After Ryker leaves, I try to stop my body from trembling, but I can’t. After living in mortal fear for so long, I know it should be the opposite. When I was in that basement ‘apartment’, I was all alone. At night when I shut off the games and tried to sleep, I couldn’t hear anything except my own breathing. It scared me, thinking that I was all alone and that Jacob was coming for me. Now, I can hear people moving around in the ‘safe house,’ and for some reason, it freaks me out. Finally, I can’t take it anymore.

It’s the fear that’s getting to me, I know. He’s not coming back, it says. He says he is, and he’s got my rings that he’s supposed to bring back to me once this is all over. But I can’t stop this feeling that by this time tomorrow, Marcus is going to come in, telling me that Ryker’s been shot in the streets and that I’m going to be turned over to Jacob as a last-ditch peace offering.

I’d rather die. So, now’s my chance, and I take it, rolling out of bed just as the door opens. I freeze until I see that it’s Marcus. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s okay. I was just getting up to use the bathroom, wherever that is,” I reply. “What’s up?”

He holds up a pair of shoes and socks. “These might be better for you than the sandals. The bathroom’s over in the corner by the stairs to your right as you come out of the office.”

“Thank you. And Marcus?” I reply, taking the shoes from him. They’re not much, cheap Velcro-closed, bargain basement running shoes, but I appreciate the thought behind it. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Marcus says, waiting while I slip the shoes on and get up. “This place ain’t much, but we’ll keep you warm, dry and safe at least.”

We cross the warehouse, which is creepily empty. The fluorescents above me buzz slightly, casting a pale glare that leaves me feeling even more desperate, more worried. “Where is everyone?”

“Ryker taught us that you don’t defend by huddling up but by doing what’s called ‘active defense,’ or going out and making sure your enemy never even gets close,” Marcus says. “So, I’m the only one inside the building, acting as a sort of headquarters and communications center while the rest of the crew’s out and around the neighborhood.”

We reach the bathroom, which is by a door, and my fear flares out of control. “Okay, I’ll wait here while you—”

He never completes his sentence as I turn and knee him square in the balls. He’s not expecting it, and I catch him hard, knocking him to the ground with the pain. “Sorry, Marcus.”

I run out the door, down the alley, and into the night. Rounding the corner, I try to remember what I saw through the front window of the van that we used to get here, and I think that the freeway is about two miles or so to my left. I take off in that direction, trying to look cool and collected while still hurrying.

My heart pounds in my chest as I make my way along the dimly lit alleys, doing my best to try and stay in a more or less straight line. Fear assaults me in every direction. Everybody I see moving in the streetlights could be a threat. I’m not from here, I wasn’t born in the gritty parts of town. I’ve never learned how to fight for my next meal, or what to look out for. I can’t tell if someone’s looking at me warily, or if they mean me harm. I’m just a suburban girl who long ago thought about being an actress before getting caught up in a nightmare. I don’t get far when someone jumps out and drags me into an alley, a powerful hand clamping over my mouth. “What the fuck are you doing?”

The voice in my ear immediately makes me stop fighting, and he lets me go. I turn to see Ryker, his eyes blazing with anger in the streetlight. “Ryker!”

His hands tighten on my arms, and he looks around before dragging me toward an apartment building, shoving me inside one of the first-floor apartments. There’s a girl there who doesn’t look as surprised as she should be when Ryker brings me in. I don’t know who she is or why I’m feeling it, but I can’t help but feel a surge of jealousy. “Go tell Marcus I found her. Tell him I’ll bring her back in a little bit.”

“I ain’t got a phone, Ryker,” the girl says, throwing up her hands when Ryker gives her a glare that could melt steel. “Fine. I’ll walk over.”

The girl gets up and disappears. Ryker doesn’t say a word until she leaves and then turns to me, his eyes still blazing. “Now . . . what the fuck were you doing?”

