One Month Later

The sound of the front door unlocking made her tense, but a second later she saw David’s broad shoulders, his biceps bulging as he carried a bunch of plastic grocery bags. She plugged one ear to block out the racket as he walked into the kitchen, trying to listen to the lawyer. “What did you say?”

“It’s a complicated matter, Lianna.”

“I really wish you’d stop using that word.” Too close to her father’s excuses while she’d been tortured.

“Fine. The things your father has been accused of are extensive. Honestly, if Michael Turner hadn’t turned himself in and pled guilty to his knowledge of it all, worked out the deal to testify, the focus of this investigation could have been on you. You were Robert’s only child, you worked at the company.” Maria sighed. “If you had worked in any other department except for acquisitions it wouldn’t have looked so bad, but that’s where you’ve been for over two years.”

“Do you think they’re going to charge me?” she asked, feeling her stomach clenching again. Movement caught her eye and she raised her eyes to David, concern darkening his beautiful features as he crossed his arms.

“I can’t say. We’ve built our case around Mr. Turner, and he’s been very vocal that the reason your father killed himself was because he couldn’t face you knowing about it. Truly, it was the kindest thing he could have done for you, because it’s a convincing argument.” The lawyer let out a slight groan. “That was insensitive. I’m still very sorry for your loss, he clearly loved you very much. I’m just saying he helped you a lot with that terrible act.”

“Thank you.” She forced the right words out, even though she wanted to tell Maria Espinoza that she didn’t give a fuck that the bastard was dead. Not really. Even if she felt like an orphan, and occasionally reached for the phone to call him on instinct before she remembered he was the reason for all of this shit. “So, what’s the latest update on the company?”

“That’s being handled by another team at the firm. Paul Mahaffey is the lead on it. From our last meeting I can tell you that the dissolution is continuing, despite the attempt to block from a couple of people on the board. Assets are being liquidated, but…”

“But?

“You know your father violated the bylaws that he set forth with the board in selling those companies without calling a meeting and seeking approval. Technically, he was the owner and retained the right to do it, but they’re contesting the sales. I’m not sure how much Paul has told you, but they can’t even find the company he supposedly sold to. Operations at the facilities have already been shut down, and in two of the cases the properties have already been resold.”

Maria was flipping through papers on the other end of the line, but all Lianna could think about was his voice lecturing her about the complications of selling them while she begged and screamed. When David walked towards her, she held her hand out and paced further into the living room.

“It all looks extremely questionable, and although his suicide has helped our case in supporting your innocence in all of this, it doesn’t speak well to his state of mind in the erratic business decisions he made leading up to his death.” She sighed. “Really, you need to talk to Paul about it. I can ask him to call you.”

“I’d appreciate that, thank you.” Lianna rubbed her eyes, wondering if the blinding pain behind them was an aneurism waiting to take her out and end this shit show in a truly spectacular fashion. “So, when will we know what they decide about me?”

“Maybe a few more weeks. But, really, they could press charges even after they say they won’t. The investigators have only had the files for six weeks, and if they found evidence—”

“There isn’t any evidence, Maria. I didn’t know anything.”

“I believe you, Lianna. I do, but that doesn’t mean other people will.” A phone ringing in the background had Maria sighing again. “Listen, I know this sucks, but you’re going to have to stay put for a while. You can’t leave the country, and I wouldn’t recommend it anyway. Until the financial stuff is sorted out with Mercier Systems, you want to save your money. We don’t know how that’s going to turn out. All right?”

“I understand.”

“Good. I’ve sent Paul a message asking him to reach out and update you, but I have to go. I know it feels impossible, but try not to obsess over this. We’re all working hard for you and Michael, and you’re doing everything you can.”

“Thank you, Maria. I really appreciate it.”

“Have a good day, Lianna.” The call ended and she let the phone hang at her side, staring out the windows at the soggy skyline, blurred by the rain. Normally, this would be her favorite kind of day. The sky heavy with gray clouds, the patter of rain against the windows, the peaceful haze of the city cloaked in stormlight.

But there was no peace for her. Robert Mercier, Alain Faure, had ensured that.

