13. Laney
I have no idea how long I’ve been lying on the floor when the door opens again.
I jerk upright, gasping. Is it them? Has Smith found me?
Maybe it’ll be better if he finishes the job and puts me out of my misery.
I’m not even sure if I care if he kills me.
I only know that I can’t go through the sexual violence again.
“Laney?”
It’s Reed’s voice.
I blink, and his face comes into view. He’s crouching beside me, his hand outstretched, but not making contact, as though he’s afraid of touching me.
“Reed?” I say, my voice small and distant.
“Cade sent me.”
I push myself upright and throw myself at him, a sob building in my chest.
“Oh, baby. Come here. Are you okay?”
“Why does Cade keep blaming me?” I cry. “How can he not see how much it hurts me? It’s like he thinks I wanted to be raped. Like I wanted that gun inside me. Like I wanted another man’s mouth on me.” Like I wanted to come with someone else…
He rocks me back and forth, and I cry against his chest.
“Come home with me,” he says. “You shouldn’t be by yourself.”
“I can’t. People will ask questions.”
I realize he’s come to the trailer, that someone might have seen him.
“You’re still my stepdaughter, Laney. You’ve still been through something traumatic. I’m allowed to help you through that.”
But no one else outside of us knows about the rape and the assault. I’ve kept that to myself. The trauma I’ve been through, at least to the outside world, is the crash and surviving in the wilderness, but to them, I came out of it just fine. Except I’m not fine, not fine at all.
I create space between us and wipe my eyes. “The only thing that’ll make things worse is if people find out about us. I can’t stand the thought of the press making you out to be something you’re not.”
He cups my face in his hands and kisses the top of my head. “You don’t need to worry about that.”
But I do. I do worry about it, just like he should, too.
He brushes my tears away with his thumbs and peppers my face with kisses, gentle, affectionate.
I know I should push him away, to stop this going any farther, but I can’t bring myself to do it.
I need his comfort like a drug. It feels so good having his arms around me, his lips on my skin, the scent of him filling my senses.
No one can see us in here. The door is shut, and the blinds and drapes are all closed.
My mouth finds his, and he kisses me deeply and sensuously, our tongues dancing.
That spark fires between my legs, and I moan into his mouth, needing him.
I pull at the bottom of his t-shirt, wanting contact with his skin.
I pull it over the top of his head and throw it to the floor.
He does the same to me, whipping off the top I’d worn for bed.
I’m not wearing a bra, and he ducks his head to my breasts, sucking on one nipple and then moving to the other.
I lace my hands in his thick hair and squeeze my thighs together as the heat builds.
He lifts his face again, then takes my hand and says, “Bed.”
I’m not going to argue with him. I’m only in my sleep shorts now, naked from the waist up. He kicks off his shoes on the way, and his hands go to his belt buckle, flicking it undone.
I climb onto the bed and rid myself of my shorts. I’m not wearing any underwear, so I’m now completely naked.
“Fuck, Laney. You’re so beautiful.”
His gaze rakes across my skin, and I find myself pushing out my tits and sucking in my stomach, wanting him to admire me.
Standing at the end of the bed, he shoves his pants and boxers down his thighs and kicks them away.
His cock juts out at a right angle, long and girthy, a slight curve to it.
I admire the thickness of his body, the soft hair across his chest, the breadth of his shoulders.
He’s so solid and real, both physically and emotionally.
“Spread your legs,” he tells me.
I do, and he can’t take his eyes off me, staring at my pussy. “I wish I’d known the first time we fucked that you were a virgin. I’d have done things so differently.”
I bite my lower lip and ask, “How would you have done it differently?”
“I’d have taken my time, that’s for sure.
He wraps his hand around his cock and slowly touches himself as he stares down into me. “I’d have licked your sweet virgin pussy, and sucked your clit, and made you as wet and swollen as possible. Then I’d have teased you.”
I like this game. “How would you have teased me?”
“I’d have rubbed you with my cock, like this.”
He climbs onto the bed to bring himself between my thighs, and, with his hand still around his erection, he places the head between my smooth, wet inner lips.
I gasp at the contact and lift my hips, wanting more, but he pulls away.
He wants to control the scene, so I force myself to hold still.
He uses the head to rub my clit, and then moves down using both our wetness to masturbate with.
“I’d rub you like this,” he says, his tone low and growly with lust, “and then I’d push inside you, just the tiniest amount, so we can both feel how good you stretch around me.”
He does it, so slowly, and my eyes roll with pleasure.
At least when I’m fucking, I’m not thinking of anything else.
