Chapter Nine

Ray

Home.

I need to get this girl home and safe around people I trust before I think of what to do with the people who sent cops after her. My blood is boiling as I drive back to my shop, and thankfully, no one stops us when Penny and I pass by to head up.

We don't speak as we take the stairs to my apartment, and I have every intention of dropping Penny home and then going out after the people who've made her life a living hell in the past and are still trying their hand at it.

Quite frankly, I am disappointed by the man who is Penny's stepfather. From her description of him, I'd expected him to be this big man with an imposing figure, but he turned out to be a tall lanky man with empty eyes. Nothing I can't handle.

"Penny, are you sure—"

"Yes, I'm fine," she says, stepping into the room behind me, closing the door, and leaning against it.

"If you are sure, then you should get some rest. I need to head out and run an errand. I'll be back soon."

Penny doesn't budge from the door. Instead, she stands there, watching me from underneath her lashes. "Does this errand involve you paying a visit to my stepfather?"

I guess she does see right through me after all.

"If I happen to come across him, I can't promise I'll be able to hold back."

She shakes her head, pushing away from the door and closing the distance between us. She places her palms on my chest and toys with the buttons of my shirt. "Do you know, when he and my mom showed up, and I turned around to see them standing behind us, I froze for a second."

"You have me to protect you, Penny."

"I know," she whispers, looking up, and for a moment, I lose my train of thought when her eyes lock on mine. "I know I have you, and that's why I was able to stand up to them. I've been scared and meek since Jonah married my mom, but today, I defied them because I have you."

"Damn right, you do," I grind out, getting worked up all over again, but she places a soothing hand on my jaw, caressing my beard softly, and I lose some of the steam but not all of it.

"You saved me, Ray, and what I am trying to say is . . . what we did by walking away from them was enough." It wasn't. "You don't need to find him and hurt him to send a message. Leaving together is all he needed to know that I am no longer under his control. He'll back away now."

Oh, my sweet innocent angel. She doesn't actually believe that does she?

Penny's stepfather is obsessed with her. I saw the way he looked at her and then me with thinly veiled anger. Almost as if he wanted to break my face for daring to touch what he imagines is his, but he knew he was no match for me. So, he hid behind a woman, playing the concerned stepfather. He has me to deal with now. I will not let him off easy, but for her sake, I let her believe I will.

"Okay," I say just to give her peace of mind.

"Stay with me," she whispers, fluttering her lashes at me as she drags her hands all over my chest, slowly bringing to attention my hardening cock. I realize she's doing it intentionally, and after everything she's been through today, I almost back away.

Don't you trust me to know what I want? Don't you trust me to say no when it becomes too much?

Fuck. I'm powerless to resist her.

"I'll stay with you," I rasp, gripping her nape and leaning down until our lips are almost touching. "You are stuck with me forever, baby."

She closes the distance between us, her lips brushing softly over mine, but I don't want soft. Not this time at least. Not when my head is reeling after everything that happened today. A moan builds in my chest as I mold our mouths together, twisting my lips needily over hers. I deepen then kiss, licking into her mouth and groaning deeply when I taste her unique flavor. She whines into the kiss, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and pushing her body up against mine.

"Want you. Need you," she begs, writhing against me, so I drop my hands to grab her ass. I boost her up, and she eagerly wraps her thighs around me, pressing her pussy over my throbbing cock. I devour her sexy little mouth as I carry her back to the bedroom, breaking the kiss to trail my lips over her jaw and down her throat.

My dick is ready to shoot in my jeans when we finally make it to the bedroom. My lips are on her neck as I slowly lower her to the bed. I grab the hem of her dress and drag it up along with the shirt, breaking apart for a second so she can shrug them off. With my angel naked, I drag my hands up, immediately finding her tits and pinching the beaded nipples between my knuckles.

"You're a fucking dream, angel," I say, trailing my lips down her body before dragging my tongue over rosy buds, and fuck, I'll never get used to what a fucking drug she is, leaving me intoxicated with her scent and taste. The one drug I will happily take, drown in . . . is her.

Always her. Only her.

"Mine," I growl as I rake my hand down her thigh, kissing her perfect tits even as I push her thighs wider open for me. My mouth trails down her body, losing myself in the taste and feel of her. "I'm going to taste this pussy and remind you who you belong to. Imprint it on your body and make sure your stepfather sees and knows it when we see him next."

"Yes," she whimpers, tunneling her fingers through my hair before she grabs a fistful and nudges my head between her parted legs and to her sex. She's so horny, trembling with need, she probably doesn't realize what she's doing. I lean down and inhale her scent, slowly getting drunk on it.

"Look at me," I say roughly, and her glazed eyes lock on mine. "Keep them on me. I want you to see the person licking your pussy. The one whose tongue you'll come all over." With my eyes locked on hers, I give her what she wants, what we both crave.

Her gasp rings in my ears when I slide my tongue through the valley of her sex, groaning deeply when her smooth flavor explodes in my mouth. I drop my tongue over her clit and stroke the swelling nub greedily until she's sobbing my name. Her back arches off the bed, and she begins to pump her hips toward my mouth, tugging hard at my hair when she does so.

"R-Ray . . . Oh, oh God!" she sobs, as I bathe her clit in fast strokes, and her pussy begins to quiver, letting me know she's close to a climax. I ignore my throbbing cock as I chase her release, suctioning my mouth around her swollen bud and tugging hard until she's screaming, her fingers pulling hard at my hair as her pussy pulses around my tongue.

My pulse thumps wildly when I draw back, drinking in her flushed expression. She watches me as I climb off her to strip, her thighs parting eagerly for me when I rejoin her on the bed. Our eyes are locked when I settle between her legs, rubbing the flushed crown of my cock over her sex.

