Chapter Twenty-Eight
chapter twenty-eight
KIRA
“Mommy, I’m so tired,” Violet whines, “and my feet hurt.”
She was too heavy, so I had to put her down. But since I didn’t think any of this through, we’re both walking through the woods barefoot.
It’s late and dark, and every time I hear a noise, I’m not sure if it’s Brian or an animal—and I’m not sure which one I’d prefer it to be.
“I know, sweet girl. But we need to find a road.”
She sighs, but doesn’t argue, and we continue to walk.
I have no idea if we’re walking toward a road or farther into the woods, and I’m scared shitless, but I’m trying to stay brave for my little girl.
I’m also worried that if the pills don’t kill Brian—which I doubt they will—and we don’t get help soon, he’s going to wake up and be the one to find us.
We walk for several more minutes, and then I see a flash of light come through the trees, lighting up the area.
“Mommy!” Violet gasps, having seen it as well.
“That must be where the road is,” I tell her.
And if the lights were able to hit us, it must not be that far.
I guide us in the direction of where the light was with a newfound hope that we’ll find the road and hopefully someone to help us while praying it’s not Brian looking for us.
And then I hear a voice—the one I’ve been thinking about since we were taken—call out our names, and I pick Violet up and run toward it.
“Kira! Violet!”
“Ryder!” Violet and I call out at the same time.
“Ryder! We’re here!” I yell.
“Ryder!” Violet screams.
“Kira! Violet!” we hear again. “Where are you?”
“Keep yelling, Ryder!” I shout. “We can hear you.”
We keep calling each other’s names like a horrible game of Marco Polo. And then we see him. Standing at the edge of the woods.
The second he spots us, he takes off after us and doesn’t slow down until we’re in his arms.
“Oh, thank God,” he cries. “It’s really you.”
He peppers kisses all over my face while Violet stays squished between us, crying and thanking Ryder for finding us.
When he’s done kissing me, he takes Violet into his arms and hugs her tightly, kissing her forehead.
“I’ve been looking for you guys for hours,” he says, his eyes filled with tears.
“Brian took us and …” I let my words linger, not wanting to tell him in front of Violet that I drugged Brian.
“I know. The police found him, and he’s on his way to the hospital.”
My heart sinks. A huge part of me hoped he would be found dead so this would all be over.
“C’mon. Let’s get you girls home, where you belong.”
“Wait!” Violet says. “My backpack. I left it in that house.”
“I know,” Ryder tells her. “It’s how we were able to find you. The iPad’s location was on. But we can’t get it because the police need it. But I promise, tomorrow, we’ll go buy you a new backpack.”
“And a new iPad?” she asks.
“Whatever you want.” He kisses her cheek. “I’m just so glad you’re both okay. Now, let’s go let the police know I found you. They have several men looking for you as well.”
After we’re both checked out and we answer the police’s questions—and Ryder insists we answer the rest tomorrow after we’ve gotten some sleep—we head home.
When we walk through the door, the house feels different … empty.
“Where’s Addie?”
“She’s sleeping at Julian and Ana’s. I needed to focus on searching for you guys.”
I nod in understanding.
We put Violet to bed, letting her know that if she’s scared or she can’t sleep, she can come to our room, but she’s exhausted, and she falls asleep before we make it out of her room.
“I saw the properties,” Ryder says when we get to our room.
Despite having already showered, I feel like I need another one.
“I never would’ve?—”
“I know,” he says, not letting me finish. “The idea that you were planning to leave me flashed through my mind for a second, but then once I thought about everything we’ve been through, the way you love me and know that I love you, I knew you wouldn’t leave me.”
Ryder grips the curve of my hip and pulls me toward him. “That woman, Marie, who you thought was your friend …”
“I know,” I choke out. “She’s Nora.” I shake my head, feeling so stupid.
“She showed up here shortly after you disappeared, begging for me to take her back. She’s how I knew you were with Brian. She ran her mouth, and I was able to piece it all together.” He leans over and brushes his lips against mine. “She’s been arrested, and with all the laws they broke, they’re both going to prison for a long time.”
“Good. They deserve it.”
Ryder glides his hand around to my butt, but I shake my head.
“I need a shower. I feel dirty.”
His hands still. “Fuck, Kira. I’m sorry.”
Wait, what?
“Why are you sorry?”
“I’m over here, trying to touch you, and I didn’t even consider … fuck! Do you need to go to the hospital? You said you were okay, but I didn’t think about …”
“What are you talking about?” I ask in confusion.
“Did he … rape you?” he chokes out.
Oh!
“No!” I shake my head. “No. He didn’t touch me. Well, he touched my leg, but it was after I drugged him, so he was too out of it to do anything more.”
“Oh, thank God,” Ryder breathes. “I mean, if he had, I wouldn’t have judged you. It wouldn’t have been your fault.”
“I know,” I tell him, framing his face. “Thankfully, he didn’t. But being there with him, I still feel kind of dirty. I’d like a shower and for you to make me forget about today. Preferably at the same time.”
I smirk, and Ryder grins.
“Your wish is my command.”
He lifts me into his arms and walks us to the shower. After setting me on the counter, he turns the water on, and while it heats up, he removes his clothes and then mine.
Once we’re in the shower, he goes about soaping me up and scrubbing every inch of me. He runs the loofah along my shoulders and down my arms and then gives my breasts his full attention. When they perk up at his touch, he leans in and draws one nipple into his mouth. He nibbles on it playfully and then runs his tongue along it, teasing me.
When he backs away to continue cleaning me, I pout, but he only smiles as he drags the loofah down one leg and up another. I part my legs to give him easy access, and he grants me the sexiest boyish grin.
