AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Fuck. She’s going to start hyperventilating if she doesn’t settle soon. The tough exterior I’ve come to admire about her is gone, and all that’s left is the vulnerable woman I long to protect from the world, shield from anything that could hurt her.
I reposition her in my lap so she’s straddling my thighs before resting my palms on her cheeks, forcing her eyes to stay locked with mine. “Sweet girl, I need you to listen to me.”
Her eyes widen at our position, but I force myself to ignore it. I force myself to ignore my own heart speeding up as I imagine her riding me like this, her head thrown back as she takes her pleasure, and I ignore how my cock reacts to being so fucking close to her pussy.
“I need you to breathe with me, okay?” I brush my thumbs under her eyes, wiping the tears away before they’re quickly replaced with more.
Emerson nods, closing her eyes for a moment before they meet mine again.
“Nice and slow, breathe in.” I take a deep breath and wait for her to follow suit. She follows my lead immediately, and the dark part of me that craves her submission rejoices. I half expected that because she’s so headstrong, so independent, that she would fight me at every step, but this comes naturally to her. “And out.”
She blows out a breath and the warmth whispers across my cheek, reminding me just how close we are.
“And in… and out.”
I keep the steady rhythm up, watching as the tears start to slow, her breaths begin to even out, and her eyes never leave mine. Emerson is so fucking beautiful right now, unfiltered, real, her walls down for me to see the fragile doll she tries so hard to hide from the world, and I realize just how fucking deep the feelings I never knew I was capable of run.
11
Emerson
Idon’t fall apart.
I didn’t fall apart when my mom left us, or when the Center lost all its funding, or even when I found out Brad had betrayed me and I was so deep in debt I would be lucky if I paid it off by the time I was ready to retire.
But for some reason, I allow myself a moment of vulnerability while Rayne holds me. The tears are freeing. They’re all the tears I hold back because I have to be strong, I don’t have any other options. For a moment I allow myself to feel everything I would usually lock away and throw away the key, trusting Rayne to put me back together again.
And he does. He holds me, helps me breathe through what I think may be a panic attack, and then when the tears finally slow and I expect him to pull away, he just holds me tighter.
“I should have called you,” I rasp. “When I got home from work, I almost did. But it was so late, I thought you’d be in bed. And I don’t know, a lot of what you said last night was a bit… insane. I didn’t know if you meant it, or if it was just the heat of the moment.” I look down, finally breaking eye contact. His dark irises are enchanting, I lose myself in them every time I linger for too long.
Rayne’s fingers guide my face up to meet his eyes again, as if sensing my need to break the contact but not allowing me to. “It wasn’t the heat of the moment, I meant every word.”
My mouth drops open as my brain fights to keep up. He meant it when he claimed me. He meant to reprimand me for having low iron and not seeking a second opinion. And he meant it when he said I needed to call him about my health and safety.
He grasps my wrist gently, bringing it up for him to survey the bruises wrapped around it. Darkness clouds his features, but somehow I know he’s not angry at me. “This looks worse than the bruises you got from that idiot yesterday. Are we blaming the iron for this, or was Russo rough?”
I consider lying, but I think he’d know if anything but the truth came from my mouth. “He wanted to hurt me.” The words cause a shiver to rush through my body as they leave my mouth. Fuck. I have to go to work tonight. How the fuck am I supposed to avoid the man that owns the place? It’s just not possible.
“You’re not going back there,” Rayne says as if quitting my best paying job is an option.
I shake my head. “I have to.”
“You’ll do as you’re told, Emerson. Your safety is non-negotiable.”
“But… I…” Heat touches my cheeks as I contemplate telling Rayne about the debt, about why I need the money, it’s the only way I can see that he might understand. Who am I kidding? He’s never gone a day without something. His family has so much money, he’s probably never had to work a day in his life. “I need the money,” I whisper, dropping my head again to avoid him seeing just how true the words are.
It’s only now that I remember I’m straddling his lap, only a few layers of clothing separating us. I need space. I can’t think when he’s so close to me, and I quickly attempt to slip from his lap.
Rayne’s faster though, his hands coming down to my thighs to hold me in place. “Stay where you are, sweet girl.”
The endearment sends a shiver of desire through my body. If anyone else called me that I would throat punch them, but the words coming from Rayne feel significant somehow. This huge, gruff and frankly intimidating as hell man using such a soft nickname, has me weak at the knees every time he says it. I wonder idly if he notices just how much it affects me when he calls me that, but who am I kidding, Rayne notices everything.
I stop moving right away, for some reason craving the pleased look he gets when I do as he says, and when the softness touches his eyes, a small smile plays on my lips.
“Good girl. Now, I know you’re worried about money, but you said it yourself, Russo is going to try again, and you may not get as lucky this time.” Rayne tries to keep his voice soft, but I don’t miss the way he stiffens as the idea of Russo getting his hands on me crosses his mind. I want to be mad that this complete stranger thinks he has some kind of insane claim on me, but I can’t find it in me. He cares about me, and as fucking crazy as that is, it still makes my heart skip a beat. Having someone care about my safety to the point it makes them crazed has an unfamiliar heat settling in my core.
“I know that, but… I need the money.” Every time I say those words, it gets harder to get them out. Rayne won’t understand, how could he?
