34. Chapter Thirty Three

Chapter Thirty Three

Ronan

I 'm sitting at the table, my knee bouncing anxiously as I watch the door. Wesley called me twenty minutes ago and said that they have Skyla, that they were on their way home. They should be here by now, though.

Asher is pacing the same six feet, over and over, his eyes moving from his steps to the door– back and forth. Liam is sitting on the side of the bed, facing the entrance as we all just wait.

Finally, the door opens. Asher and I sprint towards it while Liam grabs his crutches and lifts himself to stand. When we get there, Vincent is holding a soaked and shivering Skyla. He doesn't say a word, just carries her upstairs, assumingly to get changed.

Wesley trails in behind them, shutting the door before looking at me.

"What happened?" Asher asks.

"She got on a cruise ship to Canada. I don't know what her plan was."

"How'd you get her to come with you?" I ask.

He shakes his head and holds his hands up.

"I just drove the boat. Vincent pulled some mission impossible shit getting on and off the ship. I don't know how he talked her into coming with him, but there's a fuck-ton of security guards looking for him."

Lovely. Another mess to clean up.

"Why would she do that?" Liam asks, hurt clear in his voice.

"My guess is she feels responsible for what happened to you," Wesley answers Liam.

"Well, that's fucking stupid!" Liam snaps. "She can't just flip out and leave us like that. Can't fucking smash my heart through text just because she's scared. She can't…" he trails off, his chest fuming.

Asher reaches out to clap his shoulder, but Liam jerks away from him, using his crutches to move back into the living room before getting on his bed. Leaning forward, Asher offers Wesley his hand.

"Thank you," he says, the sincerest appreciation I've ever heard come out of my nephew's mouth.

Wesley takes his hand, nodding before Asher looks up at the stairs longingly. I can tell he wants to go be with her, but I also see the hurt inside him. The same one that Liam has, but Asher refuses to show. The kind that lives inside me.

Liam's right, she can't pull this shit. Never again. I was ready to break her little friend's goddamn neck when she wouldn't tell us where she took her. She's lucky Vincent sent a vague text about finding Skyla before he went MIA, otherwise we'd probably be burying a body on Gallows Hill.

Shaking his head, Asher moves back into the living room, taking a seat on the bed next to Liam as they begin speaking quietly.

My eyes glance upstairs as the shower in her bedroom turns on.

"You going up there?" Wesley asks.

"Yeah," I say before looking to him. "You?" I test.

He scoffs, getting a little flustered at my question before shaking his head.

"Definitely not. What business would I have up there?"

"I'd say the same as me or any of these other guys. You're not subtle, brother. If it was anyone else…" I trail off with a shake of my head.

He narrows his eyes at me, like he's studying me before he speaks.

"Is this a weird way of you giving me your blessing to pursue your girlfriend?"

Running a hand through my hair I let out a heavy sigh.

"Why not? Clearly we could use all the help we can get when it comes to her."

Wesley doesn't say anything, but I don't miss the way his eyes go to the stairs, just for half a second before he shakes his head.

"I gotta get going. Tell her I'm here if she needs me."

"Oh, I'm sure you are," I call out as he turns, heading out the door with another shake of his head.

Running my hand along my jaw, I make my way towards the stairs. I push open her bedroom door, my eyes taking inventory of the empty room. Or at least it feels that way with her bed and bedframe in the trash. We need to get her a new bed. She needs her own space away from all of us. That's for another night, though. She's had plenty of space from us and now she needs to face the consequences of her actions.

When I move into the bathroom, I find Vincent gathering her wet clothes. She's in the shower alone and I'm surprised when he wordlessly nods at me, carrying her clothes out the door before shutting it behind me. Damn, look at little Griggs sharing. He's all grown up. Then again, maybe he needs some space from her too. With his temper, I can't imagine how much anger he has right now.

As quietly as I can manage, I begin undressing before slipping into the shower. Her eyes come to mine, a deep sadness mixed with regret shine in them. She gives me a small smile that quickly fades when I don't return the gesture.

"Hi," she says quietly.

I raise an eyebrow in question because fucking seriously?

"Hi?" I question. "Is that really all you have to say?"

She shakes her head.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, any of you. I was just trying to do the right thing and—"

"I know baby, but what you did was not the right thing. It was foolish, impulsive and immature. We don't run off into battle on our own trying to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. We come together to talk, strategize and plan. What you did tonight is not something I want any part of."

Her lower lip begins to quiver as a tear falls down her cheek and she nods.

"I understand," she says brokenly.

"What do you understand?"

"That I ruined everything. That you can't forgive me."

Exhaling roughly through my nostrils, I shake my head as I pull hers to me, forcing our mouths together. She's stiff at first, but melts into me with ease when I pull away roughly.

"Baby, cut that shit out right now. You know that you didn't ruin anything. As long as my heart is beating, it's yours. When it stops beating, it'll still be yours too."

