Chapter 3
Roxy
The men obey him without question. In seconds, they move the marble slab into place over the staircase below. Do the guests down there realize that they’re trapped underground, all at this man’s whim?
Four guards stride out of the vault, pulling the massive door shut and slowly spinning the lock until it booms into place. The bear mask looks even more cruel in the vault’s light, and though it’s brighter than it was below, the close space gives everything a feeling of intimacy.
Which should not be possible with a complete stranger.
Especially one who is stalking me across the room.
When he smirks, there’s a dull glint of metal in his mouth. It almost draws me closer, like a magpie to some treasure, but I’m not sure if this will result in reward or regret. His dark eyes seem to promise both.
“Are you scared, little hare?” he asks, stalking closer. The accent in his voice thrilling something in me I didn’t know existed.
I shake my head but take a step back. Deep green security deposit boxes in assorted sizes with gold numbers on the front line the wall. On either side of me are large cabinets that are so tall they reach my hip. The wood is dark, old, and worn with locked drawers secreted away.
The bear advances, closing the distance slowly, but surely. Hanging off of his broad shoulders like a long, heavy cape, I can see his costume-like jacket.
Suddenly he’s there. Hands on my hips again, digging into the soft flesh I’m so self-conscious of.
I let out a cry of surprise, half-turn away from him, but there’s no real struggle.
He backs me up against the nearest cabinet with a growl, pressing his body close to mine.
The rumble of his satisfaction is the only sound filling the vault as he leans in and skims his nose along my throat.
“Everyone is wrong about you,” he murmurs, pressing a light kiss to my jaw. My pulse skyrockets, chest heaving against his as he squeezes my thick waist. “Aren’t they? You know it, deep down. Here.”
His hand cups my center, and I gasp in surprise. His small laugh is like honey in my ear, but he does nothing more; just holds me there as his other hand caresses down my back and rests just above my ass.
“That woman. You know her?”
Nodding, I swallow hard and try to break the anxiety making my body vibrate. “Y—yes. She’s my sister.”
The bear pulls back briefly, his dark eyes searching mine. “Your own sister saying those things to you.” He shakes his head. “Shame. Shame on her not to realize seduction personified when it walks into a room.”
His hand leaves my pussy, and I close my eyes tight, trying to ignore the stab of disappointment. But then he’s gripping my hips again, turning me around to face the cabinet, the wood pressing into my pelvis.
“And the man she spoke about,” he murmurs, his hips rutting against my ass—leaving no question why he asked the guards to lock us in.
To leave us alone.
His cock is impressively hard against my ass, a warm iron rod thrust lightly over and over.
Beneath the satin, my nipples pebble against the silicone modesty covers I bought this morning at a pharmacy.
My head whirls with the memory of such a normal morning contrasting with this, a beast massaging the most intimate parts of me and growling in satisfaction.
“I’m going to prove,” he promises in a cold, calculated voice, “that they are all wrong about you. And I’m going to enjoy having you all to myself, little hare. Just how I want you.”
His massive hand grabs roughly at the satin clinging to my thighs, yanking it up.
A ripping sound fills the room. I gasp, pressing my legs together to try and hide just how exposed I am underneath.
But his touch is relentless, fingers grazing lightly over my hip, to the apex of my legs, and touching lightly.
The laugh he barks out startles and I crash back into his chest, the heat of his body enveloping me.
“You surprise me. I wasn’t expecting… well, nothing.”
Teasingly, his fingers continue their gentle ministrations, earning a shiver from me as he uses two to stroke my clit. The low, satisfied rumble in his chest makes me wetter, and he pushes two fingers just inside.
“Already so wet for me, little rabbit.”
His calloused thumb grazes my clit again. A gasp slips out, and instinctively I press my ass back against his erection. I can’t help wanting it, can’t remember the last time I wanted anything so badly.
Certainly not from my ex. He preferred to keep the lights off, and though I never complained, it was also agonizingly embarrassing to know someone doesn’t want to see you.
The bear doesn’t seem to have that problem. There’s no doubt that he can see every bit of me as he fists the satin, tugging it hard to turn me in the cage of his arms.
Eyes dark, tongue dragging slowly across his upper lip, he hoists me onto the cabinet effortlessly. Another gasp slips out, followed by the realization that the tear in the dress and the way he has me seated fully exposes my pussy.
With two hands he pulls my knees apart, staring hungrily at my center. The wicked grin on his face grows. With one flickering, self-satisfied glance up to meet my eyes, he murmurs:
“No more running, lapochka. Tonight you learn what it means to be caught.”
With those words, he lumbers to his knees and jerks my body forward by my hips, burying his face in my pussy. The mask is cold against my skin, and his tongue is warm as he licks a slow, torturous trail from my entrance to my clit.
My ass practically vibrates with the toe-curling sensation when he sucks.
“Oh, fuck,” I mutter, lids dropping as he slings my legs over his shoulder.
The bear breathes out a small laugh against my core before diving back in, eating me out like I’m the most delicious thing he’s ever had on his tongue.