It’s the one time my brain and heart don’t want to crawl out of my body.
I’m here, experiencing this. I’m in the present.
Maybe I shouldn’t want it. Maybe it should remind me too much of what happened, but the two acts feel nothing alike.
The body parts might be the same, but the sensations are at complete odds with one another.
Reed continues, “Then I’d pull out again, and pay attention to your clit, building you up, and then I’d push a little deeper.”
He does exactly what he describes. I look down, watching the place where our bodies meet. There’s something magical about the way he vanishes inside me, at how my body stretches to accommodate him.
“Look at us, baby-girl,” he says. “Look at how perfect we are together.”
“We are,” I gasp. “We’re so fucking hot.”
Each time he pulls out, he pushes in a little deeper, until finally he sinks his cock deep inside me and holds himself there. His body shadows mine, our faces close. He brushes my hair back and stares into my eyes. I feel him twitch against my inner muscles clamping around him.
“You know this feels like home to me,” he says. “Being joined to you like this. Any time I’m not inside you, I miss and crave the connection like nothing else.”
“You make me feel safe,” I tell him.
He presses his forehead to mine. “I wish I could have kept you safe.”
I close my eyes and shake my head. “Don’t…”
Slowly, he pushes deeper still. It’s as though he’s trying to forge us into one being. “I’ll take care of you. It’s all I want to do. I’ll provide for you, and I’ll protect you against the world. I swear I will.”
He rams himself harder, and I give a breathy yelp.
He kisses my neck, my shoulders. “Just do as I say, be mine.”
“I’m yours.”
“You need to let Daddy take care of you.”
He thrusts his hips, and I moan.
“Say it,” he demands.
“You can take care of me, Daddy.”
“Good girl. That’s my good baby-girl.”
He flips us over, so I’m the one on top now.
“Ride me,” he commands. “Use my cock to get yourself off.”
So I do. I arch my hips and angle my pussy so my clit rubs his shaft.
“Here, let me.” He places his thumb over my clit and rubs, slowly at first, but meeting my momentum as I ride him harder.
My ass bounces up and down. I’m getting closer, riding the wave. Words spill from my mouth.
“Oh, yes, Daddy. Oh, fuck, yes.”
Right as I’m on the brink, he pushes a finger in my ass. I see stars, and my orgasm explodes over me. I shudder and jolt, and he lets out a strangled groan and jerks inside me.
I fall onto his chest, and he puts his arms around me. Our hearts beat against one another, gradually slowing, together with our breath.
We lie in each other’s arms.
“Do you think Cade will ever get over what happened?” I ask.
“He should be the one worrying about you, not the other way around.”
I sigh. “In a perfect world, perhaps.”
“He’s angry, and he doesn’t have anywhere to direct that anger, since we left Smith and the others at the cabin. So he’s aiming it at you, and himself, and everyone else around him.”
I lift my head slightly from his chest to look at him. “I worry about him. I worry about everyone.”
He squeezes me. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
“If people found out about us, things could get very nasty fast.”
“We just have to make sure no one finds out.”
I realize I haven’t even locked the door.
Anyone could walk in. I look around, catching sight of the gaps between the drapes.
The night beyond. Anyone could be peeping through now, maybe even with a phone camera, recording what we’ve been doing.
What if they posted it on the internet? Reed would be ruined.
I sit up, pulling the covers around myself. “You should probably go.”
“What’s wrong?” He frowns.
“You can’t risk falling asleep here and have someone see you leave in the morning. People will talk.”
“Laney…”
“I know, I know. I’m still your stepdaughter, and we’re allowed to spend time together, but that should probably be meeting for dinner or going to see a movie, not you being in my bed all night. The trailer only has one real bedroom, and people will talk.”
“You don’t have to stay here, you know. You can come back to the house.”
I shake my head. “And then what would people think?”
“That we’re family who are allowed to share a house.”
I sigh. “I know, but people will read into it.”
“You do whatever is right for you, Laney,” he says. “We’ll always be here for you, should you need us.” He pauses and chews at his lower lip. “Feel free to tell me to get lost, but how would you feel about talking to someone about how you’re feeling? I think it might help.”
I consider it. “Yeah, maybe, though I’d have to limit what I could say.”
“I don’t think so. You’d have patient confidentiality.”
I grimace. “I’m not sure it counts when someone’s been murdered and other people’s lives are in danger, no matter what assholes they are.”
He kisses my head again. “Just let me do this—for me, as much as it is for you. It’ll make me feel like I’m doing something useful.”
Maybe it would be good to have someone to talk to outside of Reed and the boys.