Chapter Eight

“Did you hear about the warehouse district burning down?”

The question caught Keres’s attention. Two men were swinging kettlebells, their muscles bulging with every motion, and she appreciated the eye candy. Today her job was at the front counter, greeting people as they walked in for either a class or for working on their physique. Darby ran a boot camp workout every Saturday and Sunday, so he was currently out on location with a group getting dirty in the mud. It was based on the principle that you couldn’t just endure, you had to prevail. Pushing yourself harder so the people that signed up had to make it a commitment for four weeks to train on combat water survival, physical conditioning, and martial arts. All of that culminated into a tamer version of the crucible, the Marines version of Hell, which consisted of a fifty-four-hour test of endurance that included sleep and food deprivation, miles and miles of marching, and was morally and mentally taxing.

None of that sounded remotely appealing.

“Yeah,” answered the friend. “Heard about it on the news. Do they know what happened?”

“Fire is all I heard. Not surprised. That area should’ve been torn down ages ago.”

Keres ignored them and quickly brought up her news feed on her phone. The two men were right, it was all over the news. Speculation ran high, although it seems the authorities were keeping certain information under wraps.

Later that evening, when she had closed shop for the night, she stayed working out on the punching bag. Dip, lean, punch, kick. It might have been repetitive, but that was what she needed. Something mind-numbing to not think about the weight of the world, until exhaustion won the battle over the lethal combination of memories and anxiety. She had an appointment with her therapist in the morning, but this time around, she had more than her past to talk about.

Now, there was Ronin. The man who kept showing up everywhere, including her dreams.

Darby walked into the gym, looking freshly showered. The only source of light came from the muted glow from the women’s locker room. It provided just enough luminescence so she wouldn’t trip over everything as she danced around the hanging bag.

“Widen your stance a bit,” he instructed.

She did as he said, noticing it made her sturdier on the balls of her feet.

“Make sure to really tuck your head down. One, two, duck. Yep, just like that.”

Keres appreciated the instruction and grunted her thanks. After she’d come home from the hospital, Darby offered to train her, and she jumped at the lifeline. She needed something to keep her from sliding into a depression so deep the only way out was death. The more he worked with her, the more her pain turned into anger. Vengeance burned in her heart and that’s when she and Darby came up with the plan to rid the world of the men who had destroyed theirs.

“Word on the street is that Davorin’s on a rampage,” he said casually, as if he asked about the weather. “Seems like he’s pissed off because not only did he lose the warehouse, he lost all the product inside.”

“Just like we planned.”

“Yep. Heroin, cocaine, and oxy. Millions of dollars, all gone in an instant.” He snapped his fingers and she smiled. “We hurt him in only the way a man like him can be hurt.”

“Not all the ways,” she reminded him with a smile. “One, two, punch.”

He chuckled.

“All right, I’m off to bed,” he announced. “The course today kicked my ass. I must be getting old.”

She grinned but didn’t stop boxing. He waved good night at her and headed up to the apartment. She’d stay until the demons in her head were too tired to bother her.

A few moments later, the pale light from the locker room was blocked. She stopped and turned, not surprised at all to see Ronin leaning in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest.

“How are you getting in through the women’s locker room?” she asked, slightly annoyed at the interruption.

“I’m not,” he replied. “I hang out in here.”

She rolled her eyes. “Pervert.”

He grinned. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“What do you want, Ronin?”

“Well, that’s a loaded question.”

“You think you’re charming, but you’re not.”

“I’m not? Not even a little?”

Keres walked over to the bench and pulled the tape off her fingers. They ached a little, but nothing she wasn’t used to. She’d been hurt worse.

“There isn’t any noise about what happened last night,” he told her. “Other than the official police report, of course. I thought you’d like to know.”

“Thanks,” she said absently.

“You okay?”

She blinked and looked at him. “Sorry. There’s still a lot on my mind. Usually, I punch insomnia out of my system, but someone has interrupted my routine.”

“I wonder who that is.”

She couldn’t help a light chuckle. “Yeah, I wonder myself. Why are you here, Ronin?”

“I told you…”

“No, the real reason. We said goodbye to each other last night.”

He pushed off the doorframe and stalked toward her. The light behind him threw his face in shadow, but it was clear what his intention was simply by his walk. He marched right up to her, so close she could feel the heat radiating from his body. She braced herself for the rush of fear and throat-closing panic, but nothing happened, and she wondered what the hell that meant.

“What do you want with me?” she whispered again.

He cupped her face and searched her eyes. “I tried hard to stay away, but damn it, you’re a drug getting under my skin. Making me addicted. I don’t like it.”

“I don’t like you,” she said.

“I don’t like you either,” he returned.

The moment stretched infinitesimal, free-falling through space. Her heart hammered in her chest, but she had no desire to pull away. She looked at his lips and licked her own. Ronin made a strangled groan and then yanked her into his body, the feeling divine. His hardness to her softness. Heat to thaw her ice. It had been such a long time since she’d been warm.

His lips crashed down on hers, and the world disappeared. His kiss was potent, filled with magic. Desire curled through her, causing an uncomfortable ache deep in her core. The edges of her panties rubbed against the slickness of her pussy, firing little bits of need throughout her body, leaving her defenseless. Tearing through all her trauma like a bullet. There was no room for heartache, or terror, or the dread she lived with every day.