The sound of plastic bags rustling in the kitchen pulled her back to reality. Walking over to the bar, she leaned her arms on it, watching his back flexing through his soaked shirt. “You’re being domestic again.”

“I’m better at it than you are, angel.” He winked before pulling the fridge open to deposit more food inside it.

“I know,” she mumbled, and he turned to face her as he let the door fall shut.

“Lianna…” Walking around the end of the bar he stopped a couple of feet from her, one arm reaching for her before he stopped himself. “Can I?” he asked, and she scrunched up her nose.

“You’re soaked.”

“So?” That lopsided grin transformed his face with warmth and she rolled her eyes and stepped into his chest so his arms could come around her, squeezing her against the cool, wet cloth.

“Did you just stand in the rain?” she asked, unable to hide her smile as she breathed deep. Warm male skin, a hint of his cologne, and that unique smell of rain hitting hot concrete.

“I had to unload the bags from the trunk of the car.” David rested his cheek against the top of her head. “Are you going to stop complaining?”

“The doorman would have helped you.”

“I don’t need servants to help me carry groceries.”

His tone made her eyes roll again, but she wrapped her arms around his waist anyway. “For the last time, they are not servants.”

“Mmhmm.” The noncommittal sound made his chest rumble against her cheek. “So, are you going to tell me what the lawyer said?”

“Nothing really. Everything is still fucked up, I can’t go anywhere… and she suggested I be careful with the money I have.”

David leaned back and tilted her face up by her chin, his smile still in place. “You’ve got millions in your account, angel, I think you’ll be fine.”

“Stalker. It’s annoying that you know that.”

He chuckled and leaned down to kiss her, warm lips melting against hers, sending a rush of heat over her skin that pooled between her thighs. “I told you I know everything about you,” he whispered against her mouth.

“Still annoying,” she whispered back, and he spanked her ass hard, jolting her into his chest with a yelp.

“Get your ass in the kitchen and help me with the groceries.” David nudged her forward and she plucked at her shirt, unsticking it from her skin.

“I’m soaked now, and you’re an asshole.”

“Keep smarting off and I’ll be fucking your tight little asshole in a minute.” The low growl in his voice had her clenching between her thighs, with far more arousal than fear. In fact, there was almost no fear now, just a craving for his darkness, for the hungry, possessive look in his eyes.

She reached into a bag and grabbed a container of mixed greens, just as his hands braced on the counter on either side of her. Caging her in with his hard body, grinding his stiff cock into her ass.

Lips brushing her ear, he spoke low, “You liked that, didn’t you, angel.”

It wasn’t just her shirt that was soaked. Warm, liquid heat was spreading between her legs, and she found herself panting, unable to respond as one of his hands stroked up her stomach. That large hand cupped one breast, kneading it before he plucked at her nipple through the thin bra. Pinching until the zing of pain made her nerves hum and her ears buzz. She licked her lips, gasping as he finally released the bud and wrapped his hand around her throat.

“Say it.” Nipping her ear with his teeth, he breathed out a warm laugh, and she shivered.

Her hands were planted on the counter, fingers splayed as he bent her forward just enough to make her back arch, held by her throat against his chest. Her brain was overloading, heart pounding against the inside of her ribs as she squirmed. “I like it,” she said, a hint of a moan making the words breathy, desperate.

“I want to hurt you,” he growled, fingers tightening around her throat, and her knees almost gave out as arousal burned through any attempt at complex thought.

“Please.”

“Fuck.” He turned her around with a sharp jerk and kissed her hard, taking her mouth violently. Biting her lip, nipping her tongue, that low moan meeting hers as his hand held the back of her neck in place. Shifting his hands to her ass, he lifted and then he was walking, her legs wrapped around his hips as his teeth traced her neck, clamping down at the beginning of her shoulder.

She groaned, watching the ceiling, the door frame to the bedroom passing overhead, and then he dropped her onto the bed, immediately flipping her to her stomach with a hard grip on her thigh.

“I’m going to make you scream,” he hissed, fingers sliding into the waistband of her yoga pants, yanking them down with her underwear. “I’m going to make you beg.”

The metallic sound of his belt buckle coming loose had her fisting the rumpled sheets, whimpering in anticipation as her pants tangled around her ankles.

