9. Tyran
NINE
TYRAN
Iwas focused on one thing and one thing alone.
Sienna.
The flash of her red coat cut through the darkness like a beacon, impossible to miss against the blanket of darkness that had swallowed the forest. Pale strands of blonde hair whipped wildly around her face as she ran, catching what little moonlight managed to filter through the tangled branches overhead.
She was fast, but not fast enough. Besides, this chase had never been about whether she could outrun me. It was about how long I was willing to let her pretend she could.
The cold air bit into my cheeks, but I barely noticed it. The only thing I could feel was the steady rhythm of my boots striking the frozen ground and the growing certainty that she was running out of time.
I lengthened my stride and the distance between us shrank.
Ten paces.
Eight.
Six.
She glanced over her shoulder, our eyes met, and I smiled.
Fear flashed across her face along with something else, but before I could zero in on it, she turned forward again and ran harder.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.
She believed she could escape me, but the truth was she was already caught. There was nowhere to run but right back into me.
Truthfully, I could have caught her already. Easily. One final burst of speed, a few long strides, and my hand would have closed around her arm.
Instead, I deliberately held back, keeping just enough distance between us to let her believe she still had a chance.
Hope was a cruel thing.
Especially when it was false.
She veered between the trees, her red coat flashing between the trunks. I followed without hesitation. The forest itself seemed to bend in my favor, guiding me after her.
She could run. She could hide. She could pray. But none of it would change the outcome.
Even if, by some miracle, she managed to reach her little cottage at the edge of the woods, she would only be delaying the inevitable.
I would follow her there. I would tear that door from its hinges if I had to.
I would walk straight into that cottage and take her back to my castle where she’d pay her debt.
She threw me another glance over her shoulder. Another flash of panic.
Her foot caught on a buried root and she stumbled.
“Agh!” she grunted, her knees hitting the dirt.
I slowed, giving her time to recover.
“Are you hurt?” The words were out before I could stop them. I wanted to punish her, but not physically. I had a different kind of suffering in mind. The kind that involved her moaning my name while begging me to let her come.
“Fuck you, Ty,” she spat out, then bolted again.
The nickname she bestowed on me, along with her fighting spirit and fierce determination, had always been such a turn-on.
Five years ago, I fought it; today, I wouldn’t even dream of resisting it.
I’d gone more than five years without a pussy, and dammit, when I finally came out, I knew exactly which pussy I wanted.
Only hers would do.
I let her gain some distance, even though my cock was screaming to get to her and take her. I ignored it. Soon enough, she would be in my prison, so she might as well enjoy these last minutes of freedom.
Instead, I let my mind wander to one time I almost gave in to Sienna’s charm. It was the night before the FBI raided the club and I learned of Sienna’s betrayal.
“Ty. Do I look okay?”
My head whipped around at Sienna’s question, the spreadsheet on the laptop completely forgotten.
It was a mistake, because she was wearing a green strapless dress that tempted me to blur some serious lines I’d never crossed.
I wanted to bend her over my desk and fuck her so she’d never want another man to touch her.
Unfortunately, it was a bad idea. Especially now that she’d gone through very traumatic shit during her kidnapping. I didn’t tell her that I went looking for her too, but her stepfather got to her first. It didn’t matter though, because the most important thing was that she was safe.
It was exactly for that reason that when she asked for a job, I’d taken her under my wing. I felt protective of her. It helped that she no longer tried to seduce me or kiss me—although looking like this, I might reverse our roles.
“Where are you going?” I growled, my jealousy taking on the color of her dress. She looked like a vision for any man, especially for one like me.
“Date.” She flashed me a smile. “With a boy my age, as you recommended.”
A rumbling groan climbed its way out of my body as I ran my hand over my five-o’clock shadow.
Why in the fuck would I have recommended that?
Oh, that’s right, because she was too young for me.
“Who is he?” I questioned. “I need a name to make sure—”
She chuckled. “Calm down. It’s not like I’m going to have sex with him. Maybe just give him a blowjob at most.”
I shot to my feet and came around the desk. “Over my dead body.”
