Chapter 13
Ashley
Instinct is a strange concept. It can guide human actions faster than the human brain can process what’s happening.
I’m about to attack when the cold blade at my neck stops me. And not just anywhere, but exactly where it would allow me to bleed to death in a couple minutes.
It freezes me. My heart immediately races to a dangerous speed, and I can hear it pounding in my ears. Thump, thump, thump. All the hair on my body prickles.
I blink a few times, trying to collect my thoughts, but the adrenaline rush is so powerful that I can’t pull myself together for a moment.
I can’t believe I let myself be fooled like a novice.
“Did you like it, my sweet Ash?” he asks in a low voice right into my ear, his warm breath blowing over my sensitive spot. I’m not sure if I should feel relieved or the opposite.
I clench my fist with the mask. “Yes. I liked it,” I breath.
The man behind me hums with satisfaction, though the blade in his hand remains at my throat. The warmth of his hand is on my waist before slowly moving to my stomach. I don’t know how it’s possible, but his hand moves both too fast and too slow at the same time.
I’m screwed.
“Wouldn’t you like to thank me for that?” Another brush of his lips, this time on my jaw. A shiver runs through me.
I close my eyes as warmth rises inside me. It floods my insides and flows down my body. “Do you always make gifts and expect praise?”
A low chuckle reaches my senses. “No, but I enjoy teasing you.” The hand on my stomach presses me against the body behind.
My heart pounds in unison with his. And I feel something else. His erection presses against my lower back, and the warmth inside me travels lower, between my thighs. Shivers of excitement run through my entire body, and the tickling of butterfly wings in my stomach intensifies.
I part my lips, and I feel a blush spread across my cheeks. At the same time, I’m grateful that it’s dark around us.
“Fuck.” His whisper is laced with lust, low and silky. “What the hell are you doing to me, Shadow?”
Breath catches in my throat. He knows. He already knows who I am. Although it was really only a matter of time, I wasn’t prepared for it. Since I left David in that dingy basement, there was no time to think about my next move.
The tingling in my lower abdomen intensifies as the blade slides lower and cuts the skin on my neck. It’s a light cut, superficial, but a trickle of blood runs down anyway.
My reaction doesn’t escape his attention, and I curse his observant nature. Between nibbles of his teeth on the other side of my neck, he says, “So many questions and so few answers. Interesting. You like playing with knives; not only with your victims but also with your own body…”
“That wasn’t a question.” Trance-like, I tilt my head back to give him better access to my neck. It’s stronger than I am. Open kisses reward my action.
“Indeed. Observant as always. You can let go of that mask now.”
Only after his words do I realize I’m still holding the mask in my hand. I open my fingers and the mask falls, hitting the floor with a dull thud.
“When did you realize?”
Another quiet laugh from him, and his thumb strokes the spot just below my breast. He’s gentle right now, playing with me, turning me on. When a soft moan escapes my throat, I’m not sure how to tell him how much I want his hand to go farther north.
“I admit it took me a while. I had a hunch back in Black Thorns, but I ignored it at first. When I sat down at home with Alex’s phone in my hands, I thought about it. It wasn’t a coincidence I felt it back in the pub. Do you know why?”
“Why?” I fidget, aware of the hard bulge in his pants when his hand wanders south. This is torture.
“My sweet baby, it’s simple. In my entire life, I’ve never felt this attraction to any woman. Not one. And then suddenly I felt it for two different ones. Isn’t that strange? Rare? It couldn’t have been a coincidence.”
The knife slides down from my neck to my cleavage and begins its dance there, without hurting me. Meanwhile, the man’s face moves to the other side, and I feel his warm tongue licking the bloody trail.
The muscles in my thighs tighten, only to open again. I’ve had enough. I place my left hand on his and guide it lower, to the place where I need it most right now. Warm fingers find my lower lips and then wander even farther, all the way to my entrance.
“God, Jackal...” I moan.
“I’m not Jackal now. I’m Ryker. And I know, Ash, I know.”
The index fingers of our hands begin to work together, rubbing my clit through the fabric of my pants.
“You took Alex’s phone. That’s how you got my number. That’s why I got a message from him,” I say, trying to gather my thoughts, even though it’s a fucking difficult thing to do.
“Technically, it wasn’t me who took it; it was Theo. The rest is correct,” he responds between kisses, interrupted by sensual bites. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Ash, amazing, exciting, and dangerous. I love it.”
