Chapter 49
Chapter Forty-Nine
Ripley (Ripper)
“RIP STOP!”
Destroy it! Take it down! It doesn’t belong here! ENOUGH! ENOUGH! ENOUGH!
“RIPLEY!”
Tear it apart. Set it on fire. Bury it alive. Light it up. Drop the match. Burn it to the FUCKING GROUND!!!
“ENOUGH! My love, STOP!”
Warm hands encompass my cheeks as a body presses against my stomach and chest. Warm breaths fan across my face and I feel…
“I love you. Come back to me. Please. We’re here. We love you. Don’t do this.”
Cassie. I feel Cassie.
A hard wall cradles my back, and a cool, rough hand takes the match from my shaking fingertips. Something waves the smoke away from Cassie’s face.
Cassie. I feel Cassie.
“Yes, you’re doing it. Breathe, my love. Just breathe.”
I breathe her in. Home. Safety. Future.
But this? “It needs to rot,” I rasp, blinking so I can see her face when I tell her why. “These chains, this dungeon, he made it an exact replica. It needs to die with him.”
I never told her that. That the chains weren’t the only things, and I suspect the others didn’t notice either because the focal point was Cassie hanging from a contraption I shared with our enemy.
The cement color, organization of devices, lighting style, even the goddamn chair is the fucking same. Cassie doesn’t so much as glance around to see if I’m telling the truth, but I can feel the other three stiffen in realization.
I only lasted two fucking months since getting her home before I snapped. This needs to be done, and I can’t move forward until it’s decimated. I can’t have this beneath my feet any longer. It’s her hell and my shame.
“Okay,” she breathes, bright blue eyes ping ponging between mine while she holds my face in the palm of her hands. “But not yet.”
My eyebrows slam down. “No. Now.”
She reads the desperation between the lines. “In a few minutes. But first we need to do something. Do you trust me?”
“With my heart, mind, body, and soul.” No hesitation. Everything that I am is hers.
Her eyes soften and a warm smile tugs her lips up.
She’s always doing that. Acting like I’m not crazy or unhinged.
“I love you, Ripley,” she reminds me now just like she did after lunch.
And before breakfast, and first thing this morning.
It’s the same thing every day. Unconditional love, support, and now… challenge?
“We’re going to take back our power before our club dismantles this place for us, alright?” She’s nodding with encouragement, but I can’t possibly know what she means. Cassie shouldn’t even be in here.
“Cassidy—”
Her head shakes, red hair flinging about. “Please. I need you to tie me up and—”
“NO!”
“ABSOLUTELY NOT!”
“FUCK NO!”
The others protest but I stay silent, hearing her out. She’s like me. Different. Our needs, what we can handle, bend common understanding. Hell, her best friend and Maddox were terrified she’d suffer mentally after her ordeal. She did, but it wasn’t in the expected way.
Instead of crying and breaking day in and day out, she got mad. And you know what? She channeled it all on her own with our support and suggestions.
“And what?” I prod. Whatever she needs I’ll give. No matter how fucked.
Pulling me toward the chair that I should have broken first, she holds eye contact. “Just love me. Touch me. Say sweet things. Please.”
My stomach roils when she sits in my torture chair. Don’t think about it. Don’t picture it. Don’t remember it.
When the others start to protest and rush toward her, she cuts them off.
“My therapist and I talked about it. It was my idea, and she supported it. All I need is a few minutes to replace the horror, then you can take me home. I swear. Ripley and I need this. Please,” she begs Maddox, Koa, and Parker. They need it too.
I’m already removing my stretchy sweatshirt and moving toward her before they reluctantly agree. “No chains,” I rasp hovering over her.
“No chains.” Cassie nods as if she suspected as much.
Maddox goes through her safe words and the rules while I wrap the fabric around her torso. I keep the knot in the back loose and begin scratching my nails through her hair.
Her breathing has picked up, but she hums in pleasure at the massaging contact. Cassie welcomes the therapeutic experience, but I’ll watch her closely. Only a few minutes. I won’t be able to stomach more.
Koa steps up next and kneels just like he did the day we found her. Except this time, his knees stay dry and he doesn’t hesitate to knead her healed thighs.
Parker takes measured steps toward us. He wasn’t able to touch her or reach her that day. The moment his fingers graze her jaw, a tear slips free from his eye. “Never again.”
Cassie agrees with him, tears slipping down her cheeks and into his palm. He wastes no time sucking them from his fingertips.
Maddox is next. The most hesitant of all, but when she meets his gaze with a smile, he dives forward and tugs her face into his neck. Their embrace forces Parker and me to step back.
“Good girl. Our sweet, strong, epic fucking woman. We’re so proud of you. We love you, Cassidy Sterling. So much.”
Her gentle sobs rock my heart so fiercely I untie her before she says to. Immediately, Cassie flings her arms around Maddox’s neck and sniffles. “Take me home, Maddy.”
I read her right. She was ready, and I released her. Now, I’ll love her until the end of time.
I thought getting her home was excruciating. No. This is.
“Rip, I’m okay. Please,” Cassie squirms, begging me to slip my dick into her and finally claim her as mine. Except, I’m fucking terrified. The big bad stalker who tortures people is terrified to fuck his old lady.
Her glistening lips mock me, and the watchful looks of the other three are heavy. “What if I hurt you? I can’t—”
Fuck, am I about to cry?!
Smooth, soft legs wrap around my hips and force the head of my cock to notch her entrance. One thin arm pulls me closer by my neck while the healing one rests beside her. “I’ll hold on so there’s no chance I'll pull something. Okay?”
“I’m wide—”
She cuts off my concern with a kiss on my nose. “And I was made for you. Please, Ripley.”
Made for me. Those words narrow my attention, forcing me to trust the others to make sure I don’t hurt her sensitive joints. “Mine.”
In one swift move, I seat myself in her tight cunt, not once letting up as I drive her higher and higher. “Release,” I whisper into her ear. Tensing her muscles increases the chance that she hurts herself. Like the good girl she is, her elbows unclench and her knees slip a little.
Even in the throes of passion, her health, happiness, and safety are on my mind. I know without a shadow of a doubt that if I miss something, our three men are ready to step in.
Slick walls rippling around my cock clue me into her impending orgasm. “Look at you,” I coo, brushing the hair off her sweaty forehead, slowing myself down. That doesn’t mean I lessen the intensity. Oh no. I fuck her hard while showing her there’s nobody else in the world I’m thinking about.
“My pretty kitty. Obedient pet. Look at how perfect you are, coming on my cock.”
“RIPLEY!”
Holding back my own shudder, I hum and lick the drool slipping from her lips. To my utter delight, a tear falls from her fluttering lashes. “Mmm, you’re crying for me. Absolute perfection.”
Her next teardrop and muffled moan sends me crashing over the edge and into a new abyss I don’t ever plan on leaving. Here, I’ll happily drown in Cassie’s tears as long as they’re only from pleasure or happiness. With the four of us, I guarantee, we’ll ensure that’s the case.