46. Anastasia
“Ouch.Ouch. Ow!”I’m really trying to be brave, but having micro pieces of glass plucked with tweezers out of the side of my face is making it damn difficult.
“I didn’t even touch you that second time,” Rhett muses.
“Liar.”
I watch the bowl fill up after he’s already plucked from my arm, leg, and side as I sit here in new clean black underwear. I’m starting to feel like a porcupine.
“Just a couple more,” he says. To his credit, he’s very gentle and steady-handed.
Aside from the disorientation and shell shock, I feel fine from the crash. Apparently, it wasn’t supposed to happen. Xoid tried to stop the car without a crash, but they were ambushed by Forthson’s men after the first shot and couldn’t carry it out efficiently. Rhett lost two of his men, and I’m burdened with the loss too. Rix and Dean got Jeremy out of the vest and strapped it to one of the patrons.
Though our plan went completely to shit the moment we arrived, we won. They have Jacob somewhere, and we’ll take him to Alistair tomorrow.
“I think I deserve ice cream for this,” I say, wincing at the next sting. The glass clinks into the bowl.
“Absolutely. Mint or strawberry?”
“Both. In the biggest chocolate-dipped cone with sprinkles and marshmallows.”
Rhett chuckles lightly. “Of course.”
When he’s taken the last piece out, I brace for the more intense sting of alcohol to clean the wounds. My teeth slam together, and I hiss.
“All done,” he says, tucking my hair behind my ear.
“Thank god.”
“I don’t think any will scar. We got lucky.”
“Damn, I was hoping for some battle scars.”
He doesn’t match my amusement. He’s reeling in his turmoil over what happened.
“I’m okay, Rhett. I mean it. Physically and mentally. You said the marriage will be void. He just did it to get under your skin and make me feel like he owned me all this time.”
I can’t deny the thought haunts me still, but I’m trying not to let it tarnish the memories we have and that we found each other again.
“It’s not over yet. And it kills me to see you bleed.”
“I know,” I say, getting up on my knees. I shift until I’m straddling him, and his hands cup my ass.
I kiss him, and he groans into my mouth. Then I break, trailing my lips over his jaw, down his neck. He squeezes my ass and I press tighter into him.
“You’re distracting me from the topic.”
“What topic? Ice cream?”
I squeal when he moves. It’s as if I’m floating. He’s so gentle with me considering my cuts and tenderness. He hovers over me.
“It pains me to say this,” he murmurs huskily. I gasp when his teeth pinch my nipple over the lace. “But get dressed. You deserve your sugar rush.”
“Maybe I want something different now.” My legs loop around his waist.
“After,” he says, kissing me once.
I’m glad Rhett insisted on getting ice cream. We came to a small hotel for it in a quiet part of the city and snuck up to the rooftop to watch the sunset.
I’ve finished the strawberry top scoop and I’m now licking mint chocolate chip and moaning at the new flavor.
“If you don’t stop that, I’ll be taking you up here for the city to see,” Rhett warns.
My stomach flutters. I moan again. I’m kind of high on pain meds someone brought from the Den. Having an ex-army doctor has it’s perks, though I highly suspect the more powerful drugs could be stolen pharmaceuticals anyway.
I look at him with a playful grin and then giggle at his baseball cap and sunglasses. I wear the same as we’ve become America’s most-wanted fugitives, but luckily, no one recognizes us.
“See? We can make this work,” I say, swinging my legs off the ledge of the eight-story hotel. “We’ll start a hat and Ray-Ban collection, switch up our disguise. Oh! You could grow a mustache. I could get a wig. Maybe we could turn it into roleplay by the end of date nights.”
When I take another lick of ice cream and he doesn’t respond, I find him staring over the cityscape with a troubled look.
“You deserve to walk hand in hand with your love down the street. Be shown off with pride. Be completely and only you.Not this. Not hiding and sneaking around like a criminal.”
Rhett didn’t get any ice cream, only a coffee, which he takes a sip of.
“So do you,” I say. “This world isn’t fair sometimes. We don’t always get what we deserve, but what I do know is that we’re lucky. We have more than what most people hope to find even in secret.”
His arm around me caresses the top of my thigh. “You’re right, baby.”
I leave a pause of silence before I say, “When we get Liam back ... he’s in the same position as us. There’s a warrant out for him, and I don’t know what they could have on him that’s tied to his dad.”
“If he’s completely innocent, I wouldn’t worry.”
Rhett can’t be sure if Liam wasn’t involved in Matthew and Gregory’s conspiracies, but I am. I’ve been preparing myself to discover what he might have been aware of, but I hope I’m right in believing he was never privy to it.
“Why shouldn’t I worry?”
“Well, I should say I wouldn’t worry if Allie loves him back. She’s a damn good lawyer. If there’s anyone who can clear his name, it’s her.”
I don’t know how that didn’t come to mind, but it’s a beacon of hope.
“If not, we might need more baseball caps,” I say.
Rhett chuckles, finishing his coffee as I bite my way down the ice-cream cone.