Her eyes beg me that this is real, that I'm not lying or going to change my mind. Which is absurd. I could never change my mind about her, but that doesn't mean she's off the hook.

"But," I begin, "I'm fucking pissed with you. Liam is downstairs heartbroken, Asher is devastated. Vincent…fuck, I'm surprised he didn't rough you up a bit or something."

She winces. "In his own way, he kind of did."

I frown, not liking that no matter how mad he was or is.

"He hurt you?"

"No, scared me more like it."

Nodding, my hand reaches out to her, sliding down her wet, naked body. I pause on her ass, rubbing my hand in a circular motion before I pull it away and smack it against her. She gasps at the spank.

"Ow! What the fuck?"

"He may not have hurt you, but I'm going to. You tried to run away and leave me, baby. Daddy is very mad at you right now."

Her eyes look up at me with sadness, but I don't miss the excitement that also comes to the surface.

"I'm sorry, daddy. Really."

"Sorry isn't going to cut it this time, baby. Be a good girl and brace yourself on the edge," I say, as I gesture to the shower seat in here.

She does as I say, bending over as her hands splay across the wooden bench. I reach up, adjusting the shower so it's not on her head, the warm water running down her ass cheeks and legs.

"How many spanks do you think you deserve?" I ask.

"As many as you think, daddy," she responds perfectly, slipping into her submissive role like she was born for it.

"You broke so many hearts with a single text message tonight, baby. One hundred and twenty-five words, nine sentences and over four hours worried sick about you. Would a simple ‘I'm sorry' be good enough for that?" I ask.

She shakes her head.

"What do you need then? What do we need to do to make sure this never happens again?"

Looking over her shoulder at me, her lips form the most beautiful sentence in the English language.

"Punish me, daddy."

Something raw and primal flares up inside me, and my hand is smacking down against her ass before I realize what's happening. She yelps in pain but doesn't ask me to stop. Again and again, I spank her bratty ass.

How fucking dare she hurt me like that. I thought I was going to throw up at first, then a sadness like I haven't felt in over a decade sank down inside me. Only this time, it felt worse because though I knew I would move on from Madison's death one way or another, the same can't be said for Skyla. She's my everything and she not only put herself in an insurmountable amount of danger, she tried to end us? Hell fucking no.

On the last smack she whimpers, a choked sob ripping out of her that catches my attention. I look down to her beet red cheek, my hand covering it gently as I begin rubbing small soothing circles over it.

"You did so well, baby," I praise softly, my hands continuing to massage her carefully.

"I'm so sorry," she says on a cry, shaking her head.

"Shhh, it's okay. I understand why you did it, I just…you can't scare me like that again, do you hear me? My heart can't take it."

Sniffling, she looks over her shoulder to me. I pull her to stand upright before I scoop her up into my arms, pressing her back against the tiled wall. Peppering kisses against her neck as I whisper affirmations into her skin.

"I love you so much, baby. Please don't ever try to leave me again," I beg.

She shakes her head, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"I won't, I promise. I just got scared."

Nodding my head, I kiss a trail up to her face before pressing my lips to hers.

"I love you," she murmurs against me.

"I love you, forever."

A softness overcomes her as she relaxes into my arms.

"Make love to me, Ronan."

Pulling back to meet her eyes, I cup the side of her face tenderly.

"My pleasure, hold on tight, baby."

Lining myself up to her, I lift her for a moment before lowering her down onto me. Her mouth opens, before a sexy as fuck moan slips out of her. I feel her hands dig into the back of my shoulders as I lift her up again, pulling her down once more.

Slowly, we find a steady rhythm while Skyla just does her best to hold on. I try to be easy with her, to cherish her the way she deserves, but I've never needed her like I do now. It's almost like if I can fuck her deep enough, we will never have to be apart again. I'll never have to worry about her running off with my heart, never have to worry about someone taking her from me or hurting her.

My hold on her tightens, my knuckles turning white as the wet sound of her back slapping against the tiled wall echoes through the bathroom.

"Fuck, baby!" I bark out. "Look at us," I say as I look down, watching as my cock slides in and out of her tight pussy. "You're taking me so well, baby. I'm so goddamn proud of you," I say, as she moans in response.

"Harder! Fuck, Ronan, right there."

Happily, I oblige, fucking her to the point that I know is teetering that pain-to-pleasure scale before one more deep thrust has her spasming around my cock. Her mouth drops open in surprise as she screams out her release, her pussy convulsing around me so tightly that I have no choice but to follow after her.

My cock jerks and throbs inside her, that much needed release rushing through me as my movements begin to slow. Looking down at her, I press a kiss to her forehead before slowly lowering her to her feet. She smiles up at me softly, sending my heart practically tripping over itself. It's so dangerous to love someone the way I love Skyla. No going back now, though.