She accepted the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. He held her close, running a hand down her back, over her hip, stopping at the top curve of her ass. Not touching her intimately but reminding her he was there. Waiting for permission? Or did he instinctively know she could fall off the teetering seesaw she stood upon? One way destruction, the other Heaven.

How did he do this to her? How did he not make her afraid? She shunned all men. Neatly lumped all of them in the same compartment, a mold of each other. Defined by their strength, their cruelty, their testosterone. So, what made Ronin different?

They broke the kiss to drag in a lungful of oxygen. She stared up at him, dazed and confused, but there was a hunger inside her she never thought she’d feel again. Plain and simple, she wanted him. Could she have him?

Can I?

Grabbing a handful of his shirt, she yanked him close and when he bent, she initiated the next kiss. Mouth to mouth, skin to slick skin. She didn’t worry that she was sweaty and might not smell as fresh as a daisy. Didn’t care if he was the same. This time, there was no hesitation. No self-doubting. She thrust her tongue into his mouth, but that was the only advance he gave her. Taking over, he lifted her into his strong arms, picking her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist. One hand sank into her hair to hold her against him as he ravaged her mouth in a succulent way.

“Please!” she begged in an airy whisper.

“You taste so sweet,” he breathed against her lips. “I can’t stay away from you. Can’t get enough of you.” He kissed her throat, licking across her skin. “Pull up your sports bra.”

Keres wiggled until she was able to do as he commanded, slipping her bra upward so her breasts spilled forth. Ronin bent his head to take one taut bud into his mouth, pinching it slightly with his teeth. Suckling it until her back arched and an ache formed between her legs. Back and forth, playing with each nipple until she was nothing more than a panting mess. There came a point when they both needed more. He pulled back, enough for her to drop her legs, and then he came right back into the heat of her body. Touching. Kissing. Both explored as they pulled clothes off each other. Once again, she waited for the panic to set in, for the fear that robbed her of sanity. But … nothing. All she felt was excitement and desire.

He yanked her gym shorts down, taking off her sneakers to free each leg, while she was busy unbuckling his black cargo pants. She eased the zipper down over the erection straining against the front. The shaft was long and thick, and the tip leaked clear pre-cum. Keres pumped it, and she couldn’t help but remember the last time she’d seen a cock.

That night.

No, she shut down that road of memories. Not here. Not now. There was a time and a place to work through all that shit, and it certainly wasn’t when this gorgeous man was spreading her pussy lips with his fingers. An unbelievable wave of pleasure washed over her body, and she couldn’t stop the moan that spilled from her mouth.

“More?” he asked, his tone low and almost guttural.

“Oh, yes,” she breathed. “Please. More.”

Doing as she asked, Ronin slid another finger into her and started pumping them in and out. Slow at first, gaining rhythm. Keres’s back arched as she inched closer and closer to an orgasm. Her eyes shut tight as she felt herself almost tip over the edge, only to have him stop.

“With me, baby,” he murmured against her mouth.

He let go of her only long enough to pull out his wallet from his back pocket, where he had a condom stashed. She watched him slide it down his hard length and then a moment later, he lifted her up to hold her once more against the wall. Ronin spread her legs, using his body to hold her in place as he reached between them to position himself against her entrance.

“Why’d you stop?” she panted.

“You with me?”

She understood the unasked message. Did she give him permission? “Yes,” she murmured.

That was all he needed, filling her up with a hard thrust. Wrapping her legs around his waist, as he penetrated her deeper and deeper. Consuming her. Erasing the demons that stood around them, poised to drag her back under. Keres quickly realized she couldn’t hold back any longer. He pounded into her, but she didn’t feel the wall behind her. Instead, she shouted his name, wanted him to move faster, go deeper, make her come like she never had before.

Ronin grunted as he buried inside her body, coming with a shudder. That triggered her own climax, and she exploded. Keres tossed her head back in ecstasy, feeling her body reach a pleasure high she had never felt before.

When they finally came down, Ronin pulled out and let her down but didn’t let go of her hips. He rested his forehead against hers as he tried to bring his breathing under control. She was in a state of semiconsciousness, having never come so hard, with or without a partner. Tiny shudders shot across her nerves with a hazy shade of bliss.

Ronin reached down to take off the condom. He tied it off before putting himself back into his pants and zipping up. She stood there, watching him, not moving as the reality of what just happened flashed through her mind.

Oh, God! What have I done?

As quickly as possible, she grabbed her clothes to dress. She needed to get out of there. Away from him and what just happened, the present memories that battled the ugly ones from her past.

“You need to go,” she snapped, adjusting herself in her sports bra. In one swift move, she stepped into her shorts and pulled them up.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, frowning.

“I just need you to go.” She pushed him toward the door. “Go away and don’t come back. I mean it this time, Ronin. Please don’t come back.”

He frowned and opened his mouth to argue, but a heartbeat later, he closed it. He studied her expression, tilting his head as if trying to understand. He seemed to have come to a decision, or at least a conclusion, and backed away. Then, he was gone.

Just like that.