He makes a show of cleaning my most intimate area, making it a point to rub his knuckles across my clit. Electricity courses through me, and my body craves his touch.
“More,” I breathe, pushing my pelvis into his hand.
Ryder’s eyes lock with mine as his fingers dance across my pussy and then stop at my hole between my legs. He parts my lips and then thrusts his fingers into me.
“Yes,” I hiss. “Harder, please.”
With his hazel eyes never leaving mine, Ryder works me over expertly until I’m screaming out his name and coming all over his hand.
“Good?” he murmurs, slowly pulling his fingers out and lifting them to his mouth. He makes a show of licking my juices off them and then moans like the taste of me is all he needs to survive.
“So good,” I tell him, reaching down to stroke his cock so he can fuck me.
“Not yet,” he says, gently removing my hand.
When I pout, he chuckles softly before his expression turns serious.
“I was terrified I was going to lose you today. I’m going to take my time worshipping you, memorizing every inch of your body. Making you come over and over so that I can ingrain the sounds you make into my brain.”
“You don’t have to memorize anything,” I tell him, pressing my hand to his chest, right above his heart. “You have me. Every day for the rest of our lives.”
He swallows audibly and nods. “I was so fucking scared, baby.”
“I was too,” I admit. “But we’re home safe, and we’re okay.”
“I love when you say that.” He palms the side of my face. “ Home. This is your home. Tell me you’re not going anywhere. And as soon as those goddamn divorce papers are filed, you’re going to marry me and let me adopt Violet and make this our home.”
I’m nodding along as he speaks until he says something that has me stepping back. “You want to legally adopt Violet?”
“Are you serious?” He gives me an incredulous look. “Of course I do. I’ve been holding off until I knew you were okay with it. Trying to take shit slow. But I love her, Kira, the same way I love Addie, and I would like nothing more than to be her dad.”
Tears prick my eyes, and I’m thankful the water hides them, but still, Ryder notices—because he notices everything.
He leans in and kisses the tops of my cheeks. “I love you and that little girl more than every goddamn star in the sky. And you’re both mine.”
I encircle my arms around his neck and pull his face down to mine. “I love you. More than the moon and every star.”
Our mouths crash against each other, and our tongues unite. The kiss isn’t gentle. It’s rough, filled with desperation to show each other how deeply we feel.
Ryder lifts me against the cold tiled wall, and my legs wrap around his waist. And then, without wasting another second, he fills me with his long, thick cock.
Unlike our ravenous kissing, he makes love to me slow and deep, as if he wants to stay in me forever. Like he can never get enough. And I feel the same way.
Ryder doesn’t stop until we’ve both found our orgasm, and even then, he stays inside me, raining kisses all over my face, my breasts. And even though I know why he’s doing it—because he wants to memorize every inch of me—I let him. Because there’s nowhere I’d rather be than in Ryder’s arms, with him inside me, worshipping me.
RYDER
“Mommy!” Addie runs into the house and goes straight for Kira, sounding like she hasn’t seen her in a week when it’s only been eighteen hours.
“Chunk!” Kira picks her up and twirls her in a circle, raining kisses all over my daughter’s face. “I missed you.”
“Miss you!” Addie giggles.
She wiggles down and runs over to Violet, who hugs her tightly.
“I missed you, Addie.”
“Miss you!” Addie repeats.
“Damn, looks like I’ve been replaced,” I joke when Addie doesn’t even bother to come over to me. “You going to give your dad a hug?”
I bend down, and Addie runs into my arms.
“I love you, Monkey.”
“I lub you,” she says, making my heart swell.
“We’re so glad you guys are okay,” Ana says, giving Kira a one-armed hug since she has her daughter in her other arm. “I can’t believe that woman was her. ”
“I know.” Kira sighs. “But our attorney said with everything they’re being charged with, they’ll both be serving several years.”
“Good,” Julian says, holding Kingston in his arms. “I hope they rot.”
“Hey, Violet, what are you doing?” Ana asks, going over to where Violet has gone back to drawing at the table.
“I’m drawing a picture of my family,” Violet says. “Mommy said we get to live here forever.”
This morning, when Violet woke up, she asked if they could stay here, saying she never wanted to go back to Brian’s house again. Of course, Kira and I explained that what Brian and Nora had done was wrong—although we called her Marie since that’s how Violet knows her and trying to explain it would confuse her—and that she and her mom never have to leave again. This is their home, and we’re a family.
“Ryder,” Violet says, glancing up from drawing, “how do you spell your name?”
I walk over and kneel in front of her. “D-A-D.”
She writes the letters, then looks back up at me. “That’s not how you spell your name! That’s Dad.” And then her eyes go wide.
“I know,” I tell her softly. “But I was thinking that maybe you’d want to call me Dad because I’d love it if you were my daughter, just like Addie.”
“You want to be my dad?” she asks, her eyes filled with emotion.
“I would love to be your dad, if you want me to?—”
My words are cut off by two tiny arms strangling my neck.
“Yes!” she cries. “I do. I want you to be my dad.”
She looks back at her mom. “Can he, Mommy? Can he be my dad?”
“Yes, sweet girl,” Kira says. “He can be your daddy.”
“Did you hear that, Addie?” Violet says, looking at my daughter, who’s in the process of breaking a crayon while attempting to draw like Violet. “Ryder’s my daddy! That means you’re my sister.”
“ Sistah ! Daddy!” Addie parrots.
“Yeah!” Violet says, hugging her. “We’re a family.”
Kira’s glassy eyes lock with mine, and she mouths, Thank you .
“You never have to thank me,” I tell her, wrapping my arm around her back and pulling her into my side. “You guys are giving me the greatest gift I could ask for … a family.”