Then he ripped her head back by her hair, making her pull air between her teeth as the sting spread. “And then I’m going to fuck you. Hard.”

Words were impossible now, mouth dry from the rapid breathing, but she managed to nod against the powerful grip in her hair as she licked her lips.

He dropped her head back to the bed, and then she heard the belt, the silken sound of leather sliding over skin, coupled with the tinkling metal of the fixtures. Every nerve ending hummed, taut in anticipation, and then the first line of fire landed across her ass and she gasped, barely able to draw air back in as another and another struck.

Vicious spikes of pain, and she yelled, started to push herself up on the bed, but his hand landed in the small of her back and slammed her back down. “Don’t fucking move.”

“Please!”

“That’s right, beg.” He stepped back and then rained down the belt across her ass and thighs, over and over. Line after line of brutal fire, leaving a deep ache behind that she could barely process as the sharp pain doubled, multiplied.

A scream ripped out of her as a lash landed at the delicate place where her ass met her thighs, and then she was crying. Hiccupping as she kicked her legs, tried to push herself up, to shift away, but every time she moved he was there. Holding her down, making the next strike of the belt that much harder. Twisting the sheets in her fists, she whimpered, screaming again as the pain blurred into one high note, held too long, making her skin buzz and her ears ring. “Stop, stop! Please!”

The belt snapped across her thighs again, and she sagged against the bed, feeling it dip as his knee landed beside her, and then his fingers were in her hair, craning it back. “I’m not done.”

His eyes were almost black, pupils dilated so fully, that hungry look in his face that had her whimpering and desperate at the same time. Arousal, edged with a taste of fear, clit pulsing in response. She hated it. She loved it. She needed it.

“Put your fucking face in the bed so no one calls the cops, angel.” Pushing her head down, he moved off the bed and she bit down on the sheets just in time to take the next strike. Muffling the scream against the mattress, she felt the bedding grow damp against her cheeks, drool soaking in, as the pain returned full force. Brilliant lines of fire, the heat spreading, tightening every muscle in her body and then she felt it cresting — agony awash in blinding light.

There was no thought, just a desperate surge of fight or flight, and she pushed off the floor, halfway across the bed when his fingers caught her ankle and yanked her back. She turned, feeling her bruised ass burn against the smooth sheet as she tried to kick her foot free, but he was faster. Stronger.

“Did I say I was done?” The belt was out of his hands as he pushed her down on the bed, forcing her onto her stomach as he climbed up, moving behind her. Hand wrapped around her throat, he squeezed hard enough to choke and ripped her upright onto her knees. “Did I?”

Back pressed to his front, she whimpered, coughed, nails digging in at his wrist as she shook her head hard. His low laugh rumbled against her ear, tongue tracing the hollow just behind it before nipping her neck. He released her to rip her shirt over her head, leaving her gasping in air to ease the buzzing in her ears.

“That’s right. I’m not done yet, angel.” Leaning them both forward for a moment he grabbed pillows and piled two in front of her and then bent her over them. Ass lifted just enough for him to grind the bulge of his erection directly against her core, likely soaking the fabric, and she trembled as every movement teased her and made the welts ache and sting.

He spread her legs wide, digging his knees in, and then she heard his zipper and the arousal took over everything. The pain, the burn in her skin, the lingering hints of fear, it all melted into pure need. At the first stroke of his cock at her entrance, she tried to lean up on her elbows to push her hips back, but he landed a hand between her shoulders, pinning her down.

It was animalistic, raw, powerful as he thrust into her slick heat, the weight of his body pressing her into the bed. He growled, pushing in deeper, making her body adjust and accept him, primal sounds escaping her as he drew back and slammed in again. “Mine,” he snarled.

Yes.

Words were impossible now, but she spread her thighs further for him, met each drive of his cock with her hips, reveling in the feel of his hard body against hers. Hot skin, carved muscles straining as he fucked her with every ounce of strength. Bottoming out, making her ache, making her moan and whine.

It hurt. It felt so good. It was perfect.