Night is falling, and the diffusion of orange and pink against the sky is a sight that stops time. When life is usually too busy to stop and check the hour, it’s rare to find a place to watch the sun that gave us the day as it promises a new tomorrow with the beauty in its fleeting rays.
“I promise to love you, Rhett Kaiser,” I say, staring at the last of the amber glow. “Until our very last tomorrow.”
Rhett guides me to look at him by my chin. I can’t explain how sometimes I see him and I erupt inside like it’s the first time. Then I want to cry in absolute joy, because I found him. This is it. And life has never felt so promising just knowing he’ll be with me wherever we go.
“Until our very last tomorrow,” he says, then he kisses my deeply. Kisses me until we’re both struggling for breath, but neither of us want to let go.
When we do, and the night grows darker, I get to my feet and take off my sunglasses. I’m not usually great with heights, but since needing to hideout on the ledge of the penthouse apartment I guess I’m beginning to conquer that fear. I don’t look down as I cast my arms out for balance.
“Stability has never been your strong suit. Please get down,” Rhett says.
“Or you could join me.”
I’m glowing with euphoria walking the ledge. Maybe it’s the thought of facing Alistair tomorrow when we only narrowly escaped Jacob. Maybe it’s the fact we survived today that makes me feel a little delirious.
Rhett walks on the floor beside me, looking braced to grab me if I wobble the wrong way. “Ana, get down.”
“So bossy.”
I hop from one foot to the other, making Rhett jerk, and I giggle at his scowl.
“If you don’t get down?—”
“You’ll spank me? Maybe that’s why I’m still up here.”
Rhett’s blue eyes darken, his mouth almost curving a little.
“Devious little thing.”
“Catch me,” I call. Spinning, I throw all my trust at him in a backward fall. “Omph.”
I break into a grin as he cradles me then sets me down. He’s looking at me in a way I can’t decipher. Not smiling, not quite concern ...
“I didn’t think I’d meet anyone like you, Ana,” he says. My grin falls at the unexpected seriousness of his tone. “Tell me you want me despite all I’ve done.”
I don’t miss a beat.
“I want you—everything about you.”
“Tell me you’ll never regret choosing me.”
“I’ll never regret it.”
“Tell me you’ll love me even in the times you hate me.”
“Rhett, why are you saying this?”
“Please.”
“I love you. I’ll always love you.”
Rhett dips a hand into his pocket, producing a small black velvet box. My eyes widen on it, and my breath catches.
“Is it the proposal I’m thinking of this time?” I breathe.
He flips the lid open, and I’m stunned by the unique beauty.
“The diamond is from my mother’s ring, but I wanted you to have your own design. Something that’s ours.”
Two snakes give the illusion of twisting over the silver shank, their heads meeting in the center. Two ruby side stones compliment the brilliant square-cut diamond center stone.
“Who knew bodyguards came with taste?” I say, tearing up.
I blink my eyes clear to gawk at the most perfect ring I’ve ever seen. It’s not just me reflected in it; it’s both of us.
“I was going to wait until all this was over, but we never know when that last tomorrow might be,” he says somberly. Taking the ring from the box, he slips that back in his pocket before taking my hand and sliding the ring on.
“I’m glad you didn’t wait,” I choke. “But we’re going to have so many more tomorrows, Rhett Kaiser.”
He kisses me hard. Claiming. It turns desperate and needy, and before I can feel movement my back is pressed to the wall. I grip his hair, his jacket. My leg hooks around him and he pins it to him.
“Want to go home?” he murmurs breathily over my neck.
“No,” I rasp.
“Anyone could come up here.”
My lust only surges at that with inspired adrenaline. “Better be quick then,” I say.
“Such a bad girl.” Rhett’s hand slips between us. “Did you wear a skirt on purpose?”
“Maybe.”
I’m not wearing tights since the night is warm, and I moan at his fingers teasing me over my underwear. “This isn’t being quick,” I whine, only desperate to relieve the growing ache for an orgasm.
“I never agreed I would be.” He pulls up my skirt, and the cool air wraps around my ass. “We could get a room downstairs,” he suggests, but he doesn’t stop devouring me.
“After,” I say, eyes closing and back arching into his touch when he untucks my tank top and reaches for my breast.
“Good idea.”
Rhett kneels, pulling my panties down with him. Then he hooks my leg over his shoulder and his tongue lashes my pussy, drawing out a cry from me with the burst of pleasure. My hand threads through his hair and my hips push into his assault.
His fingers tease my entrance until one pushes inside, so achingly teasing.
“I need more,” I beg.
“I know,” he says between flicking my clit with his tongue and driving me to madness. “I want you to beg for each finger until you’ve taken three.”
I remember the faint burning stretch of three, and he didn’t push all the way in with them that time.
“I don’t know if it’ll fit.”
“You can take it, baby.”
He pumps that single finger, hooking it on occasion to add a pressure somewhere between wanting to orgasm and to pee. It’s new, and I don’t know if I should lean into the pleasure of it.
“Another,” I rasp. “Please.”