"I love you," I say as I drive my fat cock into her drenched hole, and she barely has time to respond before I am riding her hard. I wrap my hand around her thigh and raise it to my hip, pulling out and slamming into her, causing her to arch off the bed.

"Oh God!" she cries, her pussy rippling around my cock as I thrust into her with reckless abandon. Her tight channel taking all of me so beautifully, her dazed eyes turning glassy as I pound my manhood into her pussy.

"Eyes on me," I say roughly, and she complies, albeit with difficulty. "I want you to see the person fucking you. The man that'll wreck this wet pussy with his cock for the rest of your life. See the man you belong to."

"You," she cries out as I fuck her rough and raw, slamming into her with measured thrusts until her pleasured cries turn feral. She scratches a path down my shoulders as I feel myself draw closer to my climax. I need her to come with me, so I drop my free hand between us, finding her clit and rubbing at the nub in firm strokes.

Her body stills a second before she shatters, her eyes fluttering as her lips part on a soundless scream. She's a vision when she comes apart, and I can't stop watching her. Even as I drive my shaft into her, teetering close to my climax, I keep my eyes on her. Her cunt cinches tightly around me, causing me to come right along with her with a hoarse roar, pounding her into the bed as I spill my seed into her pulsing sex.

"I love you, Penny," I rasp, rocking gently into her as I drag out our shared climax. "You belong to me, and I will kill any man who tries to get in the way of that."

Her hand slips to my nape, and she tugs my head down, bringing her head up to meet me in the middle. Her kiss is soft but filled with emotion. "Thank you," she whispers, and I taste her tears in the kiss. "Thank you for saving me when I didn't even realize I needed saving, and . . . thank you for loving me." I press my forehead against hers, our breaths mingling, the moment so intimate it has my heart squeezing painfully in my chest. "I love you too."

And that is all I needed to hear to ground me.

We stay that way for what feels like forever, but the spell is soon broken by the pounding on my door. I clench my jaw and swear to kill whoever it is on the other side.

"Wait here for me," I command, brushing my lips over hers. I climb out of bed and slide back into my jeans, not bothering with my shirt as I walk to open the door. I glare at Ralph who seems to have developed a habit of interrupting my moments with Penny, but then I spot the two familiar figures at the foot of the stairs.

"They wouldn't leave," Ralph says apologetically.

"It's okay," I tell him, patting his shoulder. "You can head back to the shop. I'll deal with them."

Ralph nods and heads down. I close the door behind me and follow, noticing with pleasure how Penny's stepfather's eyes darken with anger when he sees the scratch marks on my bare shoulders.

"What are you doing here?"

"You . . . you monster! What did you do to my daughter?" her mother yells, her eyes panicked as she looks from me to the door at the top of the stairs.

"I will get Penny, and we'll deal with this asshole later," her husband says, trying to pass me, but I slug his side once before punching him squarely in the nose. The loud crunch as my fist connects with his face is incredibly satisfying, but even more so is the sight of blood dripping down his nose. "What the fuck!"

"Oh my God, Jonah, are you okay?" Penny's mother frantically rushes to her husband's side, but he shrugs off her hand when she tries to help him up. "I'm calling the cops!"

"Make sure you tell them to put me in the same cell as your creep of a husband," I spit. "How the fuck can you be blind to the fact that your husband wants to assault your daughter?"

My words are crude, but I am not feeling too generous around these people. She shakes her head. "You are wrong about my husband. Jonah is like a father to her. He would never—"

"He would," calls out a small voice, and we all turn to find Penny standing at the top of the stairs, her hair framing her face. "I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen. You always took his side over mine."

The older woman gapes at her daughter in disbelief. "T-this is your father's friend. He watched you grow up. You are like a daughter to him. He—"

"Groped, trapped me at home, made me quit school, and cut everyone out of my life."

The space falls into a tense silence after Penny speaks, and the man on the floor doesn't speak, too busy trying to stop the blood pouring from his nose. I can see her mother desperately hoping that he will explain his behavior—even if there is truly no excuse he can make—but he remains quiet, which makes me want to punch him all over again. Penny must notice because she rushes to me and grabs my arm before I can take another step.

"You are not welcome here. Leave before I call the cops for trespassing," I say.

The woman looks up, but this time, her teary eyes are fixed on her daughter. "I'm sorry," she chokes out. "Let's go home, Penny. Let's talk about it. I'll listen to you this time. I promise."

Penny shakes her head. "We can talk later, but I'm not leaving. I'm staying with Ray. He is my home now."

It's obvious that there is no dissuading my angel from her decision, and her mother nods, wiping away tears that spill. "Okay. I'll . . . Let me take care of this, and then I'll come to you." She turns to me. "Please take care of her."

With that, Penny's mother leaves with her bleeding husband running after her, but even I can tell their marriage is over. It'll probably take her some time to understand that the man she trusted used her grief to get to her daughter. Either way, I am not letting go of Penny.

"It's over," she whispers, dropping her head on my shoulder. "God, I can't believe it's over now."

I wrap my arm around her and hug her close to me, burying my nose in her hair and breathing in her scent. "You've had a long day. Let's get you home, and then I'll ask someone to get us something sweet from Annie's."

She pushes back to look at me, her eyes bright with excitement. "Cinnamon rolls?"

Fuck, when she looks at me like that, I realize I would do anything to make her happy. Heck, I would buy out the bakery and get her all the cinnamon rolls she likes if only to keep that perfect smile on her lips and her eyes bright.

A lump clogs my throat as I nod. "Anything for you, angel," I say, leaning down to press my lips to her forehead.

Anything for you.