Capturing her wrists he pinned them to the bed on either side of her, using them as leverage to take her the way he wanted. Completely in his control, at his mercy, and she lost herself. Pleasure building in growing waves, higher and higher, echoed and lifted by the tingling bursts of pain. It was light and darkness, swirling into a tidal wave that stole her breath, sent her mind spinning, and then he bit down on her shoulder and the wave crashed, drowning her in bliss as she came hard. Body contracting under him, around him, clenching tight as she cried out against the sheet.

Ecstasy washed the world away and left her floating in warmth.

Under him, safe, in the perfect gray between light and dark.

“That’s right,” he purred, slowing his strokes until he was teasing the flickering edges of her orgasm with each sinful pulse of his hips. His tongue traced the bite in her shoulder, but she could barely feel the ache of it as he settled over her, moving deep. “I know what you need.”

Lianna nodded, a desperate whimper slipping from her as he found that bundle of nerves inside with crippling precision and thrust harder. Building her up again, slower this time, and she mumbled incoherent pleas into the bed with each snap of his hips. It made her nerves tingle as he woke her back up, pulled her up from the sated pool he’d put her in until she was squirming under him again.

Releasing her hands he shifted, stroking down her sides, squeezing her hips, before kneading the bruised and welted skin of her ass as he slid from her. She gasped, and felt his weight shift on the bed, confusion clouding her already scattered mind — until the click of the lube bottle opening made her tense.

“That’s right. You know you want this.” He laughed low, one hand in the small of her back to keep her in place as he settled back between her thighs. Then a slippery thumb rolled around the entrance of her ass, and she whined, clenching her jaw as he pressed in.

Lube is a gift, angel. I don’t have to use it.

He had told her that once before, but she was still struggling with him fucking her ass, no matter how much the idea turned her on when he said it to her in that low, rumbling tone. The one that made her wet and turned his tawny eyes dark.

“Relax,” he commanded, spanking her with his other hand, which only woke up the welts and made her tense harder. She shook her head as he slid his thumb in and out, his other hand squeezing and pinching the marks he’d delivered with the belt. Then he said the magic words, “Do you think you have a choice here, angel?”

The question sent a shiver through her, woke up the darkness inside, beckoned her closer with sinful promises. His thumb popped free and she pushed forward on the bed on instinct, but he grabbed her hips and jerked her back, tsking low.

“I said I’m not done,” he hissed as he braced one hand between her shoulders and pressed against the tight ring of muscles. A choked cry slipped from her as he leaned forward, letting his weight, his strength, the sheer power of him, force his cock inside. It was an impossible stretch, a burn, a pain that spread with each inch. She locked up, and he groaned behind her, the sound devolving into a guttural growl. His hand moved to the back of her neck, pinning her down as he twitched his hips forward, driving in deeper.

She whined, voice cracking as he slid back and thrust harder. When she reached back to stop the next, he caught her wrist and pinned it to her back, crushing her to the bed.

“Take it,” he snarled, and then he started to fuck her in deep, brutal strokes. Tears came to her eyes, pinned under him, only able to snag shallow breaths with the weight of him holding her wrist to her back. And yet, the darkness swelled, purred deep inside her, rewarded her as the pain faded and she gave in to the power of him. The predator taking his prey, pure animal instinct taking over as he filled her again and again.

Her body buzzed with the after effects of the pain, the delirious hum in her nerves as he growled behind her, releasing his grip on her to brace himself on the bed. When the first quiet moan slipped from her, he groaned in response, her body tightening around him.

“You like it when I make it hurt, don’t you?” he asked, driving deep again, and she cried out, gasped, but found herself nodding. “Say it!”

“I like it!” she shouted, screaming when he fisted her hair and bent her back, forcing her onto her knees to handle it, which only give him a better angle. Let him fuck her more fiercely, as the tingles started to build between her legs.

“You like it when I fuck your tight little asshole? Make you scream, and beg, and come for me?”

“YES!” Her scream echoed back on the walls as he released her hair and buried his hand between her thighs, finding her clit, and it was what she needed. It turned the ache and the strain into something so much better, something dark and tempting and dangerous.

Just like him.

“Please! Please!” she begged, and he groaned behind her, filling her ass as he teased that bundle of nerves until she panted and whimpered and the world narrowed down to sparkling lights and the sensation of his cock swelling inside her. Then she crashed, shattering into fragments of gasping moans and shaking muscles and exhausted bliss.

