl grabs my hair and pulls me back.
“I can’t,” she whispers. “Not again. It’s too much.” Her legs are shaking and the look of innocent surprise in her eyes tells me that she’s never had an orgasm like this.
I press a kiss to her inner thigh, groaning softly.
She tastes like everything I never deserved. My whole body aches with the need to stay there, to worship her until she forgets every second she spent angry at me for leaving.
I see the way she’s shivering. It’s not just from overstimulation, but the cold. I’d rather die than make her uncomfortable. I settle my hands on her thighs, thumbs brushing her skin. I kiss her knee. Her hip. The inside of her leg.
Then I stand again, slowly, because she looks so beautiful laid out before me. My lips find her cheek, then her temple. Then I rest my forehead against hers as I see snow falling in thick, soft flakes through the window behind her.
“Baby, I need you to know something,” I whisper, “I was without you once. I’m not about to let you out of my sight ever again.”
She exhales shakily. Her fingers curl into the fabric of my coat.
I can feel her breaking, letting her guard down just like I already have.
But then my gaze drops to her wrist. A bruise. Small, dark, but unmistakably a fingerprint so rough that it left a mark behind. My stomach knots.
I grab her arm gently, turning it so I can see better.
"Who did this to you?" My voice is low.
She pulls back slightly, but I don’t let go.
"Lakynn." My grip tightens. "Who did this?"
She doesn’t answer.
"Tell me." My jaw clenches.
Finally, she whispers, "Dad. When I refused to put the ring on. He grabbed me."
I go still. Quiet.
Then I move.
I realize she still has that stupid ring on and I slip it off quickly. She doesn't fight it but she does flinch as if I’ve hurt her, despite the ring sliding off easily. Rage runs through me when I notice the bruise already darkening her finger.
That fucking bastard. I take the ring and chuck it far across the room, hearing the satisfying clank of it falling to the floor.
She looks at me dazed when I scoop her up and help her fix her clothes. "Where are we going?" she asks me.
"To return the favor," I say.
Because he put his hands on her and now I’m going to leave bruises of my own.