I rub my hips against his crotch, and my panties are soaked now. “Compliments won’t get you Alex’s mercy when he finds out what you did.”
“Leave that to me. I can take care of myself.”
This time, I’m the one giggling because I know what Alex is capable of. And if he feels threatened, it will only make the whole situation worse. All hell will break loose. I hope Ryker knows what he’s doing. It would be a shame to lose such a pretty face.
“But—”
“Shhh... We’ll talk about it later. For now, let me see your face when you come. Let it go.”
The tingling sensation down there tells me it won’t take long. I bite my lip when an impatient moan escapes me.
Oh God, it has been so long since I’ve been intimate with a man. Everything seems new and familiar at the same time. It doesn’t make sense, and yet it does. Everything is mixed up in my head.
It’s all because of him.
Ryker’s hand slips out from under mine and finds the elastic band of my pants. With ease, his fingers slide underneath and under my panties.
I’m so focused on the warmth of his fingers, on every movement, that his words reach me a little late.
“There’s no way you found me by yourself.
Who sent you? It couldn’t have been Satan, because I sold my soul to him long ago.
It wasn’t God either, because He forgot about me a long time ago.
Whoever it was wants to see me fall to my knees, because I won’t do that for any other person.
And then I’ll beg for more. There’s a strength inside you that you haven’t even discovered yet. ”
I throw my head back and rest it on his shoulder. My teeth release my lip, and I breathe more freely but also more quickly.
Ryker’s fingers wander over my most intimate place, tormenting me, teasing, tempting. At this point, whatever he demanded of me, he would get. I’m the epitome of softness when his fingers play with me. They circle my clit.
“Oh, fuck,” I sigh.
“My love, I can’t wait to taste you. Jesus. I’m going to feast on you and celebrate around the clock. You’ll be howling with pleasure and begging me to stop. I already know I’ll never be able to stop. You have no idea how many different ways I plan to satisfy you while I pleasure myself—”
“Ryker—”
“You have no idea how deep you’ve gotten under my skin.
I couldn’t stop thinking about you, even when I was asleep.
My imagination kept telling me how you would wriggle beneath me as I stripped you of your clothes with my knife.
Before you came home, I sat there in the armchair in the corner.
I couldn’t help myself when I smelled you in the air. Do you want to know what I did, baby?”
“Wh-what?” I’m no longer able to form a complete sentence. My brain stopped thinking long ago.
“I had to relieve myself, and when I squeezed my cock hard, all I could think about was you on your knees in front of me while I sat in that chair. Even when I came and my cum spilled over my stomach, I didn’t go soft at all.”
“Your dirty words—”
“My luck you’re a listener, because I’m a talker who will fill your nights with these words.”
I don’t have the strength to straighten out his hopes. There’s no way anything more will happen between us. We won’t make this an everyday thing. No way.
His whispers, his kisses, and those damn talented fingers take my breath away. But his dirty words cause an earthquake.
Knowing exactly what’s going on, Ryker slides two fingers into me as deep as he can, and that’s when I come with a moan on my lips.
The pounding of my heart completely drowns out my surroundings.
My toes curl involuntarily. A hot wave of orgasm washes over me.
I’m glad he’s holding me tight in his arms because I’m sure I would fall otherwise.
Hot lips fall on my cheek as Ryker’s hand slides out of my panties after a while. Still holding me in his arms, I hear a smacking sound.
My eyes flutter open, and I look at him with a drunken gaze. He has two fingers in his mouth that were just a moment ago... inside me.
Why is this so hot?
His lips surround the fingers, and his tongue cleans them of the evidence of my pleasure.
Only when he finishes and pulls his fingers out of his mouth that I meet his eyes. The realization of what just happened hits me. I rarely get so carried away, and I’m sure I can blame it solely on my long period of sexual abstinence.
Shaking my head, I realize I didn’t even notice when the knife Ryker was holding earlier disappeared.
My breathing slowly returns to normal, and my heart calms down.
What am I doing?
Anger replaces the desire I felt earlier.
“Don’t you dare do that.” There’s no trace of his seductive voice.
“What?” I ask, confused.
I still feel his hard body against my back. The urge to break free from his embrace and turn around is strong, but he won’t let me.
“Don’t you dare regret this moment. Now, let’s go to the living room because we’re not alone here.”