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“You think Kahler cares about your piece of ass? He’s got bigger worries, Danny boy.”
“Fuck off, Beau!”
In some cosmic design, they both roared and charged the other at the exact same moment. Colliding at the corner of the desk, they sent the heavy piece flying into the wall where it cracked the plaster, sending up puffs of dust. Devin was too stunned to move for a long span of stuttering heartbeats before instincts took over. She crawled from the chair, creeping along the floor against the wall as the sounds of violence erupted around her along with the shattering of glass and the cracking of wood. The entire office became their arena as she made it beneath the desk to huddle in the open space of the kneehole.
From her vantage point, she couldn’t see a damned thing, but as the wet slap of flesh spattered through the air, flinging bright droplets of ruby soaring into the wall, she was glad of it. A tooth clattered across the floor, rolling to a stop before her to gleam in muted shades of red and brilliant white. One of them pounded the top of the desk again and again, wood splintering under the force though it remained solid above Devin’s head. It took her a panicked moment to figure out it was someone’s head slamming into the glossy surface.
For all their terrible violence, it was strangely quiet. After their initial challenging bellow, there were only the grunts and groans of effort and pain. Soon, even those petered out to ragged breaths and wet gurgles.
She didn’t have to wait long when utter silence swelled to suffocating proportions.
“Now get out and stay away from her. You even look in her direction, I will rip your heart from your chest, Elijah.” Rey punctuated his command with a solid kick, Beau’s guttural moan following him out of the door when Rey grabbed him by the back of the shirt and pants and flung him into the hallway.
Slamming the door shut, Rey stood within the destruction of his office, breathing hard. Devin could see the blood dripping from him to spatter the floor. Why she would crawl out from her hiding place, peering around the edge of the desk to take in the damage before centering her sights on Rey, was well beyond her reasoning.
Stark raving mad, she rose and picked her way through the debris towards him. Brows furrowing, she marked every wound, each bruise.
“Is that what you wanted, Devin,” Rey asked, no louder than a whisper.
“I… I don’t…”
“Is it proof enough for you,” he snarled as he drove her back against the desk. Bending her backwards over it until he shoved her hips up over the edge so she slammed into the cracked wood.
Understanding dawned on a chill slithering up her spine. He thought to show his care for her by wounding another, proving his prowess. Punishing Beau for past behavior with his fists. Demanding her feelings in return for such a superficial act. Devin shook her head, the smallest negative causing his nostrils to flare. Small hand to his chest, she gave a faint push, lips pursing when he refused to budge. Devin squirmed her way off of the desk, bringing their bodies flush before she could duck beneath his reaching arm.
She got to the small first aid kit he’d used on her dozens of times before he could grab her, returning to the desk to lay out the supplies she’d need. Alcohol wipes, gauze, butterfly bandages, all set out in an orderly row. Facing him, she raised her arms, a clear indication of what she wanted. Rey growled deep in his chest, but he lifted her back onto the desk, standing still as Devin tore open the first packet.
“You don’t know me, Rey,” she murmured as she blotted the worst of the cuts with the alcohol swab. She blew cool air over the sting when the small lines at the corner of his eyes twitched. “All of this, it doesn’t change that you stood by while he did all those horrible things to me. You watched him break me and didn’t raise a finger.”
“He didn’t break you,” Rey said through a bone shuddering roar, deafening her with his rage, though his touch was careful when he grabbed at her hips. Pulling Devin flush, he pushed his erection against her. “He couldn’t break you, and that’s what made him so angry.”
Devin scoffed, setting aside the red smeared square. Angling the bandage she retrieved, she pulled the two ragged edges of flesh back together.
“I’m nothing to you. I don’t know what you think I am, but that much I do know.” Breath hitching on a swell of emotion, she averted her eyes to tear open another swab. Blaming the watery sting on the harsh smell, she dabbed at a deep puncture that looked enough like a bite mark that Devin couldn’t hide her frown.
Shoving her hand aside, Rey set his forehead to hers. Keeping her gaze with a warning curl of his lips, he cupped her cheeks in his large palms. Dwarfing her in their size, he let her know how easy it would be for him to rip her apart.
“You screw me all up. Make me think things I have no business dreaming of,” he whispered, as if he didn’t dare to say the words loud enough for anyone to hear. Even her. “The minute I saw you, I wanted you.Neededyou. Beau didn’t want you to hurt me, and I don’t fucking care if you rip my heart out anymore, hear me? You’re mine.”
“Bought and paid for,” Devin mumbled, the scathing reminder a defensive reaction to the strange surge of heat through her chest.
She did not, and would never, care for this man. No matter the earnest intensity of his words, they were a fabrication of his arrogance. That Devin should fall all over herself to be his simply because he wanted her.
“Is that what you think? I don’t care about that.”
“I do.” Devin sniffed, but only the once. She pulled away, once again busying herself with the bandages as Rey stood quiet under her ministrations.
Chapter Six
Things fell into a strange new routine that Devin couldn’t begin to fathom.
Clothes appeared on hangers every morning, most of them new, but some of her old clothing. He cleared drawers out, making room for underwear, lacy bras, and various other pieces. She had limited choices, but they existed.
Sheets and blankets came in the paler shades she preferred, though they all paired with some vibrant color Rey already owned. Devin supposed he tried, and she had mumbled a terse thanks when he added a bevy of pillows that she could surround herself with when he let her.
Not that it was often. Rey still plied her body every day, sometimes for hours at a time. Devastating her with every ragged scream he wrenched from her. Devin told herself it was just sex and meant nothing, but in the small hours of the morning, when his knot bound them together, it was difficult to remember that as they inhaled one another’s ragged breaths.
Rousing from her thoughts, Devin flipped the pancake before checking on the bacon sizzling away in the oven. Another concession made. As much as Devin loved takeout, she’d grown tired of eating it every meal of every day. Rey seemed as enthusiastic about the idea as she’d been about having underwear again. He ate everything she prepared with gusto, acting as if he’d never had a home cooked meal. Of course, every pan, pot, and casserole dish was new, and the prices never divulged to her.
