17. Chapter 17
Chapter seventeen
Erik
Before Raina’s knife even hits the ground, she’s already spinning on her heels and sprinting out of the dining room. I give her a few seconds before strolling after her, passing by Charles’s body without a second glance.
All I care about is Raina. I was expecting her to kill Charles for her own vengeance, but she did it for me, too. I’m not sure if she knows how much that means to me. That it healed a part of me that I assumed would remain broken forever.
I step out of the room to find her scrambling around a corner. A giggle floats my way, and I find myself smiling, too. I want Raina happy, and tonight is just the first step in ensuring she always is.
“You better run, little rose,” I call, “because when I catch you, I’m never letting you go again.”
The sound of her on the stairs reaches my ears, and I take off in a light jog. I don’t want her having too much of a head start. Just enough to think I won’t catch up.
At the top of the stairs, I glance to my left and my right, trying to determine which way she went. Her bedroom is to the right, which is the most familiar territory to her, but she may have gone left to try to fool me.
Just as I’m turning toward her room, there’s a creak from behind me. I whirl around and take off in that direction. Raina must hear me coming because she gasps and flies out of the closet she was hiding in. Within seconds, she’s only a few feet away from me, and I overtake her effortlessly.
Raina squeals with delight as I snatch her up, my arms locking around her torso.
“Got you,” I whisper, grinning at the way she squirms and struggles against me. “Aww, look at you, still trying to get away.”
She finally stops, her chest heaving. “You won, you won.”
Spinning her around, I cup her cheeks. The moment Raina looks at me, her eyes soften.
“Erik,” she whispers, angling her face upward.
My grip on her waist loosens as I lean down and kiss her. She moans, and it’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard.
And a ruse.
Just as quickly as I caught her, Raina slips from my grasp. She bolts down the hallway, laughing, her hair streaming after her.
And I can’t even be mad. A little bit of teasing only makes it more satisfying when she truly can’t escape me.
Raina dashes through the second floor, running from room to room and taking a few shortcuts I must’ve missed when I studied the blueprints. I almost lose her once or twice, but I catch up again as she’s running down the back stairway.
“Ohhh!” she shouts when she looks back and sees me at the top. She rushes down the rest of the steps and into the hallway near the kitchen.
I almost catch her there, but she just manages to avoid my grasp.
“Too slow,” she taunts.
It’s so reminiscent of playing tag that it makes my heart pang. How many times did we try to find a way to get her on my side of the fence so we could play together?
Now she’s all mine.
Raina disappears into the living room, and I follow right behind her. With a laugh, she dodges me, skirting around the couch. I surge forward and tackle her to the ground right by the Christmas tree, careful to make sure she doesn’t hit the floor too hard.
“Got you now.”
She rolls onto her back and wraps her arms around my neck. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
Bringing Raina into a sitting position, I lift her sweater over her head, her bra coming next. This may only be my second time undressing her, but I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of it. Revealing her body piece by piece, knowing she wants to give it to me?
It’s all I’ve ever wanted.
“Raina,” I mutter, and I see it in her eyes—the understanding.
She knows exactly what I’m feeling right now because she is, too.
Gently, I lower Raina back to the floor. When I pin her arms to the carpet, she lets out the softest of moans, and her back arches ever so slightly. I take note of the reaction as I lean down and press my lips to hers. She kisses me fervently, desperately, and her legs open of their own volition.
“Needy girl,” I whisper, smiling against her mouth.
With a whimper, Raina squirms underneath me. She pushes against my grasp, and I immediately let go of her wrists.
“You all right?”
“Yes, please don’t stop. I… I liked it.”
My hands return to her wrists, holding them against the floor. “You want to struggle?”
Nodding, she bites her lip, her gaze flitting away.
“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, little rose.” I pepper her face with tiny, comforting kisses. “But I can’t hold you down and touch you at the same time.”
“Oh,” she breathes out. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Hold on.”
There are dozens of Christmas presents under the tree, many of them tied with thick ribbon. Grabbing one, I undo it and toss the box to the side. Ribbon in hand, I bind Raina’s wrists together, careful not to go too tight.
“How does that feel?”
She pulls against the ribbon, testing it, and then grins. “I love it.”
“Good.”
Too impatient to wait any longer, I work off her boots and her jeans. She helps, lifting her ass and then wiggling out of her panties as I pull them down her legs. Once she’s fully naked beneath me, her hands tied with that blood red ribbon, a groan falls from my lips. With her hair spread out and the soft light from the Christmas tree reflecting off her skin, she looks too perfect to be real.
I flip her so she’s on her stomach and then pull her up so she’s on her knees. It’s at this point that she remembers she’s supposed to be fighting me, and I laugh when she tries to crawl away.