“Good girl.”
He fucks me with two fingers, alternating between licking and sucking my clit and around where he sinks into me. I’m becoming a puddle, with my wetness trailing down my thighs, so needy for the release he’s pushing me toward but also starving me from with his slow pace.
“I need— Oh god.” My voice quivers like my thigh around him. Rhett’s teeth bite into my thigh, and I gasp, the contrast of pain and pleasure shooting straight to my clit.
“Look at me,” he growls. I do, and it’s so sinful to see his hand working me, his mouth over me, how exposed I am on this rooftop. “Who is fucking you?”
“You are.”
“So call my name.”
“Rhett, please.”
“Another?”
“I-I don’t know. I need ... I need ...” Shit, I don’t know words anymore.
“Tell me,” he purrs, voice dripping with such allure that his talking surges me toward a climax as much as his fingers do.
“Faster, harder, please.”
“Can I add another finger, Ana?”
“Y-yes.” I’m such a breathless, needy mess.
When he next pulls out, my chest expands with a deep inhale, and then I’m being stretched to my limits. He doesn’t force himself inside, withdrawing in shallow strokes that sink deeper each time as my body adjusts for him.
“So fucking exquisite,” Rhett marvels.
“Are they all the way in?”
“Not yet.”
Oh fuck.
“I feel full. Too full.”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“No.”
The burn returns then fades. Soon I’m moving with each coaxing stroke, wanting him so deep inside me that the possibility feels endless.
“That’s my girl,” he says. “Taking everything I give you. Your pussy looks so good wrapped around my fingers.”
Part of me is flushed with shyness at that, but the more dominant part is so close to orgasm I want him to keep praising me, telling me what he sees.
“I need to come,” I moan.
“Then come, baby.”
Rhett fucks me with three fingers for a little longer before he switches back to two, hooking them as if he knows of a secret button inside me. When his mouth joins, I’m done for. My leg barely supports me anymore as I lose myself to the most earth-shattering orgasm. It gushes out of me—I think literally. I don’t know what’s happening except that pleasure detonates from my core and seizes my entire body for a measure of time that could be hours for all I’m aware.
When I come back around, Rhett’s standing, still pumping his fingers, but slower as I ride out the last waves of my orgasm. His arm circles my waist, and he’s just as breathless as I am, resting his forehead on mine.
“That was fucking sexy as hell,” he says thickly.
I look down with him, and I’m shocked at the small puddle at my feet. Heat creeps up my neck and along my cheeks.
“I didn’t mean to— I didn’t know I could?—”
He cuts me off with a kiss. “I was hoping you would. How was it?”
I’m still fucking collecting the shattered pieces of me. “Mind-blowing.”
Rhett smiles triumphantly. “Good. Now turn around and brace your hands on the wall. I’m not finished with you yet.”
While my body is spent, my pussy clenches on air at the thought, and I turn eagerly.
“Bend lower and arch your back for me, baby,” he instructs. When I do, he kicks my feet to widen my stance. “Good girl. You look so fucking beautiful I could come just watching you like this.”
I tune in to every sound of his belt coming undone, his button, his zipper being pulled down. It builds on my anticipation to have his cock inside me.
He teases the length over my soaking core, leaning over my back to press a kiss to my shoulder.
“Keep those hands flat and your arms braced. I’m going to fuck you hard and fast here. Only so I can fuck you slow and savor the night in our own bed later.”
“Okay,” I whisper.
“I love you.” He kisses my shoulder again as his hand slips over my throat, locking me to him. Then he plunges inside me, right to the base.
I cry out at the fullness, but he’s already moving. He’s true to his word, and the obscene sound of our skin slapping and the wetness of my pussy fills the space around us. Rhett’s groans never fail to spur my pleasure more. Hearing how much he’s enjoying it gives me such power and triumph I want him to fuck me harder, faster, however he needs.
“I need you to come with me,” he grunts.
I push back as his fingers slip through the mess between my thighs and he circles my clit. I didn’t think I could reach another orgasm after the intensity of the one he gave me before, but I feel it gathering in my lower belly, and now I’m desperate for it.
“I’m so close, baby. Come—now,” he growls.
It’s like a fucking trigger, and after a few more sparks as he hits the right spot inside me and presses on my clit just right, I come apart. It’s not as explosive as the first orgasm, but I still shake, and tiredness sweeps me faster. Rhett comes with a loud groan, pulling me up with a hand around my neck so my back is bent against his front while his cock juts inside me, spending himself.
“How are you even fucking real?” he says, gathering his breath.
“Honestly, I’m not even sure right now,” I say in a lust-clouded daze.
Rhett chuckles breathily, slipping out of me, and I moan at the cold awareness without his heat.
While Rhett tucks himself away, I scoop up my underwear that will do little to help the wetness soaking my legs.
“Do you want to get a room here?” he asks, weighing up my predicament.
I shake my head. There’s no place I’d rather be than the warehouse apartment.
“The world might end tomorrow, so our bed will give us the best night’s rest.”