The noises he makes are sinful, making my face heat with embarrassment at hearing them—and also pride for causing them. Back arched, tits forward, I finally feel seen and outright worshipped with a man like him on his knees before me.
A feeling my ex never gave me.
A feeling that tightens the knot low in my belly, makes my hips pulse forward each time his tongue teases my sensitive clit.
His fingers dig into my ass through the satin still covering it as he laps and sucks, kissing me there in a way that makes me want to drag him up and claim his mouth.
With a sloppy wet sound, he pulls back and stands, eyes locked on mine the entire time. The scuff shadowing his chin and upper lip glistens with my juices. Another flush of embarrassment colors my face and throat, and I clamp my legs shut.
Or try to.
He steps between them, then pushes forward slowly. Hips and thighs are so broad that I’ve never felt this spread before.
With his gaze locked on my soaked pussy, the bear palms himself through his trousers and lets out a low, guttural sound.
He thumbs the clasp of his pants off and unzips them effortlessly. He takes himself in his hand and lets the fabric fall just below his hips as he strokes his cock once, twice, precum weeping at the tip.
He’s huge.
I shouldn’t be surprised—it makes sense, proportionally, but my mouth still waters and my pussy still throbs at the sight. Could I even take him?
Eric was… average, to be kind. Nothing special, and if he’d ever put effort in, maybe I would’ve found some satisfaction.
But this man and the time he spent already working me up? I might come just from the way his forearm flexes when he braces it on the cabinet and leans forward, fisting himself rhythmically now with a grunt.
He stops, letting his cock bob between us before reaching up to grip my chin. It’s such a delicate touch that my breath stops.
“Tell me you’re mine,” he whispers.
It’s a command, but with just enough hesitation that I realize it’s also a question.
Chest swelling with anticipation and something that feels dangerously close to infatuation, I only nod.
I dip my chin lower, to let his thumb graze my lips.
They part. My tongue darts out just enough to press against the calloused pad, mouth watering at the idea of sucking on it—on anything really. Though I have one particular thing in mind.
No longer gentle, the bear straightens and comes forward to the very edge of the cabinet. It feels like I’m going to slide off until he angles me back so that I can rest on my elbows.
He drags the head of his cock through my soaked folds, prodding my entrance as a whine of need slips from my lips.
“Please,” I half-whisper, half-gasp, trying to inch myself forward.
With a wicked smirk, he plunges forward.
It feels so good it almost hurts. He’s thick, stretching me deliciously, earning a cry of surprise and pain that quickly turns to a moan as he sinks all the way in. His cock nudges my cervix, hits that pain-pleasure point, before he withdraws only halfway and thrusts again.
The pace he sets is bruising.
He’s so big I can feel his shaft throbbing every time he bottoms out, my pussy squeezing around him as I whimper. His hands grip my thick thighs, relishing every jiggle as he pounds into me.
His hand slips up my thigh. His thumb brushes my clit.
He grunts, catching himself against the cabinet as he fucks into me, free hand toying with my clit punishingly until the orgasm crashes over me in a way that I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to.
The room goes dark.
The only sensation I feel is a ripple of pleasure from my core to my toes and the top of my head. My back arches, hips jerking as it feels almost too sensitive, and he pulls his hand away quickly.
In the moments that follow, he thrusts fast but shallow, murmuring curses in another language, eyes closed behind the cruel bear mask until he comes.
It’s wet heat inside of me, an agonizing stretch that draws a satisfied moan from my lips as my head tips back.
When it’s over, the bear produces a dark handkerchief from somewhere in his cape-like jacket. He cleans me up efficiently, his touch firm and careful at the same time.
I stand on shaky legs, gripping his upper arms. My satin dress is adjusted until the tear almost looks like an intentional slit up the thigh, exposing the expanse of flesh that he keeps his eyes on until I feel another throb of want at my core.
But there’s no way; I’m not even sure how my body took him just now, and I wonder if this is how women end up sore and satisfied the next morning.
His dark eyes find mine. I lick my lips, close to asking his name—close to asking if I can see him again, until I remember my sister’s warning.
Don’t embarrass me, Roxy.
The last thing Kat needs is for whoever this man is—he’s clearly wealthy, clearly used to getting what he wants—thinking I’m some kind of gold digger trying to attach myself to him and his fortune.
So I clamp my mouth shut and watch as he bangs twice, hard, on the metal front of the cabinet.
There’s a grinding sound a moment later.
The vault door opens. The bear straightens.
I understand what this is; a parting. He must be just as taken aback as I am by what just happened. By the fact that we found one another here, at The Gilded Range.
Taking a few steps away toward the waiting guard, I can’t help glancing over my shoulder.
He’s a hulking figure in the vault. Intimidating, ominous, but also… lonely.
Headlights flash across the dark lobby. Two guards in the vault wrench open the marble slab, and the bear turns, jacket swirling around his hips.
The last I see of him is his dark hair disappearing into the shadows below.