“I don’t think so, Raina.”
Grabbing her, I force her into an upright position. Her back is pressed against my front, and my left hand wraps around her throat on instinct. I’ve never done it before, but it just feels right, and based on Raina’s body language, she likes it, too.
Still, her worries about disappointing me echo in my mind. I need to be sure, so I place a hand on her stomach to hold her against me.
“Raina, I need you to understand something.”
She stills. “Hmm?”
“If we do this, your safety and wellbeing are my top priority. If I get even a hint that I’ve gone too far, I’m stopping, all right?”
“You won’t.” She twists herself so she can smile up at me. “I trust you.”
“But I need to know that I can trust you.” My fingertips skim down her neck. “If you need to stop—if I take things too far—you can tell me. I won’t be disappointed or angry.”
“I understand.”
“Promise me, Raina. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I promise,” she whispers. “I’ll tell you if I get uncomfortable.”
“Good.” I reward her with a kiss, my grip on her neck returning while my other hand slides down her body.
Raina gasps when my fingers dip between her legs. She’s fucking soaked, all turned on from running and fighting me. Even now, she’s trying to push my arms away with her tied hands, but it’s a weak attempt.
“That the best you can do?” I taunt. “After that stunt you pulled in the hallway, I thought you’d have more fight in you.”
She moans while simultaneously trying to wiggle free from my grasp. But I’m so much larger, so much stronger, that all her attempts are in vain. She can barely move, let alone get away.
“Silly girl. I told you, didn’t I? That I’d never let you go once I caught you?”
With a grunt, Raina tries to throw herself away from me, but my arms band around her waist.
“Never. letting. you. go.”
I find her clit again, rubbing tight circles over it as she shudders against me. The entire time, she tries to escape, pushing at me and trying to weasel her way out of my grasp.
Raina begins panting after a few minutes, and then she grabs at one of my arms. “Erik,” she gasps. “Oh god, Erik.”
I move my fingers faster, stifling a groan when she cries out and jerks her ass against my erection. “You’re going to come, aren’t you? My perfect little rose, so wet from struggling against me.”
A little whine escapes her lips, and she claws at my arm helplessly. It only makes me grip her harder, holding her squirming body to mine.
“Powerless to stop me.” I kiss my way down her neck. “All mine.”
“Erik!” Her head snaps backward, colliding with my shoulder, and she screams as she comes hard.
“Oh, that’s it. Give it all to me, Raina. Such a good girl, aren’t you?”
Whimpering, Raina rides wave after wave of her orgasm right where she belongs—in my arms. My hold on her loosens as she stops struggling, and soon we’ve both stilled while she pants and regains her bearings.
“That was beautiful,” I murmur, kissing the spot just below her ear. “You’re incredible, Raina. So good.”
I need more.
This time, there are no tears in her eyes when she turns around to look at me. No shame, no fear of disappointment. Just… love. The most genuine love I’ve felt in years—the type that burns in my heart that only she can match.
Need to show her. Need her to understand.
“Again,” I say, pushing her onto the floor so she’s on her back.
“A-again?” Raina asks, confused. “What do you— ohhh.”
I have her legs spread wide open for me, and my thumb is already on her clit. Gauging her reaction carefully, I let my index finger brush against her entrance. Her eyes snap to mine, and I pause.
“This okay? If you’re not ready—”
“I am. God, Erik, please.”
The sound of her begging for me has my mouth going dry. I’ve dreamed up what it would be like, but this surpasses my wildest thoughts by far.
Gently, I slide a single finger into her, still playing with her clit with my thumb. When I curl my finger, Raina gasps, and I feel her clench around me.
“All right?” I ask.
“Mmhmm.” She rolls her hips—an attempt to repeat the sensation, I realize.
Curling my finger again, I smile at her long groan. I doubt it’ll take much to get her to come a second time. She’s so sensitive, so responsive, and surrendering herself to me like this seems to be keeping her out of her head.
It’s exactly what I’ve been hoping for. As long as I have a say in it, Charles will never touch her again—physically or mentally.
After a minute, I add a second finger, and then a third. She’s writhing on my hand as I press against her g-spot, never letting up on her clit. She tugs against the ribbon around her wrist, but she doesn’t ask me to undo it. No, she likes it. Likes that she’s bound and at my mercy.
This time, when she comes, I let up on her clit but keep curling my fingers inside her. The look on her face, the way she clamps down on my hand, her breathless whimpers—it’s almost enough to make me lose control. But I cling to my promise to myself to take things as slow as she needs.
“Erik, Erik! I need you to stop. I— ahhh.”
