15. The Shadows and the Man
15
The Shadows and the Man
R YU held her in his arms, his sleeves rolled up. Broken, Roselin stared at her painting. “Why is this happening?” Roselin whispered against his chest. His fingers stroked her hair, and she looked up at him. “Tell me why this is happening.”
He kissed her forehead. “It’s complicated.”
“Don’t give me that crap.” She stepped away from him. Too much happened to leave her out of things. “Tell me what I need to know.”
The corner of his mouth twitched up. “You can be bossy sometimes, keeper of our ethics.” He took her hand and kissed its back. “The surface of our beloved city seems like the perfect image people want to live in. Low poverty, criminality, unemployment, and high life expectancy. We have them because of what we do below the surface.”
“Who’s we?” She wasn’t sure if she should ask more. The more she knew, the more this mess pulled her in. But part of her wanted to learn—part of her wanted to be with Ryu in the chaos.
He cupped her chin and smiled. “Me, my organisation, some others whose names I can’t give you.”
“Mister Visser?”
He hushed her, placing his finger over his lips. “Never mention his name, okay? Especially not in combination with me.” He removed his fingers and kissed her. “There are other… organisations who disagree with us. They want power over safety. Even though their organisation has been a pain in the ass, they’ve never been much of a problem. But something is shifting.”
The terrorist from the news? There’s always been hatred towards the unknown and, therefore, for Mageía. But they were against Mageía, and the person who attacked her was one while she wasn’t. Roselin worked her bottom lip between her teeth, but his finger stopped her. “I want to know.” She shook her head and met his eyes. Not wanted, but needed. Who to look out for? Who not to trust? “I need to know what I need to be afraid of.”
“I told you, you don’t need to be scared,” Ryu said, stroking her cheek.
“But I am.” She fought back the tears welling up again. Shit, exhaustion washed over her. “I almost died, the police are doing crap… I am afraid, Ryu.”
The room turned dark. Shadows crawled up the wall, across the furniture, and Ryu’s face. “Look at my shadows. There’s no reason to be scared of anyone when you’re with me,” Ryu said. She watched the shades, stepping back on instinct. A chill radiated from the darkness, sending a shiver down her body. Ryu shifted in his place. “Are you frightened of me?”
She locked onto his warm, dark eyes. His finger brushed the scar on her arm. “No,” she whispered. “Not of you. But I’m afraid of your shadows.”
He held her hands in his, his skin cold to the touch. As he spun her around, the shadows moved with their motions. He rests her back against his chest. Her rapid heartbeat pounded against his calm one. He held out his hand. His fingers twitched at the exertion. Shadows came together, making a figure on the ground. Two wolves rose, just like the tattoos on his body. A gasp pushed past her lips. Her eyes widened as the two wolves danced through the room.
“You don’t have to be afraid of my shadows, my darling Rose. I am in control.” His nose brushed her neck. His hand lowered, and the wolves moved further on their own.
She lifted her chin to him so she could see his dark eyes. “Kiss me,” she said.
“As you wish.” He smirked. His lips touched hers. Soft at first, but growing in intensity with every movement of his tongue. His touch travelled along her body, reaching inside her shirt. Her hands lowered to his bulge as he kneaded her breast.
With one swift motion, he lifted her up. He laid her on the desk. The wolves disappeared into the darkness. He stroked up her legs. His lips trailed hot on her skin as he left his mark. His tongue found her clit and a sharp breath escaped her. She buried her fingers in his hair. Everything faded into the shadows as her moans filled the office, and all the terrible memories long forgotten.
The rest of the day, she stayed by Ryu’s side. The Richter brothers moved as one everywhere they went and even got her some art supplies. Roselin had heard nothing from Nadia, but Roselin sent a lot of texts asking if she was okay.
Night came, and Ryu’s hand rested around her bare breast. She tried to concentrate on his breathing, hoping it would make her fall asleep, but sleep wouldn’t come. Every time she closed her eyes, it felt like she couldn’t breathe, and her vision blurred with the blood on her tiled bathroom floor. Sighing, she shuffled out of Ryu’s arm. Her fingers raked through her long hair as she paced through the bedroom. Her gaze fell on her naked self-portrait standing in the corner.
One thing that always calmed her down.
With her sketchbook and pencil, she sat in the chair, watching Ryu. The pencil moved over the paper in smooth lines. His back, his arm under his head, the bed and the blanket barely covering his butt became more visible with every stroke. She had learned from her mistakes and left out his tattoos.
Her face pulled together in concentration. Ryu turned around in his sleep, catching her attention, his lower body full on display. She tilted her head at his flaccid dick. A grin spread across her face. She ripped the drawing off the block and put new rough lines on the paper.
Sleep caught up on her. A yawn escaped her lips as she drew the last touches. Crawling back into bed, she greeted Ryu’s warmth. He wrapped his arm around her, his hand finding her breast again, and she smiled.
When her eyes fluttered open once more, exhaustion swept over her. The place next to her was cold and empty as the door to the bathroom stood ajar. Ryu walked out naked, drying his hair with a towel. A smile crept up her face as she watched him.
His gaze met hers. “Morning, my darling Rose.”
“Morning.”
His eyes glanced at the sketchbook on the side table, and his brows pulled together. Ryu took her drawings. “What is this?”
A blush spread along her cheeks. “Nothing… sketches… I didn’t add your tattoos, and I’m not going to.”
“I wasn’t worried about it.” His lips twitched at the corners as he watched the strokes of the drawing. “When did you draw this?” Ryu asked.
She crawled to the end of the bed, sitting up, and for a second, her naked breasts distracted Ryu. “Last night. I couldn’t sleep.” She bit her bottom lip. “Nightmares kept waking me up.”
A frown wrinkled the space between his brows. “You should’ve woken me.”
She laughed. “So we would both be awake?” She stood up as he placed the sketchbook back on the side table.
He took her chin into his warm fingers. “I can think of multiple things we could’ve done to help you sleep.”
“Hmm,” she said with a smirk. “Maybe you should show me some of those things?”
Ryu fell to his knees, kneeling before her, and her stomach muscles clenched together. His lips touched her skin in little promising whispers, and a gasp escaped her mouth.