Her brows furrowed. “Listen, Ty. I’m of age and I have yet to give a blowjob or have sex. And I sure as hell won’t die an inexperienced virgin. So I—”
I had no idea what came over me. One second I was standing away from her and the next my hand was around the nape of her head to tilt it up. Then I crushed my mouth against hers.
She gasped, then moaned, and I swallowed the soft noise. I slid my hand behind her back, relishing in the smoothness of her silky skin under my palms.
A soft moan sounded against my lips and brought back my senses.
I broke our kiss, lifting my head but finding it impossible to step away from her. Sienna was fucking gorgeous with an hourglass figure ready to melt under my rough palms.
“I’m sorry, that was…”
“Great practice,” she cut me off.
Her smile was off, but it was her eyes that pierced my soul. It was a look that had lingered there since she came back.
Sienna wasn’t the same girl I kissed in the sex club the night she snuck in with a fake ID. That girl was carefree, happy, and determined. This one was… conflicted. Sienna came back with demons she refused to talk about, and I really hoped her parents had convinced her to see a therapist.
In the meantime, I had obtained a list of every man involved in her kidnapping and torturing, as well as those who had stood by and done nothing to protect her while she was held captive.
It didn’t matter how high or low they were on the ladder.
I began working my way down the list, one by one.
I wasn’t even close to eliminating them all, because the list included the crew members who had manned the plane, bus, and cargo ship that transported her to her final destination, where she was to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
“Don’t worry, Ty,” she murmured, taking a step back as she smoothed her hair with slightly trembling hands.
“I’ll practice a blowjob with someone else,” she teased, then arched her eyebrows in challenge.
“Unless you want to volunteer? A friend told me he’d do anything his girlfriend wants when she gives him a blowjob.
” A delicate line appeared between her brows as she considered something before she continued.
“Although she admitted it’s not a very pleasant action for her. ”
“Because her boyfriend is an idiot and doesn’t know what he’s doing,” I grunted.
“Oh.” Her red lips parted, and for a moment, that old glint was back in her eyes. “So your girlfriends find it pleasant?”
“Yes.”
She tilted her head. “Are you sure? Maybe they’re just lying to you.”
I chuckled darkly. “Trust me, Sienna. There is no faking that.”
“That being…?”
I shook my head. “You’ll be the death of me.”
“Maybe, but before you die, old man, maybe you can tell me… or even better, show me what you’re talking about.”
“Blondie, it’s wrong and you know it. We’re off-limits to each other.
” There was the matter of our age, but also the fact that we came from different worlds and she deserved so much better.
Also, my instincts were warning me that she could inch her way deep into my dark soul and permanently find a home there.
“I’m your boss. Trust me, you can’t handle me. ”
Although my dick disagreed. It craved her from the moment I felt her lips and her soft body molding into mine.
“I can handle a lot more than you know.” There was a hint of bitterness behind her voice and it did strange things to my chest. “We’re both adults,” she continued in a whisper. “Besides, I want to… forget. Just this once and I’ll never ask again.”
The girl was forever gone. The only thing in front of me was a woman.
“If you won’t do it, I’ll ask your brother,” she said, straightening her shoulders. “And pretend it’s you. Should be the same thing, more or less.”
My hand wrapped around her throat gently, not to hurt but to warn.
“Don’t you fucking dare, Sienna.” I was only a man, for fuck’s sake, and while I tried to do the right thing by her, it didn’t mean I’d let my twin have her.
I’d never been jealous of my brother—not once—but I knew if Kyran tasted her, it would tip the scales and I’d end up hating my own twin. Or killing him.
“Please, Ty. Then give me something good,” she pleaded, her bottom lip trembling.
Maybe it was that heart-wrenching look in her eyes, or it was quite possible that I was simply too weak to resist her.
“Fine, you win.” My lips were back on her jaw, trailing the soft skin, before I whispered into her ear, “Take off your panties, then get on your knees.”
She didn’t hesitate, running her hands up her hips and under her dress, then pushed her panties down her legs. Then she dropped to her knees and I almost spilled into my pants.
Fuck, that would have been embarrassing.
She looked up at me from under her long lashes. “Now what?”
But she was already reaching for the zipper of my pants and taking my cock out. Her dainty fingers wrapped around my length as she licked her lips.
“Ty,” she murmured, looking up at me again. “Now what?”