“Ryker, I’m sorry . . . please, I heard what you told Marcus. Jacob’s hiring hitmen to try and get you. I had to get away. There’s no way you can fight his money and power. I just . . . I want to live again!” I babble. I’m sure I’m repeating myself, and tears are flowing down my face as Ryker takes me in his arms and kisses me again, a habit for shutting me up that I’m quickly finding I’m not all that opposed to.

“I’m not letting you free just yet,” Ryker says. “Sarah, you don’t know this city. You were just about to cross over from my territory to an area controlled by a group still affiliated with Jacob.”

“Ryker, just call Jacob. Say you killed me or something. He won’t care. He’s still going to want to fight, and I can—”

“No,” Ryker says, his tone cutting me off. “You will have a future, Sarah. When I kill him. Then you can go wherever you want. You’ll be rich, even.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask, and Ryker chuckles.

“Who do you think gets his estate when I kill him?” Ryker asks. “You can go anywhere you want. Be anything you want. You’ll be free. Even if the fucker didn’t leave it to you, I’ll make sure it happens.”

I shouldn’t believe him. He’s a criminal too, and other than giving me little bits of freedom and the best fuck of my life, I’ve been just as much his prisoner as I ever was with Jacob. But . . . looking up into his eyes, I want to believe him. “Promise?”

Ryker nods. “Promise. And if you’ll let me, I’d like to take your pain away.”

There’s something in his eyes that says he’s telling me the truth, and when he leans in to kiss me, I kiss him back, wrapping my arms around his neck and tasting his honesty in his lips and his tongue.

We pull at each other’s clothes, making our way to the couch where Ryker pulls me on top of him, straddling his waist while his lips make their way down my throat and over my collarbones. I tense at first when his hands trace my scar again, but then the warmth of his touch seeps through the self-consciousness, and I look down into his face, stroking his hair. “When I’m with you, I’m not afraid.”

“And you’ll never have to be,” Ryker says, raising his head. His tongue traces over my skin, the touch making me forget all my worries. I feel his cock swell and stiffen underneath me and I start riding him, rubbing my still panty-covered mound against the thick bulge in his pants. “Mmm… slowly, beautiful.”

“Say it again,” I gasp, pulling his head against my chest as his tongue circles around my right nipple, teasing me and sending fireworks through me. “Please, Ryker, say it again.”

“Beautiful,” he murmurs before he wraps his lips around my nipple and sucks, making me gasp and cry out softly. We’re on a ratty old sofa in a flea trap of an apartment, but I don’t care. This is better than any luxury setting as Ryker’s hands and lips weave patterns of pleasure and heat over my body. Grinding against him, my pussy is soaked, and I let myself be swept away in his arms, standing up just long enough to let him slide my pants and panties off. He’s sitting in front of me, and I feel vulnerable but somehow safe as he leans forward and kisses my belly button, making me giggle. “Ticklish?”

“A little,” I tease, running my fingers through his hair. “Why did fate make me waste years with him?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ryker says, leaning in again and kissing my waist. “We have now.”

Heated trepidation sweeps through me as Ryker gets off the couch, kneeling on the floor to give himself better access as I naturally spread my legs. His lips travel lower and lower until I can feel his breath on my pussy lips and his hands holding my ass tenderly. His tongue caresses my pussy, and it’s like heaven, sliding through my slick folds, nibbling and lapping at me, tasting me and swallowing me with eager sounds of pleasure. It’s so good that I have to put my hands on his shoulders just to keep myself from falling over. But Ryker’s strong arms give me a sort of saddle to sit in as he devours me, and I relax into them, letting myself get washed away in the sensations.

Ryker’s tongue flickers over my clit and I cry out, tears of ecstasy rolling down my cheeks as untold new pleasure rolls through my body and I grind against his eager lips and tongue, Ryker not stopping until I’m trembling on the edge of coming. With a single lick, he shatters me, my body carried away as my knees unlock and I sink down. He lowers me slowly, and I feel the heat of his cock pressing against the entrance to my pussy.

