Chapter Sixteen
The following morning,Diablo watched as Fallon slept, loving the way she looked so peaceful when the demons that tormented her in her sleep lay dormant. The night before, they’d stayed away, not unlike the night at the hotel. That night, they were in full force, clawing and scratching at her mind as she’d cried and screamed out in her sleep. Her voice had been laced with fear as she pleaded with someone to not hurt her. She’d kept mumbling over and over that she was sorry, like an eerie mantra piercing the quiet of their dark room. Diablo had rushed over to her, calmed her thrashing body and held her close to him, wiping the sweat off her face with the sheet. Eventually, the storm had passed and she’d fiercely hung on to him. The minutes had ticked away, and he’d fallen asleep holding her.
That next morning, when she’d wanted to fuck him, he’d been both surprised and elated about it. When he’d slipped inside her, it’d felt so natural and comfortable, like they’d been made for each other. It’d seemed like she filled a part of him that had been missing for a long time.
Still looking at her, his heart tugged and he breathed out slowly as a shadow from his past snuck into his head, making him wonder if Fallon would break his heart the way Hannah had a long time before.
He’d been living at his foster home for two years when he’d meet Hannah in high school. They were both sixteen and she was the prettiest girl he’d ever seen. She belonged to the elite group at school, and when his teacher had asked him to tutor her in geometry, he’d jumped at the chance. Since he’d started high school, she was the main attraction in his wet dreams. He’d been with a few of the neighborhood girls, but no one compared to Hannah.
When she’d gone for him in a big way, he’d been over the moon. Soon they’d meet up after school all the time, kissing and screwing between hikes in the mountains and lazy afternoons at the lake.
She’d told him she loved him at the end of their junior year, right before the summer had begun. He’d told her the same.
She’d kept their relationship a secret from her parents and good friends, claiming they’d never understand since he was a foster kid. He hadn’t given a shit if she wanted to keep it a secret; all he’d wanted was the scent of her baby powder perfume, her soft skin, and her tight pussy. He’d given her his heart.
That summer had burned into their teenage lives, and Hannah kept putting him off every time he’d call to get together. It’d seemed like she never had any time for him. So one hot June afternoon, he’d gone to her house and started up the front porch when he’d heard voices coming from the back. When he went to the backyard, he saw several girls in bikinis and men in trunks. Hannah reclined on a chaise lounge. The look of horror on her face when she saw him had chilled his heart. He nodded at her but she’d turned away.
An older man had asked her who he was and she shrugged. Her words from fourteen years ago echoed clearly in his head as though she’d just said them.
“I don’t know. I think he’s come for the gardener job.”
A hot surge of anger zapped up his spine. After all this time, it still had an effect on him.
He shook his head as if to make the memory scamper away, but it wasn’t ready to. The image of a guy a couple years older than he punched at his mind. He’d had his arm around Hannah, and Diablo had been so pissed that he’d been ready to beat the shit out of him. Hannah’s dad had come over and told him that it was a party and he’d meet him in the front to discuss the job.
“I didn’t come for no fuckin’ job,” he’d said.
“Why did you come?” Her father had looked puzzled.
“Hannah and I have been going together since last October.”
A horrified look passed over her dad’s face. “Is this true?” he’d asked his daughter.
“I don’t know what he’s talking about. Maybe he wished he could go out with me. I remember him now. He’s the foster kid who goes to my school.” Her cold, detached eyes had bored into him. Her words had been an icepick to his heart.
“You better leave,” Hannah’s dad had said.
He’d wanted to hurt and destroy everything in the backyard that summer afternoon, especially Hannah, but he’d clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and stormed out, the snickers from the other teenagers blinding him with cold fury.
From that day on, he’d sworn that no woman would ever humiliate him or take his heart. And he’d never had to worry about it until now.
He stroked Fallon’s cheek; it was as soft as cotton.You’re so sweet, and you’re fuckin’ doing something to me.She was knocking on his heart, asking to be let in, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to let another woman in again.
Fallon’s eyes fluttered open and she stretched long and hard like a cat. He chuckled, then bent down and kissed her. “You slept real well,” he said as his rough finger pad stroked her cheek.
“I feel great. I guess I was more tired than I thought.”
He stood up and went toward the bathroom. “There’s a fighting event set at the warehouse tonight. Did you want to go or stay at the club until I get back?”
She giggled. “I better go. My dad has been blowing up my phone. He’s beyond pissed. I haven’t spoken to him in the last several days and it’s been wonderful. Believe it or not, it’s the first time in my life that I’ve been on my own and I love it. I’m thinking of getting a job and moving out of the house.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Yeah? It’s time. You gotta learn to stand on your own feet. Why don’t you move here?”
She smiled. “I was thinking about moving to Alina.”
“That’d be cool. You could crash with me.”
Her lips quirked. “I want my own place—a real apartment.” She paused when his expression changed. “Don’t frown at me. Please. I just need some time to figure out how to take care of myself. I’ve been sheltered my whole life. My dad has always taken care of me, and I don’t want to go from being dependent on him to being dependent on you.”