David collapsed against her back, pressing deeper for a moment as he breathed hard, and she tried to come down from the high, but she was floating. Body tingling, and surfing along an overdose of dopamine and endorphins and every other chemical her body had been capable of providing.

When he dropped to her side, his hand stroking her ribs, she let go completely.

* * *

David

His heart was trying to burrow out of his chest one beat at a time, still dizzy from the powerful orgasm that had almost left him too disoriented to avoid crushing her to the bed. As he worked to slow his breathing, he found himself grinning, laughter sneaking out with each heavy exhale. When he turned to check on Lianna he found her eyes closed, ass still draped over the pillows, arm tucked close to her side, with her hand near her chin.

Fucking beautiful.

Her reddened lips were parted. Even, shallow breaths passing over them like a whisper. Dark smears of eyeliner and mascara swept under her eyes from the tears, and he couldn’t help but shake his head as he lay back on the bed again. She’d passed out, and she’d earned it.

She was fucking perfect.

Fearless. Strong. Brave, and impossibly sexy.

How the fuck had he ended up with her? Here? In this place where she let him do these things?

For the millionth time, the billionth time he felt the never-ending war inside him between guilt and regret. There was no doubt in his mind that if he could do it all over, go back to the night when he’d turned off the alarm system and broken into the apartment — that he would still take her. Still kidnap her. Still rip her out of that false life, away from the bastard who may have fathered her, but had never really earned the title.

No, he didn’t regret that at all.

Didn’t even completely regret the things he had done to her in the cell, the things that had put his darkness inside her, the things that made her come like she had just now.

But the fucking guilt was still there. Like a sharp thing he’d swallowed that was slowly tearing its way through his insides, impossible to remove as it tangled in his organs and blood vessels.

He’d felt it when he’d come back with the groceries. Seeing the tension in her face, the strain of her voice as she’d struggled to maintain her controlled corporate voice with the lawyer — but he could sense her fear when she’d asked if they would press charges against her. Of all things, he knew her fear best of all.

And it was all because of him.

He could have left her there. He could have left it alone like Harry had begged him to, and he could have moved on with his life. Abandoned his father’s crusade, his crusade, and let the world keep turning. None of this shit would be happening if he’d just left it alone.

But then Mercier would have killed more people, would have eventually roped Lianna into the nightmare and corrupted her, and he wouldn’t be with her now. Would never have known there was someone on this fucked up planet that was his match. The other half of his coin.

All of her light, and all of his darkness.

Just as much as he’d tainted her, ruined her life like he’d promised, fed her darkness until she was someone who came while he fucked her ass, after he’d belted her, after he’d pinned her down and taken her like an animal… she was affecting him too.

You’re being domestic again.

It was true, and the fact that he liked it, that he enjoyed making her meals, watching her eat, tucking her into bed, and being there for her while she dealt with the shitstorm he’d created — it meant he was changing too.

Lianna liked to describe it as a coin, that they were two sides of the same one. Except he’d spent his whole life face down, in the dark, and she’d only ever had the light. But the same history shaped them both, they had the same story, the same world, it was just they’d only had half of it. And now they were knitting them together. Building a new future out of the wreckage he’d caused, with some of the light, and some of the dark.

And the two of them.

Leaning over, he pressed a kiss to her temple, careful not to wake her, and then he slid off the bed. Pulling the pillows free, and tugging the covers up over her shoulders so he could grab a shower. As he stripped in the bathroom he thought about his last call with Harry, about the word moving through the underbelly of the world that Lianna had never even touched.

Her hands were still so clean. Everything about her still so innocent, even with all of the knowledge she had now, even with the hint of darkness he’d put inside her. She was still so fucking good, and he wanted to keep her that way.

Had sworn to Harry that he’d protect her, that he’d die before anything happened to her.

His angel was fighting her battles in courtrooms and boardrooms, and he would fight the battles she couldn’t see. The ones in the streets, and the gutters, and the darkness.

Because the last thing he would allow was for the Faure family to have her.

No matter how much they wanted her.

THE END