Ryker twists us so that he can lie back on the carpet while I sink down onto him. There’s none of the pain of being stretched open like last time, just one glorious feeling of being filled, of being joined with someone who wants me as me. “And that . . . fuck, you’re perfect.”

I ride him, his words giving me even more encouragement, sliding my hips back and forth and letting his cock fill me again and again. I want to go slow, but after coming so hard from his tongue, I’m greedy, voracious for more of Ryker, and my hips take over, riding him hard and fast, squeezing him and dangling my breasts over his face. He’s more than happy to feast on me, his lips finding my left nipple and sucking hard, devouring me and sending my brain whirling.

It’s forever and it’s an instant, the feeling of his cock sliding in and out of me making time simultaneously stand still and whip past us at hurricane speeds. Still, I’ve never felt better than I do in Ryker’s arms, and another orgasm builds within me, this one bigger but more tender, it seems. “Ryker . . . help me . . .”

He plants his feet, his hips jackhammering upward, driving his long, thick cock into my pussy as I find his lips again and we kiss, both of us moaning as the feelings wash over us. His fingers dig into the soft flesh of my ass as he reaches his climax, and he’s moaning, his cock erupting deep inside me and pushing me over the edge, my own orgasm filling my body with not just pleasure but the warm light of something that I’ve never felt before. When it passes, I stay on top of him. I want to draw out this moment of perfection as long as possible.

“Thank you,” I whisper, kissing him again. “For making me a woman again.”

“I swear I will make sure you’re protected,” Ryker says, looking up into my eyes. “I only wish—”

The door to the apartment bursts open, and both of us turn to see Marcus with about four other men and the girl from the apartment. Marcus’s eyes open wide, and he turns quickly, but not before a couple of people in the hallway see us. “Oh, shit! Sorry!”

The door closes, and I can’t help it, the ridiculousness of the whole thing makes me laugh. “Sorry?”

“He’s my brother. What am I going to do?” Ryker asks, looking over at the clock. “Oh, that’s why.”

“Why?” I ask, then look over at the clock. “Fuck, how long were we…?”

“About an hour and a half. He probably got antsy, thought maybe we got in trouble. Come on, let’s get dressed,” Ryker says, pausing to give me a deep look. I slip off him and get dressed as quickly as I can while he pulls his shirt back on and adjusts his pants. When Marcus knocks softly a minute later, we’re decent, and Ryker opens the door, looking at his brother and the girl from the apartment, who’s wearing a bemused and outraged expression on her face. “Sorry to worry you guys.”

“Oh sure, just use my place as a love nest,” the girl says in a saucy accent. “You better not have left any stains!”

“Shut up Tiffany,” Marcus says. “You’ll get what’s coming to you.”

Out in the street, the other men look at me differently, but then again, I guess you always look at a woman differently after you’ve seen her naked and impaled on a cock. Ryker ignores them though, talking to his brother. “Take Sarah back to the safe house, and you stay by her side until I get back.”

“I got it,” Marcus says, the two brothers embracing. “You sure about this?”

“Damn sure,” Ryker says. “It ends tonight.”

Ryker turns to walk away, and I go to call him but realize he doesn’t need the distraction. Suddenly, he stops and turns, coming over to me and kissing me, pulling me into his arms and holding me close before letting me go, cupping my chin again. “For luck. I’ll see you when I get back.”

He turns and rushes off into the darkness, and I watch him for as long as possible before Marcus puts a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Come on. These streets aren’t safe right now.”

“Hey,” I ask, my lips still tingling from Ryker’s passionate kiss. It’s his promise, and I am going to hold onto that promise as long as I can. “What did you mean to that girl, she’d get what’s coming?”

Marcus stops, then chuckles. “Guess that did sound rough, didn’t it? I meant we’d pay her rent on that place for the month. It’s Ryker’s style. We use your stuff, we compensate you. It’s how we were able to get so much loyalty in only five years. Treat the people right, and they support us.”