She melts into the carpet the second I pull my fingers out of her, but I can’t find it in me to stop touching her. Covering my body with hers, I kiss her deeply. When my tongue slides into her mouth, she tugs on it gently with her teeth. Experimenting, playing.
Arching upward, Raina tries to put her arms around me, but the ribbon wrapped around her wrist stops her. She lets out a frustrated noise, so I sit up with a chuckle.
“Let me help you.”
Taking her hands, I work to undo the ribbon. As I do, Raina watches me silently, and I can practically feel the unease creeping up on her.
“Did you like that?” she asks me as I toss the ribbon to the side.
“We’ve been over this.” My lips brush against her forehead. “Giving you pleasure will always satisfy me.”
“That’s not what I mean. Do you like forcing me? Or is it something you’re only doing because I like it?”
“I like pretending to force you. I could never do it for real.”
“But you do like it?”
“Holding you down and wringing an orgasm out of you? Having you struggling against me?” I take her hand and press it against my hard cock. “You tell me, little rose.”
Her blush deepens, and she does her best to grasp my dick through my pants. “I don’t want to leave you like this. My sister told me what’s supposed to happen—”
“No, little rose. There’s no way this is supposed to go, remember?”
She looks away, her hand dropping and forming a fist.
Dammit. I should’ve known better than to think that one conversation would ease her worries. I was too caught up in her to think straight.
“Hey.” Dipping my head down, I rest my forehead against hers. “You’re not a disappointment to me, all right? I’m happy to wait.”
“Because you don’t want me to regret you?”
“Because I don’t want you to feel pressured. You’re not an object to me, Raina. Not something to use whenever I feel like it and then toss aside. And until I know you know that— really know that—I… I think we should keep all the focus on you. I want this to be at your pace.”
“But it’s not fair to—”
I fit my mouth to hers before she can finish that sentence. Fuck fair. She’s been deprived of having a life for the past twenty years. I can make a few sacrifices so she’s comfortable. It’s the least she deserves.
“If you’re going to make this about me, then remember this,” I tell her. “It would break me if you reciprocated because you felt like you had to. It’d kill me, Raina. I don’t want to take advantage of you, but just as much, I don’t want to be a mistake to you.”
“But you know how I feel.”
“Yes. And I also know that this is all new to you. That you don’t want to disappoint me. That you’d do anything to make sure you didn’t. Am I right?”
She nods, albeit begrudgingly.
“And that’s the thing, little rose.” I press a kiss to her mouth, trying to drive my point home. “You’re safe with me. You don’t have to prove yourself to me. You don’t have to do what you think I want you to so that you don’t get in trouble. I’m not your father.”
Raina’s lips are pressed together, and I’m relieved to find that her eyes are free of tears. I don’t want to make her cry. Hell, I don’t want to disappoint her, either. But there’s no way I could take the pain of knowing she only got me off because she was supposed to.
When she remains silent, I sit back on my heels, wanting to give her space if she needs it. “I… I’m sorry. I know it’s not what you want. I just…”
“Don’t apologize,” she whispers, pushing herself up into a sitting position. Her arms come around my neck, and she brushes her nose against mine. “I understand. You don’t want to make me uncomfortable, and, well… I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
I release a breath, relieved. “Thank you, Raina.”
She kisses me sweetly, her fingers threading through my hair. It’ll be worth it, waiting. However much my body is screaming at me, begging for any type of release, my heart needs her to have the right motivations. I’ll find it in me to wait an eternity if I have to.
I help Raina get her clothes back on, minus her panties. Those are shoved deep into my pocket, and I’m not planning on giving them back.
Once we’re on our feet, we retrace our steps and grab Raina’s knife from the dining room. It’s eerily silent in here, considering all the screams we pulled out of these three men.
Hand in hand, Raina and I head toward the foyer. We’ll light a few curtains on fire on our way out to erase some of the evidence that we were here. It won’t cover up the bullet holes in the Montgomery’s bodies, but it’ll make it a hell of a lot harder to figure out who killed them all. If somehow the authorities find me to blame, I have the right contacts to get away with it. Unlike Charles, I’m untouchable.
I made sure of it.
“Are you hungry?” Raina asks as we near the front of the house. “Maybe we could get something to eat on the way to—”
She’s cut off by the undeniable sound of a car door slamming out front. For a second, we’re both frozen, but then she dashes to one of the windows.
“Raina,” I hiss. “What’re you doing?”
“Seeing who it is, obviously. What if it’s Mari—”
She cuts herself off, her face falling into an expression of terror. I’m already moving toward her, but it’s too late. The front door opens, and Ivan crosses the threshold, his eyes on my Rose.